Are Players Utilizing Their Social Media Enough? I #AskASoccerPro Show Ep 084

11-year MLS veteran Quincy Amarikwa welcomes you to episode 84 of the #AskASoccerPro Show! This week Quincy discusses the success of using social media!

Check out what Quincy had to say this week:

00:00 - 05:29 Welcome to the #AskASoccer Pro Show! 

05:29 - 7:32 #MSLHiThoughts

7:33 - 10:20 How Do You Deal With Nerves? @msl_fan_page

10:22 - 13:34 Which Is Good For Development? Soccer Schools, Club Or Local Academies  @kristinapodnar

13:35 - 16:38 Tips For Defending? @tay.gabriellee

16:39 - 18:55 How Did The Chip Feel? @mls_live_scored

18:56 - 23:41 How Do You Change Toxic Culture? @scottyyphillips

23:42 - 31:40 Ankle Weights, The Push Up Challenge, and Wells Thompson

31:41 - 34:20 What Is The Best League To Play In? @_pogbajunior

34:21 - 38:11 Pro’s and Con’s of Negotiating Your Own Contracts 

38:12 - 41:59 Is It Better To Go With a Big Agency or Small Agency? @pcg7

42:00 - 43:20 What Are Some Good Tips For Playing Soccer In College?

43:21 - 45:55 How Do You Feel About Off The Field Sports Marketing Agencies? @pcg7

45:56 - 47:36 Do You Think Younger Players Should Know How To Negotiate Their Own Contracts? @braheem_keits

47:37 - 53:14 Are Players Utilizing Their Social Media Enough? @pcg7

53:15 - 55:16 PSG or Bayern Munich? 

55:17 - 56:42 What Is The Most Important Clause In A Contract? @2030.badr

56:43 - 60:00 How Do You Think US Soccer Will Become Respected? @Been._.Jammin

 

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*Transcript is unedited and machine-generated. There will be errors. For further clarity please refer to the audio or video. 

 

Quincy Amarikwa (00:08):
Joe Jackson. Welcome. Welcome. McNasty McNasty McNasty what's going on. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Let's see where we're going and kicking it off their skin straight into it. Um, San Jose earthquakes, just posted that the old, the chip goal, soccer dad for life dropping the, I mean you heard a mood. Geez, John Hollinger what's going on, Katie? What's up Serena drilling in us, Serena joining us, Katie joining us as well. Sabrina joining us, Katie joining us as well. McNasty you know, what's up just South of here. She's out here focused on accomplishing our goals. You know what I mean? You know what I mean? You know what I mean, guys and girls bare. It is. Yeah. Okay. I knew there's something up with the internet connection, a fan page. Welcome. Love. See, it's going. Well guys, can you spam the heart button? If you hear me? All right.

Quincy Amarikwa (02:19):
Zurich manual. Welcome. Shannon. Welcome. Okay, there we go. I think now we're back here. I think we're just, I think the Internet's just having problems downloading all this wisdom and um, let's see. I'm going here to see. Cause there's just been a lot of moving parts. There's been a lot of conversations I've been having, um, a lot of work that's been going on behind the scenes. Love seeing you guys spam that hard button. Um, so I have forgotten what episode number we're currently on. I think we're on episode 84, but I wanted to check and see. So I'm gonna check and see

Quincy Amarikwa (03:01):
MSL fan page said the internet can't handle this knowledge and everyone is spamming that heart button loving that MLS live score joined in. I don't think I've seen you before. Welcome and molests live scored, happy to have another member of the community. The Luca joined in as well. The Luca, how are you doing? And let's see what we got here. Episode 84. There we go. You know, so what is going on everybody? Welcome to another beautiful episode of the hashtag. Ask a soccer pro show. Ho ho episode 84. I'm your host? The one, the only 11 year MLS pro currently in my free agency year. Uh, as you guys know and have been along for the journey with me, you guys know we're crowdsourcing this free agency. So, uh, it's up to the fans. What are the fans want to see? How, where will Quincy end up next?

Quincy Amarikwa (04:01):
We will see, uh, Christina welcome, uh, joining back in Tyler. Welcome as well. Uh, we will see how it goes and uh, yeah, everybody welcome to another episode of the hashtag. Ask the soccer pro show. For those of you who do not know on this show, we talked about the ms. L the mental strength league. It is the mindset you need to guarantee accomplishing your goals. Why do I say that? Why do I say that boot? Because the seventh core value here at perfect soccer is passion. And if you're pursuing your passion, you've already accomplished your goal. And every week we, you, everyone joins me here, live on the perfect soccer, perfect underscore soccer, Instagram account to review the MSL and participating in a community of positivity. That's what we do here. I want to welcome everybody to another episode, and this is your opportunity and chance to get your specific questions answered by a over decades, long pro uh, for, for those who are new, we talk about anything and everything, but the most important thing we talk about here is how to develop and maintain a winner's mindset, longterm winner's mindset, LTW M you know what it is.

Quincy Amarikwa (05:16):
And for those of you who have been down in the MSO, drop them, those I'm in your head emojis and let them see what's up. Let those who don't know, know that you are in

Quincy Amarikwa (05:29):
Their head. You know what I mean?

Quincy Amarikwa (05:32):
Hey, Oh, captain OCAP. Yeah, but what's going on in your guys's on your guys' side of the world. What's happened this past week, uh, as you guys see up on the screen there, San Jose earthquakes, uh, are playing the Portland tempers. Apparently they were playing the Portland timbers here on Wednesday. Um, and, uh, had to do a little throwback Thursday to the classic chip. You know what I mean? Where were you at when the chip, when the chip was seen around the world? You know what I mean? But it's great to see, uh, the San Jose earthquakes fans, uh, engage in letting me know where they were at when the chip happened. I think I forgot who had said that. He said, uh, I was, uh, the one time I went to use the restroom, I happened to miss the chip, and then another said I missed everything except for the chip. So it's crazy timing, right? Crazy. Uh, let's see, Joe Jackson said, and when we get that negativity, we thank them for boosting the algorithm. That is that's higher level thinking right there. That's an MSL high thought high thoughts. Hello, MSL, high thoughts. You,

Quincy Amarikwa (06:44):
John Holland, your city, if you're pursuing your passion, you've already accomplished your goal. Who is a wise man right there. John Hollinger is a wise wise

Quincy Amarikwa (06:55):
Young man,

Quincy Amarikwa (06:58):
A soccer dad for life said, Hey, that's my wife. How did she find my secret soccer page,

Quincy Amarikwa (07:02):
Eight

Quincy Amarikwa (07:04):
Investigation over here, we're out here getting to the bottom of stuff. You know what I mean? Self honesty. That's the first pillar. It's the first pillar here.

Quincy Amarikwa (07:20):
Official Edgar jointed. What's going on official. Edgar Taylor. Welcome. Good to see you. Um, let's see what we got here. So sneaky, sneaky. Let's see what we got here.

Quincy Amarikwa (07:33):
First question has come in from MSL fan page. How do you deal with nerves when playing in a big, final, How do you do, how do you handle the nerves? I think what's most important about handling nerves is having a technique or process that is the same regardless of the, of the game. So if you're, if you're changing what you do, how do I describe it? Yeah,


Quincy Amarikwa (08:04):
The, the most efficient way to go about doing it, that I have found is to find something that you can do that works regardless of the level of the game that you're playing in. So I see a lot of players adjusting what they do based on the importance of the game. So like, Oh, I know a scout is going to be at the game, so I'm going to try even harder and I'm going to play even harder or nobody, I, nobody importance at this game. So like, it's not a big deal. I can take a play off or I can Slack off. And I feel like that's a huge mistake. So kind of tying that back into where I was saying, like, there's one fan in the, uh, in the Twitter feed here on that, uh, post by San Jose who said, I made every single moment of the game, but I went to the bathroom during that moment in the game.

Quincy Amarikwa (08:48):
And I missed the chip and the other person who missed every other moment, but happened to be out and see the chip, right. One person did a majority of the work and missed the best part of the show. And one person did almost none of the work and saw the best part of the show. Right. But if your focus is on attending and watching and being a participant from minute one to minute 90 and the stoppage time, what you know for sure is you won't miss a thing. Right. And that is where I would draw the connection between what I'm saying about how to deal with nerves when playing in a big, final, uh, I'd want you to approach it the same way in a final, as you would in a friendly pickup game. That doesn't mean anything on paper. And I think if you, if you do that, you're setting yourself up for creating a longterm winners mindset. And that's what we're doing here in the MSL. You know, everyone, I'm just, I feel like, how do you guys feel? You feel like my, my singing voice is getting better. Is it the sweet, sweet serenading sound of Quincy time radio?

Quincy Amarikwa (09:58):
Well, you guys think no. Yes, absolutely. Yes. Um, Oregon club has moved to fall and high school is in the spring. Okay. I'm going to take your word for it cause I'm not. I don't know. But now maybe I do.

Quincy Amarikwa (10:18):
Let's see,

Quincy Amarikwa (10:21):
Love seeing you guys talk in the comment section as the community grows, Christina, what's going on? You got any more questions for me? You got some new stuff for me. Let me check the chat box. Oh, I knew it. I knew you would. I knew you would. Let's see what we got here. Uh, Christina said, so you think that soccer schools, I E R E G I N G are a good development choice over clubs or local academies. That depends all on what your end goal is, but let's say let's set some context so I can answer the question directly. Right. Um, I think soccer schools can be a huge advantage to the development of players. If not for the fact, if not even if not for the fact, especially for the fact that going to a soccer specific school means, uh, you are entering a world that is, that is all in, on soccer. And those individuals who are there are all in, on soccer as well too. So what I've really, you know, in these last several years, and even in these last couple months, especially with a lot of the conversations and rooms I've been, I've been in, um, as of late, um, the soccer world is very small in the sense that

Quincy Amarikwa (11:39):
Yeah, in the sense that having the right connections can be not, can be, is massively influential in the trajectory of your career. So like if your goal and your focus is to play at a professional level and you're willing to sacrifice your college career and your, you know, your social life and, and your potential, your potential options outside of that, like if you're completely focused and dedicated in on that, that you're willing to commit fully to going to a soccer specific school. Um, and you're able to get into one and you're focused and dedicated to that. Um, yes, it is very advantageous, not only because the focus is solely on soccer, but more, more because of the contacts that are available to you and the people, uh, and the networks that you can tap into, which is a huge reason why I really, really emphasize and focus with everybody on the importance of developing relationships, um, doing, doing your due diligence and learning the business of soccer, the business of every, anything that you do, you want to learn the business of it because everything, whether you like it or not is a business it's transactional.

Quincy Amarikwa (12:48):
There is a transaction at some point in time. And the more you understand how the transactions work and how the business work and how the system works, the, the higher likelihood you have to, uh, thrive, if not, at least survive long enough to thrive. So, Christina, that is a great question. I appreciate that one coming in. Let's see what we got here. No context Dylan joined in, um, I'm excited for, uh, Dylan. He'll be he he's, he's going live here on the Twitch, the perfect soccer Twitch account here soon. Uh, just got him set up in our Slack channel. So, um, I'm excited for that.

Quincy Amarikwa (13:35):
Let's see right here. Tell ya ass. Do you have any tips for defending? If not, that's okay.

Quincy Amarikwa (13:45):
Say it. Are you a defender because in your affirmative question of, do you have any questions about defense? You threw up some defensive, if not, it's okay. We'll get it. He has already shown me her defensive skills. Um, yes. I have some tips for defending. Um, let's see. What's most important or where would we want to start? If you are a passionate defender and you really enjoy and love the, the aspect of defending, I think a great place to focus your time is on, um, angles. Like how can you cut down angles on the field to make the play very predictable, uh, for your teammates? So I think some of the best defenders, the best defenders I've ever played with are ones who prevent danger from happening. And those who don't really understand what I'm saying, miss miss some of the subtle beauty in what grade defending looks like.

Quincy Amarikwa (14:48):
So let's, um, let's use baseball as example to bridge the gap. So in baseball, if you, if you pitch a no hitter and nobody hits the ball ever hits the ball, that's, you know, that's called the perfect game, right? Um, so, but it's essentially saying if nobody does anything right. If nobody hits the ball, which everybody wants to see, so everybody wants to see someone crush a home run, right? Or most people want to see that, uh, I guess baseball, purists want to see nobody crush the ball because they understand it's so much harder to prevent every single person in the game from hitting the ball than it is, uh, for at least getting one hit. So from that perspective, uh, if you're someone like me who is a casual fan or a casual watcher of the game, I might not be able to appreciate as much as I probably should when someone never hits the baseball in the game.

Quincy Amarikwa (15:47):
Right. But that would be, uh, for me, the, the, the parallel I see that would be like, um, a defender who is so good that you never see anything happen. So you almost don't even think that they're good. So, um, I think in baseball, everybody understands how difficult it is to pitch pitching a hitter. But, um, in the, in the realm of, of soccer, if you're getting so good defensively that you can cut down angles and make the play very predictable for your teammate to make the tackle and to win the ball, you might not be eating all the glory or all the praise or attention, but, uh, high level Scouts and high level thinkers will see your talent and your skill, and they will come and scoop you up. But that's a good question, Kevin, what's going on, bro? Thanks for stopping by how stuff how's stuff been on your end.

Quincy Amarikwa (16:39):
How's the bubble. Are you guys back to doing, doing your normal, your normal routine out in DC, um, MLS live, scored ass. How did it feel to score that goal on the top right of your screen? The chip goal felt good. Um, felt great, actually felt amazing, but it felt normal. Hey, you know, that's a, yeah, me. Yeah. Me, uh, Kevin Quincy and everybody what's up. Yeah. You guys know what it is. The pros stop by show some love and drop their knowledge on you as well as me. Love. [inaudible] love seeing you guys dropped by man. Happy to hear things are going good on, uh, over on the side of DC, you already know I'm a stay talking to Earl, but I need to be seen you at the BPC meetings, bro, where you at? Uh, Meg, Meg by DJ said sub Quincy. What's going on, brother? Um, Sam, the man, Oh four to eight gave me the Quincy, the three escalation points. So, you know, he's serious about it.

Quincy Amarikwa (17:55):
Let's see what we got here. Uh, getting that up on the screen. Let me switch that up. Uh, yo shout out guys over at the designated player podcast. Uh I'm uh, you know what I mean? Hey, it isn't bragging if it's true, you know what I mean, guys, it isn't bragging if it's true. So when we, when we're doing some great things out here and we get compliments, we do not shy away. We do not shave. What should I wait? We embrace them. And we're appreciative appreciative of them. And the guys over the designated player podcast said, uh, one of our best episodes yet we sit, we sat down with Quincy Marquardt and discuss his time and MLS his involvement in the black players for change. Uh, most importantly, his mindset to approaching challenges in football and in life. So you guys can go and check out that podcast episode.

Quincy Amarikwa (18:41):
That one was a deep one. There was some great stuff in that. And I'd love to get some feedback from any of you here today who happened to listen to that podcast episode already. Um, or are you just now becoming aware of it?

Quincy Amarikwa (18:56):
Let's see. Scotty Phillips ass said I'm a high school soccer coach in Fairfax, Virginia, from a player's perspective. How do you help change a toxic culture with a diverse group of kid kids, but toxic ranging from character work ethic, et cetera. Okay. That is a deep one, but Scotty, I got you covered brother. So, uh, if someone could drop the link, perfect soccer skills.com/s S S Scotty, I would highly recommend that you watch that. Uh, the talk I did on the three S's of self awareness, and then after that, uh, share that with the, with the kids in your, uh, on your team or who you're coaching now, um, you know, that talk is about an hour and, uh, the three S's of self awareness is the first step in changing culture and creating a mindset of personal responsibility.

Quincy Amarikwa (19:50):
Um, usually culture is really messed up because most players see that the people who get rewarded are those who were, who take shortcuts, who undercut others and, um, and are not, um, are not doing what everyone knows is to is the right thing to do. Right. I think the real big issue and problem with soccer culture is, um, we say all the right things, but we reward all the wrong things. And that's what creates toxic culture and, um, toxics toxicity in the locker room. Um, uh, more specifically, so like getting really concrete, you know, if you're a player who's really great at scoring goals and can bang a lot of goals, but you're a terrible person, most organizations, most locker rooms, most coaches at every level will let it slide, you know, because of like, Hey, we can't duplicate those goals. Um, I think that's the wrong approach.

Quincy Amarikwa (20:43):
And the reason why I think that is even if the player could score 20 goals, um, because of the toxic toxicity and the, and, and the negativity surrounding them, you might be missing out on 40 goals that could have been, uh, spread out over the course of the, of the season amongst five players or seven players or eight players. Um, uh, you know, it's a tough, it's a tough one. Cause most people use just the data, the hard facts to make their decisions. But, uh, the, the, um, the devil is in the details, right. Um, and, uh, not everybody is focused on culture and maintaining a positive or a thriving culture. Um, so you have to be mindful of that as well, too. And, uh, at the root of all of it is mindset. So tying it all together, really the reason why I say perfect soccer skills.com/sss is because that is a universal, uh, foundational mindset that, that hopefully gets everybody everybody's mind, eye pointing in the same direction. And then from there, we now have a means of, uh, maintaining, maintaining our culture because we know what we know and can call out. What's good, but we can also hold accountable. Those who are doing what we see as a bad,

Quincy Amarikwa (22:11):
But yeah,

Quincy Amarikwa (22:12):
In the short term, bad wins. So you guys got to understand that the name of the game is surviving long enough for the truth to shine through cream rises to the top. So remain committed and, um, disciplined. Um, thank you, Joe. Let me, Oh, almost reported that. Sorry. Um, pin comment, not report comment, uh, report that comment for being high level, uh, Kevin, let's get this win tomorrow. Vamos United, uh, MSL fan pages, clearly a DC United fan. Uh, Samantha said miss, even San Jose, miss San Jose as well, too good times in San Jose. Never know. Or you do, you guys know the fans, you guys bringing me back. What's going on? Ben Jammin. What's going on, brother? Um, Scotty said, thanks, man. This is great. Good word. We'll check out the video. Of course, happy to help. And, um, if you needed more help in terms of, uh, tools and resources, make sure you head over to perfect soccer skills.com/login account on that page. If you do not have a perfect soccer team, membership are ready. You can head over there and create your cell phone. You get access to all of our books, tools, and resources. There's always a free way to get access to everything at the perfect soccer branding company. So, um, we are here disrupting the pay to play system and you guys are helping us do that. Julian said, yeah, come back to D C

Quincy Amarikwa (23:41):
Hey, Hey, Hey,

Quincy Amarikwa (23:47):
I don't know. I don't know about that. Let's see what we got here. Yo, shout out. Let me see what we got here. Let's switch that up. Your shout out Earl. I don't know if you guys saw, uh, MSL, uh, MSL masters, PhD program graduate, uh, Earl Edwards jr. Got on the cover of sports illustrated. And I don't know if you notice a little, that little thing on the, on the top of the man's head, bro. I don't know if you guys know what that is, but if you haven't checked that out, you definitely should. Sky's are out here making a lot of, a lot of amazing things happen. Seeing you guys spam that hard button. Um, Angie nothing. Oh, no, not, I don't even know. Not he, no, the NG, but soccer said hi. I don't even know how to read your name at all.

Quincy Amarikwa (24:54):
There. Uh, Quincy gave me his Jersey after the galaxy game. What a legend eight. You were in the right place at the right time asking you shall receive. Um, almost Ben said almost two months through the 10 pushup challenge. I love that. I love that. What have you learned? What have you learned about yourself? Uh, starting back over from the beginning again and being two months in, how far did you get, how far did you get the first time? I can't remember how many months you got into the first time, but what have you learned about yourself? Go in going about it for the second, second time around love to love to hear that. Um, Jordan said are ankle weights good for soccer? I would not suggest using ankle weights when training like, like playing and having ankle weights on. I wouldn't, I wouldn't suggest that.

Quincy Amarikwa (25:41):
I think, um, the mechanics of that is, is not good. But if you're talking about utilizing ankle weights, when isolated, like doing leg lifts and, and mobility stuff, then yes. So just want to make a distinction there. I mean nasty. He said peace out. Good work. Keep up the keeping up. Thank you very much. We'll see you next Thursday. Uh, mega boy said I failed to push 10 pushup challenge within a, with a week left. Oh man. That is brutal. What made it so hard? Why? You know what happened? Why did you, what made you fall off the wagon a week away? That is, that is that's devastating or enlightening. Huh? Uh, uh, Mike Mike 22 said I saw Quincy at a convention and he gave me an MSL shirt and I love it. Hey, what's he asking? You shall receive this. What I'm saying? You got to see me out in the streets.

Quincy Amarikwa (26:44):
That's the opposite of, I, you know me

Quincy Amarikwa (26:48):
Come say what's up. Uh, Julian said been doing a hundred pushups since March 20th because of you today. Uh, I'm assuming you meant I'm five months in one month ago. One month ago, England. It's two 30 in the morning out there, brother.

Quincy Amarikwa (27:05):
How are you doing?

Quincy Amarikwa (27:08):
What are you doing up? What have you been doing? Did you wake up for the show or were you already up? Um, I love the MSL shirt. I love that you love the MSL shirt. Um, I've done like over 21,000 pushups so far and I'm going for a whole year. I love, I love that dedication. It's awesome. Yocelyn Saucito what's up? Let's see what we got up here as well too on this side. Oh, yo uh, shout out. Wells Thompson old, a former teammate of mine, Colorado Rapids. He is a form. W he is a, an MLS cup champion. He was on the 2010 Colorado Rapids team. Um, he's got a new podcast that he is that he has been doing. I think he's episode, he's nine episodes in he, uh, he hit me up and asked me to be on the show. And of course I was down for that.

Quincy Amarikwa (28:01):
Uh, it was great to catch up with him. It was a good conversation. Um, you guys know how it goes. We get talking. We're only supposed to talk for so long and then we ended up going a bit longer, but it was great to catch up with Wells. See what's going on on his side, uh, his side of the world. Um, I'm not sure when that episode will be coming out, uh, specifically, but if you guys know Wells or you're following him over on Instagram or Twitter or whatever, uh, you know, give him a follow, um, let them know. You said hello, and that you're looking forward to the episode. Um, as soon as possible, let's see.

Quincy Amarikwa (28:41):
Will there be an MSL face mask? Yeah, so we just got face mass up on the perfect soccer website, but we're not right now. We're not able to get anything like embroidered on them. So I'm working on finding a new secondary manufacturer that can help me. Cause I'm thinking about getting like the I'm in your head on some masks and stuff. So I gotta get working on that. I'll probably, I don't know if Paul, uh, PG sports is still on the, uh, the call, but he's got someone who makes some dope, um, custom design mass. So I might get a couple, a couple of those. So I have them in stock, but maybe I'll put them up on the website as preorder. And if you guys, you know, at least five or 10 people buy them, then I'll have them made just thinking about going about it that way.

Quincy Amarikwa (29:24):
Cause sometimes, you know, the time it takes to the time it takes to make one is the same amount of time it take to make a hundred. So, but the money is not the same. So, um, that's where it can get difficult. Uh, Ben Ben dot underscore, underscore dot Jammin said, um, I've got about one point Mo I got about one and a half months through it. The first time, this time I have all an all day event on my phone calendar that bugs me every five minutes until I turn it off after doing the pushups. Of course, that's awesome. I love that. So you realize, Hey, let me create a system for myself that holds me accountable and annoys me until it just becomes a habit. That is a great technique and strategy man. And, uh, I think as you guys continue to push yourselves and try to do and complete the pushup challenge, uh, you learn a lot of stuff about yourself and, um, and it, it forces you to create systems that set you up for success.

Quincy Amarikwa (30:21):
I think we create a lot of habits that set ourselves up for failure. Um, doing something as simple as having the focus on, you know, 10 pushups every single day, that's it without fail. That's not too hard and it could just be one every hour. It could be 10 in just a minute, but just consistency every single day. Um, and it, it gets hard. It gets real, real hard. Um, and, uh, when it does, that's what gives you that frame of reference to really self reflect and ask yourself why, what is it about this that's difficult? What do I need to understand about myself? How do I push through and make it to the other side? And more importantly, how can I do things to set myself up for success and make accomplishing this goal that much easier? Uh, John said had Wells on my podcast.

Quincy Amarikwa (31:08):
Nice, loving that love seeing, um, uh, John said you're well says what's up Quincy? Oh, do you do like fellowship or something with, uh, with Wells, John? I know, I know. I remember you said you did a lot of stuff. Like Bible study stuff. I know Wells is very, very, uh, deeply religious in into, into that. So I would, my guess would be that's how you guys connected, but I don't know, uh, get that, getting that mental practicing exactly.

Quincy Amarikwa (31:41):
Uh, uh, POBA junior ass. What are the best leagues to play in to get recognized? I mean, at what level, you mean like at the youth level? Um, or like professional, give me a little bit more context so I could help on that one. Let's see Daniel Montez six said, Hey, Quincy, you want to sponsor my club team? What would be required to sponsor your club team? I don't know what is required to do that. I'm a MSL fan said I'm deeply religious in the MSL. I'm in your head. Deep following love that. Uh, let's see. Oh, speaking of which you'll check this stuff out. Your shout out Ronnie with the dope content we're out here getting the

Quincy Amarikwa (32:41):
We're out. You're getting the drone footage. I mean their head, you yo uh, in your head, what do you guys think about that? Yo, that's up say it. I like how, uh, Brahim was how having a brother. I love the fact that we can do you have this stuff on a IgG and IgE live? Like there's some dope stuff. Let's go out there. We're working on. Let me see, is this one? All right, let me see on that. Now here's another one that we're working on were just messing with the drone. Uh, you guys see some little bit behind the scenes footage, uh, now that I'm getting dialed in with everything here on the show, I can, uh, so showing you guys a little bit of behind the scenes stuff that, that hopefully be we'll be getting together and making come out here seeing, uh, speaking of all the, um, speaking of, I think San Jose earthquakes, I was looking at there as well too. Uh, I'll probably post a little throwback Thursday to a clip from the, the vlog when I was with, uh, San Jose earthquakes this second time around, um, man, uh, I think, uh, just some good old banter with, uh, some good old banter with a Fatah.

Quincy Amarikwa (34:21):
Alright. Let's let's see. So John said, uh, John Hollinger said, uh, for how long have you negotiated your own contract out an agent? Uh, Oh, how many years has that been? Now? I'm fully on my own. I think we cut out a little bit. They're learning, understand the business aspect of the sport and I just needed to really understand the mechanics and, and the processors and what's necessary. And, um,

Quincy Amarikwa (35:38):
And I decided to take on that aspect of my career as no, no, one's going to advocate for yourself more than you advocate for yourself. Um, that has been beneficial in many ways, but it's also in others, you know, uh, agents aren't too particularly happy when they see a player representing themselves. And sometimes that makes it, that makes it an uphill battle, even clubs and organizations. Aren't too happy with it as well to you for many, many different reasons. Right. So, um, I think that's something that I had to, I learned, I learned a lot about, and I learned a lot of lessons the hard way, but I am very happy that that's the route I chose to go in, in, in my career. I now though work, um, more closely with agents or have worked more closely with agents, um, more recently in my career, I'd say in the last year and a half, two years of my career, um, because I better understand how I like to be represented and I can better articulate that to someone else.

Quincy Amarikwa (36:40):
I think earlier when I was younger and earlier in my career, I couldn't do that. And because I couldn't do that, I just, uh, took that responsibility on for myself. And like I said, I'm glad I did. Cause I learned a lot, I very much understand the process. And um, and, and I try to do my best to share that with you guys. So you can learn the lessons that I learned and, um, at least share with you the ways in which agents can help. Um, but also ways in which agents are, are not necessarily as helpful as you think. Um, in, in teaching you the red flags of how to know when, when they're representing you and, and, and putting you first and when they're taking advantage. So I think you're responsible for maintaining the relationship, even though most players think it's the job of the agent to do that.

Quincy Amarikwa (37:33):
Uh, yeah, because the problem is if the agent stops doing their job, you don't know it. And that's, what's, that's what gets a lot of players in trouble and makes it very difficult if, and when they happen to fall out of favor with their organization or club, when they're too, when they rely too heavily on their agent. So, uh, John said, yes, Quincy, my podcast is called a footballers faith where I help footballers grow in their faith in Christ and in their sport and had Wells on to hear his perspective with his faith while playing. Okay, cool.

Quincy Amarikwa (38:12):
PG PCG seven said what about signing with the large AC agency versus small agency? Okay. The difference between signing with a large agency versus a small agency. So if you're not a top player, right, like if you're not a top player, you're, let's say you're in your me, you're starting out at the bottom, grinding from trying the bottom to get to the top. Uh, if you're able to get top agency to represent you, you might have access to contacts. You might not necessarily have access to, but you probably won't get the time and attention that you're needing to develop as a player. So top agency is going to sign you because they get to tag onto your contract and get a percentage. If you have to sign one. But most of the times in my experience top agencies won't do work only do work for the top 10% of their clientele.

Quincy Amarikwa (39:00):
Everybody else. It's kind of, they're just taking a piece of what you're already getting in terms of crumbs, right? So if you're a lower guy and you're grinding and you've gotten yourself a trial somewhere, chances are a top agency will sign you just because they look at it this way. Well, if you grind do really well and you work hard and you get a contract, they're going to take a cut of it. And if you don't and you fall off and you don't make any money, they're not out anything. So understand that on the larger agency side now on the smaller, on the lower side, on a small agency, if you're not a highly touted player and all that, that could be beneficial to you because those agents tend to do much more work on your behalf. So they're, they're hitting the ground. They're, they're cold calling people, they're knocking down doors, they're sharing your resume.

Quincy Amarikwa (39:46):
They're trying to work and get you a con a contract. But just like I talked about a little bit earlier, your contacts and your network is your net worth, right? And smaller agencies don't have that network. They don't have that contact list. So where you might get more of their time, attention and energy, you might not have the contact that you need to get in the door. Right. So that's, what's very difficult about the soccer world, um, specifically, and just like the world in general, right? Um, you tend to have to put together a large enough body of work where someone's willing to take a risk on you. And that risk is putting their reputation on the line to get you in the door, to let you in the door. And that's why we always talk about staying ready. So you don't have to get ready that way. If, and when your opportunity comes, you can take full advantage and, um, do what you can to continually elevate up the ranks. But, um, that's a great question, Paul. Um, if you had more, like if you wanted me to get more specific with anything, please, please do share.

Quincy Amarikwa (40:52):
Mmm.

Quincy Amarikwa (40:55):
How do you feel about off the field sports marketing agencies, peace sports. How do you feel about off the field sports marketing agencies? So, okay. Um, and Paul Paul's, as in Paul, let me know if this is in alignment with what you're talking about, but in terms of marketing you to local sponsors, uh, agencies, or, um, marketing agencies that promote your brand separate from the field. So you mean a little bit more context, so I'm making sure I'm answering the right the right question or understanding the question. Let's see. Well, when I went a little bit more from you, let's see what other questions we've got here.

Quincy Amarikwa (42:00):
Uh, Mathias underscore Anderson, M a T T I a S underscore Anderson, uh, asks what are some good tips for playing soccer in college? Um, soccer in college. I think the most important thing to know about playing soccer in college is you can focus on soccer and school and do well at both, um, and enjoy yourself and have fun and have a social life.

Quincy Amarikwa (42:31):
I think too many players make the excuse of make the excuse of having to focus on one thing or another, um, for why they can't dedicate the time to, to, you know, doing well in their coursework, as well as on the field. Cause it's easy to colleges, a lot of fun and you can get easily distracted and you can, you can create this idea that, you know, um, I can't focus or do as well on my school because you know, I'm dedicated and focused on the, on the sport that I'm playing. And, uh, I think, I think that that's not true. I pretty much know that that's not true. Uh, but self awareness and self honesty, everyone. That's my, uh, my tip for those, uh, for playing college soccer, uh,

Quincy Amarikwa (43:20):
Paul said, yes, both that help brand your personal brand and help get sponsorship PR, et cetera.

Quincy Amarikwa (43:25):
Yeah. So, uh, I think you can think of marketing agencies, very similar to like, uh, contract agencies with, with, uh, with finding deals for yourself. The more exposure you have, the more attention you have, the more, the higher you are perceived, the easier it is for your agency to, to do work on your behalf or to get you things, right? So in most cases, in my experience, the agency's ability to get something done is tied to your marketability, right? So if, if you're not someone who wants to do interviews, or you're not someone who's willing to show up and, uh, be active in the community or engage with their fans or, uh, respond to people who reach out or attend webinars or join podcasts and do stuff like that, you're, you're, you're making it exponentially harder for, uh, your marketing agency or the person who's representing you to maximize your value and to get you bring opportunities to you.

Quincy Amarikwa (44:29):
So it's, it's gotta be a symbiotic relationship. And I think a lot of players rest on natural talent and that's going to get you so far, right. Eventually hard work. What does it hard work, beats talent when talent fails to work hard, you know, like that's what we really talk about here. If, if, uh, if you're talented, that's great, but if you're talented and you're focused in your work, you're Ricard and you're dedicated now you're unstoppable, but if I'm not talented, but I have a work ethic and a dedication and a pursuit to learning how to, to catch you, I'm going to, it's just a matter of time. And the players who understand that have, have the chance of maintaining their successful position and creating ample opportunity for themselves in the future. And those who don't may have a, a flash of a moment in time and it usually fades away. So,

Quincy Amarikwa (45:36):
So yeah,

Quincy Amarikwa (45:41):
Especially with how just social media has transpired in his coming around and people's familiarity with it and their way in which they use it to, uh, make connections and to make decisions which is good and bad in different ways. Um, uh,

Quincy Amarikwa (45:56):
Braheem underscore K E I T S do you think youngest players should know how to negotiate their own contracts? I think they should understand the process of negotiating the contract. I don't think that they necessarily have to negotiate their own contract. Um, I do think it would be, it is advantageous and beneficial to be involved in the conversation. So if your agent is negotiating over the phone, if you could be listening in, um, you know, on speaker, uh, that'd be great if your agent negotiates to your contract via email and he liked blank, carbon copies, UNC sees you in on it. I think that's also beneficial. I think, um, you know, self honesty, self initiative, self accountability, self-accountability, I'm big on, um, I think, you know, if someone's representing you, they, you should be able to see what it is that they're doing. Um, and, uh,

Quincy Amarikwa (46:45):
You know,

Quincy Amarikwa (46:48):
I have the Avenue to ask them questions about why they do what they do and how they do it, so you can understand it for yourself, you know? Um, I think it's important to trust people, and I think it's important to have, you know, have trust in people to do their job and not micromanage. Right. But I do think having the access and ability to ask questions and to learn the process, if you want to do that, should be always available to you. Right. Um, at the point in time that you feel comfortable and confident to like, not want to ask questions or be involved in the process, that's up to you, but you should always have the Avenue and ability to, to get caught up, up to speed. Um, uh, in as clear, a manner as possible.

Quincy Amarikwa (47:37):
Uh, Paul said, Paul said, San Jose flirting with you to sign you. I think they, what do you guys think? There's social media flirting with me or they just, they, they just, uh, trolling me. What do you guys think here? They flirting because you know, we're going to start dating again, or do you think they're, they're trolling me? What's the thoughts, George jumping in what's going on brother. Welcome to the live. Um, Mathias said great. Thanks Quincy. Of course. Thank you for the question. Um, New York city underscore Allen joined in. Hello? Um, yeah, PCG seven said flirting or trolling or both.

Quincy Amarikwa (48:27):
Uh, Raheem said thank you, bro. Of course. Thank you for the question. Uh, Paul, uh, PG seven or sorry, PCG seven asked, do you think MLS players are using social media enough to build their brand in general? No, I do not. I just don't believe that MLS players are fully aware of the importance of their social media presence and brand. And, and, um, what I'm thinking about is why, why don't they believe it? I think it's cause they don't want to believe it. If I had to guess, as of right now, they don't want to believe it's that important and that influential in that necessary because if it is, then they see it as a bunch of work that they know they don't want to do. But you guys, I say it all the time. The truth is true, whether you believe it or not.

Quincy Amarikwa (49:35):
So it doesn't matter if you don't believe it and you don't want it to be true because it just makes it more work for you in the long run. That's all it does. That's all it does. And everybody can see what you are or are not doing. And the consistency you do or you do not have. And it is very easy to fake it on social media. You can just show up, you have an angle pick just to do one day of photo shoots, a bunch of angle pigs, and then post that picture over the next 30 days, while you eating hamburgers and hot dogs and sitting on your butt and playing video games, you can do that, but you're going to come back on social one day or not. While those of us were doing the work, putting in the work are making progress.

Quincy Amarikwa (50:24):
So, um, that's a good question, Paul. I liked that one, but no, they're, they're not, um, they're not, but I do believe that that's changing. Cause a lot of guys who are retiring or have retired, uh, individuals like, like Wells are, um, uh, Wells. I'm seeing, uh, Mike McGee as well to you. Um, Oh, who else? Mike Chabala, uh, who have I been seeing? I think, uh, Benny fail Harbor just signed with the one 10 crew. I think most of the guys don't really fully understand it until they're done playing, uh, which is, uh, you know, which is a little unfortunate because I think it's a bit of an uphill battle at that point in time. Uh, yeah, it's a bit more of an uphill battle, you know? Cause it's, it's easier to, it's easier when you're in the spotlight, when people, when there's a reason for people to want to reach out and to talk to you and talk about the game and you score a goal or you have an assist or, or anything or something like that.

Quincy Amarikwa (51:27):
So, um, yeah, hopefully, hopefully they're, they're watching through this. I know a lot of them are watching. A lot of them have been watching a long time while you guys are NGOs followers, bro. Love you guys are ghost followers just cause you don't hit that follow button. Doesn't mean those eyes, these ideas, aren't getting straight into your head. Come on guys. We've been there. We've been out in front of the market for years now. For years. You guys think these ideas are just, you guys still think these ideas are just random or is it a conspiracy? You quit inspired yet. Quote inspiration who we, uh, George said, if you joined San Jose, they just got some new fans. Hey, love that.

Quincy Amarikwa (52:21):
Love my fans all across the us and Canada and international as well now, too. Um, it's strange because international soccer players have the most followers out of any pro athletes. Yeah, bro, the international food ball community is massive and it's just so much more well-respected overseas than it is here in the States, but not for long, not for much longer, not for much longer. Paul said, I think this Quincy Amarikwa gets it. Hey, I think you're right. But what do I know? You know what I mean? Um, MSL does followed love that, love that spam in the heart button. You know, everybody we got, I think we got like five, seven more minutes left in, uh, in the live.

Quincy Amarikwa (53:15):
Uh, George had asked PSG or Byron. Um, I haven't watched either play a game in a, uh, a long time, but um, Alphonso Davis is on Byron, right? I think he's on Byron if he's on Byron Byron,

Quincy Amarikwa (53:36):
Cause PSG is PSGs Neymar. Right? You gotta give me some feedback on that one as the last time I remember. Yes. Okay. Yeah. So Neymar or Afonso Davis. I got it. I got to give love to my, um, MLS brethren, uh, Alfonzo Davey. So Byron it is a champions league final on Sunday. Oh, okay. Oh, Oh, okay. So it's PSG verse Byron in champions league on Sunday. Ah, okay. Okay. Okay. Got you. So that was the, okay. So that was the game that guys were talking about. That was on or not that game, but I think there's, I was talking to Mark, uh, Mark Pelosi was telling me there, the game he's watching the game while we were getting caught up on something. He said it was like eight to two or something like that. So I'm assuming it was, Oh, that's what it was Barcelona versus Byron. Right. And then Barcelona versus Byron in Barcelona loss, the game. Um, yeah. So yeah, cause the guy gives this will saying you got to give support to the MLS guys, man. Everyone hasn't been, uh, given enough credit to you. Uh

Quincy Amarikwa (54:58):
Mmm.

Quincy Amarikwa (55:03):
Oh, what was I thinking? You got to give credit to you. Oh yeah guys, guys, MLS don't get enough credit, some solid talent here. Where's the moose.

Quincy Amarikwa (55:17):
Okay. So there you go again. Deep. What is the most important clause in contracts based on your personal personal view? I'd say the most important clause is guaranteed guaranteed years. I think. Um, yeah, it's not necessarily a clause, but the most important terms, right? Like they can put anything in a contract that can make, you know what I mean? Like you put all these different types of convoluted things in the contract to make it difficult, to understand or, or give, you know, individuals a way to weasel out of something. Um, most especially definitely more in the past that things are getting a lot more standardized now, but I think the most important thing to player should be number of guaranteed years. Guaranteed money is, um, is most important. Cause you know, your career is unpredictable and I know everybody thinks that they're invincible and they'll never get injured and they're only going to be a rising star and things are only going to go up up and up. And if that's the case, then you got nothing to worry about because you'll just keep renegotiating contracts, you'll get more and more money. You get more, more brand deals and everything's going to be coming your way.

Quincy Amarikwa (56:26):
Um, um, so, um, you know, guaranteed money, guaranteed money, uh, Oh, uh, Ben said

Quincy Amarikwa (56:43):
Football's not respected in the U S for much longer. Could you elaborate on how you think us soccer could, will be become respected, um, more respected on the international stage?

Quincy Amarikwa (56:53):
Um, I think

Quincy Amarikwa (56:57):
It'll be a natural it'll naturally happen because of like, uh, Afonso right. Like with their success on the international stage, the international community is definitely looking at America as a place to farm and poach talent for pennies on the dollar. That's what I think, I think from an investment perspective, the international market got a little bit, way too crazy with valuations of players and, and um, transfer fees and the amount of money that clubs were paying for our will playing for players, um, is just doesn't make sense from like an ROI perspective, in my opinion. And I think with like COVID and the shutdown and every business, um, reassessing their internal KPIs and how they come to decisions on where they invest money and how they go about doing it. I think they're all gonna go way younger, um, and, and set like caps on age for which they can invest in.

Quincy Amarikwa (57:57):
And more importantly, they're going to try to get, uh, players, uh, earlier in for cheaper. And America is a place where we beat. We will be willing to export some of our best talent, um, internationally. And I think as they progress up the ranks internationally, um, it'll naturally, um, increase the perceived the perception of America, America soccer, especially as we're importing more and more international players to our league, you know, MLS is a very international league. Um, so it'll be interesting to see, but that is a, that is where we'll have to end it for this week. I've got a minute here until, um, what do you call it? I got a minute here until Instagram kicks me off. I want to thank everybody for joining the live and uh,

Quincy Amarikwa (58:49):
Yeah,

Quincy Amarikwa (58:50):
Yeah. This week was a good one. I will see everybody next Thursday, 6:00 PM PST 9:00 PM EST as always, everyone be good to each other. Um, stay positive, keep putting in the work both on and off the field. And I appreciate everybody who is a part of the community and shares the show, the clips, the replays with everybody around them. Uh, Joe said, great live Quincy, have a great week. Thank you very much. POBA uh, POBA said waiting on next week and I'm seeing spamming that heart

Quincy Amarikwa (59:22):
Button. So thanks again to everybody for joining in. I'll see you all next week and as always, I mean, you had.