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Speaker 1: Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're dumping

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Speaker 1: out our trick or treating bag, separating candy by our

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Speaker 1: faves and which ones we're willing to trade anybody wants

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Speaker 1: some whoppers. On today's show, we're talking to Angel City

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Speaker 1: defender Merrett Matthias about her decision to retire the NWSL's

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Speaker 1: evolution from game one to today, needing time to see

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Speaker 1: the worthiness of her career and accomplishments and the.

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Speaker 2: Legacy that she's leaving behind.

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Speaker 1: Plus PWHL expansion and poorly timed awards.

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Speaker 2: It's all coming up right after this.

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Speaker 1: Welcome back, slices and Happy Halloween. Here's what you need

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Speaker 1: to know today. Let's start with some news that I

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Speaker 1: got to hear first during a panel I hosted at

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Speaker 1: the espnW summit on Tuesday. Professional Women's Hockey League Senior

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Speaker 1: VP of Business ops Amy Sheer announced that the league

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Speaker 1: is planning to expand from six teams to eight, potentially

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Speaker 1: as soon as next season. The league plans to issue

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Speaker 1: a request for proposals from interested markets, and y'all know,

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Speaker 1: I'm hoping Chicago is in the mix, and if we

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Speaker 1: get a team, I'm immediately stealing Kendall quinnscofield for my squad.

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Speaker 1: In balloon Dior News, Spain's Ititana bon Maddi won her

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Speaker 1: second straight Ballon d'Or feminine, the award given annually to

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Speaker 1: the best player in the world. Bone Madi, a midfielder

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Speaker 1: who plays for Barcelona, helped her club win the Liga

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Speaker 1: F Women's Champion League, Copa de la Rena and Spanish

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Speaker 1: super Copa last year, the first time the club has.

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Speaker 2: Won all four trophies in the same season.

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Speaker 1: Meanwhile, US women's national team boss Emma Hayes won the

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Speaker 1: inaugural Ballon d'Or Coach of the Year award after leading

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Speaker 1: the US to Olympic gold, and then she went on

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Speaker 1: to call out event organizers for always holding the prestigious

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Speaker 1: award ceremony in the middle of a women's FIFA window. Hayes,

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Speaker 1: along with most of the nominated players, wasn't able to

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Speaker 1: attend the event in Paris as she was in the

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Speaker 1: middle of a US women's national team camp.

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Speaker 2: Take a listen, Yeah.

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Speaker 3: I mean, it'd be like running an oscars, wouldn't it

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Speaker 3: without a Golden Globe, without having any females present. It

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Speaker 3: just wouldn't happen. I think that all too often it's

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Speaker 3: an afterthought to be honest with you, and I know

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Speaker 3: that there's nothing you know I can do to control that.

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Speaker 3: If I'm honest with you, I'm happy to be with

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Speaker 3: my team. I'm not really one for the glam so

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Speaker 3: I love Paris, but I'm happy to be with my team.

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Speaker 3: But I think for those players and coaches and is

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Speaker 3: the one industry moment they get recognized. And it's disappointing,

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Speaker 3: but one that I did speak to. I did speak

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Speaker 3: to the organize about it, and they said that that

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Speaker 3: is something that will be changing in the future, and

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Speaker 3: let's hope that that is the case.

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Speaker 1: The US woman's national team and MA has closed out

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Speaker 1: the international window against Argentina last day in Louisville.

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Speaker 2: Will have more on that game tomorrow.

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Speaker 1: More soccer news, Angel City announced that the club has

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Speaker 1: signed veteran forward Sidney LaRue to a new three year

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Speaker 1: contract through the twenty twenty seventh season. LaRue, who has

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Speaker 1: played in the league since it started in twenty thirteen,

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Speaker 1: has been with Angel City since twenty twenty two, when

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Speaker 1: she was traded from Orlando midway through the season. Y'all

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Speaker 1: have to see the announcement that Angel City sent out

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Speaker 1: for this extension.

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Speaker 2: This is the cutest.

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Speaker 1: Contract extension photo you'll ever see. It's Sid's two kids,

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Speaker 1: Cassius and Rue, wearing Angel City jerseys with the numbers

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Speaker 1: twenty and twenty seven, the year through which Sid is

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Speaker 1: now signed. We'll post a link to that pick in

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Speaker 1: our show notes.

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Speaker 2: We got to take a quick break when we come back.

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Speaker 1: Don't miss this an honest, raw and sometimes tearful conversation

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Speaker 1: with retiring NWSL legend Meary at Matthias.

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Speaker 2: Joining us.

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Speaker 1: She's a right back for Angel CITYFC of the NWSL,

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Speaker 1: and has won three NWSL shields and three NWSL championships

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Speaker 1: during her twelve seasons in the league. One championship with

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Speaker 1: FC Kansas City, one shield with the Seattle Rain and

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Speaker 1: two doubles with the North Carolina Current. She heared a

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Speaker 1: cap with the US when it's national team in twenty eighteen.

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Speaker 1: She played college soccer at UNC and Texas and M

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Speaker 1: And she's not dating Sydney LaRue, no matter how many

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Speaker 1: times the Internet wants it to be.

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Speaker 2: So it's Merret, Matthia's what's up? Merrit? What's up? Everyone.

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Speaker 2: Thank you for having me, Thanks for doing this. We're

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Speaker 2: reunited where we first hung out. I know. Anniversary. Wow,

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Speaker 2: it is our anniversary.

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Speaker 1: I've seen you less than I would hope if this

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Speaker 1: is the one year occasion.

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Speaker 4: Of our data, I know, but I feel like the

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Speaker 4: retirement is just going to open up so much time.

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Speaker 2: I have so much more time to get.

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Speaker 1: This conversation will need to be more professional than any

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Speaker 1: conversation we had here last year.

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Speaker 2: Perfect. I think I'm ready for it, and the bar

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Speaker 2: is low mart.

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Speaker 1: We literally could talk about almost anything anxietly qualifying. Okay,

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Speaker 1: so you announced that you're retiring at the end of

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Speaker 1: this season with, in my opinion, the perfect caption I came,

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Speaker 1: I saw I ship up.

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Speaker 2: Perfect.

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Speaker 1: Angel City has been eliminated from the postseason, which means

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Speaker 1: we are having this conversation as you are preparing for

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Speaker 1: your last professional soccer game.

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Speaker 2: What are the emotions. I feel very at peace.

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Speaker 4: I am also currently just not able to play soccer.

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Speaker 4: I sprained my mcl acl about a few weeks ago,

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Speaker 4: and my body is taking longer than I would.

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Speaker 2: Like for it too to recover.

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Speaker 4: So the end of my season, the end of my career,

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Speaker 4: looks much different than I anticipated. There was a moment

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Speaker 4: where I had been coming back and we were in

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Speaker 4: the back season of our or back half of our season,

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Speaker 4: and I was like four appearances away from like hitting

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Speaker 4: two hundred, and I was like, all I have.

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Speaker 2: To do is make it into like four games.

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Speaker 4: Make appearances. I'm going to wrap a bow around this career.

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Speaker 4: It's going to be great.

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Speaker 2: And then yeah, we go to Louisville.

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Speaker 4: I go to block a shot and has changed in

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Speaker 4: a matter of an instant, and I immediately knew.

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Speaker 2: I'm like, this isn't good.

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Speaker 4: And so I pushed to try to get back and

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Speaker 4: my body just wasn't having it.

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Speaker 2: My knee couldn't hit a ball in the same way.

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Speaker 4: And so there were a few days that were really

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Speaker 4: really tough, and just having to accept that I don't

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Speaker 4: have control over this thing that I very much thought

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Speaker 4: that it was going to end a certain way. I

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Speaker 4: think within that time, allowing myself to kind of accept that,

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Speaker 4: be at peace with that, and kind of be able

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Speaker 4: to acknowledge that not ending my career the way that

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Speaker 4: I want to take doesn't take away anything from what

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Speaker 4: I've done. And so with that and a lot of

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Speaker 4: love and support from friends and family. I decided to

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Speaker 4: lean into like being celebrated and really lean into what

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Speaker 4: our last.

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Speaker 2: Home game looked like.

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Speaker 4: And it was just an incredible, incredible moment for me,

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Speaker 4: and I think that was it allowed me to put

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Speaker 4: a bow around a really successful career and one that I'm.

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Speaker 2: Really proud of. I want to talk about the retirement ceremony.

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Speaker 1: I want to talk about the physical aspect and the

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Speaker 1: battle you had just to play this season. But I

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Speaker 1: guess what I mean by your final professional game is

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Speaker 1: that it's so much more than just playing soccer. It's

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Speaker 1: being in the locker room with your teammates, it's being

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Speaker 1: on the sidelines, it's being in uniform or in street

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Speaker 1: closer or whatever it is, but being with your teammates

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Speaker 1: in a way that you can always come back and

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Speaker 1: after retirement you could be a part of things. But

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Speaker 1: is there any part of you that that last moment

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Speaker 1: of like looking around at the fans or the pre

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Speaker 1: and post game stuff, even as an injured player, is

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Speaker 1: there any part of it you're going to pay special

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Speaker 1: attention to.

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Speaker 2: In that moment and like really try to take in.

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Speaker 4: I feel for me, the last game it was really

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Speaker 4: much like looking around and being like, oh my gosh,

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Speaker 4: Like I feel so privileged to have played on the

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Speaker 4: teams that I've played on and to be surrounded by

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Speaker 4: the women that I've been surrounded by. I would argue

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Speaker 4: that I've been a part of some of the best

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Speaker 4: teams in the NWSL, not just on the field but

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Speaker 4: outside of that, and they have, you know, those big

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Speaker 4: and small moments have like shaped who I am so much.

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Speaker 4: And you love a locker room and like a good

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Speaker 4: locker room because it's like what you're drawn to is

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Speaker 4: that allows you to be exactly who you are and

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Speaker 4: be loved for it.

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Speaker 2: And I think along my way and along my journey.

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Speaker 4: The more that I've been comfortable with fully being who

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Speaker 4: I am, I hope that I've allowed other people to

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Speaker 4: believe that they can do the same. So yeah, that

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Speaker 4: you hear everyone say, like, you just miss the locker room.

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Speaker 4: There's nothing that replicates that ever again, And so in

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Speaker 4: that like the last game, you look around and I.

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Speaker 2: Think that's why it was so touching for the team

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Speaker 2: to have dressed.

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Speaker 4: Like me walking in and to have had these like

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Speaker 4: really special moments where I'm like, I think I was

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Speaker 4: in all of just like what I have meant to

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Speaker 4: people and when I have meant to people on my

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Speaker 4: team and for them to take the time to like

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Speaker 4: dedicate something to me was really really special. So yeah,

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Speaker 4: that will be missed. I think you also, it's really funny.

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Speaker 4: I'm like, I love being around like our younger players,

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Speaker 4: like the Ilissa's and the Kennedy's and the G's, And

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Speaker 4: you're like, wow, you keep me young. You know, like

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Speaker 4: there is a part of it that you feel, like

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Speaker 4: Peter Pan like you don't grow up in this. And

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Speaker 4: I like, I was actually with Sue and p not

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Speaker 4: too long ago and I said something.

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Speaker 2: They're like, what does that mean? I was like, what

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Speaker 2: do you mean? You don't know what that means? And

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Speaker 2: like a retired they kept young, They're not being kept young.

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Speaker 2: And so I'm like, oh my god. I had a

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Speaker 2: moment of like, am I going to get old? Like that?

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Speaker 2: Those little things are.

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Speaker 4: Those little things You're like, oh my gosh, this is

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Speaker 4: such a massive part of my life. Not to say

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Speaker 4: that I don't have community outside of soccer that I'm sure.

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Speaker 2: I will lean heavily on. And I think actually now

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Speaker 2: it is better.

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Speaker 1: There is a lot more ability for female athletes to

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Speaker 1: get together after their careers because it is a bigger

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Speaker 1: deal to go to games, to go to championships. There's

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Speaker 1: more events, there's more parties, there's more reasons to get together.

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Speaker 1: I really feel for athletes of earlier times that that

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Speaker 1: was it, like, you're probably not they're going to spread

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Speaker 1: out across the country. There's not broadcasting opportunities, there's not

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Speaker 1: managing and coaching opportunities, none of that stuff.

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Speaker 2: So you will, you will get to be around them.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, it's just that picture has changed a bit, which

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Speaker 4: is a wonderful thing.

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Speaker 2: It's always great to bring.

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Speaker 4: I think the first year that the league really invested

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Speaker 4: in like a championship weekend that really like kind of

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Speaker 4: set the tone was DC and I remember being in

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Speaker 4: this party and it's like, what the what is this

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Speaker 4: going to be? Like?

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Speaker 2: Is it gonna be fun?

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Speaker 4: You kind of had like anything the league does, it's

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Speaker 4: kind of like not a.

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Speaker 2: Torny, it's you know these things that you're like, eh,

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Speaker 2: And it was one of the best nights.

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Speaker 4: I think, I will like woke come the next day,

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Speaker 4: I'm like I'm so hungover, Like I had no intention

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Speaker 4: of that being the case.

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Speaker 2: And within that.

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Speaker 4: Moment, there were like so many players from around the

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Speaker 4: league that had come in, and whether you know someone

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Speaker 4: closely or not, you just have a general respect if

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Speaker 4: you've played in this league for any length of time,

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Speaker 4: and you're just like you connect on that level. So

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Speaker 4: all of a sudden, you're like, even though I don't

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Speaker 4: know you, I feel like I know you, and I

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Speaker 4: know of you enough from like people in between that

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Speaker 4: it just is a really incredible community of women.

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Speaker 2: And so that's been really fun.

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Speaker 4: It's been really fun to see like that kind of

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Speaker 4: takeoff in our league where to your point, you have

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Speaker 4: moments an opportunity to like get that thing that you

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Speaker 4: love so much, which is the camaraderie of women's sport.

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Speaker 1: You mentioned that a lot of your teammate showed up

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Speaker 1: wearing fits inspired by you for that last ACFC home game.

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Speaker 2: A lot of tears, a lot of laughs.

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Speaker 1: You are one of the most stylish players in sport.

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Speaker 1: That is a very notable thing about you. Who nailed

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Speaker 1: their version of merit best. Oh my gosh.

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Speaker 4: I will start off by saying, I think everyone did

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Speaker 4: like such an incredible job. I was actually blown away.

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Speaker 4: I think I loved like Alyssa's take and Gee's take

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Speaker 4: just because it was like, we're like straight up replicating it.

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Speaker 4: I loved Kjo's like she did her thing in a

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Speaker 4: me inspired way. So honestly, I can't really choose, Like

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Speaker 4: everyone did. They saw an incredible job, they did such

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Speaker 4: an incredible job.

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Speaker 2: You know.

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Speaker 1: The tunnel fits, the desire to get to know players

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Speaker 1: off the field, to get to know people's personalities. It's

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Speaker 1: all part of this growing fan and media attention for

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Speaker 1: the league in a way that didn't exist before. And

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Speaker 1: you're really uniquely positioned to talk about how different it

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Speaker 1: feels now from day one because you were literally there

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Speaker 1: day one, the very first NWSL match with FC Kansas

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Speaker 1: City in April of twenty thirteen. So how do you

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Speaker 1: put in perspective how much things have changed in the

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Speaker 1: twelve years of the NWSL.

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Speaker 2: Well, I can tell you no one had enough money

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Speaker 2: to buy an sick outfit. I no Commas in that

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Speaker 2: first page.

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Speaker 4: Oh Commas did not have a comma in that first paycheck,

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Speaker 4: which I think we talked about. Yeah, I remember getting

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Speaker 4: my first paycheck and it missed.

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Speaker 2: It missed a comma and it was devastating.

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Speaker 4: And also at that time, I didn't care, you know,

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Speaker 4: and that's a bit of a privilege. I had parents

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Speaker 4: that could help support me, and I can recognize that.

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Speaker 2: But I think.

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Speaker 4: There was a part of it that it was like

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Speaker 4: the league had folded. There was for a while no

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Speaker 4: hope that anything was coming back, and it came back

281
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Speaker 4: quite quickly, and so you're in it and you're like,

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Speaker 4: I'm a professional athlete, Like at the end of the day,

283
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Speaker 4: this is the thing that I've wanted to do since

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Speaker 4: it became an opportunity to do it. That for me

285
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Speaker 4: at twenty I believe I was like, twenty three years

286
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Speaker 4: old was enough. Yeah, And what that looked like in

287
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Speaker 4: Kansas City, I mean it was beautiful and hard and

288
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Speaker 4: all the things that define you and start to shape

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Speaker 4: you into what you are going to look like throughout

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Speaker 4: your career.

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Speaker 2: And I believe that team really did that. It exposed me.

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Speaker 4: It exposed me to like professional sport and like an

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Speaker 4: actually very safe way. The people, the women that were

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Speaker 4: on that team were incredible and took me under their

295
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Speaker 4: wing and allowed me to grow and understand this game.

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Speaker 4: But yeah, from that moment to where we are now,

297
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Speaker 4: I think that there has been a significant jump, and

298
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Speaker 4: within that, there's a lot.

299
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Speaker 2: That is lagging. And so while we have.

300
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Speaker 4: Markets that look like Angel City, we don't have enough

301
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Speaker 4: markets that look like Angel City. And while women are

302
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Speaker 4: getting paid significantly more than they were twelve years ago,

303
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Speaker 4: it's certainly.

304
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Speaker 2: Not enough to.

305
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Speaker 4: Live in the way that a professional athlete should be living,

306
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Speaker 4: and so there is growth needed. There is definitely like

307
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Speaker 4: we have not we are not done. I think that

308
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Speaker 4: there is a great need for women that have played

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Speaker 4: in this league for a long time to get back

310
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Speaker 4: into roles that are making decisions and creating change and

311
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Speaker 4: setting the direction for what this league will look like,

312
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Speaker 4: and one there hasn't been opportunity there for a long time.

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Speaker 4: I think that is one of the things where I

314
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Speaker 4: look back and reflect on my career where people used

315
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Speaker 4: to ask me way too young, like what I would

316
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Speaker 4: be doing next? And when I be done playing soccer?

317
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Speaker 4: I'm like, you would never ask this of a male

318
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Speaker 4: professional athlete, but okay, But I think for a long

319
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Speaker 4: time I was like, I'm going to continue to keep playing,

320
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Speaker 4: so the only path after this is coaching. And while

321
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Speaker 4: I have a lot of respect for anyone who enters

322
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Speaker 4: that realm, it just never felt right for me.

323
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Speaker 2: It's not what I felt passionate about.

324
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Speaker 4: It's not what I felt was going to scratch the

325
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Speaker 4: itch that I of something a bit more. And so

326
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Speaker 4: as the league's grown, is opportunities grown, that path has

327
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Speaker 4: changed and it becomes there's a lot of different pathways.

328
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Speaker 4: While there's coaching, there is access to being a GM,

329
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Speaker 4: there is the ability to work in the front office,

330
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Speaker 4: there is like ownership opportunity, all these things that like

331
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Speaker 4: twelve years ago didn't exist, And that is so powerful

332
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Speaker 4: and it's also so necessary for the women of this

333
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Speaker 4: league to feel in power.

334
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Speaker 2: To step into those roles in positions.

335
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Speaker 4: Because I think there is something to be said that

336
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Speaker 4: you become an expert in something when you've done it

337
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Speaker 4: for such a long period of time. And I think

338
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Speaker 4: that there are people that are in positions and roles

339
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Speaker 4: that don't have this experience. They don't know what it's like,

340
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Speaker 4: and decisions are made based on something that they.

341
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Speaker 2: Don't know about.

342
00:17:22,960 --> 00:17:25,399
Speaker 4: Yeah, or let that trickles down and what that effect

343
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Speaker 4: looks like on players.

344
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Speaker 2: Yeah, it harms them or not harms but it can't

345
00:17:31,119 --> 00:17:33,080
Speaker 2: purs that it can sometimes, yeah, you know.

346
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Speaker 1: In September, ESPN release the result of an anonymous survey

347
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Speaker 1: with all fourteen nwslgms. Among the things that they talked

348
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Speaker 1: about was player safety and protections, and multiple gms said

349
00:17:44,200 --> 00:17:46,680
Speaker 1: that they thought efforts to protect players have quote gone

350
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Speaker 1: too far that it spreads fear and confusion among staff.

351
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Speaker 2: What is your response to that as someone.

352
00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:54,480
Speaker 1: Who's been in the league since the beginning when there

353
00:17:54,560 --> 00:17:57,600
Speaker 1: was basically zero care for the players and the environments

354
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Speaker 1: in which they played, and also as someone who played

355
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Speaker 1: for with Paul Riley who's been banned for life from

356
00:18:02,080 --> 00:18:04,760
Speaker 1: the league due to abusive behavior and sexual coersion. When

357
00:18:04,800 --> 00:18:08,720
Speaker 1: you hear GMS people in leadership positions saying they've gone

358
00:18:08,760 --> 00:18:12,600
Speaker 1: too far in player protections and safety, I think it's.

359
00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:16,320
Speaker 2: Hard to hear. I think there was a time, as

360
00:18:16,320 --> 00:18:17,480
Speaker 2: you mentioned, that there was.

361
00:18:17,680 --> 00:18:20,960
Speaker 4: No guardrails around the league, there was no protection for players.

362
00:18:21,040 --> 00:18:24,280
Speaker 4: There was rights could be held. They have no decision

363
00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:29,240
Speaker 4: making power, and that is harmful. It created the environment

364
00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:33,920
Speaker 4: that it created, and it harbored a sexual predator, and

365
00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:38,640
Speaker 4: that once you make that mistake, you really can't make

366
00:18:38,680 --> 00:18:41,800
Speaker 4: it again. And so yeah, you have to implement things

367
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Speaker 4: to protect players.

368
00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:43,639
Speaker 2: What does this look like?

369
00:18:43,920 --> 00:18:46,840
Speaker 4: How do we move forward, and how do we move

370
00:18:46,880 --> 00:18:52,120
Speaker 4: forward in a way that is really finding a balance

371
00:18:52,200 --> 00:18:56,040
Speaker 4: between what it means to be a professional athlete and

372
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Speaker 4: what it means to be harmed within your profession. And

373
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Speaker 4: I believe that there is going to have to be

374
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Speaker 4: a learning point of the pendulum that's had to swing

375
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Speaker 4: the other way, and so it is finding that balance

376
00:19:14,640 --> 00:19:19,159
Speaker 4: and that the ideas that come with like how do

377
00:19:19,200 --> 00:19:22,200
Speaker 4: you create safe space, what does it look like to motivate?

378
00:19:22,280 --> 00:19:25,679
Speaker 4: How do you encourage players? How do you hold players accountable?

379
00:19:26,080 --> 00:19:29,240
Speaker 4: No woman I believe in this league doesn't want to

380
00:19:29,359 --> 00:19:32,720
Speaker 4: get better or doesn't want to perform at a high level.

381
00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:37,719
Speaker 4: What they do not want is to be dragged in

382
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Speaker 4: a way that is harmful and not supportive and abusive.

383
00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:46,800
Speaker 4: And I think that there is a blueprint where it's

384
00:19:46,840 --> 00:19:48,480
Speaker 4: like this is what worked, this is what we.

385
00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:49,199
Speaker 2: Know it works.

386
00:19:49,359 --> 00:19:53,320
Speaker 4: And now that that blueprint has been taken away, it's

387
00:19:53,359 --> 00:19:56,320
Speaker 4: like what do we do? Should we say anything? Should

388
00:19:56,320 --> 00:19:59,960
Speaker 4: we not say anything? And I'm like that also causes problems.

389
00:20:00,119 --> 00:20:03,080
Speaker 4: I am not saying that that is like to do

390
00:20:03,160 --> 00:20:06,000
Speaker 4: nothing and to not hold accountability and to not push

391
00:20:06,080 --> 00:20:08,800
Speaker 4: a standard is what you should do within your environments.

392
00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:14,399
Speaker 4: But there's certainly a balance between having no protection, right

393
00:20:14,520 --> 00:20:16,040
Speaker 4: and having protection at some point.

394
00:20:16,040 --> 00:20:17,840
Speaker 1: It's like if you're airing on the side of the

395
00:20:17,880 --> 00:20:20,919
Speaker 1: players for a while because you so gravely picked up before,

396
00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:23,639
Speaker 1: then that's okay, and it's not that you want people

397
00:20:23,680 --> 00:20:28,040
Speaker 1: walking on eggshells. And actually, as someone who is more

398
00:20:28,240 --> 00:20:30,399
Speaker 1: likely to be at my age friends with people in

399
00:20:30,520 --> 00:20:33,399
Speaker 1: charge of places instead of the underlings, I recognize that

400
00:20:33,400 --> 00:20:35,880
Speaker 1: there's a push and pull with gen z of once

401
00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:40,080
Speaker 1: you learn language like toxic and you know, you start

402
00:20:40,119 --> 00:20:42,199
Speaker 1: to use it sometimes maybe even when you're just not

403
00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:44,520
Speaker 1: sure that that's how jobs are, they suck sometimes, right,

404
00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:45,919
Speaker 1: there are a lot of work and you don't want

405
00:20:45,960 --> 00:20:47,760
Speaker 1: to be there, and sometimes people are wrestles. Yeah, there's

406
00:20:47,760 --> 00:20:50,160
Speaker 1: a difference between that and someone who creates an environment

407
00:20:50,240 --> 00:20:52,480
Speaker 1: or sustains an environment that is harmful to the health

408
00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:55,280
Speaker 1: of people, and that as expectations that go beyond what's

409
00:20:55,359 --> 00:21:00,119
Speaker 1: professional or otherwise. Finding that balance is hard anywhere. It

410
00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:02,760
Speaker 1: is particularly hard in sport. And to your point, our

411
00:21:02,800 --> 00:21:04,840
Speaker 1: idea of what we thought was like quote unquote, a

412
00:21:04,880 --> 00:21:07,200
Speaker 1: good coach used to be pretty much dude.

413
00:21:07,040 --> 00:21:10,000
Speaker 2: Who yells a lot. Yeah, and we know that's not

414
00:21:10,040 --> 00:21:12,240
Speaker 2: what gets the best out of people as a wiser,

415
00:21:12,400 --> 00:21:13,680
Speaker 2: and we're so.

416
00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:18,280
Speaker 1: Beholden to that that we're so I can try to

417
00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:21,760
Speaker 1: hold grace for people who are struggling with a workplace

418
00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:23,679
Speaker 1: that they feel like is quote unquote too sensitive.

419
00:21:23,720 --> 00:21:25,200
Speaker 2: I can try to hear them out.

420
00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:27,760
Speaker 1: But I also want to say that because when you're

421
00:21:28,080 --> 00:21:30,800
Speaker 1: so airing on the wrong side for so long, to

422
00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:36,240
Speaker 1: instantly be frustrated by centering the players for a while

423
00:21:36,280 --> 00:21:38,439
Speaker 1: and seeing how that goes is a reflection of the

424
00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:39,160
Speaker 1: power dynamic.

425
00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:41,679
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think what I hear in that is like

426
00:21:42,040 --> 00:21:44,480
Speaker 4: you have put people in positions of power that don't

427
00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:46,320
Speaker 4: know how to build a blueprint, how to be a

428
00:21:46,320 --> 00:21:48,719
Speaker 4: good lead, not that the players you've brought in are

429
00:21:48,760 --> 00:21:53,640
Speaker 4: the problems or staff exactly. And so I think if

430
00:21:54,560 --> 00:22:01,520
Speaker 4: women are felt that they are seen, supported and and celebrated,

431
00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:06,080
Speaker 4: you will get a lot out of them. They will

432
00:22:06,119 --> 00:22:07,960
Speaker 4: push and they will play for you, and they will

433
00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:09,960
Speaker 4: believe in and they will buy in, and they will

434
00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:14,520
Speaker 4: buy in more so in like, maybe more so than

435
00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:16,840
Speaker 4: like what we believe.

436
00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:18,080
Speaker 2: Is buy in on the male side.

437
00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:22,480
Speaker 4: And so I think women's sport in general is in

438
00:22:22,520 --> 00:22:26,640
Speaker 4: this evolution process of taking what we believe blueprints were

439
00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:29,680
Speaker 4: from men's sport and copying and pasting them here.

440
00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:34,320
Speaker 2: And it doesn't work. It doesn't work for so many reasons.

441
00:22:34,359 --> 00:22:37,560
Speaker 4: One that the money that was being able to be

442
00:22:37,600 --> 00:22:41,160
Speaker 4: made in one area, it's not being made here. The

443
00:22:41,200 --> 00:22:44,679
Speaker 4: way in which people or audiences engage in it, the

444
00:22:44,680 --> 00:22:48,480
Speaker 4: way which coaches coach in it, it doesn't suit women.

445
00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:54,520
Speaker 4: And so you have to be willing to find and

446
00:22:54,760 --> 00:23:00,120
Speaker 4: be curious about ways that you provide a safe environ

447
00:23:00,560 --> 00:23:03,480
Speaker 4: that sets a standard that is rooted in excellence.

448
00:23:04,240 --> 00:23:06,360
Speaker 2: And for me and the.

449
00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:09,800
Speaker 4: Women that I'm around, you don't go out to practice

450
00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:14,480
Speaker 4: and not want to get better. You know, there's always questions,

451
00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:17,080
Speaker 4: they want to ask, they want to be held accountable.

452
00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:19,280
Speaker 4: And I think if that standard is set from the

453
00:23:19,320 --> 00:23:22,240
Speaker 4: beginning and it's done in a way that is like.

454
00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:25,600
Speaker 2: Hey, that's not great, here's how you can get better.

455
00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:30,400
Speaker 4: This is what this that conversation is, it becomes more conversational.

456
00:23:30,520 --> 00:23:32,200
Speaker 2: I think in a lot.

457
00:23:32,040 --> 00:23:37,359
Speaker 4: Of instances there is coaches have a very difficult time

458
00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:41,440
Speaker 4: of having difficult conversation and that is what in turn

459
00:23:41,560 --> 00:23:45,800
Speaker 4: creates a what you could quote unquote say is a

460
00:23:45,840 --> 00:23:49,520
Speaker 4: toxic environment. Or environment that loses buying or by an

461
00:23:49,680 --> 00:23:54,680
Speaker 4: environment that's petty or not supportive. And I think if

462
00:23:54,800 --> 00:23:59,119
Speaker 4: you set that standard of like, because I can be

463
00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:02,800
Speaker 4: consistent and what I'm asking you and consistent in what

464
00:24:02,880 --> 00:24:05,400
Speaker 4: I'm asking of the team and explain why and explain

465
00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:10,040
Speaker 4: why and not have a I think what I dislike

466
00:24:10,119 --> 00:24:15,720
Speaker 4: the most and have traditionally felt is problematic in our league,

467
00:24:15,920 --> 00:24:17,440
Speaker 4: and I can only speak on it because I haven't

468
00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:23,520
Speaker 4: played elsewhere, is that there is an idea for whatever reason.

469
00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:27,240
Speaker 4: One in the earlier days, it's that we had no

470
00:24:27,320 --> 00:24:30,640
Speaker 4: power as players, right, so you were treated as if

471
00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:34,199
Speaker 4: you were It was an extension of club soccer or

472
00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:37,240
Speaker 4: college soccer, and at some point there is a very

473
00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:40,119
Speaker 4: vast difference of how a professional athlete is going to

474
00:24:40,119 --> 00:24:44,440
Speaker 4: be treated in the way a adolescent in college or

475
00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:48,199
Speaker 4: club is going to be treated. And there is a

476
00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:53,520
Speaker 4: responsibility and a duty for coaching staff and upper management

477
00:24:53,640 --> 00:24:57,240
Speaker 4: to create guidelines around as you bring in younger women

478
00:24:57,320 --> 00:24:59,600
Speaker 4: to play in this league. Yes there is going to

479
00:24:59,640 --> 00:25:03,840
Speaker 4: be and need a different pathway for them in different conversations,

480
00:25:04,119 --> 00:25:06,679
Speaker 4: but that blanket does not have to lay across the

481
00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:07,399
Speaker 4: entire team.

482
00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:10,480
Speaker 2: Because you now have such a wide range of players.

483
00:25:10,560 --> 00:25:12,760
Speaker 4: You have a thirty four year old player and an

484
00:25:12,840 --> 00:25:18,120
Speaker 4: eighteen year old player. All of those conversations and what

485
00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:21,760
Speaker 4: is needed in the support and growth and all of

486
00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:22,679
Speaker 4: that looks stressed.

487
00:25:22,800 --> 00:25:23,919
Speaker 2: And that's what being a coach is.

488
00:25:24,119 --> 00:25:25,679
Speaker 1: It's how do I get the most out of all

489
00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:28,360
Speaker 1: the different people with all sharing one goal.

490
00:25:28,480 --> 00:25:31,880
Speaker 4: And so you have like the need for that, and

491
00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:38,240
Speaker 4: I think with in that you create systems that look

492
00:25:38,320 --> 00:25:41,360
Speaker 4: a bit more on like this is a punishment and

493
00:25:41,440 --> 00:25:44,040
Speaker 4: this is to help hold you accountable.

494
00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:45,720
Speaker 2: We're going to have like a punishment system.

495
00:25:45,760 --> 00:25:48,920
Speaker 4: I'm like, that is just not that is not going

496
00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:51,439
Speaker 4: to carry the way that you want it to carry.

497
00:25:51,920 --> 00:25:55,480
Speaker 4: If there is a like this environment should be created

498
00:25:55,520 --> 00:25:58,080
Speaker 4: to support the player. It should be created that they

499
00:25:58,119 --> 00:25:59,960
Speaker 4: are on the pedestal. Whether you like it or not,

500
00:26:00,520 --> 00:26:03,160
Speaker 4: these players are on the pedestal. So when they are

501
00:26:03,480 --> 00:26:07,840
Speaker 4: falling short, then it's a conversation. If there is something

502
00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:12,119
Speaker 4: that they missed or did not do, it's the responsibility

503
00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:15,159
Speaker 4: the staff and the people around them to support them

504
00:26:15,240 --> 00:26:18,200
Speaker 4: be like, hey, you need to do this and like pick.

505
00:26:18,040 --> 00:26:18,960
Speaker 2: Up those pieces.

506
00:26:20,200 --> 00:26:24,440
Speaker 4: I think sometimes we tend to, especially in the women's game,

507
00:26:24,560 --> 00:26:27,840
Speaker 4: leading to this way of being like, well, we're going

508
00:26:27,960 --> 00:26:32,800
Speaker 4: to have like a punishment because there isn't a bit

509
00:26:32,960 --> 00:26:36,760
Speaker 4: the ability to like find players and all this stuff.

510
00:26:36,800 --> 00:26:39,840
Speaker 4: So this like kind of ability to be held accountable

511
00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:42,960
Speaker 4: looks a bit rudimentary and it's act and it feels

512
00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:45,920
Speaker 4: like a bit of a punishment system.

513
00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:48,119
Speaker 2: That it's like, I'm not a child, she is not

514
00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:48,600
Speaker 2: a child.

515
00:26:49,080 --> 00:26:52,400
Speaker 4: This is a job, and so I think it is

516
00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:57,000
Speaker 4: it's relearning what things are going to make people engage with,

517
00:26:57,160 --> 00:26:59,120
Speaker 4: wanting to be the best that they can be within

518
00:26:59,160 --> 00:27:00,240
Speaker 4: the environment.

519
00:27:00,080 --> 00:27:02,720
Speaker 1: And just being creative and thoughtful about how it should

520
00:27:02,720 --> 00:27:05,200
Speaker 1: look different with women than men, and that being cool

521
00:27:05,320 --> 00:27:07,919
Speaker 1: and interesting and a challenge and fun to do as

522
00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:11,040
Speaker 1: opposed to as opposed to a frustration.

523
00:27:11,520 --> 00:27:13,440
Speaker 2: Yeah, because there's so many ways.

524
00:27:13,160 --> 00:27:15,800
Speaker 1: To do things a little bit differently and improve upon

525
00:27:15,880 --> 00:27:18,160
Speaker 1: the model that we've just accepted for such a long time.

526
00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:24,560
Speaker 1: You mentioned that earlier that you really were working toward

527
00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:28,040
Speaker 1: that two hundred regular season cap. You are one of

528
00:27:28,119 --> 00:27:32,520
Speaker 1: few NWSL players to get over fourteen thousand minutes played.

529
00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:35,760
Speaker 4: Could you imagine how many I would have gotten if

530
00:27:35,760 --> 00:27:36,560
Speaker 4: I didn't get injured?

531
00:27:36,640 --> 00:27:37,480
Speaker 2: Right right?

532
00:27:38,040 --> 00:27:40,960
Speaker 1: But you were reaching for that number and obviously there's

533
00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:44,560
Speaker 1: disappointment and coming up short. It is very hard in sport,

534
00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:48,080
Speaker 1: especially not to assign a lot of meaning to numbers,

535
00:27:48,600 --> 00:27:52,119
Speaker 1: very specific things. My final shot was a miss versus

536
00:27:52,119 --> 00:27:54,119
Speaker 1: my final shot was a make. My final game was

537
00:27:54,160 --> 00:27:57,159
Speaker 1: a loss versus a win or a number like two hundred.

538
00:27:57,400 --> 00:28:00,200
Speaker 1: But you said you're feeling a little bit better about

539
00:28:00,240 --> 00:28:03,000
Speaker 1: understanding that you will be at one ninety six one

540
00:28:04,080 --> 00:28:07,199
Speaker 1: ninety six. How can you put one ninety six in

541
00:28:07,240 --> 00:28:10,840
Speaker 1: its proper place, which is a huge, gigantic, impressive number,

542
00:28:11,240 --> 00:28:13,240
Speaker 1: instead of it needing to be this round number of

543
00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:13,800
Speaker 1: two hundred.

544
00:28:14,440 --> 00:28:18,680
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think it is flipping that conversation on its

545
00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:21,840
Speaker 4: head and not it being like these are the four

546
00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:26,880
Speaker 4: appearances I didn't make, and instead leaning into like these

547
00:28:26,920 --> 00:28:29,080
Speaker 4: are the one hundred and ninety six that I did,

548
00:28:29,960 --> 00:28:33,960
Speaker 4: and all one hundred and ninety six had meaning, And

549
00:28:34,359 --> 00:28:38,120
Speaker 4: I do not recall like one appearance that I didn't

550
00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:40,680
Speaker 4: step on the field and wasn't proud of what I did.

551
00:28:41,560 --> 00:28:45,800
Speaker 4: And so having that rhetoric and having that outlook on it,

552
00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:48,200
Speaker 4: I think it will always have a bit of a

553
00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:48,840
Speaker 4: bite to it.

554
00:28:48,920 --> 00:28:52,600
Speaker 2: I'm an I grew up in this. I strive for greatness.

555
00:28:52,680 --> 00:28:57,240
Speaker 4: I have been a perfectionist my entire life, a recovering perfectionist,

556
00:28:57,360 --> 00:29:00,920
Speaker 4: now you know, and while you have and I have

557
00:29:01,120 --> 00:29:04,000
Speaker 4: put in a lot of work into my own healing,

558
00:29:04,400 --> 00:29:07,120
Speaker 4: there is a part of me that's like, it is

559
00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:09,840
Speaker 4: hard to just take the competitor out of you, out

560
00:29:09,920 --> 00:29:11,000
Speaker 4: of every situation.

561
00:29:12,080 --> 00:29:16,200
Speaker 2: But I think I know and can recognize and can sit.

562
00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:19,640
Speaker 4: In that to have done what I've done for the

563
00:29:19,800 --> 00:29:22,000
Speaker 4: period of time that I did it, to the level

564
00:29:22,040 --> 00:29:25,600
Speaker 4: of which I did it, that for me is greatness,

565
00:29:25,680 --> 00:29:27,440
Speaker 4: and that's my definition of greatness.

566
00:29:27,480 --> 00:29:31,200
Speaker 2: So I get to own that, and that is really special.

567
00:29:32,760 --> 00:29:34,880
Speaker 2: I loved your interview with Meglenahan.

568
00:29:35,480 --> 00:29:37,120
Speaker 1: She talked about in her pod, but she also wrote

569
00:29:37,160 --> 00:29:39,040
Speaker 1: a great story that people can read in The Athletic

570
00:29:39,680 --> 00:29:42,479
Speaker 1: and you guys talked about worthiness as a player, how

571
00:29:42,560 --> 00:29:46,680
Speaker 1: much worthiness needs to be found outside of just the

572
00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:49,840
Speaker 1: US Women's National team caps and appearances and gold medals.

573
00:29:50,120 --> 00:29:52,800
Speaker 1: And you told her that you've struggled in moments, particularly

574
00:29:52,840 --> 00:29:55,960
Speaker 1: in the moment of playing in the NWSL, to understand

575
00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:58,560
Speaker 1: how you've played this important role in women's soccer because

576
00:29:58,560 --> 00:30:02,000
Speaker 1: you haven't had those many US Women's National team caps

577
00:30:02,040 --> 00:30:02,880
Speaker 1: and those things.

578
00:30:02,640 --> 00:30:03,920
Speaker 2: You dreamed of when you were younger.

579
00:30:05,320 --> 00:30:07,680
Speaker 1: If you're always striving for something bigger than the thing

580
00:30:07,720 --> 00:30:10,600
Speaker 1: you're in in the moment, that's fine, that's ambition, right.

581
00:30:11,360 --> 00:30:15,000
Speaker 1: But I do think we need to respect an NWSL

582
00:30:15,080 --> 00:30:16,880
Speaker 1: career in its own right. And I think we've come

583
00:30:16,920 --> 00:30:19,959
Speaker 1: far enough with this league, and we've seen players like

584
00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:21,680
Speaker 1: you take this league.

585
00:30:21,920 --> 00:30:26,480
Speaker 2: From no commas to what we see now. And without you,

586
00:30:26,520 --> 00:30:27,280
Speaker 2: it doesn't happen.

587
00:30:27,560 --> 00:30:30,280
Speaker 1: Without players of your caliber that are there for one

588
00:30:30,360 --> 00:30:32,680
Speaker 1: hundred and ninety six games, we don't get to a

589
00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:36,560
Speaker 1: place where people will see an NWSL career as incredible

590
00:30:36,600 --> 00:30:38,680
Speaker 1: in its own right. Yeah, maybe we're not quite there

591
00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:42,160
Speaker 1: yet because we still elevate the national team.

592
00:30:43,240 --> 00:30:44,920
Speaker 2: Can you talk more about that process.

593
00:30:45,280 --> 00:30:47,400
Speaker 1: Is there a point at any point in the last

594
00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:49,880
Speaker 1: couple of years where you sort of were able to

595
00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:53,280
Speaker 1: let go of that national team part and say I'm

596
00:30:53,320 --> 00:30:55,800
Speaker 1: rooted in this thing I am doing and there's worth

597
00:30:55,840 --> 00:30:56,040
Speaker 1: in that.

598
00:30:56,480 --> 00:30:56,760
Speaker 2: Yeah.

599
00:30:56,760 --> 00:30:59,480
Speaker 4: Well, I want to thank you for all those kind words.

600
00:30:59,520 --> 00:31:04,000
Speaker 4: I greatly appreciate them. I would say that that type

601
00:31:04,080 --> 00:31:07,720
Speaker 4: of untethering to who I am and what I do

602
00:31:07,880 --> 00:31:12,160
Speaker 4: started in like twenty nineteen and I tore my ACL

603
00:31:13,080 --> 00:31:17,840
Speaker 4: and for a long time, soccer was that very like

604
00:31:18,000 --> 00:31:20,719
Speaker 4: fraying thread that was wrapped around my life that like

605
00:31:20,800 --> 00:31:23,440
Speaker 4: this is going well, so like everything else is okay.

606
00:31:24,480 --> 00:31:28,000
Speaker 4: It was not true. I had a lot of work

607
00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:30,000
Speaker 4: to do. I had some things that happened within my

608
00:31:30,160 --> 00:31:33,640
Speaker 4: family that like I got to a point where I'm

609
00:31:33,640 --> 00:31:36,480
Speaker 4: like I do not have the tools or the capability

610
00:31:36,520 --> 00:31:40,080
Speaker 4: of like holding this, carrying it or figuring it out.

611
00:31:40,280 --> 00:31:43,640
Speaker 4: And so I started therapy.

612
00:31:44,040 --> 00:31:48,000
Speaker 2: I will thank my therapist till the day that I

613
00:31:48,080 --> 00:31:50,320
Speaker 2: die for what she was able to help me with.

614
00:31:50,520 --> 00:31:55,720
Speaker 4: And so within that it became this process of just

615
00:31:56,960 --> 00:31:59,920
Speaker 4: to what I said earlier, like defining what I believe

616
00:32:00,160 --> 00:32:04,640
Speaker 4: success was and was I successful if I didn't reach

617
00:32:04,720 --> 00:32:05,160
Speaker 4: this thing?

618
00:32:05,320 --> 00:32:08,240
Speaker 2: And I think I was.

619
00:32:08,600 --> 00:32:10,840
Speaker 4: I grew up in a generation a player where like

620
00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:14,560
Speaker 4: we didn't have a professional league.

621
00:32:14,800 --> 00:32:16,440
Speaker 2: It was the national team or nothing.

622
00:32:16,520 --> 00:32:19,640
Speaker 4: It was a World Cup where you weren't good, you know,

623
00:32:19,800 --> 00:32:23,080
Speaker 4: like you were either representing the crest or like what

624
00:32:23,160 --> 00:32:29,440
Speaker 4: were you doing? And that narrative stayed really strong, and

625
00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:32,560
Speaker 4: because I sat like so close to that for so

626
00:32:32,680 --> 00:32:35,400
Speaker 4: much of my life and believed that like that was

627
00:32:35,480 --> 00:32:39,600
Speaker 4: going to happen, and when it didn't, and when everything

628
00:32:39,760 --> 00:32:43,520
Speaker 4: kind of like flipped on its head and my injury

629
00:32:43,640 --> 00:32:46,840
Speaker 4: was like very ill timed, it kept me out of camps.

630
00:32:47,000 --> 00:32:49,800
Speaker 2: It kind of COVID happens, and.

631
00:32:49,800 --> 00:32:53,120
Speaker 4: I am set with this like whole new landscape of

632
00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:57,040
Speaker 4: what the fuck am I going to do now? And

633
00:32:57,160 --> 00:33:00,120
Speaker 4: like what if I don't not necessarily don't come back,

634
00:33:00,160 --> 00:33:02,120
Speaker 4: but what if I never gained that momentum again.

635
00:33:02,520 --> 00:33:04,080
Speaker 2: And in a lot of ways I didn't.

636
00:33:04,160 --> 00:33:06,360
Speaker 4: I didn't gain the momentum to get back into camp

637
00:33:06,760 --> 00:33:09,280
Speaker 4: and to represent this country in the way that I

638
00:33:09,320 --> 00:33:13,640
Speaker 4: wanted to. And within that time it was the thing

639
00:33:13,680 --> 00:33:16,920
Speaker 4: that I'm like I had to reflect back on all

640
00:33:16,960 --> 00:33:19,480
Speaker 4: the things that I'd done in the success that I had,

641
00:33:19,600 --> 00:33:23,880
Speaker 4: and I think also just recognizing, like the players in

642
00:33:23,920 --> 00:33:26,480
Speaker 4: which I have played with and that I have spent

643
00:33:26,600 --> 00:33:30,400
Speaker 4: time starting and playing significant minutes with, you don't do

644
00:33:30,560 --> 00:33:32,240
Speaker 4: that unless you are.

645
00:33:32,600 --> 00:33:34,960
Speaker 2: Great at what you do, Yeah, And.

646
00:33:34,840 --> 00:33:37,720
Speaker 4: So recognizing that whether someone was going to choose me

647
00:33:37,800 --> 00:33:39,160
Speaker 4: or not, it was out of my control.

648
00:33:39,240 --> 00:33:41,160
Speaker 2: But I knew when I stepped on the field.

649
00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:43,120
Speaker 4: Or the environment that I that I was going to

650
00:33:43,280 --> 00:33:46,320
Speaker 4: inherently change it and make it better. And I think

651
00:33:46,360 --> 00:33:50,320
Speaker 4: I've been one of those players that on the field,

652
00:33:50,360 --> 00:33:52,360
Speaker 4: I will always give myself credit. But I think when

653
00:33:52,440 --> 00:33:56,560
Speaker 4: I leave like organizations, like my absence is felt.

654
00:33:56,800 --> 00:34:00,000
Speaker 2: Yes, the way people talk about you makes that very clear.

655
00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:04,960
Speaker 4: And like that matters, And so I believe in this,

656
00:34:05,480 --> 00:34:07,800
Speaker 4: in like the process of coming to terms with my

657
00:34:07,840 --> 00:34:10,880
Speaker 4: retirement and the ability for me to allow myself to

658
00:34:10,920 --> 00:34:14,600
Speaker 4: be celebrated, to be seen and to have those moments

659
00:34:14,640 --> 00:34:16,080
Speaker 4: of like what if you announce this and no one

660
00:34:16,120 --> 00:34:19,719
Speaker 4: cares because you kind of always have as much as

661
00:34:19,719 --> 00:34:23,400
Speaker 4: you can work through. Like I mean, the self critic

662
00:34:23,440 --> 00:34:25,600
Speaker 4: that used to be in my head was constant and

663
00:34:25,640 --> 00:34:29,440
Speaker 4: like the chat never shut the fuck up, And now

664
00:34:29,640 --> 00:34:32,120
Speaker 4: it has its moments and I'm able to like settle

665
00:34:32,160 --> 00:34:36,160
Speaker 4: it and turn towards it and be like I understand

666
00:34:36,239 --> 00:34:39,600
Speaker 4: but like probably not going to be what we experience,

667
00:34:40,239 --> 00:34:44,759
Speaker 4: and yeah, to give myself that opportunity. It has been

668
00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:48,279
Speaker 4: really hard to even comprehend the amount of love and

669
00:34:48,320 --> 00:34:51,960
Speaker 4: admiration I've received of the past like months or like

670
00:34:52,120 --> 00:34:53,080
Speaker 4: weeks of like my.

671
00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:57,080
Speaker 2: Retirement, and to sit and stand in that and be

672
00:34:57,160 --> 00:34:57,759
Speaker 2: open to that.

673
00:34:58,160 --> 00:35:01,560
Speaker 4: I don't believe with out being able to define what

674
00:35:01,680 --> 00:35:04,520
Speaker 4: success was for me, I would be able to sit

675
00:35:04,560 --> 00:35:06,600
Speaker 4: here today and hold it right.

676
00:35:06,719 --> 00:35:09,279
Speaker 1: There'd be bitterness there instead of the joy that you

677
00:35:09,320 --> 00:35:11,600
Speaker 1: feel in the way people are talking about you and what.

678
00:35:11,560 --> 00:35:13,759
Speaker 2: You did for them. I mean, it's not just your

679
00:35:13,800 --> 00:35:14,440
Speaker 2: soccer playing.

680
00:35:14,680 --> 00:35:17,640
Speaker 1: It's your personality, it's your sense of humor, it's all

681
00:35:17,640 --> 00:35:19,840
Speaker 1: those things you bring, and then it's the work you

682
00:35:19,880 --> 00:35:21,960
Speaker 1: put in for yourself and for other players. You were

683
00:35:21,960 --> 00:35:25,400
Speaker 1: on the bargaining committee for the first NWSLCBA. Friend of

684
00:35:25,400 --> 00:35:28,440
Speaker 1: the Show PA director Megan Burke told Madame meg Linahan,

685
00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:30,640
Speaker 1: if anyone was asking me for real advice on how

686
00:35:30,680 --> 00:35:33,480
Speaker 1: to organize a union, I tell them to find their merit. Matthiah,

687
00:35:33,600 --> 00:35:37,320
Speaker 1: She's the definition of ride or Die. Are you able

688
00:35:37,360 --> 00:35:40,560
Speaker 1: to recognize your role in creating that CBA and defining

689
00:35:40,560 --> 00:35:42,200
Speaker 1: what the league looks like even in the years to

690
00:35:42,200 --> 00:35:43,239
Speaker 1: come that you're not playing in it.

691
00:35:44,520 --> 00:35:47,880
Speaker 4: Yes, I want like hearing that quote from Megan, like

692
00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:51,719
Speaker 4: oh well forever, like touch my heart. And so if

693
00:35:51,760 --> 00:35:53,759
Speaker 4: we did not have Megan Burke, I don't know where

694
00:35:53,760 --> 00:35:54,839
Speaker 4: are speaking to ride or die?

695
00:35:55,000 --> 00:35:56,200
Speaker 2: Speaking Ride or Die.

696
00:35:56,680 --> 00:35:59,880
Speaker 4: She is a true champion of what this league should

697
00:36:00,080 --> 00:36:03,520
Speaker 4: and can be, and she is an absolute writer die

698
00:36:03,600 --> 00:36:06,320
Speaker 4: for players and it has been incredible to work.

699
00:36:06,160 --> 00:36:09,520
Speaker 2: With her and be alongside her and have.

700
00:36:09,400 --> 00:36:12,759
Speaker 4: Her love and support and her belief in me and

701
00:36:12,880 --> 00:36:19,120
Speaker 4: her willingness to allow me to say what I'm thinking,

702
00:36:19,400 --> 00:36:24,640
Speaker 4: to ask for more, to demand things that like maybe

703
00:36:24,840 --> 00:36:27,040
Speaker 4: it's too far off, but if we don't ask, like

704
00:36:27,160 --> 00:36:29,560
Speaker 4: we'll never know the answer, We'll never at least be

705
00:36:29,640 --> 00:36:31,920
Speaker 4: able to like dwindle it down to something we actually

706
00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:36,040
Speaker 4: are okay with having. And so I think for me

707
00:36:36,360 --> 00:36:40,160
Speaker 4: that when I look at my career, I think if

708
00:36:40,200 --> 00:36:44,080
Speaker 4: I would have just played, I would have been like cool,

709
00:36:45,040 --> 00:36:48,520
Speaker 4: had a great career. I was successful, I had these championships,

710
00:36:48,520 --> 00:36:53,040
Speaker 4: I played with incredible people, was able to be coached

711
00:36:53,040 --> 00:36:55,880
Speaker 4: by some of the best coaches in this league. But

712
00:36:56,080 --> 00:36:58,200
Speaker 4: it is the work that I've done with the PA

713
00:36:58,520 --> 00:37:03,840
Speaker 4: that has really like brought like such a holistic.

714
00:37:03,680 --> 00:37:07,800
Speaker 2: View to my career. It's around like very much rounded

715
00:37:07,840 --> 00:37:08,239
Speaker 2: that out.

716
00:37:09,080 --> 00:37:12,320
Speaker 4: And with that work, I think I realized like how

717
00:37:12,440 --> 00:37:17,320
Speaker 4: passionate I am about that side, about what it looks

718
00:37:17,440 --> 00:37:20,000
Speaker 4: like to be in rooms that are making decisions, what

719
00:37:20,040 --> 00:37:22,800
Speaker 4: it looks like to ask for things or re envision

720
00:37:23,280 --> 00:37:27,720
Speaker 4: what is possible. And I think that doing that work

721
00:37:27,760 --> 00:37:30,920
Speaker 4: has given me the foundation for what I will do

722
00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:34,520
Speaker 4: next and the way in which I will be very

723
00:37:34,560 --> 00:37:37,560
Speaker 4: similar to the player that I have been in the

724
00:37:37,600 --> 00:37:40,279
Speaker 4: work that I will do in my afterlife.

725
00:37:40,320 --> 00:37:40,959
Speaker 2: I love it.

726
00:37:41,840 --> 00:37:44,759
Speaker 4: But yeah, I think that I talked to Sue about

727
00:37:44,800 --> 00:37:47,160
Speaker 4: this a long time ago when she was, you know,

728
00:37:47,400 --> 00:37:51,960
Speaker 4: on the WNBAPA and going through their conversations, and she's like,

729
00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:54,399
Speaker 4: you do get to this point where like you're sitting

730
00:37:54,440 --> 00:37:55,800
Speaker 4: at these tables and you're like, wow, I'm one of

731
00:37:55,800 --> 00:37:59,879
Speaker 4: the smartest people in this room. Yes, and you do

732
00:38:00,200 --> 00:38:04,239
Speaker 4: like you do have this like this like reinvention of

733
00:38:04,239 --> 00:38:06,200
Speaker 4: self where you're like, wait a second, I can actually

734
00:38:06,200 --> 00:38:08,239
Speaker 4: speak to this, and I can speak to it with

735
00:38:08,320 --> 00:38:11,200
Speaker 4: a firmness that like this is right and this.

736
00:38:11,080 --> 00:38:13,879
Speaker 2: Is wrong, and this is how we get to.

737
00:38:13,920 --> 00:38:18,040
Speaker 4: Be better, And like gaining that confidence is really something.

738
00:38:17,800 --> 00:38:19,080
Speaker 2: That I'm like been proud of.

739
00:38:19,360 --> 00:38:23,080
Speaker 4: And the initial CBA I will always hold close to

740
00:38:23,120 --> 00:38:25,400
Speaker 4: my heart because it was the thing that just started

741
00:38:25,400 --> 00:38:30,080
Speaker 4: to put this league on a much different trajectory. But

742
00:38:30,239 --> 00:38:33,799
Speaker 4: our second CBA really meant something to me because I

743
00:38:33,840 --> 00:38:36,520
Speaker 4: was like, I think I knew I wouldn't be around

744
00:38:37,640 --> 00:38:40,360
Speaker 4: for what the length, Well, I knew I wouldn't be

745
00:38:40,400 --> 00:38:42,520
Speaker 4: around for like the length of the CBA. But I

746
00:38:42,560 --> 00:38:45,680
Speaker 4: think I knew that I like wouldn't even enter it

747
00:38:45,719 --> 00:38:48,960
Speaker 4: into like the next year, right, And to sit on

748
00:38:49,040 --> 00:38:53,000
Speaker 4: those calls and to be like asking or pushing for

749
00:38:53,080 --> 00:38:55,880
Speaker 4: something that you know is not gonna you are not

750
00:38:55,920 --> 00:38:59,799
Speaker 4: going to benefit from, you get to be kind of

751
00:39:00,680 --> 00:39:04,120
Speaker 4: more ruthless in your ask, you know, like because you

752
00:39:04,160 --> 00:39:04,600
Speaker 4: know you're.

753
00:39:04,440 --> 00:39:05,280
Speaker 2: Not being selfish.

754
00:39:05,360 --> 00:39:07,560
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're saying, I know and feel that this is right,

755
00:39:07,719 --> 00:39:09,319
Speaker 1: not because I want it for me, but because I

756
00:39:09,400 --> 00:39:11,120
Speaker 1: know that it's what's right for everybody else.

757
00:39:11,360 --> 00:39:14,480
Speaker 4: Yeah, And what the standard should be, yeah, and what

758
00:39:14,800 --> 00:39:17,239
Speaker 4: players should have and what they should have for a

759
00:39:17,360 --> 00:39:21,520
Speaker 4: long time. And if you don't get you know, if

760
00:39:21,560 --> 00:39:24,399
Speaker 4: you don't raise that level, if there isn't like enough

761
00:39:24,440 --> 00:39:27,120
Speaker 4: of a raise, then like when the next CBA comes around,

762
00:39:27,920 --> 00:39:30,320
Speaker 4: that jump off points too low. So you never reached

763
00:39:30,360 --> 00:39:33,960
Speaker 4: to where you should be. And so I think, Yeah,

764
00:39:34,120 --> 00:39:36,560
Speaker 4: that work has been incredibly fulfilling.

765
00:39:36,800 --> 00:39:39,040
Speaker 2: It has opened my eyes to a lot of things.

766
00:39:39,160 --> 00:39:42,359
Speaker 4: Is open my eyes to a lot of conversations, and

767
00:39:42,400 --> 00:39:47,080
Speaker 4: it's opened it's open a lot of discussion around what

768
00:39:47,440 --> 00:39:51,120
Speaker 4: is needed in this league for it to be to

769
00:39:51,200 --> 00:39:54,360
Speaker 4: reach the level of success that it deserves, that the

770
00:39:54,400 --> 00:39:56,880
Speaker 4: women in it deserve, because we're no longer in this

771
00:39:56,920 --> 00:39:58,360
Speaker 4: position that it's like where.

772
00:39:58,200 --> 00:39:59,960
Speaker 2: They're going to have a league or we're not right.

773
00:40:00,800 --> 00:40:02,839
Speaker 4: We are in the position now, which I think is

774
00:40:02,840 --> 00:40:06,600
Speaker 4: a lot more tedious of we will be successful.

775
00:40:07,080 --> 00:40:09,839
Speaker 2: But what is the height of that? How big can

776
00:40:09,880 --> 00:40:11,000
Speaker 2: we go? How big can you go?

777
00:40:11,440 --> 00:40:15,480
Speaker 4: To my previous point, I think the more that women

778
00:40:16,360 --> 00:40:18,279
Speaker 4: of this league step into positions to.

779
00:40:20,040 --> 00:40:22,000
Speaker 2: Shape that, the better off this league.

780
00:40:22,000 --> 00:40:23,960
Speaker 1: I completely agree, and I love that you said in

781
00:40:23,960 --> 00:40:26,080
Speaker 1: those meetings you earned the confidence of knowing you were

782
00:40:26,400 --> 00:40:28,560
Speaker 1: one of the smarter people there and someone who knew

783
00:40:28,960 --> 00:40:32,240
Speaker 1: what was required, and your lived experience came into play.

784
00:40:32,440 --> 00:40:35,080
Speaker 1: I have to say, like one of the limited positive

785
00:40:35,080 --> 00:40:37,480
Speaker 1: experiences I had in my ownership role with the Red

786
00:40:37,480 --> 00:40:39,719
Speaker 1: Stars for a couple of years was that I was

787
00:40:39,760 --> 00:40:42,440
Speaker 1: in meetings where I would have sold myself short as like, oh,

788
00:40:42,480 --> 00:40:45,440
Speaker 1: I'm just a sports reporter, I'm just whatever, and instead

789
00:40:45,480 --> 00:40:47,360
Speaker 1: realized I knew it was right for the players, I

790
00:40:47,440 --> 00:40:49,319
Speaker 1: knew what the right choices were, I knew when people

791
00:40:49,320 --> 00:40:51,719
Speaker 1: were doing the wrong thing or making the wrong choice,

792
00:40:51,800 --> 00:40:53,440
Speaker 1: and I was confident enough to say it.

793
00:40:53,480 --> 00:40:56,520
Speaker 2: I didn't have the power or the money to change things, which.

794
00:40:56,360 --> 00:41:00,480
Speaker 1: Was in incredibly frustrating and made me see the world.

795
00:41:00,680 --> 00:41:02,600
Speaker 1: I never have cared much about power and money, and

796
00:41:02,640 --> 00:41:04,560
Speaker 1: now I'm like, well, shit, there's only so much you

797
00:41:04,600 --> 00:41:07,279
Speaker 1: can do. But I did leave there being like I

798
00:41:07,280 --> 00:41:09,640
Speaker 1: will feel confident in every room I walking, and I

799
00:41:09,680 --> 00:41:12,279
Speaker 1: know Dominique Foxworth has said that about being in the

800
00:41:12,400 --> 00:41:15,640
Speaker 1: NFL and then going into meetings with owners and being like, shit,

801
00:41:15,960 --> 00:41:18,360
Speaker 1: these billionaires aren't smarter than me, they don't know better

802
00:41:18,400 --> 00:41:18,640
Speaker 1: than me.

803
00:41:18,960 --> 00:41:21,640
Speaker 2: So I'm glad you learned that because Merritt Matthiah is

804
00:41:21,680 --> 00:41:23,680
Speaker 2: off the field and in other places, whether it's.

805
00:41:23,600 --> 00:41:25,480
Speaker 1: A boardroom or at the front of a company or

806
00:41:25,520 --> 00:41:27,680
Speaker 1: as a GM or an owner, like I want to

807
00:41:27,680 --> 00:41:30,120
Speaker 1: see that. I'm excited to see that me too. You

808
00:41:30,280 --> 00:41:32,040
Speaker 1: made me think of a Brett Dennen song. He as

809
00:41:32,080 --> 00:41:35,360
Speaker 1: a lyric that says, now I'm planning trees I'll never climb,

810
00:41:35,840 --> 00:41:38,000
Speaker 1: which is a way of looking at your later years

811
00:41:38,040 --> 00:41:40,440
Speaker 1: of like, how am I making things matter that maybe

812
00:41:40,440 --> 00:41:43,440
Speaker 1: I don't get but everybody else gets it. It feels significant,

813
00:41:43,800 --> 00:41:45,880
Speaker 1: So we have to go. I'm not gonna have already taken.

814
00:41:45,640 --> 00:41:47,799
Speaker 2: Too much time. I'm not going to ask you what's next?

815
00:41:47,840 --> 00:41:49,480
Speaker 2: Not enough I know. I mean, I could talk to

816
00:41:49,480 --> 00:41:49,880
Speaker 2: you forever.

817
00:41:51,040 --> 00:41:52,640
Speaker 1: I'm not going to ask what's next in the long term,

818
00:41:52,640 --> 00:41:54,920
Speaker 1: because I've been told retiring athletes hate to hear that.

819
00:41:55,800 --> 00:41:58,360
Speaker 1: So I want to ask what's next in the short term,

820
00:41:58,400 --> 00:42:00,239
Speaker 1: like next couple of weeks, next couple of months. As

821
00:42:00,239 --> 00:42:02,920
Speaker 1: soon as that game on Friday ends and you're technically

822
00:42:02,960 --> 00:42:03,680
Speaker 1: no longer.

823
00:42:04,800 --> 00:42:05,560
Speaker 2: You know, you'll have.

824
00:42:05,440 --> 00:42:07,560
Speaker 1: All your exit interviews and all your other stuff, but like,

825
00:42:07,640 --> 00:42:08,880
Speaker 1: what's the first thing you're going to do.

826
00:42:10,080 --> 00:42:15,799
Speaker 4: I am very excited to just live in a moment

827
00:42:15,840 --> 00:42:19,239
Speaker 4: where I'm not having to worry about like working out

828
00:42:19,680 --> 00:42:23,560
Speaker 4: and being fit and yeah, to kind of just let

829
00:42:23,600 --> 00:42:27,920
Speaker 4: myself be and travel and do things that you just

830
00:42:28,000 --> 00:42:30,040
Speaker 4: don't get to do as a professional athlete. There's a

831
00:42:30,120 --> 00:42:33,799
Speaker 4: lot of sacrifice that comes with putting yourself first and

832
00:42:33,920 --> 00:42:36,160
Speaker 4: wanting to be great at something, and I have done

833
00:42:36,160 --> 00:42:37,600
Speaker 4: that for a.

834
00:42:37,719 --> 00:42:38,640
Speaker 2: Very long time.

835
00:42:38,960 --> 00:42:41,239
Speaker 4: So I look forward to spending like some quality time

836
00:42:41,280 --> 00:42:46,759
Speaker 4: with like friends and family and it not be not

837
00:42:47,040 --> 00:42:51,759
Speaker 4: be weighed down by like I have this to do

838
00:42:52,080 --> 00:42:54,040
Speaker 4: and I need to go do this, and I need

839
00:42:54,120 --> 00:42:56,239
Speaker 4: to find the gym that I can be in, and

840
00:42:56,280 --> 00:42:58,480
Speaker 4: I need to find the trainer that will help me

841
00:42:58,640 --> 00:43:03,200
Speaker 4: like do technical work and like all this stuff. So yeah,

842
00:43:03,600 --> 00:43:05,960
Speaker 4: to not have that part of my brain and that

843
00:43:06,080 --> 00:43:10,600
Speaker 4: consistent like conversation going on, I I don't.

844
00:43:10,360 --> 00:43:12,600
Speaker 2: Know if I'll know what to do with myself. There's

845
00:43:12,640 --> 00:43:13,200
Speaker 2: two paths.

846
00:43:13,320 --> 00:43:14,800
Speaker 1: How the people are like, oh my god, there's no

847
00:43:14,840 --> 00:43:16,160
Speaker 1: one telling me what to do every second.

848
00:43:16,239 --> 00:43:17,280
Speaker 2: I hate it, And everyone else.

849
00:43:17,200 --> 00:43:20,160
Speaker 1: Is like, oh my god, what a dream is to

850
00:43:20,320 --> 00:43:21,799
Speaker 1: just wake up and be like what do I want

851
00:43:21,840 --> 00:43:22,040
Speaker 1: to do?

852
00:43:22,160 --> 00:43:24,720
Speaker 2: I know, and I know, like in you know, whatever's next.

853
00:43:24,760 --> 00:43:27,160
Speaker 4: There is this part that like you do lose a

854
00:43:27,160 --> 00:43:29,799
Speaker 4: bit of autonomy when you start doing anything again. But

855
00:43:29,920 --> 00:43:32,759
Speaker 4: I think for me, like there is a part of me,

856
00:43:32,880 --> 00:43:37,040
Speaker 4: like within professional sport that in some of which I

857
00:43:37,120 --> 00:43:40,440
Speaker 4: was saying before, the way women are treated in this

858
00:43:41,040 --> 00:43:47,000
Speaker 4: we need to kind of evolutionize that and really be

859
00:43:47,200 --> 00:43:52,040
Speaker 4: able to expand how women in professional sport, especially in

860
00:43:52,040 --> 00:43:54,480
Speaker 4: the NWSL, are able to interact.

861
00:43:54,080 --> 00:43:58,640
Speaker 2: With life on the road, within environments, within markets.

862
00:43:58,920 --> 00:44:00,840
Speaker 4: And I think for me there was a part of

863
00:44:00,840 --> 00:44:04,680
Speaker 4: it where I'm like, oh my god, like the lack.

864
00:44:04,520 --> 00:44:06,840
Speaker 2: Of autonomy that I have like I'm too.

865
00:44:06,680 --> 00:44:09,400
Speaker 4: Self aware to like let it not be a thing anymore,

866
00:44:09,480 --> 00:44:11,680
Speaker 4: you know what I mean, Like I don't want to

867
00:44:11,680 --> 00:44:13,560
Speaker 4: wear that on a wait trip, and I don't want

868
00:44:13,560 --> 00:44:16,719
Speaker 4: to eat that, and I don't want to like be

869
00:44:16,880 --> 00:44:20,239
Speaker 4: here then right now and all these things. So I

870
00:44:20,280 --> 00:44:22,960
Speaker 4: think I'm going to lean into just having some time

871
00:44:23,560 --> 00:44:24,440
Speaker 4: to do whatever.

872
00:44:24,680 --> 00:44:28,920
Speaker 2: Yes, which will be really nice. I know, a.

873
00:44:30,560 --> 00:44:33,640
Speaker 4: Like a thing of guacamole in Mexico hates to see

874
00:44:33,640 --> 00:44:36,399
Speaker 4: me coming because and maybe a pacifico.

875
00:44:36,480 --> 00:44:38,920
Speaker 2: So yes, Oh my gosh, I'm so happy for you.

876
00:44:39,680 --> 00:44:44,000
Speaker 1: Just splurge, get some full ass nachos, is a bunch

877
00:44:44,040 --> 00:44:44,560
Speaker 1: of beers.

878
00:44:44,800 --> 00:44:46,720
Speaker 2: Well, thank you so much for coming out so much.

879
00:44:46,920 --> 00:44:49,040
Speaker 2: This was so fun. We're just going to turn this

880
00:44:49,080 --> 00:44:50,800
Speaker 2: mic off of party. Yeah, let's do.

881
00:44:55,040 --> 00:44:57,160
Speaker 1: Thank you so much to Merrik for sitting down with

882
00:44:57,200 --> 00:44:59,400
Speaker 1: me in Ohi and for being so great and so

883
00:44:59,480 --> 00:45:00,399
Speaker 1: honest about her.

884
00:45:00,280 --> 00:45:01,080
Speaker 2: Time in the league.

885
00:45:01,080 --> 00:45:09,120
Speaker 1: We got to take another break stick around Welcome back slices.

886
00:45:09,280 --> 00:45:11,000
Speaker 1: We love that you're listening, but we want you to

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00:45:11,000 --> 00:45:12,319
Speaker 1: get in the game every day too.

888
00:45:12,600 --> 00:45:14,319
Speaker 2: So here's our good gameplay of the day.

889
00:45:14,680 --> 00:45:18,560
Speaker 1: Keep sending us those Halloween costumes past and present, inspired

890
00:45:18,600 --> 00:45:22,000
Speaker 1: by women's sports yours, your friends, folks you've seen on

891
00:45:22,040 --> 00:45:24,600
Speaker 1: social you know, like the gal wearing the Asia Wilson

892
00:45:24,640 --> 00:45:26,280
Speaker 1: car costume from the carmaxad.

893
00:45:26,800 --> 00:45:28,040
Speaker 2: So many Ellie the.

894
00:45:28,000 --> 00:45:32,040
Speaker 1: Elephants, I've seen all the ray guns and people like

895
00:45:32,120 --> 00:45:35,160
Speaker 1: Misha who's saving time and money by going as White

896
00:45:35,239 --> 00:45:40,520
Speaker 1: Tea Asia Wilson. No judgment, mesh, okay, a little judgment.

897
00:45:41,440 --> 00:45:43,320
Speaker 1: I'm going to get you on the costume bend wagodbye.

898
00:45:43,320 --> 00:45:43,759
Speaker 2: Next year.

899
00:45:44,200 --> 00:45:45,759
Speaker 1: We want to see all the costume Send them to

900
00:45:45,840 --> 00:45:47,839
Speaker 1: us at Sarah Spain on Twitter at Spain two three

901
00:45:47,960 --> 00:45:50,320
Speaker 1: two three on Insta, or hit us up on email

902
00:45:50,360 --> 00:45:53,120
Speaker 1: Good Game at wondermedianetwork dot com, and don't forget. You

903
00:45:53,120 --> 00:45:55,480
Speaker 1: can always leave us a voicemail eight seven two two

904
00:45:55,480 --> 00:45:59,600
Speaker 1: o four fifty seventy with all your show thoughts and slices.

905
00:46:00,200 --> 00:46:02,760
Speaker 2: I've said it once, I've said it before. I'm saying

906
00:46:02,760 --> 00:46:03,160
Speaker 2: it again.

907
00:46:03,200 --> 00:46:06,600
Speaker 1: Don't forget to subscribe, rate and review Good Game with

908
00:46:06,640 --> 00:46:07,200
Speaker 1: Sarah Spain.

909
00:46:07,480 --> 00:46:08,240
Speaker 2: It's super easy.

910
00:46:08,280 --> 00:46:12,000
Speaker 1: Watch Aubrey Plaza's photo shoot with Ellie the Elephant rating

911
00:46:12,320 --> 00:46:13,120
Speaker 1: five out of five.

912
00:46:13,200 --> 00:46:14,800
Speaker 2: Split Jumps review.

913
00:46:14,920 --> 00:46:18,280
Speaker 1: We loved watching Ryder die Liberty fan Aubrey Plaza pretend

914
00:46:18,280 --> 00:46:21,120
Speaker 1: to read a book while courtside all season, flipping the

915
00:46:21,120 --> 00:46:24,799
Speaker 1: double bird to the JumboTron cam at games, just being

916
00:46:24,880 --> 00:46:28,520
Speaker 1: Aubrey Plaza, but seeing her pose prom style with Ellie

917
00:46:28,520 --> 00:46:31,759
Speaker 1: the Elephant earnestly and sweetly at the Wall Street Journal

918
00:46:31,800 --> 00:46:34,239
Speaker 1: Innovator Awards.

919
00:46:33,280 --> 00:46:34,800
Speaker 2: Perfect Chef's Kiss.

920
00:46:35,239 --> 00:46:37,920
Speaker 1: Also, I'm wondering, can you book Ellie to come to

921
00:46:38,000 --> 00:46:41,279
Speaker 1: events as your plus one? I have a couple producers

922
00:46:42,000 --> 00:46:44,960
Speaker 1: and myself who want to know all right, slices, Now

923
00:46:44,960 --> 00:46:46,200
Speaker 1: it's your turn, rate and review.

924
00:46:46,640 --> 00:46:49,280
Speaker 2: Thanks for listening, Happy Halloween, See you tomorrow.

925
00:46:49,600 --> 00:46:53,360
Speaker 1: Good Game, Merit, Good Game, women sports costumes, fuck you

926
00:46:53,520 --> 00:46:59,359
Speaker 1: Awards ceremonies that don't prioritize women. Good Game with Sarah

927
00:46:59,400 --> 00:47:02,080
Speaker 1: Spain is an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with

928
00:47:02,160 --> 00:47:04,560
Speaker 1: Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on

929
00:47:04,560 --> 00:47:08,040
Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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00:47:08,200 --> 00:47:11,560
Speaker 1: Production by Wonder Media Network, our producers are Alex Azzie

931
00:47:11,560 --> 00:47:15,240
Speaker 1: and Misha Jones. Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz,

932
00:47:15,320 --> 00:47:18,560
Speaker 1: Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rudder. Our editors are Emily Rudder.

933
00:47:18,600 --> 00:47:22,440
Speaker 1: Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch and Lindsay Cradowell. Production assistant from

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00:47:22,520 --> 00:47:24,800
Speaker 1: Lucy Jones and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain.