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Speaker 1: Long Shot is a production of McClatchy Studios and I

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Speaker 1: Heeart Radio. Previously on Payback. Jessica's mom throughout high school

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Speaker 1: would get letters of intent from all of these schools,

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Speaker 1: and my mom always kept them. She taught me sacrifice.

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Speaker 1: She sacrificed not going to college for me. Essentially, I

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Speaker 1: did like five years when I was off in I

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Speaker 1: was missing my keys, and you know, I watched my

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Speaker 1: mom get a views a lot, and then she would

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Speaker 1: reciprocate that on me. Thank God for sport. That was

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Speaker 1: my escape. They were just going to run one lap

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Speaker 1: around the track and Jessica just left the pack. She

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Speaker 1: happened to be at soccer field one day and she

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Speaker 1: was just smashing balls into the KNT. It's the spring

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Speaker 1: and producer caught to Stevens and I were entering a

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Speaker 1: small stucco house in Glendale, Arizona. It's not that different

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Speaker 1: from the other Adobe style homes in the New brohood.

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Speaker 1: It has a terra cotta colored roof and characteristics of

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Speaker 1: traditional Southwestern architecture. A pair of large shrubs sits at

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Speaker 1: the top of the walkway, and the grass that frames

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Speaker 1: the short driveway in the sidewalk is brown, dehydrated, and patchy.

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Speaker 1: It's nothing particularly noteworthy from the exterior, but that's not

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Speaker 1: the case once you go inside. Thank you for having us.

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Speaker 1: I'm Alice, okay, so I was the one you talked

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Speaker 1: to you on the phone earlier. This is for Jessica McDonald.

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Speaker 1: This house was a refuge during her teenage years when

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Speaker 1: being at home was untenable. Sometimes it was a good option,

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Speaker 1: other times it was the only option, but it was

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Speaker 1: always here when jess needed it. This is the home

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Speaker 1: of Abby McDonald, Jesse's maternal grandmother. Thank you guys for coming.

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Speaker 1: This is a great day because you got a game

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Speaker 1: coming out. Did you play a sacca? I played volleyball

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Speaker 1: growing up. Kevin McDonald, Jesse's uncle, brought us here. The

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Speaker 1: soccer match on the big screen TV in the living

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Speaker 1: room is a testament to Abby's love of the game.

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Speaker 1: But the thing you can't miss are the photos and

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Speaker 1: her love for her family. Nearly every square inch of

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Speaker 1: her home, living room, kitchen, bedroom is covered in family pictures.

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Speaker 1: This me and my kid. Who's h this is me?

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Speaker 1: This is uh so the rain, Dammy Stephanie, Tracy, Laurie

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Speaker 1: Michael In this Kevin Kevin moved into this home to

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Speaker 1: help take care of Abby after she suffered a stroke.

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Speaker 1: Soccer is a big thing, so we always make sure

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Speaker 1: we catch every game. We just want her to be

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Speaker 1: as comfortable as possible because she did so much for everybody.

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Speaker 1: You know, above and beyond what any parent should do,

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Speaker 1: and sometimes what any grandparents should do. But as Abby

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Speaker 1: sees it, she's always done exactly what was needed to

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Speaker 1: help her family. When I gotta call that Tracy her

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Speaker 1: bar free and and what we're going on in the department,

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Speaker 1: I'm knocked on that door boom as to give me

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Speaker 1: Jess out of there. I browed to my house as

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Speaker 1: you have. Free from the Charlotte Observer, Raleigh News and Observer,

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Speaker 1: McClatchy Studios, and I Heart Radio. This is Payback. I'm

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Speaker 1: Alexandrea and this is part three. The Safe Place. We

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Speaker 1: are at Cactus High School. Kevin met us here and

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Speaker 1: that's Justica's uncle who's been facilitating. He's kind of talking

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Speaker 1: to someone right now to hopefully let us in the

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Speaker 1: gym to walk around and see some of Justice's old

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Speaker 1: trophies and banners that are up Cactus High School on

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Speaker 1: the north side of Glendale is known for sports. Since

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Speaker 1: it opened in the late seventies, the Cobras have produced

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Speaker 1: roughly a dozen professional athletes across baseball, football, and soccer.

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Speaker 1: My daughter went here, actually she played basketball here. She

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Speaker 1: actually made party as a freshman, so that was a

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Speaker 1: good thing. And few families in Glendale played sports at

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Speaker 1: a level like the McDonald's. Were you here, Yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 1: I think I came her junior senior year. So I

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Speaker 1: was a teacher back in the day, so I didn't

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Speaker 1: have her any classes or anything. But remember she played basketball,

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Speaker 1: and the whole family's like legendary. So as soon as

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Speaker 1: you said the last name, I'm like, whatever, you need

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Speaker 1: to committed what you want. So this is David Saraphin,

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Speaker 1: the assistant principal at Cactus. Sara Fin agreed to show

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Speaker 1: us around the school, and any tour of Cactus High

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Speaker 1: starts with the sports trophy case. Yeah, so I think

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Speaker 1: she was for the two thousand four championship, so I

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Speaker 1: think her pictures there. There's her trophy, right, is that? Yeah?

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Speaker 1: It's also the carpets, the walls. Everything inside the school

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Speaker 1: looks square and modern and gray or beige, except for

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Speaker 1: the accents and a color known as Columbia blue. It's

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Speaker 1: the same color I war as a volleyball player in college.

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Speaker 1: I'm here in the desert. It might as well be

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Speaker 1: me on jem too. Got the hardwood floors, Yeah, help

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Speaker 1: the pictures up at the athletes. Sarafin told us that

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Speaker 1: today Cactus High has about dred students, but that it

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Speaker 1: used to be larger back when jess and her half

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Speaker 1: brother Brandon attended the school, and their cousins before them,

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Speaker 1: and their parents before that. It seems the past few

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Speaker 1: years are pretty much the first ones when there hasn't

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Speaker 1: been a McDonald at the school. Their sturdy six state

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Speaker 1: championships in there, and the McDonald family was a part

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Speaker 1: of a lot of those. Just a very legendary on

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Speaker 1: our campus. The entire family and especially Jessica. Features still

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Speaker 1: follow her story and there was a lot of interest

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Speaker 1: in the soccer after what she was able to accomplish.

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Speaker 1: Paraffin led us to the school bookstore and their yearbook

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Speaker 1: archive there. If you want to grab her here, let's

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Speaker 1: see if we can find her two thousand five or seniors. Ah,

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Speaker 1: that is a very classic looking tank, little necklace, the

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Speaker 1: short hair she has, I know what's the exact same

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Speaker 1: jess letters and track, basketball and volleyball for the Lady Cobras.

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Speaker 1: Her accomplishments spoke for themselves, but they're in those yearbooks.

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Speaker 1: We caught glimpses of young Jesse's personality. Jessica McDonald of

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Speaker 1: the hip Hop Club, but some serious moves at the

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Speaker 1: homecoming assembly. Hip hop Club. That's a new one. She's

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Speaker 1: gonna have a lot of pictures of her clowning around

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Speaker 1: because she is a big goofball. Kevin McDonald told us

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Speaker 1: that despite everything going on in her home, jess was

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Speaker 1: widely regarded by her teachers as a bit of a

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Speaker 1: class clown. Jessica likes a lot of R and B

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Speaker 1: and hip hop music. She has a another side to

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Speaker 1: her that the old Nirvana and stuff like that. She

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Speaker 1: loved that kind of stuff, but mostly R and B.

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Speaker 1: You put a good hip hop song, and like I said,

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Speaker 1: she was stopping traffic to make sure she's dancing correctly

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Speaker 1: to the music. You know, she's always trying to have

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Speaker 1: maximum fun. That's what I would always call her, maximum fun.

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Speaker 1: She was just one of the you know, sweetest kids

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Speaker 1: I ever coach here. Knew she was just a really

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Speaker 1: nice kid, great person to having class. Mark Ryan was

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Speaker 1: just as junior English teacher at Cactus saraph and spontaneously

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Speaker 1: called him on his cell phone, A'll be towards the school,

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Speaker 1: and then he handed us the phone. But I until

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Speaker 1: I saw her on the basketball court, I'd never really

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Speaker 1: give that my tend. It was just kind of a

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Speaker 1: wow experience immediately. Ryan was also an assistant coach on

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Speaker 1: her basketball team, and jess helped lead them to to

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Speaker 1: state titles in two thousand four. In two thousand six,

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Speaker 1: we would do tend suicide and they kind of did

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Speaker 1: it their own taste, and she'd be finished while everybody

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Speaker 1: else about like on their fifth or sixth long. Honestly,

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Speaker 1: she is the best you know after I've ever seen

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Speaker 1: in person. Key Well, you've got to have one key player.

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Speaker 1: That key player is Jessica McDonald. While everybody else was

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Speaker 1: still running, she'd start doing push ups. One of the

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Speaker 1: best athletes in the state, definitely the best athlete on

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Speaker 1: the floor today. Is a very legendary on our campus,

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Speaker 1: the entire family and especially Jessica. You want She's at

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Speaker 1: the state record for the four hundred and her first

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Speaker 1: year ever running track I'm noted that Jessica is who

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Speaker 1: she is. I'm like she'd beat boys and girls too much.

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Speaker 1: Mad the Cores have reclaimed the state championship. It was

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Speaker 1: it was kind of nuts. She was just incredible to watch,

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Speaker 1: and yet for all her athletic success, that Cactus High.

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Speaker 1: It was the sport Jess played elsewhere that offered her

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Speaker 1: a way out of Glendale and a woman who had

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Speaker 1: never played sports herself who showed her it was possible.

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Speaker 1: More on that after the break four to one, that's

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Speaker 1: got to be it. Yeah, because this is Kevin's track.

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Speaker 1: Okay good. Jess McDonald's parents may argue over where she

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Speaker 1: got her athletic talent, but Jess told us there's no

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Speaker 1: question where she got her grit. Okay you for having

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Speaker 1: us my grandmother. She grew up in Alabama and they're

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Speaker 1: easy boards and good piece. She's gone through way more

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Speaker 1: than I can possibly imagine. This picture appear the big,

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Speaker 1: the big African art picture having McDonald is eighty four

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Speaker 1: years old. Now. She's a petite woman and sat in

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Speaker 1: a wheelchair when we met her at home a few

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Speaker 1: years back. A stroke cost her some of her mobility

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Speaker 1: and her speech is no longer as clear as it

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Speaker 1: once was. Yeah about it about forty years ago, But

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Speaker 1: her physical ailments are easy to forget, offset by her

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Speaker 1: frequent animated laughter, So everything in is like me. Abby

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Speaker 1: graduated from an all black high school in Alexander City, Alabama,

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Speaker 1: in the nineteen fifties. She did her part for gender

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Speaker 1: equality as well and listening in the Air Force as

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Speaker 1: part of her program that had grown during the Korean

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Speaker 1: War All Roder Air Force F six three Your Pure

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Speaker 1: to Land. The women in the Air Force were known

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Speaker 1: as Laughs and were celebrated in recruiting videos like this

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Speaker 1: one from Ninette. Now over here in the field of

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Speaker 1: Air Force communications are newly created wafts specialists who send

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Speaker 1: messages over a worldwide network by push button teletype. Abby

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Speaker 1: was sent up state New York for training on how

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Speaker 1: to use those teletype machines. Though she told us she

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Speaker 1: was one of only two black students in the class

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Speaker 1: and that our instructor expected her to fail, So she

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Speaker 1: responded the only way she knew how and made hask

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Speaker 1: Going the class. He got up in front of the

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Speaker 1: person at the oh we're gonna phase out made the

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Speaker 1: last grade in here, and he was upset he didn't

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Speaker 1: know me. I'm a worker and I can do anything.

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Speaker 1: Abby was cunning in the classroom, but other wives experienced

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Speaker 1: her sharp tongue whenever they got on her bad side,

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Speaker 1: Like one woman who Abby's does called her the un

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Speaker 1: word to her face. I looked at that. So what

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Speaker 1: did you say? As it bids you don't lost your mind?

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna ring your name the grandma shoot back, big Abby, Yeah,

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Speaker 1: you don't hold back. Nope, punch just as father Vince

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Speaker 1: meires Vince math big gott be right. Around the time

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Speaker 1: he and Tracy got pregnant, we had a rough door

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Speaker 1: s I no, you don't buck. As the years went on,

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Speaker 1: I gotta like being Abby. She talked about people right

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Speaker 1: there in fun they face, I'll be we let me

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Speaker 1: ease down here. Here's so we're gonna be fighting up

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Speaker 1: over here. She cool, she fell like it, Eve, I

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Speaker 1: like Abby told us that her relationship with Jesse's mother, Tracy,

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Speaker 1: was often tempestuous. When Tracy was a teenager, Abby thought

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Speaker 1: her rebelliousness was becoming recklessness. During Jesse's childhood and home

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Speaker 1: full of abuse and neglect, Jesse's grandmother became the one

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Speaker 1: person she could rely on as well. She knew things

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Speaker 1: that was happening with my mom. She didn't necessarily know

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Speaker 1: my mom's attitude towards me. She just knew like there

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Speaker 1: were times I needed help, that was it. Whatever was

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Speaker 1: just said to her, that was it. And she was

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Speaker 1: there for me a lot throughout my life. Like without

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Speaker 1: my grandmother, I wouldn't be where I am today. I

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Speaker 1: just wouldn't. She's definitely the backbone of the family. Abby

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Speaker 1: remembers one night in particular, and the terrified phone call

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Speaker 1: she received saying Tracy and her boyfriend were fighting and

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Speaker 1: Jesse needed help. Abby told me she raced over to

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Speaker 1: Jesse's home and slammed on the door when I got

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Speaker 1: a call that Tracy her bar freend and what were

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Speaker 1: going on in the department. I didn't even put on

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Speaker 1: my globe. I just put on my robe, put I'm

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Speaker 1: made some shoes and went there and knocked on that door.

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Speaker 1: I didn't knock our bawn boom boom has to give

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Speaker 1: me Jessic out of there and about desk the my

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Speaker 1: house because in my house is peace. They ain't on

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Speaker 1: that boo. I brought to my house as you're free,

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Speaker 1: kids don't have no reading to suffer. If we could

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Speaker 1: pick our pants, we will. We would be everything in

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Speaker 1: the world if we could choose them. But we don't

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Speaker 1: choose that. Parents, dog it. We can't just became a regular.

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Speaker 1: That be's home. In the following years, spending a few

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Speaker 1: days here, a few nights there, when it became clear

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Speaker 1: that Tracy wouldn't be a ton in Jessice games. Growing up,

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Speaker 1: Abby did so when she could. Sports were never Abby's calling,

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Speaker 1: but Jess, as her grandmother, taught her other lessons that

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Speaker 1: were valuable on the field, and that was particularly true

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Speaker 1: in a Phoenix suburb or Jess was always one of

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Speaker 1: the few black students in her class, and often the

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Speaker 1: only black player in the game, so I really didn't understand,

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Speaker 1: like we knew we were black. And she would always mention,

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Speaker 1: you know, you're the only black kid out there, the

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Speaker 1: only black kid at this tournament, and you can't react

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Speaker 1: the way people are expecting you to react. If something happens, Oh,

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Speaker 1: you're gonna call me this to my face in the field,

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Speaker 1: and my grandmother be like, you shut her up with

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Speaker 1: your actions, You shut her up with your skill, you

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Speaker 1: shut her up with you know, your soccer intelligence. As

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Speaker 1: what is your name? What is your name? Let's call

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Speaker 1: that to you. Only thing they do and they want

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Speaker 1: you to get kicked out of game because you better

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Speaker 1: play than what they are and don't fall in that trap.

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Speaker 1: You know, we were taught that racism was going to exist.

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Speaker 1: There's just something to expect because we were the only

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Speaker 1: black kids growing up and so we had to carry

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Speaker 1: ourselves in a different manner than any other kid out there.

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Speaker 1: If I would have gone into the same tackles and

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Speaker 1: curse the ref out the way. You know my teammate

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Speaker 1: has who's white, I'd probably have a red card because

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Speaker 1: of my skin color. I told her, don't let nobody

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Speaker 1: steal your joy, and I'm saying that to vote for you.

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Speaker 1: Don't let nobody's do your joy. Okay, keep it in man.

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Speaker 1: And when I say you're gonna win, you're gonna win.

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Speaker 1: Keep it in man. And with Abbey in her corner,

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Speaker 1: just found that joy with the Sereno Soccer Club. This

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Speaker 1: is the weightlifting that's less Armstrong showing us around the

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Speaker 1: Victoria north of Phoenix, a complex where elite soccer stars

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Speaker 1: in their early years on their raw talents. Arms Strong

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Speaker 1: was the director of this Reno Soccer Club. This place

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Speaker 1: is massive. It's you know, I mean, I'm not sure

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Speaker 1: if you know that Arizona well, but this is right

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Speaker 1: in the middle of everything, in a state full of deserts,

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Speaker 1: being in the middle of everything can feel like the

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Speaker 1: middle of nowhere. But that's also a great place to

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Speaker 1: build a destination training center. With almost seventeen thousand square

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Speaker 1: feet of court space, bleachers, state of the art locker rooms,

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Speaker 1: medical staff, and more. They have building all these soccer

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Speaker 1: fields on this side here, amazing fields. I'm sure of

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Speaker 1: duck quality. If Jess were coming up through the system now,

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Speaker 1: this is likely where she would train even as a professional.

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Speaker 1: It's an option when she comes back to Arizona. When

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Speaker 1: I initially watched her play, she was terrible. I mean,

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Speaker 1: her first touch was terrible. The ball would bounce off

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Speaker 1: of her legs and you know, but she was so

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Speaker 1: fast she could catch anything, and the end of mistake

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Speaker 1: she made she was able to make up for. Without

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Speaker 1: athletic ability, Multiple female athletes who went on to play

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Speaker 1: in the World Cup also play it at Serena, including

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Speaker 1: Sidney LaRue and Julie Arts for the US team. In

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Speaker 1: Adriana Romero for Mexico how a game and boots so

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Speaker 1: much a year after year or she got a little

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Speaker 1: bit better and a little bit better and a little

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Speaker 1: bit better, and thought she was one of the ones

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Speaker 1: like she would see it to the rest of stop

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Speaker 1: whine and let's get home with it. I can't ever

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Speaker 1: remember having to reprimand Jess about anything talking box. She

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Speaker 1: was an extremely polite kid. I know she had a

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Speaker 1: very strict grandma. Um, she would be the one that

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Speaker 1: would be maybe complaining about stuff. Jess ultimately played for

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Speaker 1: Serena for seven years outside of Cactus High, she would

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Speaker 1: become a soccer star. I was just very grateful to

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Speaker 1: obviously join such a great team and great coaching staff

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Speaker 1: as well. Here's Jess and I was like, all right,

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Speaker 1: this this has got to be my primary sport now.

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Speaker 1: Now I see what Brandon has been going through and

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Speaker 1: why he feels the way he feels about the sport.

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Speaker 1: It seems clear that the stability and guidance Jess received

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Speaker 1: on the field had ripple effects off of it. That

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Speaker 1: was something of a theme we discovered in Jessic's life

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Speaker 1: and a dynamic that often unfolds for athletes from disadvantaged backgrounds.

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Speaker 1: What we do know from the child development literature is

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Speaker 1: that for those youth that do not have a stable, loving,

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Speaker 1: caring adult in their own household, those needs are not

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Speaker 1: being met. Nicole Lavoy is the director of the Tucker

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Speaker 1: Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sport at

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Speaker 1: the University of Minnesota. Over the past thirty years, the

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Speaker 1: Tucker Center has led research, education, and advocacy for girls

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Speaker 1: and women in sport. They often will seek another non

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Speaker 1: familial significant other in their lives that can provide that stability,

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Speaker 1: and many times that person is a coach. Having someone

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Speaker 1: feel cared about, valued, seen, heard that is immensely important

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Speaker 1: to the development of youth because we know that when

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Speaker 1: youth have one positive of carrying significant adult in their life,

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Speaker 1: it can buffer the toxicity and neglect and abused experienced

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Speaker 1: in other parts of their life. Thanks to the structure

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Speaker 1: and guidance at Sereno and support from her grandmother, That's

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Speaker 1: truly came into her own On the field. Whereas other

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Speaker 1: players had a tendency to try different positions, Jess only

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Speaker 1: had one striker. She went straight to the goal all

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Speaker 1: the time. Individual statistics weren't really kept for Justice Club teams.

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Speaker 1: But we know she helped Serena win the state title

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Speaker 1: every year she played for them. Grandma was a little

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Speaker 1: bit overly exuberant, let's see, in the sidelines, and she

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Speaker 1: was just probably less armstrong. Again, all the men were

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Speaker 1: afraid of them. She wouldn't take any crop from them.

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Speaker 1: So it was good, you know, because it kept them

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Speaker 1: shut up. You know, I just thought it was funny.

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Speaker 1: But playing a club sport for a club the caliber

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Speaker 1: of Sereno is expensive. With team fees and offseason camps

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Speaker 1: and field maintenance and coaches salaries and uniforms and more

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Speaker 1: are playing club soccer can cost more than a few

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Speaker 1: thousand dollars a year. Jess told us her family couldn't

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Speaker 1: afford that for one child, much less for Jess and Brandon. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: club soccer is very expective. We couldn't afford that. My

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Speaker 1: brother and I. We didn't pay a single scent for soccer.

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Speaker 1: Our club paid for us. It was like a scholarship.

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Speaker 1: They paid for us to play, and so did other

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Speaker 1: parents who were part of our teams. You know. The

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Speaker 1: only thing we paid for release, you know, and shin guard,

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Speaker 1: and that's it. We reached out through Armstrong to the

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Speaker 1: families that helped Jess and her brother financially. They declined

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Speaker 1: to participate in this podcast, so we don't know if

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Speaker 1: their reasons were purely altruistic or perhaps because having Jess

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Speaker 1: on the field their own daughters look better, but Armstrong

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Speaker 1: said that they were happy to support the McDonald's. The

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Speaker 1: thing about Jess was nopody resented anything because she was

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Speaker 1: such a good teammate to such a wonderful kid, you know,

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Speaker 1: nice to everybody. Even though she got many many accolades,

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Speaker 1: she never you wouldn't have known it by talking to her,

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Speaker 1: you know, just a humble kid. As the attention around

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Speaker 1: Jessice success at Serina grew, it wasn't long before college

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Speaker 1: coaches started coming to watch, including the one person who

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Speaker 1: may be most central to the history of women's soccer

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Speaker 1: in the United States and who would have a lasting

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Speaker 1: impact on Jess's life. It's the United States against Norway

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Speaker 1: for the first ever women's World Championship of Soccer. The

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Speaker 1: head coach of the USA, Anson Dora Anson Dorrance, coached

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Speaker 1: the U S women's national team to their first World championship.

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Speaker 1: In our ambition, what to get here? Our ambitions? To

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Speaker 1: win this thing, so frankly will be disappointed if we

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Speaker 1: don't come out the winner. Dorance earned that position through

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Speaker 1: his ongoing success at the University of North Carolina. Over

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Speaker 1: the past forty years in Chapel Hill, Dorance has won

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Speaker 1: twenty two national championships. I mean, you'd have to be

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Speaker 1: blamed to not see Jess McDonald. Every single coach in

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Speaker 1: the country wanted Jess McDonald. But Anson downs Is at

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Speaker 1: that time, he's God, you know. Less Armstrong told us

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Speaker 1: that over the years Florences are scruited multiple Sereno players.

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Speaker 1: There was some other schools obviously for how they would

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Speaker 1: have given do scholarships for Jess, you know, I mean

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Speaker 1: at that time, she was just that dominant you know,

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Speaker 1: at that time in the North Carolina was they will

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Speaker 1: win in national championships of the year. You know. Of

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Speaker 1: course they wanted to go down and so a Titan

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Speaker 1: of Soccer scheduled a recruiting visit to Glendale. But Jess

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Speaker 1: told us that on one of the most important days

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Speaker 1: of her life, everything almost fell apart. More on that

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Speaker 1: after the break on normal weekday mornings in the spring

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Speaker 1: of two thousand five, Jess drove herself here to Cactus

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Speaker 1: High School. It was her junior year and Jess had

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Speaker 1: a Nissan Ultima. Brandon had left her when he went

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Speaker 1: away to college in California. On normal days, she would

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Speaker 1: park and walk towards the big blue front door. The

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00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:55,680
Speaker 1: day Dorns came to town, it was not a normal day. Oh,

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Speaker 1: I woke up. I was super nervous because this is

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Speaker 1: my dream of school. It's in my dream school since

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00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:04,399
Speaker 1: I was a little girl. North Carolina Women's soccer is

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Speaker 1: arguably the greatest dynasty in all of college sports. But

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Speaker 1: because Jess came to soccer a bit later, she told

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Speaker 1: us her connection to the school became a bit different

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Speaker 1: Michael Jordan's. I grew up watching Michael Jordan's and you know,

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Speaker 1: he made tar Heel a thing. You know, he made

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00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:20,760
Speaker 1: it like the school you want to go to, the colors,

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Speaker 1: the environment, everything, And so as early as I can remember,

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Speaker 1: I've always wanted to be guitar hill. Lawrence told us

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Speaker 1: that even beyond her talent, Jess's determination stood out. She

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00:23:31,600 --> 00:23:34,320
Speaker 1: puts something on her shoulder that all right, I'm going

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Speaker 1: to prove myself today. Every coach loves that kind of

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00:23:37,080 --> 00:23:39,840
Speaker 1: player that just works and works and works and works

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00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:43,359
Speaker 1: and works. They always feel like they have something to prove.

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Speaker 1: For me, that was Jessica. Jess though college and Chapel

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00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:49,800
Speaker 1: Hill could be her escape aunts, and Lawrence was coming

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Speaker 1: to meet my mom. And mom this important day. Make

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Speaker 1: sure you calm my girl, launch break. This is when

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00:23:56,680 --> 00:23:59,200
Speaker 1: ans is going to be here. Like a parent has

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00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:01,760
Speaker 1: to be present. If a parent is not present, then

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00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:04,199
Speaker 1: it's like against like n c A A regulations. It

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00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:06,400
Speaker 1: was like, you know, a long list of rules here.

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Speaker 1: So I had to have parent guardian there, and she knew.

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Speaker 1: The recruiting process for us is usually a phone call

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Speaker 1: once a week. Durrance again. And so for me it

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00:24:19,040 --> 00:24:21,520
Speaker 1: was you know, whether I could get her on the phone,

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Speaker 1: and then when I didn't, I am speaking usually actually

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Speaker 1: to the grandmother, but originally it wasn't the grandmother, it

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Speaker 1: was the mother. So of course, you know, I'm thinking, oh, gosh, okay,

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Speaker 1: So she's bouncing between households growing up, and I get it.

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Speaker 1: I know why the grandmother's involved. It's just as sports

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Speaker 1: notoriety grew, it introduced a new and uncomfortable dynamic with

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Speaker 1: her mother. Tracy. Yeah, I remember at one point it

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Speaker 1: kind of made her feel uncomfortable, but she somewhat supported me.

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Speaker 1: She's like, oh, you're doing good, okay good, and that

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Speaker 1: was kind of it. It wasn't the kind of support

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Speaker 1: that people would expect from their parents. Teen motherhood had

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Speaker 1: caused Tracy McDonald to end her athletic career before it

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00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:07,600
Speaker 1: ever really began, and now Jess was on the verge

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00:25:07,600 --> 00:25:11,360
Speaker 1: of realizing the very success Tracy never did. Tracy did

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00:25:11,359 --> 00:25:15,720
Speaker 1: not respond to repeated interview requests for this podcast. I

431
00:25:15,800 --> 00:25:19,560
Speaker 1: can only recall I met a mom twice at games

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00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:23,239
Speaker 1: serena director less Armstrong again. She might have been at

433
00:25:23,240 --> 00:25:25,480
Speaker 1: more because I don't go over and you know, introduce

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00:25:25,560 --> 00:25:28,879
Speaker 1: myself to the parents. So I don't know why. You know,

435
00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:35,480
Speaker 1: never Rosked never inquired. I just maybe I shoot him.

436
00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:38,399
Speaker 1: The day of Jess's official big visit with Lawrence, she

437
00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:41,280
Speaker 1: says things at home with her mother were tense. Tracy

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00:25:41,320 --> 00:25:43,840
Speaker 1: also needed to use the car Brandon had left in Glendale,

439
00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:46,119
Speaker 1: so Jess told us her mom drove her to school.

440
00:25:46,960 --> 00:25:49,159
Speaker 1: I remember just reading her vibe and it just like

441
00:25:49,320 --> 00:25:51,040
Speaker 1: wasn't a good one. It was like, oh, this is

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00:25:51,760 --> 00:25:53,879
Speaker 1: this is the Tracy I'm getting today. Okay, Let'm not

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00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:56,520
Speaker 1: just even saying anything, you know, but like we're in

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00:25:56,560 --> 00:25:59,000
Speaker 1: the car, and then I finally just said something back

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00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:00,760
Speaker 1: to her. And I've never we're spoken back to my

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00:26:00,800 --> 00:26:02,880
Speaker 1: mom ever. I just let her just, you know, say

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00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:06,240
Speaker 1: these crazy things, these crazy things. And this day I

448
00:26:06,320 --> 00:26:09,320
Speaker 1: just about had it and I said something to her

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00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:11,600
Speaker 1: and she just punched me right in my mouth and

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00:26:11,680 --> 00:26:14,119
Speaker 1: she was like, you don't talk back to me. We

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00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:15,879
Speaker 1: pull up to my school. Here I am with this

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00:26:15,920 --> 00:26:18,800
Speaker 1: bloody lip. I'm like, I just started my day off

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00:26:18,840 --> 00:26:23,320
Speaker 1: like this. I'm over it. I just spent much of

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00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:26,280
Speaker 1: the morning fighting back tears. But even beyond the shock

455
00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:28,480
Speaker 1: of getting hit, she wasn't sure who would attend the

456
00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:31,760
Speaker 1: meeting with Dlorance. NC Double abor rules required a parent

457
00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:34,800
Speaker 1: were a guardian to be present, so she called one

458
00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:38,320
Speaker 1: of both and then they I think her and a

459
00:26:38,440 --> 00:26:41,840
Speaker 1: mom I got into it. So she called me up

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00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:45,200
Speaker 1: to the school and me to sack the coach. Jess

461
00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:47,399
Speaker 1: told us that the phone call asking her father and

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00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:50,480
Speaker 1: Smires to come to Cactus High it was about the

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00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:54,119
Speaker 1: first time she remembers asking him for anything. I founked

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00:26:54,119 --> 00:26:58,880
Speaker 1: out afterwards everything afterwards, you know, she told me, I beast,

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00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:01,560
Speaker 1: she got into a fight. I know. Oh, Mama, I

466
00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:05,600
Speaker 1: hate it. Just also called her grandmother. Abby told us

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00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:07,840
Speaker 1: she never knew the specifics of the incident in the car,

468
00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:10,680
Speaker 1: but when something goes wrong and a child is hurt,

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00:27:11,320 --> 00:27:13,960
Speaker 1: Abby has heard all she needs to. Did she ever

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00:27:14,040 --> 00:27:19,240
Speaker 1: talk to you about this? No, but I knew there

471
00:27:19,320 --> 00:27:22,720
Speaker 1: was something going on, and you don't need to know

472
00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:27,160
Speaker 1: the pacific But when Sam going around a child hurt,

473
00:27:27,320 --> 00:27:32,600
Speaker 1: you know it's bad and it's about about it. I'm

474
00:27:32,720 --> 00:27:35,399
Speaker 1: both Fence and Abby attended the meeting with Drance, but

475
00:27:35,480 --> 00:27:38,919
Speaker 1: Jess's mind was already miles away on the verge of

476
00:27:38,920 --> 00:27:41,520
Speaker 1: her dreams. All she could think about was the grim

477
00:27:41,520 --> 00:27:46,440
Speaker 1: reality of the altercation in the car. Why why did

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00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:49,600
Speaker 1: you do that? Are you kidding me? It was heartbreaking, man,

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00:27:49,640 --> 00:27:51,600
Speaker 1: It's like one of the most heartbreaking moments that I've

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00:27:51,600 --> 00:27:54,480
Speaker 1: ever had with my mom. And I ate that that

481
00:27:54,680 --> 00:27:56,560
Speaker 1: is still in my memory, but that's just the thing

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00:27:56,600 --> 00:27:59,800
Speaker 1: that will never die out of my mind. And you know,

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00:28:00,080 --> 00:28:03,439
Speaker 1: the life changing day for me. And just like so

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00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:07,399
Speaker 1: many different kinds of ways, like holy crap, the meeting

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00:28:07,400 --> 00:28:10,440
Speaker 1: itself was a blur on the most important day of

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00:28:10,520 --> 00:28:14,280
Speaker 1: Jesse's young life. She was completely unaware of herself as

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00:28:14,280 --> 00:28:17,240
Speaker 1: a body in space, of her future as an athlete,

488
00:28:17,960 --> 00:28:20,760
Speaker 1: of what might be waiting for her going home that night.

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00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:24,760
Speaker 1: But somewhere in that day just made a choice to

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00:28:24,880 --> 00:28:27,720
Speaker 1: disrupt the cycles of the present, even if it cost

491
00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:32,040
Speaker 1: her future. And on part four of Payback, I ran

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00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:34,720
Speaker 1: away from home when I was seventeen years old, and

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00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:37,320
Speaker 1: to this day, I have not been back since. When

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00:28:37,359 --> 00:28:40,200
Speaker 1: she told me what she dealt with, I was just

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00:28:40,320 --> 00:28:42,560
Speaker 1: in tears something. How do you deal with that? My

496
00:28:42,680 --> 00:28:45,400
Speaker 1: life just completely changed. I'm seventeen years old on my own,

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00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:48,040
Speaker 1: trying to take care of myself. Someone stripped of the

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00:28:48,080 --> 00:28:50,760
Speaker 1: tools in high school to try to succeed at collegiate level.

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00:28:51,120 --> 00:28:53,040
Speaker 1: Is going to continue to have to fight tooth and

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Speaker 1: nail to recover Jess Donald, I'm ALEXANDREEV. Payback is a

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00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:05,680
Speaker 1: production of The Charlotte Observer, Raleigh News and Observer, McClatchy Studios,

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00:29:05,760 --> 00:29:09,600
Speaker 1: and iHeart Radio. It's produced by Cotta Stevens, Casey Toth,

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00:29:09,920 --> 00:29:14,080
Speaker 1: Julia Wall, and Davin Cockburn. The executive producer for iHeart

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00:29:14,120 --> 00:29:17,480
Speaker 1: Radio is sewn Ty Tone. For lots more on this story,

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00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:20,920
Speaker 1: and to support journalism like this, visit Charlotte observer dot

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00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:24,760
Speaker 1: com slash payback or news observer dot com slash payback.

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00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:29,840
Speaker 1: And for more podcasts for My heart Radio, visit the

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00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:33,560
Speaker 1: I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen

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00:29:33,600 --> 00:29:34,440
Speaker 1: to your favorite shows,