{"podcast":{"title":"The Lowdown","slug":"the-lowdown-1381121","podcast_index_feed_id":1381121,"rss_url":"https://media.rss.com/thelowdown/feed.xml","website_url":"https://rss.com/podcasts/thelowdown","image_url":"https://media.rss.com/thelowdown/20231215_041224_7739adb6610cd729232da8422a865dd2.jpg","author":"Conor Walsh","episode_count":201,"summary":"The Lowdown is a football podcast giving listeners unprecedented access to the minds shaping the modern game. Each week, we sit down with the people driving football forward — from club owners and technical directors to academy heads, coaches, and broadcasters — to uncover the lessons, challenges, and stories behind their journeys. Whether you’re a young coach, a player chasing the next step, or simply fascinated by what happens behind the scenes, The Lowdown offers honest insights to inspire the next generation of football professionals . Get in touch; Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/conorwalsh1995/ LinkedIn; https://www.linkedin.com/in/conor-walsh-847b08127/ YouTube; https://www.youtube.com/@TheLowdownPod Email: cwalsh95@outlook.ie","last_synced_at":"2026-07-01T00:19:29.055993+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-lowdown-1381121"},"episode":{"title":"#184 - MLS Coach Education w/ Fred Lipka","slug":"184-mls-coach-education-w-fred-lipka","published_at":"2025-11-18T15:36:41+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-lowdown-1381121/184-mls-coach-education-w-fred-lipka","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-lowdown-1381121","url":"https://rss.com/podcasts/thelowdown/2334122","audio_url":"https://content.rss.com/episodes/32751/2334122/thelowdown/2025_11_18_15_35_35_53e601d1-c0dc-4802-9b1c-609723b649ed.mp3","summary":"“We don’t just want consumers; we want people who think deeply about who they are and what kind of coach they want to be.” Today we are joined by the Technical Director of Player Development for MLS; Fred Lipka. In this episode, we dive deep into coach development, pedagogy, and the evolution of youth football from France to the United States. Fred shares a journey that spans Le Havre’s world-renowned academy, consulting across the U.S. youth landscape, and shaping the next generation of MLS coaches through the Elite Formation Coaching License (EFCL). Graduates like Wilfried Nancy, Greg Vanney, Nico Estevez, and Luchi Gonzalez have gone onto esteemed success coaching first team football. Here Fred explains how the course is taught and the unique approach they take to social learning. Listen to find out more including; - Growing up in the Le Havre environment, sharing insights into what made Le Havre’s developmental culture so influential. - What surprised him most about the structure, culture, and coaching approaches in the U.S? - Do US based coaches spend sufficient time on field developing their craft? - The link between teaching and coaching — and why coaching must evolve ? - Why coaches focusing on developing their players individual game insight is key to US success over the next decade? - Creating environments where coaches want to contribute, support each other and give back. Timestamps; 00:00 - 11:10 - Le Havre 11:11 - 25:16 - EFCL 25:17 - 37:08 - Coaching Pathways 37:09 - 54:20 - Game Insight 54:21 - 57:57 - Advice Get in touch; Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/conorwalsh1995/ YouTube; https://www.youtube.com/@TheLowdownPod Email: cwalsh95@outlook.ie","meta_description":"“We don’t just want consumers; we want people who think deeply about who they are and what kind of coach they want to be.” Today we are joined by the Tech…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3477,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-lowdown-1381121/episodes/184-mls-coach-education-w-fred-lipka/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-lowdown-1381121/184-mls-coach-education-w-fred-lipka.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}