POLKcast: Kim Newsome-Reynolds shares how Polk State helped her reach soccer stardom [TRANSCRIPT]
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<Affirmative> and I literally said,
Hey, boy, <laugh>. And he’s like, yeah.
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I was like, can I play
with you? And he was like,
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sure you ever played soccer before? I
was like, what’s that? And he was like,
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uh, soccer, like you play with your
feet and duh da. All these things.
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So I said, no, but I wanna play.
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And so he taught me a couple
moves and then we just played for,
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I don’t even know how long. For a while.
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Another kinda free form.
Rock and roll Make gu.
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So maybe want tap toe another kinda
free foam rock and roll. Make gu.
00:00:29.290 –> 00:00:30.610
So maybe want tap toe.
00:00:31.700 –> 00:00:36.290
Welcome to the Polk Polk
State College’s Official
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podcast. I’m your host Mike Ferguson,
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and with me is our co-host
Madison Fantozzi. Woohoo. Uh,
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we have a very special guest
today on the Polk Cast.
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We are with Kim Newsome Reynolds.
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Kim was a two time NJCA All
American here at Polk State in
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- In 2008,
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she went on to conclude her collegiate
career at the University of Central
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Florida,
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where she was an all-conference U s USA
performer and helped the Knights win two
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conference u s a regular season titles
and advance to the NCAA tournament
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both years. In 2016,
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she played for the Orlando Pride of the
Professional Women’s National Soccer
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League. Kim, welcome to the podcast.
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Hi. Thank you for having me.
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Very good. I found this an interesting
story. So when you learned out,
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learned that you were selected
to play for the Orlando Pride,
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you were actually out of
the country, is that right?
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Yes, I was on a missions trip to Haiti.
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Tell us about that. How’d you find out
you were, uh, headed back to Orlando,
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where you played your college ball?
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It was amazing. Um, so my husband and I,
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we lead teams to Haiti
for missions trips and um,
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there’s not a whole, like electricity is,
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you’re lucky if it comes
on throughout the day. Um,
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and one day that the
electricity popped on,
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I got connected to the wifi and my
email started rolling in and there I saw
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the email, Kim, when are you back
because you’re suiting up for this match?
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And I was like, uh, babe, read this.
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I literally almost panicked
and I almost felt sick.
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And then I went out and I ran to
start getting a jnk for the game.
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It was exciting.
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How much time did you have to prepare
between finding out and then suiting up?
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Let’s see.
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I believe I had a week left of our
trip cuz we went for three weeks to the
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mission trip. And so I had a week
left and then I ran every day,
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several times a day. Yeah. <laugh>.
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You, you started your
collegiate career here at then,
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your formerly Kim Newsome, a
formerly Polk Community College.
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How did playing here and playing for Coach
Bill Reed kind of help prepare you to
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take the next stage?
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Uh, bill Reed have a special place
in my heart for him. He is wonderful.
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I actually, coming out of high school,
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I did not know that community college
sports like soccer existed mm-hmm.
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<affirmative>. Um,
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it wasn’t until I did not receive
the score that I needed for my
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SATs or actts. Um, I was,
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I had already signed my national
letter of intent to go to us f um,
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and ended up not getting that score.
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So I was not deemed NCAA eligible.
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All of a sudden we get a call from a
Bill Reed and I was like, who is that?
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This guy’s accent is like, where, where
does he live? He’s, this is interesting.
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And so they brought me down to Lakeland
and I met Bill Reed and it literally
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changed my life because for me,
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I like to say I was not very
studious in high school <laugh>,
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but so coming to a smaller school
where my ca my my classroom
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sizes were not so big, it
really helped me academically.
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And then Bill Reed was like, Hey
listen, our team may not be that strong,
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however, it’s gonna be enough for
you in two years when you’re done,
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we’ll make sure you’re ready
to go wherever you’re going.
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And so I really thought that
was really encouraging. Um,
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he helped me stay focused
and motivated, um,
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knowing that my two year goal was
a, a university outside of here.
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Um,
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but then when season started I just fell
in love and I completely forgot that I
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was leaving in two years
and just, I loved it.
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Uh, I was just gonna say, um,
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it’s funny you mentioned you
didn’t even know community college,
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junior college athletics
was a thing. Uh, what’s,
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what are maybe some of the misconceptions.
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About that? I remember being embarrassed,
um, because at my high school,
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my graduating class was
900, little over 900.
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And so it was a huge school overall.
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It was like close to 4,000 kids and
everyone had seen me sign my National 11
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tent and February 4th, 2006 <laugh>. Um,
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and people were talking about, oh,
your article, we clipped it out.
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It’s on my wall in my bedroom.
So they were so excited.
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And then when I found out
I was not getting the score
I needed and then the N J
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C A A um, came knocking at my door,
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I remember being so embarrassed and I
didn’t tell my friends about it cuz I was
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like, oh my goodness, I’m a failure.
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They’re gonna know I’m not going
to D one on the full scholarship.
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It was one of the most
humbling experiences because
the misconception lies in
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you’re not good enough or,
you know, those sports, oh,
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it’s just weaker program and
it’s just kind of like a,
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a different pathway until you
reach your, your ultimate goal. Um,
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I’m here to say it changed my life
truly because I wasn’t ready, um,
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emotionally or mentally for
a giant D one school. Um,
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in terms of academics. Um, I, I just,
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I just think if anyone had
the chance to go that route,
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the two year route
first, take it cuz it’s,
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it’s literally a great
segue to your ultimate goal.
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Did you know anything about Polk.
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County? I had no idea Polk County
existed. I was driving in and I was like,
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there’s cows. This is a, a major highway.
Why are there cows on either side?
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<laugh>, I literally said that out loud.
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Well, coming back to campus
here today, you know,
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how has it changed and what memories
does it bring back from being here? Um,
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back when you were a student?
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Unfortunately, we didn’t come to
the Winter Haven campus much. Um,
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I told my husband on the way in, uh,
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we had only gone to the Winter
Haven campus three times.
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Once was, uh,
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for our workout that we did when
we all first arrived in 2007.
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And then the second and third time
was for the award ceremony, um,
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with all of the sports programs, um, at
the end of the seasons. So I had not,
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you know, been here and walked the
ground. Um, much so coming here,
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it still brought back
memories of Lakeland. Um, I,
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of course I talked about Bill Reid
on the way in. He always greeted me,
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Kim <laugh>, how you doing? Nice. And
always ended the conversations be good.
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So I just, it just made
me, uh, think of that.
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And then also I admitted to
my husband, I was like, wow,
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I’m a little sad coming back here
because in 2008 I tore my a c l in the
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beginning of the season, so I actually
didn’t get to play in the, um,
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national tournament. And so,
um, yeah, so it was just,
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it was a lot of different memories
and emotions that had come up.
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But a lot of great ones though that
yeah, you know, it trumps the bad ones.
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<laugh>.
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Yeah. You’ve, you’ve accomplished
quite a bit in your career. You,
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you’re an all conference
performer at ucf. Uh,
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you played in a professional
league with the Orlando Pride. Um,
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looking when, when you
started here, I mean,
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did any of that seem
possible to you? I mean.
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So it did, um,
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fortunately because of the club team that
I had played for the travel team, um,
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in the United Soccer Club, which
is, um, now Florida Rush. But,
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um, so I played there and um,
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I had all kinds of interests in me.
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My first interest was UCLA with
Joel Ellis, that former, um,
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women’s national team
coach. Um, but coming in I,
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that 2007 season, I was actually,
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had already had my ticket booked for
the US Women’s National Team Camp.
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So like I knew my path was
different from everyone else’s, um,
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simply because of what I accomplished
in high school club soccer. Um,
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and again, signing my national level
of intent to play at a big university,
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it, there was no, the sky was the
limit for me. I just knew, I just,
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I was very motivated. Um,
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and I didn’t think that I would just
kind of be humbled and, you know,
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kind of knocked off,
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knocked onto the ground a little bit
when it came to the academics and not,
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and realizing that I
was not gonna go to, um,
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a university right away. So,
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but I always knew my path was
different and I knew here,
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like coming to Polk was
just only, you know, just a,
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a just a little stop in my, in my career.
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How do you feel like your
experience at Polk State, you know,
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gave you that foundation to take the
next step and move on? Cuz you said,
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you know, you felt like
you, in retrospect,
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you weren’t really ready to go right
away. How do you feel like Polk State.
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Helped you? It helped me mentally, um,
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just because fitness and
I don’t get along. Yep.
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And it still doesn’t, um, but,
so when I came here I knew, wow,
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okay, this is gonna be a little different.
The fitness is not like, you know,
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it would be at a university. So I was
actually thankful for that. So I was like,
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I have two years to like, you know,
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kinda get it together
and work on my fitness.
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Little did I know that Bill Reed
was a big supporter of fitness,
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so surprised to me. It continued to help,
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it helped me continue staying fit and
staying ready for my journey after.
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Here. So they never had the cows.
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Chase you? They never had the
cows chase us. Nope. <laugh> Okay.
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<laugh> coyotes maybe, but coyotes.
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Okay, there we go. There we go.
It’s old school. Old school fit.
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Most old school training. We didn’t
have it’s cross training bits back then.
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Exactly.
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Just cross-training.
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<Laugh>, you’ve gone on to
work as an educator and you,
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you mentioned you were on a mission
trip, uh, when you got the call, um,
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how this, this past summer marked
50 years of Title IX legislation.
00:10:08.140 –> 00:10:12.280
How does athletics and
particularly women’s athletics,
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kind of mold young women to be
productive citizens? Better?
00:10:16.680 –> 00:10:19.800
People talk about that a little
bit. How that all kind of comes.
00:10:20.120 –> 00:10:23.280
Together. It comes together
especially for, um,
00:10:23.350 –> 00:10:28.160
I would say for minority girls because
I grew up in what most would call
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the ghetto the project.
00:10:29.250 –> 00:10:33.720
So I didn’t think it was possible for
me to even play sports at a high level.
00:10:33.940 –> 00:10:37.480
And so more so women, um,
because you know, you,
00:10:37.480 –> 00:10:41.800
you grow up with the basketball and the
football and so you don’t really see,
00:10:42.210 –> 00:10:46.720
um, especially in the sport of soccer,
you don’t, it was not very popular, um,
00:10:46.720 –> 00:10:47.560
when I was growing up.
00:10:47.560 –> 00:10:52.240
And so for me to have come up in a
time that I did in the, you know,
00:10:52.240 –> 00:10:55.320
late 19 or late nineties,
early two thousands,
00:10:55.600 –> 00:11:00.080
there wasn’t a lot of kids that
were like, oh my gosh, soccer,
00:11:00.340 –> 00:11:01.680
you guys are really good.
00:11:01.810 –> 00:11:06.480
Up until my high school years where
we would be at Disney tournaments
00:11:06.480 –> 00:11:10.760
and little girl teams would come and
go, we’re gonna watch your next game.
00:11:10.940 –> 00:11:15.120
You guys are really good and you guys are
awesome. And so we were all like, wow,
00:11:15.120 –> 00:11:16.920
this is different. Like,
00:11:16.940 –> 00:11:21.560
why are we at 16, 15, 16, 17 year olds
getting this kind of attention from
00:11:21.560 –> 00:11:26.040
younger girls? So for us, or at least
for me, it made me think, oh, okay,
00:11:26.130 –> 00:11:31.040
so I had an attitude problem and I had
to fix that because here these young
00:11:31.040 –> 00:11:35.520
girls are watching me, um, at
play and they’re going to mimic,
00:11:35.700 –> 00:11:39.440
you know, either my skill or my attitude.
And so I had to make a decision.
00:11:39.730 –> 00:11:42.680
My husband over there was probably
like, yep, mm-hmm <affirmative>. Um,
00:11:42.810 –> 00:11:47.320
so for me, I had to realize these
young girls are watching me now.
00:11:47.830 –> 00:11:52.080
I have to fix everything about me. And,
and that included my attitude because
00:11:53.770 –> 00:11:58.760
it was intense. And, um,
so I think Title IX is,
00:11:58.760 –> 00:12:00.120
is just so important that it,
00:12:00.120 –> 00:12:03.320
it was such a breakthrough moment and
it started when it did back, what,
00:12:03.320 –> 00:12:04.880
50 years ago? Um,
00:12:05.270 –> 00:12:09.080
I can’t imagine what my life would
be cuz I played football when I first
00:12:09.080 –> 00:12:10.560
started, not football, right?
00:12:10.560 –> 00:12:14.680
But American football and never
dreamed that I would, you know,
00:12:14.680 –> 00:12:17.960
play at a high level for American
football because it was a guy’s sport.
00:12:18.330 –> 00:12:23.000
So the fact that Title IX happened
and it paved the way for girls like me
00:12:23.570 –> 00:12:28.080
to, to play at a high level is
huge. It’s important. I, I love it.
00:12:28.260 –> 00:12:29.600
How did you discover soccer?
00:12:30.030 –> 00:12:34.440
I discovered soccer because
I moved into a neighborhood.
00:12:34.890 –> 00:12:39.720
Um, we, my, my mom, we struggled
and we lived in, like I said,
00:12:39.720 –> 00:12:43.600
the, the ghetto, the projects.
Then she and my stepdad,
00:12:44.210 –> 00:12:49.000
we mustered up enough finances to move
what we jokingly said across the railroad
00:12:49.000 –> 00:12:53.920
tracks. Um, which was <laugh> out of
the ghetto and over to the north side,
00:12:54.020 –> 00:12:58.960
the nicer side. And in that
neighborhood, um, I met a young man,
00:12:59.490 –> 00:13:04.360
um, he was probably four
or five and I was seven,
00:13:04.520 –> 00:13:06.840
close to eight I think I’ll
just say eight years old.
00:13:07.380 –> 00:13:11.160
And I had already made friends,
um, social butterfly here. I’m not,
00:13:11.160 –> 00:13:16.040
I don’t know, strangers, the running
joke in my circle, <laugh>. Um,
00:13:16.380 –> 00:13:19.720
but I, my friend had to go
to school, uh, go to, um,
00:13:19.720 –> 00:13:22.520
run an errand with her family.
So I was on my way home.
00:13:22.520 –> 00:13:27.160
I was not ready to be done for the day.
So he was outside with a soccer ball.
00:13:27.590 –> 00:13:30.880
I had never seen a ball in my life
up until that point, eight years old.
00:13:31.180 –> 00:13:35.120
And I stood out and I watched him
from across the street. So I looked,
00:13:35.230 –> 00:13:38.840
made sure no cars were coming,
walked across. And I literally said,
00:13:38.840 –> 00:13:42.320
Hey boy <laugh>. And he’s like, yeah.
I was like, can I play with you?
00:13:42.620 –> 00:13:45.720
And he was like, sure you ever played
soccer before? I was like, what’s that?
00:13:46.140 –> 00:13:50.520
And he was like, uh, soccer, like you
play with your feet and duh da da,
00:13:50.520 –> 00:13:53.640
all these things. So I
said, no, but I wanna play.
00:13:53.640 –> 00:13:57.520
And so he taught me a couple
moves and then we just played for,
00:13:57.590 –> 00:13:59.320
I don’t even know how long for a while.
00:13:59.740 –> 00:14:04.560
And his family came outside and
discovered like me playing against him
00:14:04.560 –> 00:14:07.840
and went out, went back in the
house. His dad came out and was like,
00:14:07.840 –> 00:14:10.480
you guys gotta come out here.
This girl’s kicking James’s butt.
00:14:10.480 –> 00:14:13.200
I’ve never seen her before. So they
all came out and when we were done,
00:14:13.210 –> 00:14:17.560
we talked, they walked me home and asked
my parents if I could play on their,
00:14:17.560 –> 00:14:21.640
uh, rec team that was starting that
spring. And they said, sure, of course.
00:14:22.220 –> 00:14:27.200
And that’s how it happened. Okay. And
that, that guy that came out, Jim Powell,
00:14:27.200 –> 00:14:32.120
he was my coach from that day
through 18 years old graduating
00:14:32.120 –> 00:14:32.780
high school. Wow.
00:14:32.780 –> 00:14:36.320
Wow. What, uh, what is it
about the game you love?
00:14:36.320 –> 00:14:39.200
Definitely not the fitness as
we discovered, um, <laugh>.
00:14:39.790 –> 00:14:41.320
Even the coyotes. Even.
00:14:41.320 –> 00:14:42.440
The coyotes and the cows.
00:14:42.600 –> 00:14:45.800
<Laugh>, the Bill re fitness program
didn’t get you hooked. Nothing will.
00:14:46.040 –> 00:14:46.480
<Laugh>. What.
00:14:46.480 –> 00:14:49.840
Do you feel when you play the game?
Like, what’s going through your head?
00:14:49.890 –> 00:14:50.760
Is it like all.
00:14:50.920 –> 00:14:55.400
Consuming? Are you like totally in the
zone? It’s definitely all consuming. Um,
00:14:55.590 –> 00:14:59.920
I would, I will say I became
a mental player as well. Um,
00:15:00.850 –> 00:15:05.740
I struggled with needing to
perform and not disappoint my
00:15:05.900 –> 00:15:10.740
teammates or the fans. So that
actually took a toll on me, um,
00:15:11.260 –> 00:15:13.700
mentally in a not so good way.
00:15:14.160 –> 00:15:18.140
But it didn’t hinder me from
performing and playing, you know, um,
00:15:18.510 –> 00:15:23.340
at the highest level I can actually,
it did a little bit, but, um,
00:15:23.690 –> 00:15:28.180
I, I had a joy about soccer
and a sense of accomplishment,
00:15:28.710 –> 00:15:33.700
um, because it always reminded me of
my upbringing and I think that was even
00:15:34.020 –> 00:15:34.540
possible at all.
00:15:34.540 –> 00:15:38.540
And so for me to get out and step on
the pitch and wear whatever team I was
00:15:38.540 –> 00:15:42.260
playing for and wear that jersey, I
wore it very proudly. Yeah, it was good.
00:15:42.370 –> 00:15:45.020
I like the competition part of
it, the physicality of it too.
00:15:45.440 –> 00:15:48.500
You work as a, as an athletics
director, you work with, uh,
00:15:48.500 –> 00:15:52.060
the youth who are playing
soccer. Uh, h how do you,
00:15:52.060 –> 00:15:56.140
are you different as a player as
opposed to being a coach, mentor,
00:15:56.610 –> 00:16:00.740
kind of, uh, in, in that kind of
role? Or are you kind of the same?
00:16:00.740 –> 00:16:02.620
Do you find yourself
being too competitive?
00:16:02.620 –> 00:16:07.220
Pretty much the same in the sense
that I am very competitive, um,
00:16:07.220 –> 00:16:11.020
when it comes to sports and I, you know,
00:16:11.020 –> 00:16:15.860
being at a small private school, we
actually didn’t have a big program. Um,
00:16:16.040 –> 00:16:17.980
the soccer team that I helped start there,
00:16:17.980 –> 00:16:21.900
we played for like the local rec league.
So we didn’t have sports on our campus,
00:16:22.190 –> 00:16:24.660
um, because it just wasn’t big enough. Um,
00:16:24.870 –> 00:16:29.700
so going on Saturday mornings to
essentially the rec league, but our team,
00:16:29.700 –> 00:16:34.100
our school happened to have a couple of
teams in it. Um, I had to realize that,
00:16:34.160 –> 00:16:38.620
you know, it was Rick and I had to
control my volume and excitement.
00:16:38.950 –> 00:16:39.980
Um, I,
00:16:40.050 –> 00:16:44.940
I remember putting a coach in place
so I didn’t have to coach simply
00:16:44.940 –> 00:16:49.500
because these were my babies. They
were, you know, nervous, excited.
00:16:49.880 –> 00:16:52.020
And here I was very competitive.
00:16:52.630 –> 00:16:55.540
So I knew I had to take a
backseat because <laugh>,
00:16:55.540 –> 00:17:00.300
otherwise they would probably quit
and not wanna play for the fun of it,
00:17:00.300 –> 00:17:02.420
which soccer should be fun. Um,
00:17:02.420 –> 00:17:05.740
so I guess it is a little different when
I’m playing because I have that mindset
00:17:05.870 –> 00:17:09.420
of I’m going to win, like I’m
winning this game even if we lost.
00:17:09.420 –> 00:17:13.100
But I had that mindset so I could
play at the highest level I could.
00:17:13.230 –> 00:17:15.180
Whereas my kids, you know,
00:17:15.780 –> 00:17:18.550
here we are in a little rec
program and if I scream.
00:17:18.770 –> 00:17:20.830
Did you ever see any
Bill Reid in yourself?
00:17:21.140 –> 00:17:22.390
I did <laugh> <laugh>,
00:17:22.420 –> 00:17:26.510
I did <laugh> because I had
them for PE because I was,
00:17:26.510 –> 00:17:27.550
it was a small private school.
00:17:27.660 –> 00:17:31.510
I actually did PE on top of
being the athletic director. Um,
00:17:31.510 –> 00:17:36.390
and so I actually incorporated
cross CrossFit into our training
00:17:36.390 –> 00:17:40.670
and everyone was like, wow, PE
we, it’s fun, but it’s exhausting.
00:17:40.870 –> 00:17:44.630
Coach Kim, they called me Coach Kim. Coach
Kim, you’re intense. I said, oh good,
00:17:44.690 –> 00:17:47.230
now you’re gonna go to math class and
you’re gonna have a test and you’re gonna
00:17:47.230 –> 00:17:49.520
do really well. Bec you’re
welcome <laugh>. It’s.
00:17:49.520 –> 00:17:50.353
Intense.
00:17:50.560 –> 00:17:51.393
<Laugh>.
00:17:51.530 –> 00:17:53.640
So one thing, um,
00:17:53.830 –> 00:17:58.680
I found interesting is you are good
friends with Polk State head soccer
00:17:58.680 –> 00:18:02.280
coach Jess be mm-hmm. <affirmative> and
associate head coach Randy be mm-hmm.
00:18:02.320 –> 00:18:06.960
<affirmative> her husband. So when
you played as a freshman 2007,
00:18:06.960 –> 00:18:11.200
the program reached the national N J
C A tournament for the first time. Uh,
00:18:11.200 –> 00:18:13.560
they went again in oh nine,
you were a junior at UCF then.
00:18:13.560 –> 00:18:18.320
But they didn’t go again until this
past season. Uh, they went 18 and two,
00:18:18.320 –> 00:18:23.200
which is the second most wins
in program history behind your
00:18:23.200 –> 00:18:24.240
2017.
00:18:24.930 –> 00:18:29.200
So how cool is that to see friends
of yours leading the program
00:18:29.900 –> 00:18:33.160
you once played to the same destination,
00:18:33.160 –> 00:18:34.960
having the same level of success?
00:18:34.960 –> 00:18:39.440
It’s an amazing feeling. Um,
Jess can probably vouch for this.
00:18:39.440 –> 00:18:44.040
When I found out that she and her
husband were the coaches of Polk
00:18:44.200 –> 00:18:45.033
State,
00:18:45.230 –> 00:18:49.760
I about fell out of my chair
and I <laugh> I remember going,
00:18:49.860 –> 00:18:54.120
wow, this is amazing, this program,
they’re about to win so many titles.
00:18:54.120 –> 00:18:56.240
Because I knew the coach,
00:18:56.240 –> 00:18:59.040
she was back when she coached in high
school and she coached against my
00:18:59.040 –> 00:19:01.600
husband’s high school
team. They were rivals. Um,
00:19:01.780 –> 00:19:05.760
and it was just like a nail biter
every time they played each other.
00:19:05.930 –> 00:19:07.400
It was just, it could go either way.
00:19:07.500 –> 00:19:09.720
And then for a coup the
last couple of years,
00:19:09.810 –> 00:19:12.720
it was always justice team
that was winning <laugh>.
00:19:13.010 –> 00:19:17.520
So it was just really neat cuz I had
so much respect have currently still
00:19:17.810 –> 00:19:21.680
so much respect for her as a
coach and knowing what she can do.
00:19:21.980 –> 00:19:25.040
And it, she’s not just a coach though,
00:19:25.040 –> 00:19:27.080
like she is a character builder.
00:19:27.140 –> 00:19:30.080
She just loves these players.
00:19:30.280 –> 00:19:32.280
And I know she only has
two years with each player.
00:19:32.300 –> 00:19:37.280
But if you come through any program
that just is a part of you are going
00:19:37.280 –> 00:19:41.760
to feel loved, like, like their children.
And then knowing that her husband,
00:19:41.760 –> 00:19:46.240
Randy is a part of the staff as well.
Like I had told you earlier, um,
00:19:46.240 –> 00:19:48.000
on our walkover, um,
00:19:48.000 –> 00:19:52.600
he was one of the assistant coaches
at U and that was a huge program. Um,
00:19:52.600 –> 00:19:57.440
and so I knew what he was capable
of and I just thought, this is wild.
00:19:57.630 –> 00:20:00.960
They are a powerhouse couple.
Like th this is, this is exciting.
00:20:01.400 –> 00:20:03.520
<Laugh>. So the awkward
community must be oh,
00:20:03.520 –> 00:20:07.760
so pretty small because it’s crazy.
There are so many connections. Um,
00:20:07.760 –> 00:20:10.560
just from you knowing a couple people.
00:20:11.510 –> 00:20:12.520
It’s so small.
00:20:12.980 –> 00:20:16.440
I’m learning so much. I’m like, this
makes you wanna go watch a soccer game.
00:20:16.680 –> 00:20:19.160
<Laugh> World Cups going on
right now, actually. That’s.
00:20:19.160 –> 00:20:21.840
Really cool. That’s what we
need. We need TVs in our office.
00:20:21.950 –> 00:20:22.840
That’s not a bad.
00:20:22.840 –> 00:20:27.280
Idea. So soccer enthusiast, newfound
soccer enthusiasts. Uh, yay.
00:20:27.800 –> 00:20:28.340
<Laugh>.
00:20:28.340 –> 00:20:33.000
Kim, is there anything I did not
ask or we did not ask about your,
00:20:33.000 –> 00:20:37.720
your time at Polk State or your journey
here? Talk about you, you mentioned,
00:20:37.730 –> 00:20:38.080
uh,
00:20:38.080 –> 00:20:40.800
you were on a mission trip when you
actually found out you were gonna play for
00:20:40.800 –> 00:20:44.440
the pride. What, what kind of prompted
you to, to take on to be a missionary?
00:20:45.170 –> 00:20:49.160
So it was my husband actually, um,
the church that we were going to, um,
00:20:49.160 –> 00:20:53.560
at the time we, when the
earthquake hit in 2010,
00:20:54.570 –> 00:20:58.240
um, our church decided to
put a team together and send,
00:20:58.350 –> 00:21:03.320
send people over to help just dive
in and just help anyway. And, um,
00:21:03.320 –> 00:21:04.080
my husband, this.
00:21:04.080 –> 00:21:05.160
Was, this was in Haiti, correct?
00:21:05.550 –> 00:21:06.260
Pardon?
00:21:06.260 –> 00:21:08.240
The the earthquake was the one in hit.
00:21:08.240 –> 00:21:11.960
Haiti. Yes, sir. Thank you. Sorry. The
earthquake in Haiti that hit in 2010,
00:21:12.300 –> 00:21:15.280
our church sent to team over. My
husband was a part of that first trip.
00:21:15.820 –> 00:21:20.160
And when he was there, like
his entire time there, he just,
00:21:20.500 –> 00:21:25.000
his heart just began to grow more and
more for the community and the people in
00:21:25.000 –> 00:21:29.560
Haiti. And I remember when
he came back, he was like,
00:21:29.560 –> 00:21:32.520
I’ve gotta go again. I was like,
oh, okay. He was like, you wanna go?
00:21:32.520 –> 00:21:36.720
I was like, no, absolutely not. Um,
<laugh> and my heart was big on missions,
00:21:36.740 –> 00:21:40.440
but I just didn’t feel like I
was supposed to go at the time.
00:21:41.210 –> 00:21:42.800
So after that trip,
00:21:43.540 –> 00:21:48.170
my husband actually started leading
the teams on his own, um, to go there.
00:21:48.390 –> 00:21:51.930
And my fir he was going
for six years prior,
00:21:51.930 –> 00:21:56.650
I think about five or six years before
I actually joined him. And when I did,
00:21:56.700 –> 00:21:58.410
it was life changing. Um,
00:21:58.680 –> 00:22:02.410
I easily wanted to put like 10 kids
in my suitcase and bring them home,
00:22:02.410 –> 00:22:05.970
like the hair, just the most
loving kids. And I just,
00:22:05.970 –> 00:22:10.770
my words to describe it was a
beautiful broken country and my heart
00:22:10.770 –> 00:22:12.850
just grew so huge for them.
00:22:12.870 –> 00:22:16.890
And I remember being there
and getting passed by, um,
00:22:16.890 –> 00:22:21.170
some of the kids because they thought
I was actually Haitian. And so, um,
00:22:21.270 –> 00:22:25.290
the gentleman that we went down to
stay with, uh, to support, he was like,
00:22:25.290 –> 00:22:29.370
which one do you think is, is, uh, coach
Jim? They called him Coach Jim, um,
00:22:29.370 –> 00:22:32.730
his wife. And so other girls on
the team, they were like, oh, her,
00:22:32.790 –> 00:22:36.930
her and I just sat there quietly and
when they figured out it was me all,
00:22:36.930 –> 00:22:38.890
they were like, what <laugh>?
00:22:38.890 –> 00:22:43.730
And so I had like 10 of them try to fit
on my lap at the same time, <laugh>. Um,
00:22:43.730 –> 00:22:48.720
so they’re just so ready to love
and be loved. And so it was just so,
00:22:49.410 –> 00:22:53.080
it was so beautiful and
humbling experience and to
see that they have so very
00:22:53.080 –> 00:22:57.680
little but always had joy. Yeah,
that was what got me. I was like,
00:22:57.700 –> 00:23:00.600
wow, it’s pure joy that’s so
cool in their circumstances.
00:23:00.690 –> 00:23:04.400
So it just leaves us going back. And
we took our son when he was four,
00:23:04.430 –> 00:23:05.280
he’s now 10,
00:23:05.500 –> 00:23:09.760
but when he was four he started going
and it was the three week trips. So he,
00:23:10.390 –> 00:23:11.040
I it was,
00:23:11.040 –> 00:23:14.760
it was amazing for our son to be able
to experience that at such a young age.
00:23:15.210 –> 00:23:18.400
Um, you know, because life things don’t
just get handed to you all the time.
00:23:18.410 –> 00:23:19.170
So you,
00:23:19.170 –> 00:23:23.760
it was very important for my husband
and I to have him see struggles and kids
00:23:23.760 –> 00:23:27.200
his own age, you know, having
maybe, maybe one meal a day.
00:23:27.340 –> 00:23:29.760
And for the record, no
kids were put in suitcase.
00:23:30.170 –> 00:23:34.680
No kids were put in suitcases, <laugh>,
I loved them all while I was there.
00:23:34.680 –> 00:23:37.320
I had to leave them, but <laugh>. But we,
00:23:37.320 –> 00:23:42.280
we went back to the exact same place every
single year and my husband was going,
00:23:42.280 –> 00:23:43.680
what, 10,
00:23:43.990 –> 00:23:48.680
almost 10 years in I four before the civil
00:23:48.680 –> 00:23:52.920
unrest. It just became so,
um, dangerous to be there.
00:23:52.920 –> 00:23:56.520
We haven’t been in a, in a couple
years, which makes us sad. So.
00:23:57.170 –> 00:24:02.060
Well, Kim, before you leave us, can you
share some words of advice or, you know,
00:24:02.060 –> 00:24:04.860
motivation for students and the listeners?
00:24:05.570 –> 00:24:10.460
Absolutely. Um, I wanna come at it
from an academic standpoint to say,
00:24:10.730 –> 00:24:14.540
take it serious right off the bat.
Um, because once you’re behind,
00:24:14.540 –> 00:24:17.860
it’s hard to catch up. I learned
that the hard way <laugh>.
00:24:18.200 –> 00:24:22.900
And I will say I became very
studious out of nowhere when I got
00:24:22.900 –> 00:24:24.060
here to Polk.
00:24:24.060 –> 00:24:28.260
I think because transitioning from high
school where I didn’t take it as serious
00:24:28.360 –> 00:24:32.300
and I just, for me,
sports was everything. Um,
00:24:33.030 –> 00:24:37.420
no, I didn’t have homework and I did,
but I wanted to play soccer instead.
00:24:37.420 –> 00:24:39.580
And so I would actually tell a white lie,
00:24:39.860 –> 00:24:44.690
actually a full lie that I didn’t
have homework. Um, and so with that,
00:24:45.120 –> 00:24:49.170
that’s why I wasn’t deemed NCAA eligible
because I literally barely made it
00:24:49.170 –> 00:24:50.970
outta high school. But when I got here,
00:24:51.260 –> 00:24:53.810
it was so important for
me to change my mindset.
00:24:54.200 –> 00:24:56.930
I had never made straight
A’s in all my life. Um,
00:24:56.930 –> 00:25:01.890
and so that started here at
Polk and it set me up for
00:25:01.890 –> 00:25:06.890
success because I no longer had to worry
if I was going to make it at the next
00:25:06.890 –> 00:25:08.170
level because of academics.
00:25:08.420 –> 00:25:12.130
So a lot of people don’t realize that
academic piece can slow you down,
00:25:12.220 –> 00:25:16.610
or excuse me, can, can change the
trajectory of, you know, your your career,
00:25:16.610 –> 00:25:20.690
your career path. Um, and so if
you don’t take it serious now,
00:25:21.730 –> 00:25:23.860
it’s not gonna set you
up for success later.
00:25:23.880 –> 00:25:28.260
And so I just want to encourage people
to really take their academic seriously
00:25:28.400 –> 00:25:32.900
and not put sports first <laugh>.
Um, but with the sports piece,
00:25:33.270 –> 00:25:37.060
um, just enjoy it. Have fun. Yes,
00:25:37.060 –> 00:25:40.500
you may be the one that is probably
takes it more serious than others or be
00:25:40.500 –> 00:25:42.340
super competitive, but um,
00:25:42.340 –> 00:25:46.860
don’t forget to remember to
have fun at it because you’ll go
00:25:46.890 –> 00:25:47.723
even further.
00:25:48.170 –> 00:25:51.860
I hear that kids take school
seriously. Have fun at sports,
00:25:52.040 –> 00:25:56.820
run from coyotes, don’t put
kids in suitcases. There’s
a lot of wisdom podcast.
00:25:56.850 –> 00:25:57.900
Dumb <laugh>.
00:26:00.250 –> 00:26:01.220
That was great.
00:26:01.780 –> 00:26:04.420
Kevin. Is there anything else we
didn’t ask that you’d care to add?
00:26:04.710 –> 00:26:06.880
Um, let’s see.
00:26:08.530 –> 00:26:13.410
Have a beautiful family husband. I’ve
been married now almost 13 years, um,
00:26:13.870 –> 00:26:18.770
and we have three beautiful
kiddos together and um,
00:26:20.030 –> 00:26:23.400
I enjoy being an educator. I enjoy, um,
00:26:23.690 –> 00:26:26.400
my career path that I’m on right now. Um,
00:26:26.400 –> 00:26:29.760
my husband’s also an
educator principal. Um, so,
00:26:30.560 –> 00:26:32.420
and our daughter is in education as well,
00:26:32.470 –> 00:26:36.700
so we have a lot of lot of that going
for us. We, we really like education.
00:26:36.700 –> 00:26:39.100
Okay. Yeah. Very cool. Our
10 year old during summers,
00:26:39.100 –> 00:26:42.180
he doesn’t have a full free summer.
He still has to read and do math,
00:26:42.180 –> 00:26:45.400
keep up his sharp skills. So we make it.
00:26:45.400 –> 00:26:46.520
Fun. Is he into soccer?
00:26:46.970 –> 00:26:50.680
He is definitely into soccer. Our
oldest son, he actually contin, uh,
00:26:50.680 –> 00:26:55.520
currently plays professionally. Um,
and then our son, uh, who’s 10 Micah,
00:26:55.520 –> 00:27:00.160
he plays, um, on a premier team
and he’s actually really good. Uh,
00:27:00.470 –> 00:27:04.920
he’s 10 with over 300 juggles.
Some kids that are 15, 16,
00:27:04.980 –> 00:27:08.080
you know, close to 18
still are at 30 juggles.
00:27:08.570 –> 00:27:13.560
He watches more soccer than I do. Um,
he knows teams like players by name.
00:27:14.210 –> 00:27:18.160
Um, and I don’t, and he’ll say a name and
I go, oh, is that such and such sport?
00:27:18.160 –> 00:27:23.160
He goes, mommy, no, it’s soccer daddy did
you know, so, so-and-so. And I’m like,
00:27:23.160 –> 00:27:24.600
wow, he just bypassed me. Cool.
00:27:24.860 –> 00:27:28.000
But those two share that special bond
because they love watching soccer.
00:27:28.300 –> 00:27:32.520
Fun fact about me, I do not like watching
soccer. Really? Interesting. Yep.
00:27:33.380 –> 00:27:37.310
It’s really weird. If it’s
live, I’ll actually watch.
00:27:37.310 –> 00:27:40.390
I’ll go and enjoy the atmosphere.
I don’t mind been there in person,
00:27:40.390 –> 00:27:42.350
but on tv you’re not sitting on the couch.
00:27:42.490 –> 00:27:46.150
I’m not sitting on the couch watching.
I have not watched a World Cup game.
00:27:46.740 –> 00:27:50.670
A full game. Yep. Ever. Ever. Oh wow. Yep.
00:27:50.670 –> 00:27:52.870
I’ve come in when they’re
watching and I’m like, oh,
00:27:52.870 –> 00:27:56.430
I stay for a couple of minutes. Messy
my favorite player. Oh great. Oh,
00:27:56.430 –> 00:27:59.470
that was really good. Okay guys,
I’ll see you soon. <laugh>. Yeah.
00:27:59.490 –> 00:28:01.390
And I go put on a movie <laugh>.
00:28:02.210 –> 00:28:04.310
Kim. I can’t, can’t really,
00:28:04.310 –> 00:28:08.230
I I can’t overstate how much we
appreciate you being here with us.
00:28:08.230 –> 00:28:11.350
I know you came a long way
early in the morning to,
00:28:11.350 –> 00:28:13.950
to join the Pulp Cast and we’re
just so grateful you were able to,
00:28:13.950 –> 00:28:14.910
to give us a few minutes.
00:28:14.910 –> 00:28:16.350
Of so happy y’all have me.
00:28:16.350 –> 00:28:20.270
Yeah, thank you. Yeah, you radiate to
be here positivity and I don’t know,
00:28:20.270 –> 00:28:23.630
hearing your story is just so motivating
and inspiring, so we appreciate.
00:28:23.950 –> 00:28:26.150
It. Thank you. Y’all are awesome.
00:28:26.360 –> 00:28:28.190
We thank everyone for listening.
00:28:28.500 –> 00:28:32.110
This has been the Polk cast
for Kim Newsome Reynolds.
00:28:32.300 –> 00:28:35.310
I am Mike Ferguson and we
will see you next time.
00:28:36.320 –> 00:28:40.270
Another free foam rock and
roll make, maybe want tap toe,
00:28:40.280 –> 00:28:44.310
another free foam rock and
roll, maybe more te toe.