Podcast: New Thayer girls coach Paul Turner on taking over a successful program

Thayer Academy girls soccer head coach Paul Turner joined 'The Goal.' (Courtesy photo)

The latest guest on New England Soccer Journal’s “The Goal” podcast is first-year Thayer Academy girls soccer head coach Paul Turner.

Turner joined the Tigers in the spring of 2024. He was born and raised in London, and moved to the U.S. in the summer of 1993. He spent nine years as a professional player, then as head coach with the Cape Cod Crusaders. 

Thayer is off to a 3-0-0 start to the season, entering today’s game against Milton Academy. Last season, Thayer advanced all the way to the NEPSAC Class A championship game.

Turner joined host Matt Langone to discuss taking over the perennially strong Independent School League program, how the team is coping with some injuries to key players, and the current club soccer landscape.

The full podcast can be accessed below and is available on all major platforms. If you enjoy it, please leave a rating and a review.

Here are some highlights from our discussion with Turner:

On the Thayer program:

Turner: “They’ve obviously had an incredible trail of success. Last year, I know they had probably one of their best years, if not their best year in a very, very long time. We do have the challenge — we graduated a number of really solid players. But I’ve also got a very young team right now.”

On how the team is handling injuries to star goalkeeper Maddie Parrott and star midfielder Riley Roycroft:

Turner: “I think, first of all, I’ve got to accept that they are key players that we’re going to have to work out how to play without them. But I also think we need to quickly move past where I’m obviously going to respect what they bring to the program and I’m heartbroken for them missing their senior year — that’s pretty heartbreaking — but I think what I’ve tried to do is focus on, ‘okay, how do we make up for those differences?'”

On competing in the ISL with the likes of Buckingham Browne & Nichols:

Turner: “I’ve said to the girls, ‘listen, we’ll never be outworked.’ Whatever we lack in experience and even talent, we’re going to be a very hard-working, blue collar team that makes it difficult for other teams. But I do think we’re better than that. I do think we’ve got some very, very good players and, in particular, we’ve got some very good younger players. So the quicker I can get them at full speed, understanding what it is we’re trying to do on the field, then I think we’ll be successful.”

On the current club soccer landscape:

Turner: “When I first came over here in the 90s to watch a professional game, you literally had to spend 20 (dollars) going to a bar — they’d get it on a big satellite. You couldn’t see soccer anywhere, you couldn’t watch at a higher level. And the club soccer, I think there were maybe five or six clubs in Massachusetts at the time, certainly girls clubs. I was a director of coaching with Scorpions about 20 odd years ago, and I think around that time I thought things were brilliant. You had some really competitive clubs, you had a growing kind of army of clubs behind them, but it wasn’t too bad. Now there are so many opportunities, there are so many different levels. I think it is confusing for parents, but I want to be careful because I feel like I am part of the problem, right? Because I’m involved in club soccer, I created my own club.”