Name: Montele Graves	Club: San Diego Surf
Years Coaching: 10	Years Played: 20
What is your Coaching Experience? I was the Lansing Everett HS Varsity coach for five years, Michigan State University Mens Assistant Coach for three years, Brighton Soccer Club GK and Staff Coach for two years, Phoenix Soccer Club coach for one year and TNT Dynamite SC coach for one year. I have been a SD Surf Academy Coach for two years.
Playing Experience?  HS Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Michigan State University, Metro Rangers Mens Premier Team and Del Mar Sharks Over-30s.
SoccerNation: Who were the coaches you play under? What did they teach you? Montele Graves: Joe Baum my coach at Michigan State. He taught me to work hard and stay positive, to concentrate for 90 minutes and win the individual one-on-one battles during the game.
SoccerNation:  What is your style of coaching? Montele Graves: Work harder and work smarter than the other team.
SoccerNation:  Who are the players you are particularly proud of on or off the soccer field? Montele Graves:  Raushawn McKenzie, who played for me at Michigan State and is currently a defender for Real Salt Lake. He is very smart and a very, very competitive player.
SoccerNation:  What do you look for in a player? Montele Graves: I look for heart and a competitive spirit. I'd take 11 players with heart and limited talent before 11 of the best players with no heart and no bite.
SoccerNation:  What advice would you give to any player looking to become a professional soccer player? Montele Graves: Play or train EVERY DAY! They say the Elite player spends 10,000 hours playing from age 8-18, which equals 2.5 hours per day of soccer. They should train competitively with intensity, then every day play for fun outside of training. NBA players found a way to play every day when they were kids and they talk about getting 500 jump shots up a day. Youth soccer players need to use this same mentality to become a pro.
SoccerNation:  What advice would you give the parents? Montele Graves: A parent’s job is to assist in establishing the love of the game. If a kid does not fall madly in love with the game they will not become a professional.
SoccerNation:  Your team is playing for the championship title and they are down by three at the half. What do you say in your halftime pep talk? Montele Graves: "I'm going to coach harder and you are all going to play harder. We are going to switch our tactics/formation like this____ . This will put the other team under more pressure and your job is to win us free kicks and corner kicks. The team that scores first in the 2nd half is the team that's going to win... once we do that the game will be wide open!" "I'm going to coach harder and you are all going to play harder. We are going to switch our tactics/formation like this____ . This will put the other team under more pressure and your job is to win us free kicks and corner kicks. The team that scores first in the 2nd half is the team that's going to win... once we do that the game will be wide open!"
SoccerNation:  Who is your favorite professional soccer player? Montele Graves: Wayne Rooney. He works really hard and does all the little things well. SoccerNation:  If you could, would you change anything about soccer what would it be? Montele Graves: More autonomy to the assistant referees. Also when American coaches says a kid is too small. If he is technical and quick and/or fast then he can play. If he's small, and slow then I agree. SoccerNation:  What is your favorite quote? Montele Graves: "If you stay ready, you don't have to get ready"	Click on the t-shirt to purchase.