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Speaker 1: Welcome to good Game with Sarah Spain, where we just

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Speaker 1: woke up in a cold sweat after dreaming we had

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Speaker 1: to try to hit a cat Asterman fastball. It's Wednesday,

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Speaker 1: January eighth, and today we continue our New Year, New

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Speaker 1: Leagues series of shows, serving up everything you need to

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Speaker 1: know about the new professional women's leagues, kicking off, tipping off,

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Speaker 1: first pitching, and first serving their way into our hearts

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Speaker 1: in twenty twenty five. Today's League Athletes Unlimited Softball AKAAUSLF.

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Speaker 2: A new professional women's softball league.

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Speaker 1: From the folks at Athletes Unlimited, this time playing in

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Speaker 1: the traditional team softball format. Softball Legend and GM of

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Speaker 1: the AUSL volts Cat Austerman joins the show to give

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Speaker 1: us the stakes, stars, stories.

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Speaker 2: And stats that we need to be ready for first pitch.

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Speaker 1: It's all coming up right after this, All right sliceys,

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Speaker 1: Welcome back to New Year, New Leagues.

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Speaker 2: Today AUSL.

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Speaker 1: Joining us to tell us everything we need to know

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Speaker 1: about AUSL. She's an Olympic gold medalist and two time

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Speaker 1: Olympic silver medallist, a collegiate, four time All American, and

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Speaker 1: four time Big twelve Pitcher of the Year. She ended

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Speaker 1: her career at the University of Texas with school pitching

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Speaker 1: records and wins, strikeouts, era, no hitters, perfect games, whip innings,

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Speaker 1: pitch shutout, strikeout ratio, and opponent's batting average, and still

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Speaker 1: leads in all those categories. Still leads in most of

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Speaker 1: those categories for the Big Twelve as well. The first

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Speaker 1: overall pick in the National Pro Fast Pitch League, she

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Speaker 1: earned four NFP titles, was named Championship MVP three times,

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Speaker 1: and was a six time professional All Star. She was

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Speaker 1: the champion of Athletes Unlimited's inaugural softball season in twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty and finished her professional career with Athletes Unlimited in

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty one before joining the AU Advisory Board in

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty three. She's the only person to win USA

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Speaker 1: Softball's National Player of the Year honors three times, and

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Speaker 1: she's an advisor and GM in the new Athletes Unlimited

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Speaker 1: Softball League.

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Speaker 2: It's Kat Austerman. What's up, Cat?

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Speaker 3: Hey so excited to join you.

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Speaker 1: I know we've been flirting with each other on social

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Speaker 1: media for years, never actually meeting in person yet, but

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Speaker 1: we finally get to actually talk, which is amazing.

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Speaker 3: One of these days I'm in Chicago enough. I don't

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Speaker 3: know how we haven't crossed path.

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Speaker 2: We need to make it happen.

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Speaker 1: By the way, I reserve the right for any of

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Speaker 1: that bio to be slightly off based on the fact

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Speaker 1: that I could have spent years talking about your accomplishments

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Speaker 1: and the fact that you still hold all those records

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Speaker 1: all these years later. You just never know when someone

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Speaker 1: pops up and breaks something. But I'm pretty confident about

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Speaker 1: all of that. And it's just like so impressive reading

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Speaker 1: about especially the people who become the names that we

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Speaker 1: all know. There's a couple softball players that are just

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Speaker 1: the three or four that everybody knows. You have so

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Speaker 1: many accomplishments, so many records. When you look back at

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Speaker 1: your playing career, is there something that stands out that

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Speaker 1: you're most proud of?

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Speaker 3: Well, you know, I think my college career, just because

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Speaker 3: I went a little bit against the green At the time,

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Speaker 3: the Pack was the premiere conference. You know, Arizona Ucla

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Speaker 3: were winning titles going back and forth, and I was

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Speaker 3: recruited by both those schools, but I really wanted to

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Speaker 3: be different and tried to beat the big dogs, and

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Speaker 3: so I stayed home at Texas and part of that

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Speaker 3: was being closer to my family. But I think my

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Speaker 3: college career really I say all the time, if I

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Speaker 3: had chosen somewhere else, I don't know if I would

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Speaker 3: have catapulted successfully as quickly as I did. At Texas.

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Speaker 3: I got thrown in the fire. There was only one

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Speaker 3: returning picture. Everywhere else had a couple different returning pictures,

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Speaker 3: and all Americans at that and you know, who knows.

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Speaker 3: If I'd gone there, maybe I still would have been

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Speaker 3: a one or two or you never know. But I

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Speaker 3: just saw a clear path at Texas for a chance

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Speaker 3: for me to to take that role and it worked out.

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Speaker 3: But really proud because I mean it was hard. Obviously,

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Speaker 3: you spend four years and put blood, sweat and tears

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Speaker 3: into a jersey. But it was really cool the first

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Speaker 3: time we got to go the World Series, the first

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Speaker 3: World Series game. But then I think the really fun

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Speaker 3: part was to see how fans turned out by the

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Speaker 3: end of my career and just finishing Super Regionals there

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Speaker 3: and beyond left field there's a street, but they allowed

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Speaker 3: people to park on the curb, and come postseason we

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Speaker 3: had people put it parking their boats there, big old

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Speaker 3: buses with like you know, built out build outs on top,

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Speaker 3: so it was a party out in left field. Occasionally

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Speaker 3: a fire truck from one of the fire stations nearby

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Speaker 3: would park out there and all the firemen would sit

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Speaker 3: up top until they got a.

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Speaker 2: Call and amazing.

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Speaker 3: So it was really cool just to see the evolution.

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Speaker 2: You know, you changed a program a while ago.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, it was really fun.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's really cool.

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Speaker 1: You also had some cool pop culture moments at opportunities.

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Speaker 1: You were the first softball player on the cover of

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Speaker 1: Sports Illustrated. You appeared in the ESPN Body Issue. Is

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Speaker 1: there a particular opportunity or cool experience that stands out

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Speaker 1: to you from those years when you were kind of everywhere?

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Speaker 3: Well, I will tell you the Body Issue. I know

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Speaker 3: they aired like an overview of the I think ten

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Speaker 3: years they had done it, and they say that someone

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Speaker 3: cried on the very first shoot. That was me. I

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Speaker 3: thought it was the coolest thing until we got ready

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Speaker 3: to go and then all of a sudden, like I

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Speaker 3: just panicked. But it's it was cool to be part

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Speaker 3: of and be asked to be part of that. But

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Speaker 3: I really think the twenty fourteen being on the cover

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Speaker 3: of Sports Illustrated was the coolest experience. One I was young,

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Speaker 3: but two they told us, you know, we beat out

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Speaker 3: Michael Phelps I think for that cover, and for all

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Speaker 3: of us at that point, it was like that was

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Speaker 3: the biggest thing. But just to have our team honored

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Speaker 3: in that way, because you know, you do you you

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Speaker 3: always wonder, you know, who's going to be on that

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Speaker 3: cover and who's going to be on the Wheaties box

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Speaker 3: and all of that, and so that that part pop

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Speaker 3: culture and I think most of us still have that,

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Speaker 3: uh that cover frame somewhere, and it's just it was

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Speaker 3: one of the best experiences for our team.

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Speaker 1: That's really cool for those that aren't super familiar with softball.

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Speaker 1: Can you set the stage for what the post college

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Speaker 1: softball landscape has kind of looked like for the last

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Speaker 1: twenty years or so?

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Speaker 3: Oh so, it's been really up and down. The NPF

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Speaker 3: was going for a while. It had been in operation

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Speaker 3: for I want to say, probably eight or ten years

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Speaker 3: before I shouldn't say ten, probably eight before I played there.

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Speaker 3: There were other entities of it, but every time it

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Speaker 3: just kind of got rebranded. So I was drafted into

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Speaker 3: the NPF straight out of college. I did not play

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Speaker 3: my first year, but then ended up joining the year

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Speaker 3: after I graduated. Played ten years there and that continued

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Speaker 3: on really until about two years ago, and then MPF

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Speaker 3: folded and now the WPF has taken its place. But

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Speaker 3: at the same time, right around COVID is when Athletes

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Speaker 3: Unlimited kind of jumped in and had this different idea

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Speaker 3: for professional sports. And I will admit without COVID, I

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Speaker 3: probably wouldn't have played it because the first time someone

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Speaker 3: explains it to you, you're like, oh, what's that. But

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Speaker 3: then we all got into that environment and absolutely loved it.

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Speaker 3: And so Athletes Unlimited has been going for the last

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Speaker 3: five years. And then at the same time there have

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Speaker 3: been various different other professional opportunities. A couple of teams

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Speaker 3: on the East Coast have partnered up and they run

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Speaker 3: a league during the summer. You know, there's a there's

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Speaker 3: an independent team out of Oklahoma City that runs. It's

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Speaker 3: just been very inconsistent, and you know, even when the

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Speaker 3: WPF or the NPF, excuse me, ran there were teams

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Speaker 3: that were treated truly professional, and then there were teams that,

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Speaker 3: you know, one team's getting wined and dying at a

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Speaker 3: steakhouse and the others eating McDonald's or ones, you know,

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Speaker 3: on a great flight and the other is on the

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Speaker 3: cheapest flight, which is making them on a red eye,

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Speaker 3: or they're getting in barely in time to change and

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Speaker 3: run to the field. You know, there were just so

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Speaker 3: many discrepancies of how people were being treated in the

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Speaker 3: professional environment, and so it kind of it was chaos

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Speaker 3: for a little while. You know, there were I was

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Speaker 3: in the NPF where I think at one point we

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Speaker 3: had eight to six to four to five, like the

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Speaker 3: teams just and the team I was on ended up

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Speaker 3: relocating from Rockford to Tennessee, to Florida back to Tennessee

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Speaker 3: and then they got renamed, renamed and rebranded and bought

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Speaker 3: out in it up in Pennsylvania somewhere. So it was just,

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Speaker 3: you know, we've had people try, and you know, the

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Speaker 3: NPF was there and a lot of us from the

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Speaker 3: national team played in it for a good chunk of time,

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Speaker 3: but just being able to get it to actually go

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Speaker 3: has been a challenge.

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Speaker 1: I mentioned that you were and still are one of

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Speaker 1: the top names in softball major name recognition. How have

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Speaker 1: you tried to parlay that unique popularity and people knowing

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Speaker 1: you to help the sport of softball over the years,

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Speaker 1: and what do you think is the biggest barrier to

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Speaker 1: the sport being able to at the pro level try

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Speaker 1: to reach the same support, ratings and attendance of the

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Speaker 1: massive success of the women's College World Series.

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Speaker 3: Yeah. Well, you know, I jumped into coaching right out

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Speaker 3: of college. So I college coached for twelve years and

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Speaker 3: tried to, you know, wherever I was obviously influenced girls

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Speaker 3: to have it to think about the opportunity of playing professionally,

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Speaker 3: and you know, quick full circle story. I actually got

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Speaker 3: to retire the same year as one of my pitchers

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Speaker 3: that I coached at Texas State because she played two

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Speaker 3: years professionally. And when I had scot her and said, hey,

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Speaker 3: have you ever thought about playing professional? When I thought

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Speaker 3: she had the tools to do it, she was like,

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Speaker 3: are you crazy? No, I'm here for four years to

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Speaker 3: get out. So, you know, uh, it was fun to

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Speaker 3: be in that. And then when once I stepped down

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Speaker 3: from college coaching and I was actually you know, honored

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Speaker 3: to be part of athletes and womened first year just

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Speaker 3: seeing what John and Jonathan do. I when I retired,

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Speaker 3: I told him I want to do anything and everything,

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Speaker 3: you know, I can to help you guys make this go,

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Speaker 3: and ended up being on the advisory board and just

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Speaker 3: trying to keep people knowing what's going on and whether

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Speaker 3: it's just sharing on social media, doing appearances, going up

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Speaker 3: there once a season to you know, pre game draft,

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Speaker 3: pre draft shows, whatever it is, trying to jump in

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Speaker 3: and continue to help put the professional, you know, game

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Speaker 3: in everyone's eyes. And you know, we have to be

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Speaker 3: able to get brand recognition. And I think honestly, with

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Speaker 3: Athletes a Limited dropping the AUSL when we are, they

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Speaker 3: already have the brand recognition from us playing in COVID.

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Speaker 3: I mean we benefited that literally nothing else was on

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Speaker 3: during COVID. I mean I laugh. People were like, oh,

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Speaker 3: you were on the ticker. I was like, that's how

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Speaker 3: slow sports was. It's on the ticker that I resigned

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Speaker 3: my job as a college coach, and a couple of

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Speaker 3: weeks later, like on the ticker that I signed with

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Speaker 3: Athletes Unlimited. I'm like, we don't have anything going on,

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Speaker 3: so I'll take my moment. But you know, it was

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Speaker 3: the blessing for us, especially in softball that we got

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Speaker 3: so many fans during that first season, and so it's

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Speaker 3: it's the brand recognition, and I think it's better because

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Speaker 3: athletes and women that has a following now and now

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Speaker 3: we can say, hey, we have these teams. Yeah, and

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Speaker 3: let's push that because that is what it is. It's

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Speaker 3: it's when you start brand new and people don't know

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Speaker 3: who you are. That's the hardest part. And I've learned

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Speaker 3: that now my husband and I opened the business and

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Speaker 3: it's like, man, you think social media is just going

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Speaker 3: to like we're blast everything out for you, and it

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Speaker 3: doesn't happen that way. And so I think having the

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Speaker 3: brand recognition really actually might help this entity be able

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Speaker 3: to connect with those college fans because college softball is huge.

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Speaker 3: I mean, I still go to games at Texas. I've

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Speaker 3: been welcomed up in Norman. As much as that sounds sacrilegious,

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Speaker 3: I said, I wanted to see the stadium and the

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Speaker 3: fans were like, come on up, we'd love to have you.

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Speaker 3: And yeah, you know, they just they they love the

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Speaker 3: history of it, they love what's coming of it, and

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Speaker 3: they we just have to get them to love their

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Speaker 3: athletes post college as well. And you know that's, like

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Speaker 3: you said, that's been the trick. But I think the

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Speaker 3: brand recognition of Athletes Unlimited already established is going to

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Speaker 3: help that.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, so you mentioned the previous and still will be running.

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Speaker 1: AU softball has individual and team points earned per game,

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Speaker 1: and then in the end, one individual player wins it all.

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Speaker 1: That was you the inaugural champion of Athletes Unlimited Softball

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Speaker 1: back in twenty twenty. What did you take from your

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Speaker 1: experience that you mentioned made you want to join as

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Speaker 1: an advisor and also that you brought to your role

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Speaker 1: once you got there and said, this is what stood

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Speaker 1: out to me from playing, this is what was great,

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Speaker 1: this is what needs to be worked.

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Speaker 3: One part of it was John and Jonathan. John Patrick

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Speaker 3: co Hof was more of the point person that we

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Speaker 3: saw a lot in season one, and I remember he

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Speaker 3: was coming into town and he had just text and

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Speaker 3: was like, hey, you know, I know you've been in

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Speaker 3: pro softful for a long time. I love to say

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Speaker 3: I'm in chat and he just wanted my perspective on

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Speaker 3: where it was. You know, how was season one going,

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Speaker 3: what could be better? And obviously during COVID there were

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Speaker 3: so many restrictions, it was hard to say what was

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Speaker 3: better because we we had our own we had our

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Speaker 3: own bubble there too, and so but I just remember

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Speaker 3: him wanting to have conversation and I was like, Okay,

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Speaker 3: they're in this for the long haul and they truly

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Speaker 3: want the product their athlete to be happy and to

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Speaker 3: have what they need. And then the people they hire

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Speaker 3: from content team to you know, are the people who

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Speaker 3: are managing our equipment, our draft, you know, everyone that

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Speaker 3: helps produce the draft and all of that. It's just

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Speaker 3: everyone was really truly invested and it wasn't just a job.

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Speaker 3: There were times where I think people wanted to get

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Speaker 3: into sport and they found a job in the in

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Speaker 3: pro softball, but it was just a job in the

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Speaker 3: stepping stone, and they found people who truly were invested

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Speaker 3: in women's sports, and that was it stood out because

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Speaker 3: NAM want to be around people that are invested in you,

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Speaker 3: in what you're doing, and not just there to you know,

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Speaker 3: check the box of you know, I got this this

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Speaker 3: and this done today.

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Speaker 1: And so AU has always felt to me like they

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Speaker 1: really listened to a lot of what people say they

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Speaker 1: want out of professional women's sports and they give it,

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Speaker 1: whether that's maternal care to athlete opinions and voices being

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Speaker 1: heard on everything from uniforms to everything else. So it

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Speaker 1: feels like they're doing it right, and it's just about

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Speaker 1: continuing to get the word out about that. So we

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Speaker 1: just talked about the previous AU softball format. Twenty twenty

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Speaker 1: five is going to see a new Athlete's Unlimited Softball league,

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Speaker 1: more traditional kind, starting as a touring property featuring games

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Speaker 1: in six to eight different cities, and then becoming a

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Speaker 1: city based league beginning in twenty twenty six. We're going

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Speaker 1: to take a little break here and when we come back,

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Speaker 1: we're going to get a full AUSL one oh one

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Speaker 1: from Cat Asterman.

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Speaker 2: It's coming up next to.

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Speaker 1: We're back talking with Kat Osterman, and I mentioned the

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Speaker 1: transition from the old individual league to the new more

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Speaker 1: traditional league. Why the change, and I think you mentioned

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Speaker 1: they're both going to exist moving forward.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, so fans and athletes both were kind of asking

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Speaker 3: for the traditional league. Originally AU had put AUX, which

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Speaker 3: was an extra like three week shortened season as a

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Speaker 3: tune up for the actual championship season, and instead we're

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Speaker 3: going to implement the traditional season during that time extended

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Speaker 3: a little bit. But both fans, you know, a lot

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Speaker 3: of fans and like, as we said, there's a history

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Speaker 3: of college softball fans that have watched, those that did

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Speaker 3: tune in there, a lot of them didn't like kind

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Speaker 3: of I call it the fantasy model. They didn't like

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Speaker 3: that points model, and they've been asking for a team model.

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Speaker 3: And then I think athletes too. Sometimes when you get

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Speaker 3: in the points model, if you get down towards the bottom,

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Speaker 3: you're not given opportunities to get yourself out of that spot.

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Speaker 3: You just end up being you know, the bench person

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Speaker 3: for a couple of weeks or maybe get one or

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Speaker 3: two at bats, and it doesn't really allow you to

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Speaker 3: move up. And so now with the traditional model, it

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Speaker 3: gives athletes a chance to be able to play every

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Speaker 3: week and work themselves through slumps and things like that.

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Speaker 3: But yeah, so they went ahead and listened to two

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Speaker 3: fans and athletes and we're going to do the six

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Speaker 3: week traditional model, and we're all really excited about it.

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Speaker 1: So let's do AUSL one oh one here. Yet, you've

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Speaker 1: told us how we arrived at this, Let's start with

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Speaker 1: what it's going to look like with teams. How many

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Speaker 1: of them are there and who are they?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, so we have four teams. I am in charge

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Speaker 3: of the Volts and my head coach is Kelly Creutchman,

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Speaker 3: who's also a decorated Olympian and professional. We have the Talents,

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Speaker 3: whose GM is actually the Goats of All Goats, Lisa Fernandez.

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Speaker 3: Their head coach is Howard Dobson, who's a longtime college

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Speaker 3: coach and just recently got out of a college game,

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Speaker 3: but has also been in the USA Softball Arena as

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Speaker 3: a coach. We have The Blaze, which is GM'd by

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Speaker 3: Danis Sorenson, one of the smartest people in our game.

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Speaker 3: She played at Stanford, a little bit older than I am.

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Speaker 3: And her head coach is Alissa Gohler, who is a

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Speaker 3: former professional player as well. And then, last but not least,

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Speaker 3: the Bandits are recreated and Stacy Nuveman, who was their

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Speaker 3: head coach their last few years in the NPF, is

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Speaker 3: going to head coach that and her GM is Jenny

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Speaker 3: Dalton Hill, another big name from actually before even like

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Speaker 3: the four team stuff. She played at Arizona. So those

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Speaker 3: four teams are going to kick off the inaugural year,

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Speaker 3: and the hope is that we add two more in

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Speaker 3: here too.

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Speaker 1: There is something for everyone with these names and logos.

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Speaker 1: The Blaze is super bright, kind of like nineties pop.

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Speaker 1: The talents have this incredible crest that looks like a

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Speaker 1: peregrine falcon sort of formed into a crush shape.

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Speaker 2: The Bandits.

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Speaker 1: Of course, I'm a little bit biased being a Chicago

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Speaker 1: gallon having on to see the Chicago Bandits on many occasions.

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Speaker 1: The way they incorporate the colors of the Chicago flag

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Speaker 1: and the star kind.

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Speaker 2: Of ties to that. But the Volts have the best colors.

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Speaker 1: In my opinion, I am really into that sort of

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Speaker 1: tennis ball green and with the purple.

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Speaker 2: I think it's going to pop.

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Speaker 1: So people can find their merch, they can find the team,

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Speaker 1: the players, the logos that they're drawn to. You mentioned

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Speaker 1: the gms and coaches leading the teams. So much experience,

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Speaker 1: so much history there in softball. What about some of

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Speaker 1: the players. I know there's still a lot of signings

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Speaker 1: yet to happen, but who are some of the players

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Speaker 1: we'll be watching in this new league.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, anyone you've seen in a US Championship season unless

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Speaker 3: they retired, are eligible, And a lot of contracts were

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Speaker 3: extended to majority of the returning players. Right now, we

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Speaker 3: have Bubba Nichols, who.

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Speaker 2: Greatest name in sports in my opinion, Bubba Nichols. It's

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Speaker 2: so good.

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Speaker 3: Yes, she got married and I think she might have

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Speaker 3: put her married name on her jersey and we were like, dude,

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Speaker 3: you have to just stick with bubb the Nichols. Yes,

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Speaker 3: it is what it is. Carly Hoover, who was an

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Speaker 3: amazing picture at LSU, is actually coming back Stateside to

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Speaker 3: play professionally. She's been playing over in Japan where she's

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Speaker 3: dominated for a few years. And then we have you know,

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Speaker 3: not signed yet but have been part of au You know,

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Speaker 3: you have amand Lorenz who's the most recent champion, Rachel Garcia,

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Speaker 3: all of those that we're trying to we're waiting to

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Speaker 3: see when they sign, and we'll hopefully be part of

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Speaker 3: the first allocation draft.

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Speaker 1: Do you have any idea if any of the players

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Speaker 1: who recently retired might be changing their minds to come

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Speaker 1: back now that there's this new AUSL to join.

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Speaker 3: I did see Haley mcclinney recently and she was like,

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Speaker 3: if you can promise me this tier, I might I

390
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Speaker 3: might retire for a couple of years. So I do

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Speaker 3: know there are some that, like we were all wishing

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Speaker 3: for this model to come, and some of them, I

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Speaker 3: don't know, give them a year, they might unresign.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, they might catch sight of what's going on over

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Speaker 1: there and decide they want back in something you did.

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Speaker 1: Of course, you had a couple retirements and returns. So

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Speaker 1: as a GM, when you're looking at these players that

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Speaker 1: you want to add to this new league, what's your

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Speaker 1: role in signing them and scouting them?

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Speaker 3: So I'm gonna work with Kelly obviously on creating a

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Speaker 3: roster that we feel like is going to be talented

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Speaker 3: but at the same time passionate, energetic. So it's about,

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Speaker 3: you know, the culture, and I think the plus side

404
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Speaker 3: I have is that I've played with a lot of

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Speaker 3: these athletes, so I know who they are on and

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Speaker 3: off the field. I know you know their character and

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Speaker 3: how they how they play the game, and if they're

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Speaker 3: going to match the other pieces that we put into

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Speaker 3: place before, you know, in rounds, before we draft certain people,

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Speaker 3: and then after that, it's about making sure that everything

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Speaker 3: is running smoothly. I'm gonna, you know, I have to

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Speaker 3: I shouldn't say have to. I will be in market

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Speaker 3: for most of it doing double duty because I also

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Speaker 3: coach an eighteen new team, so I'll be going back

415
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Speaker 3: and forth in a lot of softball during that time,

416
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Speaker 3: but you know, be in market, make sure the travel

417
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Speaker 3: is taken care of, make sure that you know, we

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Speaker 3: know what hotel we're going to, where where food's coming from,

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Speaker 3: like all those things with the places that we're traveling

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Speaker 3: to and so and then eventually once season's over. I

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Speaker 3: think the cool part that they want us to offer is,

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Speaker 3: you know, a player development plan. So when you have

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Speaker 3: rookies that maybe didn't play, could be on the bubble

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Speaker 3: if they get a contract, here's what we need to

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Speaker 3: see from you in the off season. You know, we

426
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Speaker 3: need to see you improve in these areas, and we're

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Speaker 3: going to give them resources to be able to do

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Speaker 3: those player development plans. And that's something that we've never

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Speaker 3: had in our sport because it's always just go figure

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Speaker 3: out how to be a professional athlete on your own.

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Speaker 3: And so being able to put together player development plans.

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Speaker 3: It does fall on my shoulders to release players if

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Speaker 3: we think, you know, we need to move on from them.

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Speaker 3: And so that might be the tough part, especially if

435
00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:40,879
Speaker 3: they're people I've played with. But I'm I'm known to

436
00:20:40,920 --> 00:20:43,840
Speaker 3: be a very honest communicator. So while it might be

437
00:20:43,840 --> 00:20:46,000
Speaker 3: a little bit tough, on my heart strings. I think

438
00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:48,480
Speaker 3: I'll be able to do it, but really excited just

439
00:20:48,480 --> 00:20:52,080
Speaker 3: because we get to add some pieces, you know, especially

440
00:20:52,119 --> 00:20:55,919
Speaker 3: for the player development overall. That is huge for our sport.

441
00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:58,840
Speaker 3: And as you said, you know, AU has always done

442
00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:03,720
Speaker 3: childcare and maternity leave and all of that really well,

443
00:21:03,800 --> 00:21:07,399
Speaker 3: and so the childcare policy is huge. An athlete can

444
00:21:07,440 --> 00:21:10,199
Speaker 3: have their child travel with them and AU pays for it,

445
00:21:10,359 --> 00:21:12,639
Speaker 3: or they get a stipend and that can go to

446
00:21:12,680 --> 00:21:14,120
Speaker 3: whoever's helping watch them back home.

447
00:21:14,359 --> 00:21:14,719
Speaker 2: Awesome.

448
00:21:15,200 --> 00:21:17,360
Speaker 3: Yeah, so it's about coordinating that too, you know, making

449
00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:20,320
Speaker 3: sure that families are taken care of and all of

450
00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:22,520
Speaker 3: that as we travel. And it's not just only on

451
00:21:22,560 --> 00:21:23,359
Speaker 3: the field stuff.

452
00:21:25,280 --> 00:21:28,840
Speaker 1: You mentioned that someone said maybe I'll come back for

453
00:21:28,920 --> 00:21:31,359
Speaker 1: the right tier. Does that mean that you are the

454
00:21:31,359 --> 00:21:36,480
Speaker 1: one deciding player pay or who is deciding salaries and

455
00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:37,280
Speaker 1: things like that.

456
00:21:37,920 --> 00:21:41,480
Speaker 3: No, there was a committee that got together that tiered

457
00:21:41,520 --> 00:21:45,400
Speaker 3: the current players based on what they've done in Athletes

458
00:21:45,440 --> 00:21:49,600
Speaker 3: unlimited and so that can change though. You know obviously

459
00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:52,560
Speaker 3: each year you have to perform to keep your tier,

460
00:21:53,119 --> 00:21:56,159
Speaker 3: and you can drop and other people can increase, and

461
00:21:56,200 --> 00:21:59,480
Speaker 3: then how that's going to go as we expand in

462
00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:02,480
Speaker 3: more years is not quite sure, but for right now, Yeah,

463
00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:04,840
Speaker 3: there was a committee that tiered those athletes. But as

464
00:22:04,880 --> 00:22:08,320
Speaker 3: a GM, when a year ends, we can we can

465
00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:11,480
Speaker 3: put our two cents in on like, hey, this player

466
00:22:11,520 --> 00:22:13,760
Speaker 3: performed really well or I think this player needs to

467
00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:15,840
Speaker 3: be bumped up for consideration.

468
00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:18,600
Speaker 2: Where are the games going to be played? You mentioned

469
00:22:18,640 --> 00:22:19,960
Speaker 2: being in market.

470
00:22:19,800 --> 00:22:23,640
Speaker 3: So there's like six to eight cities. The only two

471
00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:28,280
Speaker 3: that are solidified right now are Chicago and Wichita. But

472
00:22:28,359 --> 00:22:31,119
Speaker 3: I can say they have actually looked like coast to coast.

473
00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:34,880
Speaker 3: So there's a lot of a lot of places being

474
00:22:34,880 --> 00:22:38,160
Speaker 3: considered that we have never really ever been before, even

475
00:22:38,160 --> 00:22:41,919
Speaker 3: in other professional entities with the national team. So we

476
00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:44,960
Speaker 3: could be in markets that will be the first time

477
00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:46,800
Speaker 3: they see, you know, elite level softball.

478
00:22:47,119 --> 00:22:47,679
Speaker 2: That's awesome.

479
00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:50,439
Speaker 1: When do you anticipate us learning about the locations?

480
00:22:50,720 --> 00:22:53,479
Speaker 3: I would believe that you should probably know what cities

481
00:22:53,720 --> 00:22:55,159
Speaker 3: sometime in the next couple of weeks.

482
00:22:55,440 --> 00:22:55,760
Speaker 2: Cool.

483
00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:58,760
Speaker 1: Are those locations being used to test the best spots

484
00:22:58,760 --> 00:23:00,600
Speaker 1: for permanent markets starting next season?

485
00:23:01,480 --> 00:23:05,359
Speaker 3: Yes, so, as I said, wich Ta in Chicago, it's

486
00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:07,879
Speaker 3: probably not a it's like not a secret. Obviously, the

487
00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:12,159
Speaker 3: bandits with Chicago colors. But for yeah, season two, a

488
00:23:12,160 --> 00:23:14,159
Speaker 3: lot of these markets are going to be you know,

489
00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:16,959
Speaker 3: tested to see. Some of them already have made bids

490
00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:18,920
Speaker 3: and they believe that they're going to be strong enough

491
00:23:18,920 --> 00:23:20,920
Speaker 3: to do it, but it is it's to see who

492
00:23:20,960 --> 00:23:24,719
Speaker 3: comes out, you know, how is it hosted, is there

493
00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:27,919
Speaker 3: enough stuff? If the team's how's there for athletes to

494
00:23:28,200 --> 00:23:31,240
Speaker 3: you know, have all the resources they need. So yeah,

495
00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:33,520
Speaker 3: it's it's a test market. But at the same time,

496
00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:36,679
Speaker 3: I think too some of them might be solidified. I

497
00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:38,879
Speaker 3: don't know. But also where can we expand to? So

498
00:23:38,920 --> 00:23:41,040
Speaker 3: we're going to eight cities? Is this where we could

499
00:23:41,240 --> 00:23:43,040
Speaker 3: eventually have all eight teams?

500
00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:43,320
Speaker 2: Cool?

501
00:23:43,880 --> 00:23:44,640
Speaker 3: Yeah?

502
00:23:44,720 --> 00:23:46,720
Speaker 2: What are the league dates? When does it start and end?

503
00:23:47,200 --> 00:23:50,960
Speaker 3: Athletes report at the end of May. I believe our

504
00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:54,520
Speaker 3: first series will be the first week or weekend of June,

505
00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:57,879
Speaker 3: and then the goal is to wrap up Our championship

506
00:23:57,920 --> 00:23:59,800
Speaker 3: series will be the top two teams best too out

507
00:23:59,840 --> 00:24:03,200
Speaker 3: of three and that'll end at the last week of July.

508
00:24:03,840 --> 00:24:06,719
Speaker 1: So that's the season format, regular season matches. Between all

509
00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:08,480
Speaker 1: the games, the top two teams will end up in

510
00:24:08,480 --> 00:24:09,240
Speaker 1: the championship.

511
00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:10,760
Speaker 2: Yes, cool.

512
00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:12,840
Speaker 1: Are there any new or different rules to look out?

513
00:24:12,840 --> 00:24:14,639
Speaker 1: For outside of the normal rules of softball orre we

514
00:24:14,680 --> 00:24:15,280
Speaker 1: playing it straight.

515
00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:18,840
Speaker 3: No, we're gonna play it straight. There's nothing too funky.

516
00:24:18,920 --> 00:24:21,800
Speaker 3: I think in the past MPF and other pro entities

517
00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:24,920
Speaker 3: haven't had a run role. They've like, let everyone play

518
00:24:24,920 --> 00:24:27,000
Speaker 3: it out. But I think we might we might bring

519
00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:29,280
Speaker 3: the run role into effect for professional softball. That was

520
00:24:29,280 --> 00:24:32,320
Speaker 3: a conversation we were having, and I think a lot

521
00:24:32,359 --> 00:24:34,840
Speaker 3: of us were just with pitching and whatnot, trying to

522
00:24:35,160 --> 00:24:35,960
Speaker 3: advocate for that.

523
00:24:36,520 --> 00:24:38,360
Speaker 1: Is the run rule the nice newer way of saying

524
00:24:38,400 --> 00:24:41,960
Speaker 1: slaughter role? I guess, so, yeah, we think we stopped

525
00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:42,400
Speaker 1: saying that.

526
00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:44,320
Speaker 2: That seems right. That seems like a good choice to

527
00:24:44,359 --> 00:24:45,120
Speaker 2: stop saying that.

528
00:24:45,359 --> 00:24:47,560
Speaker 1: When I was growing up, if a team was getting beat,

529
00:24:47,960 --> 00:24:50,760
Speaker 1: the breaks off of it was called slaughter rule.

530
00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:51,840
Speaker 2: If you ended it early.

531
00:24:52,119 --> 00:24:55,439
Speaker 1: Run rule is nicer For folks newer to softball, What

532
00:24:55,520 --> 00:24:58,560
Speaker 1: are some ways to watch and be a more educated

533
00:24:58,640 --> 00:25:00,879
Speaker 1: viewer of the game watching the on just balls and

534
00:25:00,880 --> 00:25:02,080
Speaker 1: strikes or runs and outs.

535
00:25:02,080 --> 00:25:03,200
Speaker 2: What are things we can look for?

536
00:25:03,880 --> 00:25:06,639
Speaker 3: Well, I think one thing that with all of our

537
00:25:06,720 --> 00:25:09,239
Speaker 3: productions is athletes a limited does it themselves and they

538
00:25:09,240 --> 00:25:12,160
Speaker 3: do a great job of storytelling for each athlete, so

539
00:25:12,240 --> 00:25:14,359
Speaker 3: as you watch, you'll get to know more about the

540
00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:17,040
Speaker 3: individual athletes or a group of them if they came

541
00:25:17,080 --> 00:25:20,840
Speaker 3: from the same school. But at the same time watching

542
00:25:21,119 --> 00:25:23,720
Speaker 3: I think I obviously was a pitcher, so my eyes

543
00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:27,399
Speaker 3: are always in the circle, but just watching how a

544
00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:30,480
Speaker 3: pitcher uses their pitches in her repertoire and seeing later

545
00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:32,600
Speaker 3: in the game how they're doing something different than they

546
00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:35,600
Speaker 3: were early in the game. It's always fun to sit

547
00:25:35,640 --> 00:25:39,280
Speaker 3: down with athletes and go through hitters of an elite

548
00:25:39,320 --> 00:25:40,800
Speaker 3: pitcher and be like, Okay, this is what she was

549
00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:43,000
Speaker 3: doing early in the game, but they know that, you know,

550
00:25:43,040 --> 00:25:44,760
Speaker 3: in the first three innings this was her go to

551
00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:48,359
Speaker 3: and now she's changed that. But at the same time,

552
00:25:48,400 --> 00:25:51,600
Speaker 3: we have some amazing hitters that you can totally get

553
00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:55,160
Speaker 3: a feel of what they're looking for and how they're

554
00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:58,600
Speaker 3: gaining momentum in there at bat when you watch just

555
00:25:59,480 --> 00:26:02,439
Speaker 3: what pitches take, who they're facing for you know the

556
00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:06,159
Speaker 3: second or third time, and that becomes really fun. And

557
00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:08,680
Speaker 3: I think I would say as much as that everyone

558
00:26:08,720 --> 00:26:10,679
Speaker 3: wants to pick a team. On that team, pick a

559
00:26:10,720 --> 00:26:12,760
Speaker 3: hitter that you watch for one game and just watch

560
00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:15,440
Speaker 3: how she approaches every of that because you can learn

561
00:26:15,480 --> 00:26:17,080
Speaker 3: so much from all of these athletes.

562
00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:21,040
Speaker 1: If we've got overachievers as listeners that really want to

563
00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:24,120
Speaker 1: they're not big on top of or haven't really looked

564
00:26:24,160 --> 00:26:26,159
Speaker 1: into it much. Do you have a resource that you

565
00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:28,720
Speaker 1: maybe give young players just starting out to start to

566
00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:32,400
Speaker 1: understand what to look for, what's the most important as

567
00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:32,879
Speaker 1: a player.

568
00:26:32,960 --> 00:26:35,399
Speaker 2: That might also work for someone who just wants to watch.

569
00:26:35,960 --> 00:26:38,200
Speaker 3: You know, we honestly don't have like a lot of

570
00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:41,080
Speaker 3: softball one oh one like go here to learn it.

571
00:26:41,560 --> 00:26:43,440
Speaker 3: I would say the biggest thing is go to YouTube

572
00:26:43,440 --> 00:26:47,720
Speaker 3: and type in a player or a team, or go

573
00:26:48,040 --> 00:26:50,960
Speaker 3: just follow your local college team. Go watch a game

574
00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:54,320
Speaker 3: and write down your questions and then watch it on TV.

575
00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:56,800
Speaker 3: Or like I said, athletes in the Limit have all

576
00:26:56,800 --> 00:27:00,240
Speaker 3: their past games for the championship series on YouTube. Go

577
00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:03,960
Speaker 3: watch and see, you know, do your questions get answered

578
00:27:04,080 --> 00:27:06,360
Speaker 3: or what else? Do you what else sticks out to you?

579
00:27:07,080 --> 00:27:09,280
Speaker 3: I think that's a big thing. We always tell young athletes, like,

580
00:27:09,320 --> 00:27:11,760
Speaker 3: go watch the game and then come to us with questions.

581
00:27:11,800 --> 00:27:12,920
Speaker 2: Cool, so that.

582
00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:15,320
Speaker 3: Way they're seeing it in real time and then you

583
00:27:15,359 --> 00:27:18,000
Speaker 3: get to tell them, Okay, they did this because of X,

584
00:27:18,119 --> 00:27:21,840
Speaker 3: Y and Z, and that's the best way to learn,

585
00:27:21,880 --> 00:27:23,840
Speaker 3: I feel like, but I still feel like we're so

586
00:27:23,960 --> 00:27:26,720
Speaker 3: young that we don't have that one that's off well,

587
00:27:26,760 --> 00:27:28,880
Speaker 3: one on one resource to point everyone too.

588
00:27:29,160 --> 00:27:32,320
Speaker 1: Well, it sounds like your next job, Kat, that's your plate.

589
00:27:33,280 --> 00:27:35,359
Speaker 1: Where can folks get tickets if they want to go

590
00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:36,160
Speaker 1: to a game, you.

591
00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:39,160
Speaker 3: Can get them online AU pro sports dot com. All

592
00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:41,360
Speaker 3: of their sports are covered there, but aus L has

593
00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:44,920
Speaker 3: its own little tab now and once sites are announced

594
00:27:44,920 --> 00:27:46,760
Speaker 3: and tickets are available, it will be there.

595
00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:49,480
Speaker 2: And how can folks watch on TV and streaming?

596
00:27:50,560 --> 00:27:53,639
Speaker 3: ESPN is going to cover thirty games that goes with

597
00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:57,200
Speaker 3: our AUSL series as well as the Championship series, which

598
00:27:57,240 --> 00:28:00,480
Speaker 3: is the points based system, and then aside from that,

599
00:28:00,560 --> 00:28:04,159
Speaker 3: they usually if ESPN's not covering something between CBS, Sports

600
00:28:04,240 --> 00:28:06,840
Speaker 3: Valleys and other networks, it will be either streamed or

601
00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:09,639
Speaker 3: also aired, so it will be covered, you will be

602
00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:12,320
Speaker 3: able to see it. And we're excited to be launching.

603
00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:15,920
Speaker 1: So from now on, AUSL will be the traditional format

604
00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:20,840
Speaker 1: and AU Sopball Championship Series will be the point.

605
00:28:20,680 --> 00:28:22,119
Speaker 3: That it's going to be called All Star Cups, So

606
00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:25,239
Speaker 3: AUSL and then the All Star Cups, okay, perfect. The

607
00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:28,320
Speaker 3: premise is in the future, if we have eight teams,

608
00:28:28,359 --> 00:28:30,720
Speaker 3: the top sixty performers will get invited to All Star Cup.

609
00:28:30,840 --> 00:28:32,280
Speaker 2: Nice cool, that makes sense.

610
00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:34,879
Speaker 1: Okay, last couple here. Setting up a league is about

611
00:28:34,920 --> 00:28:37,440
Speaker 1: more than just getting players on the field, So tell

612
00:28:37,520 --> 00:28:39,880
Speaker 1: us about the behind the scenes. This is a little

613
00:28:39,880 --> 00:28:42,320
Speaker 1: bit easier for this because Athletes Unlimited has been in

614
00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:44,760
Speaker 1: practice for a number of years with different sports. But

615
00:28:45,040 --> 00:28:47,360
Speaker 1: what does it look like in terms of support staff, doctors,

616
00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:51,960
Speaker 1: physical therapists, hr, things like that, reporting if there's player

617
00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:55,760
Speaker 1: issues or you know, issues within the coaches or league.

618
00:28:55,800 --> 00:29:00,920
Speaker 3: Correct, So we will have athletic trainers. We are trying,

619
00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:05,800
Speaker 3: I know, trying to make sure there's access to chiroproductors, pets.

620
00:29:06,800 --> 00:29:09,480
Speaker 3: If not traveling with us in market wherever we travel to,

621
00:29:11,160 --> 00:29:15,200
Speaker 3: housing is going to be taken care of. And if

622
00:29:15,240 --> 00:29:18,720
Speaker 3: they would like to have a housing back at Chicago

623
00:29:18,800 --> 00:29:22,160
Speaker 3: where we start off with our training, they can get

624
00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:24,920
Speaker 3: a stipend and find an airbnb or a rental property

625
00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:27,720
Speaker 3: or whatever if they would like to do that, and

626
00:29:27,800 --> 00:29:29,960
Speaker 3: keep stuff there so they're not carrying everything with them

627
00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:33,320
Speaker 3: for the five or six weeks. As I mentioned, the

628
00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:37,480
Speaker 3: childcare and Materneyle is great. The biggest thing that AUSL

629
00:29:37,520 --> 00:29:41,320
Speaker 3: has done that no NPR or no Professional Opportunity has

630
00:29:41,360 --> 00:29:44,040
Speaker 3: ever had is they have you around insurance. So that

631
00:29:44,120 --> 00:29:46,640
Speaker 3: was added to the docket this year, which is just huge.

632
00:29:47,440 --> 00:29:49,760
Speaker 3: A professional athlete, I had had a couple of short

633
00:29:49,840 --> 00:29:52,760
Speaker 3: term insurance policies to cover when I was in between

634
00:29:52,840 --> 00:29:58,560
Speaker 3: jobs and whatnot, so that's huge. Support staff isn't going

635
00:29:58,560 --> 00:30:00,600
Speaker 3: to be an issue. We're still hiring a lot, but

636
00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:04,200
Speaker 3: everything athlete and the women covers everything, and as since

637
00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:08,280
Speaker 3: they're all under one umbrella, everybody can kind of mix

638
00:30:08,360 --> 00:30:12,240
Speaker 3: and match or share if something happens. And then as

639
00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:14,440
Speaker 3: part of the advisory board, we are still working on

640
00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:17,440
Speaker 3: some of the policies and stuff, but it's going to

641
00:30:17,440 --> 00:30:19,760
Speaker 3: be top notch and professionally run. Cool.

642
00:30:20,560 --> 00:30:23,280
Speaker 1: Okay, So we're closing with this my not yet trademarked

643
00:30:23,280 --> 00:30:26,600
Speaker 1: but should be trademarked approach to teaching folks about a

644
00:30:26,640 --> 00:30:29,960
Speaker 1: new sport, or talking to a newbie as I take

645
00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:32,680
Speaker 1: them to their first sporting event, or even just sort

646
00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:34,600
Speaker 1: of how I crafted how I wanted to talk about

647
00:30:34,680 --> 00:30:37,600
Speaker 1: stories of women's sports on this show can be summed

648
00:30:37,640 --> 00:30:41,120
Speaker 1: up by the four US's Stars, stakes, stats and stories.

649
00:30:41,360 --> 00:30:43,320
Speaker 1: So I want to close with the speed round for

650
00:30:43,440 --> 00:30:45,240
Speaker 1: the AUSL.

651
00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:48,880
Speaker 2: Stars. You mentioned a couple, but who should we watch for?

652
00:30:49,280 --> 00:30:51,320
Speaker 3: I mentioned Bubba Nichols and Carl Hoover. I think the

653
00:30:51,320 --> 00:30:54,040
Speaker 3: other one is Daja Moulliepolas. She was a previous champ.

654
00:30:54,120 --> 00:30:56,640
Speaker 3: She's coming back to AU after taking a year of

655
00:30:56,680 --> 00:30:58,960
Speaker 3: doing some other things, so it'll be excited to see

656
00:30:58,960 --> 00:30:59,800
Speaker 3: her back in the fold.

657
00:31:00,120 --> 00:31:01,800
Speaker 1: Okay, we're going to add their accounts to the show

658
00:31:01,840 --> 00:31:03,760
Speaker 1: notes so people can follow them and keep up with

659
00:31:04,040 --> 00:31:07,080
Speaker 1: keep up with the league. Okay, Stakes, how important is

660
00:31:07,120 --> 00:31:09,440
Speaker 1: it going to be for say, one regular season game

661
00:31:09,760 --> 00:31:11,800
Speaker 1: a winner or a loss to the team's likelihood of

662
00:31:11,800 --> 00:31:14,960
Speaker 1: making it to the championship. What are the stakes of

663
00:31:15,000 --> 00:31:16,040
Speaker 1: each game we're watching?

664
00:31:16,520 --> 00:31:19,000
Speaker 3: Well, this year we have a limited short schedule, so

665
00:31:19,040 --> 00:31:22,120
Speaker 3: there's only twenty four games, so every game is going

666
00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:24,760
Speaker 3: to count. Every game is going to matter, even at

667
00:31:24,800 --> 00:31:26,680
Speaker 3: the very beginning, which I think a lot of times

668
00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:28,800
Speaker 3: is where you know, especially in men's sports, when they

669
00:31:28,800 --> 00:31:30,600
Speaker 3: play so many you kind of can get some more

670
00:31:30,680 --> 00:31:31,520
Speaker 3: up rowing.

671
00:31:32,880 --> 00:31:33,360
Speaker 2: Stats.

672
00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:35,840
Speaker 1: What's a great stat line in a single game for

673
00:31:35,960 --> 00:31:38,040
Speaker 1: a batter or for a pitcher for people to look

674
00:31:38,080 --> 00:31:39,480
Speaker 1: for for a hitter.

675
00:31:41,400 --> 00:31:44,000
Speaker 3: I think, well, it depends, but usually a two for three,

676
00:31:44,080 --> 00:31:48,280
Speaker 3: two for four something where you know, but if they

677
00:31:48,280 --> 00:31:50,520
Speaker 3: go one for three with a sackfly move the runner,

678
00:31:50,640 --> 00:31:52,480
Speaker 3: that can also be successful. But I think a lot

679
00:31:52,520 --> 00:31:55,160
Speaker 3: of times watch the hard hits. If they're barreling football,

680
00:31:55,160 --> 00:31:58,520
Speaker 3: they're getting ready to get hot and go on a streak. Pitchers,

681
00:31:59,320 --> 00:32:01,120
Speaker 3: I'm a little bit selfish in that realm, so I

682
00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:04,720
Speaker 3: like to look at strikeouts, but really it's how few

683
00:32:04,920 --> 00:32:07,120
Speaker 3: free passes they give, walks and hit by pitches and

684
00:32:07,160 --> 00:32:10,520
Speaker 3: then can they scatter their hits as opposed to allowing

685
00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:11,720
Speaker 3: them to be back to back?

686
00:32:12,200 --> 00:32:15,320
Speaker 1: Okay, and stories give us a story or two to follow.

687
00:32:15,320 --> 00:32:17,280
Speaker 1: It could be a player coming back from injury, a

688
00:32:17,320 --> 00:32:20,880
Speaker 1: player that breaks boundaries or represents an underrepresented group. It

689
00:32:20,920 --> 00:32:22,400
Speaker 1: could be a coach or a GM with a really

690
00:32:22,480 --> 00:32:24,840
Speaker 1: cool story. What's something we should be excited about as

691
00:32:24,880 --> 00:32:26,520
Speaker 1: we get looking forward to the season.

692
00:32:26,760 --> 00:32:29,280
Speaker 3: Well, I think too. One, we just had a rookie,

693
00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:32,000
Speaker 3: Sidney McKinney. I think she was a rookie. She might

694
00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:33,880
Speaker 3: have been in her second year, but she's from Wichita.

695
00:32:33,960 --> 00:32:37,040
Speaker 3: So anytime the AUSL is going to go back to Wichita.

696
00:32:37,680 --> 00:32:39,560
Speaker 3: If she's on one of those two teams. It's I

697
00:32:39,600 --> 00:32:41,440
Speaker 3: think it's going to be fun to see how Wichita

698
00:32:41,440 --> 00:32:43,400
Speaker 3: shows out for her and how she performs there because

699
00:32:43,440 --> 00:32:46,880
Speaker 3: when aux was there she did really well. And then two,

700
00:32:47,040 --> 00:32:50,600
Speaker 3: I think the biggest get for AUSL has been Lisa Fernandez.

701
00:32:50,760 --> 00:32:52,800
Speaker 3: You know, but go she's been around the game. She'll

702
00:32:52,880 --> 00:32:56,080
Speaker 3: describe herself as a lifer, and to have her involved

703
00:32:56,160 --> 00:33:01,080
Speaker 3: right now in this new, vibrant kind of environment is

704
00:33:01,160 --> 00:33:04,160
Speaker 3: huge because of all of her experience in everything. I mean,

705
00:33:04,280 --> 00:33:07,360
Speaker 3: she's been part of, you know, trying to get a

706
00:33:07,440 --> 00:33:10,600
Speaker 3: national team going to being in the Olympics. Multiple different

707
00:33:10,640 --> 00:33:14,200
Speaker 3: pro avenues have existed in her time, and so it's

708
00:33:14,240 --> 00:33:16,840
Speaker 3: really cool to have her and see how her influence

709
00:33:16,920 --> 00:33:20,040
Speaker 3: is going to now continue to impact this young generation

710
00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:21,240
Speaker 3: of professional athletes.

711
00:33:21,720 --> 00:33:24,400
Speaker 2: I love it. Well, that's it, folks.

712
00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:26,560
Speaker 1: You know everything you need to know that you can

713
00:33:26,680 --> 00:33:28,400
Speaker 1: know so far about the AUSL.

714
00:33:28,480 --> 00:33:30,680
Speaker 2: Thanks to the great Kat Austerman. Kat, thanks for.

715
00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:32,560
Speaker 3: The time, Thank you so much.

716
00:33:42,160 --> 00:33:43,160
Speaker 2: Welcome back, slices.

717
00:33:43,280 --> 00:33:44,800
Speaker 1: We love that you're listening, but we want you to

718
00:33:44,800 --> 00:33:46,840
Speaker 1: get in the game every day too. So here's our

719
00:33:46,840 --> 00:33:50,120
Speaker 1: good game play of the day. Follow AUSL on social

720
00:33:50,280 --> 00:33:52,320
Speaker 1: and follow some of the players Cat mentioned, like Bubba

721
00:33:52,400 --> 00:33:54,960
Speaker 1: Nichols and Deja Mulipola. One of the best ways to

722
00:33:55,040 --> 00:33:56,959
Speaker 1: learn about a new league, get to know the players

723
00:33:56,960 --> 00:33:59,240
Speaker 1: and storylines, and keep up with the games is to

724
00:33:59,280 --> 00:34:01,720
Speaker 1: have them right in your social timeline, so hit that

725
00:34:01,760 --> 00:34:06,000
Speaker 1: follow button. Also check out photographer slash videographer Jade Hewitt

726
00:34:06,040 --> 00:34:10,040
Speaker 1: on Instagram for dope visuals and fantastic reporter Savannah Collins

727
00:34:10,040 --> 00:34:12,960
Speaker 1: for updates, interviews, and behind the scenes content. Links to

728
00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:15,800
Speaker 1: accounts in our show notes, And don't forget to subscribe,

729
00:34:15,960 --> 00:34:19,320
Speaker 1: rate and review like this paying homage to the Chicago

730
00:34:19,400 --> 00:34:22,680
Speaker 1: Bandits with a new Incarnation rating ten out of ten

731
00:34:22,840 --> 00:34:27,279
Speaker 1: inventive reinventions review. The Chicago Bandits were a staple of

732
00:34:27,320 --> 00:34:30,000
Speaker 1: the National Pro Fast Pitch League from twenty five to

733
00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:33,000
Speaker 1: twenty nineteen, so reimagining them with a new logo and

734
00:34:33,080 --> 00:34:36,640
Speaker 1: colors in this AUSL league just feels right, especially when

735
00:34:36,640 --> 00:34:38,839
Speaker 1: the new logo rocks the light blue, white and red

736
00:34:38,880 --> 00:34:43,320
Speaker 1: of the Chicago Flag Bandits Forever. Now it's your turn, subscribe,

737
00:34:43,400 --> 00:34:44,040
Speaker 1: rate and review.

738
00:34:44,320 --> 00:34:47,399
Speaker 2: Thanks for listening. See you tomorrow. Good game, Cat, good

739
00:34:47,400 --> 00:34:48,399
Speaker 2: game AUSL.

740
00:34:49,160 --> 00:34:51,480
Speaker 1: You trying to play a professional sport after taking a

741
00:34:51,560 --> 00:34:55,960
Speaker 1: red eye flight. Good Game with Sarah Spain is an

742
00:34:55,960 --> 00:34:58,960
Speaker 1: iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports

743
00:34:58,960 --> 00:35:01,600
Speaker 1: and Entertainment. You can find us on the iHeartRadio app,

744
00:35:01,640 --> 00:35:04,839
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Production by

745
00:35:04,880 --> 00:35:08,400
Speaker 1: Wonder Media Network, our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones.

746
00:35:08,560 --> 00:35:12,000
Speaker 1: Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan

747
00:35:12,040 --> 00:35:15,520
Speaker 1: and Emily Rudder. Our editors are Emily Rutterer, Britney Martinez,

748
00:35:15,560 --> 00:35:19,200
Speaker 1: Grace Lynch and Lindsay Crowdowell. Production assistants from Lucy Jones

749
00:35:19,320 --> 00:35:20,800
Speaker 1: and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain