Speaker 1: Welcome to Good Game of Sarah Spain, where we're in Ohi,
Speaker 1: California for the espnW Women in Sports Summit, just casually
Speaker 1: but relentlessly stocking our fave Alison Felix and hoping we
Speaker 1: could finally convince her to come on the show. On
Speaker 1: today's show, we're talking to Molly McCage and Cassidy Lickman
Speaker 1: of Athletes Unlimited Volleyball. They'll give us a scene set
Speaker 1: on where the current season of AU Volleyball stands, how
Speaker 1: Athletes Unlimited gives the power and decision making to the athletes,
Speaker 1: and what it's like to talk trash one week and high.
Speaker 2: Five the next.
Speaker 1: Plus some footy love and proof that I've still got it.
Speaker 1: It's all coming up right after this welcome back slices.
Speaker 1: Here's what you need to know today in the WNBA,
Speaker 1: it's official. The Connecticut Sun sent out a release on
Speaker 1: Monday announcing that the organization has parted ways with head
Speaker 1: coach Stephanie White. During her two seasons with the Sun,
Speaker 1: White led the team to a fifty five and twenty
Speaker 1: five regular season record and a seven and seven postseason record,
Speaker 1: including two semi finals supeire. She was the twenty twenty
Speaker 1: three WNBA and AP Coach of the Year and was
Speaker 1: selected as an All Star Game head coach in that season.
Speaker 1: On Monday, we shared reporting from the Suntimes Annie Costable
Speaker 1: that this split was likely, with sources saying White will
Speaker 1: be heading back to head coach the Indiana Fever. We'll
Speaker 1: keep you updated on White squereabouts as we get them.
Speaker 1: In soccer, Lynn Williams and Lindsay Horant scored just minutes
Speaker 1: apart in the second half to help the US women's
Speaker 1: national team rally to a three to one win on
Speaker 1: Sunday in the second of back to back friendlies with Iceland.
Speaker 1: Forward ms Sears made her national team debut, seven in
Speaker 1: in the second half and scoring in stoppage time. She
Speaker 1: also had an assist, becoming the first US player with
Speaker 1: a goal and an assist in her first national team game.
Speaker 1: Before the game, the team celebrated Mouse Swanson's one hundred
Speaker 1: caps and counting an honored retiring US women's national team
Speaker 1: star Kelly O'Hara. At halftime, a few of Kelly's fans
Speaker 1: and teammates, including Sammy Mwis, Midge Purs, and Lynn Williams,
Speaker 1: recorded messages for her in honor for retirement. We'll put
Speaker 1: the link in our show notes. Sunday's win come on
Speaker 1: the heels of Thursday's win over Iceland three to one
Speaker 1: in the team's first game since winning gold at the
Speaker 1: Paris Olympics. Teenagers Alyssa Thompson and Jayden Shaw, along with
Speaker 1: Sophia Smith.
Speaker 2: All scored in the win.
Speaker 1: Next up, they play Argentina this Wednesday in Louisville. Toick
Speaker 1: College soccer. For the fourth time in program history, the
Speaker 1: Duke women's soccer team are champions of the ACC regular season.
Speaker 1: The number one ranked Blue Devil's beat number two ranked
Speaker 1: Wake Forest on the road to nothing in front of
Speaker 1: a record crowd of three thousand, seven hundred and sixty
Speaker 1: one bands at Spry Stadium in Winston Salem. Sophomore Mia
Speaker 1: Oliaro scored a brace for Duke in the second half,
Speaker 1: and the Blue Devils d hung on for the team's
Speaker 1: eighth shutout of the season. Duke is now thirteen to
Speaker 1: one in one overall and eight oho to one in
Speaker 1: the ACC, while wake Forest fell to eleven three and
Speaker 1: two and six two and one in the conference. To
Speaker 1: volleyball Week four in Athletes Unlimited Volleyball wrapped up last
Speaker 1: night and today marks the last draft of the season,
Speaker 1: with the top four players in the standings selecting their
Speaker 1: squads for the final week of play. That's at one
Speaker 1: pm Eastern. You can go to auprosports dot com slash
Speaker 1: volleyball to see the teams and the schedule. And we
Speaker 1: got lots more AU Volleyball talk coming up with today's guests.
Speaker 2: We got to take a quick break. When we come back,
Speaker 2: it's Molly and Cassidy.
Speaker 1: It's time for group chat where we take the t
Speaker 1: from the texts to the airwaves, and it's Athletes Unlimited
Speaker 1: Edition joining us now.
Speaker 2: She's a professional.
Speaker 1: Volleyball player, a middle blocker and Athletes Unlimited Volleyball. She's
Speaker 1: the chairperson of Athletes Unlimited's Player Executive Committee. Was the
Speaker 1: twenty twenty three AU Pro Volleyball Blocker of the Year.
Speaker 1: Is a Nike athlete and a U T Austin alum.
Speaker 1: She's the Queen of Finding long Pants. She's a dog
Speaker 1: mom to Franklin and I got married in her hometown.
Speaker 3: It's Molly McCage. What's up, Molly, what's up? You got
Speaker 3: married in my hometown.
Speaker 1: Hobart, Indiana. That's right, that's right. Destination I've heard for
Speaker 1: many Yeah.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, it's a beautiful place you have to go.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Her. She's a former national volleyball player and outside hitter
Speaker 1: and member of Team USA from twenty eleven to twenty sixteen.
Speaker 1: A founding AU Pro Volleyball member, was head of the
Speaker 1: Volleyball Player Executive Committee before retiring in twenty twenty two.
Speaker 1: Became Director of Volleyball in twenty twenty three. She runs
Speaker 1: her own nonprofit organization, Path, which focuses on using sports
Speaker 1: as a vehicle to teach skills around empathy, equity, and empowerment.
Speaker 2: It's Cassidy Lickman.
Speaker 4: What's up.
Speaker 2: Cassidy.
Speaker 4: Hey, Sarah.
Speaker 1: I'm excited to have y' all on, and I want
Speaker 1: to start with the basics, because for those who have
Speaker 1: not been to AU events or seeing some of the
Speaker 1: AU leagues, they're a little bit different sometimes, and that
Speaker 1: includes AU volleyball. So, Cassidy, for those who aren't familiar,
Speaker 1: tell us a little bit about how athletes unlimited volleyball
Speaker 1: is special and different.
Speaker 5: Yeah. So, in a traditional league, all of the players
Speaker 5: are in their teams in their different cities, they're kind
Speaker 5: of playing home and away games.
Speaker 4: We bring our.
Speaker 5: Entire roster of forty four athletes to one city for
Speaker 5: a five weeks of competition, and every week we reach
Speaker 5: out our teams, so you're going to see different combinations
Speaker 5: of some of the best players in the world playing
Speaker 5: with it against each other every week, and there's an
Speaker 5: individual leader board kind of counting their points based on
Speaker 5: how much their team wins, their own individual performance, so
Speaker 5: we crown one champion at the end of the season.
Speaker 5: So it's kind of playoff intensity for the entire five
Speaker 5: week season and you know, seeing some of the best
Speaker 5: in the world battle it out.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so you can earn points on your team wins,
Speaker 1: but also individual things. And then the leaderboard changes and
Speaker 1: at the end of each week, the top four athletes
Speaker 1: in the standings get to be captains draft a new team,
Speaker 1: and then the next week they start with those teams, which.
Speaker 2: To me is wild.
Speaker 1: Molly, I am an unhinged competitive person still at this
Speaker 1: point in my life when it serves zero purpose and
Speaker 1: I cannot imagine being someone's opponent one week and teammate
Speaker 1: the next. Tell us how that dynamic works or maybe
Speaker 1: doesn't work for AU players. It definitely makes you have
Speaker 1: to adapt both like mentally and physically, right, So like
Speaker 1: every week, like we just played Orange last night, which
Speaker 1: had Betty Daily Cruz and Claire Hoffman, two of the
Speaker 1: best blocks in the league, And I'm like, I just
Speaker 1: want you guys to do so poorly, so you guys
Speaker 1: are split up next.
Speaker 4: Week, so you're not together next week.
Speaker 3: No, it definitely it plays mind games. And I think
Speaker 3: that the best kind of competition though, comes from like
Speaker 3: this love and respect for each of the athletes playing
Speaker 3: in this league. I you know, there is some trashhocking
Speaker 3: through the net, but I kind of love it. And
Speaker 3: I think that every single week it's like, ooh, let's
Speaker 3: find this connection with this person, and you'll find like
Speaker 3: these wonderful connections with people you didn't think you would
Speaker 3: ever have, you know, And you get to play with
Speaker 3: people that you're like, you just graduated college and this
Speaker 3: is my eighth year playing pro, but like, let's figure.
Speaker 4: This out in a week. And I don't know, it's
Speaker 4: really beautiful sometimes.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I'm sure it can be really fun,
Speaker 1: and we've seen that and longer term situations like the
Speaker 1: WNBA where there's players that hate each other and then
Speaker 1: a trade happens and we're all like, oh, we can't
Speaker 1: wait for this, and then instead they're best friends and
Speaker 1: we're like, oh, that's not as fun. We wanted them
Speaker 1: to keep hating each other, but it happens weak to
Speaker 1: we and like, for me, that's what my problem would
Speaker 1: be because my trashock would not be nice and then
Speaker 1: I would be paired immediately with the person that I
Speaker 1: was disrespectful and unprofessional too.
Speaker 2: But that's me problem.
Speaker 1: I want to talk more about how players play a
Speaker 1: role in AU Volleyball, Molly, because beyond just playing, it's
Speaker 1: different in terms of recruitment, creating rules, equity in the league,
Speaker 1: all that stuff.
Speaker 4: No, it's truly wonderful.
Speaker 3: So I've been part of the Player Executive Committee the
Speaker 3: PEC for sure since the very beginning of athletes and
Speaker 3: limited volleyball, and the former chairperson is Cassie Likedman, and
Speaker 3: now she's our director of Volleyball, which is amazing, and
Speaker 3: our relationship is wonderful on that. Like you know, the
Speaker 3: PEC recruits all of all forty four of these athletes.
Speaker 3: So we also meet weekly with cass and are two
Speaker 3: co founders, John Patrick Coff and Jonathan Soros and many
Speaker 3: other people on staff just and every single major league
Speaker 3: decision goes through us. So we're talking, you know, venue
Speaker 3: design or jersey design or you know, hey, like what
Speaker 3: are the best catering meals that we should have after
Speaker 3: like all these like little decisions that really are just
Speaker 3: so thoughtful and conscious to come through the athletes first.
Speaker 4: That's something I've never been a part of.
Speaker 3: It's like you're hired just to be an athlete, and
Speaker 3: you perform and you go home and that's it. But
Speaker 3: to be involved in these conversations has been truly eye opening,
Speaker 3: and it helps us mold the kind of league that
Speaker 3: we want to play in and that we want to
Speaker 3: be a part of. And so whatever small hand I've had,
Speaker 3: and like creating professional volleyball in the US, like I
Speaker 3: take so much pride in that, and it's now become
Speaker 3: so precious to me, like even way more before, Like
Speaker 3: volleyball is you know, people are saying it's having its
Speaker 3: moment right now, but I'm like, oh no, I want
Speaker 3: to make sure that this lasts forever because we do
Speaker 3: directly have a hand in it. And that's something that
Speaker 3: Athletes Limit has been really really conscious about from the
Speaker 3: very beginning.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's interesting how social media has given athletes an
Speaker 1: ability to speak to fans in a way that isn't
Speaker 1: just good for stuff like promoting their shoes. It's also
Speaker 1: about talking about what they love and don't love about
Speaker 1: their jobs, their leagues, their teams, their coaches, et cetera.
Speaker 2: And it's helped clean up some of the stuff.
Speaker 1: And Cassie, there's something to be said for a league
Speaker 1: that really listens to players, particularly women, instead of just
Speaker 1: picking up the male model and then putting some women
Speaker 1: in it. Athletes unlimited in terms of like maternal care
Speaker 1: and some of the things that we push for major
Speaker 1: leagues and existing leagues that have been around for twenty
Speaker 1: five years to have better policies on or sponsorship places,
Speaker 1: to have better policies on au from the beginning, has
Speaker 1: said we're going to go straight to the players and
Speaker 1: ask what they want to need. Where has that manifested itself, Like,
Speaker 1: are there moments that you could point to where you've
Speaker 1: seen it really come up where players have led the
Speaker 1: way and helping change things or set things up in
Speaker 1: a way to serve them.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, it's genuinely an unprecedented relationship between athletes
Speaker 5: and a league. You know, you see like you're saying
Speaker 5: in both in social media and in kind of the
Speaker 5: negotiation process, like the WNBPA right now has just said
Speaker 5: that they're going to back out of their CBA. Like
Speaker 5: I think we have those processes and plays across sports
Speaker 5: where athletes maybe can have a seat at the table
Speaker 5: to kind of fight for what they want. And what's
Speaker 5: so refreshing about athletes unlimited is it doesn't have to
Speaker 5: be a fight. That we can all just sit around
Speaker 5: a round table and have a discussion and it's never
Speaker 5: an argument. You know, Like I went from the player
Speaker 5: side to the staff side, and I feel like my
Speaker 5: goals have remained the same because it genuinely the like
Speaker 5: our PEC understands that in order to have a successful league,
Speaker 5: the business as a whole has to succeed, and the
Speaker 5: business understands that we want our athletes to be happy
Speaker 5: and engaged and to love it. So it's come across
Speaker 5: in so many different issues. Like you said, our childcare
Speaker 5: policies I think are kind of best in class. So
Speaker 5: we have moms with kids here in market, we provide
Speaker 5: you know, childcare for them, everything down to you know,
Speaker 5: in our first season, they were asking us what we
Speaker 5: want to wear, and at that time in volleyball, all
Speaker 5: anyone wore was short spandex, and some women don't want
Speaker 5: to wear that, you know, like they don't have the
Speaker 5: right play type. And so our players said, well, some
Speaker 5: of us want to wear spandex and some want to
Speaker 5: our leggings, and they were like, Okay, you could.
Speaker 4: Just wear either.
Speaker 5: And it just struct me in that moment of like
Speaker 5: not having to kind of fight and like use your
Speaker 5: what a little power you had on these tiny decisions.
Speaker 5: All of a sudden, you really feel like you have
Speaker 5: a real voice and that you really can speak to
Speaker 5: all of these things. And I think all of our
Speaker 5: leagues have been built with that athlete input in them,
Speaker 5: and our founders have been really intentional about building the
Speaker 5: voice of the athlete into the organization from the top
Speaker 5: to the bottom. So I was on the board if
Speaker 5: AU as an athlete. Now Molly's on the board with
Speaker 5: one of our lacrosse players, Like, no, that's not a
Speaker 5: thing in sports. Athletes don't get to be on the
Speaker 5: board of directors of the organization.
Speaker 1: And it's helpful to both sides too, because that communication
Speaker 1: allows for things that like maybe on the player side
Speaker 1: you think this is unfair or I want more of X,
Speaker 1: and then on the ownership side, you wish that you
Speaker 1: could tell them this is how much that costs, this
Speaker 1: is why it's prohibitive based on other things we want
Speaker 1: to be able to give you.
Speaker 2: And having that conversation actually.
Speaker 1: Allows you all to end up in the same place
Speaker 1: of either it's really that important to us that we'd
Speaker 1: rather have less of this, or Okay, we get that
Speaker 1: and maybe eventually we'll work toward it, instead of that
Speaker 1: constant feeling of like someone's trying to dupe me or
Speaker 1: trick me, or you know, keep me away from the
Speaker 1: thing that I want for their own personal benefit. That
Speaker 1: education side, have you found, Cassidy when dealing with players
Speaker 1: that know that you were in their position before you
Speaker 1: can really say this is this is something that the
Speaker 1: league isn't in a position to do yet, but we're
Speaker 1: hearing you and we want to do it later, or
Speaker 1: things like that.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 5: Absolutely, I think my entire job is just to contextualize
Speaker 5: these decisions for the athletes to go, Okay, here's the situation.
Speaker 5: We can have this or this, and we all just
Speaker 5: come to kind of a really rational decision, which is
Speaker 5: so great. But also, like, I think it's important that
Speaker 5: there's no you know, rich owner who's profiting a ton
Speaker 5: off of the backs of these athletes. You know, we're
Speaker 5: set up in a way that if we are profitable,
Speaker 5: if we do well and succeed, our athletes are actually
Speaker 5: going the benefit from that. They all get profit participation units,
Speaker 5: which is something I can to ownership for the next
Speaker 5: twenty years after they're don playing. So if we are
Speaker 5: profitable ten years from now, then all of our investors
Speaker 5: have agreed to cap their returns, so there's more than
Speaker 5: one bottom line for them, and they've already agreed to that,
Speaker 5: and half of that money goes to the mission of
Speaker 5: AU and half of it goes to the athletes. So
Speaker 5: Molly and I as athletes in this league are going
Speaker 5: to benefit from it if we may get successful from now.
Speaker 2: That's awesome.
Speaker 1: So, Molly, volleyball is the fastest growing sport for girls
Speaker 1: in America. Have you seen the game change in recent
Speaker 1: years as you've been playing, Yes, yes, I have.
Speaker 3: I think my favorite part of the fact that volleyball
Speaker 3: has been growing so much is that you know, I'm
Speaker 3: six ' three, I walk around in life and people
Speaker 3: are like, hey, do you play basketball?
Speaker 4: I've gotten that in my entire life, and now it's hey,
Speaker 4: do you play volleyball? Yes, yes, I do.
Speaker 3: No, But I think because there are so many athletes
Speaker 3: participating worldwide, the level is just increasing like rapidly. Some
Speaker 3: of these college athletes, I'm like, dang, girl, I want
Speaker 3: to recruit you in this next in the next draft,
Speaker 3: like I want you on my team now. No, But
Speaker 3: I think that just coaching is getting better, participation is
Speaker 3: getting better.
Speaker 4: The level is just getting higher.
Speaker 3: And I you know, I'm I'm pushing thirty here, but
Speaker 3: I just want to keep playing with these wonderful athletes
Speaker 3: and like everybody's so bought in now it's like, no,
Speaker 3: this game truly is wonderful and we want to see succeed.
Speaker 3: And I'm I even love I'm not a coaching spirit.
Speaker 3: Actually I don't have. I come from a family of teachers,
Speaker 3: but there's something in me that just doesn't doesn't love teaching.
Speaker 3: But I love being around the volleyball community and even
Speaker 3: just like like camps and going back to Texas and
Speaker 3: just being around you know, the younger generation of like,
Speaker 3: oh no, this is this is such a cool sport,
Speaker 3: and everybody's like there's such a shared love of it.
Speaker 4: I am truly enjoying it.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Well, first of all, someone who is not pushing thirty,
Speaker 1: I want you to appreciate every time somebody asks you
Speaker 1: what sport, because my whole life it was always b
Speaker 1: bsketball or volleyball, basketball or volleyball, and then at a
Speaker 1: certain age it was just like no one ever asked
Speaker 1: me anymore because I don't look like I do anything,
Speaker 1: and that's a bummer. So really, just appreciate it while
Speaker 1: you still look like you're of an age to be
Speaker 1: doing anything, is what I'm saying. Also to your point, interestingly,
Speaker 1: like I do think there's a buy in both from NIL,
Speaker 1: which sort of professionalizes athletes at a younger age to
Speaker 1: understand what it is to make a living doing something,
Speaker 1: but also knowing and seeing that there are professional opportunities
Speaker 1: on the horizon from a very young age. You're working
Speaker 1: toward that in a way that's different than when I
Speaker 1: was growing up or even Molly like when you came
Speaker 1: out of college, Cassidy. There's three professional leagues now including AU,
Speaker 1: There's PVF and the soon to launch Love pro Volleyball.
Speaker 1: Those are opportunities for a lot of players to look
Speaker 1: out into the landscape and see something for them. When
Speaker 1: those are all concurrently happening, how do you see them
Speaker 1: all coexisting in the space.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think we're actually in a really good position
Speaker 5: to work with both of those leagues. So PVF and
Speaker 5: LOVE are both going to hold their competitions in the spring,
Speaker 5: so from matches from kind of January through April or May,
Speaker 5: and we're sitting in the fall right now in October,
Speaker 5: in early November, and so similar to our relationship with
Speaker 5: the WNBA that we've had, players will be able to
Speaker 5: play in either of those leagues and then also in
Speaker 5: AU which just gets them more money and more opportunity,
Speaker 5: which is great because normally our players have all had
Speaker 5: to go overseas. That's what you know, Molly and I
Speaker 5: dated when we came out of college. And so between
Speaker 5: kind of Us and one of those other leagues will
Speaker 5: cover the entire overseas season, and players will be able
Speaker 5: to make good money staying at home and playing playing
Speaker 5: Bible professionally.
Speaker 1: That's awesome and I do love how the more fans
Speaker 1: get to know all the participants in every sport. The
Speaker 1: more of a draw athletes unlimited is because once you
Speaker 1: get to know the players individually, you're far more bought
Speaker 1: into them, moving teams, playing for individual points, whatever their
Speaker 1: storylines are. Like, I think Unrivaled in the WNBA is
Speaker 1: going to really benefit from us knowing all the WNBA
Speaker 1: players in all of their spaces and then going and
Speaker 1: watching them like mix it up and play three on
Speaker 1: three the same way that athletes unlimited volleyball. When everybody
Speaker 1: drops into Nashville, we want to see players that are
Speaker 1: usually playing against each other in the WNBA.
Speaker 2: Teaming up in AU or vice versa.
Speaker 1: So the format really benefits from the bigger names, the
Speaker 1: more storylines people know, which we're hoping our show helps
Speaker 1: continue to tell some of those stories and get people
Speaker 1: to get to know them so that they want to
Speaker 1: go seek them out.
Speaker 2: Wherever they're playing.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: College volleyball has also grown for decades.
Speaker 1: The TV ratings are always strong, schools like Nebraska Wisconsin
Speaker 1: drawing huge crowds for years. Plenty of other programs have
Speaker 1: also seen attendance surge in recent years, but it doesn't
Speaker 1: feel like that has quite yet made it over to
Speaker 1: the pro game. College basketball has been kind of similar.
Speaker 1: They've always had a bigger audience than the WNBA, but
Speaker 1: they're starting to be able to push that to the pros.
Speaker 1: Do you have a sense, Molly, of why some fans
Speaker 1: don't stick around when it gets to the professional level
Speaker 1: and what needs to change for that to happen.
Speaker 3: Yeah, because in recent years, we haven't had you know,
Speaker 3: professional leagues in the US, and we now have that,
Speaker 3: and so it's still pretty fresh. Normally, like Cass said,
Speaker 3: we go overseas and it's it's so sad, but it's
Speaker 3: I feel like people just kind of forget. They're like, oh, yeah,
Speaker 3: these amazing athletes that we watched in college, they go
Speaker 3: overseas and nobody wants to pull up this JANKI link
Speaker 3: and watch them overseas with the with the different language,
Speaker 3: you know, and you know, you just kind of lose
Speaker 3: interest because it becomes too difficult to follow that athlete.
Speaker 3: But now that we have these professional leagues in the US,
Speaker 3: we have these wonderful, amazing athletes come out of college
Speaker 3: and going directly to these US based leagues, like that
Speaker 3: connection is huge. I think that's what happened with Caitlin Clark,
Speaker 3: Like she played in the w was like, oh, we
Speaker 3: know exactly where to follow her. It is in our language,
Speaker 3: it is on networks that we are familiar with. Like
Speaker 3: that connection piece is so important. I am very, very
Speaker 3: excited for that to happen. Like with volleyball, it's like
Speaker 3: slowly happening, but with nil and everybody bought into the
Speaker 3: college game, I think it will translate to professional.
Speaker 1: Cassidy, what was the landscape like when you were coming
Speaker 1: out of Stanford and what did you wish you saw
Speaker 1: that maybe has appeared now that you got to benefit
Speaker 1: from late in your career.
Speaker 5: Well, two months after I graduated, I moved to Poland
Speaker 5: by myself. She's like a very welcome to the world
Speaker 5: moment when you're kind of getting to the airport and
Speaker 5: going down and you're like, I don't know anyone in
Speaker 5: this country and some random guys picking me up and
Speaker 5: I've seen taken and like what are my life choices?
Speaker 5: And Molly's exactly right, like you know, maybe my parents
Speaker 5: could watch on some random feed, but nobody else could,
Speaker 5: and so it wasn't. I had actually retired after playing
Speaker 5: for five years of the national team and in Europe,
Speaker 5: and when AU came about. I came back out of
Speaker 5: retirement to play in order to kind of help build
Speaker 5: this for the next generation and for players like Molly
Speaker 5: who can continue to play well into their thirties hopefully
Speaker 5: because they're at home and it's a much more comfortable situation.
Speaker 5: So I think, you know, being on national TV, it's
Speaker 5: been a huge part of it. Like when you talk
Speaker 5: about growing the professional volleyball fan base, that's it has
Speaker 5: to be visible, right, So people have to be able
Speaker 5: to see those players that they love coming out of
Speaker 5: college and you know, directly the next fall they're on
Speaker 5: you know, ESPN for us or they're playing for Love
Speaker 5: and PBF in the spring, and to be able to
Speaker 5: build those stars, they just have to be visible. So
Speaker 5: I think that's the most exciting thing to me is
Speaker 5: to see like the seeds of that, you know, starting
Speaker 5: to grow and like the ceilings know we're in sight.
Speaker 5: I think we're just getting started and the sport is
Speaker 5: already really massive. It's just like quietly.
Speaker 1: So yeah, so Cassidy, then give us your pitch for
Speaker 1: the volleyball curious or the fans that usually watch college
Speaker 1: but happened checked out AU where can they watch it?
Speaker 1: And we're coming up sort of near the end of
Speaker 1: this au volleyball season. But what do they need to
Speaker 1: know to like jump in and get on boards so
Speaker 1: that they can start following the players.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think you need to know we have some
Speaker 5: of the best players in the world. We have a
Speaker 5: great competition going on right now between Betty Day La
Speaker 5: Cruz and Britney Appercrombie, who both.
Speaker 1: Represent Those names are perfect, by the way, these are
Speaker 1: perfect names to South.
Speaker 5: Amazing names, amazing names and amazing volleyball players. And they're
Speaker 5: surrounded by, you know, incredible talent that is played at
Speaker 5: some of the best colleges in the country, all Americans,
Speaker 5: National champions, Olympians.
Speaker 4: So this is the highest level of.
Speaker 5: Volleyball you know you'll be able to see this year,
Speaker 5: and it's an incredible competition. So I think you just
Speaker 5: tune in, pick a favorite player, you know, check where
Speaker 5: out where they are on the leaderboard, and root for
Speaker 5: whatever team they're on that week.
Speaker 1: Maybe it's Molly, Maybe Molly's your favorite player.
Speaker 4: Molly's a great choice. I'm going to say.
Speaker 1: We will put a schedule in our show notes for
Speaker 1: people to check out where they can watch and how
Speaker 1: they can watch, Molly, You're still in the midst of this,
Speaker 1: and I'm sure as someone on the player committee and
Speaker 1: also playing, you're constantly changing your to do list of
Speaker 1: what you want, what you could see differently. Is there
Speaker 1: anything right now you're currently advocating for or thinking about
Speaker 1: for next season that you'd like to see change.
Speaker 3: I think that is most top of my mind is
Speaker 3: recruiting the best athletes.
Speaker 4: It's so wonderful that these leagues PBF.
Speaker 3: And LOVE are here in the US and we have
Speaker 3: people that have been playing overseas for decades that are
Speaker 3: coming home that are like truly world class talent and
Speaker 3: they have world class talent friends. So bringing those people
Speaker 3: to our league next year, Like, that's just something I
Speaker 3: keep thinking about of, like, oh, she's coming to play
Speaker 3: and this team you know in Atlanta, and I really
Speaker 3: want her to play for Athletes unlimited, and like you
Speaker 3: can even feel it here this year. You know, this
Speaker 3: is our fourth season and the level just grows exponentially
Speaker 3: every single season, and it's cutthroat now, like it's it's
Speaker 3: almost like, dang, you got to be part of this league.
Speaker 3: Like you're one of the top forty four athletes that
Speaker 3: get to participate in Athletes Unlimited like that is the
Speaker 3: kind of talent that we have and it's something that
Speaker 3: you know, as a player, executive community member, we're constantly
Speaker 3: talking about of what is the best product that we
Speaker 3: can give fans.
Speaker 1: And another cool thing about the league is you get
Speaker 1: to promote a cause that matters to you and some
Speaker 1: of the money made actually goes so that's to your cause.
Speaker 3: Molly, Yeah, this is one of my favorite things of
Speaker 3: Athletes Limited. My cause is one percent for the planet.
Speaker 3: So it's a giant organization that benefits any you know,
Speaker 3: environmentally conscious, you know, nonprofit and to me, just being
Speaker 3: a good global citizen is incredibly important because we only
Speaker 3: have one earth, so let's treat it with kindness. But
Speaker 3: all forty four of by athletes, one hundred percent of
Speaker 3: their wind bonus goes to a cause of their choice,
Speaker 3: which is something that as a female athlete, we haven't
Speaker 3: been able to earn a ton of money and then
Speaker 3: contribute to nonprofits that we want to, you know, that
Speaker 3: we want to contribute to. So this is truly just
Speaker 3: so awesome and kind and it makes playing feel even bigger.
Speaker 3: You know, it's not just about hitting the ball. It's
Speaker 3: like actually contributing to things that you care about.
Speaker 1: Cassidy, your cause was path I assume.
Speaker 5: It was Yes, which was also very helpful for a
Speaker 5: young nonprofit.
Speaker 2: Yeah that's awesome.
Speaker 1: Okay, So our last, our last order of business, and
Speaker 1: you have to do it quickly. You can't overthink it,
Speaker 1: you can't worry about feelings getting hurt. I'm going to
Speaker 1: tell everyone right now to follow Molly McCage Molly and
Speaker 1: then McCage on Instagram. She's a great follow. She'll tell
Speaker 1: you where to get long pants. You can root for her,
Speaker 1: you can find out when she's playing next. Molly, give
Speaker 1: me two players from Athletes Unlimited Volleyball that everyone should follow.
Speaker 4: You should follow Betty de La Cruz Miha.
Speaker 2: Okay adding her right now. I need one more.
Speaker 3: And if you really love fashion, you should follow Berkeley
Speaker 3: oh Blad.
Speaker 1: Names sound made up, but I'm excited to learn about
Speaker 1: these people.
Speaker 2: Berkeley oh Blad.
Speaker 1: Okay, Cassidy, give me two AU current playing players that
Speaker 1: we should all follow.
Speaker 5: Okay, I think kas Brown excellent sense of humor and
Speaker 5: again Morgan hence the best defender you'll ever see.
Speaker 1: Okay, all right, I look forward to sharing this with
Speaker 1: all the players you didn't name and then telling them
Speaker 1: you didn't pick them.
Speaker 2: Just kidding, just kidding.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for coming on, mollyworks say to
Speaker 1: watch the rest of the season with you playing and
Speaker 1: get even more into AU volleyball. And Cassidy thanks for
Speaker 1: coming on as well and giving us some insight, and
Speaker 1: congrats on continuing to just push this sport forward.
Speaker 2: We love it.
Speaker 5: Thank you, appreciate it.
Speaker 4: Thank you sir.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much to Molly and Cassidy for taking the time.
Speaker 1: We got to take a quick break when we come back,
Speaker 1: did I just manifest athleticism?
Speaker 2: Welcome back, Orange Slices.
Speaker 1: We love that you're listening, but we want you to
Speaker 1: get in the game every day too, So here's our
Speaker 1: good game play of the day. Follow those players. Molly
Speaker 1: and Cassidy mentioned in our interview. One of the best
Speaker 1: ways to stay up to date on women's sports, from
Speaker 1: scores and outcomes to events, sponsorships, merch and fun off
Speaker 1: the field storylines is to fill your social feed with athletes, teams, leagues,
Speaker 1: and media outlets. Your everyday scrolling will get an instant boost,
Speaker 1: and if you want to get to know AU volleyball,
Speaker 1: here's your chance follow Molly McCage, Morgan, Hence Betty de
Speaker 1: La Cruz, Mahea Berkeley, Oblad and Cas Brown will put
Speaker 1: their Insta handles in the show notes.
Speaker 2: Don't forget.
Speaker 1: We love hearing from you, so hit us up on
Speaker 1: an email good game at wondermedianetwork dot com or leave
Speaker 1: us a voicemail at eight seven two two oh four
Speaker 1: fifty seventy.
Speaker 2: Don't forget to subscribe. Rate in review slices.
Speaker 1: It's easy watch when a young person thinks your old
Speaker 1: ass is still an athlete. Rating five out of five
Speaker 1: still got its review. I swear I manifested this shit
Speaker 1: because one day, after sitting down to interview Molly and
Speaker 1: Cassidy and bemoaning the fact that no one ever asks
Speaker 1: me basketball or volleyball anymore, a twenty something dude walked
Speaker 1: past me in Chicago, stared me down for a minute,
Speaker 1: and then said, hold up, do you play in the WNBA?
Speaker 1: I recognize you you play now? I was wearing my
Speaker 1: orange WNBA hoodie and he probably just recognized me from
Speaker 1: television and then conflated the tube.
Speaker 2: But it doesn't matter.
Speaker 1: This young dude thought that this old lady was in
Speaker 1: the league still got it.
Speaker 2: Now, it's your turn rate and review.
Speaker 1: Good Game, Molly, Good game, Cassidy, you election dread.
Speaker 2: We are one week away and I am sweating y'all.
Speaker 1: Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports
Speaker 1: production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You
Speaker 1: can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network,
Speaker 1: our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive
Speaker 1: producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rudder.
Speaker 1: Our editors are Emily Rudder, Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch, and
Speaker 1: Lindsay Cradowell. Production assistant from Lucy Jones and I'm your
Speaker 1: Host Sarah Spain