Podcast: Oakwood GA Director Marisa Kresge on moving from college to club

Oakwood Soccer Club Girls Academy Director Marisa Kresge joined 'The Goal.' (Courtesy photo)

The latest guest on New England Soccer Journal’s “The Goal” podcast is Oakwood Soccer Club Girls Academy Director Marisa Kresge.

Kresge took over her role at Oakwood last spring, and is looking to help the Connecticut-based club put together a successful GA campaign this spring.

She is a former Division 1 college coach at Illinois State University, and also spent time coaching at the Big 10’s University of Wisconsin, which is also where she played her college soccer, after transferring from Maryland.

Kresge joined hosts Matt Langone and Matt Doherty to discuss her vision at Oakwood and how things have progressed over the past year, why it was the right move for her to leave the college game for club soccer, and the current state of college soccer.

Here are some highlights from our discussion:

On the transition from the college game to coaching club players:

Kresge: “It’s still been a bit of a transition. We transitioned from two owners, who had the club for 40 years, into a (new) ownership group, and that was who brought me on. I knew the great history of Oakwood, from a college recruiting standpoint. I spent nine years in university, prior to going full-time into club, so I knew the history of the girls side of the club. I knew they were very competitive, won a national championship, produced some really good, individually talented players.”

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On her main message when she took over at Oakwood:

Kresge: “You believe in what you’re doing, but you need to get other people on board to believe in what you’re doing as well. So, the more you are able to articulate it through meetings, through emails, through team training sessions and things like that, it gets people to buy into what you’re doing. The biggest thing that we wanted to instill was our playing philosophy and how we wanted to train individual players. The individuals are at the center of what we do — we want to maximize their potential and really highlight them in a team environment. That is how we try to educate our coaches, try to support our players in team training sessions and games, and just constantly reinforcing that message through parent meetings.”

On what makes the Girls Academy platform beneficial:

Kresge: “I think the Girls Academy does a really good job at getting the players involved. They have an advisory board, where players are able to represent their teams. They’re able to meet with a league rep in the Northeast. They try to get coaches and directors involved in it. So, it really tries to give girls and women a voice, which I think is pretty unique.”

On the state of college athletics:

Kresge: “It’s definitely a challenge to navigate, that is clearly there. I think the biggest thing is: What does the NCAA want with college athletics? I think they really need to take a deep look.”

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.