Speaker 1: Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're giving
Speaker 1: big Leo energy today because it's my birthday. It's Tuesday,
Speaker 1: August eighteenth, the best day of the year. And on
Speaker 1: today's show we welcome a guest who wasn't even born
Speaker 1: yet when I was her age Rude. It's US Women's
Speaker 1: national team and Chelsea Ford Alyssa Thompson. We talk about
Speaker 1: her decision to sign across the Pond in the WSL,
Speaker 1: leaving her sister Giselle behind at Angel City and her
Speaker 1: goals looking ahead at the twenty twenty seven Women's World
Speaker 1: Cup and twenty twenty.
Speaker 2: Eight LA Olympics.
Speaker 1: Plus returning with the Banger shipping out of Boston and
Speaker 1: fellow mascot Curious folks, but don't call us Furreeze, Rejoice,
Speaker 1: a new mascot is almost here. It's all coming out
Speaker 1: right after this welcome back slices. Here's what you need
Speaker 1: to know today. Let's start with the NWSL and a
Speaker 1: few loose ends from the weekend. On Sunday in Los Angeles,
Speaker 1: the Washington Spirit played to a newsworthy one to one
Speaker 1: draw with Angel City FC. After a scoreless first half.
Speaker 1: Trinity Rodman got the Spirit on the board in the
Speaker 1: sixty fifth with an absolute beauty of a goal that
Speaker 1: brings her to ten on the season. But twenty minutes later,
Speaker 1: Angel City's Alley sent Nor found the equalizer, another absolute banger,
Speaker 1: marking Centner's first goal and an Angel City kit why
Speaker 1: so newsworthy well. The game marked the return of a
Speaker 1: bunch of players, including Sidney LaRue, who played her first
Speaker 1: minutes for Angel Cities since November twenty twenty four. In
Speaker 1: March of last year, LaRue shared on social media that
Speaker 1: she'd decided to step away from soccer to focus on
Speaker 1: her mental health, and later in the year she also
Speaker 1: shared her experience with anorexia. She was on the field
Speaker 1: just briefly on Sunday, getting subbed in during the second
Speaker 1: minute of second half stoppage time, but it was so
Speaker 1: good to see her back and good to see her
Speaker 1: celebrating Disney Princess theme night by dressing as Moleficent for
Speaker 1: game day arrivals with her kiddos.
Speaker 2: We'll link to that in the show notes. It's worth
Speaker 2: a click.
Speaker 1: Angel City Savvy King also recorded her first minute April
Speaker 1: after missing most of the season due to a foot injury.
Speaker 1: Anne Washington Spirit forward Ashley Hatch also made her return
Speaker 1: to the pitch from maternity leave. She was subbed on
Speaker 1: in the eighty second minute, her first minute since May
Speaker 1: of twenty twenty five. She and her husband welcomed their
Speaker 1: son Leo in January. Solid Dame Ashley good choice, more
Speaker 1: NWSL and another triumphant return. Portland Thorns forward Kaya Hanks
Speaker 1: scored the game winning goal in the Thorns two to
Speaker 1: one win over the Orlando Pride Saturday night, finding the
Speaker 1: back of the net in her first game back after
Speaker 1: tearing her ACL in June of last year. Hanks was
Speaker 1: subbed on in the eighty seventh minute of the game,
Speaker 1: with her game winner coming in the sixth minute of
Speaker 1: second half stoppage time. We'll link to a video of
Speaker 1: the moment in the show notes because while her goal
Speaker 1: was incredible, her reaction was even better. Hanks, with her
Speaker 1: hand over her mouth in shock, was mobbed by her
Speaker 1: teammates on the pitch. Shout out to the Ion broadcast
Speaker 1: team for capturing the scenes so beautifully, with the commentary
Speaker 1: team laying out the importance of the moment and camera
Speaker 1: operators even finding Hank's mom in the stands after the game,
Speaker 1: Hanks also shared a special moment with Thorn's teammate Olivia Moultrie,
Speaker 1: who hugged her while clearly.
Speaker 2: Saying I'm so proud of you.
Speaker 1: Moultrie is now at the start of her own ACL
Speaker 1: recovery journey after sustaining the injury earlier this month. We'll
Speaker 1: link to that video as well. More NWSL. We've got
Speaker 1: two midweek games on the schedule for Tomorrow night, with
Speaker 1: Racing Louisville hosting the Seattle Rain at six thirty pm
Speaker 1: Eastern and the Chicago Stars traveling to the Houston Dash
Speaker 1: for an eight pm Eastern kickoff to the WNBA. There
Speaker 1: are four games on the schedule tonight, beginning at seven
Speaker 1: pm Eastern, with the Toronto Tempo hosting the Indiana Fever.
Speaker 1: It's game two of the Fever's five game road trip,
Speaker 1: which includes a stretch of four games in four cities
Speaker 1: in just six days. The Fever have momentum on their side.
Speaker 1: They've won their last four games, while the Tempo have
Speaker 1: now dropped ten in a row. But Tempo fans do
Speaker 1: have some good news to celebrate. Britney Sykes is getting
Speaker 1: closer to return. Slim returned to practice with the team
Speaker 1: last week for the first time in nearly two months
Speaker 1: after going down with a foot entry back in June.
Speaker 1: Now it's not clear yet when she'll be ready to play,
Speaker 1: but here's hoping it's soon. Meantime For all the mascout
Speaker 1: lovers out there, like me. Front of the show, Josh
Speaker 1: Bart says, I'm by furious pronounce Sheefer. This Tempo Fever
Speaker 1: game has been circled on my calendar because the Temple
Speaker 1: will be unveiling its mascot.
Speaker 2: In honor of my birthday.
Speaker 1: I'm sure if this mascot pays homage to Toronto Faves
Speaker 1: the Raccoon, I will die because I am obsessed with
Speaker 1: raccoons aka trash pandas other popular guests have been a
Speaker 1: Canadian moose or a Canadian beaver, both still good. Can't wait, y'all,
Speaker 1: A new mascot is about to enter the villa. Happy
Speaker 1: birthday to me. More WNBA and other games tonight, including
Speaker 1: the Connecticut Sun hosting Los Angeles Sparks at Boston's TD Garden,
Speaker 1: marking the third straight year and likely the last the
Speaker 1: Sun will play a home game at the venue. It's
Speaker 1: expected to be a bittersweet game for Boston fans who
Speaker 1: were hoping to see the team move to the city
Speaker 1: after Celtics minority owner Steve Paliuca had agreed to buy
Speaker 1: the team for three hundred and twenty five million from
Speaker 1: the Mohegan Tribe, a deal that was blocked by the WNBA.
Speaker 1: So this could be the Sunset game at TD Garden
Speaker 1: during the Sun's Sunset season. More WNBA. At nine pm
Speaker 1: Eastern tonight, the Las Vegas Aces host the Atlanta Dream.
Speaker 1: Ahead of that one, make sure to check out ESPN
Speaker 1: senior writer Katie Barnes's recent profile of Angel Reese and
Speaker 1: her legendary rebounding skills. Katie tries to unpack how and
Speaker 1: why Reese Gott's so good at the skill. Quote She's tall,
Speaker 1: but not the tallest. She's quick, but not the quickest.
Speaker 1: She's bouncy, but not the bounciest. Some point to her vision,
Speaker 1: some point to her motor, others point to her mind.
Speaker 1: Some even wonder if there's something just beyond human understanding
Speaker 1: going on, something closer to say clairvoyance, says Reese, sitting
Speaker 1: in a court side chair in a quiet moment at
Speaker 1: Atlanta's Gateway Center Arena. I just know end quote. We'll
Speaker 1: link to Barnes story in the show notes. Finally, one
Speaker 1: last piece of w NAE news. The league revealed via
Speaker 1: social clip that they'll announce next year's All Star Game
Speaker 1: location today, So keep your eyes peeled. Just another birthday
Speaker 1: present to MOI. Thanks WNBA. We got to take a break.
Speaker 1: When we come back, we head to jolly Old England
Speaker 1: to chat with Melyssa Thompson joining us now. She's a
Speaker 1: forward for Chelsea in the Women's Super League and for
Speaker 1: the United States women's national soccer team. A former Gatorade
Speaker 1: National Player of the Year, she was selected first overall
Speaker 1: in the twenty twenty three NWSL draft by Angel City
Speaker 1: while she was still in high school, and she scored
Speaker 1: five minutes into her professional debut while still finishing her
Speaker 1: senior year at Harvard Westlake.
Speaker 2: She's a TikTok.
Speaker 1: Dancing queen, and she made a cameo in the Jennifer
Speaker 1: Garner Netflix movie Family Switch. It's Alyssa Thompson, Hilissa. Hi,
Speaker 1: have you recovered from she Weekend in Vegas yet?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 4: I think I'm just finally recovering from it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you were there real quick though, right, Just just
Speaker 1: a short amount of time.
Speaker 4: Yeah, just for the panel and the Boys and Girls Club.
Speaker 1: Okay, so Vegas didn't get you, like it maybe potentially
Speaker 1: got me, you know, as we know everything that happened
Speaker 1: to Vegas days there. So I want to talk about
Speaker 1: Chelsea first of all, because in March you helped them
Speaker 1: beat Manchester United in the FA Women's League Cup Final.
Speaker 1: I want to talk about that game because that's your
Speaker 1: first big senior win. Twenty one thousand people in attendance.
Speaker 1: You know, this is a huge moment for you in
Speaker 1: your career. Were you nervous, were you more excited than nervous,
Speaker 1: like take us to that day.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean I was pretty nervous playing in the
Speaker 5: first final with Chelsea. The team as a whole is
Speaker 5: I kind of used to being in finals and winning trophies,
Speaker 5: so being able to be a part of that was
Speaker 5: really cool. I was definitely nervous on the day, but
Speaker 5: super excited to play in it, and I feel like
Speaker 5: being able to win that with the team was just
Speaker 5: super special and I feel like it was just another
Speaker 5: stepping sown into where I want to continue being.
Speaker 1: We're just under a year out from the World Cup
Speaker 1: and LA twenty twenty eight is right around the corner,
Speaker 1: so Emma Hayes is going to start making big decisions
Speaker 1: and wanting to see.
Speaker 2: All of her players together.
Speaker 1: Do you take into account the timing of those big
Speaker 1: international opportunities when thinking about where you're playing your club footy,
Speaker 1: whether that's because you want to stay on Emma's radar
Speaker 1: or you just want to be on the same sort
Speaker 1: of timeline and season footprint of the majority of the
Speaker 1: US team players.
Speaker 5: No, I don't really think about that. I think the
Speaker 5: most important thing for players like going into the World
Speaker 5: Cup is playing and being in form, So I hope
Speaker 5: that that's what I'll be doing this season, and hopefully
Speaker 5: just doing better than I did last season and putting
Speaker 5: myself in the best position to get picked for the
Speaker 5: World Cup.
Speaker 1: What are the things you're working on as you look
Speaker 1: ahead to this season personally?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think just being more clinical in front of goal,
Speaker 5: being better in my crossing. Yeah, I think overall, get
Speaker 5: it like morrises more goals than I did last season,
Speaker 5: and just making good decisions on the ball to get
Speaker 5: the team going forward and get us into good scoring positions.
Speaker 1: You already picked up some hardware in the WSL, so
Speaker 1: you adjusted, Well, I want to get to that transition
Speaker 1: in a little bit. But you know, speaking of the
Speaker 1: World Cup and this US team, you were on the
Speaker 1: US team for the World Cup in twenty twenty three,
Speaker 1: but you missed out on the Olympic squad that won gold.
Speaker 2: In Paris in twenty twenty four.
Speaker 1: Did you get direction from Emma on what you needed
Speaker 1: to improve to get back into the mix or why
Speaker 1: that decision was made on that twenty twenty four roster.
Speaker 5: I feel like I didn't get much direction because she
Speaker 5: was coming in new so she didn't really know a
Speaker 5: lot of our players anyways, like kind of just from
Speaker 5: Afar and coming into the Olympics. I feel like it
Speaker 5: was like just a big rush, so she needed to
Speaker 5: focus on the team, not the people that weren't didn't
Speaker 5: make it. But I feel like for me, I took
Speaker 5: a lot from that experience, Like being able to go
Speaker 5: to the World Cup was real, and doing it at
Speaker 5: eighteen was something I never like like expected for myself.
Speaker 5: So I was really nervous then and I think not
Speaker 5: getting selected for the Olympics and then winning was kind
Speaker 5: of something that fueled me. And I knew that I
Speaker 5: needed to be better going into the Olympics. I didn't
Speaker 5: have like I wasn't in very good form and I
Speaker 5: was still pretty young. So I think having that experience
Speaker 5: on making the roster fueled me to be the player
Speaker 5: that I am today and continue to push. And I
Speaker 5: think after that I played really well and just grew
Speaker 5: in confidence in myself and I knew what I can
Speaker 5: bring to the table and I just had to keep
Speaker 5: repeating that.
Speaker 4: To myself to say at the level that I was.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's sort of hard sometimes to picture how much
Speaker 1: work goes in during a cycle and in between the
Speaker 1: big international tournaments, and there are other players who have
Speaker 1: had kind of similar experiences. Male Swanson is a great
Speaker 1: example of that, right She played on a US international
Speaker 1: team for a big tournament really young, and then was
Speaker 1: out and back in and then now she'll be fighting
Speaker 1: her way back in post pregnancy.
Speaker 2: So were there players that you talked to during or after.
Speaker 1: The Olympic run about how to keep your confidence and
Speaker 1: your sense of self heading into the next cycle.
Speaker 5: I think I leaned a lot on my club teammates
Speaker 5: at Angel City. Kristin Press and Ali Riley were super helpful.
Speaker 5: I mean, my sister. Like, honestly, all my teammates there
Speaker 5: gave me so much confidence. I don't think I would
Speaker 5: be where I am right now without them during that time,
Speaker 5: because I felt really low and like I wasn't good enough,
Speaker 5: because I wasn't and that was like a hard truth
Speaker 5: to know and understand. But I feel like my teammates
Speaker 5: were like, no, you are good enough. You have a
Speaker 5: lot of potential, and there are just small things that
Speaker 5: you need to do in order to be on that
Speaker 5: team or be at your full potential. And them telling
Speaker 5: me that really helped me.
Speaker 4: And I think.
Speaker 5: Like them just looking to me kind of as someone
Speaker 5: that can help the team without scoring or without us
Speaker 5: is sing was really helpful to my confidence. And I
Speaker 5: think they, yeah, just I owe a lot to them.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, you started so young that it's hard
Speaker 1: not to just feel like the arrow's going to keep
Speaker 1: going up forever and eventually there are going to be
Speaker 1: roadblocks or challenges to face, and it sounds like you've
Speaker 1: got a good support system. You mentioned your sister Giselle.
Speaker 1: You used to play together at Angel City. You were
Speaker 1: the first pair of sisters name to the starting lineup
Speaker 1: of the same team, and then last year in the
Speaker 1: She Believes Cup, the second pair of sisters to play
Speaker 1: for the national team in the same match. How difficult
Speaker 1: was it for you to tell her that you were
Speaker 1: leaving to go play across the pond.
Speaker 5: Honestly, I feel like she was involved in the conversation
Speaker 5: a lot, and like knew that it was a possibility
Speaker 5: that I could be leaving, And when, like I first
Speaker 5: got told that Chelsea was the opportunity, she was like
Speaker 5: super excited for me and like, honestly couldn't believe it,
Speaker 5: Like I couldn't believe it either. So I think we
Speaker 5: both knew that it was something that I wanted to
Speaker 5: do and I've always wanted to play in Europe and yeah,
Speaker 5: just play overseas. So I think she wasn't surprised, but
Speaker 5: she was definitely sad. We were both sad that we
Speaker 5: were leaving each other, but we knew that it was
Speaker 5: a good stepping point in both of our careers for
Speaker 5: her to be playing at Angel City by yourself and
Speaker 5: maybe be over here by ourselves, like kind of having
Speaker 5: our separate.
Speaker 4: Time that we didn't really get to have, like growing up.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're so tight with your sisters and your family,
Speaker 1: and then playing at Angel City allowed you to stay
Speaker 1: in your home market. So this is a big leap,
Speaker 1: and you were having tremendous success individually in the NWSL,
Speaker 1: so it had to take a lot of confidence to
Speaker 1: decide to go play in a totally different league in
Speaker 1: a totally different country and have to reprove yourself there.
Speaker 2: Where did you find that confidence.
Speaker 5: I think I felt really good and where I was
Speaker 5: at at Angel City, and when I started to feel comfortable,
Speaker 5: I feel like I'm not growing. And I think at
Speaker 5: that point I was getting comfortable and where I was,
Speaker 5: and I wanted to keep growing and I don't want
Speaker 5: to like stop learning and being a better player. And
Speaker 5: I think this next step was just like the next
Speaker 5: stepping stone for me to continue to be a better player,
Speaker 5: learn from different people, being in a different league with
Speaker 5: different types of play and tactics and stuff like that.
Speaker 4: So I feel like I.
Speaker 5: Had confidence in myself just because of how I was
Speaker 5: doing at Angel City, but I also was like, I
Speaker 5: know this is going to be hard, and I didn't
Speaker 5: put a lot of pressure on myself to do amazing
Speaker 5: right when I came in. I just wanted to learn
Speaker 5: a lot and I knew that coming over here, I
Speaker 5: was going to grow.
Speaker 4: If I played bad, I was going to grow. If
Speaker 4: I played good, I was gonna grow.
Speaker 5: So I felt like it was a win win for
Speaker 5: me and I just like want to learn and be
Speaker 5: the best player I can beat.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you mentioned some of the differences, and I wanted
Speaker 1: to ask, like, what stands out the most about playing
Speaker 1: in the WSL and how it differs from the NWSL.
Speaker 5: I feel like it's just it's really cool to play
Speaker 5: Champions League here. I think that's the biggest difference. Like
Speaker 5: we play teams in Italy, Spain and you get to
Speaker 5: see other tactics from other countries that in the US
Speaker 5: it's kind of like we're playing the same teams. So
Speaker 5: I think it was cool to be able to play
Speaker 5: in Champions League and have that like different like teams
Speaker 5: that you get.
Speaker 1: To play, Yeah, like approaching strategically differently based on how
Speaker 1: they're setting up in their approach to the game.
Speaker 2: What about the competition level?
Speaker 1: One thing I've heard about the WSL is really competitive
Speaker 1: at the top, but maybe not all the way down.
Speaker 1: Do you find that you miss some of the parody
Speaker 1: of the NWSL, where every single game you really got
Speaker 1: to get up for.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean I feel like here too, like most
Speaker 5: of the games are pretty competitive. I felt kind of like,
Speaker 5: I mean, the NWSL is very competitive too, but playing here,
Speaker 5: I feel like every game is competitive. It's also competitive
Speaker 5: to like start and play even on your own team,
Speaker 5: So I feel like that is like an extra factor too,
Speaker 5: and I feel like that is something that makes me
Speaker 5: be a better player, and like work really hard in
Speaker 5: training too and stuff like that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you mentioned that a lot of your teammates
Speaker 1: are sort of used to winning. Chelsea's a very dominant team.
Speaker 1: You came from an Angel City team that was dominant
Speaker 1: in so many categories except for you know, when it
Speaker 1: came to trophies and winning. How does that change your
Speaker 1: perspective on the game and maybe even your approach getting
Speaker 1: used to and accustomed to being on a team that
Speaker 1: expects to come out on top.
Speaker 5: I always say, like the US national team is expected
Speaker 5: to win and have trophies, and that is the pressure
Speaker 5: that the US national team has. So I feel like
Speaker 5: I had that experience coming in, but feeling it.
Speaker 4: Every day is something that's very different.
Speaker 5: And feeling every game knowing that people expect you to
Speaker 5: win and it's not like you guys are the underdogs.
Speaker 5: It was, I think something that I knew coming in,
Speaker 5: but it is something that I try not to think
Speaker 5: about a lot, because then it's going to just stress
Speaker 5: you out. I think if our team, if Chelsea just
Speaker 5: plays like the best versions of ourselves, like we all
Speaker 5: back each other. So I think it's easy to think
Speaker 5: about it in that way. Once you start thinking about, oh,
Speaker 5: we have to win because everyone expects us to win,
Speaker 5: it's just more pressure.
Speaker 1: Sounds like that's a little bit of the uncomfortableness you
Speaker 1: were looking for in trying something new and going across
Speaker 1: the pond. What else is making you uncomfortable right now
Speaker 1: about playing with Chelsea that you think is helping you grow.
Speaker 5: I think just living in a different place, so far
Speaker 5: away from home with none of my family, that is
Speaker 5: something that I've had dealt with over the past year.
Speaker 5: And I think coming back to London, I felt really
Speaker 5: good about where I was and like really excited to
Speaker 5: come back and like experience this place. Yeah, just growing
Speaker 5: up and getting older and I feel like it's like
Speaker 5: doing my own laundry or like cooking for myself and
Speaker 5: just like grow things that you do growing up that
Speaker 5: I didn't really think about as much when I was home,
Speaker 5: But I think it's really cool. Like living alone and
Speaker 5: being somewhere new where I get to try new things
Speaker 5: and be around new people is uncomfortable, but it's like exciting.
Speaker 2: It's kind of like college for you.
Speaker 1: Frankly, you know, you came straight out of high school,
Speaker 1: and most of us get to college and realize we
Speaker 1: don't know how to do our laundry, or we suck
Speaker 1: at cooking, or we get really excited about moving in
Speaker 1: with roommates and practicing being an adult in like a
Speaker 1: safe space where we're learning. And so you kind of
Speaker 1: get that experience out there, which is really cool. You
Speaker 1: mentioned finding your confidence both through your own proof of
Speaker 1: ability but also through teammates and support systems, and you're
Speaker 1: working with Dove on their Body Confident collective, trying to
Speaker 1: raise awareness for some of the challenges and confidence that
Speaker 1: young girls have that caused them to walk away from
Speaker 1: sports When you were young, you were such a phenom.
Speaker 1: Was there any point growing up where you weren't confident
Speaker 1: in yourself as an athlete or as a person. M
Speaker 1: And you don't have to lie, you don't have to
Speaker 1: say yes if it's not true, if you were always confident,
Speaker 1: that's awesome and I want to hear that too.
Speaker 5: I mean, I think it's like more of a quiet confidence,
Speaker 5: but I think it also comes from my sister. I
Speaker 5: think she gives me so much confidence. And we did
Speaker 5: everything together growing up, and I knew if she thought
Speaker 5: I played well, then I thought I played well, or
Speaker 5: she was like, you're doing so good, like I believe her,
Speaker 5: like she's like my I don't know, like my voice
Speaker 5: inside my head, but she's a real person. So it
Speaker 5: was really nice like having that growing up, and I
Speaker 5: think she gave me so much confidence. When she came
Speaker 5: to ans Or City, I felt like honestly a different
Speaker 5: person because I had her, and I think that was
Speaker 5: really helpful growing up throughout my childhood being able to
Speaker 5: play with her because we played with boys and that
Speaker 5: was scary, but her being there made me feel like, oh,
Speaker 5: I don't care what, like if they think I'm good
Speaker 5: just all things, I can hang with them, then it's fine.
Speaker 5: And it's weird to think that because she's my little sister,
Speaker 5: but I do feel like just gives me like the
Speaker 5: utmost support and love and I feel like she wouldn't
Speaker 5: judge me if I had a bad day because she
Speaker 5: knows and she gets it. So I think coming here,
Speaker 5: like I've had to grow my own confidence a lot
Speaker 5: from like my own myself, because it's not gonna come
Speaker 5: always for my teammates or like for my sister because
Speaker 5: she's not here. So I think that is also something
Speaker 5: that I'm working on and continuing to be better at.
Speaker 5: But I think I've always been able, Like since the
Speaker 5: last few years, just telling myself that no one's you
Speaker 5: has helped me a lot.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I love that.
Speaker 1: I love that it's your younger sister, like you mentioned,
Speaker 1: because there's a lot of great research into young people.
Speaker 1: All they really need is one adult who believes in them,
Speaker 1: who's paying attention, who's encouraging them. But I love that
Speaker 1: for you that could also just be a friend slash sister,
Speaker 1: slash teammate. How important do you think it is for parents, coaches, teammates, mentors,
Speaker 1: all of those people to be supportive and create an
Speaker 1: environment where a young person can want to stay in
Speaker 1: the game. How much do you think that impacts like girls'
Speaker 1: decisions to stay in sports or not.
Speaker 5: I think it impacts a lot I think personally some
Speaker 5: people are really driven by themselves and are able to
Speaker 5: like block out all the noise. But I think growing
Speaker 5: up being younger, like you want to hear people are
Speaker 5: validating you, especially like coaches and parents to know that
Speaker 5: you're like kind of doing the right thing because this
Speaker 5: is your first time like doing I don't know any
Speaker 5: sport and stuff like that. So I think it's super
Speaker 5: helpful for parents, teachers, coaches to uplift like the younger
Speaker 5: people around them and be able to help them learn
Speaker 5: in that way. I think that has helped me a lot,
Speaker 5: just getting confidence from the people around me.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I want to do a quick speed round about your
Speaker 1: experience across the pond.
Speaker 2: So what's your favorite British food?
Speaker 1: Oh?
Speaker 5: I haven't tried many British foods to be honest. Oh actually, okay,
Speaker 5: my favorite British food is Weeda bix. It's like a
Speaker 5: cereal and I have it every morning. It's really good.
Speaker 1: Is that the one in ted Lasso where it's just
Speaker 1: one giant square?
Speaker 2: Yeah it is.
Speaker 1: And then you put the milk in it like dissolves
Speaker 1: or how do you eat it? Yeah?
Speaker 4: I make it like kind of like an oatmeal.
Speaker 5: I put like protein powder in it and like honey cinnamon,
Speaker 5: I make it good.
Speaker 4: It's good.
Speaker 1: I mean, you're really like living the ted lass of life.
Speaker 1: You just round in London and now you're like all comfortable.
Speaker 1: What's your least favorite British food? Has anyone made you
Speaker 1: try something that you're like, yeah, I'm not into that.
Speaker 5: Well, I'm not a big beans person, so I'm not
Speaker 5: going to try beans on toast. I just feel like,
Speaker 5: see even seeing it sometimes in the morning, I'm like,
Speaker 5: oh wow, yeah, that's a lot of tough, but they
Speaker 5: really love it beans on toast.
Speaker 2: What's your favorite British slang?
Speaker 4: Mmm?
Speaker 5: I like in it a lot, or like they say
Speaker 5: like mad before things. I just I love their accents,
Speaker 5: like it's my favorite thing I think about being the Yeah,
Speaker 5: me too.
Speaker 2: I love a British accent.
Speaker 1: I also learned very recently that when people from England
Speaker 1: say quite, they mean not really yeah, And when we
Speaker 1: say quite in America we mean like more like, oh,
Speaker 1: it's quite good means it's really good. And in Britain
Speaker 1: when they say it's quite good, it means it's like
Speaker 1: it's a it's okay, it's all right, yeah, yeah, that's
Speaker 1: like totally different. Are you finding that you accidentally say
Speaker 1: words with a British accent sometimes? Like you know, people
Speaker 1: go to the South and all of a sudden they're
Speaker 1: like saying y'all all the time.
Speaker 5: No, I wish honestly, like I want to start talking
Speaker 5: like them, so hopefully.
Speaker 1: Soon don't do it. We are the old olds like me.
Speaker 1: Remember when Madonna started dating a British guy and suddenly
Speaker 1: had an accident. We were like, that's not how it works.
Speaker 1: Like you're not from England. Now, what's your favorite place
Speaker 1: to shop when you're in town in London?
Speaker 5: Uh?
Speaker 4: Selfridges? Oh it's like what do you get there in store?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 4: It has everything so good.
Speaker 1: Okay, what's the biggest culture shock adjusting to living in England?
Speaker 5: I I never like had to hang my clothes so
Speaker 5: like when I always did washer like there. My apartment
Speaker 5: only has a washer dryer, so it's like annoying to
Speaker 5: because it shrinks all my stuff.
Speaker 4: So now I hang up my clothes.
Speaker 1: Oh, it like drives automatically as part of the cycle.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's like a washer dry Yeah.
Speaker 1: That's no good. No, then you can't take out the
Speaker 1: ones that you don't want to dry exactly, Okay, okay,
Speaker 1: And then I think you probably would have to say
Speaker 1: driving on the other side, based on what I read
Speaker 1: about you hitting a lot of curbs.
Speaker 4: I honestly am so much. I like it.
Speaker 5: Driving feels normal now like it doesn't good Like, Yeah,
Speaker 5: I don't hit a lot of curbs anymore.
Speaker 1: And then, other than your sister and your family, what's
Speaker 1: the thing you missed most about living in the US.
Speaker 5: The thing is most about like being in la is
Speaker 5: the beach, Yeah, in the sunset.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a good one.
Speaker 1: Well, we're excited to see all your success in Chelsea
Speaker 1: and really excited for the US women's national team to
Speaker 1: get going again ahead of the World Cup.
Speaker 2: So thanks so much forgiving us sometime.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Thanks to Alisa for taking the time In't
Speaker 1: It and Don't Forget? You can now watch full length
Speaker 1: good game interviews on the iHeart.
Speaker 2: Women's Sports YouTube channel.
Speaker 1: We got to take another break when we return. A
Speaker 1: reminder that in both life and podcasting, voting only works
Speaker 1: if you get the ballot.
Speaker 2: In on time. Welcome back slices.
Speaker 1: We love that you're listening, but we want you to
Speaker 1: get in the game every day too, so here's our
Speaker 1: good game play of the day. Keep sending us your
Speaker 1: responses to our Epicenter of Women's Sports convo.
Speaker 2: We've loved hearing what you thought.
Speaker 1: For those of you who missed it, we laid out
Speaker 1: the case for a bunch of US cities, with Alex
Speaker 1: ultimately voting for the Bay Area and Biank and I
Speaker 1: opting for Portland, Oregon, US, making Portland the de facto
Speaker 1: and democratically selected good game winner for the Epicenter of
Speaker 1: Women's Sports in the US. Now, we've already heard a
Speaker 1: bunch of you, including several who were pumped about Portland's win,
Speaker 1: like Corina LeBlanc, former Profooty player and Thorn's GM now
Speaker 1: executive VP of Strategic Growth Development for RASH Sports, which
Speaker 1: owns the Portland Thorns and Portland Fire, and the host
Speaker 1: of the aptly named Epicenter of Women's Sports podcast, so
Speaker 1: you know she was on board with our pick. We
Speaker 1: also heard from Slice Michelle, who called in to share
Speaker 1: her excitement about Portland winning.
Speaker 3: I am hooting and hollering after listening to the Epicenter
Speaker 3: of Women's Sports episode as I drive through the beautiful
Speaker 3: city of Portland and still so thrilled to hear that
Speaker 3: we were chosen as the good game winner at least
Speaker 3: for this year. You guys hit the nail in the head.
Speaker 3: There's so much here.
Speaker 6: That to offer for women's sports.
Speaker 3: There are a few things, though, that you.
Speaker 7: Guys did not mention, which includes the two timetional championship
Speaker 7: winning University of Portland Pilots, which is the collegiate home
Speaker 7: to many soccer grades like Shannon McMillan, Tipney milbrit Meagan Rapino.
Speaker 6: And Christine Sinclair. And of course you can't forget our
Speaker 6: brand new shiny USL team, the Portland cherry Bombs, and
Speaker 6: so everything here is literally coming up roses in the
Speaker 6: Rose City when it comes to women's sports.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, Michelle, thank you for that.
Speaker 1: And also, how did I not even mention the Portland
Speaker 1: Cherry Bombs when I was talking about all my enthusiasm
Speaker 1: for the city of Portland. Regular listeners will know that
Speaker 1: I am deeply obsessed with that team in all of
Speaker 1: its march and their mascot.
Speaker 2: So thanks for the reminder.
Speaker 1: We also got a few late stump speeches for cities,
Speaker 1: like this one from Gina Kennedy, who wrote, in quote,
Speaker 1: my too late. Vote for women's sports epicenter is the
Speaker 1: Twin Cities because of all the things you listed. Plus
Speaker 1: we have the champion Minnesota Vixen women's professional football team,
Speaker 1: which is the longest continuously operating women's tackle football team,
Speaker 1: established nineteen nine nine. And we have Wham, a huge
Speaker 1: multi division women's hockey league that welcomes beginners through former
Speaker 1: college players and includes two senior levels. Port Landing's are
Speaker 1: pretty awesome too, though, end quote.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Gina.
Speaker 1: Yes, the Twin Cities was definitely in the mix, and
Speaker 1: those things just add to its magic splendor, but it
Speaker 1: did not win. Speaking of stump speeches out in Arizona,
Speaker 1: Sarah Mensch was happy to hear Phoenix included, and her
Speaker 1: voicemail on the show last week, she wrote, Big Citrus,
Speaker 1: thank you so much for featuring my case for Phoenix
Speaker 1: as the epicenter of women's sports today. So happy to
Speaker 1: rep my city and provide some laughs and fodder for
Speaker 1: good game, and she incorporated an image of herself that
Speaker 1: said Mensh for Mayor of Phoenix Women's Sports and wrote note,
Speaker 1: I know we're not supportive of AI good game, but
Speaker 1: I'm not the world's greatest graphic designer and.
Speaker 2: I needed some help, so I hope you'll excuse me
Speaker 2: for this. Thanks again.
Speaker 1: And since my day job is strategic communications and I
Speaker 1: used to be the comms director for the mayor of
Speaker 1: Phoenix and worked in politics, it was nice to be
Speaker 1: reminded that I am indeed pretty good at it.
Speaker 2: End quote.
Speaker 1: Seriously, Sarah, I did not know any of that about you,
Speaker 1: and after your voicemail you heard me instantly be like
Speaker 1: Sarah for may or, Sarah for president, So you got.
Speaker 2: Those stump speeches down.
Speaker 1: We also heard from a few slices who wondered why
Speaker 1: their city wasn't in the conversation. La Atlanta, DC area
Speaker 1: folks especially were irked that the nation's capital city didn't
Speaker 1: feature in our discussion, but we did say right in
Speaker 1: the show guys that we were only going to discuss
Speaker 1: cities that got votes, and given that we didn't get
Speaker 1: any nominations for DC prior to our selection show, it's
Speaker 1: kind of like asking for a recount when your name
Speaker 1: wasn't on the ballot in the first place, So there's
Speaker 1: always next time. The epicenter is a moving target, not
Speaker 1: a fixed destination, so maybe in a few years the
Speaker 1: nominations and the final vote will change. In fact, Slice,
Speaker 1: Scretch and Test might have put us onto the city
Speaker 1: looking to battle for the spot in a few years,
Speaker 1: because she forwarded an article from Philadelphia Magazine claiming that
Speaker 1: Philadelphians are convinced the city is about to become you
Speaker 1: guessed it, quote America's epicenter of professional women's sports. Honestly,
Speaker 1: we love how you biquitous that phrase has become. It
Speaker 1: just signals how valuable it is now to be a
Speaker 1: hub for women's sports, and it reveals how many cities
Speaker 1: are battling to be the best. And we all know
Speaker 1: competition is key to growth and investment, So the more
Speaker 1: the merrier when it comes to contenders for the Epicenter
Speaker 1: of women's sports. We always love to hear from you,
Speaker 1: so hit us up on email good game at wondermediaetwork
Speaker 1: dot com, or leave us a voicemail at eight seven
Speaker 1: two two oh four fifty seventy and don't forget to subscribe,
Speaker 1: Rate and review, y'all.
Speaker 2: It's easy.
Speaker 1: Watch Birthday Bucks rating two of two good causes review
Speaker 1: Thank you for the gift of questions in honor of
Speaker 1: our birthday episode airing tomorrow you'll hear them, and they
Speaker 1: were the best present to get. But I do have
Speaker 1: one more ask. If you feel so inclined, I'd love
Speaker 1: it if you donated today's coffee money or a little
Speaker 1: bit more to one of two great orgs supporting trans folks.
Speaker 1: It's been a tough stretch of late, only made worse
Speaker 1: by the ridiculous Sophie Cunningham driven news cycle in the
Speaker 1: w and a little bit of feel good could go
Speaker 1: a long way, especially for the folks working hard to
Speaker 1: fight anti trans laws and support our trans friends. Advocates
Speaker 1: for Trans Equality and athlete Ally, which you remember as
Speaker 1: founded by friend of the show Hudson Taylor, are two
Speaker 1: great places you can support right now. We'll put links
Speaker 1: to both of them in the show notes. These days,
Speaker 1: I've been especially into giving back on the day you're
Speaker 1: usually receiving, and even more so after reading a post
Speaker 1: by poet Megan Fally last week in honor of what
Speaker 1: would have been her spouse Andrea Gibson's fiftieth birthday. Fali wrote, quote,
Speaker 1: last year, on your birthday, all you wanted to do
Speaker 1: was take me shopping. I didn't understand it first, but
Speaker 1: somewhere between the dressing room and the mirror.
Speaker 2: I caught you.
Speaker 1: Watching me, not the close, not how they fit, just
Speaker 1: me smiling without thinking about it. That was what you
Speaker 1: were after shopping for my smile? Is that what birthdays
Speaker 1: become when you know you're running out of them? Not
Speaker 1: about what you get, but about what you give away
Speaker 1: before you go?
Speaker 2: End quote. I love that.
Speaker 1: Let's keep giving things away before we go. Now it's
Speaker 1: your turn, y'all, Rate and review, Thanks for listening, See
Speaker 1: you tomorrow. Good game, Melissa, Good game, and welcome back,
Speaker 1: Sidney LaRue you how far I have to scroll down
Speaker 1: on website menus to get to my birth year. Good
Speaker 1: Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports production
Speaker 1: in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can
Speaker 1: find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
Speaker 1: you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network, our
Speaker 1: producers are.
Speaker 2: Alex Azzi and Bianca Hillier.
Speaker 1: Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan
Speaker 1: and Emily Rudder. Our editors are Emily Rutter, Lucy Jones,
Speaker 1: Britney Martinez, and Gianna Palmer. Production assistants from Avery LOFTUS
Speaker 1: and I'm your host, Sarah Spain