WEBVTT - ‘We Have a Real Voice’ with Molly McCage and Cassidy Lichtman 0:00:00.720 --> 0:00:03.119 Welcome to Good Game of Sarah Spain, where we're in Ohi, 0:00:03.279 --> 0:00:07.560 California for the espnW Women in Sports Summit, just casually 0:00:07.680 --> 0:00:11.480 but relentlessly stocking our fave Alison Felix and hoping we 0:00:11.480 --> 0:00:13.760 could finally convince her to come on the show. On 0:00:13.800 --> 0:00:16.239 today's show, we're talking to Molly McCage and Cassidy Lickman 0:00:16.360 --> 0:00:19.120 of Athletes Unlimited Volleyball. They'll give us a scene set 0:00:19.160 --> 0:00:21.600 on where the current season of AU Volleyball stands, how 0:00:21.640 --> 0:00:25.000 Athletes Unlimited gives the power and decision making to the athletes, 0:00:25.239 --> 0:00:28.360 and what it's like to talk trash one week and high. 0:00:28.200 --> 0:00:29.000 Five the next. 0:00:29.400 --> 0:00:32.839 Plus some footy love and proof that I've still got it. 0:00:32.840 --> 0:00:39.680 It's all coming up right after this welcome back slices. 0:00:39.760 --> 0:00:44.200 Here's what you need to know today in the WNBA, 0:00:44.400 --> 0:00:46.920 it's official. The Connecticut Sun sent out a release on 0:00:46.960 --> 0:00:49.640 Monday announcing that the organization has parted ways with head 0:00:49.640 --> 0:00:52.440 coach Stephanie White. During her two seasons with the Sun, 0:00:52.479 --> 0:00:54.480 White led the team to a fifty five and twenty 0:00:54.480 --> 0:00:58.040 five regular season record and a seven and seven postseason record, 0:00:58.240 --> 0:01:01.520 including two semi finals supeire. She was the twenty twenty 0:01:01.560 --> 0:01:04.520 three WNBA and AP Coach of the Year and was 0:01:04.560 --> 0:01:07.200 selected as an All Star Game head coach in that season. 0:01:07.600 --> 0:01:10.280 On Monday, we shared reporting from the Suntimes Annie Costable 0:01:10.319 --> 0:01:13.319 that this split was likely, with sources saying White will 0:01:13.319 --> 0:01:16.560 be heading back to head coach the Indiana Fever. We'll 0:01:16.600 --> 0:01:19.960 keep you updated on White squereabouts as we get them. 0:01:20.800 --> 0:01:23.639 In soccer, Lynn Williams and Lindsay Horant scored just minutes 0:01:23.680 --> 0:01:25.520 apart in the second half to help the US women's 0:01:25.560 --> 0:01:27.800 national team rally to a three to one win on 0:01:27.959 --> 0:01:30.880 Sunday in the second of back to back friendlies with Iceland. 0:01:31.200 --> 0:01:33.840 Forward ms Sears made her national team debut, seven in 0:01:33.840 --> 0:01:36.280 in the second half and scoring in stoppage time. She 0:01:36.400 --> 0:01:39.200 also had an assist, becoming the first US player with 0:01:39.280 --> 0:01:42.399 a goal and an assist in her first national team game. 0:01:42.800 --> 0:01:45.400 Before the game, the team celebrated Mouse Swanson's one hundred 0:01:45.480 --> 0:01:48.800 caps and counting an honored retiring US women's national team 0:01:48.800 --> 0:01:51.800 star Kelly O'Hara. At halftime, a few of Kelly's fans 0:01:51.800 --> 0:01:54.800 and teammates, including Sammy Mwis, Midge Purs, and Lynn Williams, 0:01:54.800 --> 0:01:57.600 recorded messages for her in honor for retirement. We'll put 0:01:57.600 --> 0:02:00.200 the link in our show notes. Sunday's win come on 0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:02.600 the heels of Thursday's win over Iceland three to one 0:02:02.600 --> 0:02:04.440 in the team's first game since winning gold at the 0:02:04.480 --> 0:02:07.760 Paris Olympics. Teenagers Alyssa Thompson and Jayden Shaw, along with 0:02:07.800 --> 0:02:08.880 Sophia Smith. 0:02:08.639 --> 0:02:09.520 All scored in the win. 0:02:10.000 --> 0:02:14.320 Next up, they play Argentina this Wednesday in Louisville. Toick 0:02:14.360 --> 0:02:17.600 College soccer. For the fourth time in program history, the 0:02:17.680 --> 0:02:21.520 Duke women's soccer team are champions of the ACC regular season. 0:02:21.760 --> 0:02:23.960 The number one ranked Blue Devil's beat number two ranked 0:02:23.960 --> 0:02:26.440 Wake Forest on the road to nothing in front of 0:02:26.440 --> 0:02:28.919 a record crowd of three thousand, seven hundred and sixty 0:02:28.919 --> 0:02:32.960 one bands at Spry Stadium in Winston Salem. Sophomore Mia 0:02:32.960 --> 0:02:35.400 Oliaro scored a brace for Duke in the second half, 0:02:35.600 --> 0:02:38.080 and the Blue Devils d hung on for the team's 0:02:38.160 --> 0:02:40.799 eighth shutout of the season. Duke is now thirteen to 0:02:40.800 --> 0:02:42.800 one in one overall and eight oho to one in 0:02:42.840 --> 0:02:45.600 the ACC, while wake Forest fell to eleven three and 0:02:45.680 --> 0:02:48.920 two and six two and one in the conference. To 0:02:49.040 --> 0:02:52.640 volleyball Week four in Athletes Unlimited Volleyball wrapped up last 0:02:52.720 --> 0:02:55.360 night and today marks the last draft of the season, 0:02:55.639 --> 0:02:57.760 with the top four players in the standings selecting their 0:02:57.800 --> 0:03:00.280 squads for the final week of play. That's at one 0:03:00.160 --> 0:03:03.400 pm Eastern. You can go to auprosports dot com slash 0:03:03.480 --> 0:03:06.120 volleyball to see the teams and the schedule. And we 0:03:06.200 --> 0:03:09.519 got lots more AU Volleyball talk coming up with today's guests. 0:03:12.400 --> 0:03:14.320 We got to take a quick break. When we come back, 0:03:14.400 --> 0:03:16.080 it's Molly and Cassidy. 0:03:20.320 --> 0:03:22.120 It's time for group chat where we take the t 0:03:22.400 --> 0:03:25.760 from the texts to the airwaves, and it's Athletes Unlimited 0:03:25.880 --> 0:03:26.880 Edition joining us now. 0:03:26.880 --> 0:03:27.960 She's a professional. 0:03:27.639 --> 0:03:30.760 Volleyball player, a middle blocker and Athletes Unlimited Volleyball. She's 0:03:30.760 --> 0:03:34.000 the chairperson of Athletes Unlimited's Player Executive Committee. Was the 0:03:34.000 --> 0:03:36.800 twenty twenty three AU Pro Volleyball Blocker of the Year. 0:03:36.880 --> 0:03:39.440 Is a Nike athlete and a U T Austin alum. 0:03:39.760 --> 0:03:42.360 She's the Queen of Finding long Pants. She's a dog 0:03:42.360 --> 0:03:44.920 mom to Franklin and I got married in her hometown. 0:03:45.240 --> 0:03:48.520 It's Molly McCage. What's up, Molly, what's up? You got 0:03:48.600 --> 0:03:50.360 married in my hometown. 0:03:50.440 --> 0:03:54.720 Hobart, Indiana. That's right, that's right. Destination I've heard for 0:03:54.840 --> 0:03:56.080 many Yeah. 0:03:56.160 --> 0:03:58.240 Yeah, yeah, it's a beautiful place you have to go. 0:03:58.360 --> 0:03:58.520 Yeah. 0:04:00.280 --> 0:04:02.839 Her. She's a former national volleyball player and outside hitter 0:04:02.960 --> 0:04:05.720 and member of Team USA from twenty eleven to twenty sixteen. 0:04:05.920 --> 0:04:08.080 A founding AU Pro Volleyball member, was head of the 0:04:08.120 --> 0:04:11.000 Volleyball Player Executive Committee before retiring in twenty twenty two. 0:04:11.200 --> 0:04:13.800 Became Director of Volleyball in twenty twenty three. She runs 0:04:13.800 --> 0:04:17.520 her own nonprofit organization, Path, which focuses on using sports 0:04:17.560 --> 0:04:20.240 as a vehicle to teach skills around empathy, equity, and empowerment. 0:04:20.400 --> 0:04:21.400 It's Cassidy Lickman. 0:04:21.480 --> 0:04:21.840 What's up. 0:04:21.880 --> 0:04:22.320 Cassidy. 0:04:22.760 --> 0:04:23.800 Hey, Sarah. 0:04:23.839 --> 0:04:25.640 I'm excited to have y' all on, and I want 0:04:25.640 --> 0:04:27.960 to start with the basics, because for those who have 0:04:28.080 --> 0:04:31.039 not been to AU events or seeing some of the 0:04:31.080 --> 0:04:33.440 AU leagues, they're a little bit different sometimes, and that 0:04:33.440 --> 0:04:36.279 includes AU volleyball. So, Cassidy, for those who aren't familiar, 0:04:36.520 --> 0:04:39.279 tell us a little bit about how athletes unlimited volleyball 0:04:39.320 --> 0:04:40.159 is special and different. 0:04:40.880 --> 0:04:43.080 Yeah. So, in a traditional league, all of the players 0:04:43.160 --> 0:04:45.400 are in their teams in their different cities, they're kind 0:04:45.400 --> 0:04:46.680 of playing home and away games. 0:04:46.960 --> 0:04:47.640 We bring our. 0:04:47.600 --> 0:04:50.719 Entire roster of forty four athletes to one city for 0:04:50.800 --> 0:04:54.039 a five weeks of competition, and every week we reach 0:04:54.040 --> 0:04:56.520 out our teams, so you're going to see different combinations 0:04:56.560 --> 0:04:58.240 of some of the best players in the world playing 0:04:58.240 --> 0:05:01.040 with it against each other every week, and there's an 0:05:01.040 --> 0:05:03.560 individual leader board kind of counting their points based on 0:05:03.640 --> 0:05:06.440 how much their team wins, their own individual performance, so 0:05:06.480 --> 0:05:08.320 we crown one champion at the end of the season. 0:05:08.760 --> 0:05:11.680 So it's kind of playoff intensity for the entire five 0:05:11.720 --> 0:05:14.720 week season and you know, seeing some of the best 0:05:14.760 --> 0:05:15.800 in the world battle it out. 0:05:16.560 --> 0:05:18.480 Yeah, so you can earn points on your team wins, 0:05:18.480 --> 0:05:21.200 but also individual things. And then the leaderboard changes and 0:05:21.240 --> 0:05:23.400 at the end of each week, the top four athletes 0:05:23.400 --> 0:05:26.080 in the standings get to be captains draft a new team, 0:05:26.080 --> 0:05:28.680 and then the next week they start with those teams, which. 0:05:28.720 --> 0:05:30.839 To me is wild. 0:05:31.120 --> 0:05:35.120 Molly, I am an unhinged competitive person still at this 0:05:35.160 --> 0:05:37.520 point in my life when it serves zero purpose and 0:05:37.560 --> 0:05:41.120 I cannot imagine being someone's opponent one week and teammate 0:05:41.160 --> 0:05:43.640 the next. Tell us how that dynamic works or maybe 0:05:43.680 --> 0:05:49.280 doesn't work for AU players. It definitely makes you have 0:05:49.360 --> 0:05:52.880 to adapt both like mentally and physically, right, So like 0:05:52.960 --> 0:05:56.760 every week, like we just played Orange last night, which 0:05:56.800 --> 0:05:59.520 had Betty Daily Cruz and Claire Hoffman, two of the 0:05:59.520 --> 0:06:02.120 best blocks in the league, And I'm like, I just 0:06:02.200 --> 0:06:04.680 want you guys to do so poorly, so you guys 0:06:04.680 --> 0:06:05.480 are split up next. 0:06:05.360 --> 0:06:07.080 Week, so you're not together next week. 0:06:08.440 --> 0:06:12.200 No, it definitely it plays mind games. And I think 0:06:12.240 --> 0:06:15.440 that the best kind of competition though, comes from like 0:06:15.480 --> 0:06:18.359 this love and respect for each of the athletes playing 0:06:18.400 --> 0:06:22.560 in this league. I you know, there is some trashhocking 0:06:22.600 --> 0:06:24.800 through the net, but I kind of love it. And 0:06:24.839 --> 0:06:27.840 I think that every single week it's like, ooh, let's 0:06:27.839 --> 0:06:30.680 find this connection with this person, and you'll find like 0:06:31.000 --> 0:06:33.400 these wonderful connections with people you didn't think you would 0:06:33.400 --> 0:06:35.039 ever have, you know, And you get to play with 0:06:35.080 --> 0:06:37.360 people that you're like, you just graduated college and this 0:06:37.400 --> 0:06:39.680 is my eighth year playing pro, but like, let's figure. 0:06:39.440 --> 0:06:41.560 This out in a week. And I don't know, it's 0:06:41.600 --> 0:06:42.799 really beautiful sometimes. 0:06:43.240 --> 0:06:44.760 Yeah, I mean, I'm sure it can be really fun, 0:06:44.839 --> 0:06:47.760 and we've seen that and longer term situations like the 0:06:47.800 --> 0:06:50.640 WNBA where there's players that hate each other and then 0:06:50.640 --> 0:06:52.680 a trade happens and we're all like, oh, we can't 0:06:52.680 --> 0:06:54.480 wait for this, and then instead they're best friends and 0:06:54.520 --> 0:06:57.320 we're like, oh, that's not as fun. We wanted them 0:06:57.360 --> 0:06:59.720 to keep hating each other, but it happens weak to 0:06:59.800 --> 0:07:01.960 we and like, for me, that's what my problem would 0:07:02.000 --> 0:07:04.720 be because my trashock would not be nice and then 0:07:04.720 --> 0:07:06.880 I would be paired immediately with the person that I 0:07:07.000 --> 0:07:08.880 was disrespectful and unprofessional too. 0:07:09.360 --> 0:07:10.400 But that's me problem. 0:07:10.720 --> 0:07:12.680 I want to talk more about how players play a 0:07:12.760 --> 0:07:16.680 role in AU Volleyball, Molly, because beyond just playing, it's 0:07:16.720 --> 0:07:20.280 different in terms of recruitment, creating rules, equity in the league, 0:07:20.280 --> 0:07:20.920 all that stuff. 0:07:21.600 --> 0:07:22.680 No, it's truly wonderful. 0:07:22.760 --> 0:07:24.800 So I've been part of the Player Executive Committee the 0:07:24.800 --> 0:07:27.520 PEC for sure since the very beginning of athletes and 0:07:27.560 --> 0:07:32.000 limited volleyball, and the former chairperson is Cassie Likedman, and 0:07:32.000 --> 0:07:34.240 now she's our director of Volleyball, which is amazing, and 0:07:34.400 --> 0:07:37.560 our relationship is wonderful on that. Like you know, the 0:07:37.600 --> 0:07:40.720 PEC recruits all of all forty four of these athletes. 0:07:41.040 --> 0:07:45.840 So we also meet weekly with cass and are two 0:07:45.960 --> 0:07:49.120 co founders, John Patrick Coff and Jonathan Soros and many 0:07:49.120 --> 0:07:52.160 other people on staff just and every single major league 0:07:52.160 --> 0:07:55.480 decision goes through us. So we're talking, you know, venue 0:07:55.480 --> 0:07:59.520 design or jersey design or you know, hey, like what 0:07:59.600 --> 0:08:01.640 are the best catering meals that we should have after 0:08:02.000 --> 0:08:04.480 like all these like little decisions that really are just 0:08:04.960 --> 0:08:07.720 so thoughtful and conscious to come through the athletes first. 0:08:08.280 --> 0:08:09.800 That's something I've never been a part of. 0:08:09.880 --> 0:08:12.280 It's like you're hired just to be an athlete, and 0:08:12.320 --> 0:08:14.960 you perform and you go home and that's it. But 0:08:15.040 --> 0:08:18.080 to be involved in these conversations has been truly eye opening, 0:08:18.120 --> 0:08:20.240 and it helps us mold the kind of league that 0:08:20.280 --> 0:08:21.800 we want to play in and that we want to 0:08:21.800 --> 0:08:26.040 be a part of. And so whatever small hand I've had, 0:08:26.080 --> 0:08:29.480 and like creating professional volleyball in the US, like I 0:08:29.560 --> 0:08:31.640 take so much pride in that, and it's now become 0:08:31.720 --> 0:08:34.600 so precious to me, like even way more before, Like 0:08:34.679 --> 0:08:37.880 volleyball is you know, people are saying it's having its 0:08:37.920 --> 0:08:39.880 moment right now, but I'm like, oh no, I want 0:08:39.920 --> 0:08:42.920 to make sure that this lasts forever because we do 0:08:43.040 --> 0:08:45.439 directly have a hand in it. And that's something that 0:08:45.480 --> 0:08:47.679 Athletes Limit has been really really conscious about from the 0:08:47.760 --> 0:08:48.280 very beginning. 0:08:49.040 --> 0:08:53.520 Yeah, it's interesting how social media has given athletes an 0:08:53.559 --> 0:08:55.920 ability to speak to fans in a way that isn't 0:08:56.000 --> 0:08:58.920 just good for stuff like promoting their shoes. It's also 0:08:59.000 --> 0:09:01.439 about talking about what they love and don't love about 0:09:01.440 --> 0:09:04.880 their jobs, their leagues, their teams, their coaches, et cetera. 0:09:05.240 --> 0:09:06.880 And it's helped clean up some of the stuff. 0:09:06.880 --> 0:09:09.439 And Cassie, there's something to be said for a league 0:09:09.440 --> 0:09:13.480 that really listens to players, particularly women, instead of just 0:09:13.679 --> 0:09:15.840 picking up the male model and then putting some women 0:09:15.880 --> 0:09:19.240 in it. Athletes unlimited in terms of like maternal care 0:09:19.679 --> 0:09:22.079 and some of the things that we push for major 0:09:22.160 --> 0:09:24.440 leagues and existing leagues that have been around for twenty 0:09:24.440 --> 0:09:27.720 five years to have better policies on or sponsorship places, 0:09:27.720 --> 0:09:30.000 to have better policies on au from the beginning, has 0:09:30.000 --> 0:09:31.320 said we're going to go straight to the players and 0:09:31.320 --> 0:09:34.000 ask what they want to need. Where has that manifested itself, Like, 0:09:34.240 --> 0:09:35.719 are there moments that you could point to where you've 0:09:35.720 --> 0:09:37.840 seen it really come up where players have led the 0:09:37.880 --> 0:09:40.360 way and helping change things or set things up in 0:09:40.400 --> 0:09:41.679 a way to serve them. 0:09:42.000 --> 0:09:45.520 Yeah, I mean, it's genuinely an unprecedented relationship between athletes 0:09:45.600 --> 0:09:47.559 and a league. You know, you see like you're saying 0:09:47.640 --> 0:09:49.760 in both in social media and in kind of the 0:09:49.800 --> 0:09:53.360 negotiation process, like the WNBPA right now has just said 0:09:53.360 --> 0:09:55.920 that they're going to back out of their CBA. Like 0:09:56.240 --> 0:09:59.360 I think we have those processes and plays across sports 0:09:59.400 --> 0:10:02.160 where athletes maybe can have a seat at the table 0:10:02.360 --> 0:10:05.720 to kind of fight for what they want. And what's 0:10:05.760 --> 0:10:07.920 so refreshing about athletes unlimited is it doesn't have to 0:10:07.960 --> 0:10:10.360 be a fight. That we can all just sit around 0:10:10.440 --> 0:10:13.679 a round table and have a discussion and it's never 0:10:13.760 --> 0:10:15.520 an argument. You know, Like I went from the player 0:10:15.600 --> 0:10:17.120 side to the staff side, and I feel like my 0:10:17.160 --> 0:10:20.680 goals have remained the same because it genuinely the like 0:10:20.720 --> 0:10:24.600 our PEC understands that in order to have a successful league, 0:10:24.679 --> 0:10:27.080 the business as a whole has to succeed, and the 0:10:27.160 --> 0:10:29.720 business understands that we want our athletes to be happy 0:10:29.760 --> 0:10:32.480 and engaged and to love it. So it's come across 0:10:32.480 --> 0:10:35.520 in so many different issues. Like you said, our childcare 0:10:35.559 --> 0:10:38.080 policies I think are kind of best in class. So 0:10:38.120 --> 0:10:40.720 we have moms with kids here in market, we provide 0:10:40.800 --> 0:10:44.480 you know, childcare for them, everything down to you know, 0:10:44.480 --> 0:10:46.080 in our first season, they were asking us what we 0:10:46.080 --> 0:10:49.240 want to wear, and at that time in volleyball, all 0:10:49.280 --> 0:10:52.000 anyone wore was short spandex, and some women don't want 0:10:52.000 --> 0:10:53.839 to wear that, you know, like they don't have the 0:10:53.920 --> 0:10:56.960 right play type. And so our players said, well, some 0:10:57.000 --> 0:10:58.360 of us want to wear spandex and some want to 0:10:58.400 --> 0:11:00.880 our leggings, and they were like, Okay, you could. 0:11:00.640 --> 0:11:01.400 Just wear either. 0:11:01.559 --> 0:11:03.360 And it just struct me in that moment of like 0:11:04.040 --> 0:11:07.240 not having to kind of fight and like use your 0:11:07.520 --> 0:11:10.160 what a little power you had on these tiny decisions. 0:11:11.200 --> 0:11:12.520 All of a sudden, you really feel like you have 0:11:12.520 --> 0:11:14.959 a real voice and that you really can speak to 0:11:15.320 --> 0:11:17.680 all of these things. And I think all of our 0:11:17.800 --> 0:11:21.680 leagues have been built with that athlete input in them, 0:11:21.760 --> 0:11:25.840 and our founders have been really intentional about building the 0:11:25.920 --> 0:11:29.360 voice of the athlete into the organization from the top 0:11:29.400 --> 0:11:31.400 to the bottom. So I was on the board if 0:11:31.440 --> 0:11:33.920 AU as an athlete. Now Molly's on the board with 0:11:33.960 --> 0:11:36.440 one of our lacrosse players, Like, no, that's not a 0:11:36.480 --> 0:11:38.160 thing in sports. Athletes don't get to be on the 0:11:38.160 --> 0:11:39.559 board of directors of the organization. 0:11:41.240 --> 0:11:43.960 And it's helpful to both sides too, because that communication 0:11:44.600 --> 0:11:47.200 allows for things that like maybe on the player side 0:11:47.240 --> 0:11:49.600 you think this is unfair or I want more of X, 0:11:49.960 --> 0:11:52.080 and then on the ownership side, you wish that you 0:11:52.080 --> 0:11:54.440 could tell them this is how much that costs, this 0:11:54.480 --> 0:11:56.560 is why it's prohibitive based on other things we want 0:11:56.600 --> 0:11:57.360 to be able to give you. 0:11:57.520 --> 0:11:59.280 And having that conversation actually. 0:11:59.000 --> 0:12:00.560 Allows you all to end up in the same place 0:12:00.600 --> 0:12:03.040 of either it's really that important to us that we'd 0:12:03.120 --> 0:12:05.800 rather have less of this, or Okay, we get that 0:12:05.880 --> 0:12:07.920 and maybe eventually we'll work toward it, instead of that 0:12:08.040 --> 0:12:10.600 constant feeling of like someone's trying to dupe me or 0:12:10.600 --> 0:12:12.960 trick me, or you know, keep me away from the 0:12:13.000 --> 0:12:15.160 thing that I want for their own personal benefit. That 0:12:15.280 --> 0:12:19.640 education side, have you found, Cassidy when dealing with players 0:12:19.720 --> 0:12:22.000 that know that you were in their position before you 0:12:22.040 --> 0:12:24.079 can really say this is this is something that the 0:12:24.160 --> 0:12:25.880 league isn't in a position to do yet, but we're 0:12:25.920 --> 0:12:27.440 hearing you and we want to do it later, or 0:12:27.440 --> 0:12:28.000 things like that. 0:12:28.520 --> 0:12:28.720 Yeah. 0:12:28.720 --> 0:12:31.319 Absolutely, I think my entire job is just to contextualize 0:12:31.360 --> 0:12:34.319 these decisions for the athletes to go, Okay, here's the situation. 0:12:34.400 --> 0:12:37.480 We can have this or this, and we all just 0:12:37.520 --> 0:12:39.640 come to kind of a really rational decision, which is 0:12:39.720 --> 0:12:43.000 so great. But also, like, I think it's important that 0:12:43.040 --> 0:12:47.280 there's no you know, rich owner who's profiting a ton 0:12:47.400 --> 0:12:50.120 off of the backs of these athletes. You know, we're 0:12:50.160 --> 0:12:52.800 set up in a way that if we are profitable, 0:12:52.840 --> 0:12:55.640 if we do well and succeed, our athletes are actually 0:12:55.640 --> 0:12:59.760 going the benefit from that. They all get profit participation units, 0:12:59.760 --> 0:13:01.760 which is something I can to ownership for the next 0:13:01.760 --> 0:13:05.040 twenty years after they're don playing. So if we are 0:13:05.080 --> 0:13:09.079 profitable ten years from now, then all of our investors 0:13:09.080 --> 0:13:12.400 have agreed to cap their returns, so there's more than 0:13:12.440 --> 0:13:14.679 one bottom line for them, and they've already agreed to that, 0:13:15.280 --> 0:13:17.600 and half of that money goes to the mission of 0:13:17.760 --> 0:13:19.960 AU and half of it goes to the athletes. So 0:13:20.320 --> 0:13:21.960 Molly and I as athletes in this league are going 0:13:22.000 --> 0:13:24.360 to benefit from it if we may get successful from now. 0:13:24.400 --> 0:13:25.000 That's awesome. 0:13:25.240 --> 0:13:27.800 So, Molly, volleyball is the fastest growing sport for girls 0:13:27.840 --> 0:13:30.400 in America. Have you seen the game change in recent 0:13:30.480 --> 0:13:33.000 years as you've been playing, Yes, yes, I have. 0:13:33.400 --> 0:13:35.600 I think my favorite part of the fact that volleyball 0:13:35.679 --> 0:13:38.720 has been growing so much is that you know, I'm 0:13:38.720 --> 0:13:40.960 six ' three, I walk around in life and people 0:13:41.040 --> 0:13:42.240 are like, hey, do you play basketball? 0:13:42.240 --> 0:13:45.360 I've gotten that in my entire life, and now it's hey, 0:13:45.440 --> 0:13:49.120 do you play volleyball? Yes, yes, I do. 0:13:49.559 --> 0:13:52.840 No, But I think because there are so many athletes 0:13:52.880 --> 0:14:00.079 participating worldwide, the level is just increasing like rapidly. Some 0:14:00.160 --> 0:14:02.760 of these college athletes, I'm like, dang, girl, I want 0:14:02.760 --> 0:14:05.320 to recruit you in this next in the next draft, 0:14:05.360 --> 0:14:07.680 like I want you on my team now. No, But 0:14:07.720 --> 0:14:11.440 I think that just coaching is getting better, participation is 0:14:11.480 --> 0:14:12.079 getting better. 0:14:12.960 --> 0:14:14.319 The level is just getting higher. 0:14:14.320 --> 0:14:17.080 And I you know, I'm I'm pushing thirty here, but 0:14:17.120 --> 0:14:19.000 I just want to keep playing with these wonderful athletes 0:14:19.120 --> 0:14:22.600 and like everybody's so bought in now it's like, no, 0:14:22.720 --> 0:14:26.360 this game truly is wonderful and we want to see succeed. 0:14:26.440 --> 0:14:30.760 And I'm I even love I'm not a coaching spirit. 0:14:30.800 --> 0:14:33.200 Actually I don't have. I come from a family of teachers, 0:14:33.240 --> 0:14:36.240 but there's something in me that just doesn't doesn't love teaching. 0:14:36.280 --> 0:14:38.960 But I love being around the volleyball community and even 0:14:39.120 --> 0:14:42.560 just like like camps and going back to Texas and 0:14:42.640 --> 0:14:44.720 just being around you know, the younger generation of like, 0:14:45.120 --> 0:14:47.560 oh no, this is this is such a cool sport, 0:14:47.600 --> 0:14:50.400 and everybody's like there's such a shared love of it. 0:14:51.000 --> 0:14:52.480 I am truly enjoying it. 0:14:53.080 --> 0:14:53.760 Yeah. 0:14:53.800 --> 0:14:55.880 Well, first of all, someone who is not pushing thirty, 0:14:55.880 --> 0:14:58.080 I want you to appreciate every time somebody asks you 0:14:58.120 --> 0:14:59.880 what sport, because my whole life it was always b 0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:02.440 bsketball or volleyball, basketball or volleyball, and then at a 0:15:02.440 --> 0:15:04.160 certain age it was just like no one ever asked 0:15:04.160 --> 0:15:06.240 me anymore because I don't look like I do anything, 0:15:06.440 --> 0:15:10.040 and that's a bummer. So really, just appreciate it while 0:15:10.080 --> 0:15:11.640 you still look like you're of an age to be 0:15:11.720 --> 0:15:15.119 doing anything, is what I'm saying. Also to your point, interestingly, 0:15:15.160 --> 0:15:17.640 like I do think there's a buy in both from NIL, 0:15:17.680 --> 0:15:20.520 which sort of professionalizes athletes at a younger age to 0:15:20.640 --> 0:15:23.560 understand what it is to make a living doing something, 0:15:23.600 --> 0:15:27.000 but also knowing and seeing that there are professional opportunities 0:15:27.040 --> 0:15:29.480 on the horizon from a very young age. You're working 0:15:29.560 --> 0:15:31.960 toward that in a way that's different than when I 0:15:32.000 --> 0:15:33.760 was growing up or even Molly like when you came 0:15:33.800 --> 0:15:37.720 out of college, Cassidy. There's three professional leagues now including AU, 0:15:37.800 --> 0:15:40.600 There's PVF and the soon to launch Love pro Volleyball. 0:15:41.160 --> 0:15:43.040 Those are opportunities for a lot of players to look 0:15:43.080 --> 0:15:45.600 out into the landscape and see something for them. When 0:15:45.640 --> 0:15:48.080 those are all concurrently happening, how do you see them 0:15:48.080 --> 0:15:49.840 all coexisting in the space. 0:15:50.320 --> 0:15:52.680 Yeah, I think we're actually in a really good position 0:15:52.960 --> 0:15:55.600 to work with both of those leagues. So PVF and 0:15:55.640 --> 0:15:57.960 LOVE are both going to hold their competitions in the spring, 0:15:58.800 --> 0:16:01.720 so from matches from kind of January through April or May, 0:16:02.120 --> 0:16:04.400 and we're sitting in the fall right now in October, 0:16:04.760 --> 0:16:07.840 in early November, and so similar to our relationship with 0:16:07.880 --> 0:16:10.360 the WNBA that we've had, players will be able to 0:16:10.400 --> 0:16:13.680 play in either of those leagues and then also in 0:16:13.760 --> 0:16:17.120 AU which just gets them more money and more opportunity, 0:16:18.360 --> 0:16:20.800 which is great because normally our players have all had 0:16:20.800 --> 0:16:23.000 to go overseas. That's what you know, Molly and I 0:16:23.120 --> 0:16:25.880 dated when we came out of college. And so between 0:16:26.000 --> 0:16:27.960 kind of Us and one of those other leagues will 0:16:27.960 --> 0:16:32.440 cover the entire overseas season, and players will be able 0:16:32.520 --> 0:16:35.360 to make good money staying at home and playing playing 0:16:35.400 --> 0:16:36.240 Bible professionally. 0:16:36.840 --> 0:16:40.160 That's awesome and I do love how the more fans 0:16:40.240 --> 0:16:43.440 get to know all the participants in every sport. The 0:16:43.440 --> 0:16:47.120 more of a draw athletes unlimited is because once you 0:16:47.160 --> 0:16:49.920 get to know the players individually, you're far more bought 0:16:49.960 --> 0:16:54.000 into them, moving teams, playing for individual points, whatever their 0:16:54.040 --> 0:16:58.240 storylines are. Like, I think Unrivaled in the WNBA is 0:16:58.240 --> 0:17:00.640 going to really benefit from us knowing all the WNBA 0:17:00.680 --> 0:17:03.120 players in all of their spaces and then going and 0:17:03.160 --> 0:17:06.240 watching them like mix it up and play three on 0:17:06.280 --> 0:17:09.320 three the same way that athletes unlimited volleyball. When everybody 0:17:09.400 --> 0:17:12.119 drops into Nashville, we want to see players that are 0:17:12.200 --> 0:17:14.680 usually playing against each other in the WNBA. 0:17:14.280 --> 0:17:16.000 Teaming up in AU or vice versa. 0:17:16.119 --> 0:17:20.239 So the format really benefits from the bigger names, the 0:17:20.240 --> 0:17:23.639 more storylines people know, which we're hoping our show helps 0:17:23.680 --> 0:17:25.639 continue to tell some of those stories and get people 0:17:25.680 --> 0:17:27.879 to get to know them so that they want to 0:17:27.880 --> 0:17:28.600 go seek them out. 0:17:28.480 --> 0:17:29.240 Wherever they're playing. 0:17:29.840 --> 0:17:30.000 You know. 0:17:30.080 --> 0:17:32.160 College volleyball has also grown for decades. 0:17:32.200 --> 0:17:35.679 The TV ratings are always strong, schools like Nebraska Wisconsin 0:17:35.800 --> 0:17:38.560 drawing huge crowds for years. Plenty of other programs have 0:17:38.640 --> 0:17:40.960 also seen attendance surge in recent years, but it doesn't 0:17:40.960 --> 0:17:43.040 feel like that has quite yet made it over to 0:17:43.080 --> 0:17:46.880 the pro game. College basketball has been kind of similar. 0:17:46.880 --> 0:17:49.399 They've always had a bigger audience than the WNBA, but 0:17:49.440 --> 0:17:51.840 they're starting to be able to push that to the pros. 0:17:52.080 --> 0:17:54.399 Do you have a sense, Molly, of why some fans 0:17:54.440 --> 0:17:56.680 don't stick around when it gets to the professional level 0:17:56.720 --> 0:17:58.119 and what needs to change for that to happen. 0:17:58.960 --> 0:18:02.439 Yeah, because in recent years, we haven't had you know, 0:18:02.480 --> 0:18:06.159