Advertise on podcast: Rooster and the Villain: An American Soccer Podcast

Eric Jennings is a soccer player, podcaster, and longtime advocate for the game at the grassroots and lower-league levels. Eric currently plays for Arlington SA, while also hosting the World XP Podcast, where he explores the people, stories, and experiences that make soccer such a unique part of communities around the world. His perspective is particularly interesting because he isn’t looking at the game solely from the outside—he’s still actively involved on the field while spending his time behind the microphone talking to the people who help make the soccer world tick. In this episode, we talk about Eric’s journey through the game, his experiences playing at the lower levels, the importance of community soccer, and what he’s learned through the World XP Podcast about the people and stories that often get overlooked by the mainstream soccer world.

Bo Eskay has been around The Beautiful Game in Maryland for a long time. His career has spanned multiple eras of the sport in the Frederick area. He was a decorated player that played in professional soccer in late 80s and then helped to build FC Frederick into one the best development academies in state.  I met up with Bo at the United Soccer Coaches Convention in Philly last year after the futsal talk from Keith Tozer. We reconnected here to dig into Bo’s experiences in the American soccer world, the changes he’s witnessed along the way, and his perspective on the growth of the lower leagues and the business of professional soccer in the United States.

The boys jump deep into the USMNT's chances heading into the tournament.

Jimmy and Mike get together to talk about the upcoming tournament. Come hang with us!

STRDA Worldwide (or STRDA) is a Philadelphia based brand dedicate to soccer, creating community, player development, hosting soccer-related events, and selling soccer apparel.    I met Jeff Degnan at the United States Soccer Coaching Convention in Philadelphia and was excited to get him and his business partner, Mark Casasanto on the podcast to talk about their soccer venture (and all things soccer).   Go give them a follow at https://www.instagram.com/stradafootball/

Fox Sports hosted one of the most popular sessions at the United States Soccer Coaching Convention in 2026 when they discussed the plans for the coverage of the 2026 World Cup. Great session with Carli Lloyd, Alexi Llalas, and JP Delacamera.

Jozy's session at the US Soccer Coaching Convention was a can't miss for me. I enjoyed hearing about his journey as the child of Haitian immigrants trying to make a name for themselves in our country. I had the chance to briefly chat with Jozy about the session the next day and am impressed of how genuine he is. Hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

Hello Good Internet Soccer People, I had the pleasure of attending the US Soccer Coaching Convention in Philly last week and I was completely blown away. Over 12,000 American Soccer people came into town to talk all aspects of the game and it was like I died and went to the big field in the sky. I will be bringing you new podcast content for 10 straight weeks and am starting with Keith Tozer's presentation on the growth of futsal in the United States. A fantastic look into this little microcosm of football that I have grown to love. I am a massive believer in the growth of futsal and its affect on technical ability in the country. Hope you enjoy the session. Thanks, Rooster and the Villain

Jake is building an indoor soccer company in St. Cloud, Minnesota. We talk with Jake about the inspiration beyond the brand, how he's building it up, and what the next steps are.

With the USL Championship's Collective Bargaining Agreement ending on December 31, 2025, the USLPA is in the verge of its toughest negotiation yet.  We talk about the Connor's playing career, the first CBA that was ratified in 2021, and what the challenges will be as they finalize the new CBA that they've been working on for over two years.

Mike lit the beacon, and Jake answered the call. Come join us as we cover a wide range of US soccer topics!

Forward Madison and their flamingo crest is one of the more recognizable brands in USL League One. As one of founding members of League One back in 2019, with consistent attendance numbers of ~4,000 fans, the club has been a model of what clubs can strive to be in the 3rd tier of Professional soccer in this Country. Rob Chappell has been following along since the beginning through his podcast, “Talkin’ Flock.” The podcast has been giving Forward Madison supporters an inside look into their club since those early days of 2019. Rob and I dive into what has made this project so successful in the League One space.

USL League One spreading out West is an essential part of the plan over the next few years (“Manifest Destiny for L1”). Forming a Western Division would cut down on travel costs and make a 3rd tier professional club more affordable to operate. It is cities like Boise that are the perfect fit for joining the USL Western Front. The intrigue for the city as a potential soccer hotbed piqued after two friendlies produced sell-out results in the recent history. There was an Athletic Bilbao vs Liga MX Club Tijuana in 2015 that drew nearly 22k people into Boise State (where the infamous blue turf was covered with grass for the event…). Then there was a very unique event - where a USL Championship regular season league game took place (Portland Timbers II vs Swope Park Rangers) in 2016 at a High School in Boise and sold out the field at 4,350 people. The feeling of it being a good fit for USL is proving to be true as the club have already sold 3,500 season tickets for their USL League One Inaugural year. That is even without the branding in place (which is set to be released on June 27th). There was a brief period where the local Minor League Ownership group (of Boise Hawks) was speaking with USL to get a USL Championship squad. But Covid changed the narrative there. Now the timing is right and an All Star Front Office composed of four individuals - each with a different, unique specialty, are the ones backing this new project. There’s NBA Executive experience, US Soccer Experience, Idaho Youth Soccer, and Real Estate Development experience all coming together to give this project legs. The Stadium project is perhaps one of the best stadium projects in the Country at the moment as well. They are converting an old horse racing track into a 6,000 fan soccer-specific stadium that has an incredible mountain backdrop. Phase 2 of the stadium project, which will hopefully be necessary as USL institutes promotion/relegation, would add an additional 5,000 seats for a capacity of 11,000 people. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to watching how things unfold in Boise, Idaho and I appreciate Bill Taylor for taking the time to speak with me. Here’s a snippet of our conversation. If you want the full videos, visit our YouTube channel here.

Jake attempts a solo-dolo episode and gets a little help from someone special to him.