Ep. 41: Leigh Veidman – Head Coach of Spokane Velocity FC

Leigh: Spokane in general is a blue collar city. People work hard in Spokane. When they go out to a game, they want to be entertained. Do they want to win? Yeah, but they want to be entertained. Everyone works long weeks. They spend their hard day and money to come out and watch a game. They don't want to come out and watch some boring soccer. They want to come out and watch some fun games and be entertained. And I'm sure win as well. We needed to bring, bring that, uh, bring that style because that would match our brand to the community and build this whole holistic package together to drive forward together.

Tarek: Welcome to Yallstreet. Today I speak with Lee Viedman, the head coach of the Spokane Velocity.

Intro: 100% legit. So Chris, you want a cup of coffee? I just want to be the best. Thank you.

Tarek: Coach, how about a cup of coffee?

Leigh: Let's do it. All right, let's do it. What have we got here?

Tarek: Coffee. Cheers to you. Cheers. I got this, uh, this coffee cup and it was supposed to say life's about goals and assists. And it says life's about goal and assists. So evidently at Amazon, you're only allowed to have one goal. So we'll talk about that today. What your one goal is.

Leigh: I appreciate that. Thank you.

Tarek: So coach, head coach of the Spokane Velocity, uh, for people listening, explain what the Spokane Velocity is and what the league is about and where it fits in the hierarchy of us soccer.

Leigh: Yeah. So we'll, we'll zoom out first and look at the hierarchy of us soccer. So, um, if you think about a pyramid and then the pyramid is cut into three sections, um, the tip of the pyramid is considered the vision one, which is where the MLS is the major league soccer. Um, and then section two of that pyramid now goes into a different entity, which is called USL United soccer league, which is separate from the MLS. And in that division two, um, portion of the pyramid is the USL championship. And then the bottom portion of that pyramid is USL league one. So you split that pyramid up into three, the kind of the three divisions within us soccer, um, which is where we fall in, uh, in Spokane, which is USL league one in that third division. Um, zooming into Spokane Velocity itself. We as a club started in 2024. So not too long ago. Um, we've got a stadium downtown, um, just outside of the downtown district in Riverside park. Uh, yeah. And we started our journey in 2024. Um, fantastic start to our first year. Um, a good follow up year last year. And here we are at the start of year three trying to push the boundaries a little bit more.

Tarek: So if you're a young soccer player in the U S what is the transition look like for you if you want to go pro? So you start, you know, in youth soccer, let's say, and then you work your way up through high school and maybe college. And then are you like drafted into the, the first level or are you, um, working your way up there through the ranks? Like how does that all work?

Leigh: Yeah. It's, it's very much nonlinear. Um, if you look at the MLS and start with them, the MLS actually has a draft, so you can enter it. Well, you, you, yeah, you enter into the MLS draft and then you get picked up by a team within that draft. And you either go with the first team in the MLS, you maybe get moved to the second team within the MLS structure. Um, so there's that pathway. Uh, you could be identified really early out of high school, um, and brought into a MLS academy or a USL academy and put in that academy to develop and grow as a person, as a player, and then move up through that pathway to the first team. Um, in our case right now at Spokane velocity, we identify the local, um, player two years ago. Um, he went to meet high school, Rocky Wells is his name. Um, we brought him into practice with the team, had him around our environment because we were not quite sure if he as a person had what it took and as a player had what it took. So having him around our environment on a day-to-day enabled us just to analyze him more, assess him more and allow him the opportunity to grow and develop. And then last year in 2025, we offered him a contract to, to sign with our team. So there's very much, uh, a broad spectrum of different ways for you to get into a professional team. Um, which creates more opportunity, which is fantastic.

Tarek: Yeah. Is it common that players from the USL will graduate into MLS? Is it a staging ground for that or, or are the strata typically separate from each other?

Leigh: Yeah. Mostly it's been quite separate. The levels between both, uh, are quite different. MLS is quite high level. USL is high level, but the gap and the jump to go from USL championship to MLS is quite significant.

Tarek: I see.

Leigh: Over the past couple of years, you've seen that jump happen with more players and more coaches, which is fantastic. Um, so that gap now is starting to close, um, as players get better and coaching gets better, development gets better. Um, players are taking that step, which is a huge incentive for anyone young who's trying to get to the highest level. Seeing that actually happen now, it's huge for, for, for motivation, for those kids to get into the game and want to push to the highest level.

Tarek: You mentioned extending contracts to, to players for your team. Is every player on your team, uh, a contracted player? Are they full-time soccer players? Are they part-time? And what is like a typical contract price at that level?

Leigh: Yeah. So within the USL infrastructure, you've got a couple of different contracts. You've got contracts that are essentially full-time, um, a full-time professional every day you're in, in some capacity or on the job in some capacity. That contract could be one year, two years, three years. There can be a two year guaranteed with an option year at the end. So that could be a club option. We decide if we extend that option or it could be a mutual option. So there's different ways you can structure that contract. Then working backwards, you've got what's called a performance-based contract. So essentially if you're not quite sure on a player, you might give them a performance-based contract. That's kind of that mid-level contract to say, you've got four months to prove yourself. You may in within that contract have some triggers that say, if you score X amount of goals or if you get X amount of clean sheets, if you get X amount of stats that will automatically trigger your performance-based contract into a full contract. Now you're a full-on pro. Um, and then the other end of that spectrum is a 25 day contract. So that's typically in place for emergencies. You know, you have got two right backs and both your right backs are injured. Then you need to bring in a short term option. You've got that 25 day contract as well, which can turn into a full contract too.

Tarek: So is every player that receives a contract, essentially a full-time player, or is it likely that they might have a job from 8am to 12 and then come in in the afternoon? How does that work?

Leigh: Yeah. So essentially they are a full-time player, but most environments in the soccer world, you're in practice in the morning. You maybe have some gym work to do after practice or some video to do after practice, but because the training sessions are so demanding and the games are so demanding, you can't work them all day. So for us individually, or sorry, us as a team, we're done around 12 to one o'clock. So the rest of that day is, is if the players want to go and get a side hustle, they can. Um, the financial structure right now is not quite there to for every player to fully support them, um, to just play soccer only, at least in USL league one. Um, but for some it is. So you've got that other end of the spectrum where you've got some guys who are getting a salary that can live off that salary and some who can't and may have to go and pursue other opportunities and bring in some of the financial means.

Tarek: Do you have a sense for how much it costs to start a team? What is that process? Cause I know you've coached a number of new teams in the league. What is that like if I wanted to start a team, what would it cost me?

Leigh: Yeah. I don't remember exactly what the franchise fee is. Um, my estimate, it changes based on league. Um, you know, the lower leagues it's less, the higher leagues it's more. Um, but I'm not a hundred percent sure. I think the last I remember was around 5 million plus to get the franchise. Yeah. And then of course the operating costs around there.

Tarek: Sure. And you gotta get a stadium and all of that.

Leigh: Yeah.

Tarek: Um, switching gears here a little bit, we have the world cup coming up next month. And I know that you're obviously highly involved in US soccer. Explain what this means to the US. Uh, and I remember just thinking back to 1994 if I remember was the last time that the world cup was on us soil. And, uh, we had guys like Alexi Lawless and, uh, you know, they were all over the place and they did a tremendous job in that world cup. Uh, here we are, you know, over 30 years later, US soccer's changed tremendously. It's closed the gap, but there's still, you know, we're still not in the elite group yet. So I'm curious, I guess, just what are the, what are the views internally, uh, within us soccer about what this means?

Leigh: Yeah. It's, it's absolutely huge for the game in this country and in many different facets. Um, if I look back to 2008, when I first moved to the USA, the game then compared to today is in a whole different strategy stratosphere. I mean, what is, has been developed since then, not just with the USL, but with the MLS, the superstars that are now coming over to the US to play who are still in somewhat of their prime, Lionel Messi being one of them. Um, it says everything about where the game has grown to in the country since then. Um, the, the world cup coming here just exacerbates that. It just brings the limelight and the spotlight into where the game is at today. And it's going to help project the game into another dimension over the next five to 10, which is, it's exciting to be a part of personally for me, not just on the coaching side, but I actually also teach coaches as well. I actually work alongside us soccer as a coach educator to develop the next generation of coaches. So I see it from both spectrums as the coach and as the teacher of coaches. So it's really cool to see it from that lens, but you're also seeing business models being shaped around the world cup being in the US, for example, in the USL, there's no promotion relegation in the, in the US. You see those models in Europe and South America, et cetera, but it doesn't exist in the US yet. So what you're now starting to see is the USL has got a very intentional plan, very much shaped around the world cups arrival in the US to bring promotion relegation to the USA for the first time in history.

Tarek: Is that likely? Do you think? Yes, that's incredible. I was going to ask you about that, but it seemed like you were saying earlier that there's this, this gap. So, um, what, what is the model being proposed currently? Is it two teams from USL would move up to MLS?

Leigh: So the finite details are still being worked through, but essentially what it's going to look like, um, if, and when we get there, which is 30 divisions, first division would be USL name TBD. That would be the first decision, the division, probably premier or something like that. USL championship and then USL league one. And then once you've got those three divisions set up division one, two, and three, then you will have X amount of teams from one league drop down X amounts of teams from the league below bump up. And now you create this whole different world of soccer very much to what you see in Europe and South America. Right. Um, so you're seeing business models on a high level being shaped around the world cup arriving in the U S so it's having that big of an impact.

Tarek: What are you noticing or what trends have you seen just in youth soccer? And you mentioned some of the academies and the programs and this level of sophistication, uh, since you've been in the U S

Leigh: you're seeing in general youth soccer for me year on year, every three to five years, you're seeing a big bump in the development of players and players that are coming out of youth soccer teams into high level college programs, highly high level college programs straight into the pros or whatever that may be. Um, and a large reason for that is soccer in some way is a, a white collar sport and the money that is being injected into the youth game is incredible. There's positives and negatives to that. The positives are the fact that now you've got this money coming into the youth game, the level of coaching increases, the level of support and resources for the players, training fields, equipment, um, education above and beyond coaching. Um, money goes into refereeing, um, money goes into parent education. So just the overall bubble that you're putting around youth soccer in general, it puts the kids in an environment to succeed. And now you're seeing the repercussions of that with the college level increasing. You're seeing kids coming out of college at a higher level into MLS and actually sticking in the MLS environment. In the past, those kids would get drafted and it would be like, you maybe need to go to our second team. And you see, you saw some of those, you still see some of that today, but I think in general, the positives are that you're seeing those things coming into, into the youth game.

Tarek: It's surprising to me that you say that soccer in the U S is a, a white collar sport because everywhere else in the world, it's a blue collar sport. It's the sport with the least barrier to entry. You know, you need a ball and a net. You don't even really need a net half the time. And, um, and I'm curious why, why you think in the U S I mean, obviously we have the profile of like the soccer mom and the minivan and traveling to practice and stuff, but, but why hasn't it taken root in the poor areas of the U S?

Leigh: I don't know. I don't know the answer, honestly. Um, generally that's where the more talented players are because that in unstructured environments, um, that out on the street playing, I mean, if I look back to my childhood and I connected to some of those environments you're talking about right now, when the sun came up, I was out with a ball and my friends, when the lights came on, I was back home and I had to be home. But all that time you're out on the street playing with your friends, you've got, you know, some hoodies as goalposts, you're making goals up with a couple of trees, you're playing on concrete, you're playing on grass. You've got one soccer ball, it's yours and you've got to go home for dinner. Now I've got to negotiate with you to stay out with your soccer ball. Um, there's conflict. Was it a foul? Wasn't it a foul? Now I've got conflict resolution. So it's teaching life skills just by playing soccer in those unstructured environments that help in the future.

Tarek: And your environment was particularly rough. I mean, this was inner city Liverpool, right?

Leigh: Yeah, exactly.

Tarek: Describe what that was like growing up.

Leigh: Yeah. Um, very much, uh, a rough area. Um, you ought to have eyes in front and back and the sides of your head. Um, you often walk from the bus stop and try to get home without getting in a conflict. Um, but you know, that side of it was, was tough. But when I look back at it now with the lessons, it teaches you the resiliency, resiliency, it teaches you, um, the things like conflict resolution, the things like negotiating all of those life lessons that you didn't know you needed in that moment. And now you look back and you're like, you know what? I don't know if I would have changed there because would I be who I am today because of those situations? Was it rough? Yeah. Was it, was it difficult at times? Yeah, for sure. But um, I think like most people, your environment shapes who you are.

Tarek: Walk me through your journey a little bit. So yeah, you, you grew up in Liverpool. What brought you to the States? When did you come over? And you know, from the time that you were little, I mean, was it your singular focus, your, your life's goal to, uh, to become a professional soccer player?

Leigh: Yeah, that was it. For me growing up, you, you're, you're born into soccer, you're born into football and you don't really have a choice. I mean, I had two choices in sports. It was, it was football or boxing. And because I grew up in a single parent family with me, mom, um, there was enough boxing going on, on the streets. So it was, she didn't like that. And I remember vividly, um, I didn't tell her this, she knows now, but I didn't tell her this at the time. I joined the boxing gym. Um, so I joined this boxing gym and I'm training and I get to the point where I'm potentially getting ready for a first officially unofficial fight. Um, but it landed on the same day as a cup final. So I had this internal moral decision to make on, well, what am I going to do? Am I going to do this or this? Um, me mom found out and she was like, you know, you're not going to box and you're never going to box. I'm not letting you do it, et cetera. So the decision was made for me. I stuck with football. Um, but you're born into that. They're the only choices. Um, it's Liverpool or Everton and you're born into that with your family. You don't really get a choice in that either. Um, I was on the Liverpool side. Um, but yeah, growing up around that, the goal was always to be a professional footballer. Um, I was 20 when I left Liverpool, there was a team in my city that was set up to give kids the opportunity to get off the street and to go and experience something bigger in life, get out of our bubble in Liverpool, not Liverpool specifically, but my area called Knowsley or Heighton, um, to get out of that bubble and go and experience something bigger. And what that team did every year, they essentially held a tryout. And that team would then go over to Dallas and play in a tournament called the Dallas cup. And they still do this today.

Tarek: On Y'all Street!

Leigh: Yeah, exactly. Um, so there's two teams now that actually do that, I think from Liverpool. So I got into that team and I got the opportunity to travel. We stopped off in New York. We played against Manhattan soccer club. I stayed with a host family. I'm in New York. I'm like, this is insane. Like I just saw this on home alone. Um, so getting that life experience was incredible. We flew down to Georgetown, um, and kind of a crazy situation. Stay with the host family again, Mason Crosby, Green Bay Packers, kicker. Yeah. Stayed with his family. Really random situation, but super cool when I eventually found out who he was and how big he was going to be. Um, and then we go to the Dallas cup and play in the Dallas cup.

Tarek: And around what year was this?

Leigh: 2006 or seven. Okay. If I remember right. So playing the Dallas cup and they always talked about, Oh, scholarship. And I never really knew what that meant. I was like, I get an opportunity to go and play football in America. Fantastic. So I got an opportunity and there was some interest interest from a school in Omaha called Creighton university. Um, Creighton is a great school, fantastic school, good soccer school, good educational school in general. Um, I didn't know anything about it at the time, but I was told, Hey, this is a big thing. So I came over to Omaha shortly after and met with a few people and it was the goal to go there, but I wasn't eligible per NCAA rules. Um, so the, it was essentially go to a junior college, do well in school, uh, do well on the pitch. And in two years when you get your associates, we'll come back, we'll see what we can do. And we'll go from there. And then I got one of the biggest life lessons I've ever had. Um, in that period for me to go to school, I needed a full ride, like where I'm from. And there's no way I could have paid for school, zero chance. Um, I got an opportunity to get that full ride and go to college, Iowa Western community college. And that first semester I young, naive me just couldn't connect the dots of you need to go to school and class to keep this scholarship. And you need to do well in the classroom to keep this scholarship so you can play football. I got it mixed up. I'm playing football. Why do I need to go to class to play football? It didn't click. Very young, naive me failed every class.

Tarek: Wow.

Leigh: Lost my scholarship.

Tarek: Were you partying as well?

Leigh: Yes. Yeah. You know, American pie, you see that back home in England and you're like, this is going to be great. I'm going to go to the U S I'm going to go to college and when I have a good time, I'm going to play football. What better life is that? And slapping the face came pretty quickly after that first five months, that first semester, I had a lot of support around me telling me what I should do and trying to guide me. My coach at the time did a fantastic job, but went over my head. And it was Jordan, 2008, the recession. Before I knew it, I was back in Liverpool, couldn't even find a part-time job. A lot of time of reflection.

Tarek: Yeah. Let's, let's get into that a little bit. What, how did you react to it? What was, what was, you were about 20 at this time?

Leigh: 20.

Tarek: And what was reflection like for you at that age after leaving the U S going back to Liverpool? Uh, was there a period of depression? Like how did you cope with, you know, these issues?

Leigh: Yeah. Um, well, what happened, I found out that I lost me scholarship. I failed. Every class lost me scholarship. And by the way, it was, here's your bill for those classes that you just failed. And then if you want to get your scholarship back, here's what the bill looks like to retake those classes. So now I add these two semesters worth of classes that there was no way that was ever going to get paid. Um, so I'm back home in Liverpool during that period of time. And initially it was everyone else's fault. It was deflect, deflect, deflect. Um, well, nobody told me that I needed to do this to get this to keep the scholarship. And, you know, I'm just there to play football. Why do I need to go to class? Well, eventually it hit home. I was back home. I'd lost one of the biggest opportunities I had to, to break out the bubble of where I lived. People are not supposed to leave where I'm from. You're supposed to be trapped in that ecosystem. Um, and not a lot of people get out and that didn't hit home with me right away, but eventually it did. I'd lost a fantastic opportunity. So I had this bill that I had to pay for. My mom couldn't pay her at home. We were keeping the, the electricity on barely keeping food on the table barely. My mom was working long hours to take care of the three kids she had and did a great job with that and did everything.

Tarek: What did she do for a living?

Leigh: She worked in a liquor store.

Tarek: Okay.

Leigh: Yeah. So, um, she did everything she could to keep us afloat and at home and also raise good kids. Um, so there came a period where that happened and my story somehow got out into the community. I don't know who this person is to this day. And if I did, I would love to meet them. Somebody in my community found out about the story and they found a grant and the funds to give me that opportunity back again. And he said, we're going to give you the money to pay for the classes and retake them to pay for the classes that you failed. I'm going to give you the money to pay for the classes that you need to retake to get your scholarship back.

Tarek: Incredible.

Leigh: So I got a second chance and that was it. The light bulb went off immediately. I went back to school. I passed all of me classes. I got me scholarship back.

Tarek: Let's let's go back to that moment when you found out that that was going to happen. First of all, I guess in the moment, what did that feel like and how did you process that type of gift? And as you reflect on it now, you know, 20 years later, what goes through your mind? And we're going to talk about coaching and leadership in a little bit, but I'm just curious how, how you think about that. That is like, talk about a fork in the road in your life. That is just, you know, one of those moments that you look back on, it's a sliding doors moment. Like you could have gone down this path or you could have gone down this path. Yeah.

Leigh: Yeah. It was, it was a, it was a weird time. I remember going home and lying to me mom about her. I didn't tell her the full story cause I was embarrassed at what I did in some way. Um, so I went back home and told me mom, like, I just can't do it. I don't like America and I, I can't, I can't be away from home. Now the transition to go to the U S right from Liverpool was a real shock to the system. People think just going from one country to another, the language is the same. Like going from Liverpool, heightened Liverpool to council bluffs, Iowa was like, where am I different? This is a different planet. That was difficult in itself. So I came home and I was like, I can't do it. I don't like it. So my mom didn't initially know about this situation. I was quite embarrassed about it and I lied. Um, but eventually the truth came up. Um, and she said as painful as it was for her, you've got to do what it takes to go back. You can't stay here. It's a better life here. I couldn't even imagine what it was like for her to say that to me at the time, you know, um, it's like you're sending your son off. Exactly, exactly. So the light bulb went off for me at that moment in time and we needed to find a way to, to, to make it happen. And we didn't know how that was going to happen, but somebody found out in the community and, and sought an opportunity for me that I didn't necessarily see for myself at the time or at least before that time and gave me that second chance to come back. And here we are 17 years later.

Tarek: What were your observations about the difference from, you know, where you grew up to Iowa?

Leigh: Yeah. It's on the border. Council Bluffs is right on the border to Omaha. So it's basically right there. Um, wow. What a difference. It was day and night. Um, I've come from an environment that is about posture and it is about who's got the biggest ego. It's about who is the toughest. It's about, um, it's about making people scared. It's about looking over your shoulder. It's can I get from the bus stop to my front door without getting in a fight? It's can I get through the school day without getting jumped? It's, um, can I get through the day? Where, where does my next meal coming from? It's that environment to some of the nicest people you will ever meet in your life. And you walk past people on the street when I'm saying hello. And I'm like, I'm used to doing this. You don't make eye contact because you know, you got to get in some type of conversation. People are walking past you saying, Hey, how's it going? And I'm just, do I respond? Is something going to happen here? What a difference. So eventually when you're in that environment, you conform to your environment and now that becomes the norm. And then you really look back to where you came from and you're just like, wow, that was normal. Cause I lived that for 20 years back at home. And don't get me wrong. I love where I'm from. I love where I'm from. It was a tough place to live, but I love where I'm from. But when you look back now to then and some of the fear that you lived in and how that shaped your brain as a child and what that does to you as a human being and adult when you grow up, um, to then live in in council bluffs, Iowa, Omaha, Nebraska, and being around some of the nicest people you will ever meet. It was just like, that is a bigger world.

Tarek: If you're enjoying Y'all Street, please like and subscribe and share with your friends. It really helps the show. Y'all streets, a division of Texas Precious Metals. If you've ever been interested in buying gold or silver, check us out at text metals.com. We take good care of our customers and we're proud to say we do business the Texas way. Well, that diversity of experience I think has to help when it comes to coaching. Because you have people on the team that are from all over the place. You have international players, you have us players and you have to find a way to connect with everybody. There's gotta be some connective tissues. So I am interested in that journey for you. Um, so you come back to the States, you're still pursuing a professional, becoming a professional in, in soccer. I'm, I'm interested in how you eventually got into coaching. So, so walk us through this next period of your life.

Leigh: Yeah. I chased being a professional player probably longer than I should. Um, I graduated from Iowa Western with my associates around 2010. I did find, I did really well on the pitch. Um, I got my school in a good place.

Tarek: You were an all American a couple of times.

Leigh: Good homework. Um, I, I was, um, I tried to go back to division one pathway and NCAA eligibility. Um, was not there, um, to be kind of, they still don't know a hundred percent, know why, but it just didn't happen. So that really hit my opportunity to go to the pros. And the other big downfall I had was that I was an international, which I'll get to in a second. Um, so my pathway then went to the NEIA routing college. So I went down to the University of Texas, um, Brownsville, and I played there for five months.

Tarek: Um, there's a, there's another completely different experience for you.

Leigh: It was incredibly eyeopening. Um, and, and to be candid, I lasted five months there for a reason, because talk about a culture shock going to council bluffs, and then you go to Southern Texas, um, right on the border there, during the time of tension around that border as well at the time in 2010, 11, I think it was maybe 11, 12. I saw some stuff there that I never thought I'd see in my life. Um, and I, I, I didn't want to be around that. Um, I did decent on the pitch, did decent in school. Um, but I wanted to get out of there. Um, the school was fantastic. I mean, talk about an incredible school. It's something you would see in a movie architecture, the schooling was great. The people were great on campus, but the second you stepped out of campus, and Brownsville, the city itself, it's a, it's a nice city, but some of the stuff that goes on there was, it was questionable sometimes to say the least. Um, so I went back to Omaha, Nebraska or Bellevue, Nebraska, and went to Bellevue university, which is where I continue to play. I graduated from there with a degree in health and human performance or exercise science, closed out my playing career there. Um, but I also played what's called USL two or PDR back in the day, professional development league. USL two is essentially the, um, the, the amateur to pro pathway. So I played in that league longer than I probably should. Um, and continue to chase that, that dream. Back in the day, they used to have a USL combine and that combine was down at IMG Academy in Florida, in Bradenton. And there was a couple of USL teams interested in me at the time. So I was really encouraged to go down there. I didn't have any money to go down there. So I had one of my USL two coaches support my financial needs to go down, which was amazing of them. And the combine structure was essentially first day was a fitness test, play a little bit and then play the next day. And all the USL coaches were there. So I go down to this combine and the first day is a fitness test. And that was kind of my thing. Like I was always quite fit. Um, so I did well in the beep test. So, you know, all these coaches come around and want to talk. And this was the light bulb moment for me when I knew it was not going to work out. Are you married? No. Do you have a green card? No. Can you get married? Well, I'm, I'm in a serious relationship, but I'm, I've got morals. I'm not just going to go and get married. Like, um, no, I'm not ready for marriage. They were like, you don't stand a chance.

Tarek: Wow.

Leigh: And the reason for that is, is they only had seven international spots. They tend to only use them when we still have the same rules today. They still, most coaches still use them on seasoned professionals who have got experience in maybe Europe and different leagues. I didn't have that. You don't stand a chance. So that was essentially it for me. The light bulb went off and it was like, it's not going to happen. So I found something to go again for another year or two. And I found a couple of different avenues to try and chase the dream, but it was pretty much not going to happen. And, um, around 2016 was kind of my final year. When I moved to Boulder, Colorado, I played for the USL two team at the time. And I was like, I'm going to give this another push, but I also moved there for a job. And then it was like, yeah, this, this dream needs to switch now and we need to switch that to coaching and give it everything to coaching to get into the professional level and see where this thing goes.

Tarek: Had you always thought about coaching? Was that something that was always on your horizon?

Leigh: No, I started coaching when I was maybe 16, 17 in Liverpool. So you essentially finished high school at 16 at home and then you would go into the equivalent of junior college and then you go and do your four year degree. So essentially at 17, I went into this junior college environment and I started coaching within a what's called a BTEC, like a course, um, and coach then. And when I first moved to the USA, I'd always coached 2008, nine, 10, 11, 12, and beyond. Um, but around that 2016 period or just before 2016, I was coaching college coaching high school. And then into 2016, I took a little bit of a step up into coaching at the time, what was called the development Academy, the DA. So that was kind of a big step for me in my coaching career to get into that environment, expose myself, et cetera, et cetera. So that's when the, the, the, the, the, the switch happened. But since I was 16 up until today, I'd always coached, but just that ambition to get to the pro level switched around that 2016 period when I knew it was not going to happen as a player. What was the first step to becoming a pro? Oh, it's becoming a coach, to become the coach. Um, first of all, coming into the U S is getting an opportunity. Um, when I got that opportunity, those opportunities are usually with kids who were just coming into the game grassroots. It's where you learn how to coach. The kids are learning how to play your, you've got experience playing. So there's some components of that, that you can teach them, but you have no idea how to coach. When you first thought you think you do, because you play and you're like, Oh, I've got this. No problem. Easy. Miles off. Miles off. It was the reality. But essentially through the years, it went from, you know, grassroots players, girls, boys, you know, young teenagers, um, girls, boys to, you know, slowly working up the ranks year on year and working up that soccer pyramid year on year. Um, it was never really an ambition to chase the next thing. It was just be a good person, work hard, be better at your craft, get licensed, get educated, be around mentors and good people who could teach you things. And that was really the target for me was just focus on that. And organically it's kind of worked out for me to at the right time, take a step up in the, in the coaching world.

Tarek: What led to that first opportunity and where was it?

Leigh: It was in 2019. Um, I felt like when I was in Boulder with FC Boulder at the time, my role was to coach in the DA. Um, I'd also was the director of performance for the club. So I kind of a dual role, but I'd got to a point where I was, I had the itch to go and step into the pro world and experience it because it was also personally a switch of my goals from player to coach. And I felt like I was ready for that opportunity to learn and grow in the pro world. So one of my mentors that did my e-license, so it's basically pro A, B, C, D, E, my e-license back in Iowa, way back, there was a Scottish guy who taught the license and you just know when someone's good and you're like, I need to attach myself to you. And that's what I did with this guy. And he'd become my mentor for a number of years. So we'd always talk back and forth about what does it actually take to get to the pros and what do I need to do to be ready? What environments they need to be in? What leadership components do I need to develop in? So in 2019, he had a connection with somebody at a club called Fresno FC, which was in the USL championship in division two that needed a fitness coach. So I'm like, okay, this is great. I've got the experience to do that. My degree was in exercise science. I'd studied a lot of periodization in football, different methodologies, Raymond Verheyen, tactical periodization. I feel like I'm ready for that job, but I don't want to be a fitness coach. I want to be a coach. But this was my way in. So I had to make a sacrifice. So I went out to a convention in Chicago, a soccer convention in Chicago. And the goal was to meet up with this head coach at the time and get to know him. We had some commonalities. He'd grew up in Liverpool. His dad was from Liverpool. He supported that.

Tarek: Same area or different area?

Leigh: General area, Liverpool. Yeah. His dad supported Everton and Liverpool. I was a Liverpool fan, but we had some commonalities, which was a good start. So I met with this guy, we hit it off. We had a good time and he's like, the job's yours. Wow. The job's yours. So we discussed about what that looked like, fitness coach, assistant coach. He's like, I need the fitness coach. So that's your job. But the assistant coach, let's end the respect and trust and all this, and then we'll build from there. So I got me opportunity in 2019 with Fresno FC. So I stepped into that environment in 2019. We get to the end of the year, the team does really well, fantastic experience for me in many different facets. We get to playoffs, team folds, I lose my job. So I just got my first opportunity into the pros. Sorry, the club no longer exists. Your contract is over. My partner at the time still lived in Boulder, didn't fully commit to moving out to Fresno. So thankfully I had somewhere to go back to. So I went back to Boulder and didn't know what I was going to do. My job at Boulder was gone. I had no job. Living in Boulder is not a cheap area to live. My money at Fresno was not great at the time, so it was a tough time.

Tarek: For being such a young guy, you'd had so many crossroads moments in your life.

Leigh: Yeah, yeah. You know, the twists and turns. Yeah, but I guess that's, you know, my life's not different from anyone else. Everyone has the same situations in their own context, right? But it, you know, it shapes you to be a better person, et cetera. But it's been an interesting...

Tarek: And resilient.

Leigh: It is, it is. It builds a lot of resilience, especially in this industry. It's everything's about results. Everything's about, well, he's doing it wrong, or I would have done it this way, or you lose a game. It's like, well, now the pressure's on. So it kind of helps you for this job in many ways. But thankfully, moving into the next period for me was already in the works. I'd made enough connections within the industry and built enough relationships to where another kind of mentor of mine was in the process of potentially getting another job. And I kind of helped him in preparing for that role because I knew the league very well, the USL very well. And he was working in the MLS at the time. We had a great relationship. And his name was John Pascarelli, who's a fantastic mentor of mine. And he gets the head coaching job at a team called OKC Energy in Oklahoma. And he found out about the situation in Fresno. He calls me, I want you to be my first assistant. So I'd got an opportunity right.

Tarek: And that was an upgrade from the job that you were going to have in Fresno.

Leigh: Exactly. So I'd almost got a promotion after that situation at Fresno, which was fantastic. So it was very great of John to bring me into the environment at OKC and put me in the first assistant role. And it was an interesting three years. We went straight into the COVID year and the league closed down. And then the league kind of came back. And then we had some dynamics within the team that were challenging at the time.

Tarek: And more resilience.

Leigh: Exactly. And results were not great at the time. And unfortunate for John, it didn't work out for him. I think it was 20, the start of 21. I think he was released at the start of 21, maybe April, March, something around there. And the club asked me to step in as the interim head coach. So then it's gone from, you know, 2019 fitness coach, second assistant, 2020 first assistant, 2021 head coach, interim head coach. So fast track really quick.

Tarek: You're the inverse Ted Lasso.

Leigh: Yeah, exactly. Without the mustache, I wish I could grow one. So then all of a sudden it's like, well, am I ready for this? You always think you are, but am I really ready? And I didn't know. I didn't know. So I step into the interim head coaching role. I was the assistant. The assistant coach's role was not replaced. The fitness coach's role was not replaced. So I was the head coach. I was the assistant. I was the fitness coach. And then they had some good support staff around me in terms of the operations and the goalkeeping department.

Tarek: So as you're preparing for this responsibility, what are you thinking about? Like how what was your approach? Did you did you have a formal approach? This is going to be step one, step two, step three. This is what I'm looking for. These are my objectives. Or were you just sort of reacting and kind of running it on the fly? How did you approach it?

Leigh: Yeah, we we started the year quite poorly. We were in a if I remember correctly, we were close to the bottom of the league at the time. We had a very dejected group from a confidence standpoint. You could see the lack of belief in themselves. But when I looked at the individuals that we had in the team, we had a pretty high level team. And then if you look at some of those players careers after they left that roster, they were pretty big players in the USL ecosystem after after that period of time. So the first step for me was about bringing belief and confidence back to the individual, because when you bring that back to the individual, that's going to radiate across the team. And it was really bringing them back to the point of what am I good at? Why am I good? Why am I here? Why am I a pro? What makes me good? And really what that was, it was a period of reflection for the individual, showing them old clips of themselves. This is who you are. This is what you can do. So that was really the first objective.

Tarek: So is that what that those meetings were like? So let's say, you know, I'm on the team and I'm going through a little bit of a funk. You'd bring me into the office and you'd sit me down. And it was it was coaching them up and encouraging them and showing them these these old clips. And like, what else was that conversation like, you know, for these players and you?

Leigh: Yeah, it was it was largely around that more reflect them back and looking at the past. But the other big component of it was was that what do you think we need to solve right now? What what was going wrong? What do you think can help us? I don't have all the answers. I still don't today. Am I more experienced today than I was then? I am. But I still don't have all the answers. I still heavily rely on a leadership group within my team today to help me, because if they can help me, I can help them. And it was still the same approach. It was the same approach back then with that with that with that group of players that we had. So there was understanding what they felt and what they needed in the locker room. But it was largely about the individual. It was we need to get you in a good place where you're feeling good about yourself again. So you can just actually go out there and be you and enjoy your football. Because if you look man for man here, we can actually do something with this. But we just don't have the belief to do it. Naturally, because of the results, they weren't great. These things happen. How do we solve that? So we just went into problem solving. And then really the next step of that was as we built through that, it was training. It was training who we want to be. It was training about how we kind of close our weaknesses up. It was training some of the strengths we had in the roster. Now we can go and actually hit teams based on the individual strengths that we had in the roster. It was really just about get your best players on the pitch and find a way to make it work and get results. You have a lot of coaches who have, you know, game models, a specific identity and style that they want to play. And they don't deviate from that. If we lose two or three games, I'm sticking to me and how I want to play. Respect. No problem with that. At that time, I needed to get the trust and the confidence of the group because I'm stepping in as an interim coach and they're all looking at me like, well, can he do it? And I had to prove I could do it. And you prove that by getting results. So I put my idea to football behind me and I found a way with that team, with the help of that team and the individuals in that team to get results. So with the help of them, we got ourselves in a position by the end of the season where we were fighting for the playoff spot. And what a fantastic journey and experience that was with that group. The fight and trust they put in me in that period of time was incredible. And we just missed out on that playoff spot at the end of the season for a couple of different reasons. But what a journey that was through COVID with John, the challenges we faced. John actually talked to the club at the time and said, give it to Lee. Even though we just got fired, like the humility he showed in that moment and the trust in me was incredible. And then the trust of the roster in me and the collaboration that we had within that team at that time to try and to solve the problems that we had was incredible.

Tarek: It sounds like there's a significant mental component to the game of soccer at the individual level. And I'm curious from your perspective, how important that is relative to ability, because there are a lot of guys that have tremendous ability, but are not successful. And there are other guys who maybe aren't the best athletes, but they're consistent and highly motivated. And walk me through what it's like managing the psychology and the different personalities, because I'm sure you have a broad spectrum of introverts and extroverts and go-getters and self-doubters. How do you manage that and how closely do you pay attention to the dynamics?

Leigh: It's people, you got to understand the people first. Everyone that I work with, staff, players, they are people before they are what their role is within the club. They are people before players, people before assistant coaches, people before equipment managers. You got to understand the people that you're working with, whether they come from, what's the background, what's the upbringing, what was it like? The opportunity I had to grow up where I grew up in the environment I grew up in and the life lessons I've had have enabled me to have that self-reflection to connect why I am the way I am today. So I've used that same journey and experience that I've had myself through the mistakes in college, to the challenges with my journey on the professional side, playing, coaching. I use that now to look at the people I work with. What was your journey? What was your background? What was it like where you grew up? What was your family dynamic like? Because that tells you a lot about that person. And then of course, getting to know that person in the now is super important. How do they respond to stress? Do they cower down? Do they stand up to it? Do they get frustrated if they're not playing? The people are the most important thing. And then to the question of managing all of that, it's a never ending battle. It's really tough. You're never gonna keep everybody happy. I've got a job to win. And sometimes you'll be in the team one week, you're not in the team the next. Maybe it's performance and training. Maybe I see the opposition playing in a certain way. And I think the profile of a player that we've got in the team fits that way, fits our game plan to beat that team that we're about to play. There's so many holistic, weird nuances that go into it. But at the end of the day, everybody has got a part to play in that team at some point in that year. And right now it might not feel like that you play that part. And there's a story that I could go into and I'll make this super quick. There was a guy on our team last year that didn't play a lot of minutes. Frustrations all year. We get to the semifinal of USL League One playoffs last year. He comes into the game late. We're losing one nil at home, if I remember correct. He comes into the game late. He makes an action, sets up the assists to score the goal to tie the game. Last minutes of the semifinal. We go to penalties. We win the penalties. We go to the USL League One final again in our second year. He'd barely played all year. But at some point throughout the year, all of the frustrations and understanding that at some point there will be a part to play in this team, he got his moment.

Tarek: And that- Why did you put him in at that moment?

Leigh: There's many reasons. I knew the person and the player that he was. And I knew he could step in in a moment to hit the team that we were playing against. He'd shown it many times with different teams in the past. And that's why he was with us. Because I knew he had the ability to come into a game and change a game. How the team was playing in that moment, super deep, tight spaces, not a lot of time on the ball. That was his genius. He operated at a high level in tight spaces, no time on the ball, and he just made things happen. It was the moment for him to go into the game and make a difference. The nine, 10 months before that, probably the most frustrating nine, 10 months of his career. But I think if you ask them today about that one moment, that's etched into his mind forever. It's etched into the mind of our fans and our community. And mine, it's a powerful story because our sport is brutal. But your time comes at some point.

Tarek: The word that I keep coming back to is resilience. There's resilience in your personal life and that leads to resilience in your professional life. And it sounds like he was kind of persevering through all of these struggles. And his time came. How did you end up in Spokane? Because you've had success at all of your different stops in the journey. So you leave Oklahoma and then you go to Charlotte from there? Charleston. Charleston, okay.

Leigh: So we finished the 22 season. And at the end of that season in about December, I was offered, or November, I was offered the full head coaching job at OKC Energy. So I'd been promoted, signed a new contract and got the full head coaching job. I think it was around October, maybe November. And then in December, I find out the club is going into a hiatus, which was really difficult for me. I just got my opportunity. So the idea was in 22, we'd have the hiatus year and then we'd come back in 23 and we'd rebuild the project. And part of my task for 22 was to get that project ramped up. So that's what I spent most of 22 doing, identifying players who fits how we wanna play internally. What do we need to evolve? How do I continue to connect with the community and the fan base and build those relationships, et cetera. And then I get to the end of 22 and it's, hey, we're not coming back at all.

Tarek: Oh gosh.

Leigh: Yeah, so it was kind of a double blow and it really hurt my career in terms of my trajectory and where I wanted to go. Cause I felt like I did quite well in that 22 season, getting the team from where it was to where we ended up. The team did a fantastic job. And in our world, one minute you're there, your name's in the lights and you're riding the wave and the next minute you're gone. And that 22 year, the 22 hiatus, that was it. Everyone had forgot about 21 and how the team did and all of a sudden I'm irrelevant and that's fine. No problem. It happens now. I've just got to go out there and find a way to get back in the game again and get my opportunity again. I applied for a bunch of different jobs, didn't get them, et cetera. And a friend of mine at Charleston Battery, Ben Perlman, had just got the job at Charleston and a new general manager went in there, Lee Cohen. Charleston had a rough period in 22. So it was a new project, new head coach, new GM, president. It was kind of a new build. And the head coach, Ben, calls me and he's like, hey, I know what your goal is, but if it doesn't work out, I want you to come in and be an assistant and help us build this thing. So I went into Charleston in 2023 and I didn't get the other opportunities I was looking at. And yeah, 23, we killed it. We did a fantastic job. Ben led the show. Me and Devin Rensing, who I'm actually going to see this weekend when we play Las Vegas, were assistants. Lee Cohen was the president that year. We got all the way to the Eastern Conference Final in the USL and we won that. And then we get to the USL Championship Final and we unfortunately lose that in penalties. But what a year. And that helped set me up for, in some way, that opportunity to get back in as a head coach. So we get to the Eastern Conference Final and about a week or two before that, the phone call comes in. Hey, there's this opportunity in Spokane. I think you should apply. So I talk with Charleston. They were like, do it, go for it. So I apply, I get an interview, go through the process. And then it's somewhere between the Eastern Conference Final and the USL Championship Final, I get offered the job. So I'm like, oh, this is crazy. Like I've just got offered the head coaching job. I'm trying to win this final. It was a weird moment in time, but I found the right time to go and talk to Ben and Lee Cohen and they were like, take the job, go. Because I felt loyal and obligated to stay there. I didn't want to step away from a good thing. Is this the right thing to do? I was unsure. It's a new club. You don't always know how these new clubs are going to turn out. A lot of the time in our world, you get all these rainbows and sunshine and this club's going to be great. The budget's this, the resource is going to be this. And then you get there and it's like, where is this thing that you said it was going to be? And at the end of 23, I get the opportunity to come to Spokane and take the job. I come and visit Spokane. I was like, where is this place?

Tarek: And you had immediate success. That's what's so surprising.

Leigh: Yeah.

Tarek: I mean, a brand new club. They had no background. All the players coming into the club had never played together before.

Leigh: Yeah.

Tarek: What was that like? I mean, and I'm sure you're drawing on some of your experience at that point from the OKC experience, walking in and you say it's about people. So was that the first step for you?

Leigh: Yeah. It's everything. It's still today, my philosophy on whatever world I end up in, whether it's still in football or whether it's somewhere else is people are the most important thing. For me, it's always about the person before the player. I wanted to create an environment with good people because I knew in year one, building an expansion team, that is failure. There's going to be a lot of it. There's going to be struggle. There's going to be a lot of lost games. Sometimes a lot of lost games in a row where the pressure's high. And it was important for me to get people around me on the roster and within the staff that had experience in the game in general, but also experience in how to handle those situations. But if I backtrack real quick here, that aligned with the ownership's viewpoint of the club in general. We want people who have got the same experiences within the club as a whole. But the whole package that Ryan and Katie were presenting to me, I knew I could come here and have success at some point. I just didn't know when. But it was about bringing in the right people to achieve that. Then of course, it's the players and staff. You've got to find the right players that fit how you want to play. You want to put a product on the field for the community that is going to be entertaining. Spokane in general is a blue collar city. People work hard in Spokane. When they go out to a game, they want to be entertained. Do they want to win? Yeah, but they want to be entertained. Everyone works long weeks. They spend their hard-earned money to come out and watch a game. They don't want to come out and watch some boring soccer. They want to come out and watch some fun games and be entertained. And I'm sure win as well. We needed to bring that style because that would match our brand to the community and build this whole holistic package together to drive forward together. So year one, completely above my expectations to be candid with you. We scraped into playoffs. We lost our last five games or didn't get a win in our last five games. But thankfully we started the season fantastically well. And that gave us that buffer at the end to just get into playoffs. And then the guys did an insane job. They went on a great run. A lot of resilience shown in the quarters and semis. We got to the final. We lose it, unfortunately. The second final I lost in two years. And then we go into 2025. We had a fantastic foundation to build off. Now we'd earned respect within the USL ecosystem. Players now looked at us and said, whoa, look at that stadium. Whoa, this team just got to the final. Everyone talks in our bubble and in our world and people had had stories and people were like, well, yeah, I kind of want to come and play there. So that sets up a good foundation for us last year to build on that foundation, which enabled us then to push another level in the league. We got ourselves in a position to host a couple home playoff games, which was an insane experience for our community. Having the quarters and the semis at home was, again, an incredible atmosphere and hopefully an experience all of our fans have got etched in their memories. And again, we got to the final in our second year. For me personally, I lost the third final in three years. So it was killing me. But here we are now in the start of our third year. We've already faced a lot of different challenges that we'd not faced in prior years. But I think as of yesterday, we're sitting in a joint first position in the league. Still a long way to go. Still a lot of challenges ahead, but the team has been built on resilience in many ways. And I don't know if that is because of me. I don't know if that's because of my past experiences. I think it just comes naturally in the game. I think when you get into the game and you go along the journey of football and life, I think resilience is just a natural journey that we all go on in some capacity within your own context. And it's put the guys in a position now where they're super hungry to go above and beyond on what we did last year to go another level. And you don't really want to let the community down again and go into two finals and not bringing something back. We've got that chip on our shoulder. Is it going to be easy? It's not. It doesn't work out that way in football where you get to two finals, two years in a row in your first two years. It doesn't mean you're going to do well this year. We may finish seventh or last this year. We don't know. But we're certainly built on some good, solid foundations the past two years and we'll see what comes of this year.

Tarek: So when you look back on the last several years, I mean, you had the big turnaround in Oklahoma. You make it to the finals with Charleston, back-to-back finals with Spokane. Whatever it is that you're doing is working. And certainly I'm sure people in the industry are taking notice of that. I don't want to look too far ahead, but obviously people have goals and ambitions and so forth. Are you hoping to get to the MLS? Is that on your horizon at some point in the future? And what does sort of the apex mountain look like for you in terms of where you want to be as a person and as a coach?

Leigh: Yeah. Candidly, I don't know. I don't know where that is. I've always been the person, I think I prefaced this earlier, is just be a good person, work hard. And I think if you get those two recipes right in life, it doesn't mean success is going to come right away. Yes, I've had some successes the past three years. In our world, you can be eaten alive very quickly and that script can flip very fast. But I think if you get those two things right in life, at some point, something good is going to come. So my focus is here and now. I'm going to continue to focus on what I'm doing at Spokane and building this project here. I'm hungry to really push another level here and bring back a championship. If that means a huge opportunity comes up in three months, three years, five years, great. It will happen when it happens. But I think the experiences in life up to today, in football up to today, it's preparing me for whatever that is next. And am I ready for it? We'll find out when I get there and if I get there. But I tend to not look too far ahead and just focus on now because it's a distraction otherwise.

Tarek: That's good advice. As we wrap up, just a couple of questions for you. You're a US citizen now.

Leigh: Yep.

Tarek: Are you rooting for the US or England in the World Cup?

Leigh: Yeah. I would say my odds are higher of winning a World Cup this year because I'm a citizen of two countries. So I like my odds of winning a World Cup this year one way or the other, but I'll be rooting for both, of course.

Tarek: Very diplomatic, that's a great answer.

Leigh: I'll be rooting for both, of course. I mean, I work for US Soccer. I'm a coach educator for US Soccer. In fact, I just came back from Kansas City yesterday teaching the A license for pro coaches. Yeah. And I've got the US Soccer logo on for the past three days. So the US logo on my chest for the past three days. So that is a part of me that I hope the US does a fantastic job because I've been a part of making the US Soccer team better in my last 17 years by developing the youth, developing the college players, developing pros. So I like to think my part that I've played as a coach is helping make that national team better and stronger.

Tarek: Outside of your allegiance to the US and your love for England, taking those two teams out, if you had to pick one team to win, who do you think it's going to be?

Leigh: It's a tough one. I think it's always difficult to look past the likes of Brazil, Argentina. Yeah, they're probably the two teams that I'm like, they're big teams, they're tough teams. So I think this year there might be a little bit of a surprise to be honest with you. England have always like the almost, the maybes we're almost there, but we don't quite make it happen. So I'd love to see England go on and do well. But something tells me this year is going to be a little bit different. Yeah, I don't know who it's going to be, but I feel like there's going to be a little bit of a surprise.

Tarek: Very good. We haven't talked about your coaching of coaches. And I don't want to leave this interview without asking you about that. You've talked a lot about people. Is that the primary message that you give to young coaches or are there other lessons that you feel comfortable sharing?

Leigh: It is. I think my beliefs are my beliefs and I believe in people before players and coaches and whatnot. So I think that naturally transitions into coaching education for me. Again, I've got to understand who I'm working with. Coaches are on a journey to development as players are. Coaches have gaps. Coaches are strong in areas. I've got to understand that. There may be a personality gap. There may be a communication gap. There may be a understanding of how they learn gap. Are they more verbal? Are they visual? I've got to understand a lot about the person so I can teach effectively and translate information effectively. So that's why for me, the person is imperative before I think about them as a coach or a player. So on this journey of coaching education for me, it makes me a better teacher, which it helps me be a better coach. And flip side, me being a coach in the day to day of what it actually looks like to build a training session, to adapt a training session when something goes wrong. You've got 20 players. Now you've got 15. How do you handle that situation? I can take that now in as a coach educator or as a teacher. And because I'm in that real live environment on a day to day, how do I manage sideways, upwards and down? The ownership come to you and say, you've lost three games. Hey, what's going on? So I live those real life experiences that I think I can translate to those student coaches. So selfishly it helps me on the coaching side, but also I like to think I'm helping the next generation of coaches as well.

Tarek: That's great. Well, in learning about you and your story and learning about the team, I've become a fan of yours and of the Spokane Velocity as I'm sure people listening to this are going to be as well. So if people are interested in following you and the team, where would they do that?

Leigh: I don't use social media too much to be honest. I kind of block it out. There's too much noise on there for me. But yeah, Spokane Velocity FC, obviously based in Spokane. One Spokane stadium is the stadium downtown Spokane and our website is uslspokane.com Schedule is on there. You can also go to uslleagueone.com and see the Spokane Velocity schedule on there. You can follow us on all of our socials, YouTube, Instagram, X, et cetera. The media team do a good job on there in terms of marketing us. So all the normal channels that you would scroll through day to day on your breaks, you can find Spokane Velocity on there.

Tarek: Fantastic. Coach Lee, thank you so much for joining us on Y'all Street. Go USA.

Leigh: Cheers.

Tarek: Cheers.

Outro: Cheers. How do y'all drink this? That's the Y'all Street right there. Yeah, stop and watch it a bit.