 Hello everyone, welcome back to the Football Domain Academy podcast. My name is Leonardo Caprilli. I'm the Academy Director here at the Football Domain Academy. So welcome back to this new episode of Legacy and in today's episode I've got the pleasure of spending some time with a very special person by the name of Ben Neighbours. So Ben Neighbours, also known as Coach Ben, is the owner and founder of Neighbours Soccer Academy which is based all the way in Texas, USA. So I'd like to thank Ben for taking his time out to spend some time with me on this show. So for those that don't know Ben, Ben is actually the brains I could say behind the Football Domain Academy and he has helped me to create the academy the way it is structured. So from how we train, how we teach and we could say he is my mentor as well as one of my closest friends. So it is a privilege to have you on my podcast today. You got it. So before we dig in, just want to say number one, thanks for having me on this and I remember I interviewed you. This was before you started your program in London, just when you were living in US. So if anyone wants to watch that, go check that out. Just text Leo or cinema DM, he'll send you a link to that. But yeah man, I just want to start off by saying thanks for having me on here and it's been really cool to see how you have brought on other coaches from around the world. They're sharing their insight. I know how valuable that is to the players that you work with. So keep doing what you're doing because it's not only a smart thing that you're doing. It's very valuable for anyone who comes across this podcast. So hats off to you and thanks for having me on man. I feel honored. Thank you very much for those kind words. And last time we done an interview, we were slightly younger. Yeah, I had more hair. And so did I. Okay, cool. So Ben, tell us a bit about your career. So what is your background in soccer? Great question. So I started playing when I was four years old. I had two older brothers. I always wanted to copy them when I was younger. So they started playing. I followed what they did. They started becoming more competitive. So naturally I just kind of gravitated towards soccer. They're four years and two years older than I am. And then we all kind of went to travel to a different city to play on a competitive club team. So I started to understand what commitment feels like at a very early age. When I was 12, used to drive 90 minutes to practice 90 minutes home. I did that for six years. Wow. Fortunately, I had a really great club coach. When I was 12 years old, still I would say the best coach I've ever had at any level. And he stayed with me until I graduated. So he had me when I was 12 all the way until I graduated. And playing for him allowed me to get seen in front of college coaches. And that got me kind of on the radar of multiple D1 schools and stuff like that. So I ended up committing to go to university in Memphis. My freshman year had a really rough freshman year. And if anyone from Memphis during that time watches this, they will, they will agree with that. And I stayed there for a year and I ended up transferring to a school called Drury University. And that's a school no one's probably heard of. It's a small division two school in Springfield, Missouri. And once I transferred there, that's when I started to get into coaching more. I started coaching a club there. And I had, I remember it was a U12 team. And about half the team would show up to practice. And it was pretty, it was pretty frustrating at the beginning. And I started to kind of realize while I was in college, when I was coaching these younger players, that because I was starting to see what was happening with the other coaches there, that we were all working with very uncommitted families. And I was very common problem that all of us coaches were facing. And I started to realize, well, you know, these kids who are committed, they want to get better. And so while I was in college, I started to help kids just kind of on the side for doing private training and stuff like that. And I just started very small when I was in school. And sophomore, junior, senior year, while I was playing college soccer, I got a little bit more into that. And then once I graduated, after I got done playing soccer, I came back to Texas, back to San Antonio, and I tried to get a job. And you know my story, but I worked for a performance company. They dealt with kids who wanted to get stronger, faster, more explosive in any sport you can think of. And I just realized for me, it wasn't a good fit to work for someone else. And I wanted to help soccer players grow on an individual level through technical training and training with their confidence with mindset training. And I knew the only way I could properly do that the way I wanted was to start my own business. And that's what I started. I mean, back in 2009, 2010, I just kind of started from scratch. Very shy person back then, completely different human being now. Didn't know how to run a business. I learned. I hired mentors. I really got in a good groove surrounding myself around people that I wanted to be like. And things just slowly started to take off. Year after year, things got better. I became more confident. I was able to help way more kids. And I started to realize with with players as the time went on, that a lot of kids that play club or they play on a team, they need help with their technical skills. Like that was a problem I saw with club soccer was kids were not getting the one on one help. And that's why one of the reasons why I started my academy was to help players with that. And then as time went on, I realized, well, there's a lot of kids who are getting that help, but they're not getting help with their confidence. They get to the game and then they're freaking out. They are nervous. They're afraid to make mistakes. They're afraid of their coach. They're afraid of their parents. And I started to tap into that over the last, I'd say, two or three years. And within my program, I've developed a mindset performance program for players internationally that they can join. We do that online. And kids that I train here locally in Texas are also part of that. So that's really kind of what I'm doing now. But started from scratch. I started because I saw there was a big problem with the way kids are developing in the US. I saw a big need for private training. And now I see a really big need for players who need a lot of help with confidence. And so that's kind of how I'm transitioning what I do now. And through that, I've been able to meet people like you who want help with their business. And that's kind of where I'm at now is helping coaches grow their program, create better programs for kids. So ultimately, they can be the mentor to kids, not just a coach. And there's a huge difference that I've seen between someone who's a coach and someone who's a mentor. And I know we'll talk about that today. That's awesome. That's awesome. Yeah, well, I didn't actually introduce at the beginning, but you also help coaches start their own businesses in sport. So that's been awesome as well, because I'm part of your mastermind group. So it's really cool to see you mentor us. And I'm sure the same way you mentor us, you mentor your kids as well. So it's been really cool. Now, something I've always wanted to ask you is you have a special way of teaching. So the way you teach us as coaches is I'm sure the same way you teach your players, but where has that come from? Was that something you needed at young age? Great question. So I remember very vividly when I was eight, nine, 10, 11 years old. When I was that age, a lot of my coaches that I had, I felt like they were great at coaching and training. But on the confidence side, I felt like that was something that I really needed help with. And if you want to dig really deep into this, we will. But when I was the youngest child in my family, I was always quiet. And the way I grew up was I kind of just did whatever one else wanted to do. And I was like that on the soccer field too. Like how I was in real life was how I was as a player. And I started to realize when I would get to the game, if I made one little mistake, that would just compound into the next mistake. And I started to play very nervous and scared when I was eight to 12 years old. And I never felt like I had a true mentor or leader that could tell me that making mistakes was okay. Because I was very hotheaded when I was a kid. The opposite of how I am now. And I would let those little mistakes grow into game after game after game, season after season. And it got to a point where I would be so hard on myself after I would play games. It was like, it just wasn't enjoyable. And it was difficult for me to try to like talk to my dad or talk to my brothers or talk to anyone who could give me advice. Because I was number one too shy. And I never felt like I had that type of person in my life. Once I was 12, I go back to that coach. I remember he would tear me apart at halftime. So he was a good coach then. Yeah. He would tear me to shreds at halftime. And after the game, he'd call me. There would be sometimes we spent an hour over the phone after games. And he didn't have to do that. But he did it because he wanted to get the most out of me. And he could have just tear me to shreds at halftime and been like, ah, whatever, Ben's going to learn and figure it out. But he knew that he would get the most out of me if he was like that. But after the games, that's where he would, you know, he'd put his arm around me or he'd give me a call because he knew I'd be driving an hour, an hour and a half back. And that's when I started to see like, wow, this person really cares about me. And they're telling me stuff that I've never heard before. And I just remember very vividly. I mean, there was a game is crazy. I remember we lost. I gave the ball away, of course. I gave the ball away. They scored. It was like in the last two minutes. I remember after that game, I just went over to my backpack, I grabbed it and I stormed off the field. And I did not, you know, normally you sit with a team and you listen to the coach and I just had a bad attitude and I left. And I remember he called on the way home. And he just got into me and told me, you know, I can't do that. If you want to be a leader on this team, you have to lead by example. Can't, can't pout like a little beat. And one thing I realized after that, I was like, man, you know, he's right. And if I want to be a leader, I need to, I need to listen to this guy and I need to model what he does. And that's one of the things that I noticed is he was a great communicator. He always did extra. He always asked questions. He always took a genuine interest in me. And it was shocking to have a coach like that, because the coaches I had before that never did that. Like they just weren't that way. And that made me realize as I got older, like he's my favorite coach I ever had. So I wanted to model what he did. So that's how I teach kids is by giving more personalized feedback, like being there more like as a mentor, not just as a coach. That's how I end with everyone. Like if you're part of our coaching program with coaches, I try to do that with everybody, which is very difficult to do for a lot of people. But I realized with kids, that's the only way I know how, because I had a great coach to do that with me. And I know how much time he invested into me. And if I didn't not have that growing up, I would not be on this interview flat out. I would be working a job that I hate, hanging around people that I hate. I wouldn't be married. My life would be completely different if I did not have that coach when I was 12 years old. And I can, I can trace a lot of my success back to him. Wow. It's a very, very powerful story. And I think it's quite a blessing really that you had a coach like that, because not many kids do. I know one of my reasons why I started coaching and why I wanted to start my own academy was because my nephew, he was at a pro academy from the age of 12. And he was there for two years. And at the age of 14, he was released. Now my nephew didn't have anyone to guide him or to tell him, listen, pick yourself up, try again, keep going. Because his dream since the age of nine, since he started kicking the balls, I want to be a footballer. I want to be a footballer. And you'd ask him, okay, if that doesn't work out, what else do you want to be? Nothing. I want to be that. So he got into a pro academy and for a kid at 12, 13, when you, when you're going in every week and you're seeing your teammates getting released and you're still there, you're thinking, do you know what? I'm close to it. I'm near. And then when it's your turn, boom, like reality kicks. And in a way, sometimes I feel sorry because I didn't, I wasn't that mental to him at that moment, even though I had an influence on him getting to that academy. But that is one of the reasons I think, because kids, kids give up so easily. And there's a lot of kids with a lot of potential. But they just need the mental side of the game. And that's something I've really learned from you. And having been back here in the UK and observing loads of coaches every single week, there's no coach that thinks like you. And if they do, they're not putting it into practice. So yeah, I think the mindset, the confidence is so, so important. And especially now, like it's crazy with the more technology kids have the less confident they are. And yeah, one more thing, I was listening to actually a podcast the other day, and this guy speaking said, the reason why no one takes action in our society nowadays, which I thought was quite a powerful statement was because they're listening to so many different people. You've got one people saying one thing, another person saying another thing. And then when you're confused, you don't know what to do. So you don't do anything. Right. So kids, I think, going back to the kids, because they're spending so much time on social media, they're seeing so many mixed messages. And now I think he's making them weaker instead of stronger. Right. Yeah. And I see this all the time, kids are playing in the game. Their teammates are yelling at them. Their parents are yelling at them. Their coach is yelling at them. And it's three completely different things. And then they are telling themselves to do something, which is the opposite of what, they have four different conversations in their mind. That's why they're not decisive because it's like they get to a restaurant and they see 5,000 different items. It's going to be hard to be decisive and put your order in. And I do attribute a lot of why kids are, I would say slower to take action now. And this is not to knock on coaches, but I think a very high percentage of coaches are hypocrites. They will tell kids, hey, I want you to do this or do this, do this, but that coach is terrible at falling their own advice. 100%. And so kids can read that. Kids can sniff that out. Kids are smart enough to be like, what are you talking about? Yeah. Like you're going to go tell me to run a mile right now and you couldn't go run a lap. Or you're going to tell me to eat this when I know you're probably drinking beer every night. Like kids, kids can sniff things out. Kids are smarter. And so there's a big lack of leadership from coaches to players. And then there's this, there's this really big divide that players have between coaches. If they don't trust their coach, never gonna listen to the coach. If they don't respect the coach, what, you know, why are they there? So that's why I see a huge disconnect between kids and coaches and coaches and kids. And when coaches figure out that they have to not only be great at, you know, technical tactical, like all that's important. But I've seen, you know, the top coaches I've ever been around, they're the ones who don't have the most knowledge on technical or tactics. They're the ones who have the most knowledge on how to make players more disciplined, how to make players motivated all the time, how to get the most out of the player. And I always look at, well, what's the relationship between the coach and the player? If that relationship is tight, then that player will get like, they'll get the most out of every session, they'll get the most out of every game, because now they're listening and they respect the coach. And I go to games. And this is why I'm so into this sort of stuff. Now I've been to games in the past where I see one kid who's clearly better than everyone else, but has the worst attitude. And they don't listen to anyone. They're not, they're mowlin' off to their coach. And that coach will just take it and be like, oh, whatever, they're our best player. Like if I coach a team right now and my best players do not see me, I would never let them play. I kick them off the team in two seconds. And coaches are afraid of doing that now, because they're afraid of rubbing parents the wrong way. And I think there needs to be a big shift with how coaches deal with players and how players start to trust their coaches. And I believe it's a lack of leadership problem that coaches have. And that's something that I'm looking to solve that problem. Yeah, 100%. And I think the beauty as well of what you do is not everyone can do it. Not every coach can teach a player or a kid about mindset, about how to improve confidence, how to have a better attitude. Because it goes back to what you were saying, coaches preach something, but then they do the opposite. But when you're actually invested in your personal development, then I think it's easier to teach it to someone else. When you're a person that believes in discipline, in confidence, in having a growth mindset, then it's easier to teach it to people. And 100%, that value is worth a thousand times more than can I get Bobby to kick the ball straight or dribble? And that's something I've learned from you. Because you've changed my mind in, yeah, of course, the technical and the tactical is fundamental. And you have to teach that to kids because that's the game, right? But what you're teaching to kids is not what they get in every single day at school. At school, they're just a number, a number of 30 other kids in a class. The teachers are not going to teach them that. Their parents are too busy. Who's the other person they look up to? You. Right. Yeah, yeah, you're spot on. Because most kids now, they don't listen to their parents. Because they don't think their parents know what they're talking about. Most kids just zone out when they're at school. Because they're sitting there for eight hours, learning something that they're not going to ultimately need to know when they're an adult. And not in all cases, in some cases. I'd say most cases. And so that's why I look at, well, who's the person they can turn to? It should be their coach. Like it 100% should be their parents. But most parents are too busy. They're working, they're providing, they have a lot going on. When they get home from work, they're tired. And they don't want to explain to their son or daughter what being a leader looks like. And oftentimes, because they aren't a leader themselves. So how are they going to teach something to their, their own kids? They haven't personally experienced that. And that's why when, when I look at this approach, I always tell myself, well, like, what is the thing I wish I had when I was eight, nine, 10, 11 years old? Because when I got to college, hey, if I didn't have that, that coach when I was 12 to 18, I would have been toast playing collar stock. And there was a year that was very difficult for me. And I always thought back to, you know, what would my coach tell me right now? Like if he was in this room right now and he knew what was going on, what would he tell me? And that got me through a lot. That got me through a very dark time when I was 18 years old, living by myself, like trying to fit in with this college team, trying to fit into college life. That was a hard transition for me. And that's why when I help these kids now, I always think, you know, what is something I wish I had when I was a young player? And what would I want to know when I was a kid? Like, how much time would that save me? How much more confidence would that give me in different situations? Not just in soccer. Soccer is the end of day very minor. It's like, in real life, how do I want these kids to grow? So when they're in their 20s, they do have confidence. If they want to start a business, they can start a business. If they want to be really successful, they can do that. And I want them to understand those tools at an early age because I know 100% they're not learning that at school. Yeah, completely agree. And it's very similar as well to when I was starting the academy and I moved back here to London. And I'm going to be honest with you, between us, but obviously a lot of people are going to be watching this, but there's a lot of people in my area that are doing something similar to what I'm doing. But instead of actually helping you, they always want to get something from you. So I've had to find a coach all the way in the other part of the world because I haven't got a mentor in this in my own city. How bad is that? So imagine kids, right? You know, right? Yeah. No, it's crazy because most people are always out to just gain something for themselves. Yeah. And those are people that when I think about coaches who are that way, they aren't here in 20 years from now. They're working some other job because they didn't invest into the kids. And they're not actually wanting to help other coaches either. Yeah. And you know, those types of people generally fail in coaching because they're take, take, take. When if you give, give, give, you are positioning yourself as someone who wants to help, which is way different. Like I get hit up all the time. It may happen earlier on Instagram. Coaches are wanting to take stuff away from me. They're wanting to take my time. They're wanting to take resources. Like life doesn't work out that way. Like you have to be in a mode of giving. And that's how it is with coaching kids. I'm not taking a single thing away from these kids that I work with. I'm going to give them everything that I know. So this way they can improve as a person and as a player. Yeah. And yeah, it's a shame. And I, I see a lot of people that the, the vast majority of coaches are always looking to take and you know, we'll see who's here in 20 years from now. We'll see who's here in one year from now. Yeah. Very rarely do they say, I want to provide value to you. Yeah. Yeah. It's, I mean, it's sad, but that's, that's one of the problems why kids aren't developing like they should be because they're surrounded by coaches who are like that. Yeah. And these coaches just want to show up, put the session on, go home, drink three Budweisers, go to sleep, do the same thing that on Thursday. And there's a reason why parents have been very upset recently with like the club system, especially here in the U S because their kids aren't developing. That's why there's a big need for people like you, people like me who have a program set up to actually help kids. Yeah. So what, what is the difference between a mental and a coach for you? Good question. So let's say I had zero background, like I'm just going to use this as an example. Yeah. Let's say I wanted to be a hockey coach. Right. I was like, I hate soccer now. I'm just going to go be a hockey coach. Yeah. I could go to YouTube today. I could learn all the drills, all the skills, how to skate, how to hit the puck. I could learn all of the little details with how to help a player with their skill development. And any Joe Schmo now in 2020 can go learn how to be a coach. They can buy a book. They can go to library. They can learn from free. They can go to YouTube, all of the drills, everything is easily accessible. Right. And the coaching industry is just growing rapidly. Like everyone wants to do that. And what's happening is as the coaching industry is growing, the development of kids is going like this, because it's becoming overpopulated with people that just know the drills or the skills. And this is why it's actually, I mean, I hate saying this, but it's actually harming the development of the kids, because now anybody can do it. So when I look at a coach or a trainer, I look at anybody can do it. Like you don't need a certification. You don't need to go to college and get a degree. A 35 year old dude who works a nine to five job could learn how to be a coach tomorrow. And they could. Same way a kid learns on YouTube, a coach can learn through YouTube as well. Correct. Absolutely. Same method. Right. And then when I look at a mentor, I look at a completely different type of person. I look at someone who, there are going to take the time to learn how to be a good coach, but they're coaching and the way they train makes up 5% of their DNA and 95% of their DNA is they understand how to effectively communicate to kids. So those kids can be here with their confidence and one hour later they're here. And that one hour is the best one hour of their week. And when they see that coach on a weekly basis, that kid's confidence just grows week after week after week. And outside of the actual session, the coach takes a genuine interest in the kid. So this is not a coach anymore. This is a mentor. This is someone who can answer questions throughout the week. This someone who's providing guidance throughout the week for these players. And these players don't look at this mentor as a coach anymore. They look at this person as, wow, if I'm going through a rough time in my life, if something weird happens at home, something bad happens at school, I can turn towards this person. They're not going to judge me. They're going to talk to me and they're going to be open to what I have to say to them. And they're going to give me critical feedback. And the player slash mentor relationship at that point is way different than just saying, oh, I have practice with coach John on Thursday at seven. That's a lot different. And a mentor, in my opinion, is overly prepared. They're the most disciplined person that these kids will ever meet. They walk the walk. If they give advice, they actually follow through with what they say. So I know for me, and I feel good talking about this on here. I always tell kids, hey, if you want to like be great, you need to surround yourself around kids that are way better than you. This is why and the way I train kids, I stack kids with others that are better so they can see what's possible. And I tell I tell the kids this too, I'm willing to fly across the US, not right now with coronavirus, but I'm going to fly anywhere to be around better coaches than me. I want to be the dumbest idiot in the room. And when I am the dumbest idiot in the room, I can learn more. When I'm around people who are better than me, I learn more. That's why I learn more. That's why I constantly invest into mentors, into coaching, into being around people who are playing business or playing mentor at a much higher level than me, because that expands my mind. And I know if I'm telling kids to do that, trust me, I better be doing that myself. If I'm not a con artist, I'm lying to these kids. And that's, to me, the difference is someone who kids aspire to be like versus someone who's just yelling at the kids, giving instructions. And yeah, and I'll share this with you. One of the players that I train, I talked with her for an hour last week over a phone call. And while we were talking, I was like, man, you know, when I was her age, I was getting the same advice from my coach when I was her age. And I was like, if I didn't care about her, I would not be on this call. And when we got off the call, she was like, Hey, like, Ben, I really look up to you. I really value what you're telling me to do. And we talked about something that was probably really uncomfortable that most coaches would never talk about with the players that they work with. And this isn't to say that I'm better than other coaches. It's, I just, I just simply care more. Yeah, that's just flat out. Do you think it has being being a mentor type role model to kids? Does it does your personality play a massive role? Do you have to have a certain personality or can anyone do it? Yeah, that's a great question. I'm a friend of the other. I think you have to have a specific personality. And I think, yeah, you have to have a kid inside of you. Because if you have a kid inside of you, so to speak, you can relate to the kid. You know what they're going through. You know what makes them excited. You know what makes them sad. You know how, how they feel when they miss a shot and they miss a penalty when they miss a pass. And if you're a coach that gets excited, just being around kids and playing with them teaching, then I think kids can relate to you much more than just that sort of, what's the word? Just like that sergeant do this, get in line. Right, right. Yeah, a lot of it comes down to personal examples. So the, all the kids that I work with, they know, they know more about me than a lot of my family members do. Like I let them into my personal life of how it was when I was younger. So when I do that, I'm giving them a better chance to relate with me because they're like, Oh, well, Ben went through that. Ben missed a penalty kick his sophomore year in college and that lost the conference tournament. Like that's way bigger of a deal than me missing this penalty kick in high school from, for some garbage term I'm playing in. And so by giving personal examples and by living through those examples, when I was younger, that's helped kind of bridge the gap between myself and kids to where they can respect what I'm saying more because I can show them, Hey, like I've walked in your shoes. I've already walked the path that you're on. And so it's easier for them to respect me when I go into detail on how it was when I was younger and then also go into detail for other kids that I've worked with that are that have walked their shoes. And that's why, you know, kids relate really well with stories. They don't relate well if I'm just like barking orders at them, Hey, you need to go do this, go do this. Like that's when you're making it up as well. Yeah, yeah. I mean, kids know they're they're not morons. They're smart. But to answer a question, I don't think everyone's cut out to do it. I don't because I would say the same thing, which I think a lot of people would disagree with me, but I don't think everyone's cut out to be successful. I don't think everyone's cut out to be a coach. I don't think most people are cut out to be a mentor. And it's not because they can't learn those things. It's because they don't have the self belief and like the sheer confidence to lead by example. And to me, that's the thing is like, and you might, I know this might be sound weird, but the way the way I communicate with you, the way I communicate with other coaches I'm helping the way I communicate with the kids, communicate with the kids. That's helped me be better at what I do. Because I can't just say that. Yeah, I can't say you need to wake up at 6 30 every day and me sleep till three o'clock in the afternoon. And I got to walk the walk. And so I believe a true mentor is going to be someone who's going to walk the walk. And they are they are someone who who enjoys leaving others. Like I find satisfaction in seeing those who I'm helping grow what they do, whether it be a kid or a coach or a business owner, it doesn't matter. And and I know it's not me. I'm not I'm not the one who made them successful. I know it's them. They finally believed in their own mind. Yes, I can do this. And the results show. And I will say though, that that's why a lot of coaches that are trying to get into mindset coaching, or they're trying to be the mentor, they're going to have a tough time doing it. Because do they care about the kids the way they should? Do they have things set up for the kids to go through? Do these kids actually respect them? And yeah, I mean, the last thing I'll say about that is like, people who don't walk the walk, they get sniffed out. And there's a reason why I mean, I'm not saying this to be arrogant or cocky, but there's a reason why I've been around this for so long. It's because I actually do what I talk about. And I know parents and kids, when they get into my ecosystem, if I lead by example, those kids want to be the way I am. And if I'm a con, they'll sniff it out. They'll sniff it out. I'm not on this interview anymore. And it's made me be a better coach by leading these kids, because it forces me to continue to walk the walk, versus just talk about it, because anyone can talk about it. And also, I think what you do with coaches and what a mentor or a really good coach does is they go deep into the pain points of the person. Because I swear, there's some days where I'm thinking about something, and then you've just come out with a YouTube video talking about that. And I'm thinking, wow. And you've just answered something that I'm thinking or I'm going through. So that's where the value of coaches will drop, because when everyone becomes the same, there's going to be a lot of turnover of kids, because they're like, I'll just go to him. He does exactly the same. But if you're a coach that actually touches on the pain points of kids, what they're going through, if you can change them as a person, then I think they'll definitely be with you for longer. And that's how you grow a bigger program. That's my belief, I think. Right. Yeah. No, you're right. And I know one thing that's really stuck with me, because I thought about this when I first started coaching kids in my private academy here. And I was like, what do I want kids to say about my program after they graduate high school? Do I want them to say, oh, that's a great training program? Or do I want them to say, gosh, if I didn't go through that, I would not be the person I am today. Yeah, love it. And I'll tell you, man, that keeps me up. That thing is the itch on my back that I keep trying to figure out. How can I make sure that these kids not only take action, but they become someone that they want to be. And they're not talking about it more. They're doing it. On the field, they're doing it. Off the field, they're a completely different person. And that's all I care about. I really don't care anymore at this point in my life how good a soccer player is. I really don't. I care how do they think about themselves? Because that at the end of the day is way more important than how good you are, how many goals you score. Yeah, you're essentially leaving a sort of legacy within these kids. So when they're older, they're like, do you know what, if it wasn't for Ben, I wouldn't be where I am. Yeah, it's the same way. When I point back to the coach to help me, I can 100% tell you. If I did not have that coach, I would have never played in college. If I didn't play in college, I wouldn't have gone to scholarship. I would be in student loan debt. I wouldn't have started my business. I wouldn't have been able to help the thousands of kids in person, the millions of kids online wouldn't be able to help you. That's why one decision like that, by having someone who knew what they were talking about, they genuinely invested into me. They really cared about my development. That one connection changed my life. And I think about that like, gosh, if I don't help these kids the way he helped me, where are they going to be? Yeah, they're going to be depressed. They're going to be frustrated. They're going to be discouraged. They're probably going to quit. And there's too many, too many kids now that are getting bullied, killing themselves. They're at home. They're getting beat up by their parents. Like, I mean, there's a lot of bad that's going on. And a lot of these kids, you know, they have lost so much confidence because they don't have someone like that in their life. And that's why I call out coaches. They should be that person for these kids. They should step up. They should emotionally care about these kids. Like, and if they're not, they're just a coach. Anyone can do that. So how can kids become better leaders? So how do you teach your players to become better leaders on the field? Or even off the field? That's a great question. So there's a couple of things that that I look for. And all the kids that I work with across the board, they do this. And it's not like this isn't like fun for these kids. But this shows everyone that they work with, whether it be a teacher, an adult, a soccer coach, doesn't matter who they meet. All right, this is this is what happens. So for example, kids that I work with, they always show up to my sessions early. So when they show up to their club practice, they're always there, I'd say 20 to 30 minutes before everyone else. They're doing work on their own. They're stretching, they're running, they're prepared. Before they're all their teammates get there. And you know how it is, like kids show up on their Snapchat, like in their flip flops, not even ready with, you know, ready to go. And they have they're not, you don't even have their water bottle, their water bottle fill up. Like the kids I work with, I want them to be unbelievably prepared. They show up, they are presenting themselves like they're a professional player. Even if they're on a team that's not good. And what that does is it shows the coach, who's probably there five, 10 minutes before the session starts, like, wow, why is this player here so early? So that draws attraction towards the player. Cause the coach now feels, wow, this kid really wants to be here. And I hear kids all the time, well, they'll be like, well, you know, that person is coach's favorite. Well, the way you become their favorite player is you show up earlier. Like that's number one. Number two is like, when kids get to the session, they should constantly be asking questions. Most kids are too afraid. They don't want to ask questions. They don't want to see how they can better help the team. So I know one of the things I always look for with the kids that I train is if they're training with me or they're training with their other coach, it doesn't matter. They pull the coach aside, tap them on the shoulder and be like, coach, how can I better help my team? That will be like, the coach will be like, whoa, can't believe you're asking me for advice. Normally you're just running around. So now the coach is like, this player is genuinely interested in learning from me. That makes the coach feel special, right? So kids that ask questions and kids that like, I was so bad at this when I was younger, like when I would shake someone's hand, I'd go in for like a really weak, girly handshake. I'd probably go like this. Like going with a firm handshake, look the person in the eye. And when they're talking to you, when a kid is talking to their coach, they should be locked in on them. Like staring at them at halftime, staring at your coach, like pay attention. And I see it, I mean, you'll see this man, kids at halftime, most kids are slouched over, they're looking at the ground, they're thinking about going to Chick-fil-A after the game. They're not, they're not concentrating on what their coach is talking about. Instead, they could be locked in on their coach. And when their coach is looking around, they see that one player is locked in, a player is always going to get more playing time. Don't care how bad they're at soccer. So like the little details that I know most kids never do, that's, that's ultimately what I teach players is how to be different. Like in whatever everyone else is doing, we don't do that. Because that's average. We do the details. No other kids like to do. And that separates the kids who follow through with that from kids who never do that. And I'll tell you a quick story. There, there's a player I'm working with right now. She just went to, this was like in January before the virus hit. She went to a college ID showcase. She's a sophomore right now. She was with all juniors and seniors. And I told her, I go, Hey, when you get there, I want you to do something very specific. And this girl, she's been in my program for a while. If I told her to run through a brick wall, she would go head first into the brick wall and break it in two seconds. And so I knew she would listen because she values what I say and she's followed through like a machine since I've met her. And I said, here's what you're going to do. You're going to get to this session one hour before everyone else. And I want you to go shake hands with every single coach who's there and thank them for showing up to today's session. Now, I want you to think about that. If you were a coach and you see this kid shaking her hand saying, Hey, thanks, thanks coach for being here. I really appreciate you. You're like, who is this kid? Like that is a, it's like a light going off that you can't resist it. And, and then I told her, I said, I want you to introduce yourself, tell each coach the position that you play this way when y'all scrimmage, you're not playing goalie, you're playing right back. And you're specific. That shows all the coaches confidence that you are the right back. Now I told her to do that. She did that. She came with all of those contacts. They all know, like and trust her now. And the whole time she played right back. Why? Because every coach knew that was her position. So she thrived in that showcase because she got to play the position she wanted. Every coach knew who she was. She's there way earlier than everyone else. And all of the coaches respect the player who does that because no one else does stuff like that. So like that's a, that's one example. And off the field, right? I don't want to feel like I'm just yapping away here, but this is really important and I content and it's definitely going to help. Yeah. And I know this will, this will help a lot of kids get outside their comfort zone. But I've worked with many players who are very shy, the same way I was when I was younger. I was very shy. I was timid. I never liked talking in class. If a teacher asked a question, I would always be thinking in my head, gosh, I hope they don't see me. I hope they don't call on my name. And then normally when I would think that they would always call on my name. And then I would probably stutter or I just wouldn't sound confident. And one of the things that I teach players in my program, if I know they are shy, there's two things we do. Number one, off the field, I make sure when they go to their next class, they don't sit in the back like all of the kids that are afraid to talk. They sit in the front row and when their coach or when their teacher asks a question, whether they know the answer or not, they raise their hand. Kids that do that in 30 days will be a completely different person because now they're used to raising their hand and be, and now they're conditioning their mind that failing is okay because they're not going to know every answer. And they're being forced to try something that's uncomfortable. And then off of the field, the last session I had, I did this with a couple of players who are very afraid of asking for the ball, even in my session. And there was a group of players that were on the other side of the field and I stopped the session. And I go, all right guys, go grab some water. So everyone went to go get water and when they came back, I go, okay, I'm going to scream at the top of my lungs here. If those people across the field don't hear me, I'm going to do 100 pushups. And they all started laughing. They're like, they're not going to hear you. And I basically was simulating asking for the ball and I'm not going to scream on the microphone because I don't need to do that. But as loud as I could, I did that and every single person over there was like, they thought someone was getting shot or something. And I go, why did they turn around over here? And all the kids were like, oh, you're just really loud. And I go, okay, you're going to do it now. So again, I'm not going to tell them to do something that I'm not willing to do. And I got them to do that. And they weren't loud enough. I was like, they're not turning around. We're going to sit here until you freaking do it. And that was kind of intimidating to these kids. Once they got it, the rest of our session was so sharp. Because now they're more aggressive. Now they're outside their comfort zone. And I know if they can do that with me, they'll do it with their team. And I know if I don't force them to do that, they're going to go back to their team, they're not going to get the ball because they're afraid. So off the field, on the field, all of that stuff blends in together. And I've yet to see a player who's like super confident, very vocal. And then they're off the field, they're just like very hesitant. They're not decisive. They're not looking people in the eye. And that's why I want to help players really build off the field, on the field, merge those things together and do things that I know that there are other coaches that aren't going to do. Like I know their club coach is not going to do that. And so I force kids to do stuff that I know that they don't want to do. But once they do it, it makes them better. Well, you could say it's the real world, right? You need attention. If you don't have attention, then you're not getting nothing. And it's funny because the saying of don't talk to strangers. But when you get older, strangers have everything you want. Right? Whoever came up with that slogan, not a successful person. They're very scarcity minded. And they were afraid of other people. And I used to think that too when I was younger. Like crap. What am I going to say to this person? I'm just not going to say anything at all. That held me in my comfort zone. It was like that with girls when I was younger. Well, what are they going to say? Well, I don't know. I haven't said anything to them before. How am I supposed to know what they're going to say? How am I supposed to know what my coach wants me to do? I don't say anything. So yeah, you're spot on with that. Strangers can be, that's where you gain the most wisdom. They know something you don't know. And everyone knows something that we don't know. That's why I try to force myself to talk to people every day that I do not know. Because I know that I can learn by knowing more people, getting more data from people who are doing things that I want to do. 100%. Yeah, it's good. Good. I like it. So in one minute, I'll give you a minute and a half. How can a coach become a, what advice can you give a coach to transform him from a coach to a mentor? What are some tips he needs in one minute and a half? Because I know a lot of coaches you work with are definitely going to watch this video. So if any coach is watching this, then this is going to be valuable advice to them. Right. Great question. I'll do this in 30 seconds. So you can put me on the clock starting now. So the easiest way to do that is have your significant other or have someone you really trust that is able to give you constructive criticism. Someone who's not afraid to tell you if you're right or wrong. First, you link up with them and you go into a quiet room. No one's there. You're not at a bar. You're not like you're not doing this over the phone. You are with them. And you have them ask you why do you want to be a mentor? And they ask you why seven times? If you're not crying by the seventh answer, you should get the F out of this game. Because if it doesn't hit the coach emotionally, how are they going to be able to truly help players? And that's the depth I take on this. It's like, someone asked me four times and I dig to the root of why I want to be a mentor. I'll be in tears because I know from personal experience how my life would be if I did not have that. And I knew how it was when I didn't have that. Terrible. I would have changed a lot about how I grew up if I had someone who was like that. And I knew how it would be as an adult if I had someone like that from day one when I graduated college. My life would be a lot different than it is right now. Like flat out. So sit down with someone, have them ask you why. And you can't just say, well, I just want to help kids. Why? Well, I want to help kids because of this. Why? Like dig to the freaking root of why. And when that happens, you can understand, well, what's the real reason? Why am I here? Which is the billion dollar question most people never ask themselves. So that was probably over 90 seconds. So it's valuable because you can you can do that with every well with loads of things in life. Things that you shouldn't be doing. Ask yourself, why? Why am I doing it? Why am I doing it? Right. So yeah, I'll give you a great personal example. I conditioned my mind before I ever started shooting videos on YouTube. Like at this point, I have over 700 something videos on on YouTube for different things that that we do. And before I did that, though, I never asked myself why. And so it was very easy for me at the beginning to shoot a video and be like, ah, man, I don't know if I'm gonna do that again. Once I started asking myself why I did the work no matter what. Like today, I, for example, today I shot four videos. And I can do those videos like this because I know why. I know why I want to do it. And no one can tell me why I need to do it. That that has to come from within me. And I will force myself to do things when I know why. If I don't know why, it's easy to get out of it because no one's going to keep me accountable. Like this cowboy is not going to look at me in the middle of the day and be like, Hey, Ben, you need to go shoot those videos right now. I have to do that. But if I don't understand why, I will never do it. That's why you have to dig to the root. And that's why my business coach I have, like, I know if I show up to my meeting with her unprepared, I'm going to be scared. Yeah. And I know why I have to do stuff because there's a there's a deep reason. Do you know what? I love that answer because if I was to sit down with probably two or three of my competitors in my area and we were to talk about what we've just talked, they would be looking at me like, I'm from another planet. Because the majority of them are just money-oriented. So they're like, don't bother about that. Just get loads of kids in and we'll make lots of money and then we'll just move on. But that's not my why. And even though that's going to happen because you're adding value to people's life, but that's not the purpose behind what I do. So yeah, I love that. Love it. Right. Yeah. And it's the same with kids. When I get them to understand why they want to get better, it's never, oh, I just want to score more goals. When we dig down to the root of why kids want to actually improve, it's way easier for them to show up more determined, more disciplined. They're going to do the work. They're going to do things that are outside of their comfort zone. Because not only do they know it, I know what it is. I have my little journal here. It's got the information on why kids are in my program. Not why do they like soccer. It's why they're in my program and why they want to get better. And what's the thing? What's the actual thing? And when I understand that as a coach, way easier for me to work with them because I want them to get the thing they want. And we know why they want it, though. They're clear. And I'll tell you, man, most people are so unclear with what they want because they don't ask themselves why. And it's very difficult to be disciplined to do something if you're just waking up and floating throughout the day. I mean, if you don't know why you're here, I mean, you better move over. Someone like me is going to come take your spot. Yeah, it's... And something I've learned, and this can relate to kids as well, is before when I was starting the academy and even to this day, I've got like, sometimes my imagination just goes wild because I'm dreaming of having kids this country here, having loads of... But there's certain people that I can't talk about that because they don't get it. And before, I was very open because I thought, you know what, whoever I spoke to, they're going to understand it. But then I think to myself, it's like talking to a brick-worn because they aren't doing what I'm doing. They can't give me advice on anything. And I think sometimes, well, something I've realized, it comes down because as an entrepreneur, and I'm sure you go through this as well, sometimes we have so much inside of us, like you've got so much fire inside of you that you want to let it out and you want to just share it with someone. But you have to know who to share it with too. And that's the same with kids. You have to know who to be surrounded with, who to keep as friends, who to keep as teammates, who's going to encourage you, who's going to not encourage you. So... Yeah. Yeah. And I see that with kids, if they're, for example, if they're struggling getting playing time and they want more playing time, I'll always tell them, well, if you're spending time with Johnny and Joey and Lucas, and they're all moaning and groaning about the coach, who you surround yourself right now is going to determine how much playing time you get. So let's go seek out the best players on the team. Let's learn what are they doing? What are they doing that's different? How do they think? What time do they show up? Are they asking questions to the coach? What are they doing on their own? And we seek out their habits, and we stop talking to Johnny, Joey, and Lucas, if those are the three names I talked about, and we cut them out of our life. We look at it and we go, cut, not talking to you guys anymore. Best players always do that. They seek out those who are better than them, and they cut out the crabs who are nipping and gnawing at them. And it's the same way with adults. You can surround yourself with people who don't believe in what you're doing, who have never accomplished what you want to do, and when you do that, you're surrounding yourself around negative people. And when you surround yourself around the opposite of that, you start to feel what it's, you start to feel what's possible. And that's why I'll tell you, man, I mean, I have zero shame saying this. All I care about, when I think about how I want to develop what I want to do, it's I'm always going to find the person who's ahead of me. And if I need to pay them, I'm gonna pay them. If I need to fly across the road to meet with them and sit down with them for half a day, I'm gonna do it. I don't care what I need to do, but I want to learn from that person, because they have already achieved something that I want to do. And I want to model that person. I don't need to reinvent the wheel. And then on the flip side, one of the reasons why I don't have a bunch of friends is because most people don't think the way I do. And I'm very okay at this point in my life, being married and having like two core friends that I'll occasionally spend time with. And outside of that, I don't need to be around people who are going to disagree or cut down what I want to do, because I've already been around those people. And I don't communicate with anyone who's like that. Period. I cut them out. When I see them, I cut them out immediately. And it's a very stubborn way of living. But why am I going to want to spend time around someone that I don't, that I can't build up and they can't build me up? We should be building each other up as we go. And that's why I'm very ruthless with who I spend my time with. Because I know one little conversation can ruin the whole day. It can ruin the whole month, the whole year, because that can tap inside my mindset. And it can make me think differently about what I'm doing. Yes, I just don't do it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's so true. And I can relate it 100%. Like if I'd surrounding myself with some of my, some of the people that are sort of doing what I'm doing, but they have their own interest, this wouldn't exist. That wouldn't exist. The kids I'm training now wouldn't exist. Puma wouldn't exist. This so. Because I would just be following what they're saying and every single day I'd be confused because they'd be telling me information that's just, that's not me. That's not what I want to do. So I'd lose direction. And I hope they watch this video because they know who they are. So, yeah, 100%. And yeah, it's kids and adults. It's all related. A lot of kids that I work with are more, they're more emotionally stable than most 30 to 50 year olds that I know. They understand what failure looks like. They know how to embrace it. They are often more confident than adults. And that's why I look at it as a long-term game. When I help kids, I want them to be better than me when they're my age. I want them to look at me and be like, dude, I'm so much more confident than Ben. I know I've done my job properly. If they get into their 30s and they're like, I am on this because then I know it's a ripple effect. They can teach other kids when they're older and that's how people develop. Okay. Well, Ben, as we start to wrap up, I always like finishing with this question. And I do believe you asked me it as well when you interviewed me. So I'm going to ask you what this failure means to you. Oh, that's a really good question. I look at if I had to wrap that into one word, it'd be progress. Because a lot of people, what they do is they have ideas. And I'll use kids as an example. When they get out to the game, most kids are nervous. They'll try to do a move in their head, but their feet won't do the move because they're afraid to fail. And they've already failed, though, because they didn't try it. And when they start to build confidence, they will be able to do the move and know if they mess up, it's part of the game. And when you start doing that, you condition your mind that making mistakes is normal. That's necessary. And that's the only way to get better. And off the field, it's the same thing. If I'm going to be too afraid to do something, well, how am I going to know it's going to work? If I do it and I mess up, I will learn and improve and I will get better. And that's why I would say you're going to just fail your way to getting more progress. I fail more than I would say more than the average person. I fail every day. I look at some of the emails I write. I fail. I look at some of the videos I do. I fail. I look at some of the conversations I have with kids. I fail all the time, even as a leader to some of these kids that I work with. But I know the way I get better is by saying something when I should say it, not staying inside of my comfort zone because now I'm being hypocrite to kids. And I want to lead by example. So to me, failure is how you progress. That's the only way. There's no one's perfect. And the most successful people I've ever aligned myself with, they have failed way more than I have. Period. Yeah. Like it. Love it. Love that answer. And the summary as well. So it's cool. All right. Well, now any parents, coaches or kids watching that like your accent, they like the cowboy. How can they follow you? Are you on any social media platforms? Great question. Because I know you have a lot of businesses. So yeah, the I would say the best way if you're a parent or a player watching this, if you go to a YouTube channel, we have it's called online soccer skills.com. We're changing the name of the channel soon. But that's a great way to to coming up in the future, get lessons on how to become more confident, how to have more self awareness, how to be a leader on and off the field. I'm going to be using that channel in the future as a way of doing that. And same thing we kind of did here, like I'm going to be bringing on coaches, they can share wisdom that have already experienced helping a lot of players. And I wanted to be doing that from multiple sports. So players and parents can get a good feel of, you know, how do players become more confident. And I want that that's going to be a great resource. So anyone who's watching this, you can find me there. And if you're someone who's looking to build your business, you can just type in my name on YouTube and that's a completely different channel. Awesome. I'll put that all at the bottom of the video so people can find it. Well, just like to say thank you so much for spending some time with me. I know our conversations always go on for hours and hours. But it's always a pleasure to spend time with you. Congratulations on the progress you're making with coaches, the progress you're making with players. You've changed my life. I say to you every single time. If it wasn't for you, like I said, this wouldn't be alive. And I know you say it's down to me, but it does matter who you have around you and who's guiding you. So it works two ways. I think the student and the teacher. The teacher's good. The student will be good as well. Right. Yeah. I mean, you've put in the work. So you deserve it. I have a question for you though, because I want, I'm curious to know this. And I would feel like most people who are watching would be curious about this. But for you, what is the most I would say fulfilling thing about being a coach for you? Like what's the most fun or most fulfilling aspect of being a coach or I want to say coach, a mentor to the players that you work with? That's a good question. I've got a couple. Cool. I think number one is a bit of a selfish answer, but I like to work out. I use it more as a reason to do exercise. And then the second one, which is probably the main one is when I coach, I see myself when I was younger. And I see myself. So the excitement I see with kids I coach, I see that excitement, how I was when I was their age, how when I stepped onto the field or when I kicked a ball, like no matter what family problems we had, no matter if we didn't have any money, if we didn't have anything to eat, that was what made me happy. And that was what just made my day, my week. And that's what I want to provide to those kids as well, just that experience where they can feel safe, they can enjoy the experience and they can ultimately, when you're enjoying something, you're going to get better at it because you're going to be confident, you're going to be learning. Sometimes I think to myself, my sessions are chaotic and they're not learning anything. But then when we go and play matches, they do things which I think how, how did you pull that off? Right. But they're putting into practice. So, so yeah, I think to answer that. Cool. Those are the ones. That's awesome. I just wanted to say something real quick, because when you were talking about that, it made me think of this, this boy that I used to train. He was 10 years old at the time. His name is Santiago and he's like a Ronaldo Jr. I don't know why he was training with me. He was probably better than me when he was 10. But I remember one of the things we worked on was like, his skill was very good. Like, he's very like his IQ as a soccer player was, was well beyond any kids that were his age. And he would train with some kids that were 13 to 15 years old. And technically, I would say he was better than most of those kids. But one of the things we worked on was his aggressiveness, like going into tackles and just being more physical, like just having like that grit a lot of kids lack. And I remember very vividly, and I'm sure you do this when you're on the sideline, when you see kids going in for a tackle in your head, you're like, oh, I'm going to win it. And then when you see the kid win it, it makes you feel so good. Because you're like, I know I would have gone into that tackle equally as hard. And I remember watching him play after we started working together. And he had this tackle where like it was right in front of me. It was like, and he knew I was there because he could see me, but he tackled this kid so hard. And it was so clean. And I remember watching that. And I was like, dude, that's exactly the intensity that we've been talking about our last couple months. And it made all the other kids over around him on his team better because now they were more intense. And it made him way more confident because now he going to tackles harder than everyone else. And it's really cool because little things like that make for me makes such a big difference. Because I see like something like that. Now when he's older, he's gonna smash kids and tackles. Like he's not going to be afraid of anyone. I was very similar as well. Because I remember where I was, I'm not the tallest of people. And so I used to always struggle heading or 55 headers. But that one header where you win, you're like, do you know what I can do? I can win anything now. Give me, put me up is Ronaldo, I'll beat him in a header. And that's just that confidence. And your coach actually noticed in that and saying to you, do you know what, you don't you don't really well, do it again. So just just that little thing. Right. Yeah, no, I love stuff like that. Because to me, the little details like that make a huge difference. And I'd rather that boy fly into tackles like that than score five goals a game. Because I know he can score whenever he wants. But can he do the things that he struggles with? And when you do those at a high level, you mean, you just become so much better of a player. Cool. I have one more question for you. Yes, I know it's like four o'clock in the morning, your time. But when you think about the kids that you work with, because I'm curious to know, like, what's the number one quality that you look for that, that you know, if that kid possesses this quality, he can, he can go further in soccer. Like, what's that one quality that you look for that you either look to develop in players or they already have that's going to make them thrive in the game long term? Humbleness has to be. And that's, that's, that's something I've had from the age of 19. So any team I coach, I try and keep, I try and treat every single player equally. Even though they might be the standout player, they'll score 19, 20 goals. But I try, I do my best to keep everyone equal and teach that player humbleness, just to be humble, to be a good team player. And because the reason why is because I want him to then turn the other players into good players. But if that player isn't humble, then the other players are just going to be put off by him. Yeah, they're going to hate him. They're going to hate him, exactly. But if he becomes a leader and says, right, let me be that, let me be the role model, which in one of my teams I've got at the moment, I have one player which is quite a standout player. And that's something I'm really working with him because he's grown massively over the last year because since he's been with me and he's turned into a really, really good player. But I feel sometimes he's not, he's not humble. He's like, oh, I'm, you know, I'm messy. And so, yeah, humbleness, 100%. And also just, you know, when you're good, like you don't need to tell anyone you're good. Right. Yeah. Yeah, it's funny. It's funny you say that because I look at some of the, the top players that I've ever worked with, those who are the most humble always got the furthest. Oh yeah. And there was kids that were better than them that did not get as far because their ego or their attitude or their selfishness just always, that always got in the way. Yeah. And I even look at the best players I've ever played with. If I had to rate them, it was always the ones who they were good. They knew it. They didn't even, they didn't even brag about it. Like they, they built everyone else up because how good they were and they could take criticism from, from the coach better than everyone could do. And that allowed all of us to be like, wow, I want to be like that. So that raised the level of the whole team. So yeah, I completely agree with what you're saying. And a lot of kids need to understand that because it doesn't matter how good you are. If you want to really get good, you need to build up your teammates. It's not an individual game. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. And you, that, that one player can turn a mediocre team into a really good team. Right? Awesome, man. I feel, I feel like I tried to take over the interview here. I'm just really curious about that because I've never gotten to ask you that. And and I think those are things that are really important for coaches and players to, to understand because, you know, from a player's perspective, they, they have to know how to manage and lead even at a young age. If they're the best player, they have to learn how to communicate and lift their teammates up. And coaches need to learn how to properly deal with the best player on the team. And, and they might need to treat them a little bit differently. They might need to, to manage their, their ego a little bit different. They might need to call them out a little bit more. Cool. Awesome, man. Anything else you want to chat about? That's it. That's it, Ben. All right. Well, it's been a pleasure. And thank you for, for taking the time out to, to do the interview. I know my, my parents and my players are definitely going to watch it. They're going to be intrigued about, they'll pro, they'll watch the whole two hours, but they'll just watch the cowboy behind you. Right. Hopefully they can understand my, my accent. No, the, the accent's not, no, no problem. They're just going to be hoping that cowboy moves. So it's in the same spot every day. I need to get myself one. I'm going to send you one. Don't worry about that. All right. Thanks, Ben. Take care and looking forward to our next, next interview. You got it, man. Thanks for having me. No problem. Take care. All right.