What Helped Ryan Thompson Reach the Champions League?

Welcome And Why Gratitude Matters

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to the Yog Nation, the Spirit of Gratitude podcast on the OneTegration platform. Hello, friends. My name is Yogesh Patel, and this podcast explores the themes of bullying, self-awareness, and the power of our inner spirit, including the silent battles we all face. Join me every week as I invite high-profile guests as we explore how adversity shapes us, how gratitude lifts us, and how we can all uncover the inner strength that we all have within ourselves. Join the conversation. I appreciate you listening in.

World Cup Hype And The Bigger Lesson

SPEAKER_02 0:36

And as World Cup fever builds across North America, and Ted Lasso has reminded us that soccer is as much about the people as it is about the game. Here's a question: What does the sport really teach us about belief, resilience, and the person behind the jersey? My next guest, Ryan Thompson, the first Jamaican to play in the UEFA Champions League, knows that question personally. Growing up as a teenager, he was laughed at, bullied, and told he was terrible. And at one point, he was even told that he didn't even deserve new shoes because everyone else was improving except him. But Ryan never quit. Ryan never gave up on himself. He went on to become Jamaica's number one goalkeeper, representing the Jamaica national team, play professionally overseas, and now helps the next generation of players in the MLS Next Pro journey as founder of RTG Academy. In today's conversation, we go beyond the scoreboard and what fans really rarely see: the behind the scenes of a locker room, the pride representing your country, and the gratitude that keeps you grounded through every high and low. And with gratitude, welcome to the podcast, Ryan.

SPEAKER_00 1:44

Yagash, thank you very much. Thank you very much for giving me this opportunity. You know, it's exciting to see where this journey takes us in terms of our conversation and how many lives we're gonna help impact positively and share some inspiration. So looking forward to the conversation, and we'll dive deeper into it as we go. So thank you.

Bullied Beginner Keeper In Jamaica

SPEAKER_02 2:02

Absolutely. Well, I love the inspiration part already. So tell me, Ryan, you were laughed at and told again, you were terrible when you first played goalkeeper. Take us back to that moment. What did you feel at the time?

SPEAKER_00 2:15

Yeah, I think I have to go a little bit further back before I even get to that point. You know, so I grew up in Jamaica, Kinstone, Jamaica, from a single parent home. You know, my mom raised me and she fathered me. Um, where we where we lived in Jamaica, it was it's one of those things where you're you're looking for inspiration every day. And the inspiration comes through sports, you know. So, you know, you look around, every day you'll see, you know, crime, violence, you know, but also in the in the midst of that, there was joy and happiness. And, you know, and the ones who literally made it out was, you know, through certain pathways. Like, for example, you know, you had to either play soccer or you had to either do track and field, cricket, or education and the music industry. So it was really, really hard to look for those opportunities. So for me, you know, going to Kemperdone High School, you know, as a 12-year-old kid, turning 13, you know, my we play soccer every day. So every day we're playing soccer, you know, and I've never really thought about being a goalkeeper, you know, until one point, you know, we had a class game, and a good friend of mine was like, hey, we have no goalkeeper. And since you're the most athletic guy on the team, and since you you you're a rookie keeper for the cricket team, man, you you could be a good goalkeeper. And I'm like, well, if nobody wants to do it, I'll do it. So I jumped in the goal, um, you know, with sheer athleticism and desire. I made some saves, and that was enough to inspire my friend to inspire a conversation to like, hey Ryan, you know what, you should come try out for Arbe. You know, that it was a number one club at the time in Jamaica. And, you know, I never had any interest in going to to go try out for a soccer team. I just wanted to be a track athlete and you know, I want to be a good student. And, you know, so I I took a race and I went there and you know, the first day I walked into the to the chain, the changing room, and then we walked out to the field. Everybody changed off in their second gear except me. They're like, what are you what are you what are you wearing? You know, so I was wearing a white shirt, I wear the white shorts, ripped pants, and I had a church shoes because I used to go to church every Sunday. And I'm like, Yeah, I'm coming to church to be a goalkeeper. And you know, everyone laughed. They were like, nah, you can't you can't play like this, you know. Um, but you know, training started literally every shot kick went straight through my belly, through my hands, go. You know, I didn't have the right tools, I didn't have the right equipment, and I just wasn't good at the time. And just one thing in Jamaica, they would tell you straight to your face, you're not good. And I and I heard that for weeks on top of weeks, you know, but I kept, I kept, I kept showing up. I kept showing up to the point where, you know, my my you know, my mom was like, man, why you keep going back to training? You know, like it's dangerous coming home. It's people are being mean to you, you're getting hurt, you know, you don't have the right equipment. You know, so I I I spoke to my grandma in the same conversation. I was like, man, I really, really want to try this. It's it's it's a challenge, and I think I could be somebody in this get in this world, you know? And she convinced my mom, and my mom said, okay. So long and short of it, I kept showing up. My coach, you know, one day looked at me and was like, hey, Ryan, everybody here is improving, you're not improving. You know, you know, you don't really deserve to get any of these new shoes that all the players on the team was getting. You know, and I broke down in tears and went home and I and I cried. You know, I cried. I'm like, why? You know, I am trying. I just not there yet. And sometimes growth, growth that thing that it's it, it is it seems longer than you think. You know, it's happening, but it's not happening at the pace that you want it. You know, so after that conversation, the my coach looked at me a few other days. I showed up the next day. I'm the first one at practice and last one. He was like, man, it doesn't matter what I say to you. You you you keep showing up. You know what? We're gonna win the the the league today this year with the with the worst goalkeeper. And you know what? I'm also gonna help you. I'm gonna help you. I'm gonna help you because you you just have this joy about you despite the the environment and how it's been treating you. And I never forgot that day. You know, I slowly started getting better, and you know, it felt good when I made my first real goalkeeping save and catch a ball. And I'm like, you know what? I want to do more of this. I want to do more, I want to do more.

SPEAKER_02 6:12

So it looks like Ryan, there's there's two things that uh that speak uh uh to me. Number one is persistence, right? The ability just to keep on improving, persevering, and getting through that that hurdle, which I think a lot of people, again, that's what this podcast represents is how adversity helps shape your success. And so I think you are a perfect example of just that. And number two, it's also, I believe, not just your physical qualities, but the intangibles that you bring. Again, teamwork, um, you know, the ability to inspire, to bring joy to others and carrying that positive energy. That's how I'm sensing your story.

SPEAKER_00 6:51

Yeah, that's exactly what it was because all I had was this big smile on my face. It doesn't matter what they say to me. I you know, I would, I would still smile, but then I'll go home and I'll cry. You know, I I would cry literally every single day. But I was always grateful for the opportunity that you know I was in that environment training, you know, and and getting better, you know, because the the the next option was to go in the streets and and go around the wrong company. And you know, my grandma and my grandfather and my mom always tell me, show me your friends that tell you who you are. And you know, I didn't want to be around anybody that was gonna lead me down a path that I didn't want to go to. I wanted to make it on, I wanted to do some positive work. I wanted to help my mom, you know, I wanted to put food on the table, I wanted to do all these things. So, you know, I I stayed that path despite the the words that was coming out. They said sticks and stones may break my bone, but words and wind can do a thing. So I just kept showing up.

SPEAKER_02 7:48

That's that's incredible. And and I guess for you, soccer, was that was is it safe to say that soccer was your path out of your those those circumstances that you grew up in? All this violence and yeah, 100%.

The Hidden Pressure Of Goalkeeping

SPEAKER_00 8:02

100%. Like you see, friends, you oftentimes see friends just choose the wrong company and they were not they're no longer here with us, you know. And I didn't want that, you know. You know, the mere father, you know, mere father wanted the balance that we had. We used to go to church every every Sunday and we'll learn about the commandments and you know, learn about to be kind and be respectful. My my mom always mentioned, Ryan, good manners will take you through the world. Just and work ethic, you know, just keep doing that. And I remember that and I never forgot it, you know. And you know, my life changed. My life changed because I tried my very best to be a good man and a good boy showed it all. I made my fair share of mistakes, but those mistakes didn't define me. It was just learning experience because I never had a dad around to tell me what's right from wrong. But I I had also with my mom and my grandparents that was able to like, you know, instill, you know, the foundation of the gospel and and just you know the commandments, just follow that path, you know, and that's what I did. And safe to say, my life changed in the sense that I got better, started, you know, started getting, you know, winning chauffeurs, started making a little noise in the community, like, oh, he's good, he's good. You know, and just a little, just a little, Ryan. Just a little bit. And I got I got I got my first called up, you know, within you seven, you 20 team at 17 years old, considering I started at 14 as a goalkeeper, you know, and so it took me three years of you know relentless work and and the desire to just keep getting better. And you know, I saw growth and was grateful for growth. And when you have growth, it makes you happy, you know, and when people start recognizing, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:43

And I'm curious, Ryan, what's the one thing that fans don't understand about the the uh the pressure of the position of being a goalkeeper?

SPEAKER_00 9:52

Yeah, it's again like no goalkeeper out there goes out, goes on the field to make mistakes. You know, a matter of fact, we chose this position because one, you know, we want to help, we want to help a teammate, our teammates, we want to help our family, we want to we want to show good. But mistakes do happen. You know, everybody on the field makes those mistakes every single time. 10-20 per game. But a goalkeeper, when they make one, it is it stick out like a sword on because when the striker makes a mistake, the midfield is there to protect them. When the midfield makes a mistake, the defense is there to protect them. When the defense makes a mistake, the goalkeeper is there to protect them. When the goalkeeper makes a mistake, nobody but the net is there, you know? So there's huge consequences. You can lose a game, and I don't think they understand that, yeah, we're human and mistakes will happen. But ultimately, we we go there to put our best foot and you know, show the week and the months of work to get better so we could show up and produce, you know, positively for our team.

Recovering After A Big Mistake

SPEAKER_02 10:51

But how do you recover mentally, though? I mean, again, on the world stage where, again, you played professionally in Europe and just that one mistake, right? You know, leads to bad press, bad publicity. How does that not affect you?

SPEAKER_00 11:05

You see, like, I always view life like this, you know. I always view that I can always do all things through Christ who strengthened me. I always view that in my mind. I I believe I can do it all. And I'm sorry, one more time? Could you say that one more time? So I say I've always self-talked, you know, talk to myself. I can do all things through Christ who strengthened me. I can do it. All I gotta do is just apply a little focus on the work. You know, so in order for me to get to the point that I was, I had to compete against some of the fiercest competitors. I had to work harder than them, and I had to be a little bit lucky for the opportunity to come, right? So when those mistakes do happen, I tell myself, I belong here. I've worked my way to get to here. This one mistake doesn't define me. What is the next best thing I can do? What's the next best thing I can do for me, for my team, for my family? And that's how I view it. A lot of people who judge you, they sit in the stands and they have never taken a chance in their life for their career. So I don't I don't you just come through one year and go through the next one for me. It's about no problem, I will show you that I belong here. I'm just waiting for the right opportunity to come. Where my defense is What about your teammates?

SPEAKER_02 12:14

Do they, you know, giving you a pat on the shoulder?

SPEAKER_00 12:16

Yeah, this is what you're talking about about the environment. No, if you're a goalkeeper and constantly just make mistakes, make mistakes, then you're gonna piss a lot of people off, you know. But if you're if it's out of your character and if they see that you're working tirelessly to get better, and on the on the game day when that happened, they will pick you up because they know that they make mistakes too. A lot of times my back line makes mistakes, and I'm there to clean it up. And I don't, I like their flaws. I would like, hey, I got you. I got you, no matter what, I got you. So when I make a mistake, you know, I've built that relationship. You know, they will talk about a social connection. I've built that relationship with everybody in my environment. You know, so when I do I made a mistake, you know, more likely they they will always give me some order of wisdom, pat on my shoulder. Hey, Ryan, you're a good guy. You're working, you're working at the goal to the world. You know, if I was a really mean person or a bad person and don't work, and then I make a mistake, then the consequences are really higher.

SPEAKER_02 13:13

Yeah, I guess it just goes uh it goes back to what you had mentioned around you have four pillars. Uh could you elaborate that? Because I think it it ties in beautifully to what you just mentioned about you know how your community of other players and coaches are there to support you. And I think that's what you know sometimes gets uh gets often overlooked in society today. Again, as people struggle with you know anxiety, depression. I mean, May is mental health awareness month, and just you know, being able to reach out to a person that is in need of help and not being so shy to ask it. And then I think it it ties in beautifully what you believe are your four pillars. Could you uh could you explain that?

SPEAKER_00 13:57

So, what I one of the beautiful things, you go around group in you know in Jamaica, you you learn real quick that if you don't have respect, you know, you probably won't make it, you won't have opportunity, you you probably get hurt, you know. So I learned that was from I was a kid, you know, you respect your elders, respect your environment, respect everybody. You give it first, you know, and then you earn it after that, you know. So my four pillars are respect, inspire, develop, enjoy. You know, growing up, my say that again respect. Respect, inspire, develop, enjoy. So, you know, I talk about the Jamaican piece about respect already, you know, and you know, my grandfather he he doesn't apologize, never apologize when any one of us shows any disrespect. We will get slapped, we'll get a little spank, and we get straightened up real quick. You know, yeah, you know, my grandma, she always like, Ryan, like, you know, in life, there's always inspiration around you. If you look, if you look hard enough, you see the kid who just born, learn how to creep, learn how to walk, then start running, then start talking. That is inspiration. The tree that goes through the storm, that goes through the storm and bent but never break, came back up, start bearing fruits. It is it is there. You just gotta look hard enough. And when you get it, you gotta share it. You know, so I learned that piece about it. You know, the development piece for me, it's about if you want to be good at anything in life, you have to apply focus and pressure. You gotta work, work hard at your craft. And when you do get better, in you have all of that stuff. Just remember through that process, always to have fun. So, what is life? What is life without having fun? You know, you you you start smiling, you are you're an inspiration, you're putting joy in people's face, you're showing love and respect. Great things is going to happen. And from that, you know, we you know, a part of me started growing, and I start living that and breathing it every single day. You know, but a part of it, my grandmother and my mom always tell me, Ryan, when life gives you everything that you have your heart's desire, remember the same people you pass going up is the same people you pass coming down. So don't forget to stay hungry, humble, and honest. Keep your feet on the ground. You know, so this is how I live my life will apply to my that is so beautiful.

SPEAKER_02 16:03

You know, it reminds me of a previous uh athlete that I had on, Nick Laurie, uh Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame. He's the leading scorer of the team and Hall of Famer, of course. And his uh, you know, one of the things that he learned growing up is why not you? Why not you become the best athlete? Why not you become the best musician, or why not you become the best at whatever? So it uh takes me back to to that episode. But I thank you for sharing that uh in in just in a different slightly message.

SPEAKER_00 16:36

No, no, no worries. Again, I could talk all day about this stuff, you know. I I get fired up, you know, I get really fired up.

SPEAKER_02 16:43

Well, speaking of fire up, I mean, with the World Cup coming around, I mean how do you think the US can become one of the top soccer countries in the world and what still separates us from the elite nations?

SPEAKER_00 16:53

Yeah, there's there's there's a couple of factors. You know, again, I have a privilege to work with a US national team, and it's just a great experience there, you know. I look in I look in a country like the US, there's a lot of resources here, so much resources. And, you know, we just need to put it in the right direction, you know. So, for example, when you when you go to uh Argentina, you go to a Jamaica, you go to a Chile or Brazil, this game is played by the poor kids. All the poor kids, you know, this is all they had. You know, they grew up in the street playing street soccer every single day. They're having fun with it, they're trying new things, they're getting punished, they're getting rewards, you name it. They're there, this is their way out, just like I mentioned in Jamaica earlier. This is their if I make it, I it I could change my entire family life. We don't really have that here in America. One, you know, the next piece, the the next piece about it, and I'm not saying that people with less resources don't exist here. The problem is that in we here in America, it's we don't have our best players playing as well. You know, but our best players, our most athletic players, they're going to play basketball, they're going to play um um football. So now you're talking about that. So now who's playing soccer here in America? Most of the kids are the kids who have a lot of money because we have a play-to-play system. In my country, you you don't pay to play. You have to earn to play. You know, you have to go. You you have to make a team. And when you make that team, you got to keep your spot. And your mom and dad can't come and tell you or tell the coach what to do, when to do, how to do. I remember the first time my mom tried that with my coach. He was like, Who are you again? You know, and he was like, Oh, I'm Ryan's mom. But Ryan doesn't have a mouth to talk for himself, you know, and you know, like, well, he's he's becoming uh an a young man now. So he needs to learn this. If this is a part he wants to take on. So those are some of the differences when I look at the American system. Can America get there? 100%. I do believe that they're gonna get there. You know, especially when it's workout comes, it's gonna spark some interesting conversation like what we're having right now. It's gonna open more doors. It's gonna, it's gonna, more kids who are gonna like, oh, I I can go be a soccer player and I could earn a living, I could change my family's life. And then you're gonna start attracting the athletic players. Then you're gonna start have government funding, private funding to get the kids who can afford it to come and play as well. So those are some factors. Then you add to that the fact that America is so big, it's hard for us to really identify the talents. We have to spend some serious resources there to do that and and make it an open system. You know, I think we can do it, I believe we can do it, and it's just a matter of time, you know. Like this is why an organization like RTG Academy, the goal keeping specific organization, you know, you know, is is is founded because I want this to be accessible to everyone. And if everybody said like that, man, we're gonna do some serious damage and serious impact in this game.

SPEAKER_02 19:52

You know, for a minute, I was just thinking that, you know, as you had mentioned, the hunger to provide for your family as you were through the ranks as a soccer professional. For a minute there, I was thinking that even nations are a little bit more hungrier, right? The US perhaps isn't as hungry, at least not yet. Perhaps the World Cup may change that.

SPEAKER_00 20:12

It's cultural, it's cultural, it's it's years. Yeah, the game the game is relatively young here, yeah, and it is taking up, it's picking up momentum. So I am just super excited to see when the World Cup comes, how much doors it's gonna unlock.

Locker Rooms Nerves And Game Focus

SPEAKER_02 20:28

Yeah. Well, what's for someone who's never been inside a World Cup level locker room, what's the atmosphere like?

SPEAKER_00 20:34

Well, it it it's it's well again. I could talk about Jamaica, you know, because when we do our when we had World Cup qualifiers, again, you talk about culture, right? We're from a happy culture, we're from the really intense and live, and we're a heart and a sleeve culture. So come game days, we are joking around with each other. We're we are pumping each other up. Hey, you got this, we're gonna, and we we laugh at each other. It's a little bit lighter, you know. But as soon as you walk in the field, all the face shuts off, everybody ready to go. You could see the same thing when it when you see all the African countries. They're dancing in their changing room before games, you know, but that's what calmed their storm, you know. That's what they're that's their internal thing. You know, but I've lived there long enough in America and I've been in so much changing rooms, it's a little bit different. You know, I've you know, work with the US national team. It's more, it's this is work and we're going to business. And so everybody faces really, you know, like focus. They look focused, you know, and they're ready to go there to go play. Some of the earphones on, it's it's a little bit different, a little bit individualistic in that sense, you know. But I can tell you this much every single one of us is nervous in that room. Every one of us. I've never seen, I've never seen an athlete go take, go to use the bathroom that much. Like I am one of those, you know, I can't eat before, you know, I can't really eat a lot of food before games because. The anxiety building up to go out there to perform and do your best because it means that much to you, it takes you over. It literally takes you over. So I would sum up with this. It's it's it varies across cultures and countries.

SPEAKER_02 22:16

But how do you calm those nerves down? I mean, is it you mentioned just game time and focus. I mean, you're you're so nervous and anticipation, but I guess that's part of the mental training that goes on with any professional athlete. Certainly some athletes do it better than others.

SPEAKER_00 22:31

Yeah, it's it's one of those things where I mentioned, you know, you you rely, you lean back, you lean into the work that you already put in to get there. You know you're ready. It's just the anxiety of getting the race going or getting the game going. So you lean back on that and you self-talk, you know. Again, for us, we we talk to each other. And we talk about a lot of stuff outside the game, before the game. Because you talk too much on the game, you put too much emphasis on the opponent, they make them too big. So we we kind of stay away from that and we make it more social. Hey, next when you see me, and when we do talk about the game, it's like this hey, I'm gonna get this ball out. You know, we already know what our opponent's gonna do. Make sure you make your run and you remind you setting little reminders. Those are the things that you you can't mind. You know, I copy with the the part about me talking about I can do all things through Christ who strengthened me. These are things you self-talk.

SPEAKER_02 23:22

So can you even hear the crowd noise when you enter in a stadium or in the heat of battle? Or are you just it's interesting.

SPEAKER_00 23:30

It's interesting. It's it's like a little white noise, you know. You you are so it it's you're so in your head. You're so focused to go play the game. You step, you step on the grass, everything goes silent. Everything goes silent. Like the noise is there, you know it exists, but what's in front of you is way more important. For me as a goalkeeper, it's a soccer ball. It's my teammates, it's the opponent. So you're fully you're talking about being focused. That's what it's like being there. You know, obviously, when something really, really, really good happens, then you hear them like, oh, it's that reassurance. So you kind of have this internal switch. Something good or bad goes, you you you turn it on. Okay, what is the crowd saying? Okay, we did something right, okay. If you're doing something bad, or you're fighting that in your mind to turn that off. You don't want to hear nothing bad. You want to hear all the good things that give you that adrenaline rush to keep performing, you know, to the highest possible.

SPEAKER_02 24:26

You know, another thing that just you just uh reminded me of is the gift of vision. Literally, because in order to see a soccer ball, you need to have probably better than 2020 vision in order for your hands and eyes to coordinate together. That split second difference, right? To to thwart a ball that's that's coming at you.

SPEAKER_00 24:45

Very important. It's it's hard to be a blind goalkeeper and play, you know, it's very, very hard. You know, and I and I do have my troubles with my eyesight as well. I ain't gonna lie. For many years I'm playing, complaining that hey, I think the light is bad, but it wasn't the light, it was my eyesight. So immediately when I found out it was my eyesight, I I went and got contact lenses because I needed to be able to see things clearly. But after a while, you read your mind, you you're so used to shapes and you have done it so much time, your body kind of in automatic uh cruise control, you know? But yes, that your eyesight is very important. Very, very, very important.

SPEAKER_02 25:21

And you know, my next question, piggybacking off of that, is really focused on that person that perhaps is going through a challenge or struggle uh in their life right now. And you know, going back to Ted Lasso, you know, he made the word believe very famous. And in real soccer, what does belief act or not? What when does belief actually matter? And when is belief not enough?

SPEAKER_00 25:50

No, I I that's a great question. Again, by the way, I love Ted Lasso. I think there should be more Ted Lasso coaches out there and less about the coaches who are like super tactical and worried about the whiteboard, you know, um, versus the human connection, you know, because the human connection is everything for me, you know, and I think it's the most important thing for anybody in this world. So talk about belief. For me, belief is a starting point. This morning I woke up, my my wife turned to me before she left the work. She was like, hey, babe, you know what? Who would have known a little kid from Kingston, Jamaica, you know, travel the world now, doing all this stuff, impacting life positively, and still creating more inspiration and opportunities and joy in people's life. Who would have known that would have happened? And you know, I turned to her like, you know what? I did. I knew I was gonna do something good. I knew. I've always believed, I've always had that belief in me. So me, for me, belief is a starting point. I've believed that good things is gonna come. I believe that if I put the work, good things are gonna come. So when I look at the belief on the other side of it, a lot of people believe, but they don't work. So for me, you put it all together. Belief is a starting point, then you gotta work, then you gotta have a little faith. You know, then you have a little hope that good things are gonna come. And you're gonna keep laying those blocks every single day.

SPEAKER_02 27:13

It's hard though. It's hard for many people. What can you do to provide some inspiration to them?

SPEAKER_00 27:19

Put it this way: everything, everybody have potential, everybody have greatness in them, every single human being in this world have greatness in them. But we have we we have so we're nurtured to think that, oh, I can't do this and I can't do that. You can. Everybody can. You just gotta apply a little bit of focus and you gotta stay consistent, and you gotta, and you gotta have the tenacity. Okay, this is one of my favorite words, tenacity. Good things is gonna happen, bad things is gonna happen. But you gotta still, you're trying to travel from point A to point B, you're gonna get some bumps and bruises, but you just gotta keep moving, keep moving, keep moving. Because once you go through storm, you realize there's a big old beautiful world waiting for you to go be yourself and be impactful and put joy in people's face. That's what I that's what I've been. This many a time I'm in a situation where I have no idea what I'm gonna do. I have no idea about what first step I need to take. All I know I need to just either either crawl, roll, run. I gotta do something, but I ain't staying in this spot. All right. People love to celebrate great things. And when it's great, oh yeah, yeah, it's great. I did this. Okay, what about the bad things too? Because the bad things expose things about you that you need to get better so you could continue to grow. And if you're not growing, then you're dying. You know, so for me, it's like it's every single day I'm having this thought. And trust me when I tell you, I have had my bad days. I have my days where I'm second-guessing myself, where I lean back on my experience, I lean back on my journey, I lean back on where I'm coming from and where I want to go. Because where I want to go is is beyond even my mind can think. I want to bring people together. I want to, I want to, you know, I want to bring, bring joy, and I want to provide opportunities so so people could live a better life than me. You know, that is this is who I am.

Kindness As A High Performance Edge

SPEAKER_02 29:02

Uh and indulge me here, Ryan. Uh putting your Ted Lasso hat on, right? Can this kindness that you just speak of actually survive high performance?

SPEAKER_00 29:12

100%. It's about the human connections that we talk about. You know, like if I if I if I don't know you and you don't know me, how are you gonna inspire me? How? You know, you you're on a task as a coach and a mentor to to prepare a team to go win championship and to be great young men and great young women. And you don't you're not connected with them, you don't know them individually, you don't know that everybody learned different. That's the beauty about the goalkeeping space. We're all different. We all want to do the same thing. We want to stop the ball and we want to start the attack and we want to win games for a team. We all want that. So, okay, what is the best way to do that? Is understanding the human being first and foremost. Because you know what? When a human understand that you care for them, they will run through all for you. And I've been in that situation multiple times where a coach just gave me so much love and respect. It makes me want to work harder. It makes me want to work, it makes me want to run through even when my leg is falling off, with my broken fingers, I am gonna go there for this coach. Along I'm gonna go there for me and my family, I've forced. That's the intrinsic part. But the outside part of it is I have this respect for this coach. This is the Ted Lasser philosophy.

Pride And Weight Of The Jamaican Flag

SPEAKER_02 30:23

It is a human being. And I'm only sure it gets amplified when you're representing your country. I mean, my goodness, how many people get a chance to wave that flag or to be representative of that flag and just show that energy? I'm sure that's an incredible feeling. I'm sure you get response.

SPEAKER_00 30:40

Very, very few people get that opportunity, and that's why over the years, I don't take representing my country for granted ever, and I will never do it. You know why? Because I understand they were people way more talented than me who never got that opportunity for one reason or the other. You know, you could list the reasons about along with wrong company, you know, bad advice, you know, never had a mentorship, you know, make one bad decision and the life change. For me, yes, I I believe deep down in my heart that I am out there to represent myself. I'm out there to represent my family. I'm gonna represent every single person that flies that Jamaican flag, you know, who never had opportunity. Or better yet, when I think about Jamaica 1998 World Cup, I was just a little kid watching Jamaica qualifying. And that moment, oh man, I can do it too. You know, I'm I picked up a soccer ball instant and we were all there playing for hours, and we saw where the change just, everybody on the team life changed. But it it goes it went beyond that. There were kids like me who was who got inspiration, who wanted something a little bit more, who wanted to do the same thing. So that is the beauty of sports. There's a beauty of understanding individuals, there's a beauty of representing a country, it's a beautiful beautiful thing of having an opportunity to go do some good in this world.

Messi Or Ronaldo Plus Joy Picks

SPEAKER_02 32:03

Wow, this is incredible, Ryan. I can't believe the half hours are already up. But here's gonna be my final question. And you ready for this? Yep, I am ready. All right. In today's generation, who is your goat, Messi or Ronaldo? Oh, that one is easy.

SPEAKER_00 32:18

Messi. I I again I have all the respect in the world for Ronaldo and what he has done for the game, and also what he has done on a human level. You know, his charity work is out of his world. You know, paying for someone without surgery, doing all these things, you know. But Messi, in terms of the things that I've seen a soccer player done on the field, I have never seen Messi like done anything that's normal. It's not normal. He's from a different planet. I'm convinced that Messi is from a different planet. But I'll throw one more in there. For me, you know, Ronaldinho for me was always the greatest. He's the one that put more joy on people's faces. So for me, Messi, well, Ronaldinho than Messi. For me.

SPEAKER_02 32:54

Love it. Love it. You know, one of my favorite. I'm again, I'm a casual uh football fan, respectfully calling not calling it soccer, but uh to me, I'm like Achillian Mbappe. I think he's certainly uh, yeah, and that hat trick that he made in the World Cup. And let's see if there's gonna be more entertainment in the World Cup coming in the next couple of weeks. Ryan, it was such an honor to have you. I certainly feel inspired. There were many times during uh what you shared that uh gave this warm and fuzzy feeling in the heart. And I certainly hope and wish the citizens of Ebnation that have listened to the entirety of your infectious personality, you know, get to find something that is a value to them that they can apply. I think, folks, you know, what Ryan really talked about is that kindness, that human spirit that we have in all of us to achieve greatness and however we we uh we measure our success, whether it's through your friends, your family, but more importantly, to yourself. So, Ryan, I thank you so much for coming on the podcast. And I will leave, I'll give you the final word uh if there's any messaging that um that I missed or questions that I missed that you'd like to share.

SPEAKER_00 34:06

Yeah, no, we'll have to have part two. Trust me, there's too much to talk about. But I just want to leave this uh to everyone, you know, like we're all we're all legends in our own right, you know. We we all have greatness inside, you know, but we just gotta just believe it. That's a starting point. We have to go work for it, and we just gotta stay steadfast in in hope and faith that good things are gonna come and good people is out there. Because we see it all around us. I'm gonna give you examples. The person that cleans the schoolroom, that's a legend. You're doing the job that you probably won't do. The soldier is up at night making sure everything is alright for us to live in a safe country, that's a legend as well. You know, so the the the the mama was just walking to feed the family, that's a legend. So for me, my work is this. If one person can remember my name for something good, that means I've made a change. And all I want to do in this world is to have a lasting impact in someone's life. And if I can do it to 20, 30, 40, 100, I have done my job here on this earth. And you know, someone else carrying on button. So, this is what I want to tell you all. You are great and you can do it. One love.

SPEAKER_02 35:16

Beautiful, Brian. Thank you, and God bless. God bless.