Episode 48: The MLS Academy Difference; a chat w/ Steve Covino

01/03/22 • 65 min

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Welcome to the 48th episode of the In The 11 Podcast! Today we are joined by Steve Covino, one of the coaches selected for the 2-year coaching course hosted by the French Football Federation. Steve shares his journey to becoming a coach and how things have changed in the field of Soccer over the years. Steve shares the hardships that are necessary for an aspiring coach to go through to make sure that they are as seasoned as a person as they would want their students to be. Taking both inspiration and lessons from the people that have been a part of his continuous path in coaching, Steve perseveres and shares more about his insights on Soccer as a coach.

How the career started:

Early mornings, late nights, and 24 hours of passion for the sport made Steve want to coach the youth and help them not only improve but to be able to build a career out of the sport. Being inspired by his father and previous coaches from Siena College, he experienced different hardships just so he could realize his goal of wanting to guide children into becoming great athletes.

The changes in the playing field: Stepping out of college years ago, was a difficult start for Steve because the sport, popular as it is back then, is not as properly promoted in the US as it is now. Not only that but as one does when pursuing a career out of passion, albeit, Steve believes that the US is a sleeping giant in global terms as national team players continuously compete with other countries in different leagues and the numbers are steadily rising in both players and promotions.

About Steve Covino:

A native of Bristol, Conn., Covino was named to the NSCAA/Performance Subaru All-North Atlantic Region Team and to the All-MAAC Second Team as a senior midfielder for the Saints in 2010. That season he posted career highs with eight goals and 20 points. Covino played in 71 games over his career with the Saints, making 69 starts. He was also named to the All-MAAC Second Team following his sophomore season.

Outline of the Episode:

[02:28] How Steve Covino started in the field
[05:58] What inspired Steve to become a coach
[08:11] What happened next after Siena College
[10:49] How professional Soccer changed over the years
[16:38] How Steve decided to coach rather than play
[23:31] How the professional field grew
[24:58] What Steve does to progress his career further
[26:44] The ups and downs of the journey
[33:28] How did Steve maximize his opportunities
[42:36] The intricacies of the sport and coaching
[45:33] The experience with the French Football Federation
[49:18] Impact of the experience with learning from other cultures
[52:26] What’s it like for Steve to see his players develop
[56:43] How Steve sees the US in the professional field

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Episode 48: The MLS Academy Difference; a chat w/ Steve Covino

How the career started:

About Steve Covino:

Outline of the Episode:

[02:28] How Steve Covino started in the field
[05:58] What inspired Steve to become a coach
[08:11] What happened next after Siena College
[10:49] How professional Soccer changed over the years
[16:38] How Steve decided to coach rather than play
[23:31] How the professional field grew
[24:58] What Steve does to progress his career further
[26:44] The ups and downs of the journey
[33:28] How did Steve maximize his opportunities
[42:36] The intricacies of the sport and coaching
[45:33] The experience with the French Football Federation
[49:18] Impact of the experience with learning from other cultures
[52:26] What’s it like for Steve to see his players develop
[56:43] How Steve sees the US in the professional field

Connect with In the 11 Podcast!

Become a Patron: https://www.patreon.com/inthe11pod

MYSTERY SPORT: https://www.mysterysport.com/

AT CHECKOUT USE CODE: inthe11

Follow the Show: https://linktr.ee/inthe11

Subscribe to the Show on Youtube:

Previous Episode

Episode 47: Shark Bites, Selling Danish Fish And Playing For Landon Donovan: a chat w/ Chase Boone

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Episode 47: Shark Bites, Selling Danish Fish And Playing For Landon Donovan: a chat w/ Chase Boone

Welcome to the 47th episode of the In The 11 Podcast! Today, joining us is San Diego Loyal SC’s forward, Chase Boone. While he did not go into a D1 school, he proved that it takes personal work to build your career and become a professional player. In this episode, Chase looks back into how he got started in his soccer career and his experiences along the way. As always, there is a lot to unpack, so stay tuned and enjoy!

Getting Back in the Game

Every player’s misery is having an injury. It is a domino effect from there – surgeries, rehabilitation, pain – and there is the possibility of not playing ever again. Chase had his share of experience getting injured. It happened at the end of training in Denmark. Chase was pinning the center back and took a touch with his left foot to shoot. When Chase planted his foot, the other player stepped on his foot. Chase rotated his body, but his lower leg was stationary, resulting in a blown knee. His patellar tendon got torn, and his kneecap was up on his thigh. Because of the injury, Chase could not continue playing for the team and had to undergo a series of surgeries.

Chase had been in a straight leg brace for three months, got the wire taken out, and started rehabilitation after another three months. Unfortunately, his leg lost as much muscle mass as Chase described it looking like a twig, which got him very emotional. His dad went to Denmark to assist him and eventually flew him back home to the US. Despite suffering from the pain and going through recovery, Chase was lucky he did not miss out much on the games since the pandemic hit. It was a good thing he got back to his feet to try out for the San Diego Loyal SC. The injury was a thing in the past but served as a reminder for Chase to rise every time he falls.

About Chase Boone:

Chase Boone joined SD Loyal 13 games into the 2021 season after signing July 24. Boone, 25, is from Beaverton, Oregon, and played college soccer at the University of Redlands. He is coming off a stint with Thisted FC in Denmark. Boone is a versatile attacker who is two-footed and good in the air. He impressed the coaching staff during a trial period. He made his SD Loyal debut the same day the club announced his signing, coming on as a sub against Phoenix Rising FC.

Outline of the Episode:

[0:01:35] Started at junior year in high school playing soccer

[0:04:26] Desire to be on the national team

[0:08:34] D1 does not equate to becoming a pro; personal work does

[0:13:19] An overview of the trials Chase went to and going overseas

[0:20:54] How to rise above difficulties in trials

[0:24:24] Chase’s experience in Scotland and how he ended up in Denmark

[0:33:25] Job hunting out of need

[0:38:03] What was it like living alone in a foreign country for trials

[0:40:56] The not-so-easy experience in Denmark dealing with an injury

[0:47:09] Rehabilitation in Denmark and coming back to the US

[0:54:05] Recovery and bouncing back from injury during the pandemic

[1:02:25] Smooth trial for San Diego and playing for Landon Donovan

[1:06:42] What comes next for Chase after wrapping up the season

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Mentioned in this episode:

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Next Episode

Episode 49: Dublin To Greenville, Trials To Game winners And Everything In Between ; a chat w/ Jake Keegan

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Welcome to the 49th episode of the In The 11 Podcast! Today we are joined by Jake Keegan Stiker for the Greenville Triumph and former player for the likes of Forward Madison, FC Edmonton, Galway United, St. Patrick’s Athletic, FCA Darmstadt and Binghamton University.

How the career started: Jake’s career was met with a lot of “no’s” early on as he partook in 9 trials before finding a club to call home. He reflects on those times as some of the most stressful and difficult in his career but also ones that he remembers very fondly. As he continued to grind his way through the professional soccer world he began to find success through the help of grit, determination, hard work and a few connections that provided some lucky breaks.

About Jake Keegan:

Played 4 seasons of NCAA Division 1 soccer at Binghamton University, He became the school’s all-time leading Division 1 goal scorer and was drafted in the 2013 MLS Supplemental Draft by the Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer.~On September 1, 2013 Keegan signed with FCA Darmstadt in the Verbandsliga, the 6th division of German soccer. After being drafted by the Philadelphia Union in January 2013, Keegan trained with Maccabi Haifa (Israel), FC Lustenau (Austria), Harrisburg City Islanders (USA), New York Cosmos (USA), Austria Lustenau (Austria), FC Hard (Austria) and Usinger TSG (Germany) before signing in Darmstadt.

On January 29, 2014, Keegan signed with Galway FC in Ireland First Division, the 2nd division of Irish soccer. On December 1, 2015 Keegan signed with Canadian side, FC Edmonton who played in the NASL

On February 4, 2018, Keegan signed with St Patrick’s Athletic who play in the Ireland Premier Division, the 1st division in Ireland. Keegan finished up the season as Pats' top scorer with 9 league goals, 12 in all competitions.

On January 10, 2019 Keegan signed with Greenville Triumph SC who play in USL League One, the 3rd division in the United States.

On January 26, 2021, it was announced that Keegan had signed with Forward Madison FC of USL League One.

After spending the 2021 season in Madison, Keegan returned to Greenville on December 21, 2021.

Outline of the Episode: