The Train With Ricfit Audio Experience

George is a 27 year old center midfielder who is currently playing for Hapoel Hadera in the Israeli Premier League. George played college soccer at Uconn before getting drafted to the Portland Timbers in the 2014 MLS Superdraft. George featured with the Timbers and Sacramento Republic during his time in the United States (2014-2015). In 2016, got some interest from a club in Denmark while playing in the US. He took this opportunity with a vengeance and 3 great seasons in the Danish Premier League with Viborg FF. In 2019, he made a move to his club in Israel where he is currently at. One thing that really stood out to be in this great conversation with George is the fact that he talked about how important it is to integrate and "gel" with your club right away, and not to act like you are some "superstar," even if you were signed to be that 'big time guy'. We talked about how important it is in Europe to play as a cohesive unit, and not play as a "bunch of individuals." George also pointed out that you have to

This years’ 1st round, 14th draft pick Akeem Ward comes on the Pod to discuss how he lives his day to day life with DC United, a team that he grew up supporting and working as the ball boy. Akeem played one year at the JUCO level for Hastings before transferring to Creighton and playing 3 years there. These 3 years at Creighton were a wake up call for him. He realized he had to step his game up and get rid of the fear he had to make it to the next level. His spring season with Creighton was rough, but from there, everything was “uphill.” This slight setback at Creighton prepared him for where he is currently at in the professional game. Listen to this podcast to hear how dialed in Akeem is with everything on and off the field and how he prepares to continue to improve and take his game to the next level.

Leo Folla is a 23 year old Centerback originally from New York who is currently playing for the Chattanooga Red Wolves in the newly formed USL League One. He has had quite the journey up until his first professional contract with the Red Wolves. Leo grew up playing his youth soccer in New York. After getting rejected from University at Albany after high school, he took it in the chin and tried his luck with a “JUCO” school in Iowa. He realized it wasn’t for him and decided to go back to NY to prepare for his next opportunity. Little did he know, the U Albany coach wanted him the next year. After seeing the “college experience” of tons of parties and not much football, he decided to finish his last 3 years of school at Saint Francis in NY. Listen to the rest of this conversation to see how dialed in and discipline Leo is. You can hear that he would and will sacrifice anything for the game and is willing to do anything to make it to the next level. Super grateful to have another great dude like this in the pod.

Was great having Jason Johnson on the Podcast. He is a 28 year old winger from Happy News, Jamaica who is currently playing for Phoenix Rising FC in the USL. Jason played for 3 years at VCU before being drafted to the Houston Dynamo. After that, he went on to play for the Chicago Fire, San Antonio FC and now the Phoenix Rising. Surprisingly enough, Jason started playing the game at the age of 14. In the podcast, he shares what he thinks got him to the level where he’s at now. A lot of that includes his mindset, how he approaches the game, and all that he’s learned from players that he has played with including Didier Drogba. Enjoy this one & don’t be afraid to leave a review!

Kevin Politz is a 23 year old defender from New Jersey who is currently playing for the Greenville Triumph in South Carolina. He spent 4 years studying and playing at Wake Forest. After graduating he signed his first professional contract with the New York Red Bulls. In this episode, he shares some very very interesting insights into how the Red Bulls train and how they look at training, and the differences between how his current team trains and how Red Bulls trains.

Had a great time chatting with Lucas Stauffer in this episode. Lucas is a 23 year old outside back/winger who is currently playing in the 4th league in Germany. He played 4 years of college soccer at Creighton University before getting drafted by the Vancouver Whitecaps. Unfortunately, he was released after a couple of weeks. Though, he ended up finding a good solution when he signed with the Red Bull’s II. After a solid season with the Red Bull’s, he had a couple of offers in the USL, but he wanted to test himself, so he bought a one way ticket to Europe. After spending time in Denmark, Finland & Germany- he found his best opportunity in Germany, and that’s where he’s at currently. Lucas likes to keep his training, nutrition and recovery simple, but he makes sure he is consistent. Y’all know; that’s what gets results!

Was a blessing having Nico Olsak on the podcast. Nico was born in Argentina, but ended up moving to the US at a young age to “chase the American Dream!” He played 4 years of college soccer at Belmont University (a small Division 1 school in Tennessee). He always had the dream of playing professional soccer, so he took his chances at an open combine. He had a good chance at Rochester Rhinos that fell through. This was one of the first obstacles you ran into during his career, and he used it to fuel him. At 22, he made a jump to Israel through a family friend connection, and the rest was history! He started in the third tier, and within two years, he was playing in the first tier for Maccabi Netanya. He just reached a great milestone of 100 appearances for the team, and he has been blessed to wear the captains’ band. You will definitely definitely enjoy this one. Definitely many golden nuggets from this one.

Was great having Taylor on the Podcast. A truly inspiring footballer with a great attitude on football and on life. Taylor is a 24 year old striker from Jensen Beach, Florida currently playing in Sweden for Lidköpings FK. She played College Soccer at UCF for two years before transferring to FAU for her last 2 years. The beginning of her journey was in Peru for 4 months, which she described as “interesting,” and definitely a great experience. She then had a trial with a Champions League team in Romania that ended up falling through due to her needing hip surgery, which caused her to be off the pitch for 9 months. During this time, she realized how much she really loved the game and what it meant to her. Though it gave her some much needed family time and time to learn about herself as a footballer and a person. After her surgery, she came back stronger and just recently resigned for another year with her team in Sweden, where her and her team hope to get promoted to the highest. Guy or girl; you will learn a l

Day in the Life of Kyle Knotek Ep. 21. Kyle Knotek is a 31 year old midfielder going into his 10th year as a professional, and currently playing for FC ŠTK Šamorín in the 2nd league in Slovakia. He started his journey to becoming a pro by playing college soccer at NIU for 4 years. This is when he ran into one of his first obstacles to becoming a pro, and what has led to his determination and drive. The coach had him playing left back because he didn’t think he was good enough to play center midfielder. He actually was coming off the bench as the captain of the team. After that year, he went to a USL combine, and after not getting picked up, a Japanese GM invited him to play in the second league in Japan. That was quite an experience for him as no one spoke English and he actually had to leave due to the Tsunami. After his stint there; he signed in the USL with the Dayton Dutch Lions. After that season he spent one year in Finland. After his year in Finland, he spent 3 years in Sweden and helped his team get p

Dion Acoff is a 27 year old winger originally from Fontana, California. He is currently playing for SJK in the Veijkausliiga (first tier) Finland. He signed his first professional contract with Thróttur Reykjavík in the third tier in Iceland when he was 23 years old. After two successful seasons with them, he was signed by Valur Reykjavík; where he played in the Europa League and Champions League Qualifiers. Believe it or not, Dion actually quit playing soccer for 1 year after graduating from UCSB. He went into personal training, but was really missing the game. This is when he ended up getting a call from a friend, and his agent, who sent him to Iceland. The rest is history!

Jesse Edge (24 years old) originally from New Zealand has been on his football journey for 6 years now. He signed his first professional contract in the Serie C, before moving on to play in the Eerste Divisie (second tier Holland) with Achilles. After his stint in Holland, he played in the first league in Slovakia, and is now currently back in Slovakia with a second league team with big ambitions to go to the first league. He is also a New Zealand International. In the pod, we get into many great things, including; cold showers, the benefits of the sauna, meditation, how to do a technical session without getting burnt out, and many other great topics. Enjoy it!

My brother Guilherme Machado came on the Pod a couple of days ago. It was fantastic to hear his journey. Definitely, one of the most inspiring ones I have heard. He was born in Brazil, and started playing Futsal at the age of 6 years old. That's right, the football that is played on a small pitch that is very high paced, and excellent for your touch, and playing at speed.  At the age of 17, he got a chance to come to the USA, and play at Limerick College. Without much hesitation, he took the risk! That was the first time he started playing football on an outdoor pitch. After a tough freshman season, and not playing much, his coach began to question himself, and actually asked G "why did I even bring you in?" Even though G wasn't too happy about this comment, this lit a fire under him and started his journey to becoming a professional football player.  He is now 23 years old, playing professionally in the third division of Portugual. After undergoing ACL surgery, and injury problems, he would sometim

John Hollinger- a 24 year old goalkeeper originally from Fairfax, Virginia comes on the Footballer's Journey Podcast all the way from Denmark (where he is currently playing).  He played 3 years of college soccer at Canisius College in Buffalo, NY and 1 year at Palm Beach University before embarking on his journey to become a Professional Player. In his first year in Europe, John played for IFK Åmal in Sweden, where he helped his team promote. He is now currently in Denmark, and will be signing in the 2. Division (3rd tier) over there. If you would like to get to know him more and contact him; he is always open to questions, and would love to hear from you guys and girls. Instagram: @john_hollinger27 @goalkeeper_faith Facebook: John Hollinger

Lorenz comes on the Podcast, originally from Westport, Connecticut. Lorenz played 1 year of college ball at UCONN and three years at the College of Charleston. He was the starting right back for all three years at Charleston. He recently made a ‘jump over’ to Europe this year. We talk about his journey this far and how he views the game and then sacrifice he has made to go to Sweden.

Got the opportunity to have a great guest on the Podcast, Jessey Hein. He is originally from Plano, Texas. He played 3 years of college ball at BYU, and 1 year at BYU-Hawaii. Ever since he was a young child, he has wanted to chase his dream of becoming a Professional Soccer Player. He is in the middle of that chase. He is currently playing in the 4th league in Switzerland, and is hopefully going to make a jump up very soon to pursue a contract in a higher league. In this Episode, we talk about the mental side of the game, and the mental side of being in Europe alone. We discuss how playing football overseas is not 'sunshine and rainbows.' There are many more lows, than there are highs, but if you are willing to deal with it, and keep pushing through, anything is possible!

Nadaner is 26 years old, originally from the Bronx in New York. He played PDL soccer with the Westchester Flames before playing 4 years at Boston University. Evin had always had his eyes on being able to play soccer in Europe one day. During his Junior Year of College, Evin went to the Maccabi games in Israel. After winning the player of the tournament, he had many teams interested in him. Though, he wanted to finish up university soccer. Post-college, Evin made his way back to Israel, and spent one season playing Professionally over there. After that, he made his way to Germany, and has been there for about 3 full seasons now, going into his fourth season. His dream is to one day play in the German 3. Liga. Take a listen to hear his journey!

Originally from Massapequa, New York, 23 year old Sean Vinberg decided to make the jump to chase the dream of being a professional footballer. He played 4 years at SUNY Oneonta, before making the jump to play in the Mongolian Premier League. He is currently playing in Germany, and is enjoying every moment. The best part of the conversation is how grateful Sean is of the opportunity to get paid to play the beautiful game. His genuine passion and love for the game also shines through during the conversation. To all you grinders out there seeking that extra push and motivation; I would reccommend taking a listen!

Russell Cicerone is a 23 year old winger, originally from Detroit Michigan, playing for FC Cincinatti in the USL. Russell play at the University at Buffalo and got drafted by the Portland Timbers, signing his first pro contract for the Timbers 2 in the USL, before making a transfer to FC Cincinatti. Russell talks about his typical day in the Life in season, as well as how he looks at movement, nutrition, recovery and mindset to be a professional. Russell believes the most important thing to become a pro is having that competitive spirit and the passion to win at every single thing you do. I enjoyed talking to a good friend and competitive professional. I know you guys will as well. Follow him on Instagram @russellcicerone, send him a DM & he will be glad to answer your questions.

Client Check In Full time college student at Texas A& M in aerospace engineering and also a rugby player. His desire is to play professional rugby. We talk mentality, movement, nutrition, and sleep and how much he eats on the RicFit Plan. He is eating more food than he ever has. He has learned to start focusing on movements instead of muscles, and he feels like it’s “shocking” his body and he is performing much better. He has never had a stronger core than he does now. We talk about how there are no “hacks” or no “shortcuts” to your long term goal. Hope you enjoy this one.

Client Check In Episode 1-Stephen Lipton From NYC Works full time in Financial Services in NYC at Ernst & Young. We talk about the deep lying message behind my approach and how you don’t have to be “perfect” every single second to achieve your goals! He works at a job sitting down all day, so he reached out to me because he saw a lot of the content I have been putting out, and he realizes how much I stress and prioritize functional movement. He realizes everything doesn’t need to be so regimented. If you miss a workout or a meal, it’s fine. It’s about the long term goal! We talk about how fitness is a marathon, not a sprint. He’s lifted his whole life but finds my training completely different in a way, as he is able to engage his core. He realizes that my training takes him out of his comfort zone. We try to attack his weaknesses and triple down on his strengths. He realizes how important feeling good is to him. We go over nutrition, and he asks how I incorporate proper nutrit