Tiffany Weimer: The Path to a 12 Year Pro Career

This week I had the pleasure of interviewing 12 year professional player Tiffany Weimer.  The entire hour long conversation can be found at the SoccerParentResourceCenter.com (membership required).

Many of us have children who say "I want to be a professional soccer player when I grow up."  In this interview I wanted to dive into the motivation and mentality of a professional soccer player, the importance of early environment, and the role of the parent and player pathways.  We also had time for live questions from parents listening about competitive tournaments and development, balancing school and soccer, and more.

In this sneak peak 4+ minute clip we talk about Tiffany Weimer's early days around the game and her keen desire to be around the ball and play...and how her parents supported this.  We go on to discuss the value and benefits of girls playing with boys (not necessarily in league play). And then - at the end of this clip - I make Tiffany cry when I ask her about what the game means to her.

You can follow Tiffany on twitter @TiffanyWeimer and be sure to check out her company - Duktig Brand and all the amazing products they have to help players and coaches.

Enjoy!

TRANSCRIPT:

Tiffany:
When I was young, I was lucky to have an indoor facility that... My mom would drop me off, or somebody. Let me just make that clear. Grandma, grandpa, dad, stepmom, stepdad, mom, aunt, uncle, you name it, they were there, they showed up. But I was dropped off and there were walls to kick around. That place, everyone there was playing soccer or liked soccer, so I was put there.

Skye:
Yeah.

Tiffany:
I didn't need to be coached while I was there. I didn't need to be told to juggle or kick the ball against the wall. They just dropped me off there. The rest-

Skye:
Did you develop confidence there? Did you get better? Did your skills improve there?

Tiffany:
Oh, yeah. For sure, because teams needed players. I had my shin guards. I had my shin guards in my shoe. There was a practice area and I definitely got better there, and it happened organically.

Skye:
That really came internally. There was this internal drive. It wasn't your parents saying, "Hey, do you want to go to the indoor place? We could drop you off if you want."

Tiffany:
Never. They never encouraged me to do anything. They never asked me if I wanted to... They just listened to the requests that I made, not in a demanding way. They just listened to the requests I made, because that's all I wanted. That's something my mom, up until I was a pro, she would never say, "Don't you think you should go do this? Don't you think you should go do that?" I asked her, I was like, "Why? Why did this happen?" She was like, "You just loved it. You just have always loved it." I think it's like, I let myself love it too. I think some people, our kids maybe, they don't think it's okay to be all in on something, or let themselves just go. I just let myself go. I didn't care what anyone thought or anyone said.

I was different. I didn't hang out with my friends at school all the time. I didn't do everything everybody else did. But I didn't even know at the time. I was just so focused on ball, ball, ball, that was it. It didn't have any influence on my friendships. I have tons of friends and I've always been social. I think some parents think that they're going to miss high school experiences if they play too much soccer, and it's like you just have different friends. You don't have to have your high school friends. That's something that I always think is so important to know.

Skye:
Do you think that the women's, the girls club teams now are strong enough? Because we saw a lot of that in my generation, your generation, that players had to play with the boys. Do you think that the girls club teams are strong enough now, that that's not as necessary, depending on where you are in the country?

Tiffany:
I don't think it's necessary for development purposes, but I do think it's important in terms of the culture of the game. The way that boys talk about the game, they're fans of the game. It's different, and that's generally speaking, there are girls who are like that, but it's not as common. So, when I would hang out with the boys, I started learning the international players and learning different moves that I didn't know, and it's just different. So, I would always suggest young girls to hang around with boys who love soccer. I mean, it's a universal language. If you're into it and you're good, then there's something to talk about.

Skye:
No, for sure. We experienced that here with an indoor facility that we have, an Own Touch it's called. I've talked about it before, where it's co-ed, the kids are just all playing together. Just that relatedness that happens there, that connection to the game that the kids start to feel, it really seems to impact their motivations and their development.

Tiffany:
Yeah, totally. I think it's great.

Skye:
Yeah. Can you try to describe to a parent who's listening, who has never played or felt a deep connection to sport, how much you love the game?

Tiffany:
It makes me want to cry when I want to talk about it. That's how much. It's like... Yeah.

Skye:
I hear ya.

Watch the entire hour long interview (and over 100+ others!) at the SoccerParentResourceCenter.com.  Membership is $3.49 a month or $36.00 a year. You'll have access to interviews, courses, articles, videos and a welcoming community of engaged soccer parents.

Entire club memberships are available for just $500/year.