by Jeremiah Jones

Whistle after whistle rings out, followed concurrently by an ecstatic flurry of flying limbs, legs kicking out onto the slippery turf, and an excited yet giddy voice bellowing out 30 yards south towards the center of the pitch. Sweat-drenched players dressed in black and yellow make their way towards the sideline exhausted, proceeded by a lengthy stretching session within the parameters of a small and deliberate meeting by four figures, who have created a small huddle inside the center circle of the field.

Iowa Assistant Women’s Soccer Coach Katelyn Longino, courtesy of hawkeyesports.com

Within this meeting of the four figures stand Katelyn Longino, the latest addition to the Iowa Women’s Soccer team, and the only female coach currently on the staff.

Joining the Hawkeyes with only a couple of weeks until the season began, Longino has had to adjust to life in a new environment in a hurry, becoming an integral and vocal member of the team through her inspirational mindset and astute coaching knowledge.

On what appeared to be the last blisteringly-warm day in October before the Iowan winter settles in, we traveled to the Iowa Soccer Complex in Iowa City about 4 miles away from the heart of the University campus, to learn more about Longino and her life within the sport of soccer.

Iowa Soccer Complex located in Iowa City, IA, where the Hawkeye Women’s Soccer Team compete

When were you first introduced to soccer and what made you enjoy it so much?

I was introduced to the game around the age of four in a family environment. As the oldest of five, and one of about 17 or 18 grandchildren, I would be one of the first playing games in the yard. After that, I was introduced to Muppets (a children’s soccer league, not the beloved children’s show) and just became addicted to scoring goals. It just became soccer all of the ways and I never looked back, even playing with the boy’s teams when I was around 12 years old, which helped me become a little more crafty and versatile.

Was there any specific player that you aspired to be growing up?

I think the two players that I really grew up with living in the 90’s were Ronaldo (Brazilian, not Cristiano) and Mia Hamm. I’ve been able to see the popularity of soccer in the U.S. grow rapidly and on the women’s side the success of the national team, who actually just started World Cup qualifying, has been really enjoyable to see. There have been a lot of empowering female figures at the heart of that, whether it is Abby Wambach, Kristine Lilly, Carli Lloyd, and many more. They have really set the standard for women’s soccer, a lot of which we try to do ourselves here and all across the United States.

As a collegiate player at Columbus State, what lesson about the atmosphere and culture really stood out the most?

At Columbus State, it’s one of those things where the expectations are high and the performance level and competitiveness are extremely high. It’s something that is very rare to see in some programs; with a lot of it contributed to the leadership of the staff know exactly what they want to do in every training session and every preparation for the games. They constantly demand success and have a group of leaders that make it a repetitive environment of success, especially from the juniors and seniors of that program. I think their culture is something that is flourishing within the girls’ game, and it’s highly accountable and very much based on hard work being put in every single day.

In your transition from athletics into coaching, is there a coach that provided you with the most insight into the path that you wanted to take?

I remember a lot of my coaches from an early age throughout my playing days. Whether it was with Muppets (still not the children’s show) or playing with the boys, they helped make it enjoyable and fun to play, especially with the amount of passion they had and the competitiveness of competition as I went through high school and club soccer. One incredible coach that I had the opportunity to learn from was Jay Entlich (Head Women’s Soccer Coach of Columbus State University), who is one of the world’s finest and really challenged me in regards to my knowledge and wisdom whilst giving me valuable experience working with him. I really got to see the bigger picture about soccer and what the game was truly about, which was eye-opening.

Speaking about your growth in knowledge thru coaching, what style of play do you teach the players and where is the balance of play style within the Hawkeye staff?

I’m definitely more attacking-minded in my coaching style. I think that is the beauty of working with both Rade (Tanaskovic, Iowa Assistant Women’s Soccer Coach) and Dave (DiIanni, Iowa Head Women’s Soccer Coach). Dave is a more balanced figure, while Rade is a very defensive-minded coach, seeing that he was a goalkeeper. I was a number 10 (refers to a creative & attacking midfield player), which makes sense as to why I prefer working more in the attack of our team. It’s a really good balance that you want on your team and on your staff, which is something that we have been able to use to our advantage and grow in both areas. At the end of the day though, we all have to be a little better on both sides and create a couple more opportunities to help win the team more of the close games. We work very hard and train very well, so the results will come with time, so really our main focus just has to be about putting the ball into the back of the net.

Logistically speaking, what is the process like for getting of USSF “D” Coaching License and were there any major hindrances along the process?

I actually just got my “C” license. I remember when I was 12, going up to a tournament in Washington D.C. (Katelyn grew up in Georgia), driving north and getting my “E” license doing a little course. My freshman year, I went out and got my “D” license straight away even when I wasn’t quite so sure if I wanted to pursue coaching. Both of my parents were coaches as well, so I really couldn’t pass up a convenient opportunity to get into the profession, whether it would be as a club coach in high school or as an assistant at Columbus State. I really tried to soak up as much as I could, trying to be a sponge for knowledge and tactics, as well as all of those fine-tuned details that can help out on the field. I also recently graduated with my Master’s Degree (2018, Coaching Education & Athlete Development from Xavier University) and started to learn pretty rapidly that I wanted to coach. I went in knowing that the college game was where I wanted to be, working with the same 30 to 35 girls every day and making sure that they have everything to be successful in both our tactics and our techniques. Hopefully, I have to go get my “B” License soon, but I have a little bit of time to continually learn and develop as a coach, and as a person.

Giving us a sneak peek into the life of a Division I coach at Iowa, what is your daily schedule like?

Well, we are up early around seven to eight in the morning prepping and getting ready for practice. Most days our training sessions will be extremely intense and very detailed, lasting somewhere near two to two and a half hours. Afterward, our girls head back to our indoor complex, get some breakfast in them, and go on with their day resting their bodies and going to class. We, as a coaching staff, recuperate and get right into film sessions after practice throughout the day, spending a lot of our time discussing our ideas and things that we feel need more attention.

So you’ve been given control to pick your dream 5-a-side team available in soccer from any time period, which superstars would you choose and why?

Oh man! I think the biggest thing about five v five is being able to beat your players one on one, so I think I would have to go with:

2. Pele — (also noted as the greatest player of all-time)

3. Neymar — “because he’s really crafty on the ball”

4. Ronaldo — (definitely because of the haircut, click to see here)

5. Messi — “the legendary Messi, which is kind of a given.”

It’s kind of easy because I can just pick the top five players, but I think it would be a fun match-up to watch even though they would play against wouldn’t stand a chance.

Given your position as a coach, what is a goal that you have for the Iowa Program and its’ players that you hope to accomplish?

I think my mission is to encourage people to be the best version of themselves that they can possibly be, whether that be on or off the field. I truly believe that, and I would say that from 2015 to the present, my knowledge and wisdom has given me more of an ability to complete that coaching philosophy, which I think is really important for us. Whether I learn some more tactics to help them on the field, or that I get to learn more about leadership to help them take control off of it, it all is apart of what makes our team successful. As I continue to go through my coaching career, my mission and philosophy have continued to really thrive and be a part of who I am, and deep down in my soul, what is most important to me is to see players continue to develop and grow into the best that they can be.

Longino and the Hawkeye Women’s Soccer team return to action at 4 p.m. CT on October 5th, as they travel to Lincoln, Neb. in hopes of upsetting the Big Ten’s current leaders, #22 Nebraska, who have yet to lose in conference play and have collected 14 out of the available 18 points.

Current Big Ten Women’s Soccer standings here: https://bigten.org/confstandings.aspx/2018-19/wsoc?path=wsoc.

The game will be streamed live on BTNPlus on BTN2GO, a paid subscription service, while you can also follow the team with live game updates from their official Twitter page, @HawkeyeSoccer

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