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Speaker 1: I'm Hannah Waddingham and this is Hustle Rule, an audio

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Speaker 1: docuseries featuring the untold stories of women's soccer players around

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Speaker 1: the world, based on the book Under the Lights and

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Speaker 1: in the Dark, written by Gwendolen Oxenham. When I first

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Speaker 1: started on Game of Thrones, my baby daughter was only

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Speaker 1: nine weeks old. I mean, I was so happy to

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Speaker 1: have landed this role and so confident to be back

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Speaker 1: on set. But the very first day of shooting, I

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Speaker 1: had this horrific postpartum reaction. I was literally sobbing on

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Speaker 1: the floor in the corridor of the hotel, thinking, I

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Speaker 1: don't think I can walk away from her and leave

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Speaker 1: her in the room with my friend. But I made

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Speaker 1: myself get up and do it. And on set, as

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Speaker 1: I pushed my beloved friend Lina Hedi down the stairs

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Speaker 1: to start Queen Circe's Walk of Atonement, I could hear

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Speaker 1: my baby crying behind a building. It was the first

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Speaker 1: time I'd been away from her, and my body just

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Speaker 1: like just reacted and I ached to be with her,

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Speaker 1: And yet I also had that wanting to step up

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Speaker 1: feeling to just be able to knock it out of

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Speaker 1: the park where you're like, I am going to be

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Speaker 1: as good as I was before, maybe even better, and

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Speaker 1: I'm going to show you so. When I heard the

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Speaker 1: stories in this episode, I just felt so much of

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Speaker 1: a connection. No matter what profession you're in, as a mother,

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Speaker 1: there's that twofold desire to move earth for your child

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Speaker 1: and to keep your dreams. It's the reason that when

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Speaker 1: I won my Emmi for ted Lasso, I put it

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Speaker 1: in my daughter's room because I wanted her to know

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Speaker 1: that when I leave her, I don't take it lightly

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Speaker 1: and I will only ever be away for a damn

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Speaker 1: good reason. In the world of women's soccer, the United States,

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Speaker 1: Joy Forcett and Carla Overbeck were two of the first

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Speaker 1: women to have babies and continue playing. They were part

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Speaker 1: of the United States World Cup winning team, and glossy

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Speaker 1: magazs san spreads feature them medals around their necks, kids

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Speaker 1: in their arms. It gave the impression that glowing motherhood

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Speaker 1: and soccer dominance went hand in hand, but that is

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Speaker 1: not the global norm. Take a look at the women's

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Speaker 1: game around the world, and mothers have been few and

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Speaker 1: far between. The majority of national teams had none. At

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Speaker 1: the professional level, women's leagues have been marked by low

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Speaker 1: salaries and instability. It's difficult to make it in the

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Speaker 1: league's in the first place. Throw in motherhood, and for

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Speaker 1: most the balance is tipped towards retirement. At a national

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Speaker 1: team level, countries have ever deepening talent pools. It's harder

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Speaker 1: and harder to hold onto your spot. If you get pregnant,

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Speaker 1: that means months on the sideline, all while a young,

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Speaker 1: hungry replacement is playing where you once were. The mothers

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Speaker 1: who do go for it often face a climate of doubt.

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Speaker 1: Coaches think it's too dicey to take a chance on

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Speaker 1: a player undergoing both a gigantic physical transformation and a

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Speaker 1: shift in priorities. But for most athletes, there's nothing more

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Speaker 1: motivating than proving someone wrong. This is the story of

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Speaker 1: two moms on opposite side of the world who were

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Speaker 1: cut or traded and then vowed to make a comeback.

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Speaker 1: I'm running one stuff for nobody. This episode is the

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Speaker 1: motherload his Gwin, who found this story when she was

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Speaker 1: taking care of her new baby. So I had a

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Speaker 1: book deadline. I wrote while my baby slept on my

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Speaker 1: chest and during crunch time. For two months, every day

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Speaker 1: I had to hand my newborn to a babysitter and

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Speaker 1: walk out that door as my three year old held

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Speaker 1: my leg and asked me not to go. As an athlete,

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Speaker 1: I learned how to give everything. But then when you're

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Speaker 1: a mom, you can't necessarily give everything to your work

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Speaker 1: while being the mom you want to be. But here

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Speaker 1: are the stories of two women who sure inspired me

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Speaker 1: to try. Named goalkeeper, Melissa Barbiary had been on the

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Speaker 1: Australian national team since she was twenty one years old.

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Speaker 1: She had played in three World Cups and two Olympic

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Speaker 1: Games she captained the team in. Then she got pregnant.

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Speaker 1: I wasn't shocked for a little while because we've only

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Speaker 1: just started trying, like literally first month, and I was

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Speaker 1: always told that I would have trouble getting pregnant because

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Speaker 1: of my indometriosis and things like that. So a few

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Speaker 1: different emotions hit the surface, and basically I was I

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Speaker 1: was on the way to telling my coach that I

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Speaker 1: was quite far along and I would have to cease

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Speaker 1: playing at least competitively immediately. The Australian national team coach

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Speaker 1: Tom Sermoney was supportive, but during her pregnancy some Money

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Speaker 1: left the national team and they hired a new coach.

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Speaker 1: It was a female coach, and I thought, oh, wow,

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Speaker 1: this is going to be great. We're just gonna go

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Speaker 1: on leaps and bounds and all the things that we've

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Speaker 1: been worrying about, and I've been worrying about returning to play.

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Speaker 1: Would just you know, go so smoothly, And it was

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Speaker 1: the complete opposite. It was it was harder. Maybe she

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Speaker 1: was like me where she didn't have any experience with

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Speaker 1: women having babies, but she just wrote us up completely,

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Speaker 1: and for whatever reason, I lost all my contracts. They

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Speaker 1: all just went out the window. But Melissa wasn't ready

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Speaker 1: to give up. She asked the new national team if

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Speaker 1: she had come to a camp just fourteen weeks after

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Speaker 1: giving birth, and usually after cesarean, you're not allowed to

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Speaker 1: do anything for the first six weeks, so basically I'd

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Speaker 1: only had maybe six weeks to get myself in any

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Speaker 1: sort of shape to try and show what progress I

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Speaker 1: had made post birth. And when I turned into the

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Speaker 1: training session, the first thing they asked me to do

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Speaker 1: when I arrived was do a medical screening, which is

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Speaker 1: fair enough, but one of the things was you had

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Speaker 1: to do a maximum calf repetition test, and anybody knows

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Speaker 1: who does calf races for that long. They go dead

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Speaker 1: and you pretty much maxed out your calf. And then

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Speaker 1: I went into a training session with one other goalkeeper

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Speaker 1: and had zero rest time. If I could equate it

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Speaker 1: to something, it would be like having a hit session,

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Speaker 1: a H double I T session where your thirty seconds

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Speaker 1: recovery you were made to jog the entire time, or

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Speaker 1: sprint and get balls and do all those things. And

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Speaker 1: at one point I ran to get a ball and

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Speaker 1: I sprinted up the hill and after doing that maxcalf test,

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Speaker 1: my my calf went. When I got back into the office,

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Speaker 1: the first thing the keeper coach said to me was, Oh,

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Speaker 1: you're actually way ahead than I thought you'd be. But

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Speaker 1: his look on his face was like, yeah, but I

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Speaker 1: told you so. I told you like you couldn't do

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Speaker 1: it because you couldn't even push out a whole session,

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Speaker 1: And you know, my heart sank, it was broken. They

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Speaker 1: started talking about coaching and you know, it was really

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Speaker 1: better if you just start coaching, and I'm like, well,

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Speaker 1: I don't want to coach yet, Okay, I'm not ready

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Speaker 1: for that. I cried all the way home, cried when

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Speaker 1: I got home, cried when I spoke to my husband

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Speaker 1: and my mom and all that, and you know, just devastated.

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Speaker 1: Really it was really really hard to fathom. Even so,

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Speaker 1: she decided to finish her coaching chorus she had started

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Speaker 1: before even getting pregnant. I got like m v P

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Speaker 1: of the coaching course, and you know, there were a

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Speaker 1: few women, but majority guys were just asking me great

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Speaker 1: questions about, you know, what I want to do and

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Speaker 1: how I want to progress and things, and I'm like,

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Speaker 1: I'm not finished playing yet, and a lot of them

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Speaker 1: saying oh really, and I'm like, yeah, I just I

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Speaker 1: just want to make the national team again. And sometimes

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Speaker 1: I cry, and and when I became fit and healthy

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Speaker 1: after the birth of my daughter, I said, I'm going

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Speaker 1: to go for a W League contract again, because you

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Speaker 1: need to play in the W League to be seen.

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Speaker 1: You can't just do it playing in your state. You

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Speaker 1: have to be in the national setup to actually be seen.

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Speaker 1: And so I contacted every single club. I said, do

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Speaker 1: you need a goalkeeper. Some of the emails were lovely.

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Speaker 1: They were like, oh no, I've already signed our keepers. Sorry,

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Speaker 1: but you know, good luck, good on you, and really helpful,

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Speaker 1: and then others were like, no, thanks too hard basket. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: we don't need a keeper. When you know that they

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Speaker 1: don't have a keeper, and I was like, what like

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Speaker 1: Like I was the captain, I was the number one

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Speaker 1: goalkeeper before going and having my baby. It was humbling, really,

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Speaker 1: you know. It was that moment where, well, you thought

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Speaker 1: you were good, didn't you, But you're not. You're not

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Speaker 1: that good, and nobody wants to She's not the only

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Speaker 1: mother to have felt unwanted. On the other side of

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Speaker 1: the Pacific, Amy Driguez, a US women's national team player

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Speaker 1: an Olympic gold medalist, faced a similar scenario despite being

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Speaker 1: one of the best strikers in women's professional soccer the WPS.

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Speaker 1: Oh goodness, okay, So I found out I was pregnant

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Speaker 1: back in two thousand and twelve. I had just come

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Speaker 1: off a great Olympic run. We had brought home the

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Speaker 1: gold medal. It was the off season. I was home

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Speaker 1: with my husband. We weren't necessarily trying to have a child,

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Speaker 1: so when we found out, we were a little bit surprised.

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Speaker 1: I can remember sitting down at my computer and writing

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Speaker 1: an email and probably redrafting it several times. I was

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Speaker 1: about to embark on a brand new season in a

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Speaker 1: brand new league with Seattle Rain. My heart sank a

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Speaker 1: little bit thinking I was going to have to have

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Speaker 1: that conversation with my coach at the time to let

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Speaker 1: them know that I would be likely out for the

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Speaker 1: full next year due to a pregnancy. You know, how

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Speaker 1: do I tell them this? It was so difficult to

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Speaker 1: turn on the TV and watch my teammates play without me.

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Speaker 1: In a weird way, pregnancy is kind of like an

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Speaker 1: injury where you wish you didn't have to sit out.

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Speaker 1: You wish you could be out on the field, um,

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Speaker 1: but you just can't. I just knew that I didn't

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Speaker 1: want to sit out anymore and I wanted to get

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Speaker 1: back out on the field and lace my boots up.

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Speaker 1: I had a sit down, breakfast meeting with the coach

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Speaker 1: of Seattle Rain, Laura Harvey. She actually handed me a

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Speaker 1: cute little baby onesie that had Seattle Rain on the front.

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Speaker 1: They were so welcoming to me. I had what I

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Speaker 1: felt like was faith in me from my current club

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Speaker 1: and my current club coach. Um. So, leaving that breakfast,

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Speaker 1: I was on cloud nine and ready to play again

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Speaker 1: and ready to get back out on the field. Then

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Speaker 1: about a month later, as we were ready to head

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Speaker 1: into season, I actually found out the news that I

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Speaker 1: had been traded, which was so surprising because just I said,

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Speaker 1: like a month earlier, you know, I was talking game plan,

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Speaker 1: I was talking, you know, how I was going to

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Speaker 1: reintegrate with the Seattle team, and I just was not

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Speaker 1: expecting a trade to come at the time that it did.

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Speaker 1: Of course, I internalized and I questioned myself, Um, and

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Speaker 1: you just fight all of those those bad, you know,

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Speaker 1: voices in your head. I've always been so loyal and

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Speaker 1: passionate about my teams. You never want to feel like

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Speaker 1: you weren't wanted by your club team. I felt like

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Speaker 1: Seattle didn't necessarily want to take the risk on me.

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Speaker 1: The Seattle team didn't have faith that I was going

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Speaker 1: to be able to bounce back from pregnancy. But in

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Speaker 1: spite of those perceptions, in women's athletics, there seems to

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Speaker 1: be an emerging phenomenon. Mothers who stay in the game

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Speaker 1: come back faster and stronger than they were pre pregnancy,

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Speaker 1: and the shift in mental landscape makes some mother a

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Speaker 1: better player, not worse. Here's what it looked like for Amy.

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Speaker 1: I gained about thirty five pounds, which the doctor said

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Speaker 1: I was perfectly fine and healthy, but me being a

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Speaker 1: professional athlete, and that was really hard to overcome. I

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Speaker 1: remember thinking, how am I going to run? You? Just

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Speaker 1: you feel so big and so tired, and everything hurts.

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Speaker 1: You're not getting any sleep, You're learning how to breastfeed,

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Speaker 1: so many changes are going on with your body, the

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Speaker 1: emotional rollercoaster of the hormones. I think I took the

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Speaker 1: voices that were in my head, you know, telling me

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Speaker 1: that I wasn't going to be able to bounce back

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Speaker 1: after pregnancy. I think I took those and almost used

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Speaker 1: it as fuel to say, well, I'm going to show

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Speaker 1: you that I shouldn't have been traded. I hit the

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Speaker 1: gym very hard. I hired personal trainers. A typical training

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Speaker 1: schedule for me would be anywhere between five and six

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Speaker 1: am workouts. I would have to try to work out

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Speaker 1: before my husband went to work because he was the

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Speaker 1: one staying at home taking care of the baby while

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Speaker 1: I was working out, and we just juggled it all.

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Speaker 1: Four months after getting back onto the field, Amy was

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Speaker 1: invited to the US national team training camp, which starts

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Speaker 1: with a set of physical fitness tests for the third

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Speaker 1: or so players invited. They have us to forty yards

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Speaker 1: sprint times, beat tests, agility tests, vertical jump like you

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Speaker 1: name it. There was a really aggressive part of me

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Speaker 1: that just wanted to get after it when we were

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Speaker 1: getting on the line. Like I would want to win

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Speaker 1: first place. I wanted to get to the ball first.

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Speaker 1: I wanted to score all the goals. I can remember

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Speaker 1: saying to myself, I have nothing to lose. Amy runs

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Speaker 1: her best times ever and in the forty yard dash

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Speaker 1: she registered the fastest time on the team. And to

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Speaker 1: show people that pregnancy wasn't going to change who I

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Speaker 1: was as a player. In fact, it actually helped me

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Speaker 1: as a player. I think really took people off guard,

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Speaker 1: and I felt a lot of support from my teammates.

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Speaker 1: Amy leaves National camp and then she moves across the

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Speaker 1: country to her new team in Kansas City, new baby

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Speaker 1: and toe, and no partner to help as she navigated

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Speaker 1: a whole new life as a mother and an athlete.

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Speaker 1: I had all these bad is my whole life packed

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Speaker 1: in suitcases. My husband's stayed in California working and living

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Speaker 1: in our full time home, and I was flying into

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Speaker 1: Kansas City, where I didn't know what apartment when I

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Speaker 1: was in I didn't have a car. I remember landing

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Speaker 1: in Kansas, arriving at the player housing and just like

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Speaker 1: breaking down crying because I was just so overwhelmed and scared.

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Speaker 1: Whatever shakiness she may have felt off the field, on

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Speaker 1: the field, it was a different story. In her first game.

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Speaker 1: She scores, and now the floodgates are open. Let's Kansas

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Speaker 1: City with the scoring. First score. Year. My first season

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Speaker 1: back after having Ryan was one of my greatest professional

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Speaker 1: seasons ever. So do I think that having children actually

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Speaker 1: helped me become a better goal scorer? I would say yes.

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Speaker 1: Amy becomes the second leading goal scorer in the league.

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Speaker 1: She takes Kansas City all the way to the league finals,

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Speaker 1: where they faced off against a familiar opponent. Ironically, we

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Speaker 1: actually played against Seattle in the championship that year, which

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Speaker 1: was the team that had just traded me. Which is

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Speaker 1: kind of a funny story how things always come full circle.

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Speaker 1: Jellalis US women's national team is in the stands watching

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Speaker 1: this today and this will be something she is delighted about.

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Speaker 1: I ended up scoring both of our goals against the

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Speaker 1: team that I was just previously traded from. It was

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Speaker 1: one of the biggest highs that I've had in my career.

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Speaker 1: What was even more special is that my family got

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Speaker 1: to come to the game, my little son Ryan in

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Speaker 1: his FC Kansas City shirt. I remember running out to

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Speaker 1: them after the game had ended and carrying my son

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Speaker 1: on the field, and was one of the first times

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Speaker 1: that the three of us as a little family got

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Speaker 1: to experience a championship. And it was because of the

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Speaker 1: hard work that I had put in that made it

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Speaker 1: all possible. So it was a really cool experience. The

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Speaker 1: national team coach at the time, Jill Ellis, I remember

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Speaker 1: her congratulating me. I think she was equally as surprised

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Speaker 1: at my comeback as a lot of my teammates and

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Speaker 1: fans and family were. And that actually led me into

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Speaker 1: the fifteen World Cup year where I was selected at

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Speaker 1: as one of the players on the roster. Meanwhile, for Melissa,

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Speaker 1: every single team in the Australian W League had passed

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Speaker 1: on her, but she kept training. Anyway. My heart is sinking,

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Speaker 1: it's broken. There's no way I can get a W

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Speaker 1: League contract because nobody wants me. And then I get

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Speaker 1: a call from one of the coaches that was on

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Speaker 1: the coaching course, Ross Aloisi, and Ross Aloisi says to me, look,

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Speaker 1: I just got asked to do the W League team

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Speaker 1: in Adelaide, and I remember how passionate you were about

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Speaker 1: making the national team, and I want you to come

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Speaker 1: and play for me in Adelaide. And I'm like, oh

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Speaker 1: my god, I can't believe that. And I said, oh God,

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Speaker 1: I better ask the husband, and more so my mom

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Speaker 1: because my mom handles Holly a lot more because my

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Speaker 1: husband's always out working. And I sat down with him

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Speaker 1: and I said, look, I want to continue playing. I

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Speaker 1: want to do this, but I have to move to Adelaide.

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Speaker 1: And my husband was just looked at me and he said,

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Speaker 1: if this is what makes you happy, then I'll do it.

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Speaker 1: We'll do it. We can do it, no problem. I

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Speaker 1: took Holly with me to Adelaide as soon as I could.

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Speaker 1: She was about seven or eight months at the time.

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Speaker 1: Your mom and then Holly. Yeah. Left my husband behind

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Speaker 1: in Melbourne because he had a job and raised enough

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Speaker 1: money by selling all my memorially, all my shots or

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Speaker 1: my gloves, everything I owned, so posters, photos, World Cup jerseys,

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Speaker 1: cup jerseys from my national team and asking a league

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Speaker 1: players or men's players and soccer roose for anything that

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Speaker 1: they could donate to me, And it was really really

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Speaker 1: lovely experienced how many people just sent me things like

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Speaker 1: shirts that they swapped with even more famous players than them,

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Speaker 1: Teams signing shirts, goalkeepers sending me the gloves, their boots,

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Speaker 1: brush a Dortmund kits. You know, it was endless. Imagine

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Speaker 1: that selling off your World Cup jerseys just so you

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Speaker 1: can keep playing. Between our own gear and the stuff

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Speaker 1: donated by other players, Melissa raised ten dollars, twice as

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Speaker 1: much money as she'd helped. She gave half of it

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Speaker 1: to her teammates, who are also struggling to make ends meet.

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Speaker 1: But that was just the beginning. Melissa's new team, Adelaide United,

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Speaker 1: wasn't just the bottom of the league. They had not

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Speaker 1: won a game in four years. They had gone thirty

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Speaker 1: four games without a win. It was the longest losing

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Speaker 1: streak in league history. When Melissa arrived, they won three games,

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Speaker 1: tied four and lost three. The previous season, they'd had

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Speaker 1: forty goals scored against them in two thousand and thirteen,

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Speaker 1: Melissa cut that down to fifteen. We didn't make fun

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Speaker 1: with or anything in terms of where the team had

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00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:36,800
Speaker 1: been and where it was. It was absolutely fantastic, and

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00:20:36,840 --> 00:20:38,760
Speaker 1: it's probably one of the best teams that I've been

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00:20:38,800 --> 00:20:41,879
Speaker 1: involved with because we're all coming from such humble backgrounds

338
00:20:42,400 --> 00:20:45,200
Speaker 1: that it really just cemented for me what football was

339
00:20:45,280 --> 00:20:50,200
Speaker 1: about and how they all helped me rise Holly. I

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00:20:50,200 --> 00:20:52,520
Speaker 1: remember one training session I had no one to look

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Speaker 1: after my daughter, and I thought, look, I'll just watch

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Speaker 1: on the sideline and I'll look after like it won't

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Speaker 1: be a problem. And then I turned up and friends

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Speaker 1: one of the girls, her parents are childcare owners. Like literally,

345
00:21:06,760 --> 00:21:11,240
Speaker 1: these two people just angels, swept in and I opened

346
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Speaker 1: my door and they were already at my door of

347
00:21:13,040 --> 00:21:16,520
Speaker 1: my car, and they said, oh, my daughter said that

348
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Speaker 1: you need somebody to help look after your daughter today,

349
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Speaker 1: and Holly does not go to anyone. I picked her

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Speaker 1: up out of the car and she flew to the

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Speaker 1: husband and she just stuck out her arms towards him,

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Speaker 1: and they were just like these angels that helped look

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Speaker 1: after Holly. Inside, they changed her nappy and just looked

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00:21:36,960 --> 00:21:39,200
Speaker 1: after like she was one of their own, and was

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Speaker 1: the first day of my life really. At the end

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00:21:42,920 --> 00:21:45,640
Speaker 1: of the season, she is named Keeper of the Year

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Speaker 1: for the w League the top division of professional club

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Speaker 1: level soccer in Australia. That was my second time winning it.

359
00:21:54,440 --> 00:21:58,560
Speaker 1: I was in disbelief really, but then I kind of

360
00:21:58,680 --> 00:22:02,879
Speaker 1: just thought thank you, and I was extremely grateful for

361
00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:07,040
Speaker 1: the opportunity to be playing in adelaide Um. And my

362
00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:09,639
Speaker 1: thought went to all the people that told me I couldn't.

363
00:22:10,280 --> 00:22:13,399
Speaker 1: It doesn't matter what people tell you. It matters what

364
00:22:13,560 --> 00:22:17,760
Speaker 1: you want to do and um, your strength and devotion

365
00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:21,400
Speaker 1: to what you want to achieve, UM, that all all

366
00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:24,040
Speaker 1: that really matters. It was a victory that got her

367
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Speaker 1: back into the mix competing for a spot on the

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00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:30,640
Speaker 1: national team. She remembers a conversation with the goalkeeper coach

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Speaker 1: after she was awarded Goalkeeper of the Year where he said, congratulations,

370
00:22:35,880 --> 00:22:37,879
Speaker 1: but you know that's what happens when you're in a

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Speaker 1: terrible team. And I said, oh, thanks. I think it's

372
00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:46,879
Speaker 1: the real backhanded compliment and and I just thought, okay,

373
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Speaker 1: so he's not going to be one to just hand

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00:22:51,840 --> 00:22:55,359
Speaker 1: me my opportunity. UM, so I knew I still had

375
00:22:55,400 --> 00:22:57,680
Speaker 1: a battle on my hands. But I got invited to

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Speaker 1: camps um whenever they had them in Australia. I didn't

377
00:23:02,960 --> 00:23:07,359
Speaker 1: make the the Asia Cup team, Um that had us

378
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Speaker 1: qualify for the World Cup in two thousand and fifteen. Um,

379
00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:15,320
Speaker 1: you know I was left at home for that, and

380
00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:19,800
Speaker 1: you know it was upsetting and and sad, but um,

381
00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:23,200
Speaker 1: you know it wasn't going to stop me from trying

382
00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:26,840
Speaker 1: to make the national team again. I turned up every

383
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Speaker 1: day in every session, even when they were telling me,

384
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Speaker 1: you know what, you're in this training squad as a number.

385
00:23:33,080 --> 00:23:35,520
Speaker 1: You're literally here as a number. We're looking to the

386
00:23:35,640 --> 00:23:38,360
Speaker 1: future now. And I'm like, no problem. I'll just turn

387
00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:40,720
Speaker 1: up every day, do my job, do it to the

388
00:23:40,800 --> 00:23:43,199
Speaker 1: best of my ability, and at the end of the day,

389
00:23:43,240 --> 00:23:45,640
Speaker 1: if you don't select me, I've done all I can

390
00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:49,400
Speaker 1: and I can hang my gloves up and say I've

391
00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:52,800
Speaker 1: done what I can and I'll have no regrets. But

392
00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:55,679
Speaker 1: if I don't try, if I don't do everything, if

393
00:23:55,720 --> 00:23:58,920
Speaker 1: I don't sacrifice everything, I'll never know and that will

394
00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:03,920
Speaker 1: hurt more. I think it's it's a matter of principle,

395
00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:06,680
Speaker 1: Like I kind of think, well, if you don't think

396
00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:09,760
Speaker 1: I can, then I have to. If you don't think

397
00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:13,720
Speaker 1: that I'm capable, then I must. But what I love

398
00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:16,560
Speaker 1: about the moments of all the times that they told

399
00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:19,600
Speaker 1: me that I couldn't was how humble I became, and

400
00:24:19,720 --> 00:24:22,679
Speaker 1: that chip on my shoulder, the ego, if I ever

401
00:24:22,800 --> 00:24:25,840
Speaker 1: had one, was completely gone, and I was just grateful

402
00:24:25,960 --> 00:24:29,520
Speaker 1: for every moment that I was given to play, to train.

403
00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:35,080
Speaker 1: Melissa made the team. Next she had to tell the

404
00:24:35,200 --> 00:24:38,320
Speaker 1: two people who had helped her get there the most. Really,

405
00:24:41,200 --> 00:24:44,600
Speaker 1: that's what my mom and husband said. Really, are you sure?

406
00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:48,159
Speaker 1: I said, yeah, do you have six weeks that you

407
00:24:48,280 --> 00:24:53,480
Speaker 1: can live in my house? It was Melissa's fourth World cap.

408
00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:57,960
Speaker 1: She is only the second Australian footballer to play in

409
00:24:58,080 --> 00:25:01,720
Speaker 1: that many. She go then thinking she'll be a sab

410
00:25:03,520 --> 00:25:05,080
Speaker 1: You don't say you're happy to be there because you're not.

411
00:25:05,119 --> 00:25:09,520
Speaker 1: You want to play. It's it's a falsehood. But if

412
00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:12,840
Speaker 1: you go there wanting to play and you're upset that

413
00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:16,600
Speaker 1: you're not playing, and then you you just you just

414
00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:19,200
Speaker 1: missed the point of the whole thing. So when I

415
00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:21,159
Speaker 1: turned up to that World Cup, I was grateful for

416
00:25:21,200 --> 00:25:24,480
Speaker 1: the opportunity. I just wanted to be the best teammate

417
00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:27,600
Speaker 1: I could be. I wanted to support the number one goalkeeper.

418
00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:31,760
Speaker 1: And then we turned up to the World Cup and

419
00:25:32,440 --> 00:25:37,320
Speaker 1: we played and behind closed doors game against Switzerland and

420
00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:39,960
Speaker 1: Matilda has suffered a setback in the lead up with

421
00:25:40,040 --> 00:25:43,800
Speaker 1: first choice goalkeeper Lydia Williams coming to a hamstring injury.

422
00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:48,000
Speaker 1: And so I'm selected to play in the first game

423
00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:51,920
Speaker 1: against the USA in my fourth World Cup after having

424
00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:54,320
Speaker 1: been told that I was just a number. And this

425
00:25:54,480 --> 00:25:56,360
Speaker 1: is one of the reasons why we picked Melissa. Baba

426
00:25:56,359 --> 00:25:59,800
Speaker 1: has just got so much experience, so much composure. Great decision.

427
00:25:59,840 --> 00:26:01,960
Speaker 1: May I say, you know, we've just gotten someone we

428
00:26:02,040 --> 00:26:05,920
Speaker 1: can rely on, meaning that after the isolation of being

429
00:26:05,960 --> 00:26:10,040
Speaker 1: a new mom, after the hours of training, after fighting

430
00:26:10,119 --> 00:26:14,320
Speaker 1: their way back onto their respective national team rosters, Melissa

431
00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:18,399
Speaker 1: Barbieri and Amy Rodriguez would be facing each other in

432
00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:22,240
Speaker 1: the two thousand and fifteen World Cup. I remember in

433
00:26:22,280 --> 00:26:26,400
Speaker 1: the warm up thinking I'm ready. I've done all the work,

434
00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:29,479
Speaker 1: I've worked through everything, and I didn't know if everyone

435
00:26:29,600 --> 00:26:32,639
Speaker 1: believed I should be there until in the warm up

436
00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:35,639
Speaker 1: when the goalkeeper coach that tried to break me. Um,

437
00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:39,600
Speaker 1: you know, when I had Holly came up to me

438
00:26:39,680 --> 00:26:44,240
Speaker 1: and said, you deserve to be here. You've I'm sorry

439
00:26:44,359 --> 00:26:47,399
Speaker 1: for what I put you through and all this other stuff.

440
00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:50,560
Speaker 1: And I made a say even the warm up and

441
00:26:50,640 --> 00:26:55,320
Speaker 1: he's life, yea, this is it. You're good. You're good

442
00:26:55,359 --> 00:27:00,680
Speaker 1: to go mate um, And I remember thinking, actually, I

443
00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:03,800
Speaker 1: think I cried in the warm up because I was like, yeah,

444
00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:11,840
Speaker 1: it's and I wasn't ecstatic. I wasn't I was grateful.

445
00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:14,639
Speaker 1: I really was grateful, and then I just wanted to

446
00:27:14,680 --> 00:27:17,040
Speaker 1: do the best I could and help my team win

447
00:27:17,160 --> 00:27:20,639
Speaker 1: the game. The moment I realized this felt good, I

448
00:27:20,760 --> 00:27:32,920
Speaker 1: let it out in the national anthem and there's literally

449
00:27:33,320 --> 00:27:37,440
Speaker 1: a photo of me belting out the national anthem with

450
00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:40,600
Speaker 1: Sammy Kerr. Actually Samy curs at the other end belting

451
00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:43,560
Speaker 1: it out with me. Lisa Divan is my captain at

452
00:27:43,600 --> 00:27:46,560
Speaker 1: the time. She was a little embarrassed and the kids

453
00:27:46,680 --> 00:27:50,560
Speaker 1: in front, their little ball kids in the mascots were

454
00:27:50,680 --> 00:27:53,479
Speaker 1: mortified at how loud I was yelling. But that's when

455
00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:56,560
Speaker 1: I let it out. That was the feeling of yeah,

456
00:27:57,200 --> 00:27:59,280
Speaker 1: all of it, for this, all of it, for this,

457
00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:02,879
Speaker 1: and I'll do it all over again for this. St

458
00:28:06,320 --> 00:28:09,560
Speaker 1: Australia lost to the US in that game, but both

459
00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:12,399
Speaker 1: teams went on to the Round of sixteen and in

460
00:28:12,480 --> 00:28:15,639
Speaker 1: the quarterfinals. Amy red Reguez got the start for the

461
00:28:15,760 --> 00:28:18,760
Speaker 1: U S in a one nothing victory over China, while

462
00:28:18,840 --> 00:28:22,520
Speaker 1: Australia lost to Japan and the US would go on

463
00:28:22,800 --> 00:28:27,360
Speaker 1: to win it all. The United States of America are

464
00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:32,359
Speaker 1: the two thousand and fifteen World Cup win US on

465
00:28:32,560 --> 00:28:36,880
Speaker 1: U five two thousand and fifteen. Like Fawcett over Beck

466
00:28:37,040 --> 00:28:40,200
Speaker 1: and the US mothers who came before her, Amy Red

467
00:28:40,280 --> 00:28:43,520
Speaker 1: Reguez stood in a shower of confetti, her son in

468
00:28:43,640 --> 00:28:47,880
Speaker 1: her arms, a World Cup champion, and we all ran

469
00:28:47,960 --> 00:28:50,240
Speaker 1: out onto the field. I can remember that was like

470
00:28:50,600 --> 00:28:54,280
Speaker 1: the ultimate highlight of my career. We were playing in

471
00:28:54,480 --> 00:28:59,440
Speaker 1: the largest, most important soccer tournament that you could ever

472
00:28:59,560 --> 00:29:03,320
Speaker 1: play in, and to know that I was a champion

473
00:29:03,640 --> 00:29:07,720
Speaker 1: with my family, with my son inte. I do think

474
00:29:07,960 --> 00:29:15,640
Speaker 1: there is a stigma or a thought that women cannot

475
00:29:15,680 --> 00:29:18,760
Speaker 1: be both moms and professional athletes. You need to either

476
00:29:18,880 --> 00:29:21,400
Speaker 1: choose your career or your family life. And I think

477
00:29:21,440 --> 00:29:26,160
Speaker 1: that that goes across so many areas in the workforce.

478
00:29:26,560 --> 00:29:30,080
Speaker 1: And I'm so grateful that I had the opportunity to

479
00:29:30,200 --> 00:29:31,920
Speaker 1: do both, because I think there are some moms out

480
00:29:31,960 --> 00:29:34,000
Speaker 1: there and some women out there that don't have that

481
00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:36,920
Speaker 1: choice and don't have that ability. But I love that

482
00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:46,959
Speaker 1: we are changing that narrative. Amy retired from pro soccer

483
00:29:47,080 --> 00:29:51,840
Speaker 1: this year. As for Melissa, she's still playing in Australia's

484
00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:55,640
Speaker 1: top division, which is now called the A League. She's

485
00:29:55,760 --> 00:29:59,720
Speaker 1: forty two now and looking back, here's what she thinks.

486
00:30:01,120 --> 00:30:04,480
Speaker 1: Going to the Olympics and going to World Cups and

487
00:30:04,720 --> 00:30:08,880
Speaker 1: becoming number one goalkeeper of your country is amazing. And

488
00:30:09,160 --> 00:30:12,320
Speaker 1: feeling all the highs and lows as an elite athlete

489
00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:16,600
Speaker 1: and getting eighty four caps for your country and becoming captain,

490
00:30:17,760 --> 00:30:20,920
Speaker 1: and then to have a baby and all that taken

491
00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:23,560
Speaker 1: away from you because you've had a baby, because you've

492
00:30:23,640 --> 00:30:31,560
Speaker 1: become a mother, is extremely, extremely soul destroying, because women

493
00:30:31,600 --> 00:30:34,560
Speaker 1: are so anonymous with having babies, their women, you know,

494
00:30:34,760 --> 00:30:37,320
Speaker 1: one of the miracles that we can do, we can

495
00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:41,320
Speaker 1: produce babies. And I had everything taken away from me.

496
00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:44,240
Speaker 1: I had my captaincy taken away from me, my number

497
00:30:44,280 --> 00:30:52,080
Speaker 1: one goalkeeper stripped um, my ability to earn income, everything

498
00:30:52,240 --> 00:30:54,160
Speaker 1: was taken away. The only thing I had left was

499
00:30:54,200 --> 00:30:57,120
Speaker 1: actually being a mother. And then just trying to piece

500
00:30:57,200 --> 00:31:00,640
Speaker 1: yourself back together, trying to understand what makes you tick.

501
00:31:00,800 --> 00:31:03,360
Speaker 1: And you're like, yeah, this is what makes me tick.

502
00:31:03,400 --> 00:31:08,400
Speaker 1: I love football. I'm a footballer. I'm a goalkeeper. Playing

503
00:31:08,440 --> 00:31:10,520
Speaker 1: for my national team is what I want to do,

504
00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:15,040
Speaker 1: and playing and mental health for me a sonymous. I

505
00:31:15,120 --> 00:31:18,160
Speaker 1: will always play this game. I will always play this game.

506
00:31:20,960 --> 00:31:24,960
Speaker 1: Wasn't it going to crowd? What was it going to cry?

507
00:31:27,040 --> 00:31:33,000
Speaker 1: I will always play this game because it's so hard.

508
00:31:33,880 --> 00:31:37,080
Speaker 1: It's so hard, and you do it and then you

509
00:31:37,200 --> 00:31:40,120
Speaker 1: do something amazing and then you're like, wow, I didn't

510
00:31:40,120 --> 00:31:42,280
Speaker 1: know I could do that. And even if I'm walking,

511
00:31:42,480 --> 00:31:46,600
Speaker 1: and you know, you play that walking soccer with the

512
00:31:46,680 --> 00:31:48,800
Speaker 1: bell in the ball just in case you can't hear it,

513
00:31:48,920 --> 00:31:52,920
Speaker 1: and thinks you just want to play because I'm not

514
00:31:52,960 --> 00:31:54,280
Speaker 1: going to go to the gym. Why do you go

515
00:31:54,360 --> 00:31:57,320
Speaker 1: to the gym unless it's to get strong and fast

516
00:31:57,440 --> 00:32:02,640
Speaker 1: forward this? You know, I can't do zomba. Zomba is

517
00:32:02,680 --> 00:32:07,320
Speaker 1: just not me. And my my husband's like, why why

518
00:32:07,360 --> 00:32:10,440
Speaker 1: do you keep playing? And I'm like, I get paid

519
00:32:10,760 --> 00:32:13,320
Speaker 1: to play this game. Do you get paid to go

520
00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:17,040
Speaker 1: to gym? No? And I've been not paid for a

521
00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:19,920
Speaker 1: very long time. So to be actually able to earn,

522
00:32:20,320 --> 00:32:24,880
Speaker 1: albeit part time income from playing a sport is just ridiculous,

523
00:32:25,320 --> 00:32:27,120
Speaker 1: even if it is just to pay for the petrol

524
00:32:27,200 --> 00:32:34,160
Speaker 1: that you used to get there these stories of mothers

525
00:32:34,200 --> 00:32:37,800
Speaker 1: who were doubted, who were counted out, hung out to dry,

526
00:32:38,520 --> 00:32:42,440
Speaker 1: and who then set out to prove everyone wrong. There

527
00:32:42,480 --> 00:32:45,840
Speaker 1: as good a comeback stories you'll find. And to be clear,

528
00:32:46,120 --> 00:32:50,680
Speaker 1: it's not just Melissa Barbieri and Amy Rodriguez dotted all

529
00:32:50,760 --> 00:32:54,640
Speaker 1: across the soccer world, there are maverick moms charting new

530
00:32:54,760 --> 00:32:59,880
Speaker 1: ground in their countries. Like Melissa and Amy, they refused

531
00:33:00,120 --> 00:33:05,800
Speaker 1: to be done. People sometimes came to me and said, oh,

532
00:33:05,920 --> 00:33:10,200
Speaker 1: you're pregnant. That's crazy. Your life with football it's over.

533
00:33:11,080 --> 00:33:14,200
Speaker 1: I remember like my heart burning inside of me because

534
00:33:14,280 --> 00:33:16,840
Speaker 1: I was watching some girls play on TV and I

535
00:33:17,080 --> 00:33:19,520
Speaker 1: was not there. And then I was like, no, I

536
00:33:20,080 --> 00:33:23,280
Speaker 1: know that one day I will come back. That's Tamarras

537
00:33:24,280 --> 00:33:26,280
Speaker 1: she had a baby and fought her way to the

538
00:33:26,320 --> 00:33:30,560
Speaker 1: Brazilian national team. For the past nine years, she's been

539
00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:34,600
Speaker 1: the only mother. She's played over a hundred games for

540
00:33:34,720 --> 00:33:39,440
Speaker 1: her country. In Japan, as Usa Iwashimizu is the only

541
00:33:39,560 --> 00:33:43,640
Speaker 1: mother in the entire Japanese professional league, but she hopes

542
00:33:43,720 --> 00:33:48,480
Speaker 1: to be the first of many. I'm very aware that

543
00:33:48,640 --> 00:33:51,960
Speaker 1: I'm giving away for my younger players, and I think

544
00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:55,600
Speaker 1: that is one thing that is urging me to be

545
00:33:55,720 --> 00:33:59,480
Speaker 1: on the pitch. It's like a mission for me. So

546
00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:03,600
Speaker 1: it's okay to have a baby and be tired. That's okay,

547
00:34:03,640 --> 00:34:07,000
Speaker 1: But I just want to braden options for the Pewter players.

548
00:34:09,400 --> 00:34:12,640
Speaker 1: These women made their own roadmaps and showed us what

549
00:34:12,960 --> 00:34:17,480
Speaker 1: change looks like. They've fought for maternity policies in their

550
00:34:17,520 --> 00:34:22,320
Speaker 1: countries and finally, systematic change has started to happen. In

551
00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:27,120
Speaker 1: October twenty FIFA, the largest governing body in soccer globally,

552
00:34:27,160 --> 00:34:31,000
Speaker 1: implemented a new set of rules, including a mandatory maternity

553
00:34:31,080 --> 00:34:34,280
Speaker 1: leave of fourteen weeks, during which the player would receive

554
00:34:34,320 --> 00:34:37,279
Speaker 1: a minimum of two thirds of their contracted salary, and

555
00:34:37,360 --> 00:34:40,680
Speaker 1: to guarantee that no female player should suffer a disadvantage

556
00:34:40,920 --> 00:34:44,600
Speaker 1: as a result of becoming pregnant. FIFA says its aim

557
00:34:44,719 --> 00:34:48,280
Speaker 1: is to create new global minimum standards for women players

558
00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:50,680
Speaker 1: all over the world, no matter which league they're playing in.

559
00:34:51,520 --> 00:34:55,600
Speaker 1: With new maternity policies, nanny's along the sideline, and support

560
00:34:55,719 --> 00:34:59,920
Speaker 1: from your family, your team and your coach, motherhood and profession,

561
00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:02,799
Speaker 1: all sports no longer have to be in either or thing.

562
00:35:03,680 --> 00:35:07,960
Speaker 1: Last nws L season in one The Orlando Pride alone

563
00:35:08,120 --> 00:35:12,800
Speaker 1: had four mothers, Alex Morgan, Ali Krieger, Ashlyn Harris, and

564
00:35:12,920 --> 00:35:18,120
Speaker 1: Sydney LaRue, and in two Crystal Dunne, Juliet's, Casey Short

565
00:35:18,320 --> 00:35:21,640
Speaker 1: and Ali Long all announced pregnancies. It looks as though

566
00:35:21,680 --> 00:35:24,040
Speaker 1: we're in the midst of a bona fide baby boom

567
00:35:24,239 --> 00:35:30,000
Speaker 1: where the terms saka mom means something else entirely. Join

568
00:35:30,120 --> 00:35:33,400
Speaker 1: us for our next episode, Nadia Nadem and the Family

569
00:35:33,440 --> 00:35:51,440
Speaker 1: of Fighters. One Running for Bay Has a Rule is

570
00:35:51,480 --> 00:35:56,400
Speaker 1: a production of Waffle Iron Entertainment, Range Media Partners, Observatory Audio,

571
00:35:56,480 --> 00:35:59,680
Speaker 1: UP Media, and I Heart Radio, written and directed by

572
00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:03,160
Speaker 1: Metalin oxen Um, hosted by me Hannah wadingen and is

573
00:36:03,200 --> 00:36:05,160
Speaker 1: based on the book Under the Lights and in the

574
00:36:05,239 --> 00:36:09,120
Speaker 1: Dark written by Gwendolen Oxenham. The executive producers are Justin

575
00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:13,560
Speaker 1: Biskin from Waffle Iron Entertainment, Bob Alligan from Range Media Partners,

576
00:36:13,760 --> 00:36:16,960
Speaker 1: and Seawan Titan from I Heeart Radio. Co written by

577
00:36:17,080 --> 00:36:20,400
Speaker 1: Ruth Hilton, produced by Gwendolen oxen Um, Ruth Hilton and

578
00:36:20,480 --> 00:36:25,360
Speaker 1: Jordanic Click Franzheim. Co produced by Jimmy Jelinek and Jared Goodstat.

579
00:36:25,719 --> 00:36:28,960
Speaker 1: Edited by Carry Calfield Eric Sound design and mixing by

580
00:36:29,040 --> 00:36:32,799
Speaker 1: Jeremia's Immerman, music by Jeff Peters and Bill mart Theme

581
00:36:32,840 --> 00:36:36,080
Speaker 1: song performed by a one Laflair. You'll find more podcasts

582
00:36:36,080 --> 00:36:39,120
Speaker 1: from iHeart Radio on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

583
00:36:39,400 --> 00:36:47,919
Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts. Good boy,