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Speaker 1: Welcome to Good Game of Sarah Spain, where we're in Ohi,

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Speaker 1: California for the espnW Women in Sports Summit, just casually

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Speaker 1: but relentlessly stocking our fave Alison Felix and hoping we

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Speaker 1: could finally convince her to come on the show. On

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Speaker 1: today's show, we're talking to Molly McCage and Cassidy Lickman

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Speaker 1: of Athletes Unlimited Volleyball. They'll give us a scene set

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Speaker 1: on where the current season of AU Volleyball stands, how

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Speaker 1: Athletes Unlimited gives the power and decision making to the athletes,

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Speaker 1: and what it's like to talk trash one week and high.

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Speaker 2: Five the next.

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Speaker 1: Plus some footy love and proof that I've still got it.

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Speaker 1: It's all coming up right after this welcome back slices.

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Speaker 1: Here's what you need to know today in the WNBA,

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Speaker 1: it's official. The Connecticut Sun sent out a release on

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Speaker 1: Monday announcing that the organization has parted ways with head

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Speaker 1: coach Stephanie White. During her two seasons with the Sun,

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Speaker 1: White led the team to a fifty five and twenty

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Speaker 1: five regular season record and a seven and seven postseason record,

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Speaker 1: including two semi finals supeire. She was the twenty twenty

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Speaker 1: three WNBA and AP Coach of the Year and was

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Speaker 1: selected as an All Star Game head coach in that season.

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Speaker 1: On Monday, we shared reporting from the Suntimes Annie Costable

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Speaker 1: that this split was likely, with sources saying White will

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Speaker 1: be heading back to head coach the Indiana Fever. We'll

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Speaker 1: keep you updated on White squereabouts as we get them.

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Speaker 1: In soccer, Lynn Williams and Lindsay Horant scored just minutes

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Speaker 1: apart in the second half to help the US women's

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Speaker 1: national team rally to a three to one win on

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Speaker 1: Sunday in the second of back to back friendlies with Iceland.

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Speaker 1: Forward ms Sears made her national team debut, seven in

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Speaker 1: in the second half and scoring in stoppage time. She

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Speaker 1: also had an assist, becoming the first US player with

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Speaker 1: a goal and an assist in her first national team game.

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Speaker 1: Before the game, the team celebrated Mouse Swanson's one hundred

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Speaker 1: caps and counting an honored retiring US women's national team

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Speaker 1: star Kelly O'Hara. At halftime, a few of Kelly's fans

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Speaker 1: and teammates, including Sammy Mwis, Midge Purs, and Lynn Williams,

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Speaker 1: recorded messages for her in honor for retirement. We'll put

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Speaker 1: the link in our show notes. Sunday's win come on

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Speaker 1: the heels of Thursday's win over Iceland three to one

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Speaker 1: in the team's first game since winning gold at the

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Speaker 1: Paris Olympics. Teenagers Alyssa Thompson and Jayden Shaw, along with

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Speaker 1: Sophia Smith.

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Speaker 2: All scored in the win.

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Speaker 1: Next up, they play Argentina this Wednesday in Louisville. Toick

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Speaker 1: College soccer. For the fourth time in program history, the

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Speaker 1: Duke women's soccer team are champions of the ACC regular season.

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Speaker 1: The number one ranked Blue Devil's beat number two ranked

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Speaker 1: Wake Forest on the road to nothing in front of

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Speaker 1: a record crowd of three thousand, seven hundred and sixty

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Speaker 1: one bands at Spry Stadium in Winston Salem. Sophomore Mia

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Speaker 1: Oliaro scored a brace for Duke in the second half,

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Speaker 1: and the Blue Devils d hung on for the team's

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Speaker 1: eighth shutout of the season. Duke is now thirteen to

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Speaker 1: one in one overall and eight oho to one in

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Speaker 1: the ACC, while wake Forest fell to eleven three and

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Speaker 1: two and six two and one in the conference. To

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Speaker 1: volleyball Week four in Athletes Unlimited Volleyball wrapped up last

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Speaker 1: night and today marks the last draft of the season,

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Speaker 1: with the top four players in the standings selecting their

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Speaker 1: squads for the final week of play. That's at one

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Speaker 1: pm Eastern. You can go to auprosports dot com slash

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Speaker 1: volleyball to see the teams and the schedule. And we

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Speaker 1: got lots more AU Volleyball talk coming up with today's guests.

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

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Speaker 2: it's Molly and Cassidy.

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Speaker 1: It's time for group chat where we take the t

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Speaker 1: from the texts to the airwaves, and it's Athletes Unlimited

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Speaker 1: Edition joining us now.

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Speaker 2: She's a professional.

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Speaker 1: Volleyball player, a middle blocker and Athletes Unlimited Volleyball. She's

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Speaker 1: the chairperson of Athletes Unlimited's Player Executive Committee. Was the

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty three AU Pro Volleyball Blocker of the Year.

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Speaker 1: Is a Nike athlete and a U T Austin alum.

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Speaker 1: She's the Queen of Finding long Pants. She's a dog

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Speaker 1: mom to Franklin and I got married in her hometown.

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Speaker 3: It's Molly McCage. What's up, Molly, what's up? You got

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Speaker 3: married in my hometown.

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Speaker 1: Hobart, Indiana. That's right, that's right. Destination I've heard for

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Speaker 1: many Yeah.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, it's a beautiful place you have to go.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Her. She's a former national volleyball player and outside hitter

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Speaker 1: and member of Team USA from twenty eleven to twenty sixteen.

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Speaker 1: A founding AU Pro Volleyball member, was head of the

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Speaker 1: Volleyball Player Executive Committee before retiring in twenty twenty two.

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Speaker 1: Became Director of Volleyball in twenty twenty three. She runs

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Speaker 1: her own nonprofit organization, Path, which focuses on using sports

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Speaker 1: as a vehicle to teach skills around empathy, equity, and empowerment.

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Speaker 2: It's Cassidy Lickman.

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Speaker 4: What's up.

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Speaker 2: Cassidy.

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Speaker 4: Hey, Sarah.

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Speaker 1: I'm excited to have y' all on, and I want

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Speaker 1: to start with the basics, because for those who have

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Speaker 1: not been to AU events or seeing some of the

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Speaker 1: AU leagues, they're a little bit different sometimes, and that

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Speaker 1: includes AU volleyball. So, Cassidy, for those who aren't familiar,

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Speaker 1: tell us a little bit about how athletes unlimited volleyball

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Speaker 1: is special and different.

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Speaker 5: Yeah. So, in a traditional league, all of the players

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Speaker 5: are in their teams in their different cities, they're kind

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Speaker 5: of playing home and away games.

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Speaker 4: We bring our.

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Speaker 5: Entire roster of forty four athletes to one city for

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Speaker 5: a five weeks of competition, and every week we reach

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Speaker 5: out our teams, so you're going to see different combinations

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Speaker 5: of some of the best players in the world playing

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Speaker 5: with it against each other every week, and there's an

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Speaker 5: individual leader board kind of counting their points based on

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Speaker 5: how much their team wins, their own individual performance, so

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Speaker 5: we crown one champion at the end of the season.

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Speaker 5: So it's kind of playoff intensity for the entire five

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Speaker 5: week season and you know, seeing some of the best

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Speaker 5: in the world battle it out.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, so you can earn points on your team wins,

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Speaker 1: but also individual things. And then the leaderboard changes and

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Speaker 1: at the end of each week, the top four athletes

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Speaker 1: in the standings get to be captains draft a new team,

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Speaker 1: and then the next week they start with those teams, which.

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Speaker 2: To me is wild.

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Speaker 1: Molly, I am an unhinged competitive person still at this

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Speaker 1: point in my life when it serves zero purpose and

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Speaker 1: I cannot imagine being someone's opponent one week and teammate

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Speaker 1: the next. Tell us how that dynamic works or maybe

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Speaker 1: doesn't work for AU players. It definitely makes you have

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Speaker 1: to adapt both like mentally and physically, right, So like

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Speaker 1: every week, like we just played Orange last night, which

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Speaker 1: had Betty Daily Cruz and Claire Hoffman, two of the

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Speaker 1: best blocks in the league, And I'm like, I just

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Speaker 1: want you guys to do so poorly, so you guys

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Speaker 1: are split up next.

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Speaker 4: Week, so you're not together next week.

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Speaker 3: No, it definitely it plays mind games. And I think

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Speaker 3: that the best kind of competition though, comes from like

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Speaker 3: this love and respect for each of the athletes playing

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Speaker 3: in this league. I you know, there is some trashhocking

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Speaker 3: through the net, but I kind of love it. And

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Speaker 3: I think that every single week it's like, ooh, let's

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Speaker 3: find this connection with this person, and you'll find like

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Speaker 3: these wonderful connections with people you didn't think you would

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Speaker 3: ever have, you know, And you get to play with

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Speaker 3: people that you're like, you just graduated college and this

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Speaker 3: is my eighth year playing pro, but like, let's figure.

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Speaker 4: This out in a week. And I don't know, it's

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Speaker 4: really beautiful sometimes.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I'm sure it can be really fun,

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Speaker 1: and we've seen that and longer term situations like the

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Speaker 1: WNBA where there's players that hate each other and then

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Speaker 1: a trade happens and we're all like, oh, we can't

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Speaker 1: wait for this, and then instead they're best friends and

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Speaker 1: we're like, oh, that's not as fun. We wanted them

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Speaker 1: to keep hating each other, but it happens weak to

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Speaker 1: we and like, for me, that's what my problem would

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Speaker 1: be because my trashock would not be nice and then

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Speaker 1: I would be paired immediately with the person that I

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Speaker 1: was disrespectful and unprofessional too.

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Speaker 2: But that's me problem.

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Speaker 1: I want to talk more about how players play a

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Speaker 1: role in AU Volleyball, Molly, because beyond just playing, it's

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Speaker 1: different in terms of recruitment, creating rules, equity in the league,

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Speaker 1: all that stuff.

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Speaker 4: No, it's truly wonderful.

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Speaker 3: So I've been part of the Player Executive Committee the

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Speaker 3: PEC for sure since the very beginning of athletes and

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Speaker 3: limited volleyball, and the former chairperson is Cassie Likedman, and

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Speaker 3: now she's our director of Volleyball, which is amazing, and

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Speaker 3: our relationship is wonderful on that. Like you know, the

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Speaker 3: PEC recruits all of all forty four of these athletes.

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Speaker 3: So we also meet weekly with cass and are two

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Speaker 3: co founders, John Patrick Coff and Jonathan Soros and many

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Speaker 3: other people on staff just and every single major league

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Speaker 3: decision goes through us. So we're talking, you know, venue

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Speaker 3: design or jersey design or you know, hey, like what

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Speaker 3: are the best catering meals that we should have after

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Speaker 3: like all these like little decisions that really are just

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Speaker 3: so thoughtful and conscious to come through the athletes first.

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Speaker 4: That's something I've never been a part of.

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Speaker 3: It's like you're hired just to be an athlete, and

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Speaker 3: you perform and you go home and that's it. But

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Speaker 3: to be involved in these conversations has been truly eye opening,

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Speaker 3: and it helps us mold the kind of league that

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Speaker 3: we want to play in and that we want to

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Speaker 3: be a part of. And so whatever small hand I've had,

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Speaker 3: and like creating professional volleyball in the US, like I

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Speaker 3: take so much pride in that, and it's now become

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Speaker 3: so precious to me, like even way more before, Like

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Speaker 3: volleyball is you know, people are saying it's having its

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Speaker 3: moment right now, but I'm like, oh no, I want

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Speaker 3: to make sure that this lasts forever because we do

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Speaker 3: directly have a hand in it. And that's something that

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Speaker 3: Athletes Limit has been really really conscious about from the

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Speaker 3: very beginning.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it's interesting how social media has given athletes an

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Speaker 1: ability to speak to fans in a way that isn't

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Speaker 1: just good for stuff like promoting their shoes. It's also

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Speaker 1: about talking about what they love and don't love about

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Speaker 1: their jobs, their leagues, their teams, their coaches, et cetera.

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Speaker 2: And it's helped clean up some of the stuff.

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Speaker 1: And Cassie, there's something to be said for a league

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Speaker 1: that really listens to players, particularly women, instead of just

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Speaker 1: picking up the male model and then putting some women

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Speaker 1: in it. Athletes unlimited in terms of like maternal care

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Speaker 1: and some of the things that we push for major

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Speaker 1: leagues and existing leagues that have been around for twenty

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Speaker 1: five years to have better policies on or sponsorship places,

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Speaker 1: to have better policies on au from the beginning, has

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Speaker 1: said we're going to go straight to the players and

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Speaker 1: ask what they want to need. Where has that manifested itself, Like,

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Speaker 1: are there moments that you could point to where you've

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Speaker 1: seen it really come up where players have led the

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Speaker 1: way and helping change things or set things up in

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Speaker 1: a way to serve them.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, it's genuinely an unprecedented relationship between athletes

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Speaker 5: and a league. You know, you see like you're saying

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Speaker 5: in both in social media and in kind of the

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Speaker 5: negotiation process, like the WNBPA right now has just said

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Speaker 5: that they're going to back out of their CBA. Like

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Speaker 5: I think we have those processes and plays across sports

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Speaker 5: where athletes maybe can have a seat at the table

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Speaker 5: to kind of fight for what they want. And what's

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Speaker 5: so refreshing about athletes unlimited is it doesn't have to

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Speaker 5: be a fight. That we can all just sit around

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Speaker 5: a round table and have a discussion and it's never

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Speaker 5: an argument. You know, Like I went from the player

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Speaker 5: side to the staff side, and I feel like my

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Speaker 5: goals have remained the same because it genuinely the like

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Speaker 5: our PEC understands that in order to have a successful league,

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Speaker 5: the business as a whole has to succeed, and the

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Speaker 5: business understands that we want our athletes to be happy

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Speaker 5: and engaged and to love it. So it's come across

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Speaker 5: in so many different issues. Like you said, our childcare

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Speaker 5: policies I think are kind of best in class. So

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Speaker 5: we have moms with kids here in market, we provide

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Speaker 5: you know, childcare for them, everything down to you know,

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Speaker 5: in our first season, they were asking us what we

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Speaker 5: want to wear, and at that time in volleyball, all

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Speaker 5: anyone wore was short spandex, and some women don't want

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Speaker 5: to wear that, you know, like they don't have the

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Speaker 5: right play type. And so our players said, well, some

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Speaker 5: of us want to wear spandex and some want to

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Speaker 5: our leggings, and they were like, Okay, you could.

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Speaker 4: Just wear either.

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Speaker 5: And it just struct me in that moment of like

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Speaker 5: not having to kind of fight and like use your

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Speaker 5: what a little power you had on these tiny decisions.

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Speaker 5: All of a sudden, you really feel like you have

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Speaker 5: a real voice and that you really can speak to

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Speaker 5: all of these things. And I think all of our

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Speaker 5: leagues have been built with that athlete input in them,

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Speaker 5: and our founders have been really intentional about building the

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Speaker 5: voice of the athlete into the organization from the top

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Speaker 5: to the bottom. So I was on the board if

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Speaker 5: AU as an athlete. Now Molly's on the board with

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Speaker 5: one of our lacrosse players, Like, no, that's not a

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Speaker 5: thing in sports. Athletes don't get to be on the

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Speaker 5: board of directors of the organization.

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Speaker 1: And it's helpful to both sides too, because that communication

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Speaker 1: allows for things that like maybe on the player side

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Speaker 1: you think this is unfair or I want more of X,

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Speaker 1: and then on the ownership side, you wish that you

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Speaker 1: could tell them this is how much that costs, this

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Speaker 1: is why it's prohibitive based on other things we want

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Speaker 1: to be able to give you.

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Speaker 2: And having that conversation actually.

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Speaker 1: Allows you all to end up in the same place

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Speaker 1: of either it's really that important to us that we'd

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Speaker 1: rather have less of this, or Okay, we get that

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Speaker 1: and maybe eventually we'll work toward it, instead of that

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Speaker 1: constant feeling of like someone's trying to dupe me or

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Speaker 1: trick me, or you know, keep me away from the

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Speaker 1: thing that I want for their own personal benefit. That

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Speaker 1: education side, have you found, Cassidy when dealing with players

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Speaker 1: that know that you were in their position before you

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Speaker 1: can really say this is this is something that the

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Speaker 1: league isn't in a position to do yet, but we're

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Speaker 1: hearing you and we want to do it later, or

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Speaker 1: things like that.

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Speaker 4: Yeah.

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Speaker 5: Absolutely, I think my entire job is just to contextualize

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Speaker 5: these decisions for the athletes to go, Okay, here's the situation.

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Speaker 5: We can have this or this, and we all just

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Speaker 5: come to kind of a really rational decision, which is

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Speaker 5: so great. But also, like, I think it's important that

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Speaker 5: there's no you know, rich owner who's profiting a ton

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Speaker 5: off of the backs of these athletes. You know, we're

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Speaker 5: set up in a way that if we are profitable,

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Speaker 5: if we do well and succeed, our athletes are actually

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Speaker 5: going the benefit from that. They all get profit participation units,

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Speaker 5: which is something I can to ownership for the next

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Speaker 5: twenty years after they're don playing. So if we are

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Speaker 5: profitable ten years from now, then all of our investors

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Speaker 5: have agreed to cap their returns, so there's more than

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Speaker 5: one bottom line for them, and they've already agreed to that,

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Speaker 5: and half of that money goes to the mission of

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Speaker 5: AU and half of it goes to the athletes. So

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Speaker 5: Molly and I as athletes in this league are going

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Speaker 5: to benefit from it if we may get successful from now.

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Speaker 2: That's awesome.

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Speaker 1: So, Molly, volleyball is the fastest growing sport for girls

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Speaker 1: in America. Have you seen the game change in recent

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Speaker 1: years as you've been playing, Yes, yes, I have.

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Speaker 3: I think my favorite part of the fact that volleyball

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Speaker 3: has been growing so much is that you know, I'm

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Speaker 3: six ' three, I walk around in life and people

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Speaker 3: are like, hey, do you play basketball?

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Speaker 4: I've gotten that in my entire life, and now it's hey,

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Speaker 4: do you play volleyball? Yes, yes, I do.

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Speaker 3: No, But I think because there are so many athletes

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Speaker 3: participating worldwide, the level is just increasing like rapidly. Some

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Speaker 3: of these college athletes, I'm like, dang, girl, I want

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Speaker 3: to recruit you in this next in the next draft,

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Speaker 3: like I want you on my team now. No, But

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Speaker 3: I think that just coaching is getting better, participation is

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Speaker 3: getting better.

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Speaker 4: The level is just getting higher.

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Speaker 3: And I you know, I'm I'm pushing thirty here, but

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Speaker 3: I just want to keep playing with these wonderful athletes

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Speaker 3: and like everybody's so bought in now it's like, no,

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Speaker 3: this game truly is wonderful and we want to see succeed.

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Speaker 3: And I'm I even love I'm not a coaching spirit.

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Speaker 3: Actually I don't have. I come from a family of teachers,

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Speaker 3: but there's something in me that just doesn't doesn't love teaching.

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Speaker 3: But I love being around the volleyball community and even

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Speaker 3: just like like camps and going back to Texas and

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Speaker 3: just being around you know, the younger generation of like,

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Speaker 3: oh no, this is this is such a cool sport,

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Speaker 3: and everybody's like there's such a shared love of it.

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Speaker 4: I am truly enjoying it.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Well, first of all, someone who is not pushing thirty,

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Speaker 1: I want you to appreciate every time somebody asks you

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Speaker 1: what sport, because my whole life it was always b

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Speaker 1: bsketball or volleyball, basketball or volleyball, and then at a

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Speaker 1: certain age it was just like no one ever asked

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Speaker 1: me anymore because I don't look like I do anything,

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Speaker 1: and that's a bummer. So really, just appreciate it while

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Speaker 1: you still look like you're of an age to be

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Speaker 1: doing anything, is what I'm saying. Also to your point, interestingly,

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Speaker 1: like I do think there's a buy in both from NIL,

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Speaker 1: which sort of professionalizes athletes at a younger age to

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Speaker 1: understand what it is to make a living doing something,

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Speaker 1: but also knowing and seeing that there are professional opportunities

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Speaker 1: on the horizon from a very young age. You're working

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Speaker 1: toward that in a way that's different than when I

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Speaker 1: was growing up or even Molly like when you came

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Speaker 1: out of college, Cassidy. There's three professional leagues now including AU,

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Speaker 1: There's PVF and the soon to launch Love pro Volleyball.

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Speaker 1: Those are opportunities for a lot of players to look

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Speaker 1: out into the landscape and see something for them. When

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Speaker 1: those are all concurrently happening, how do you see them

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Speaker 1: all coexisting in the space.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, I think we're actually in a really good position

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Speaker 5: to work with both of those leagues. So PVF and

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Speaker 5: LOVE are both going to hold their competitions in the spring,

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Speaker 5: so from matches from kind of January through April or May,

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Speaker 5: and we're sitting in the fall right now in October,

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Speaker 5: in early November, and so similar to our relationship with

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Speaker 5: the WNBA that we've had, players will be able to

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Speaker 5: play in either of those leagues and then also in

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Speaker 5: AU which just gets them more money and more opportunity,

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Speaker 5: which is great because normally our players have all had

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Speaker 5: to go overseas. That's what you know, Molly and I

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Speaker 5: dated when we came out of college. And so between

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Speaker 5: kind of Us and one of those other leagues will

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Speaker 5: cover the entire overseas season, and players will be able

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Speaker 5: to make good money staying at home and playing playing

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Speaker 5: Bible professionally.

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Speaker 1: That's awesome and I do love how the more fans

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Speaker 1: get to know all the participants in every sport. The

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Speaker 1: more of a draw athletes unlimited is because once you

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Speaker 1: get to know the players individually, you're far more bought

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Speaker 1: into them, moving teams, playing for individual points, whatever their

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Speaker 1: storylines are. Like, I think Unrivaled in the WNBA is

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Speaker 1: going to really benefit from us knowing all the WNBA

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Speaker 1: players in all of their spaces and then going and

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Speaker 1: watching them like mix it up and play three on

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Speaker 1: three the same way that athletes unlimited volleyball. When everybody

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Speaker 1: drops into Nashville, we want to see players that are

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Speaker 1: usually playing against each other in the WNBA.

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Speaker 2: Teaming up in AU or vice versa.

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Speaker 1: So the format really benefits from the bigger names, the

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Speaker 1: more storylines people know, which we're hoping our show helps

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Speaker 1: continue to tell some of those stories and get people

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Speaker 1: to get to know them so that they want to

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Speaker 1: go seek them out.

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Speaker 2: Wherever they're playing.

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Speaker 1: You know.

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Speaker 2: College volleyball has also grown for decades.

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Speaker 1: The TV ratings are always strong, schools like Nebraska Wisconsin

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Speaker 1: drawing huge crowds for years. Plenty of other programs have

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Speaker 1: also seen attendance surge in recent years, but it doesn't

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Speaker 1: feel like that has quite yet made it over to

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Speaker 1: the pro game. College basketball has been kind of similar.

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Speaker 1: They've always had a bigger audience than the WNBA, but

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Speaker 1: they're starting to be able to push that to the pros.

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Speaker 1: Do you have a sense, Molly, of why some fans

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Speaker 1: don't stick around when it gets to the professional level

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Speaker 1: and what needs to change for that to happen.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, because in recent years, we haven't had you know,

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Speaker 3: professional leagues in the US, and we now have that,

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Speaker 3: and so it's still pretty fresh. Normally, like Cass said,

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Speaker 3: we go overseas and it's it's so sad, but it's

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Speaker 3: I feel like people just kind of forget. They're like, oh, yeah,

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Speaker 3: these amazing athletes that we watched in college, they go

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Speaker 3: overseas and nobody wants to pull up this JANKI link

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Speaker 3: and watch them overseas with the with the different language,

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Speaker 3: you know, and you know, you just kind of lose

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Speaker 3: interest because it becomes too difficult to follow that athlete.

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Speaker 3: But now that we have these professional leagues in the US,

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Speaker 3: we have these wonderful, amazing athletes come out of college

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Speaker 3: and going directly to these US based leagues, like that

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Speaker 3: connection is huge. I think that's what happened with Caitlin Clark,

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Speaker 3: Like she played in the w was like, oh, we

415
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Speaker 3: know exactly where to follow her. It is in our language,

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Speaker 3: it is on networks that we are familiar with. Like

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Speaker 3: that connection piece is so important. I am very, very

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Speaker 3: excited for that to happen. Like with volleyball, it's like

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Speaker 3: slowly happening, but with nil and everybody bought into the

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Speaker 3: college game, I think it will translate to professional.

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Speaker 1: Cassidy, what was the landscape like when you were coming

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Speaker 1: out of Stanford and what did you wish you saw

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Speaker 1: that maybe has appeared now that you got to benefit

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Speaker 1: from late in your career.

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Speaker 5: Well, two months after I graduated, I moved to Poland

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Speaker 5: by myself. She's like a very welcome to the world

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Speaker 5: moment when you're kind of getting to the airport and

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Speaker 5: going down and you're like, I don't know anyone in

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Speaker 5: this country and some random guys picking me up and

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Speaker 5: I've seen taken and like what are my life choices?

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Speaker 5: And Molly's exactly right, like you know, maybe my parents

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Speaker 5: could watch on some random feed, but nobody else could,

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Speaker 5: and so it wasn't. I had actually retired after playing

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Speaker 5: for five years of the national team and in Europe,

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Speaker 5: and when AU came about. I came back out of

436
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Speaker 5: retirement to play in order to kind of help build

437
00:19:47,320 --> 00:19:50,119
Speaker 5: this for the next generation and for players like Molly

438
00:19:50,200 --> 00:19:53,320
Speaker 5: who can continue to play well into their thirties hopefully

439
00:19:54,080 --> 00:19:56,280
Speaker 5: because they're at home and it's a much more comfortable situation.

440
00:19:56,520 --> 00:20:00,160
Speaker 5: So I think, you know, being on national TV, it's

441
00:20:00,160 --> 00:20:02,040
Speaker 5: been a huge part of it. Like when you talk

442
00:20:02,040 --> 00:20:04,640
Speaker 5: about growing the professional volleyball fan base, that's it has

443
00:20:04,640 --> 00:20:06,920
Speaker 5: to be visible, right, So people have to be able

444
00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:08,639
Speaker 5: to see those players that they love coming out of

445
00:20:08,680 --> 00:20:11,359
Speaker 5: college and you know, directly the next fall they're on

446
00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:14,640
Speaker 5: you know, ESPN for us or they're playing for Love

447
00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:17,280
Speaker 5: and PBF in the spring, and to be able to

448
00:20:17,359 --> 00:20:19,280
Speaker 5: build those stars, they just have to be visible. So

449
00:20:19,960 --> 00:20:21,600
Speaker 5: I think that's the most exciting thing to me is

450
00:20:21,640 --> 00:20:24,520
Speaker 5: to see like the seeds of that, you know, starting

451
00:20:24,560 --> 00:20:27,480
Speaker 5: to grow and like the ceilings know we're in sight.

452
00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:29,520
Speaker 5: I think we're just getting started and the sport is

453
00:20:29,560 --> 00:20:32,760
Speaker 5: already really massive. It's just like quietly.

454
00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:35,800
Speaker 1: So yeah, so Cassidy, then give us your pitch for

455
00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:38,359
Speaker 1: the volleyball curious or the fans that usually watch college

456
00:20:38,359 --> 00:20:40,720
Speaker 1: but happened checked out AU where can they watch it?

457
00:20:40,800 --> 00:20:42,479
Speaker 1: And we're coming up sort of near the end of

458
00:20:42,520 --> 00:20:46,000
Speaker 1: this au volleyball season. But what do they need to

459
00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:47,800
Speaker 1: know to like jump in and get on boards so

460
00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:49,840
Speaker 1: that they can start following the players.

461
00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:51,600
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think you need to know we have some

462
00:20:51,640 --> 00:20:53,760
Speaker 5: of the best players in the world. We have a

463
00:20:53,760 --> 00:20:56,960
Speaker 5: great competition going on right now between Betty Day La

464
00:20:57,000 --> 00:20:59,840
Speaker 5: Cruz and Britney Appercrombie, who both.

465
00:20:59,640 --> 00:21:01,959
Speaker 1: Represent Those names are perfect, by the way, these are

466
00:21:01,960 --> 00:21:03,200
Speaker 1: perfect names to South.

467
00:21:03,160 --> 00:21:08,440
Speaker 5: Amazing names, amazing names and amazing volleyball players. And they're

468
00:21:08,440 --> 00:21:11,120
Speaker 5: surrounded by, you know, incredible talent that is played at

469
00:21:11,119 --> 00:21:13,960
Speaker 5: some of the best colleges in the country, all Americans,

470
00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:15,439
Speaker 5: National champions, Olympians.

471
00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:17,280
Speaker 4: So this is the highest level of.

472
00:21:17,320 --> 00:21:19,120
Speaker 5: Volleyball you know you'll be able to see this year,

473
00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:22,879
Speaker 5: and it's an incredible competition. So I think you just

474
00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:25,480
Speaker 5: tune in, pick a favorite player, you know, check where

475
00:21:25,480 --> 00:21:27,520
Speaker 5: out where they are on the leaderboard, and root for

476
00:21:27,560 --> 00:21:28,840
Speaker 5: whatever team they're on that week.

477
00:21:29,359 --> 00:21:31,880
Speaker 1: Maybe it's Molly, Maybe Molly's your favorite player.

478
00:21:31,880 --> 00:21:33,680
Speaker 4: Molly's a great choice. I'm going to say.

479
00:21:35,160 --> 00:21:37,520
Speaker 1: We will put a schedule in our show notes for

480
00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:39,359
Speaker 1: people to check out where they can watch and how

481
00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:42,080
Speaker 1: they can watch, Molly, You're still in the midst of this,

482
00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:45,359
Speaker 1: and I'm sure as someone on the player committee and

483
00:21:45,440 --> 00:21:49,080
Speaker 1: also playing, you're constantly changing your to do list of

484
00:21:49,119 --> 00:21:51,719
Speaker 1: what you want, what you could see differently. Is there

485
00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:54,480
Speaker 1: anything right now you're currently advocating for or thinking about

486
00:21:54,480 --> 00:21:56,199
Speaker 1: for next season that you'd like to see change.

487
00:21:57,800 --> 00:22:00,880
Speaker 3: I think that is most top of my mind is

488
00:22:01,200 --> 00:22:02,400
Speaker 3: recruiting the best athletes.

489
00:22:03,320 --> 00:22:05,720
Speaker 4: It's so wonderful that these leagues PBF.

490
00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:07,320
Speaker 3: And LOVE are here in the US and we have

491
00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:09,639
Speaker 3: people that have been playing overseas for decades that are

492
00:22:09,680 --> 00:22:12,720
Speaker 3: coming home that are like truly world class talent and

493
00:22:12,760 --> 00:22:16,320
Speaker 3: they have world class talent friends. So bringing those people

494
00:22:16,359 --> 00:22:18,240
Speaker 3: to our league next year, Like, that's just something I

495
00:22:18,280 --> 00:22:20,280
Speaker 3: keep thinking about of, like, oh, she's coming to play

496
00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:22,880
Speaker 3: and this team you know in Atlanta, and I really

497
00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:26,679
Speaker 3: want her to play for Athletes unlimited, and like you

498
00:22:26,720 --> 00:22:29,359
Speaker 3: can even feel it here this year. You know, this

499
00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:33,760
Speaker 3: is our fourth season and the level just grows exponentially

500
00:22:33,800 --> 00:22:36,840
Speaker 3: every single season, and it's cutthroat now, like it's it's

501
00:22:36,840 --> 00:22:39,119
Speaker 3: almost like, dang, you got to be part of this league.

502
00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:40,840
Speaker 3: Like you're one of the top forty four athletes that

503
00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:43,399
Speaker 3: get to participate in Athletes Unlimited like that is the

504
00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:46,239
Speaker 3: kind of talent that we have and it's something that

505
00:22:46,359 --> 00:22:49,439
Speaker 3: you know, as a player, executive community member, we're constantly

506
00:22:49,480 --> 00:22:51,720
Speaker 3: talking about of what is the best product that we

507
00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:52,399
Speaker 3: can give fans.

508
00:22:53,520 --> 00:22:55,480
Speaker 1: And another cool thing about the league is you get

509
00:22:55,480 --> 00:22:57,760
Speaker 1: to promote a cause that matters to you and some

510
00:22:57,800 --> 00:23:00,600
Speaker 1: of the money made actually goes so that's to your cause.

511
00:23:00,640 --> 00:23:03,399
Speaker 3: Molly, Yeah, this is one of my favorite things of

512
00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:05,840
Speaker 3: Athletes Limited. My cause is one percent for the planet.

513
00:23:05,920 --> 00:23:08,800
Speaker 3: So it's a giant organization that benefits any you know,

514
00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:13,720
Speaker 3: environmentally conscious, you know, nonprofit and to me, just being

515
00:23:13,720 --> 00:23:16,200
Speaker 3: a good global citizen is incredibly important because we only

516
00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:19,280
Speaker 3: have one earth, so let's treat it with kindness. But

517
00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:22,000
Speaker 3: all forty four of by athletes, one hundred percent of

518
00:23:22,040 --> 00:23:24,240
Speaker 3: their wind bonus goes to a cause of their choice,

519
00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:27,200
Speaker 3: which is something that as a female athlete, we haven't

520
00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:29,640
Speaker 3: been able to earn a ton of money and then

521
00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:32,240
Speaker 3: contribute to nonprofits that we want to, you know, that

522
00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:37,199
Speaker 3: we want to contribute to. So this is truly just

523
00:23:37,280 --> 00:23:41,360
Speaker 3: so awesome and kind and it makes playing feel even bigger.

524
00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:43,720
Speaker 3: You know, it's not just about hitting the ball. It's

525
00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:45,680
Speaker 3: like actually contributing to things that you care about.

526
00:23:46,640 --> 00:23:48,600
Speaker 1: Cassidy, your cause was path I assume.

527
00:23:49,040 --> 00:23:51,520
Speaker 5: It was Yes, which was also very helpful for a

528
00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:52,280
Speaker 5: young nonprofit.

529
00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:53,840
Speaker 2: Yeah that's awesome.

530
00:23:54,160 --> 00:23:57,159
Speaker 1: Okay, So our last, our last order of business, and

531
00:23:57,400 --> 00:23:59,479
Speaker 1: you have to do it quickly. You can't overthink it,

532
00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:02,119
Speaker 1: you can't worry about feelings getting hurt. I'm going to

533
00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:05,960
Speaker 1: tell everyone right now to follow Molly McCage Molly and

534
00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:10,200
Speaker 1: then McCage on Instagram. She's a great follow. She'll tell

535
00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:12,280
Speaker 1: you where to get long pants. You can root for her,

536
00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:14,840
Speaker 1: you can find out when she's playing next. Molly, give

537
00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:18,359
Speaker 1: me two players from Athletes Unlimited Volleyball that everyone should follow.

538
00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:23,040
Speaker 4: You should follow Betty de La Cruz Miha.

539
00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:27,560
Speaker 2: Okay adding her right now. I need one more.

540
00:24:28,560 --> 00:24:31,240
Speaker 3: And if you really love fashion, you should follow Berkeley

541
00:24:31,280 --> 00:24:31,800
Speaker 3: oh Blad.

542
00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:36,879
Speaker 1: Names sound made up, but I'm excited to learn about

543
00:24:36,880 --> 00:24:37,479
Speaker 1: these people.

544
00:24:38,840 --> 00:24:40,040
Speaker 2: Berkeley oh Blad.

545
00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:44,760
Speaker 1: Okay, Cassidy, give me two AU current playing players that

546
00:24:44,760 --> 00:24:45,560
Speaker 1: we should all follow.

547
00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:55,160
Speaker 5: Okay, I think kas Brown excellent sense of humor and

548
00:24:55,160 --> 00:24:59,000
Speaker 5: again Morgan hence the best defender you'll ever see.

549
00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:01,560
Speaker 1: Okay, all right, I look forward to sharing this with

550
00:25:01,560 --> 00:25:03,800
Speaker 1: all the players you didn't name and then telling them

551
00:25:03,840 --> 00:25:05,240
Speaker 1: you didn't pick them.

552
00:25:05,280 --> 00:25:06,199
Speaker 2: Just kidding, just kidding.

553
00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:09,119
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for coming on, mollyworks say to

554
00:25:09,160 --> 00:25:11,080
Speaker 1: watch the rest of the season with you playing and

555
00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:14,160
Speaker 1: get even more into AU volleyball. And Cassidy thanks for

556
00:25:14,359 --> 00:25:16,600
Speaker 1: coming on as well and giving us some insight, and

557
00:25:16,600 --> 00:25:19,200
Speaker 1: congrats on continuing to just push this sport forward.

558
00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:19,600
Speaker 2: We love it.

559
00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:20,600
Speaker 5: Thank you, appreciate it.

560
00:25:20,640 --> 00:25:21,200
Speaker 4: Thank you sir.

561
00:25:23,680 --> 00:25:25,720
Speaker 1: Thanks so much to Molly and Cassidy for taking the time.

562
00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:27,720
Speaker 1: We got to take a quick break when we come back,

563
00:25:27,920 --> 00:25:35,560
Speaker 1: did I just manifest athleticism?

564
00:25:35,720 --> 00:25:37,240
Speaker 2: Welcome back, Orange Slices.

565
00:25:37,680 --> 00:25:39,399
Speaker 1: We love that you're listening, but we want you to

566
00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:41,320
Speaker 1: get in the game every day too, So here's our

567
00:25:41,359 --> 00:25:44,240
Speaker 1: good game play of the day. Follow those players. Molly

568
00:25:44,280 --> 00:25:46,440
Speaker 1: and Cassidy mentioned in our interview. One of the best

569
00:25:46,480 --> 00:25:48,360
Speaker 1: ways to stay up to date on women's sports, from

570
00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:52,120
Speaker 1: scores and outcomes to events, sponsorships, merch and fun off

571
00:25:52,119 --> 00:25:56,399
Speaker 1: the field storylines is to fill your social feed with athletes, teams, leagues,

572
00:25:56,440 --> 00:26:00,160
Speaker 1: and media outlets. Your everyday scrolling will get an instant boost,

573
00:26:00,600 --> 00:26:02,240
Speaker 1: and if you want to get to know AU volleyball,

574
00:26:02,359 --> 00:26:05,879
Speaker 1: here's your chance follow Molly McCage, Morgan, Hence Betty de

575
00:26:05,960 --> 00:26:09,160
Speaker 1: La Cruz, Mahea Berkeley, Oblad and Cas Brown will put

576
00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:10,960
Speaker 1: their Insta handles in the show notes.

577
00:26:11,480 --> 00:26:12,040
Speaker 2: Don't forget.

578
00:26:12,040 --> 00:26:13,600
Speaker 1: We love hearing from you, so hit us up on

579
00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:16,280
Speaker 1: an email good game at wondermedianetwork dot com or leave

580
00:26:16,320 --> 00:26:18,120
Speaker 1: us a voicemail at eight seven two two oh four

581
00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:18,959
Speaker 1: fifty seventy.

582
00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:22,000
Speaker 2: Don't forget to subscribe. Rate in review slices.

583
00:26:22,280 --> 00:26:25,560
Speaker 1: It's easy watch when a young person thinks your old

584
00:26:25,600 --> 00:26:28,640
Speaker 1: ass is still an athlete. Rating five out of five

585
00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:32,880
Speaker 1: still got its review. I swear I manifested this shit

586
00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:35,760
Speaker 1: because one day, after sitting down to interview Molly and

587
00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:38,680
Speaker 1: Cassidy and bemoaning the fact that no one ever asks

588
00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:42,399
Speaker 1: me basketball or volleyball anymore, a twenty something dude walked

589
00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:44,840
Speaker 1: past me in Chicago, stared me down for a minute,

590
00:26:44,840 --> 00:26:47,840
Speaker 1: and then said, hold up, do you play in the WNBA?

591
00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:51,560
Speaker 1: I recognize you you play now? I was wearing my

592
00:26:51,640 --> 00:26:55,080
Speaker 1: orange WNBA hoodie and he probably just recognized me from

593
00:26:55,119 --> 00:26:56,640
Speaker 1: television and then conflated the tube.

594
00:26:56,640 --> 00:26:57,480
Speaker 2: But it doesn't matter.

595
00:26:57,680 --> 00:26:59,720
Speaker 1: This young dude thought that this old lady was in

596
00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:02,040
Speaker 1: the league still got it.

597
00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:04,480
Speaker 2: Now, it's your turn rate and review.

598
00:27:04,840 --> 00:27:08,800
Speaker 1: Good Game, Molly, Good game, Cassidy, you election dread.

599
00:27:08,960 --> 00:27:11,320
Speaker 2: We are one week away and I am sweating y'all.

600
00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:15,879
Speaker 1: Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports

601
00:27:15,880 --> 00:27:18,919
Speaker 1: production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You

602
00:27:18,960 --> 00:27:21,600
Speaker 1: can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or

603
00:27:21,640 --> 00:27:24,959
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network,

604
00:27:25,119 --> 00:27:28,160
Speaker 1: our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive

605
00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:31,879
Speaker 1: producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rudder.

606
00:27:32,160 --> 00:27:35,359
Speaker 1: Our editors are Emily Rudder, Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch, and

607
00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:38,800
Speaker 1: Lindsay Cradowell. Production assistant from Lucy Jones and I'm your

608
00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:39,760
Speaker 1: Host Sarah Spain