United Soccer Coaches annual convention is a big deal. Every year, thousands of soccer types from across the country (and turns out, the world) show up to learn, share, pitch, and hang out with at the convention. This year, Knights Who Say NISA podcast was invited to be on Podcast Row and we decided to attend. The convention is in Philadelphia and this is my travel log.

Day Two

There’s something about waking up in a city that’s just different. The sounds of the street, the workers doing road repairs, the people heading to work early. It’s a vibe. And for someone who lives in a quieter neighborhood in a far away state, it’s something that I welcome when traveling.

We got up and had bagels, as John had brought bagels from his hometown for us. Bagels were delicious, plain and everything (8/10) and John also brought along lox cream cheese (9/10), which I am a massive fan of. Dan brought some whitefish spread (6/10), which I’d compare to tuna if I’m honest. It’s weird to sit around the table guys you’ve known for several years but never in person. We shared travel stories around breakfast, drinking Folgers (3/10) provided by our host apartment.

After finishing, we packed up and headed to the convention center. While we had several interviews scheduled on podcast row, we didn’t have a very full itinerary for the day. I figured we’d grab passers by and that end up being correct. We set up our podcast booth and recorded a mic test/travel log episode, which is out on our regular channels. As we recorded, Rich Sparling, the WPSL commissioner, showed up for his scheduled interview.

After finishing up with Sparling, we recorded several interviews with people around the booth including Kareem Rae (One Soccer Nation) and Mitch James (Cascadia Premier League). We also made a point to get up and move around the hall which was milling with people. So many people. If everyone doesn’t catch covid, I’ll be thrilled. Other podcasters came by to say hi, including the Shea Butter crew (Skye, Sylvs, and Eboni), Women Kick Balls (Jackie), and UWS Weekly (John). It’s nice to get to meet people you have known online in person. Also chatted with Jeremy Sharpe (Bearfight) and Ira Jersey (Real New Jersey FC).

It was nearing lunch and Dan and John went to grab us some food. John came back with a pork sandwich the size of my forearm. The meat was great, but the bread was the star of the show. Overall the sandwich was a win (8/10). After we finished our food, Joel Nash, Vice President, Youth & Pre-Professional at USL, walked up for his scheduled interview. John and I handled it and I felt like was the best interview of the day. Really enjoyable chat about the progress made by the league on some key aspects of the pre-professional game. Shout out to Lisa Padan for setting that one up.

At this point, the NWSL draft, which we had landed media access for, was coming up quickly, so we packed up and headed back to our airbnb to drop off the equipment. Upon returning, we picked up our media passes (after going to the wrong table, of course) and headed upstairs. I’ve never attended a draft before but holy cow. The scene was electric and the crowd was fired up. First rate experience overall. The guys stayed through the entire first round, but I decided to step out and head over to the exhibition hall.

I don’t go to a lot conferences like this one, but I know trade shows have exhibitions hall type things where people sell their products to potential clients. It’s not my scene. Every possible thing you can think of connected to soccer was available and the music was bumping (so loud that Creel later complained it gave him a headache). I found the whole thing a little overwhelming and not to my liking. I may have used the term “hellscape.” I ended up heading over to the Icarus booth and hanging out with Robbie and the crew. Just before Dan and John met up with me, I ran into Jimmy Conrad, a guy who has become a friend of mine in the last year or so.

We headed out to get something to eat, eventually settling on Bar-ly again, and I had another delicious Bánh mì (9/10), but the fries weren’t as good (6/10). We guessed that the cook must have had the day off from the day before. I also had wings (5/10). We were joined for dinner by Dennis Pope, a guy we’ve chatted with for years but never met. Good times.

When we got back to our spot, we decided to record one of the most chaotic podcasts we’ve ever recorded (didn’t help that we were buzzed and tired). At the end of the show, the batteries died and we thought we lost the recording, but it was a false alarm. It was tremendous.

- Dan Vaughn