WEBVTT - Giving the Most with Abby Wambach 0:00:01.040 --> 0:00:03.240 Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, the show that 0:00:03.320 --> 0:00:07.360 just got even louder, prouder, boulder and braver, more charismatic, 0:00:07.400 --> 0:00:12.240 more charming, more hilarious. We're sassy, sexy, and always searching 0:00:12.320 --> 0:00:15.200 for a spotlight because it's Leo season, babe. 0:00:16.440 --> 0:00:17.000 That's right. 0:00:17.120 --> 0:00:19.239 On today's show, we're going to give you a scouting 0:00:19.239 --> 0:00:22.080 report for the Zambia Copper Queens ahead of Team usay's 0:00:22.079 --> 0:00:26.079 Olympic soccer opener. Talk to US soccer icon Abby Wambach 0:00:26.120 --> 0:00:28.840 about her confidence in the US team headed into the games, 0:00:29.040 --> 0:00:32.720 plus Jill Ellis and soccer's culture problems, and so much more. 0:00:33.120 --> 0:00:37.000 But first, here's what you need to know today. The 0:00:37.120 --> 0:00:39.600 US women's national team plays its first soccer match of 0:00:39.600 --> 0:00:43.520 the Olympic Tournament tomorrow against Zambia. More on that game 0:00:43.520 --> 0:00:47.120 coming up later in the show. The viewership numbers for 0:00:47.200 --> 0:00:51.159 the twenty twenty four WNBA All Star Game were incredible. 0:00:51.520 --> 0:00:54.000 Per the Athletics Richard Deitsch, the game had a record 0:00:54.000 --> 0:00:58.720 three point four to four million viewers. The previous record 0:00:58.800 --> 0:01:01.800 was one point four million. Women's soops, y'all, like a 0:01:01.840 --> 0:01:07.240 mother rocket ship, we've got another female athlete cover star 0:01:07.640 --> 0:01:10.720 this time. It's Team USA gymnast Jordan Childs, who Grace 0:01:10.800 --> 0:01:13.840 is the cover of teen Vogues July August edition. We 0:01:14.000 --> 0:01:18.160 cannot wait to watch her in Paris. Christina Williams new 0:01:18.240 --> 0:01:21.680 women's basketball podcast, In Case You Missed It with Christina Williams, 0:01:21.880 --> 0:01:24.720 launches today. Every week, she's going to break down the 0:01:24.760 --> 0:01:26.920 biggest headlines and women's soups and sit down with some 0:01:26.959 --> 0:01:29.000 of the biggest names in the game. You can listen 0:01:29.040 --> 0:01:33.640 on the iHeartRadio app and wherever podcasts are streamed. We're 0:01:33.680 --> 0:01:36.040 all very pumped to watch the US women's soccer team 0:01:36.080 --> 0:01:39.160 open up their Olympic campaign tomorrow, July twenty fifth against 0:01:39.240 --> 0:01:43.000 Zambia in Group B play at staud Denise in Nice, France. 0:01:43.240 --> 0:01:45.280 You can watch the game at three pm Eastern on 0:01:45.440 --> 0:01:49.000 USA Network, Universo and Peacock. Here's what you need to 0:01:49.040 --> 0:01:51.520 know about the Zambian team. We're going to start with 0:01:51.560 --> 0:01:55.800 the unsettling and ongoing investigation into their coach. Head coach 0:01:55.840 --> 0:01:59.160 Bruce Moape will not be allowed to have any private 0:01:59.200 --> 0:02:02.000 contact with his players at the games, and yet he's 0:02:02.000 --> 0:02:04.680 still been granted a visa to lead the team despite 0:02:04.680 --> 0:02:08.679 an ongoing investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct against him. 0:02:09.080 --> 0:02:12.600 FIFA is still investigating claims that Wape rubbed his hands 0:02:12.720 --> 0:02:15.520 over the chest of a player after a training session 0:02:15.560 --> 0:02:18.440 at last year's World Cup. The Guardian also revealed in 0:02:18.520 --> 0:02:21.600 May that he was accused of intentionally touching a FIFA 0:02:21.680 --> 0:02:25.640 contractor's breast at the same tournament. Before last year's World Cup, 0:02:25.680 --> 0:02:28.480 Wape was the subject of an investigation into allegations of 0:02:28.520 --> 0:02:32.160 sexual misconduct by a number of players. He has previously 0:02:32.200 --> 0:02:36.440 denied the accusations. It feels like every single international tournament 0:02:36.440 --> 0:02:39.480 we're having a conversation about a team who is expected 0:02:39.520 --> 0:02:43.960 to play despite toxic environment created by their coach, their federation, 0:02:44.440 --> 0:02:46.840 or some other combination of people. And Zambia is the 0:02:46.919 --> 0:02:49.360 latest example of players who are going to be expected 0:02:49.400 --> 0:02:52.160 to compete at the highest level despite all of that. 0:02:52.200 --> 0:02:53.840 Going on on and off the pitch. 0:02:54.320 --> 0:02:55.880 Sort of hard to believe that a coach would be 0:02:55.880 --> 0:02:58.520 allowed to coach a team while still not being allowed 0:02:58.560 --> 0:03:00.560 to have private contact with any of them, the players. 0:03:00.919 --> 0:03:03.840 But here we are speaking of the players. Let's get 0:03:03.880 --> 0:03:08.040 to these incredible Zambian players known as the Copper Queens, 0:03:08.880 --> 0:03:12.520 and where else can we start? But Barbara Banda with 0:03:12.680 --> 0:03:16.000 fifty three goals in sixty international games and twelve goals 0:03:16.040 --> 0:03:19.080 in twelve games in the NWSL this season. The Orlando 0:03:19.120 --> 0:03:22.320 Pride striker is one of the best forwards in the world, 0:03:22.800 --> 0:03:24.359 and we already know she can go off on a 0:03:24.360 --> 0:03:28.040 big stage. In the Tokyo Games, she had two hat tricks. 0:03:28.120 --> 0:03:30.480 In fact, Banda is the first and only player of 0:03:30.520 --> 0:03:33.280 any gender to score three goals in back to back 0:03:33.320 --> 0:03:37.680 games in Olympic history. Forward Rachel Kundananji, who represented Zambia 0:03:37.680 --> 0:03:39.960 both in Tokyo and at the twenty twenty three World Cup, 0:03:40.280 --> 0:03:42.440 is an NWSL player as well. She suits up for 0:03:42.480 --> 0:03:46.240 expansion side BAFC, and midfielder Grace Chanda is set to 0:03:46.320 --> 0:03:50.200 join Banda in Orlando following the Olympics. Also, this Olympic 0:03:50.240 --> 0:03:52.520 opener will be the first meeting all time between the 0:03:52.600 --> 0:03:56.480 US women's national team and Zambia. Bottom line is Zambia 0:03:56.520 --> 0:03:58.560 didn't advance out of their group in either the last 0:03:58.560 --> 0:03:59.840 Olympics or the World Cup. 0:04:00.080 --> 0:04:01.320 But if Barbara Banda is on. 0:04:01.320 --> 0:04:06.000 The field, absolutely no team is safe, especially since this 0:04:06.160 --> 0:04:08.680 US team has struggled to score, putting up just four 0:04:08.720 --> 0:04:11.240 goals in four games. At last year's World Cup and 0:04:11.320 --> 0:04:13.960 again going scoreless in their final friendly with Costa Rica. 0:04:14.480 --> 0:04:17.039 Will the US change course in France? I don't know. 0:04:17.200 --> 0:04:20.359 Old habits die screaming. While I'm optimistic about this killer 0:04:20.360 --> 0:04:23.000 trio of Trinity Rodman, Sophia Smith and a very healthy 0:04:23.040 --> 0:04:26.000 mouse Swanson, they still got to prove it. The US 0:04:26.040 --> 0:04:28.760 scorers better finish where this is going to be a 0:04:28.839 --> 0:04:34.240 very short vacance in France. Finally, a Zambia fun fact. 0:04:34.760 --> 0:04:39.000 Their national symbol, the African fish eagle, looks a lot 0:04:39.200 --> 0:04:43.440 like America's bald eagle, So in true American fashion, I 0:04:43.480 --> 0:04:46.200 had to find out whether our eagle was better than 0:04:46.240 --> 0:04:50.200 their eagle. And based on the highly respected and definitely 0:04:50.240 --> 0:04:55.440 fully vetted website animalmatchup dot com and using the infallible 0:04:55.480 --> 0:04:59.800 truthiness of AI to create a simulated battle the bald Eagle, 0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:05.159 our bald eagle, bigger and faster, wins quote. In a 0:05:05.200 --> 0:05:08.080 thrilling display of strength and skilled the bald eagle emerges 0:05:08.080 --> 0:05:10.640 as the victor in the epic battle against the African 0:05:10.680 --> 0:05:13.400 fish eagle. With its powerful beacon sharp talents, the baald 0:05:13.400 --> 0:05:16.479 eagle has proven itself as the ultimate predator. 0:05:16.080 --> 0:05:20.359 Of the Skies, Take that, Zambia. 0:05:20.480 --> 0:05:22.840 When we come back, Abby Wambach and I ruin one 0:05:22.839 --> 0:05:25.480 of your favorite books from childhood by analyzing it through 0:05:25.520 --> 0:05:28.200 the lens of feminism and climate change. 0:05:28.440 --> 0:05:29.120 Come on back. 0:05:33.440 --> 0:05:36.440 Abby Wambach is a two time Olympic gold medalist, a 0:05:36.480 --> 0:05:38.440 World Cup champion, a six time winner of the US 0:05:38.480 --> 0:05:40.479 Soccer Athlete of the Year award, and a member of 0:05:40.480 --> 0:05:43.359 the National Soccer Hall of Fame. She is still the 0:05:43.480 --> 0:05:46.320 highest all time goal scorer for the US national team, 0:05:46.440 --> 0:05:49.120 and her one hundred and eighty four international goals are 0:05:49.200 --> 0:05:52.760 second all time for both female and male players. She's 0:05:52.800 --> 0:05:54.760 part of the ownership group for Angel City FC of 0:05:54.800 --> 0:05:57.200 the National Women's Soccer League, one of three co hosts 0:05:57.279 --> 0:06:00.640 of the wildly successful podcast We Can Do Hard Things. 0:06:01.080 --> 0:06:03.360 She's responsible for one of my all time favorite sporting 0:06:03.360 --> 0:06:05.919 moments just her head was her header in one hundred 0:06:05.920 --> 0:06:08.360 and twenty second minute of the twenty eleven World Cup 0:06:08.400 --> 0:06:11.280 against Brazil. And according to the Internet, Abby and I 0:06:11.320 --> 0:06:15.160 share the same favorite book. But do you cry every 0:06:15.200 --> 0:06:16.840 single time you read it, Abby, or. 0:06:16.800 --> 0:06:17.320 Is that just me? 0:06:17.680 --> 0:06:18.760 Okay? What's the book? 0:06:19.000 --> 0:06:21.479 According to the Internet, It's The Giving Tree. 0:06:21.560 --> 0:06:25.320 Okay, Sarah, This is a good place to start, because 0:06:26.360 --> 0:06:29.720 I have been in therapy for the last like I 0:06:29.720 --> 0:06:33.560 don't know, a year or so, and I was just 0:06:33.640 --> 0:06:37.080 talking about this with my therapist the other day. I 0:06:37.279 --> 0:06:40.800 think that maybe I have to revise this answer of 0:06:41.040 --> 0:06:44.839 it being my favorite book. And I think you will 0:06:45.360 --> 0:06:50.640 track with me here the idea, the whole idea of 0:06:50.839 --> 0:06:56.320 just giving, of just giving and expecting nothing in return, 0:06:56.640 --> 0:07:01.000 and giving and expecting nothing in return. For me, as 0:07:01.040 --> 0:07:04.880 a people pleaser, somebody who really likes to avoid conflict, 0:07:05.120 --> 0:07:09.680 this book fit fit my parts really well, fair and 0:07:09.880 --> 0:07:12.840 it has made it very difficult for me in a 0:07:12.920 --> 0:07:14.840 lot of ways. And we don't need to keep talking 0:07:14.880 --> 0:07:18.400 about this, but I have to say that I think 0:07:18.440 --> 0:07:22.680 that maybe I'm appalled with this book. I get the intention, 0:07:23.800 --> 0:07:28.000 but it feels very not feminist. It feels very like 0:07:28.120 --> 0:07:33.880 wife in the kitchen just to accept the little crumbs 0:07:33.880 --> 0:07:38.720 that she gets in her family systems. 0:07:38.880 --> 0:07:41.640 So I don't know, not only not favorite, but fully 0:07:41.720 --> 0:07:43.840 anti the giving tree at this point. So I guess 0:07:43.880 --> 0:07:47.320 my thing is, first of all, I've never had trouble 0:07:47.320 --> 0:07:49.880 being too giving. I'm a very generous person, but I've 0:07:49.880 --> 0:07:52.600 always had very set boundaries on how much I'm willing 0:07:52.680 --> 0:07:56.120 to give versus what I should be demanding. But also 0:07:56.240 --> 0:07:58.040 the book to me was more of a warning than 0:07:58.080 --> 0:08:00.000 it was happy. That's why I ball at the end, 0:08:00.280 --> 0:08:02.080 because I don't think you're supposed to be like, oh, 0:08:02.120 --> 0:08:04.080 the tree, that's a great example. 0:08:04.240 --> 0:08:07.800 It was like that kid, yes, and this is the world. 0:08:07.920 --> 0:08:10.600 The world keeps taking and taking and taking, and the 0:08:10.640 --> 0:08:12.880 tree is trying to show us what life looks like 0:08:12.920 --> 0:08:15.400 if you're generous, but when you don't get it in return, 0:08:15.480 --> 0:08:17.800 And that, to me is also about nature, the tree 0:08:17.880 --> 0:08:18.800 of nature. 0:08:18.560 --> 0:08:21.040 And the boy was man. And that's why I'm. 0:08:20.920 --> 0:08:22.840 Like, why you went to Ivy League school and I 0:08:22.880 --> 0:08:23.080 did not? 0:08:25.520 --> 0:08:27.640 You got it well? Either way. 0:08:27.680 --> 0:08:29.600 I still cry every time I think about it, and 0:08:29.680 --> 0:08:31.400 it makes me angry, and yet it's still my favorite, 0:08:31.400 --> 0:08:33.079 which is maybe something I should go to therapy for. 0:08:33.640 --> 0:08:35.960 We're going to get back to therapy and your podcasts 0:08:36.000 --> 0:08:38.120 and how it is my personal therapy. But I want 0:08:38.120 --> 0:08:40.200 to talk Olympics just to start, because we are one 0:08:40.280 --> 0:08:44.000 day away. Tomorrow, the US women open their competition against Zambia. 0:08:44.280 --> 0:08:46.880 It's their first big tournament under their new head coach, 0:08:46.920 --> 0:08:51.280 Emma Hayes. A legend in England, a cheeky babe who 0:08:51.280 --> 0:08:53.920 comes in and we are expecting her to turn this 0:08:53.960 --> 0:08:55.640 team into the magic that we used to see on 0:08:55.679 --> 0:08:58.079 the regular. What do you think the biggest difference we're 0:08:58.120 --> 0:09:00.520 going to see with Emma at the Helm versus the 0:09:00.559 --> 0:09:02.439 four years under save lad Gwandanowski. 0:09:02.640 --> 0:09:06.600 Good question, difficult answer. First of all, I had the 0:09:06.640 --> 0:09:09.120 pleasure of working with Emma a long long time ago, 0:09:09.240 --> 0:09:14.400 back with the Washington Freedom, back in like the WUSA days, 0:09:14.440 --> 0:09:20.360 And she's wonderful. She's smart, she's funny, she's tough. She 0:09:21.080 --> 0:09:23.200 has the kind of personality I think to get the 0:09:23.240 --> 0:09:27.560 most out of the players. And you know, it's tough 0:09:27.679 --> 0:09:31.680 because these Olympics, it's eighteen players. To go from a 0:09:31.720 --> 0:09:37.480 World Cup roster down to eighteen, that's five or you know, 0:09:37.559 --> 0:09:40.520 depending on alternates, that's a lot of bodies that you've 0:09:40.559 --> 0:09:43.400 got to decide who your team is going to be, 0:09:43.480 --> 0:09:46.839 and in many ways, for her, who she's setting up 0:09:46.920 --> 0:09:53.880 to begin her tenure at US Soccer. So I when 0:09:53.920 --> 0:09:57.839 I was a player, we went through rebuilding years, We 0:09:57.920 --> 0:10:01.440 had difficult times that we had to kind of start 0:10:01.679 --> 0:10:05.360 fresh and and and you know, I think that Emma 0:10:05.480 --> 0:10:09.000 is going to have a challenge ahead of her because 0:10:09.360 --> 0:10:12.200 the rest of the world is getting so much more competitive, 0:10:13.320 --> 0:10:17.360 and also in some ways, clearly when we saw the 0:10:17.440 --> 0:10:20.880 last World Cup, they're getting better, you know, they're getting 0:10:20.920 --> 0:10:24.280 They're they're not just catching up anymore. They're they're in 0:10:24.320 --> 0:10:28.600 many ways better than Yeah, they're better. And I feel 0:10:28.920 --> 0:10:31.480 I feel excited and also a little nervous, just because 0:10:31.480 --> 0:10:33.240 it's a new coach. How are the players going to 0:10:33.320 --> 0:10:38.080 respond to her? How is she going to turn the 0:10:38.240 --> 0:10:42.000 tide so that we can become what we all kind 0:10:42.040 --> 0:10:48.320 of hope, love and expect about watching our team play. 0:10:46.800 --> 0:10:47.120 The The. 0:10:48.800 --> 0:10:53.280 Talent is there, the players are good enough. It's the 0:10:53.400 --> 0:10:56.320 thing about some of the coaches that have been so profound, 0:10:57.120 --> 0:11:01.840 so profoundly helpful at managing how to bring all of 0:11:01.880 --> 0:11:07.560 that extraordinary talent together. And it's not an easy thing. 0:11:07.640 --> 0:11:10.360 It's not you just got to do this one thing 0:11:10.720 --> 0:11:14.160 right and you'll make it work. It's all of these little, 0:11:14.360 --> 0:11:18.440 teeny minuscule details that have to kind of these puzzle 0:11:18.480 --> 0:11:21.800 pieces have to actually link up and come together right 0:11:21.840 --> 0:11:25.520 before world events for those world events to actually come 0:11:26.200 --> 0:11:32.880 and go our way. We're going to compete. I'm excited. 0:11:33.400 --> 0:11:36.679 I love watching World Championships. I love the Olympics, especially 0:11:36.720 --> 0:11:40.679 because it's you know, there's all the other players, all 0:11:40.679 --> 0:11:44.360 the other athletes, all the other sports they're competing, and 0:11:44.400 --> 0:11:47.280 so we just get this little like fraction of the 0:11:47.320 --> 0:11:50.440 Olympic Games. But it's I'm excited to see what she 0:11:50.520 --> 0:11:54.520 can do. I'm a little bit nervous around the age 0:11:54.840 --> 0:11:58.520 of this team. It's very young, and like, on the 0:11:58.520 --> 0:12:01.719 same note, it's like, okay, like, how if I were her, 0:12:01.800 --> 0:12:03.559 what would I do? Would I want to start fresh? 0:12:03.600 --> 0:12:06.160 Would want to would I want to build my own 0:12:06.280 --> 0:12:08.839 group of players so that we could be good for 0:12:08.920 --> 0:12:11.120 the next and dominant for the next ten years. I 0:12:11.120 --> 0:12:14.480 don't know. Good luck, Emma, good luck to the girls. 0:12:14.880 --> 0:12:17.640 Yeah, good luck, Emma. You know you mentioned this. 0:12:17.760 --> 0:12:19.559 We talk a lot about other teams catching up or 0:12:19.559 --> 0:12:23.120 even passing by the US, and particularly with other countries 0:12:23.160 --> 0:12:27.920 having distinct style differences, skill focus, different tactics in sort 0:12:27.920 --> 0:12:30.880 of lay person's terms. When we're watching this Olympics, will 0:12:30.880 --> 0:12:33.920 we be able to see how the US uses a 0:12:34.320 --> 0:12:36.960 different tactics or approach than other countries that are having 0:12:37.000 --> 0:12:39.800 success or do you expect us to notice even from 0:12:40.080 --> 0:12:41.760 what we watch at the World Cup to this new 0:12:41.800 --> 0:12:42.840 Emma Hayes led team. 0:12:43.000 --> 0:12:44.840 Oh they're doing something real different. 0:12:44.520 --> 0:12:48.920 Now, great question. I'm excited to learn that myself. I 0:12:49.040 --> 0:12:54.120 haven't had too much time to watch her, her be there, 0:12:54.480 --> 0:12:57.400 you know, her be at the helm leading this team. 0:12:57.840 --> 0:13:01.840 Only a couple of games they've done, and well, I've 0:13:01.840 --> 0:13:04.400 heard good things. But at the end of the day, 0:13:04.679 --> 0:13:06.960 when you get into a World Championship, the stakes are 0:13:07.000 --> 0:13:11.440 so much higher and the players have to bring a 0:13:11.559 --> 0:13:17.480 kind of outsized confidence to themselves and to each other. 0:13:18.480 --> 0:13:21.680 And a lot of times, in my experience leadership, the 0:13:21.760 --> 0:13:26.240 older players who have been there before often gave the 0:13:26.280 --> 0:13:28.840 younger players in some ways kind of the sense of confidence. 0:13:28.880 --> 0:13:31.280 I mean, the amount of huddles that I would be 0:13:31.360 --> 0:13:33.280 in and I'd be like, look, if you're worried, if 0:13:33.320 --> 0:13:35.800 you're freaking out, I get it. I know what it's 0:13:35.840 --> 0:13:38.480 like to be here. Just look at me, Just look 0:13:38.480 --> 0:13:40.840 at me in the way that I'm playing. And I 0:13:40.880 --> 0:13:44.920 don't know if we have that kind of leadership in 0:13:45.040 --> 0:13:47.640 terms of veteran age wise. You know, I know, Lindsay 0:13:47.679 --> 0:13:50.040 Hernn is going to be doing her best wearing the 0:13:50.040 --> 0:13:55.080 captain's band and a listen there, my gosh, she's done 0:13:55.080 --> 0:13:57.959 so well for us over the last many years, and 0:13:58.440 --> 0:14:02.400 I hope that they can bring that kind of confidence 0:14:02.559 --> 0:14:06.559 in themselves, because when you're out there and you're nervous 0:14:07.000 --> 0:14:09.080 and you don't know necessarily how to deal with all 0:14:09.120 --> 0:14:11.360 this pressure, what are you going to do? 0:14:11.600 --> 0:14:11.800 Right? 0:14:12.080 --> 0:14:13.480 You got to look to your left and look to 0:14:13.480 --> 0:14:16.400 your right and get that confidence from your teammates. And 0:14:16.440 --> 0:14:18.200 I just hope that they can bring that sense of 0:14:18.200 --> 0:14:21.320 confidence with them throughout this first group stage. 0:14:21.760 --> 0:14:25.080 Yeah, that leadership guidance thing from the Vets. We've talked 0:14:25.120 --> 0:14:27.400 about it a lot, in part because of Alex Morgan 0:14:27.440 --> 0:14:29.040 not making the cut, and it's made us sort of 0:14:29.080 --> 0:14:31.280 look around to the other veterans on that team that 0:14:31.360 --> 0:14:36.520 might step up. Do you remember any specific language guidance 0:14:36.680 --> 0:14:38.920 leadership from a VET that stuck with you when you 0:14:38.960 --> 0:14:42.120 were new to the national team, any one particular person 0:14:42.640 --> 0:14:44.480 or maybe quote that you held onto. 0:14:45.160 --> 0:14:50.560 Good question. Honestly, I got onto the team right after 0:14:50.600 --> 0:14:55.240 the ninety nine World Cup, and these players became worldwide 0:14:56.000 --> 0:14:59.880 like phenoms, you know, Mia Hamm and Julie Foudy and 0:15:00.400 --> 0:15:05.160 Christine Lilly, like these women who really like built women's 0:15:05.160 --> 0:15:10.120 soccer in this country, and so I didn't It wasn't 0:15:10.160 --> 0:15:13.960 necessarily what they said, it was how they played. It 0:15:14.000 --> 0:15:16.760 was like how they treated each other. And I just 0:15:16.960 --> 0:15:20.760 I remember being super young, just promising myself to be 0:15:20.840 --> 0:15:24.600 a sponge, just to learn everything that I possibly could 0:15:25.160 --> 0:15:28.840 and do whatever they wanted me to do. Early on 0:15:28.880 --> 0:15:31.720 as a young player, you know, I was one of 0:15:31.760 --> 0:15:33.600 the best on most of the teams that I played on, 0:15:33.680 --> 0:15:35.720 and then here I find myself on the best team 0:15:35.760 --> 0:15:38.560 in the world, becoming the worst player on the team. 0:15:38.960 --> 0:15:42.000 And so I just remember finding myself feeling like it 0:15:42.040 --> 0:15:45.000 was the game was too fast and I couldn't catch 0:15:45.080 --> 0:15:48.800 up to the play or their thought process or anything. 0:15:49.760 --> 0:15:54.080 And so just promising myself not to check out, to 0:15:54.240 --> 0:16:01.160 stay in it, to be challenged, to confront my own 0:16:02.200 --> 0:16:05.280 my own sense of self right, and to be like 0:16:05.440 --> 0:16:07.800 am I good enough? And so there were days, I 0:16:07.880 --> 0:16:10.480 swear to God, there were days that I came off 0:16:10.520 --> 0:16:12.440 the field and I went back into my hotel room 0:16:12.520 --> 0:16:15.760 and I was like, I am actually the worst player here. 0:16:16.640 --> 0:16:21.640 And the question that I had to keep asking myself was, Okay, 0:16:22.200 --> 0:16:24.480 you just need to make small games. You just need 0:16:24.520 --> 0:16:27.360 to make a small bit of difference day after day 0:16:27.400 --> 0:16:31.600 after day, and then slowly lo and behold, a little 0:16:31.600 --> 0:16:34.880 sense of confidence will spark. I'll score a goal, I'll 0:16:34.920 --> 0:16:38.360 make an assist. A player after a game will come 0:16:38.440 --> 0:16:40.400 up to me and be like, yo, that was really great. 0:16:40.840 --> 0:16:43.880 But one thing I promised myself to do was I 0:16:44.000 --> 0:16:49.360 wasn't going to ever let somebody else work harder than me. 0:16:49.720 --> 0:16:52.560 That was the only thing I could control. My confidence 0:16:52.640 --> 0:16:55.360 was going to go up and down, my statistics would 0:16:55.400 --> 0:16:59.360 go up, up and down, but my ability to put 0:16:59.400 --> 0:17:02.680 in the work and the effort, and that was, honestly 0:17:02.720 --> 0:17:05.120 something I struggled with in college. Was just like work 0:17:05.160 --> 0:17:07.760 ethic and hard work and consistency, and. 0:17:08.600 --> 0:17:10.920 That's shocking to me. That's shocking. 0:17:10.920 --> 0:17:13.639 But then I also, if I remember correctly, in youth soccer, 0:17:13.720 --> 0:17:16.119 you had like thirty goals in a game once. So 0:17:16.200 --> 0:17:18.000 I feel like maybe it came a little too easy 0:17:18.000 --> 0:17:19.360 to you at the beginning. I mean, you really did 0:17:19.400 --> 0:17:20.760 peak at like eight. 0:17:21.080 --> 0:17:23.880 Unfortunately I just came five five. 0:17:24.080 --> 0:17:26.280 It came a little too easy too, And then eventually 0:17:26.280 --> 0:17:28.359 you needed to get enough of a challenge to decide, Oh, 0:17:28.359 --> 0:17:29.359 I guess I have to work at this. 0:17:29.600 --> 0:17:30.720 That's right, that's right. 0:17:30.760 --> 0:17:32.560 Would would that we all had that problem. 0:17:32.600 --> 0:17:36.520 It's just too easy, you know, chemistry with coach, chemistry 0:17:36.520 --> 0:17:40.720 with team. I feel like sometimes my favorite teams I've 0:17:40.760 --> 0:17:42.920 watched from the beginning of the season and not known 0:17:42.960 --> 0:17:44.440 that they were going to go on to win it all, 0:17:44.520 --> 0:17:49.040 but seen something special. They felt super tight, they felt 0:17:49.080 --> 0:17:51.920 super connected in a way that you know, you're playing 0:17:51.960 --> 0:17:54.119 the backwards game of like, oh, you could see this coming. 0:17:54.520 --> 0:17:56.600 But I wonder how important you think that is and 0:17:56.920 --> 0:18:00.840 can enough talent overcome either a lack of chemistry with 0:18:00.880 --> 0:18:02.560 team or coach. I mean, we certainly saw in the 0:18:02.560 --> 0:18:06.480 World Cup with Spain that those women managed to blow 0:18:06.560 --> 0:18:09.720 past every obstacle that the Spanish Soccer Federation put in 0:18:09.720 --> 0:18:12.200 front of them, including their coach, and win the whole 0:18:12.280 --> 0:18:14.960 damn thing. That's not ideal, that's not what we want 0:18:15.000 --> 0:18:17.280 players to go through. But is that some sort of 0:18:17.840 --> 0:18:20.239 proof that, like it doesn't you don't need all that 0:18:20.320 --> 0:18:22.520 chemistry with coach, or maybe that you just need it 0:18:22.520 --> 0:18:22.920 with team. 0:18:23.200 --> 0:18:27.280 Yeah, good question. I think I think as it relates 0:18:27.320 --> 0:18:31.120 to I've played on teams before that we all kind 0:18:31.200 --> 0:18:35.560 of banded together in spite of a coach that we've 0:18:35.600 --> 0:18:39.879 won World championships. I also have played under coaches that 0:18:39.960 --> 0:18:45.119 we loved and won. I know it's a lot easier, 0:18:45.480 --> 0:18:49.040 a lot more fun when you like and you respect 0:18:49.240 --> 0:18:51.960 that coach, right, And I also know that it's just 0:18:52.000 --> 0:18:55.680 a lot more difficult, but it's still possible, right, So yes, 0:18:55.760 --> 0:18:58.040 the coach matters because they're the ones that are deciding 0:18:58.040 --> 0:18:59.920 who's on the field, when they're on the field, what tactic, 0:19:00.280 --> 0:19:03.080 all of that. But at the end of the day, 0:19:03.720 --> 0:19:07.720 it's eleven players out there. Right. We had a coach 0:19:07.720 --> 0:19:09.800 at one point who tried to change the formation at 0:19:09.800 --> 0:19:12.119 the end of the game of a gold medal medal match, 0:19:12.440 --> 0:19:15.280 and our captain was like no, She was like no, 0:19:15.840 --> 0:19:18.480 that like, we are gonna We're going to stay the course. 0:19:18.480 --> 0:19:20.280 We're going to do what we do, and we ended 0:19:20.359 --> 0:19:24.080 up winning that gold medal that year. And I think 0:19:24.119 --> 0:19:29.720 that I think that there is always a moment that 0:19:29.880 --> 0:19:32.359 all the World Championships, I was able to be a 0:19:32.400 --> 0:19:36.080 part of that. I could draw back a couple of 0:19:36.119 --> 0:19:40.400 months prior to the World Championship starting, and I could 0:19:40.640 --> 0:19:44.560 I could remember like a single practice where everything just 0:19:44.640 --> 0:19:47.760 like kind of clicked it, like it was like the 0:19:47.880 --> 0:19:53.879 perfect moment, like the perfect gelling, the perfect environment. Everybody 0:19:53.960 --> 0:19:58.560 was like flying, playing hard at their peak. You could 0:19:58.600 --> 0:20:04.400 tell everybody was as committed as the other. And I 0:20:04.480 --> 0:20:07.399 hope that I hope that for our team that this 0:20:07.520 --> 0:20:11.600 summer in Paris, I hope that they can look around 0:20:12.080 --> 0:20:15.000 and get the sense that this is a team that 0:20:15.080 --> 0:20:20.199 could win, because in the end, there's so many factors, right, Like, 0:20:20.280 --> 0:20:22.159 you can have the right team, you can even have 0:20:22.200 --> 0:20:25.200 the right coach, but then you could have a referee 0:20:25.240 --> 0:20:28.240 that makes a mistake, or you could have a moment 0:20:28.280 --> 0:20:31.680 where another team steps up and just has the game 0:20:31.720 --> 0:20:34.040 of their lives, right Like, there's it. 0:20:33.960 --> 0:20:37.600 Could be a deflection, Yeah, something as simple as a deflection. 0:20:37.320 --> 0:20:39.960 Exactly, And so you just never know. And so there 0:20:40.080 --> 0:20:43.280 is this element of like luck or what I call 0:20:43.320 --> 0:20:45.840 the soccer gods. They just kind of need to be 0:20:45.880 --> 0:20:49.280 on your side in those knockout round games in order 0:20:49.280 --> 0:20:51.480 for you to be standing on that top podium come 0:20:51.520 --> 0:20:52.640 the end of the Olympics. 0:20:52.760 --> 0:20:58.160 Yeah, a lot of people use meditation, visualization, self talk, 0:20:58.760 --> 0:21:02.000 their favorite music, get those nerves handled right before big 0:21:02.000 --> 0:21:04.199 tournaments like this. Did you have a trick and or 0:21:04.240 --> 0:21:08.080 did one of your teammates have something extremely quirky that 0:21:08.119 --> 0:21:09.960 you were like, I don't know what's going on over there, 0:21:09.960 --> 0:21:11.440 but if it works, like go for it. 0:21:12.119 --> 0:21:14.639 Yeah, you know, it's funny. I think about this a 0:21:14.680 --> 0:21:19.600 lot now because I am kind of baffled at my 0:21:19.720 --> 0:21:25.760 own self. I'm on a self love journey and I 0:21:25.840 --> 0:21:29.399 cannot believe the person that I am now in this 0:21:29.560 --> 0:21:33.520 body today, almost ten years since I played. I cannot 0:21:33.640 --> 0:21:37.840 believe that I did the things that I did. And 0:21:37.920 --> 0:21:39.639 so I think a lot about like kind of the 0:21:39.680 --> 0:21:44.560 psychology and the and for lack of a better word, 0:21:44.600 --> 0:21:47.480 like kind of the spirituality that goes into and the 0:21:47.800 --> 0:21:51.080 energy that goes into playing on a team full of 0:21:51.119 --> 0:21:54.320 women that go out into the field and play a 0:21:54.320 --> 0:21:59.160