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On this episode we're joined by the Director of Player Development for FC Cincinnati, Larry Sunderland. He has a wide variety of coaching experience with prior stints as an academy coach with the Portland Timbers and Chicago Fire before joining FC Cincinnati. We discuss his role with the club, his prior experience with the U16 and U17 US Men’s National Teams and what it really means to be a ‘Director of Player Development’. 

In episode 5, we’re joined by Matt Dorman. Matt is the video analyst at NWSL club OL Reign, formerly known as the Seattle Reign. We discuss his role at the club, the process behind match analysis & what he looks for when reviewing games. Prior to his current role with the OL Reign, Matt was the Reign’s academy coach for the 2003, 2004 and 2005 girls teams.

In episode 4, we sit down with Chris Difford. Chris is the Strength & Conditioning Coach for the Women's Team at Bristol City Football Club. We speak about his unique journey as a coach, the collaboration process between first team coaches and the S&C staff throughout the session planning process and his advice for players right now while most programs are away from the team environment. 

In episode 3, we are joined by the head coach of Georgetown University's Men's Soccer program and 2019 National Champions, Brian Wiese. We discuss his start as a coach, how he prepares his teams and what it is like week in and week out throughout the NCAA season.

In episode 2, I sit down with John Ciampa and Steve Lehany. John and Steve both currently work at VYS in the Northern Virginia area. John is the Assistant Academy Director and Steve is the Director of Coaching at the club. We discuss the similarities and differences between the UEFA and USSF coaching courses. We also talk about what it’s like at the Director level of a youth club, what that role entails and more.

In our first episode we sit down with Virginia and Region 1 Coach of the Year, Pepe Maldonado. Pepe talks a bit about his background, the challenges of coaching youth soccer, and the impact we have as coaches, not just on the field but off of it as well.

The Gaffer Podcast is a show in association with the mobile application, Gaffer. Gaffer is a platform where soccer coaches can create and design session plans and share them on their own profiles. We discuss a wide range of topics such as tactical analysis, player development, career paths, and much more. We hope you enjoy the discussions, use the show to broaden your knowledge of the game, and become more involved in the coaching world.