Season 2 Episode 16. In this episode, I chat with Sam Etherington, Director of Soccer Operations for the LSU Women's Soccer team.  Sam was born and raised in Newcastle, England and her soccer journey to the United States if full of many curves ... each one leading the next and Sam shares the many lessons she learned along the way. Sam has an awesome energy about her as she chats about her family and her days growing up in Newcastle and as a fan of Newcastle FC.  Her journey brought her to the U.S., where she played her college soccer at Nicholls State University.  But, what's fun about this transition to American student athlete was the connections that she had made in England that helped her to arrive at Nicholls.  And then there were more connections that helped propel her to coaching stints at the University of Dubuque (Graduate Assistant), Louisiana College (Head Coach), and Idaho State University (Assistant Coach). Sam's recollection of being a coach in Iowa at Dubuque, and her first ever spell as a head coach at Louisiana, to ending up in Idaho during the pandemic are full of great stories and lessons learned ... and the power of developing coaching relationships and connections!  She is very open about her experiences and gives a great glimpse into her time at those stops. The state of Louisiana is "home" for Sam now.  And she spoke about that in this episode.  She talks about the staff at LSU and how much she is enjoying coaching and being a part of the program. There is so many amazing nuggets in this episode.  Thanks to Sam for joining the podcast! You can connect and follow Sam Etherington @TheRealOPSam as well as LSU Womens soccer @LSUSoccer. Thanks for listening! #CoachesCornerChats @coachesletschat on Twitter CoachesCornerChats.com Host of the Podcast:  Mr. Kieron Boyle @coach_boyle on Twitter Episode Beanie of Choice:  H&M visit HM.com today! Let's go!  Peace!