Speaker 1: Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're on
Speaker 1: a plane across the Atlantic, not reclining and respecting the
Speaker 1: personal space of the people sitting behind us. It's Friday,
Speaker 1: November fifteenth, and on today's show, we'll be talking with
Speaker 1: North Carolina Field Hockey head coach Aaron Mattson about her
Speaker 1: unbelievably fast transition for player to coach, being the youngest
Speaker 1: coach in any sport to win an NCAA championship, and
Speaker 1: her team's quest for a third straight national title. Plus
Speaker 1: a hockey what the fact that'll have you shake in
Speaker 1: your head and a heartbelt. Happy birthday to my real MVP.
Speaker 1: It's all coming up right after this. Welcome back slices,
Speaker 1: Happy Friday. Here's what you need to know today. Tomorrow's
Speaker 1: the day the NWSL semi Finals kick off with the
Speaker 1: duel between the Washington Spirit and defending champs Got Them
Speaker 1: FC at twelve pm Eastern on CBS and streaming on
Speaker 1: Paramount Plus. It'll take place at Audi Field and get this,
Speaker 1: the Spirit sold out tickets to the matchup in just
Speaker 1: seventy two hours. Also, legendary DC rapper DJ Cool will
Speaker 1: be clearing his throat to perform at halftime of that one.
Speaker 1: Sure to be a great time for all attending. Kind
Speaker 1: of bummed I can't go because, let me clear, my
Speaker 1: throat was on every single hype mix that I made
Speaker 1: for myself for all of high school and college. And
Speaker 1: if you don't know, you better ask somebody. Well, the
Speaker 1: Spirit spoiled goth them's repeat chances in that game. Where
Speaker 1: will the visiting side steal one on the road and
Speaker 1: steal a spot in the championship. We'll have to wait
Speaker 1: and see then. On Sunday, the Orlando Pride host the
Speaker 1: Kansas City Current at three pm Eastern on ABC. It's
Speaker 1: the battle of the forwards in the quarterfinals Golden Boot
Speaker 1: winner ten, which Huwinga scored the winning goal for Case
Speaker 1: against the Courage and Barbara Banda put two in the
Speaker 1: back of the net in the Pride win against the
Speaker 1: Chicago Red Stars. So can ten win team knock off
Speaker 1: the number one club in the league and earn the
Speaker 1: chance to play in the final at their home stadium,
Speaker 1: or will the Pride and legendary footballer Marta make their
Speaker 1: way to the championship in KC. If you missed our
Speaker 1: episodes with Jeff Kasoof and Meglenahan this week two of
Speaker 1: the most brilliant minds in the soccer media game. Go
Speaker 1: ahead and take a lista before Saturday so you're all
Speaker 1: caught up. Also, the NWSL Skills Challenge set to take
Speaker 1: place at CPKC Stadium Friday, hosted by a friend of
Speaker 1: the show and NWSL and US Women's Nationalist seem legend
Speaker 1: Sam Ewis. It won't be available to watch live, but
Speaker 1: it will air on CBS Sunday at three pm or
Speaker 1: five pm Eastern. Check your local listings. It'll also be
Speaker 1: available to stream that day on Paramount Plus. No word
Speaker 1: yet on whether they've added that river goal competition. Come on, Cowards,
Speaker 1: do it elsewhere in the NWSL, Angel City FC is
Speaker 1: moving on up. The club will relocate training sessions to
Speaker 1: a new performance center for the twenty twenty five season,
Speaker 1: a nine acre site on the campus of California Lutheran
Speaker 1: University with a full size pitch and a half and
Speaker 1: approximately fifty thousand square feet of indoor space. It'll be
Speaker 1: the largest performance cetre dedicated solely to an NWSL club.
Speaker 1: It'll also include custom lockers for players, coaches, and staff,
Speaker 1: a children's playroom, a studio for content capture in interviews,
Speaker 1: and more. Previously the home of the NFL's Los Angeles Rams,
Speaker 1: The space is undergoing a multimillion dollar remodel that'll be
Speaker 1: complete in time for next season, and it will serve
Speaker 1: as home for acfc's players and first team staff for
Speaker 1: up to four years. In college soccer, the NCAA College
Speaker 1: Cup starts today. Number one seeded Florida State begins its
Speaker 1: title defense against Samford at five pm Eastern down in Tallahassee.
Speaker 1: We'll link to the full tournament bracket and schedule in
Speaker 1: our show notes. In college vibs, Niche, We're doing this again, Vibes.
Speaker 1: In college volleyball, we got a bunch of rank matchups
Speaker 1: this weekend, including number one pit in action against Florida
Speaker 1: State today at seven pm Eastern, and number twenty one
Speaker 1: Florida versus number twenty five Missouri at eight pm Eastern.
Speaker 1: There are ten other top twenty five teams hitting the
Speaker 1: court today as well. Full slate of games over the
Speaker 1: weekend too, so we'll link to the schedule in our
Speaker 1: show notes. In college hoops, we got a big Top
Speaker 1: twenty showdown on tap today between two unbeaten teams Number
Speaker 1: two Yukon facing number fifteen UNC at six pm Eastern.
Speaker 1: That one's airing on ESPN two. There are a bunch
Speaker 1: of games Saturday Sunday two, and you know the drill.
Speaker 1: We'll link to the full schedule in our show notes.
Speaker 1: And we're not surprised because this is arguably one of
Speaker 1: the most anticipated seasons of college basketball ever. But there
Speaker 1: have been quite a few notable performances across the nation
Speaker 1: this week. In number seven LSUS one seventeen forty four
Speaker 1: win over Charleston Southern on Wednesday, senior forward Anissa Morro
Speaker 1: put up twenty one points and twenty rebounds, becoming the
Speaker 1: only Division IE player in the last twenty years to
Speaker 1: record a twenty twenty game for multiple teams. In UCLA's
Speaker 1: ninety one to fifty four victory over Pepperdine on Tuesday,
Speaker 1: not one but two players posted dominant double doubles. Junior
Speaker 1: center Lauren Betts put up seventeen points and twelve rebounds,
Speaker 1: while Texas A and m transferre Jenia Barker scored eighteen
Speaker 1: points and snagged eleven boards. Also on Tuesday, number three
Speaker 1: ranked USC put on a scoring Clinic, dropping a program
Speaker 1: record one hundred and twenty four points in their win
Speaker 1: over cal State Northridge. Sophomore star Juju Watkins had twenty
Speaker 1: one points, nine assists and six steals in that one
Speaker 1: to alpine skiing. Five years after retiring from ski racing,
Speaker 1: Lindsay Vaughn is aiming to return to the slopes. The
Speaker 1: three time Olympic medalist and eighty two time World Cup
Speaker 1: race winner stepped away in twenty nineteen after decades of injuries,
Speaker 1: most of them from gnarly crashes, and it meant she
Speaker 1: was no longer able to compete at the level she wanted.
Speaker 1: Now forty years old, Vaughn told The New York Times
Speaker 1: that following a knee replacement surgery earlier this year, she
Speaker 1: was shocked to discover she's pain free. Vaughn will participate
Speaker 1: at the US Ski team's upcoming training camp and is
Speaker 1: aiming to make her World Cup return this season, possibly
Speaker 1: as early as mid December. To the WNBA. The draft
Speaker 1: lottery is this Sunday at five pm Eastern on ESPN.
Speaker 1: Here's how it'll work. The four teams that didn't make
Speaker 1: the playoffs this year. That's the Los Angeles Sparks, Dallas Wings,
Speaker 1: Chicago Sky, and Washington Mystics are vying for the number
Speaker 1: one draft pick in the twenty twenty five WNBA Draft.
Speaker 1: Each team's odds are based on their cumulative record from
Speaker 1: the last past two years. The Sparks boasts the worst
Speaker 1: record twenty two wins and fifty five losses in two seasons,
Speaker 1: giving them about a forty four percent chance of getting
Speaker 1: the number one pick. Dallas and Chicago have about a
Speaker 1: twenty three percent chance, while the Mystic's chance is approximately
Speaker 1: eleven percent. Worth noting Dallas has the right to swap
Speaker 1: its first round pick with Chicago, so even if the
Speaker 1: Sky get the number one pick, that pick is likely
Speaker 1: headed to Texas anyway, So we mentioned that Lindsay Vaughn
Speaker 1: is aiming to make her competitive return to skiing. This
Speaker 1: is incredible and when producer Alex heard the news, she
Speaker 1: immediately told me and Meish that she had a Lindsay
Speaker 1: Vaughn story she wanted to share. So Alex, get on
Speaker 1: in here.
Speaker 2: I think this is one of my favorite sports journalism
Speaker 2: stories of all time. Every time I think of it,
Speaker 2: it makes me laugh, and I am so excited to
Speaker 2: now bring that joy to all of you. So I
Speaker 2: had the opportunity to cover the last years of Lindsay
Speaker 2: Vaughn's career, which mostly meant keeping track of her numerous
Speaker 2: injuries because there were a lot fractures, ACSS, bone bruises,
Speaker 2: she once sliced her thumb open with a champagne bottle
Speaker 2: in the middle of the World Championships, and how to
Speaker 2: get emergency surgery to repair attend in another thing to
Speaker 2: know about Lindsay, she loves dogs. During the final years
Speaker 2: of her career, I also got to know Lucy, who
Speaker 2: accompanied her pretty much everywhere, including to most interviews. So
Speaker 2: that brings us to twenty nineteen, when Lindsay Vaughn announced
Speaker 2: that she was planning to retire following that year's World Championships.
Speaker 2: And when she did, because she was such an icon
Speaker 2: in the sport, it got pretty much picked up by
Speaker 2: every news outlet. And I am going to show you
Speaker 2: a screenshot of one of those retirement stories right now,
Speaker 2: and I would like for you to explain to listeners
Speaker 2: what you see.
Speaker 1: Uh Okay, Lindsay, my body is broken. Vaughn announced that
Speaker 1: she will retire filling this month's World Championships in Sweden,
Speaker 1: there's a photo for bending over, holding her back of
Speaker 1: her leg, there's a there's a yankee photo of her knee,
Speaker 1: there's a photo of an other knee with all the screws,
Speaker 1: and then that's a dog pow. That's uh. I thought
Speaker 1: it was a hand, but what you're telling me is
Speaker 1: that the dog paw. Oh mg.
Speaker 2: This is a social media graphic that the Daily Mail
Speaker 2: put out and they included two X rays on it,
Speaker 2: but the X rays are both from Lindsay's dog. She
Speaker 2: had to send a tweet replying to it, writing, Haha,
Speaker 2: that is my dog Leo's knees with pins and my
Speaker 2: other dog, Lucy's paw with the rod. And just the
Speaker 2: idea that the Daily Mail took X rays from Lindsay Vonn's.
Speaker 1: Social Oh my god, and they were her dog X rays.
Speaker 2: It just every time I see it, it just brings
Speaker 2: me so much Troy real journalism.
Speaker 1: Also, can we talk about why Lindsay Von's dogs had
Speaker 1: to have so many surgery? Are they out there on
Speaker 1: the slopes like, what's going on here?
Speaker 3: The bumps?
Speaker 1: That's incredible. I went to one of Lindsay Von's Super
Speaker 1: Bowl parties and it was like pool side everyone's playing
Speaker 1: ping pong, doing all the stuff, and it comes this
Speaker 1: Lindsay Vaughn look alike in the same style bikini with
Speaker 1: almost the same body, and I'm like, there's two of them,
Speaker 1: and yes, it was Lindsay Von's sister. And that's when
Speaker 1: I gave myself a little break in life because Lindsay
Speaker 1: Von's sister, who is not a professional athlete, world champion skier,
Speaker 1: still has the most rockiness world champion body I've ever seen.
Speaker 1: And I was like, it's genetics. It's genetics. I can't
Speaker 1: help it. Anyway. I always think about that because I
Speaker 1: was playing ping pong against the two of them, looking
Speaker 1: across the table, like what the fuck? Not fair? Anyway,
Speaker 1: Congrats to Lindsay. I cannot wait to see her come back,
Speaker 1: after interviewing her and talking to her, after reading her book,
Speaker 1: and like listening to the details of all those injuries,
Speaker 1: the fact that she's like, hmm, I had a couple
Speaker 1: good days strung together. I think I'll get back to it.
Speaker 1: Is like why she's so great? Like who thinks like that?
Speaker 1: All right? Good stuff? Alex also dog x rays freaking hilarious.
Speaker 1: She's got that dog in her. I guess is what
Speaker 1: the Daily Mail was trying to say. We're gonna take
Speaker 1: a quick break when we come back. We're talking in
Speaker 1: hockey field, not ice with UNC head coach Aaron Mattson.
Speaker 1: We caught up with her on Thursday ahead of UNC's
Speaker 1: NCAA tournament opener today against Delaware and side note, I
Speaker 1: was on a phone instead of a computer for that
Speaker 1: interview because my computer broke, so the audio might sound
Speaker 1: just a little bit different than the rest of the show. Anyway,
Speaker 1: good interview, stick around.
Speaker 3: Joining us now.
Speaker 1: She's now the North Carolina field hockey head coach and
Speaker 1: was the most decorated player in UNC field hockey history.
Speaker 1: Her final season as a player was in twenty twenty two. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you're doing the math right. She's twenty four years old,
Speaker 1: and she was announced in January of twenty twenty three
Speaker 1: as the program's next head coach, immediately leading her team
Speaker 1: to a national championship and becoming the youngest coach in
Speaker 1: history in any sport to win an NCUBA championship. As
Speaker 1: a player, she played on four NCUBLEA championship teams and
Speaker 1: was a three time recipient of the Honda Sport Award
Speaker 1: for Field hockey, becoming just the second player ever to
Speaker 1: win that honor three times. This season, she was named
Speaker 1: the ACEC Coach of the Year. UNC is currently eighteen
Speaker 1: and no. She led the team to their eighth straight
Speaker 1: ACC title last weekend, and she's now going to try
Speaker 1: to lead them to a third straight national title, her
Speaker 1: second as head coach and her sixth overall.
Speaker 3: Whoo, except Eric.
Speaker 4: Not much, It's good to be here. I yeah, I
Speaker 4: never obviously, like I don't have a list on my
Speaker 4: own phone of like what I did, so whenever I
Speaker 4: hear stuff like that, it definitely brings me back.
Speaker 1: Since this is an audio interview, people will not be
Speaker 1: able to see you, but you are sitting in front
Speaker 1: of a giant board of UNC field hockey accomplishments, and
Speaker 1: it's like numbers, numbers, numbers, numbers of all the different
Speaker 1: ACC titles and national championships.
Speaker 3: So your body of.
Speaker 1: Work, at least part of your work is behind you,
Speaker 1: which is very cool. You and I got to hang
Speaker 1: out at the espnW summit in May, so there's a
Speaker 1: lot of very cool things I know from talking to
Speaker 1: you then. But for those who don't know the story,
Speaker 1: I think my very favorite that I need everyone to
Speaker 1: know is the story of you calling your ad while
Speaker 1: you were still a student athlete and convincing them that
Speaker 1: you were ready to be a coach in the next year.
Speaker 3: So can you tell that story?
Speaker 4: Yeah, okay, so I guess bringing it, bring it. I
Speaker 4: guess not way back though it hasn't been really too long,
Speaker 4: but so yeah, I was in the period of time
Speaker 4: where there we had the COVID years, so I had
Speaker 4: five years to play, and the ACC during COVID was
Speaker 4: the only conference who actually played, so I did get
Speaker 4: five years to play. I played for five years, silver
Speaker 4: lining of all of that chaos. But going into my
Speaker 4: fifth season, my last season, I there were just kind
Speaker 4: of rumblings about our coach retiring and she never told
Speaker 4: us like, hey, I'm retiring, and she never like her
Speaker 4: and I never talked also about everyone's always like how
Speaker 4: did how did those conversations like blah blah blah. It's
Speaker 4: like those didn't happen because I was still playing and
Speaker 4: she was still coaching. But I don't know. I kind
Speaker 4: of just I loved coaching. I never thought I could
Speaker 4: do it anywhere else. And then the stars kind of
Speaker 4: aligned where she was going to retire, and I was like, Okay, wait,
Speaker 4: maybe this isn't as crazy as I thought it was
Speaker 4: or as like impossible as I thought it was. So
Speaker 4: I was like, yeah, I'm gonna I'm gonna go for it.
Speaker 4: But what I didn't want to happen because our season
Speaker 4: starts in August, and if we go all the way,
Speaker 4: we always finish right before Thanksgiving. And I didn't want
Speaker 4: R A. D To be like having conversations during season,
Speaker 4: like landing on anybody when I was still playing, and
Speaker 4: then come November when our season was over, you know,
Speaker 4: already have someone in place and ready to go. And
Speaker 4: I didn't want to be overlooked. So I went to
Speaker 4: his office actually and I was like, hey, can we meet,
Speaker 4: which also, looking back, like a student athlete asking your athletic.
Speaker 4: I don't know why he said yes, but thank you, Bubba.
Speaker 4: But I into his office and I basically just told
Speaker 4: him that. I was like, I don't want to be overlooked.
Speaker 4: I can do this, I can prove it to you.
Speaker 4: I know I'm still playing, so let me compartmentalize and
Speaker 4: handle that professionally, and you know, just trust me with that.
Speaker 4: But like, I want a shot at this job. When
Speaker 4: it opens up. And he was definitely not expecting that
Speaker 4: to be the topic of conversation. And I was twenty
Speaker 4: two years old at the time, so there were lots
Speaker 4: of layers of Aaron, what the heck are you doing?
Speaker 4: But he looked at me and he said, Okay, go
Speaker 4: win a national championship and then we'll talk.
Speaker 3: And to men, it's like.
Speaker 4: Fine, Like I don't like, what do you think I've
Speaker 4: been trying to do here for the last four years.
Speaker 4: So we obviously we did that. We won throughout the season.
Speaker 4: I had to, you know, just jug juggle that personally
Speaker 4: with knowing what I wanted to do after season but
Speaker 4: still staying present, which I'm sure we'll get into. But yeah,
Speaker 4: we won. And then I went back to him and
Speaker 4: I said, okay, let's go. I did what you asked
Speaker 4: me to do, and here we are.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the job was was the goal along to become
Speaker 1: a coach or was part of that, Oh my coach
Speaker 1: is leaving and this would be a cool thing to do.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so kind of. I never actually, I guess I'll
Speaker 4: say I loved coaching and I knew I was good
Speaker 4: at it. I always thought like it was just always
Speaker 4: the joke. My coach Karen Shaw in the my mentor
Speaker 4: now was here for forty two years, and no one
Speaker 4: ever kind of thought about like the time she wouldn't
Speaker 4: be the coach, especially me, and I don't know, I
Speaker 4: just never really thought, like I knew I could do it,
Speaker 4: but the stars never aligned. And also I felt very
Speaker 4: passionately about like I can't go do the normal trajectory
Speaker 4: of like going to another school and like I can't
Speaker 4: be wearing orange, or like this is the best school
Speaker 4: ever like we had and like no, like it's I
Speaker 4: had a very unique student athlete experience, like it's only Carolina,
Speaker 4: like ever.
Speaker 1: So careful, girl, you just never know what's gonna happen
Speaker 1: in life. It's gonna resurface someday down the road. You
Speaker 1: were right, and so just that's just fascinating to think about.
Speaker 3: Though.
Speaker 1: It's like serendipity of her leaving right in that moment,
Speaker 1: because even if you had had an eye on the
Speaker 1: job four or five years down the line, who knows
Speaker 1: your life takes you in that time and if you
Speaker 1: go start working in another job in another field, and
Speaker 1: it's just it's just pretty wild the timing of it
Speaker 1: all your belief in yourself, your AD's belief in you.
Speaker 1: It's just incredible. What was the toughest part about the transition?
Speaker 1: You are now there same place, a lot of the
Speaker 1: same teammates. You just flip a switch and now you
Speaker 1: come back and you're the coach. What's the toughest part there?
Speaker 4: Yeah? I think it wasn't tough, and it's still like present.
Speaker 4: I deal with it every single day because it wasn't
Speaker 4: tough in like a negative way, but it was tough
Speaker 4: in the sense that I had to be so intentional
Speaker 4: with it and so purposeful with it. And it's the
Speaker 4: obvious answer of I played with I think last year's
Speaker 4: team there were only five girls who I didn't play with,
Speaker 4: and we have a had a team of twenty eight
Speaker 4: last year, so I played with twenty three of them
Speaker 4: and like just striking that balance of actually, let me
Speaker 4: use this to my advantage because I know everything about them.
Speaker 4: I know what they were complaining about because I was
Speaker 4: also in the locker room complaining about it. I know
Speaker 4: what they are happy with because I was happy with it.
Speaker 4: I also know like how to talk to them because
Speaker 4: I know who can take the you know, hard, firm, direct,
Speaker 4: criticism and who needs like the positive reinforcement. So like
Speaker 4: I was like, let me spin this and use it
Speaker 4: to my advantage. But I also had to be so
Speaker 4: intentional with like I'm the coach, Like I'm not your
Speaker 4: friend right now. Okay, we can go back to I
Speaker 4: had this conversation with a couple of girls, girls who
Speaker 4: graduated last year after the natty, and it's like, okay,
Speaker 4: now we can resume, like catch me up on your life,
Speaker 4: like you had to get It's like.
Speaker 1: I was gonna say, because if any of your best
Speaker 1: friends were on the team, yeah, essentially saying like my
Speaker 1: job is more important than being your friend right now,
Speaker 1: which is really hard.
Speaker 4: Really hard. Like I didn't. I was literally like tell
Speaker 4: me all of the boy drama, tell me all of
Speaker 4: the like what happened, what's all the like what? Yeah,
Speaker 4: because I just had to, like I had to separate
Speaker 4: it and even personally, like I don't know, for example,
Speaker 4: right now, where there's this social media company we're diving into,
Speaker 4: Like how I can you know, kind of take it
Speaker 4: to the next level, And it's like it's so interesting
Speaker 4: because you can see like your two personalities of like
Speaker 4: normal twenty four year old but like badass coach like I,
Speaker 4: and it's it's been an interesting road to like separate
Speaker 4: that so like tricky in that sense, but not in
Speaker 4: the way of like it's a bad thing. It's just
Speaker 4: been like that's been.
Speaker 3: And it sounds like the easiest is clear right.
Speaker 1: You're able to relate to them, You're able to work
Speaker 1: with folks who are you're similar to.
Speaker 3: We talked about this at the ESPAW summit, the idea
Speaker 3: of sort of a lot of gen z. They want
Speaker 3: to know the why.
Speaker 1: It's not because I told you so, it's here's how,
Speaker 1: here's why, here's we're going to do this together. And
Speaker 1: that's really natural for you coming from that generation of
Speaker 1: being a part of that team just a couple of
Speaker 1: years ago as a player. That's fascinating, know, and I'm
Speaker 1: really impressed by your maturity, not just in the ability
Speaker 1: to sit down with your friends and explain to them
Speaker 1: how that's going to change and how as soon as
Speaker 1: they graduate you can come on back, but also to
Speaker 1: your point being a twenty four year old, particularly right
Speaker 1: now with social media, you can't get caught doing things
Speaker 1: that aren't right for a twenty four year old but
Speaker 1: aren't great for your head coach to be doing right
Speaker 1: that don't feel appropriate, and that's that's really tricky. Okay,
Speaker 1: so season two, now, is it easier flipping those teammate
Speaker 1: to coach relationships? You know you mentioned these are your friends,
Speaker 1: these are folks you were going to parties and bars
Speaker 1: with the further distance you get from that, does it
Speaker 1: seem easier?
Speaker 4: Definitely? I think like it's just more natural, I guess,
Speaker 4: and like expected. But it's really interesting now, and like
Speaker 4: I kind of knew this because I'm a planner. I'm
Speaker 4: a forward thinker like all of us, and you know
Speaker 4: the professions and high levels we are are. But it
Speaker 4: was like a phase last year of okay, basically everyone
Speaker 4: I played with and like everyone I was friends with.
Speaker 4: Now it's the like these next two years, this year
Speaker 4: and next year are going to be the Okay, it's
Speaker 4: half and half, like half of these guys never played
Speaker 4: with me, don't know me as a friend, like they
Speaker 4: came in as freshmen and like they've only ever known
Speaker 4: me as a coach. And then it's going to be
Speaker 4: the next phase a few years from now of like, okay,
Speaker 4: these are all of our recruits, like all of everyone
Speaker 4: I brought in, so it's like it's going to be
Speaker 4: a I don't know, a journey in itself of.
Speaker 1: The whole different transition. Yeah, you had to just be like,
Speaker 1: I'm the person who recruited you. Sort of a legend
Speaker 1: around here, but that's it. There's no other ties, right.
Speaker 1: There have been a lot of conversations, especially in really
Speaker 1: recent years, about coaching tactics and mental health, like how
Speaker 1: coaches have had to change to adjust to a new
Speaker 1: generation and a new type of young person.
Speaker 3: Used to be a lot of free reign to do
Speaker 3: whatever you wanted.
Speaker 1: And the weird stereotypical ideal of a coach was like
Speaker 1: a man who yelled a lot. Yeah, it's sort of
Speaker 1: like this idea we all had in our had of
Speaker 1: like what a great coach looks like, and oftentimes that
Speaker 1: crossed into verbal harassment, abuse, a toxic environment. Even when
Speaker 1: it didn't, it wasn't always the best tactic for getting
Speaker 1: the most out of players. As players have started to
Speaker 1: speak up, as coaches have started to realize that those
Speaker 1: tactics don't work as well with this younger generation, it
Speaker 1: feels like there's been a pivot. Have you witnessed that
Speaker 1: in your career, going from being a player for coaches
Speaker 1: like that into a coach yourself and trying to recognize
Speaker 1: which things you want to pull from what you've seen
Speaker 1: and which things you want to be part of a
Speaker 1: new generation of coaches doing.
Speaker 4: Definitely, So this is such an interesting thing for me
Speaker 4: because I, yes, I grew up like being yelled at.
Speaker 4: I grew up with like grew up with like extra
Speaker 4: high standards. I grew up not like on the field
Speaker 4: I'm talking about obviously in my sport, but like I
Speaker 4: had the coach who was so intense and like I
Speaker 4: liked that. So even here at Carolina, like I I
Speaker 4: was able to be yelled at, like that's how you
Speaker 4: got the most out of me, Like piss me off
Speaker 4: and let me feel like I need to run through
Speaker 4: a brick wall like you know. But that's definitely not everyone.
Speaker 4: And it's been so interesting with me finding and creating
Speaker 4: my coaching philosophy. Like I never I never was like
Speaker 4: that towards my teammates per se, but I responded well
Speaker 4: to it. So for me, it's all about striking that
Speaker 4: balance of first off, first and foremost, like who are
Speaker 4: the people who like that and lean into that? Because
Speaker 4: I have some of my girls tell me like I
Speaker 4: like when you get on me, I like when you
Speaker 4: like get intense. And then I have other girls who
Speaker 4: are like Aaron that freaks me out. I don't we
Speaker 4: and like even if some of them don't know, like,
Speaker 4: of course that's our job, and like my job is
Speaker 4: emotional intelligence to like read the room and see how
Speaker 4: they need it and stuff, and like there is there
Speaker 4: is still a group that likes that old fashion like
Speaker 4: traditional way of coaching, but you have to couple it
Speaker 4: with the soft whether it's right after a drill or
Speaker 4: right after practice or being like extra soft off of
Speaker 4: the field so that you can be that way because
Speaker 4: they like that on the field. Or there's the group
Speaker 4: that like is very avoidant of it, does not respond
Speaker 4: well to it, shuts down, and like you can't even
Speaker 4: you can't. You just can't. Like you have to control
Speaker 4: your tone, you have to control what you're saying. And
Speaker 4: I I don't know, I I feel I agree with
Speaker 4: you that it used to just be acceptable for everyone,
Speaker 4: whether they responded well to it or not. Now it's
Speaker 4: not like it needs to like necessarily go away, but
Speaker 4: it's just it's how you.
Speaker 3: Know, it's one of the tools.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and like you super intentional, I think, and honestly,
Speaker 4: it is way less like it's way I've noticed. I
Speaker 4: mean even with our incoming freshmen, like, they are a
Speaker 4: different group as a whole group than are our fifthier seniors, Like,
Speaker 4: and that's expected, that's fine, that's why we love a
Speaker 4: team sport. But I mean, overall the traditional like yellingness
Speaker 4: and that that's not how you're going to get through
Speaker 4: to kids anymore. But if it is someone who like
Speaker 4: likes that intensity when they're playing, then you've got to
Speaker 4: make sure you're hitting it from a different angle at
Speaker 4: other times. Because I definitely have noticed, like I have
Speaker 4: to be so intentional and purposeful with my choice of
Speaker 4: words with I mean, they listen to everything. They take
Speaker 4: every thing to heart. They pay attention to every action,
Speaker 4: so like it's not even just what you're talking and
Speaker 4: saying during practice. It's the environment you're creating here in
Speaker 4: our hockey house. It's the environment you create in the
Speaker 4: film room. It's the environment they feel, you know, the
Speaker 4: alums feel. So then when they come back, our kids
Speaker 4: lean into what they feel. Like It's crazy how many
Speaker 4: things intertwine and I think you can use that old fashioned,
Speaker 4: like intense style of coaching in the right moment. But
Speaker 4: it's just there's more layers to it now, and there's
Speaker 4: more There's just there's got to be more intention.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about this squad, because you mentioned the number
Speaker 1: of players last year that you had played alongside. You're
Speaker 1: going for a three peat here. How many players now
Speaker 1: on this team are back from last year's championship team.
Speaker 4: We only graduated four girls last year, so we have
Speaker 4: I mean, that's the other beauty in this This is
Speaker 4: the last like COVID year two, so we have like
Speaker 4: fifth years who weren't redshirted for a year or injured
Speaker 4: for a year like we've had girls who have played
Speaker 4: for five years. We have three time national champions like
Speaker 4: as our leaders, as our captain, So there's just a
Speaker 4: lot of maturity and experience and veteran leadership going on
Speaker 4: in general because of this backlog of COVID, but also
Speaker 4: because we've been winning. People have fun here, they like
Speaker 4: what we're doing. We don't want to leave, so we've
Speaker 4: like retained a lot.
Speaker 1: Tell me about a player or two that have been
Speaker 1: really key to your successes.
Speaker 3: You're eighteen and zero.
Speaker 4: Oh gosh, I mean there's so many of them. I
Speaker 4: think we are. We're really unique and lucky in terms
Speaker 4: of being a team that has a ton of star
Speaker 4: power but not getting clouded by that or leaning into that.
Speaker 4: Like we play as a team, so it's actually really
Speaker 4: hard and you're not the first person, like I said,
Speaker 4: and obviously interviews and postgame talks and pregame things and
Speaker 4: it's always like, yeah, like who are your stars And
Speaker 4: I'm like, guys.
Speaker 1: Like I, we don't.
Speaker 4: We have a couple like Stock, But honestly, our entire
Speaker 4: team like could lean into that star power. We just
Speaker 4: we try to keep it all grounded and we really
Speaker 4: I think we're a team with the most star power,
Speaker 4: but who plays most like a team, which is a
Speaker 4: hard balance to hit. But you know, two of our
Speaker 4: attacking just forces out there this year are forwards. Are
Speaker 4: Charlie Bruder and Riley Heck. And Charlie's a sophomore, Riley's
Speaker 4: a junior, and they both just are gamers. They're finishers,
Speaker 4: they know how to score. Charlie is one of the
Speaker 4: most competitive people I know and has that edge and
Speaker 4: brings that fire out there. And then Riley is just
Speaker 4: you don't even have to know field hockey, but you
Speaker 4: know she's at a different level and the game slows
Speaker 4: down for her and what she does and the passes
Speaker 4: she makes and the skills she she is able to
Speaker 4: execute like it's it's unworldly. So it's really fun. And
Speaker 4: I relate to them because I was the forward, the
Speaker 4: goal scorer. I like doing the tricky, fancy things, and yeah,
Speaker 4: it's fun to coach them. And then our defense is
Speaker 4: honestly just rock solid. We have a lineup back there
Speaker 4: of veterans and just people who apply what we talk
Speaker 4: about and are like so like, which is like, okay,
Speaker 4: that's the that should be the standard, but they really
Speaker 4: do it and it's so underrated. And you know, there's
Speaker 4: there's just a good attacking mindset on the team, but
Speaker 4: defensive mindset as well, and it's a really good coupling
Speaker 4: right now.
Speaker 1: I was also the goal scorer and the one who
Speaker 1: like to do the tricky things. And you also mentioned
Speaker 1: you don't have to know field hockey to know the
Speaker 1: scroll is great. Oftentimes when people would come to my
Speaker 1: field hockey.
Speaker 3: Games, they would get confused.
Speaker 1: What's the number one thing people tell you if they're
Speaker 1: checking out a game for the first time, or your
Speaker 1: friends that are coming to support you that aren't familiar
Speaker 1: with the sport.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think that's the one of the biggest hurdles
Speaker 4: for us is our sport is so niche, Like it's
Speaker 4: so different and honestly tactically wise, like it's not crazy
Speaker 4: different from soccer, from lacrosse from I mean all sports
Speaker 4: with the back yeah, exactly have some element of the
Speaker 4: same tactic behind it. So like it's not that, but
Speaker 4: it's more like, yeah, why are the whistles being blown here?
Speaker 3: The whistles exactly what I knew you were gonna say.
Speaker 4: Why do you only want substruction?
Speaker 3: Yes?
Speaker 4: Why can you only score in the circle?
Speaker 3: Like?
Speaker 4: Why can't you shoot it from anywhere? Why?
Speaker 2: Like?
Speaker 4: So there's all these things, but honestly, the I mean,
Speaker 4: we make it really exciting and the atmosphere that Carolina creates,
Speaker 4: like we don't we set the standard in America for
Speaker 4: game day environment everything. So we find people who even
Speaker 4: don't know what's going on, are enjoying themselves. And then
Speaker 4: if that's good, then we'll worry about the rule explaining.
Speaker 3: There we go, there we go, Okay.
Speaker 1: Twelve team NCA attorney. It started this week. You got
Speaker 1: a first round by you get going this weekend. You're
Speaker 1: the number one seed playing Delaware. People can watch eleven
Speaker 1: am Eastern Friday on ESPN Plus. What needs to go
Speaker 1: right for you to get to win?
Speaker 4: Honestly, we just need to play our game. And it's
Speaker 4: funny because I think this is another interesting conversation, but well,
Speaker 4: one everybody we like won when I was a freshman
Speaker 4: and we were undefeated, and it was like, okay, you
Speaker 4: did it, and it was like, no, we want to
Speaker 4: do it again. So we did it again, undefeated again,
Speaker 4: and they were like, Okay, you're probably sick of that now, No,
Speaker 4: let's win another Natty in a row. So like people
Speaker 4: think that like we just win and it just happens,
Speaker 4: But it's actually so underrated how hard it is to
Speaker 4: be at the top and one not get complacent with
Speaker 4: that and take that for granted, but like actually look
Speaker 4: to continue to push the standard. Like so this year
Speaker 4: it's been very interesting, Like with the eighteen and oh record,
Speaker 4: it's easy to like get complacent and be like we're
Speaker 4: good enough. We can't do that. We always talk about
Speaker 4: like no matter who we're playing, you know, we are
Speaker 4: we're keeping possession, we're dominating every game. I'm not saying
Speaker 4: we are hands down better than everybody in the country
Speaker 4: like that is a that's not the mindset we have,
Speaker 4: but it is the mindset of like, we have to
Speaker 4: play the standard we set last game, and if we
Speaker 4: do that, we'll be in a good spot to compete
Speaker 4: with anybody. So for us, like Delaware is gonna come out,
Speaker 4: They're going to give us fired, They're going to give
Speaker 4: us their best game. We're used to getting anybody's best game.
Speaker 4: But in our mind it's like, Okay, let's take into
Speaker 4: account their threats and their strength and everything. But if
Speaker 4: if we just beat the standard we set and beat
Speaker 4: ourselves hypothetically, you're good.
Speaker 3: We'll be fine.
Speaker 4: Yeah. So it's kind of just striking that balance of
Speaker 4: taking into account what they're going to throw at us,
Speaker 4: and it's going to be I mean, from here on out,
Speaker 4: it's survive in advance, do whatever you can. But at
Speaker 4: the same time, like just keep doing what we're doing
Speaker 4: and try to get a little bit better at what
Speaker 4: we're doing.
Speaker 3: Who's your toughest competition and tournament?
Speaker 4: Oh man, that's another hard one because it is it's
Speaker 4: a tough tournament this year, and then also the way
Speaker 4: the brackets fell, like there are two really competitive first
Speaker 4: and second round brackets, like not even looking ahead to
Speaker 4: the final four and what those teams will look like,
Speaker 4: but it's really competitive right off the bat. We'll play
Speaker 4: Delaware Friday if we win that game and are able
Speaker 4: to have a good performance. The other side of our
Speaker 4: side is Maryland versus Duke, who are like top ranked
Speaker 4: teams really hard. And then the other side of the bracket,
Speaker 4: you know, Michigan and Northwestern, UVA, Syracuse, they're all they're
Speaker 4: all in it. So a couple of these teams we've
Speaker 4: faced and we've you know, played well and had the
Speaker 4: ability to come out on top. But there's also other
Speaker 4: teams that we haven't faced who are doing really well.
Speaker 4: There's teams who, of course, at this point in the season,
Speaker 4: you know, maybe they didn't have a hot start, but
Speaker 4: now they're peaking at the right time. So it's all
Speaker 4: of the exciting things that you want in a tournament.
Speaker 4: But all of the team's Northwestern, Michigan, Syracuse, I mean.
Speaker 1: Said wisely, like a coach, don't circle any of them.
Speaker 1: They're all tough competitors.
Speaker 4: Bark Delaware.
Speaker 3: Delawarre's right, don't look past Delaware.
Speaker 4: No, no, So I want to talk.
Speaker 3: About Aaron the player first.
Speaker 1: The iconic recreation of the Michael Jordan photo with the
Speaker 1: scar holding her fingers up showing off your titles. That
Speaker 1: is insanely epic. I'm such a huge Jordan fan too,
Speaker 1: and that just in the Carolina Blue you know, all
Speaker 1: that's so good? Whose idea was that?
Speaker 4: That was our Go Heels productions team? I forget what year?
Speaker 1: With what years are to keep track of which year
Speaker 1: it was when you won the title? You know?
Speaker 4: Isn't that a horrible problem to have?
Speaker 1: It was?
Speaker 4: I believe it was at stores Connecticut after we won
Speaker 4: the last one, but anyway, they we had our media
Speaker 4: conference after the game, you know the I was up
Speaker 4: there with two of my teammates and coach Shelton and
Speaker 4: we did our interview and everything, and then we stepped
Speaker 4: off the stage and Jeff Cameratti are one of our
Speaker 4: production Go Hills production people. He had a couple of
Speaker 4: his teammates with him and he showed me the picture
Speaker 4: and he's like, all right. We brought a chair off
Speaker 4: to the side, like we want to recreate this and
Speaker 4: he showed it and I was like, this is sick,
Speaker 4: Like okay, but I really was like ha ha, Like
Speaker 4: do you have a cigar? And he was like yep,
Speaker 4: and he whipped it out of his pocket and I
Speaker 4: was like, yeah, we're really doing.
Speaker 1: This amazing, that's so cool. Yeah, I mean, just an
Speaker 1: incredible career. And it didn't seamlessly transition from player to coach.
Speaker 1: It's sort of still this amorphous thing. You're one of
Speaker 1: only two players to be selected to the US national
Speaker 1: team at age sixteen. You're one of the country's greatest players,
Speaker 1: but you weren't on the team that went to Paris
Speaker 1: for the Olympics. USA field Dockey says it invited you
Speaker 1: to try out early twenty twenty three when they were
Speaker 1: establishing that main pool of candidates for selection, and when
Speaker 1: you weren't able to attend that camp, they refused to
Speaker 1: make other accommodations for you, even after you said, you know,
Speaker 1: coaching season ends, I want to turn my focus to playing.
Speaker 1: Tell me about the emotions that you had when they
Speaker 1: rejected your attempt to try out.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so, I guess again, backtracking, when I took this job,
Speaker 4: and you know, it was time to focus and like
Speaker 4: I had to prioritize my life literally, I mean everyone
Speaker 4: here at Carolina, everyone, all of my support system, Like
Speaker 4: no one wanted to have me choose between continuing to
Speaker 4: play us and this, but I just I felt in
Speaker 4: my heart, I was like, I can't. I can't give
Speaker 4: one hundred percent to both. Like either I'm going to
Speaker 4: coach really hard and my play is going to take
Speaker 4: a hit, which knowing now since I've been through it,
Speaker 4: like I didn't have a normal workout schedule and routine,
Speaker 4: let alone able to you know, train and give it
Speaker 4: my Also, I was like, that's going to be unfair
Speaker 4: to my play, my career, my teammates or okay, let
Speaker 4: me try to balance this and play and do it.
Speaker 4: And if I was giving all of my energy there,
Speaker 4: this would have taken a hit. And like again looking
Speaker 4: back now, I couldn't have learned at the speed I did,
Speaker 4: done what we did, like it wouldn't have worked. So
Speaker 4: even though no one and I was grateful no one
Speaker 4: wanted me to choose, I felt like I had to
Speaker 4: and this was just an opportunity that I was like,
Speaker 4: this isn't going to come around in another year or two,
Speaker 4: like this is this is the stars aligned. Everything was circled, highlighted,
Speaker 4: exclamation point like take this, go after your dream. So
Speaker 4: the message I said to us and everyone was kind
Speaker 4: of just like let me get settled. Like I'm I
Speaker 4: don't want to stop playing. I you know, my whole life,
Speaker 4: I've dreamed of being an Olympian, being an Olympian and
Speaker 4: representing my country and everything, and like trust me, Sarah,
Speaker 4: like I still hop out at practice and like keep
Speaker 4: the girls honest, like I can dangle up like I'm not.
Speaker 4: I'm not too far removed, but I don't know it
Speaker 4: was time to come around yet to like okay, wait,
Speaker 4: I got settled way quicker than I expected. We like
Speaker 4: the national teams now in Charlotte, which is an easier, way,
Speaker 4: easier trip for me to get there. So again, kind
Speaker 4: of all these things started settling. My staff was set,
Speaker 4: like I finally was in a really good place with
Speaker 4: my staff, and like they were on board with taking
Speaker 4: on some more things, and like I mapped out my
Speaker 4: whole calendar, but like I guess, I don't know, they
Speaker 4: just didn't. They didn't lean into it as much as
Speaker 4: I did. And you know, I my entire career has
Speaker 4: been built behind inspiration and growing our sport. And I've
Speaker 4: you know, built a loyal following and a platform that
Speaker 4: has brought field hockey into rooms that it wasn't in before,
Speaker 4: you know, and we're successful here in the story and
Speaker 4: this and that, and you know, I can confidently like
Speaker 4: by my head hits the pillow at night and I
Speaker 4: can fall asleep because I know that hasn't waivered and
Speaker 4: it will never waiver. But yeah, like, would I have
Speaker 4: loved to be in Paris playing, Yes, what I you know,
Speaker 4: have wished that was shaken out differently? Yes, But you know,
Speaker 4: I also I understand how fortunate I am to be
Speaker 4: where I am here and to have the opportunities I
Speaker 4: have here, And you.
Speaker 1: Know, and they were cool with it, right, I mean,
Speaker 1: I know I listened to Julie Foudy's interview with you,
Speaker 1: and when you took the UNC job, you were asked
Speaker 1: by them if you were really truly comfortable saying go
Speaker 1: out to your playing career and potential Olympic opportunities to
Speaker 1: take the job. And I'm curious how you broke the
Speaker 1: topic with them of returning to play once you decided
Speaker 1: to make the effort towards towards making the team.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I went to Bubba again R R A D.
Speaker 4: And I mean he's he's on the Olympic Committee. You know,
Speaker 4: he's involved with a lot of He cares heavily, I
Speaker 4: mean Carolina with the Olympic Sports bring home championships. He
Speaker 4: wants as many tar Heels as possible to be Olympians.
Speaker 4: And then that's what he told me. He was like, Aaron,
Speaker 4: I don't care if they're student athletes or coaches. Like
Speaker 4: maybe we've never had to really like navigate this one before,
Speaker 4: but like I want as many of Tarios to be
Speaker 4: Olympians as possible.
Speaker 3: That's awesome.
Speaker 4: That includes you. So he was very willing to make
Speaker 4: it work. He gave me the green light to basically
Speaker 4: like start the conversation with USC field Hockey because I
Speaker 4: went to him first. So he's amazing every I mean,
Speaker 4: our executive team here are again my staff like was
Speaker 4: willing to do it. Like it's good for it was
Speaker 4: good for the sport. It checked all the boxes, you know,
Speaker 4: it was good.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Well that's the thing is, you know, it is such
Speaker 1: an obvious miss not only one of the greatest players
Speaker 1: of all time, but a name that people know, a
Speaker 1: story that people know. You know, and that's not how
Speaker 1: you pick an Olympic team. We had this discussion on
Speaker 1: our show about Caitlin Clark. It's not eyeballs. It's about
Speaker 1: who deserves to be there. But you did deserve to
Speaker 1: be there talent wise, you were the best. Is the
Speaker 1: door still open for twenty twenty eight and La is
Speaker 1: there a potential softening of their stance or is there
Speaker 1: something you could do in advance of that camp to
Speaker 1: make sure that you're qualified and eligible?
Speaker 4: Definitely the door is not closed at all. It's I've
Speaker 4: I've had certain conversations. I've also been waiting to get
Speaker 4: through the season to have certain conversations and and everything.
Speaker 4: But you know, I I've made it clear that there
Speaker 4: there needs to be change in order for me to
Speaker 4: do that, you know, in the way the selection policies written,
Speaker 4: in the way certain you know, decisions are are are made,
Speaker 4: and just there needs to be changed. And that's abroad.
Speaker 4: That's where I'll leave it. But definitely not it's not
Speaker 4: closed at all.
Speaker 1: Like I awesome, I'm so happy to hear that. I
Speaker 1: would I would love to see it. Just it it'd
Speaker 1: be really cool. Aaron, thank you so much for joining us.
Speaker 1: Just love your story. I find it so fascinating, it's
Speaker 1: so interesting, and we'll really be excited to watch as
Speaker 1: your team tries to go for that three pieze.
Speaker 3: So good luck in the game tomorrow.
Speaker 4: Thank you. I know we'll keep it exciting for you guys,
Speaker 4: but I appreciate it. Sarah, it's always great to talk
Speaker 4: to you.
Speaker 3: Hopefully not too exciting on your behalf. You'd rather just
Speaker 3: like blow right through them on.
Speaker 4: Yeah, let's actually try to keep it really boring. Actually,
Speaker 4: you're right, we have to take another break.
Speaker 1: When we come back, time to blow your minds with
Speaker 1: another edition of What the Fact? Keep it locked? Welcome
Speaker 1: back slices. With PWHL camps underway and all the buzz
Speaker 1: about women's hockey that's growing, I was thinking about this
Speaker 1: unbelievable fact from a few years ago that still really
Speaker 1: chaps my ass. So it's time once again for What
Speaker 1: the Fact. Let's go back to twenty fourteen. USA Hockey
Speaker 1: is hyping the unveiling of the Nike design jerseys that
Speaker 1: the men's and women's hockey teams will wear at the
Speaker 1: upcoming Sochi Olympics and Paralympics, and in a press release
Speaker 1: and in a press conference with men's players, they didn't
Speaker 1: invite anyone from the women's team. USA Hockey excitedly announces
Speaker 1: some of the details on the jersey, including the fact
Speaker 1: that they had paid homage to pass USA gold medal
Speaker 1: winning teams by stitching the years nineteen sixty and nineteen
Speaker 1: eighty inside the collar. So cool, right, Only problem they
Speaker 1: didn't include the year nineteen ninety eight, the year the
Speaker 1: women won gold in Nagano, Japan. Incidental, Accidental, doesn't matter.
Speaker 1: What matters is that a whole room of people at
Speaker 1: USA Hockey, a whole other room full of designers at Nike,
Speaker 1: and god knows how many other rooms of pr people
Speaker 1: and marketing and everyone else simply did not consider the
Speaker 1: women's team. These were the jerseys that they would be wearing,
Speaker 1: jerseys that they would put on to represent their country
Speaker 1: and to realize the accomplishment of their life stream, and
Speaker 1: they were forgotten about entirely. The sled hockey team that
Speaker 1: won gold in two thousand and two and twenty ten,
Speaker 1: they would be wearing those jerseys at the Paralympics without
Speaker 1: their accomplishments honored either. This is just part of a
Speaker 1: long pattern from USA Hockey, and this slight was one
Speaker 1: of many that inspired the twenty seventeen women's team to
Speaker 1: threaten a boycott. Just two weeks ahead of the World
Speaker 1: Championships that were set to take place on home soil
Speaker 1: in Michigan, the players announced they were boycott and quote
Speaker 1: unless significant progress has been made on the year long
Speaker 1: negotiations with USA Hockey over fair wages and equitable support
Speaker 1: end quote. USA Hockey tried to get scabs, it didn't work,
Speaker 1: and ultimately the women got a four year contract with
Speaker 1: most of their demands met, and went on to win
Speaker 1: not just those World Championships in Michigan, but gold the
Speaker 1: next year at the twenty eighteen Olympics. They shouldn't have
Speaker 1: needed to fight so hard for basic respect and acknowledgment. Truly,
Speaker 1: what the fact? And here's another fact. Ninety two percent
Speaker 1: of women say music boosts their spirits while getting ready.
Speaker 1: That's why Elf Cosmetics released get Ready with Music, the album,
Speaker 1: an empowering new album for every mood. This album blends
Speaker 1: makeup and music to celebrate self expression and is available
Speaker 1: now on the iHeartRadio app slices. We love that you're listening,
Speaker 1: but we always want you to get in the game
Speaker 1: every day too, So here's our good gameplay of the day.
Speaker 1: Watch some soccer, whether it's the NWSL semifinals or the
Speaker 1: first round of the NCAA College Cup or both. Cozy
Speaker 1: up on your couch and take in all the football.
Speaker 1: We'd love to hear from you, so to hit us
Speaker 1: up on email good game at wondermedianetwork dot com or
Speaker 1: leave us a voicemail at eight seven two two o
Speaker 1: four fifty seventy and don't forget to subscribe, Rate and review.
Speaker 1: It's easy watch your husband being the best, rating five
Speaker 1: out of five. Let's hear it for the boys. Review.
Speaker 1: A big, huge happy birthday yesterday to my hobby Brad,
Speaker 1: who is always doing good in his corner of the world.
Speaker 1: While he was in Charleston for work on Wednesday night,
Speaker 1: he learned there was a librarian conference in town, and
Speaker 1: he spotted a table of them at the bar. While
Speaker 1: we always love librarians, we of course love them even
Speaker 1: more of late as they're battling against book bands and
Speaker 1: cens So Brad sent their table a round of drinks
Speaker 1: and sent them a thank you. They started chatting and
Speaker 1: when they learned that it was about to be his birthday,
Speaker 1: they had the live band playing at the bar sing
Speaker 1: to him. A real mutual love fest, and that is
Speaker 1: the kind of story we need right now. Now it's
Speaker 1: your turn, rate and review. Thanks for listening, See you
Speaker 1: next week. Good game, Aaron, Good game, Brad in the librarians.
Speaker 1: Few laptops that break the night before you're taking the
Speaker 1: international work trip. Yeah mm hm cool. Good Game with
Speaker 1: Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports production in partnership
Speaker 1: with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us
Speaker 1: on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get
Speaker 1: your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network, our producers are
Speaker 1: Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive producers are Christina Everett,
Speaker 1: Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder. Our editors are
Speaker 1: Emily Rudder, Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch, and Lindsay Cradowell. Production
Speaker 1: assistant from Lucy Jones and I'm your host Sarah Spain