A conversation with Hiveclass soccer ambassador Gabriel about skill-building, resilience and coachability
In this month’s feature, we sit down with Gabriel, a freshman at college and a soccer ambassador for Hiveclass, to discuss how skill-building and mental resilience have shaped his athletic journey.
This conversation has been lightly edited for smoothness and clarity.
Tierney O: So as you know, we have been talking to a few members of the Hiveclass community about their sports journeys and movement journeys, [and about how skill-building helps them] so we’re really excited to talk to you today.
Gabriel G: Hi, everyone. I’m Gabriel. I’m a freshman in college. I’m a soccer ambassador for Hiveclass, and I reside in New York City.
TO: Amazing. What are you going to school for?
GG: Econ for my major, and then a minor in data analysis.
TO: Tell us a little bit about how you got into playing soccer.
GG: So it really started off as my dad’s passion turning into mine. When I was little, he tried making me play, and I didn’t really like it. But then he became my coach at West Side Little League. I was probably six, seven. It really started picking up when I started playing at recess with people in my elementary school. We started organizing games on weekends with dads and stuff like that. Then it started really becoming a passion with friends and everything.
TO: Did learning some of those skills with your dad make it easier for you to start playing with friends at recess?
GG: Yeah, for sure. My dad just built on my confidence a little bit. Him being my coach made me like it a lot more. He’s very passionate about it. And so I started watching soccer a little bit, and now it’s just the love of my life. I watch almost every game that’s on the TV. I really love soccer.
TO: That’s awesome. It’s perfect because we’ve been talking a lot about how having the skills and skill-building will help give you the confidence, like you’re saying, to play and help you fall in love with whatever the sport is. So that’s really great to hear. So what physical skills would you say are the most important when it comes to succeeding at soccer?
GG: I think it’s mostly explosiveness, agility, balance, stuff like that. It’s more about being mobile and being able to move quickly from space to space. Plyometrics and mobility workouts are really key, and I wish I implemented that earlier in my career. It’s really an important off-the-field thing that people often don’t look at.
TO: Can you talk a little bit about what plyometrics is?
GG: Plyometrics is, for example, working out with no weights. It would just be jumping up onto a box or shifting side to side, jumping side to side on one leg, just to increase explosiveness and stuff like that.
TO: What mental skills and mindsets have helped you on the field?
GG: I think, obviously, I’d say I’m pretty lucky. I have a dad that’s very in love with the sport, and it was passed on to me. Off the field, watching football on the TV, it’s so important because you can understand different tactics. Watching the players react to the ball, you get an understanding. For example, I play left-back or center-back. So watching specific players that play in a certain formation similar to how my team plays, I get a sense of what are the passing options depending on the way the other team is moving. That’s really helpful. When you get onto the field, you see similar movements from the opposition. You get a sense of like, “Okay, well, these are the passes that are most often open.” And that really helps relieve pressure on the field.
TO: So it’s like studying skills, almost. You’re studying what you’re seeing and then applying it when you’re playing.
GG: It’s a little easier than studying for school because it’s just watching a game of soccer, and it just happens as you watch.
TO: What is your favorite thing about playing soccer?
GG: I think it can be freeing. I guess in the team aspect, in the training aspect, it can be a bit more rigorous and not as freeing because you’re doing specific drills and you have to do it at a specific intensity to match the team. So it depends under what circumstance I’m still playing soccer, but it’s still just doing what I love, basically.
TO: What advice do you have for aspiring athletes, whether they’re playing soccer or whatever sport they happen to fall in love with?
GG: I would say probably the most important is discipline, obviously. If you’re really trying to get to a certain level and you have certain goals and objectives, then you need a certain discipline to get there. And then also, I would say allowing criticism and being coachable is so important. Being coachable is such an important factor for when people look at you and want to decide if they want you on your team. I think also being able to criticize yourself because you’re going to hear so much noise. You’re going to hear players giving you advice, your parents giving you advice, coaches giving you advice. So I think self-criticism and really understanding what’s best for you is also really important, being able to criticize yourself.
TO: Can you define what it means to be coachable?
GG: Being coachable is basically being open to criticism from outside sources. So it’s like, obviously, when you’re playing a sport, things can become very frustrating when you have an off day, your passes aren’t connecting, your touch is off. And if your coaches are really on you and they’re screaming at you, you have to be able to not react and take the criticism and keep going. It can happen, you might have the urge to say something back. It happens, especially the older you get, but you got to just not. And if you do, you have to communicate with your coach after that. Explain that it was just in the heat of the moment.
TO: Okay. So not having too much ego about it and being really open to feedback.
GG: Yeah. It’s also a team thing, being able to criticize others in a positive tone instead of being negative, and also being able to assess other people’s criticism. In the middle of the game, people’s tone is oftentimes not going to be positive, and you have to try to keep a positive vibe on the field, because if you don’t, the team can crumble apart, and we don’t want that.
TO: Keeping in mind that it’s not personal, even if the tone rubbed you the wrong way, to just remember that you’re all in it together. You really support each other and have each other’s backs.
GG: Yeah. After the game, we’re still going to be friends. It’s just in the heat of the moment, maybe we’re losing in that moment or the momentum of the game is going against us. There’s going to be tension that builds up, and that’s just part of the game.
TO: What’s the one word that would describe that?
GG: Sportsmanship.
TO: And staying level-headed.
GG: Yeah, exactly. Level-headed, calm. That’s honestly a very important thing, and probably in all sports. Staying calm.
TO: Do you think there’s anything else related to soccer and skill-building that you would want to share or that you think should be included?
GG: I mean, for young players that are aspiring, if you have the ability to watch game film, that’s not obviously accessible to everyone. But my club team, when I was in high school, had a camera set up for almost every game, so you could watch your own games. And I would say watching yourself play back again, watching your mistakes is also a key component. So obviously for the younger kids, that might not be possible.
TO: One last thing, and this is definitely asking you to do some self-reflection right in the moment. You are a college freshman, and you are so good at speaking on camera. You seem so thoughtful with everything you’re saying, and you seem so well-composed. You don’t seem nervous at all. And a lot of people would feel nervous being interviewed. And so I’m wondering if you think there’s any connection between your journey in soccer and your comfort level.
GG: I think sports in general can put you in a lot of uncomfortable positions, and so you just have to get used to being uncomfortable. Obviously, I was a little nervous coming into this, but staying composed and also looking composed because opponents can read that. Soccer is a little bit less of a psychological game compared to other sports, but it still definitely is. I’m thinking of, for example, tennis, where it’s just one-v-one, very psychological. I’m sure that keeping body language and stuff like that is also very important. And that actually also goes into coachability. My coaches this season actually told me that I needed to improve my body language because I look a little bit too whiny and stuff like that or a little downwards. And so that’s something that’s really important, body language.
TO: Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us.
GG: Of course. My pleasure.
If you have any questions or feedback about Hiveclass and our mission to revolutionize physical education and wellness, we’d love to hear from you. Please feel free to reach out with your thoughts or questions by emailing discover@hiveclass.co.