SPEAKER_01 0:01

Welcome to another episode of From the Park Bench, where an artist and an athlete sit, observe, discover, and inspire the communities of arts and sports. Because we believe that arts and sports matter and play a huge role in shaping our youth. Will we connect? Will we collide? Will we achieve common ground on the topic today? Find out as we talk From the Park Bench. Good morning, Ted.

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Good morning, Kamala.

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How are you?

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I'm doing pretty good. Anything new with you? I'm

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good. I'm glad you're good. I'm good as well. And yes, well, over the past weekend, I had the most incredible weekend. I can't even describe it. I've been journaling about it, actually, because what I experienced, there were so many wonderful moments. That I don't want to forget. And even talking about it now. Oh,

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really?

SPEAKER_01 1:01

Yeah. It was

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you and your daughter, right?

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So me and my daughter went to Oshiega. So Oshiega, for those that don't know, and even I didn't know this, it's one of the... I think it's one of Canada's biggest festivals, if not the biggest festival in Canada. Okay,

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how many people

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approximately? So, great question. Over the course of three days, every day, there was approximately 50,000 people.

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Wow,

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okay. And if you don't, it's in Montreal, and I've never been to Montreal. I think I've been there once in the winter, but I've never been there in the summer. I've never been to this island, and I don't know even... Jean Parc. Jean Parc. I think it's right. I don't know. I'm horrible and I'm so sorry to everyone that lives in Montreal and even to Jean Parc. What I can say is it was beautiful. So beautiful. Where the festival was situated around me, I was just so grateful to be a part of something so... The words I can use to describe are magical, love, peaceful, emotional, community, dirt. It was very dirty. But it was such a wonderful experience. You know, people think festival, mosh pit, lots of people. It wasn't. I looked at it and there were so many wonderful moments between me and my daughter and not just... with us, but with other people and the people that we talked to and the people that we

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met. So a real sense of community at that event.

SPEAKER_01 2:35

So even in line to get into something while you're waiting, you have a sense of community. As we're leaving this island and getting on the Metro, there's a sense of community. We're all there for the same reason, singing to an artist that is on stage. The artists were getting emotional. You have a sea of people that are united by this love of music and community. It's palpable how it was. And it makes you emotional to be there in that moment. There were a couple times where it just gets to you because it's just so... So special. So community was a huge, huge part of the weekend. Amazing. Yeah, it was.

SPEAKER_04 3:25

Excellent. So we're excited actually today to have our first in-studio guest. I'd like to introduce Jesse Bergens. He is the new executive director for West Ottawa Soccer. Great to have you, Jesse. Thank you, Ted. Thanks for having me,

SPEAKER_03 3:40

Camilla. Thank you for having me as well.

SPEAKER_01 3:42

I'm so excited to have you here. First guest!

SPEAKER_03 3:45

Exactly. No pressure. No pressure.

SPEAKER_01 3:47

We've always wanted it. We're like, we can't wait for our first guest. It's wonderful to have you here. I guess I need to set the tone. Yeah, that's right. Set the bar high. Yeah, no pressure, no expectations. All right,

SPEAKER_04 3:59

first question. So I do have the first question. So tell us a bit about West Ottawa Soccer and for the people that are listening and the role that you will be playing there starting, I guess, probably a month ago.

SPEAKER_03 4:13

Yeah, so I've been here about two months. West Ottawa is a soccer club in Ottawa. We're probably one of the largest clubs, I would say, member base in Canada. So... I mean, don't quote me on this exactly, but I think we're between 7,000 to even 10,000 on a good year. I know COVID had a big part to play with that, if anybody remembers COVID. But, you know, it's a club that, you know, coming into the club, I've always known about West Ottawa. I've always known it was a few clubs that amalgamated to become one central club that, you know, provides top-down service to everybody. So, yeah. my role is the executive director i guess you could say formerly known as the gm general manager is what it was called before but with a bit of a restructure in terms of how we do things how we want to accomplish different goals the title was changed from general manager to executive director so my job is essentially overseeing the entire club and operations and just guiding our Right.

SPEAKER_04 5:18

Amazing. And you actually, in our chat before, you mentioned, because you've come from Suburban FC, which is on the east coast of Scotia, but you're originally from the Ottawa area, correct? Correct. Yes. Interesting. Great to have you back.

SPEAKER_01 5:35

Well, so I... Is the name... Because... I mean, it's maybe obvious in the space, but it's a non-for-profit organization, right?

SPEAKER_03 5:46

Yes, it

SPEAKER_01 5:46

is. And most sports clubs are non-for-profit.

SPEAKER_03 5:50

Yes, most clubs that are operating in standard with Canada soccer are non-for-profits. You might find a few for-profit clubs or academies out there, but generally the ones that are in line... You know, up to standard, you would say is mainly the non-for-profits. For-profits are typically like your professional clubs.

SPEAKER_01 6:14

Right. And was that also the reason for perhaps the name of the role, like the... the name of the role change is because normally not-for-profit, you have your executive director. Is that kind of why, whereas a GM would be more of that typical organization? Yes, it could

SPEAKER_03 6:34

be. It could be. Really, I'm just bridging the gap between, you know, the board of directors and the staff.

SPEAKER_01 6:40

Yeah, which is usually the case. And the

SPEAKER_04 6:43

title is sort of interchangeable. I mean, you'll have executive directors or GM sort of across the sort of

SPEAKER_03 6:49

non-profit industry. I think it's more for preference in terms of names yes I think generally both roles do similar things yes so I mean give or take who knows what an executive director is who knows what a general manager is it's all the same

SPEAKER_01 7:05

it is you're

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running the business of the club yes

SPEAKER_01 7:07

exactly and so and Ted you touched on this is that you've come from the east coast but tell us a bit about that kind of your career story and And what led you here in terms of how you progressed from Ottawa out east and then back again?

SPEAKER_03 7:28

Yeah, I mean, my story is a unique one. I grew up playing soccer here in the Ottawa region. I played for this club, Ottawa Fury, back in the day, when it first started, actually, as a youth. So I played Ottawa Fury as my youth. I grew up. I played Cumberland. which amalgamated into a merger with Cumberland Cap United and then turned into Ottawa TFC. So I played and then I worked there for a bit. But I was also in the retirement field. I was in the retirement home industry where, you know, I went from pretty much cleaning the home to running the home sort of thing. And then I became, I took a leap of faith. Put it that way. And I went into the soccer world. At the time, the soccer world wasn't really known as, hey, we could get jobs like that in the soccer world. But I became like an administrator. And then I grew. I grew within that. Having played, I became a technical director, director of operations, things like that. And then I was recruited to go out east. And I took it. And to be honest with you, at the time, I was thinking to myself, why did I do this? But everything happens for a reason because right away COVID happened.

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So

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with COVID happening, there was a lot less restrictions out east than there was here. So I was able to operate even more out east during that time frame than here. Who would have known what would have happened if I would have stayed, right? You don't know.

SPEAKER_02 8:56

No.

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I mean, I left at that point. I went out east. Suburban FC was another amalgamated club. For the first time, Suburban and a few other clubs joined together to become one central service club, which made it the largest club in the Atlantic Canada. So I was fortunate enough and blessed enough to manage that club, which we saw tremendous growth over the years that I was here. And then fast forward to now, my family's back in Ottawa. Again, the opportunity came for me to come back. And honestly, it was a hard decision. It wasn't easy. But then, you know, I made the decision, you know, you know what? Why not take that leap of faith again? And here I am today in the middle of everything.

SPEAKER_01 9:41

That's amazing. I love how those risks to change have paid off for you, you know, in a sense. And the story that you have now. I always use the analogy of your career is like this snowball, right? And it constantly rolling and all these experiences that you're learning and you're just getting bigger and bigger knowledge of people. Is there anything from the retirement home experience that you take with you and apply to your role today? Yeah, I mean,

SPEAKER_03 10:11

there's a lot of things. So, like, I remember the number one thing that we asked ourselves when we were in the retirement field is if and when your parents get older one day and they need to go to a retirement home, would you bring them to that home?

SPEAKER_04 10:24

Hmm.

SPEAKER_03 10:25

And that question really stuck with me because then I looked at everything. I'm like, that happens in the retirement field. It's like, there's good things. There's sometimes neglect that you hear about and compliance issues and so on and so on. I'm like, you know what? We have to do such a good job here in the retirement field that you want to bring your parents there one day. I take that with me into the soccer world.

SPEAKER_04 10:46

At

SPEAKER_03 10:47

a club. If you have kids, which I do have young kids, and it's almost like, well, would I want my kids playing for that club? Like legit, would I want them playing for that club? And I look at it from those lens and everything within the development scheme, I want to make sure that, you know, at least my kids are happy playing there from all angles, you know, the sense of community, development, education. coaching you know the players around what type of people are you developing are you pushing them to their limits do they have experiences do they have opportunities things like that and it's something that for sure that I've brought into the soccer world I brought it with me to suburban it's something that I'm It is here at West Ottawa and it will continue. And we'll see that over the months and the years as we go in terms of just, you know, not looking to the left or to the right to see what is this person doing that, you know, it's, it's what are we doing and how good are we going to do it? And that's the standard. And my standard is very high in that regard.

SPEAKER_04 11:45

That's amazing. I think it's interesting that, uh, to have that perspective from the previous job. Because I think that's what makes you successful as an executive director, a general manager, is to really take ownership of what's happening at your club. And that lesson to get so early from outside of the sports space is pretty amazing. Because it really resonates when you think about, would I want my parents to come to this place as they get older? It's really important, yeah. It's on the other end of the scale for more kids, but I love it.

SPEAKER_03 12:15

But you know what, though? You say on the other end of the scale, but when I worked at a retirement home, I was also coaching and it felt almost the same.

SPEAKER_04 12:22

When

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I would interact and work with some of the elderly, like I worked in a lot in memory care and assisted living. And the way you would have to treat them is a lot like the way you had to treat the kids. So I created that type of analogy between the two because I would go from one job to the next job. And I'm like, geez, a lot of it is the same. You have to handle with care. You really have to know what you're doing and want to do what you're doing.

SPEAKER_01 12:49

And to that regard, it's really just... Um... this compassion for people. Exactly. Right? That's all it comes down to. And the care and the passion of doing what you're doing, but the compassion to the people that you're doing it for.

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An honest compassion

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towards it. Genuineness, for sure. I love that.

SPEAKER_03 13:09

That's amazing.

SPEAKER_04 13:11

And full disclosure, I was on the board of West Ottawa Soccer as we began the search. I'm no longer on the board now. So we were very excited about some of the candidates. I didn't know who Jesse was at the time, but clearly I can see why... Yeah, the club is very excited to have you on board. It's amazing. Yeah, and it's funny, too. In one of our first chats, we talked about the retirement home that you started at here is actually a current sponsor of the club, which is just sort of a funny full-circle moment.

SPEAKER_01 13:37

Yeah, yeah, that is, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 13:39

So in the role of the ED, I mean, with Minor Sports, and you've got some experience, obviously, what do you feel is like the most challenging part of the job and what's the most rewarding for you?

SPEAKER_03 13:49

Um... Honestly, the most challenging part I would use, it's the output versus outcome sort of thing. You feel like you're doing so much sometimes, but then you don't necessarily see it because really how you see it is on the field. Are your teams performing? So being new, coming in and seeing what are the teams doing right now? What are some of the tasks that you need to do in your role in order to make the whole ship run smoothly? sometimes you feel like there's so much output, but then the outcome, you're like, ah, I'm not seeing it yet, you know? And it's just the patience aspect. If you don't really have patience, then this is not for you. But in terms of like having patience and trying to see it through and just understanding its steps, just taking mental note, like, okay, just make sure this place, this aspect is taken care of. I feel and I know the results on the field and everything that everyone else sees, it will come. And I think it goes back to that same, you know, earlier we were talking about, you know, just, you know, the fear, the fear of like stepping out and trying new things. And it's almost like I was reading this thing the other day and it said, you know, what is the greatest fear of a human being? Yeah. What do you think it is?

SPEAKER_01 15:10

Change.

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No. Yeah. It's a question, not a trick question. Yeah,

SPEAKER_04 15:17

no, no. I'm used to trick questions. The biggest fear for people? Yeah. Is it the, what did you say? Change. Change. Failure? That's

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part of it. Public speaking.

SPEAKER_02 15:31

No.

SPEAKER_03 15:32

Here we are. That's funny. Public speaking. And then in the top five, you have public speaking. You have failure. You have disappointing your peers. So all of those things, when you think about it, it's almost like, OK, there's so much fear happening right now.

SPEAKER_02 15:46

Right.

SPEAKER_03 15:47

That it's like, OK, well, I'm afraid to step out. I'm afraid to do this. I'm afraid to X, Y, Z. But I feel like. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. then I think you're at a good place in the sense where, okay, like the real thoughts and the real creativity and the real artist is going to come out.

SPEAKER_01 16:22

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_03 16:24

Exactly. You just said it where

SPEAKER_01 16:24

the camera was. Well, and we have talked about that before, even in the, in our previous episode about, especially for kids starting something, you know, and, and going down their path of passion because there is a risk.

SPEAKER_02 16:39

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 16:39

Sometimes you are taking a leap of faith in, in the path that you're going down because but there isn't any guarantee in anything. Even if you're like, this checks all the boxes in terms of low risk, but then you take it and then COVID happens or the company goes under, there's always something that's going to happen. Everything is a

SPEAKER_02 16:58

risk.

SPEAKER_01 16:59

And if it's a little bit of a higher risk, but the most important part is what's leading you, right? And I think listening to your heart and listening to your mind and your heart simultaneously and like, I don't know if this is going to work, but I'm just going to try it, right? Yeah, I

SPEAKER_04 17:15

fully agree with that. Well, you've taken that risk and it's paid off, right? I mean, it's kind of got you to where you are today. Exactly. And everything you do, even whatever job you have, you take those lessons and it adds to what you're doing. It's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 17:27

It turns into it. But you did mention leadership. And I think that's something that I'm always curious about is when a leader steps into a new role in an organization, right? And I've seen this before. And the reason that when you asked, what are people afraid of is change. Because when a new leader comes in, then people know change is going to happen. Is my job affected? Is my role affected? Will I be exposed for perhaps not doing certain things or will they know how much I've done in the time that they're here? So when a new leader comes into an organization, there is a bit of a ripple of fear of change. How did you experience that and how do you navigate that as a new leader? I think

SPEAKER_03 18:15

it's natural for people to feel that way. For me as a new leader, and it's not the first time I'm a new leader there's a few things where you know you want the team to be operating at a certain level and now given that you're in a new spot so your team might not know that level for example or your team might not know who you are and then as the leader coming in I could do it many different ways I could say well if you're not doing this then hey we need to get someone new right away but I think what we're missing is the human aspect of things like you're dealing with people Everyone is different. And anywhere you go, you're going to find different people to do the same thing that you want to accomplish. The number one thing is just building the relationship with that person. And I think for me, that's something that I would like to think that I'm good at. Building a relationship, getting to know the person, understanding, okay, what is that person about? Where can they fit within the organization to get the best out of them? And that's really how I try to approach things. And if... what we're trying to accomplish is meant for that person. I think that is where it comes into play in terms of, you know, the scary aspect. But it's really not scary because you go through a process of, you know, building that relationship, understanding, you know, do we have a mutual benefit in terms of what we want to accomplish? I think for the most part people do. Yeah. So...

SPEAKER_01 19:38

The why is aligned.

SPEAKER_03 19:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 19:41

And I think most people that work in the minor sports field are there for a reason, right? So... Not 100%, but when you're in that space, they're probably there because they want to be. They're probably there because they want to affect change or be a part of the community. So as a new leader, at least you know that should be there. And I like what you're doing to give them a chance to kind of get comfortable and know that it is scary. Maybe the previous boss was like, oh, I really got along with them. And is it going to be the same here? So it's a really careful approach. process you have to follow

SPEAKER_01 20:12

and to your point relationships are important and they're people so listening to them and building that trust with them I think is something that clearly you're doing and it's just part of your makeup anyways as a person

SPEAKER_03 20:25

ideally you know I try to tell everybody we have to be growth minded and we can't be stuck on this is how everything has always been done the perspective has to be different and really and truly sometimes you're looking at the same thing And the only way to get a different outcome is to change your perspective on it. Because the thing's not going to change. It's just how are you going to approach that thing, right? So I think if everybody gets on that same page, then we could do beautiful things.

SPEAKER_01 20:54

And that's so true, that statement. And I've experienced a non-for-profit in various spaces. And I feel that often in a board of directors, there is that mindset of, well, this is how we've always done it. Well, this is how we've always done it. And it's a little trickier to show them that let's take that risk. Let's make a bit of a change. It

SPEAKER_04 21:18

can be. I know having been on the board, I think Jesse has a good board to support him. I know you're not saying that they're not. No, like type of board. Yeah, they want someone that is going to do the job and kind of be that leader. So clearly it's why they picked

SPEAKER_01 21:35

you, Jesse. But having a good board that's open-minded, that's the important part. No, exactly. Because that is sometimes something that you do come across. 100%. We've always done it, so why should we change it? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 21:47

And this is such a big club. Jesse's right. It's one of the biggest clubs in Ontario. So there's so much opportunity. There's so much that can be done. It's exciting. And I think he's probably in a good position there in terms of the board. Yeah. But, yeah, I agree with you. I mean, that's kind of the world that we live in. And

SPEAKER_01 22:08

I wasn't, like, dissing the whistleblower. I clearly hear it,

SPEAKER_04 22:11

Jesse. So the panel is not welcome in the audience. Are you dissing the

SPEAKER_01 22:15

board? Yeah, no, I am not dissing

SPEAKER_04 22:16

the board.

SPEAKER_01 22:17

But a lot of times that is what you hear. That is a common statement that comes at a board. So sometimes that is just a blanket statement. And I am one to say I don't like blanket statements, but I just

SPEAKER_04 22:28

made one. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Interesting. So regarding your career, if you were to give advice, and obviously you have taken some pretty important steps in your career, what advice would you give at an early age to yourself and to other kids if you were to kind of look back? What would you say to those

SPEAKER_03 22:46

kids? I think we said it throughout this podcast so far. Don't be afraid to fail. Take risks. Follow your heart. Those are important things. And I know we hear it all the time on movies and all, follow your heart. Really and truly though, if there's something that you have a passion for, go for it. Because then you don't feel like you're actually working. It almost feels like, hey, I'm just living life doing what I enjoy to do. But it's a job. So I think that's the number one thing I would tell myself at a young age. I remember going through that process of like, what do I like to do? Check. What types of jobs are out there with what I like to do that makes money, X, Y, Z, that checks all the boxes. And you might never find it all check in the box. But I do believe that if you take that risk to follow what you're passionate about, what you've probably been placed on earth to do in some capacity, All the rest will come because that's the unknown part that we're always worried about, which prevents us from taking that step into doing something we want to do. It's a great

SPEAKER_01 23:51

point. And we did talk about that on our previous episode about kind of knowing your why. And, you know, you think that that should be something that should be talked about when you're older. But just how it's said and how it's phrased, even for our kids, we can say, you know, like, what do you love? What do you want to do? You know, where do you envision yourself? And I think having those conversations with children at an early age, I think, is important.

SPEAKER_04 24:17

And I like the idea of taking the risk, right? Like, everything in life is a risk, as I think you said earlier. Yeah. the fear component stops you from doing it. And I did say this in a previous episode. It's when you're young, it's the time to take all the risks because you have less on the line. You can learn from those risks. And clearly, again, it has worked for you. And it's not always a straight path, right? I mean, you didn't start in sports. And I think we talked about this before. There aren't a lot of jobs in sports. So when you see it and you've positioned yourself, grab it. And then you have that chance to grow. So

SPEAKER_01 24:53

looking at that young Jess, If we were to, you know, we always use the analogy of the foyer of life. If there were two doors, arts and sports, young Jesse, which door would he gravitate to? Sports. Of course. I know. It wasn't obvious, but I thought maybe there's an art. But

SPEAKER_03 25:14

you know what, though? There's a unity in both of them. Yeah. So I see sports as an art. Like, I like beautiful things. And when people, you know, you see art, you're like, oh, that's beautiful. So for me, you know, it's beautiful to me, sports. And how it's played and, you know, watching soccer, watching basketball, watching football. And, you know, the patterns that they play, you know, the passing, the drive. Like, I see that as beauty. So I see that as an art as well. That's

SPEAKER_04 25:41

a good

SPEAKER_03 25:41

point. I mean, that's me tying the two together. So it's not separated. But, I mean, I see it as that, but it's sports all day. And that's the art that

SPEAKER_01 25:49

I like. Yeah, it is. There is an art in sports for sure, 100%. And even in strategy, there's creativity, right? There's creativity in how two plays are creative and the movement within the player. I can see how there's... And they do

SPEAKER_04 26:05

talk about sort of the premier athletes as being artists of their sport. I don't know why I didn't think about that before, but that's so true. Actually, I remember watching the 94 World Cup when I was at university and I played soccer, but I didn't watch a lot of professional, but it was just so much fun to watch because they were so talented. The art really sort of sucked me into the whole run in 94. But yeah, I love that. I love

SPEAKER_01 26:25

the answer. I do love that because your relationship is both with arts and with sports. And I think it's the appreciation for the movement and the beauty. Because that's when you look at a piece of art or just... art in general, even if it's music, right? It's an appreciation for the lyrics, for the melody, and in sports, it's the play. I love that.

SPEAKER_04 26:52

Awesome. So as we wrap up here, I'd like especially the audience in Ottawa to know, and you have a chance to talk about sort of your goals for the club, and if you'd like to communicate anything to the members, the families, the kids in the club.

SPEAKER_03 27:10

Well, for the club, really and truly, West Ottawa is a sleeping giant. It has been a sleeping giant, even from a distance, you know, following West Ottawa and seeing the things that they're doing. There's so much more that they could do. And I think we said that earlier. And I'm here to help awake that giant. Obviously, I'm not, I'm one person, understood, but I'm hoping to influence, you know, the next generation of coaches, players, parents, you to help us awake that sleeping giant. Really and truly, there's a new era here. It's not coming, it's here. So it's just a matter of being patient enough and seeing it through and understanding that all the output that you're putting in, the outcome will come. And it doesn't happen overnight. But the two things is we're a sleeping giant, so it's about time we wake up and we're waking up. And two, there's a new era here, so...

SPEAKER_04 28:09

Amazing.

SPEAKER_01 28:09

I love that. And that does take time, right? I mean, that kind of, if we're waking up the giant, and even when you wake, you wake up groggy, right? Your eyes are like, oh, I've been in a sleep for so long. So when you wake. Do you have that path? I mean, somewhat. Do you have that roadmap kind of in your mind of where that giant, once he gets up and alert and he's full on ready to go, do you have a bit of an idea of where he's running to? A

SPEAKER_03 28:37

hundred percent. You know, the goal is to be the best in everything we do. Again, staying in our lane. Our path ahead, not looking to the left, not looking to the right and seeing, you know, who are we comparing ourselves with? We're comparing ourselves with us. It's you versus you. Can we be that much better every day? Yeah. Every day. Can we be a little bit better? Can we look at things better? And then over time, because this is how change happens, over time you look back and you're like, geez, what just happened?

SPEAKER_02 29:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 29:08

And then you don't even know what now and today feels like.

SPEAKER_02 29:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 29:13

a year from now, two years from now, right? So it's just, can we awake that giant and slowly have that path ahead to try to be the best in everything we do? And sometimes people say, oh, there's only one best, 100%, but is that our best? And if we figure out and we focus on our best, then I guarantee you, like... People will be watching, which we don't really care about, but we will get better and we will know we get better. Our players will be going places. Our staff will be growing and moving on. Our parents will be excited to be a part of this club. The community will be booming in the west side of Ottawa. And then Ottawa soccer in general is just going to get better. So just those little things, I see it happening. I see it happening already, so... If I could see it then,

SPEAKER_01 30:01

we're going to get there. The one thing that I hear too is that staying in your own lane is a very athlete analogy, right? Just stick to your own lane, focus. But is there a pressure from other clubs and from other organizations like, oh, look at this one, but they're doing this. Oh, look at this one, but they're doing this. And you're like, no, no, no. Do you get that? I get that all

SPEAKER_03 30:22

the time. But just one thing about me in general, I don't let it affect me. I understand where it's coming from. And, you know, I take it with a grain of salt and I understand. Yeah. And I put it in perspective once again. But then I remember I'm not I'm not even worried about this. I'm focused on where we are today, because if you start focusing on all of those outside pressures, you're going to try to speed something up that won't last. You're going to try to do something different. That's really not where you're going. You don't have the people for that or you have the people for that. But, hey. You're actually better suited to do this. And then they're going to be watching and thinking to themselves, oh, look what they're doing.

SPEAKER_01 30:58

Yes, they're going to be looking at you. So I

SPEAKER_03 31:00

think if we just focus on whatever it is that we're doing, and when I get that, it's just my mindset is all about, you know, let's reset back to what we're focused on here. Then I think we'll be fine. I know we'll be fine.

SPEAKER_01 31:14

I'm excited. I'm like, you got me. I'm like, well, actually, I... I'm super excited for the club, but I do want to be a part of it in some way. We've talked about it before, and it's something that, I mean, just hearing you talk about it makes me want to be a part of where you're headed. And I love that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 31:35

they're always looking for coaches that are not don't have kids in the organization right so your kids are grown so yeah it's nice to have those folks come in just as part of the community

SPEAKER_03 31:44

yeah and even if you have kids in the even if you have kids there yeah

SPEAKER_04 31:49

oh of course of course yeah

SPEAKER_03 31:50

and you know you've played the sport you understand the sport you love helping and giving back 100% we would love to have you awesome

SPEAKER_01 31:58

that's amazing Matt do you have anything to add to that anything you want to share

SPEAKER_00 32:03

oh not much just I think that Ottawa is really lucky to have you. So I'm glad that you're back from the East Coast here. And yeah, I really enjoyed listening to your philosophies. And yeah, I think everyone's in really good hands.

SPEAKER_04 32:18

Thank you, Matt. Matt also wants to volunteer coach just

SPEAKER_01 32:22

for me. Yeah, he's on the list, yeah. Yeah, well, thank you, Jesse. I want to just ditto what Matt said is that, yeah. They're lucky to have you. And it sounds like they're in really good hands. Thank you.

SPEAKER_04 32:35

Appreciate that. And thank you for being the first

SPEAKER_01 32:38

guest. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me. It was awesome. Yeah, good. Glad. See, it was easy. Hopefully I

SPEAKER_03 32:43

set the tone.

SPEAKER_01 32:44

Yeah, you did. That's right. Exactly. 100%. Yeah, exactly. Thank you for being here and for your time. And thank you, Matt and Bart. for all the wonderful things they do behind the scene. And Jesse, is there anything, where can people find out more about how they can volunteer or how they can be a part of everything that you've talked about today?

SPEAKER_03 33:04

Yeah, so if you visit our website, www.wosc.com. So that's West Ottawa Soccer Club, W-O-S-C. You'll learn more about what we have to offer. Our registration is opening in a few weeks. So, you know, look out for that. And then you can follow us on social media, West Ottawa Soccer. Awesome.

SPEAKER_01 33:29

Awesome. Yeah, that's great. And thank you. Thank you again. Thank you to Bart and Mart. And thank you everyone for listening. We always want to hear from you and your thoughts and what you thought about the episode today and Jesse's point of view. And if you have anything that you would like to communicate to us, we would love to hear it. You can send us a message at fromtheparkbench.ca. We're on Apple, Apple Music, Apple Spotify.

SPEAKER_04 33:56

Apple and Spotify, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:58

That's going to be cut. Keep it in there. So fromtheparkbench.ca. And thank you, everyone. And thank you, Ted, as always. Chat soon from the park bench.