WEBVTT - Not Clouded By Starpower with Erin Matson 0:00:00.720 --> 0:00:02.720 Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're on 0:00:02.759 --> 0:00:06.680 a plane across the Atlantic, not reclining and respecting the 0:00:06.680 --> 0:00:09.600 personal space of the people sitting behind us. It's Friday, 0:00:09.640 --> 0:00:11.800 November fifteenth, and on today's show, we'll be talking with 0:00:11.920 --> 0:00:14.880 North Carolina Field Hockey head coach Aaron Mattson about her 0:00:15.000 --> 0:00:18.440 unbelievably fast transition for player to coach, being the youngest 0:00:18.440 --> 0:00:21.520 coach in any sport to win an NCAA championship, and 0:00:21.560 --> 0:00:24.680 her team's quest for a third straight national title. Plus 0:00:24.720 --> 0:00:27.000 a hockey what the fact that'll have you shake in 0:00:27.040 --> 0:00:30.640 your head and a heartbelt. Happy birthday to my real MVP. 0:00:31.080 --> 0:00:47.479 It's all coming up right after this. Welcome back slices, 0:00:47.560 --> 0:00:52.760 Happy Friday. Here's what you need to know today. Tomorrow's 0:00:52.800 --> 0:00:55.360 the day the NWSL semi Finals kick off with the 0:00:55.440 --> 0:00:58.520 duel between the Washington Spirit and defending champs Got Them 0:00:58.560 --> 0:01:01.600 FC at twelve pm Eastern on CBS and streaming on 0:01:01.640 --> 0:01:04.960 Paramount Plus. It'll take place at Audi Field and get this, 0:01:05.240 --> 0:01:08.120 the Spirit sold out tickets to the matchup in just 0:01:08.480 --> 0:01:12.440 seventy two hours. Also, legendary DC rapper DJ Cool will 0:01:12.440 --> 0:01:15.120 be clearing his throat to perform at halftime of that one. 0:01:15.240 --> 0:01:18.160 Sure to be a great time for all attending. Kind 0:01:18.160 --> 0:01:20.160 of bummed I can't go because, let me clear, my 0:01:20.200 --> 0:01:23.200 throat was on every single hype mix that I made 0:01:23.200 --> 0:01:25.480 for myself for all of high school and college. And 0:01:25.520 --> 0:01:28.240 if you don't know, you better ask somebody. Well, the 0:01:28.280 --> 0:01:30.840 Spirit spoiled goth them's repeat chances in that game. Where 0:01:30.840 --> 0:01:32.760 will the visiting side steal one on the road and 0:01:32.800 --> 0:01:35.000 steal a spot in the championship. We'll have to wait 0:01:35.040 --> 0:01:37.240 and see then. On Sunday, the Orlando Pride host the 0:01:37.319 --> 0:01:40.400 Kansas City Current at three pm Eastern on ABC. It's 0:01:40.440 --> 0:01:42.880 the battle of the forwards in the quarterfinals Golden Boot 0:01:42.880 --> 0:01:45.240 winner ten, which Huwinga scored the winning goal for Case 0:01:45.640 --> 0:01:48.520 against the Courage and Barbara Banda put two in the 0:01:48.560 --> 0:01:50.120 back of the net in the Pride win against the 0:01:50.200 --> 0:01:53.640 Chicago Red Stars. So can ten win team knock off 0:01:53.680 --> 0:01:55.680 the number one club in the league and earn the 0:01:55.760 --> 0:01:58.360 chance to play in the final at their home stadium, 0:01:58.480 --> 0:02:01.680 or will the Pride and legendary footballer Marta make their 0:02:01.680 --> 0:02:04.520 way to the championship in KC. If you missed our 0:02:04.560 --> 0:02:07.240 episodes with Jeff Kasoof and Meglenahan this week two of 0:02:07.280 --> 0:02:09.840 the most brilliant minds in the soccer media game. Go 0:02:09.880 --> 0:02:11.919 ahead and take a lista before Saturday so you're all 0:02:11.919 --> 0:02:15.440 caught up. Also, the NWSL Skills Challenge set to take 0:02:15.480 --> 0:02:18.280 place at CPKC Stadium Friday, hosted by a friend of 0:02:18.320 --> 0:02:21.359 the show and NWSL and US Women's Nationalist seem legend 0:02:21.480 --> 0:02:24.000 Sam Ewis. It won't be available to watch live, but 0:02:24.040 --> 0:02:26.920 it will air on CBS Sunday at three pm or 0:02:26.960 --> 0:02:30.200 five pm Eastern. Check your local listings. It'll also be 0:02:30.240 --> 0:02:33.399 available to stream that day on Paramount Plus. No word 0:02:33.480 --> 0:02:37.600 yet on whether they've added that river goal competition. Come on, Cowards, 0:02:37.639 --> 0:02:40.960 do it elsewhere in the NWSL, Angel City FC is 0:02:41.000 --> 0:02:44.040 moving on up. The club will relocate training sessions to 0:02:44.080 --> 0:02:46.680 a new performance center for the twenty twenty five season, 0:02:46.960 --> 0:02:49.760 a nine acre site on the campus of California Lutheran 0:02:49.880 --> 0:02:52.920 University with a full size pitch and a half and 0:02:53.000 --> 0:02:56.200 approximately fifty thousand square feet of indoor space. It'll be 0:02:56.200 --> 0:02:59.960 the largest performance cetre dedicated solely to an NWSL club. 0:03:00.240 --> 0:03:03.560 It'll also include custom lockers for players, coaches, and staff, 0:03:03.720 --> 0:03:07.000 a children's playroom, a studio for content capture in interviews, 0:03:07.240 --> 0:03:10.280 and more. Previously the home of the NFL's Los Angeles Rams, 0:03:10.280 --> 0:03:13.000 The space is undergoing a multimillion dollar remodel that'll be 0:03:13.000 --> 0:03:15.440 complete in time for next season, and it will serve 0:03:15.480 --> 0:03:18.800 as home for acfc's players and first team staff for 0:03:18.880 --> 0:03:22.680 up to four years. In college soccer, the NCAA College 0:03:22.680 --> 0:03:25.919 Cup starts today. Number one seeded Florida State begins its 0:03:25.919 --> 0:03:29.799 title defense against Samford at five pm Eastern down in Tallahassee. 0:03:29.880 --> 0:03:32.160 We'll link to the full tournament bracket and schedule in 0:03:32.200 --> 0:03:37.360 our show notes. In college vibs, Niche, We're doing this again, Vibes. 0:03:37.920 --> 0:03:40.280 In college volleyball, we got a bunch of rank matchups 0:03:40.320 --> 0:03:43.040 this weekend, including number one pit in action against Florida 0:03:43.040 --> 0:03:45.720 State today at seven pm Eastern, and number twenty one 0:03:45.760 --> 0:03:48.800 Florida versus number twenty five Missouri at eight pm Eastern. 0:03:49.000 --> 0:03:51.520 There are ten other top twenty five teams hitting the 0:03:51.560 --> 0:03:53.800 court today as well. Full slate of games over the 0:03:53.840 --> 0:03:55.760 weekend too, so we'll link to the schedule in our 0:03:55.800 --> 0:03:58.560 show notes. In college hoops, we got a big Top 0:03:58.600 --> 0:04:02.120 twenty showdown on tap today between two unbeaten teams Number 0:04:02.120 --> 0:04:06.120 two Yukon facing number fifteen UNC at six pm Eastern. 0:04:06.320 --> 0:04:08.840 That one's airing on ESPN two. There are a bunch 0:04:08.840 --> 0:04:11.360 of games Saturday Sunday two, and you know the drill. 0:04:11.480 --> 0:04:13.480 We'll link to the full schedule in our show notes. 0:04:13.920 --> 0:04:16.200 And we're not surprised because this is arguably one of 0:04:16.200 --> 0:04:19.440 the most anticipated seasons of college basketball ever. But there 0:04:19.520 --> 0:04:22.279 have been quite a few notable performances across the nation 0:04:22.400 --> 0:04:25.640 this week. In number seven LSUS one seventeen forty four 0:04:25.680 --> 0:04:28.760 win over Charleston Southern on Wednesday, senior forward Anissa Morro 0:04:28.839 --> 0:04:31.640 put up twenty one points and twenty rebounds, becoming the 0:04:31.680 --> 0:04:33.719 only Division IE player in the last twenty years to 0:04:33.720 --> 0:04:37.120 record a twenty twenty game for multiple teams. In UCLA's 0:04:37.200 --> 0:04:39.880 ninety one to fifty four victory over Pepperdine on Tuesday, 0:04:40.080 --> 0:04:44.200 not one but two players posted dominant double doubles. Junior 0:04:44.200 --> 0:04:47.080 center Lauren Betts put up seventeen points and twelve rebounds, 0:04:47.200 --> 0:04:49.920 while Texas A and m transferre Jenia Barker scored eighteen 0:04:49.960 --> 0:04:53.240 points and snagged eleven boards. Also on Tuesday, number three 0:04:53.320 --> 0:04:56.960 ranked USC put on a scoring Clinic, dropping a program 0:04:57.000 --> 0:04:59.640 record one hundred and twenty four points in their win 0:04:59.720 --> 0:05:03.159 over cal State Northridge. Sophomore star Juju Watkins had twenty 0:05:03.160 --> 0:05:05.960 one points, nine assists and six steals in that one 0:05:06.400 --> 0:05:10.240 to alpine skiing. Five years after retiring from ski racing, 0:05:10.360 --> 0:05:13.200 Lindsay Vaughn is aiming to return to the slopes. The 0:05:13.200 --> 0:05:16.080 three time Olympic medalist and eighty two time World Cup 0:05:16.160 --> 0:05:19.520 race winner stepped away in twenty nineteen after decades of injuries, 0:05:19.560 --> 0:05:22.240 most of them from gnarly crashes, and it meant she 0:05:22.279 --> 0:05:24.360 was no longer able to compete at the level she wanted. 0:05:24.600 --> 0:05:27.080 Now forty years old, Vaughn told The New York Times 0:05:27.120 --> 0:05:30.159 that following a knee replacement surgery earlier this year, she 0:05:30.320 --> 0:05:33.680 was shocked to discover she's pain free. Vaughn will participate 0:05:33.720 --> 0:05:36.320 at the US Ski team's upcoming training camp and is 0:05:36.360 --> 0:05:39.200 aiming to make her World Cup return this season, possibly 0:05:39.240 --> 0:05:42.520 as early as mid December. To the WNBA. The draft 0:05:42.520 --> 0:05:45.279 lottery is this Sunday at five pm Eastern on ESPN. 0:05:45.560 --> 0:05:47.840 Here's how it'll work. The four teams that didn't make 0:05:47.880 --> 0:05:51.040 the playoffs this year. That's the Los Angeles Sparks, Dallas Wings, 0:05:51.160 --> 0:05:54.280 Chicago Sky, and Washington Mystics are vying for the number 0:05:54.320 --> 0:05:56.880 one draft pick in the twenty twenty five WNBA Draft. 0:05:57.160 --> 0:05:59.720 Each team's odds are based on their cumulative record from 0:05:59.720 --> 0:06:02.400 the last past two years. The Sparks boasts the worst 0:06:02.440 --> 0:06:05.720 record twenty two wins and fifty five losses in two seasons, 0:06:05.920 --> 0:06:08.120 giving them about a forty four percent chance of getting 0:06:08.120 --> 0:06:10.600 the number one pick. Dallas and Chicago have about a 0:06:10.640 --> 0:06:13.800 twenty three percent chance, while the Mystic's chance is approximately 0:06:13.839 --> 0:06:16.960 eleven percent. Worth noting Dallas has the right to swap 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:19.599 its first round pick with Chicago, so even if the 0:06:19.640 --> 0:06:22.000 Sky get the number one pick, that pick is likely 0:06:22.040 --> 0:06:26.799 headed to Texas anyway, So we mentioned that Lindsay Vaughn 0:06:26.920 --> 0:06:29.599 is aiming to make her competitive return to skiing. This 0:06:29.720 --> 0:06:32.560 is incredible and when producer Alex heard the news, she 0:06:32.600 --> 0:06:34.560 immediately told me and Meish that she had a Lindsay 0:06:34.640 --> 0:06:37.520 Vaughn story she wanted to share. So Alex, get on 0:06:37.640 --> 0:06:38.000 in here. 0:06:38.440 --> 0:06:41.159 I think this is one of my favorite sports journalism 0:06:41.200 --> 0:06:43.839 stories of all time. Every time I think of it, 0:06:43.839 --> 0:06:46.440 it makes me laugh, and I am so excited to 0:06:46.520 --> 0:06:49.800 now bring that joy to all of you. So I 0:06:49.839 --> 0:06:52.719 had the opportunity to cover the last years of Lindsay 0:06:52.760 --> 0:06:56.320 Vaughn's career, which mostly meant keeping track of her numerous 0:06:56.400 --> 0:07:01.680 injuries because there were a lot fractures, ACSS, bone bruises, 0:07:02.000 --> 0:07:04.800 she once sliced her thumb open with a champagne bottle 0:07:04.839 --> 0:07:06.880 in the middle of the World Championships, and how to 0:07:06.880 --> 0:07:10.960 get emergency surgery to repair attend in another thing to 0:07:11.000 --> 0:07:14.680 know about Lindsay, she loves dogs. During the final years 0:07:14.680 --> 0:07:16.760 of her career, I also got to know Lucy, who 0:07:16.840 --> 0:07:20.960 accompanied her pretty much everywhere, including to most interviews. So 0:07:21.040 --> 0:07:23.679 that brings us to twenty nineteen, when Lindsay Vaughn announced 0:07:23.720 --> 0:07:27.000 that she was planning to retire following that year's World Championships. 0:07:27.440 --> 0:07:29.600 And when she did, because she was such an icon 0:07:29.640 --> 0:07:32.480 in the sport, it got pretty much picked up by 0:07:32.760 --> 0:07:35.840 every news outlet. And I am going to show you 0:07:35.920 --> 0:07:39.000 a screenshot of one of those retirement stories right now, 0:07:39.080 --> 0:07:41.680 and I would like for you to explain to listeners 0:07:42.240 --> 0:07:43.040 what you see. 0:07:44.320 --> 0:07:48.040 Uh Okay, Lindsay, my body is broken. Vaughn announced that 0:07:48.080 --> 0:07:50.760 she will retire filling this month's World Championships in Sweden, 0:07:51.040 --> 0:07:53.680 there's a photo for bending over, holding her back of 0:07:53.720 --> 0:07:57.760 her leg, there's a there's a yankee photo of her knee, 0:07:58.280 --> 0:08:01.360 there's a photo of an other knee with all the screws, 0:08:01.840 --> 0:08:05.040 and then that's a dog pow. That's uh. I thought 0:08:05.040 --> 0:08:07.360 it was a hand, but what you're telling me is 0:08:07.360 --> 0:08:09.440 that the dog paw. Oh mg. 0:08:10.120 --> 0:08:12.480 This is a social media graphic that the Daily Mail 0:08:12.520 --> 0:08:15.240 put out and they included two X rays on it, 0:08:15.960 --> 0:08:19.280 but the X rays are both from Lindsay's dog. She 0:08:19.400 --> 0:08:23.960 had to send a tweet replying to it, writing, Haha, 0:08:24.200 --> 0:08:26.640 that is my dog Leo's knees with pins and my 0:08:26.720 --> 0:08:30.120 other dog, Lucy's paw with the rod. And just the 0:08:30.200 --> 0:08:33.720 idea that the Daily Mail took X rays from Lindsay Vonn's. 0:08:33.440 --> 0:08:36.480 Social Oh my god, and they were her dog X rays. 0:08:36.480 --> 0:08:38.319 It just every time I see it, it just brings 0:08:38.320 --> 0:08:40.439 me so much Troy real journalism. 0:08:40.480 --> 0:08:43.000 Also, can we talk about why Lindsay Von's dogs had 0:08:43.000 --> 0:08:45.240 to have so many surgery? Are they out there on 0:08:45.280 --> 0:08:47.000 the slopes like, what's going on here? 0:08:48.440 --> 0:08:48.959 The bumps? 0:08:51.040 --> 0:08:54.439 That's incredible. I went to one of Lindsay Von's Super 0:08:54.480 --> 0:08:57.480 Bowl parties and it was like pool side everyone's playing 0:08:57.520 --> 0:09:00.679 ping pong, doing all the stuff, and it comes this 0:09:00.760 --> 0:09:03.720 Lindsay Vaughn look alike in the same style bikini with 0:09:03.840 --> 0:09:07.600 almost the same body, and I'm like, there's two of them, 0:09:07.760 --> 0:09:10.000 and yes, it was Lindsay Von's sister. And that's when 0:09:10.000 --> 0:09:12.760 I gave myself a little break in life because Lindsay 0:09:12.840 --> 0:09:17.000 Von's sister, who is not a professional athlete, world champion skier, 0:09:17.320 --> 0:09:20.880 still has the most rockiness world champion body I've ever seen. 0:09:20.920 --> 0:09:24.520 And I was like, it's genetics. It's genetics. I can't 0:09:24.559 --> 0:09:27.520 help it. Anyway. I always think about that because I 0:09:27.559 --> 0:09:29.200 was playing ping pong against the two of them, looking 0:09:29.240 --> 0:09:32.720 across the table, like what the fuck? Not fair? Anyway, 0:09:32.800 --> 0:09:36.160 Congrats to Lindsay. I cannot wait to see her come back, 0:09:36.440 --> 0:09:38.680 after interviewing her and talking to her, after reading her book, 0:09:38.679 --> 0:09:41.120 and like listening to the details of all those injuries, 0:09:41.320 --> 0:09:43.280 the fact that she's like, hmm, I had a couple 0:09:43.360 --> 0:09:46.199 good days strung together. I think I'll get back to it. 0:09:46.240 --> 0:09:48.840 Is like why she's so great? Like who thinks like that? 0:09:49.080 --> 0:09:52.880 All right? Good stuff? Alex also dog x rays freaking hilarious. 0:09:52.960 --> 0:09:55.120 She's got that dog in her. I guess is what 0:09:55.360 --> 0:09:58.319 the Daily Mail was trying to say. We're gonna take 0:09:58.320 --> 0:10:00.200 a quick break when we come back. We're talking in 0:10:00.240 --> 0:10:04.120 hockey field, not ice with UNC head coach Aaron Mattson. 0:10:04.360 --> 0:10:06.280 We caught up with her on Thursday ahead of UNC's 0:10:06.360 --> 0:10:10.320 NCAA tournament opener today against Delaware and side note, I 0:10:10.400 --> 0:10:11.880 was on a phone instead of a computer for that 0:10:11.920 --> 0:10:14.880 interview because my computer broke, so the audio might sound 0:10:14.880 --> 0:10:16.959 just a little bit different than the rest of the show. Anyway, 0:10:17.120 --> 0:10:18.559 good interview, stick around. 0:10:23.520 --> 0:10:24.199 Joining us now. 0:10:24.320 --> 0:10:26.679 She's now the North Carolina field hockey head coach and 0:10:26.920 --> 0:10:30.000 was the most decorated player in UNC field hockey history. 0:10:30.240 --> 0:10:33.600 Her final season as a player was in twenty twenty two. Yeah, 0:10:33.640 --> 0:10:36.280 you're doing the math right. She's twenty four years old, 0:10:36.640 --> 0:10:38.960 and she was announced in January of twenty twenty three 0:10:39.080 --> 0:10:42.000 as the program's next head coach, immediately leading her team 0:10:42.000 --> 0:10:44.600 to a national championship and becoming the youngest coach in 0:10:44.760 --> 0:10:48.640 history in any sport to win an NCUBA championship. As 0:10:48.640 --> 0:10:51.200 a player, she played on four NCUBLEA championship teams and 0:10:51.280 --> 0:10:53.319 was a three time recipient of the Honda Sport Award 0:10:53.320 --> 0:10:56.120 for Field hockey, becoming just the second player ever to 0:10:56.160 --> 0:10:59.560 win that honor three times. This season, she was named 0:10:59.600 --> 0:11:02.960 the ACEC Coach of the Year. UNC is currently eighteen 0:11:03.000 --> 0:11:05.199 and no. She led the team to their eighth straight 0:11:05.240 --> 0:11:08.000 ACC title last weekend, and she's now going to try 0:11:08.000 --> 0:11:10.520 to lead them to a third straight national title, her 0:11:10.600 --> 0:11:13.360 second as head coach and her sixth overall. 0:11:13.760 --> 0:11:15.640 Whoo, except Eric. 0:11:15.640 --> 0:11:18.480 Not much, It's good to be here. I yeah, I 0:11:18.559 --> 0:11:20.760 never obviously, like I don't have a list on my 0:11:20.840 --> 0:11:24.480 own phone of like what I did, so whenever I 0:11:24.600 --> 0:11:27.120 hear stuff like that, it definitely brings me back. 0:11:27.640 --> 0:11:29.680 Since this is an audio interview, people will not be 0:11:29.679 --> 0:11:31.600 able to see you, but you are sitting in front 0:11:31.640 --> 0:11:35.199 of a giant board of UNC field hockey accomplishments, and 0:11:35.280 --> 0:11:37.760 it's like numbers, numbers, numbers, numbers of all the different 0:11:37.760 --> 0:11:39.920 ACC titles and national championships. 0:11:39.960 --> 0:11:41.760 So your body of. 0:11:41.720 --> 0:11:44.280 Work, at least part of your work is behind you, 0:11:44.320 --> 0:11:46.280 which is very cool. You and I got to hang 0:11:46.320 --> 0:11:49.280 out at the espnW summit in May, so there's a 0:11:49.320 --> 0:11:51.520 lot of very cool things I know from talking to 0:11:51.600 --> 0:11:53.600 you then. But for those who don't know the story, 0:11:53.640 --> 0:11:56.040 I think my very favorite that I need everyone to 0:11:56.080 --> 0:11:58.600 know is the story of you calling your ad while 0:11:58.600 --> 0:12:02.320 you were still a student athlete and convincing them that 0:12:02.360 --> 0:12:05.000 you were ready to be a coach in the next year. 0:12:05.040 --> 0:12:06.120 So can you tell that story? 0:12:06.760 --> 0:12:10.319 Yeah, okay, so I guess bringing it, bring it. I 0:12:10.360 --> 0:12:13.640 guess not way back though it hasn't been really too long, 0:12:14.720 --> 0:12:18.680 but so yeah, I was in the period of time 0:12:18.720 --> 0:12:21.720 where there we had the COVID years, so I had 0:12:21.760 --> 0:12:25.640 five years to play, and the ACC during COVID was 0:12:25.640 --> 0:12:30.160 the only conference who actually played, so I did get 0:12:30.240 --> 0:12:33.679 five years to play. I played for five years, silver 0:12:33.760 --> 0:12:37.440 lining of all of that chaos. But going into my 0:12:37.559 --> 0:12:43.400 fifth season, my last season, I there were just kind 0:12:43.400 --> 0:12:46.880 of rumblings about our coach retiring and she never told 0:12:46.960 --> 0:12:50.000 us like, hey, I'm retiring, and she never like her 0:12:50.000 --> 0:12:52.719 and I never talked also about everyone's always like how 0:12:52.760 --> 0:12:55.319 did how did those conversations like blah blah blah. It's 0:12:55.320 --> 0:12:57.760 like those didn't happen because I was still playing and 0:12:57.800 --> 0:13:01.880 she was still coaching. But I don't know. I kind 0:13:01.880 --> 0:13:05.440 of just I loved coaching. I never thought I could 0:13:05.440 --> 0:13:08.360 do it anywhere else. And then the stars kind of 0:13:08.400 --> 0:13:11.200 aligned where she was going to retire, and I was like, Okay, wait, 0:13:11.240 --> 0:13:14.240 maybe this isn't as crazy as I thought it was 0:13:14.360 --> 0:13:17.560 or as like impossible as I thought it was. So 0:13:18.840 --> 0:13:21.080 I was like, yeah, I'm gonna I'm gonna go for it. 0:13:21.160 --> 0:13:23.840 But what I didn't want to happen because our season 0:13:23.920 --> 0:13:27.400 starts in August, and if we go all the way, 0:13:27.440 --> 0:13:31.520 we always finish right before Thanksgiving. And I didn't want 0:13:32.200 --> 0:13:35.840 R A. D To be like having conversations during season, 0:13:37.000 --> 0:13:40.160 like landing on anybody when I was still playing, and 0:13:40.200 --> 0:13:42.800 then come November when our season was over, you know, 0:13:42.840 --> 0:13:44.880 already have someone in place and ready to go. And 0:13:44.880 --> 0:13:48.560 I didn't want to be overlooked. So I went to 0:13:48.600 --> 0:13:51.440 his office actually and I was like, hey, can we meet, 0:13:51.480 --> 0:13:54.840 which also, looking back, like a student athlete asking your athletic. 0:13:55.720 --> 0:13:59.320 I don't know why he said yes, but thank you, Bubba. 0:13:59.360 --> 0:14:01.840 But I into his office and I basically just told 0:14:01.920 --> 0:14:04.720 him that. I was like, I don't want to be overlooked. 0:14:04.760 --> 0:14:06.719 I can do this, I can prove it to you. 0:14:07.160 --> 0:14:10.880 I know I'm still playing, so let me compartmentalize and 0:14:10.920 --> 0:14:14.920 handle that professionally, and you know, just trust me with that. 0:14:15.080 --> 0:14:17.160 But like, I want a shot at this job. When 0:14:17.160 --> 0:14:20.960 it opens up. And he was definitely not expecting that 0:14:21.000 --> 0:14:24.000 to be the topic of conversation. And I was twenty 0:14:24.000 --> 0:14:26.360 two years old at the time, so there were lots 0:14:26.360 --> 0:14:28.360 of layers of Aaron, what the heck are you doing? 0:14:29.440 --> 0:14:32.840 But he looked at me and he said, Okay, go 0:14:33.200 --> 0:14:35.600 win a national championship and then we'll talk. 0:14:36.120 --> 0:14:38.960 And to men, it's like. 0:14:38.960 --> 0:14:40.760 Fine, Like I don't like, what do you think I've 0:14:40.760 --> 0:14:43.160 been trying to do here for the last four years. 0:14:43.200 --> 0:14:47.640 So we obviously we did that. We won throughout the season. 0:14:47.720 --> 0:14:51.400 I had to, you know, just jug juggle that personally 0:14:52.160 --> 0:14:53.960 with knowing what I wanted to do after season but 0:14:54.000 --> 0:14:57.320 still staying present, which I'm sure we'll get into. But yeah, 0:14:57.320 --> 0:14:58.760 we won. And then I went back to him and 0:14:58.760 --> 0:15:01.320 I said, okay, let's go. I did what you asked 0:15:01.360 --> 0:15:03.680 me to do, and here we are. 0:15:03.920 --> 0:15:07.800 Yeah, the job was was the goal along to become 0:15:07.800 --> 0:15:10.280 a coach or was part of that, Oh my coach 0:15:10.360 --> 0:15:12.000 is leaving and this would be a cool thing to do. 0:15:12.680 --> 0:15:17.800 Yeah, so kind of. I never actually, I guess I'll 0:15:17.840 --> 0:15:20.880 say I loved coaching and I knew I was good 0:15:20.920 --> 0:15:25.120 at it. I always thought like it was just always 0:15:25.120 --> 0:15:27.600 the joke. My coach Karen Shaw in the my mentor 0:15:27.720 --> 0:15:31.880 now was here for forty two years, and no one 0:15:31.880 --> 0:15:33.880 ever kind of thought about like the time she wouldn't 0:15:33.920 --> 0:15:39.440 be the coach, especially me, and I don't know, I 0:15:39.520 --> 0:15:42.000 just never really thought, like I knew I could do it, 0:15:42.080 --> 0:15:44.440 but the stars never aligned. And also I felt very 0:15:44.480 --> 0:15:48.920 passionately about like I can't go do the normal trajectory 0:15:49.040 --> 0:15:52.040 of like going to another school and like I can't 0:15:52.040 --> 0:15:56.800 be wearing orange, or like this is the best school 0:15:56.800 --> 0:15:59.400 ever like we had and like no, like it's I 0:15:59.440 --> 0:16:03.480 had a very unique student athlete experience, like it's only Carolina, 0:16:03.640 --> 0:16:04.440 like ever. 0:16:04.560 --> 0:16:08.200 So careful, girl, you just never know what's gonna happen 0:16:08.240 --> 0:16:12.840 in life. It's gonna resurface someday down the road. You 0:16:12.920 --> 0:16:15.320 were right, and so just that's just fascinating to think about. 0:16:15.360 --> 0:16:15.520 Though. 0:16:15.560 --> 0:16:18.640 It's like serendipity of her leaving right in that moment, 0:16:18.680 --> 0:16:22.120 because even if you had had an eye on the 0:16:22.240 --> 0:16:24.880 job four or five years down the line, who knows 0:16:25.600 --> 0:16:27.920 your life takes you in that time and if you 0:16:28.000 --> 0:16:31.160 go start working in another job in another field, and 0:16:31.760 --> 0:16:33.800 it's just it's just pretty wild the timing of it 0:16:33.840 --> 0:16:36.720 all your belief in yourself, your AD's belief in you. 0:16:37.680 --> 0:16:40.880 It's just incredible. What was the toughest part about the transition? 0:16:41.320 --> 0:16:43.800 You are now there same place, a lot of the 0:16:43.800 --> 0:16:46.640 same teammates. You just flip a switch and now you 0:16:46.680 --> 0:16:48.720 come back and you're the coach. What's the toughest part there? 0:16:49.120 --> 0:16:53.040 Yeah? I think it wasn't tough, and it's still like present. 0:16:53.080 --> 0:16:55.520 I deal with it every single day because it wasn't 0:16:55.560 --> 0:16:59.240 tough in like a negative way, but it was tough 0:16:59.240 --> 0:17:01.800 in the sense that I had to be so intentional 0:17:01.840 --> 0:17:04.080 with it and so purposeful with it. And it's the 0:17:04.119 --> 0:17:08.879 obvious answer of I played with I think last year's 0:17:08.920 --> 0:17:13.440 team there were only five girls who I didn't play with, 0:17:13.520 --> 0:17:15.600 and we have a had a team of twenty eight 0:17:15.680 --> 0:17:17.800 last year, so I played with twenty three of them 0:17:18.280 --> 0:17:23.879 and like just striking that balance of actually, let me 0:17:24.040 --> 0:17:27.760 use this to my advantage because I know everything about them. 0:17:27.880 --> 0:17:31.280 I know what they were complaining about because I was 0:17:31.280 --> 0:17:33.199 also in the locker room complaining about it. I know 0:17:33.280 --> 0:17:35.760 what they are happy with because I was happy with it. 0:17:35.840 --> 0:17:38.680 I also know like how to talk to them because 0:17:38.720 --> 0:17:42.240 I know who can take the you know, hard, firm, direct, 0:17:42.240 --> 0:17:45.919 criticism and who needs like the positive reinforcement. So like 0:17:46.200 --> 0:17:48.359 I was like, let me spin this and use it 0:17:48.359 --> 0:17:51.439 to my advantage. But I also had to be so 0:17:51.560 --> 0:17:54.600 intentional with like I'm the coach, Like I'm not your 0:17:54.640 --> 0:17:58.639 friend right now. Okay, we can go back to I 0:17:58.920 --> 0:18:01.040 had this conversation with a couple of girls, girls who 0:18:01.080 --> 0:18:05.119 graduated last year after the natty, and it's like, okay, 0:18:05.160 --> 0:18:07.480 now we can resume, like catch me up on your life, 0:18:07.520 --> 0:18:10.000 like you had to get It's like. 0:18:10.200 --> 0:18:11.840 I was gonna say, because if any of your best 0:18:11.840 --> 0:18:14.679 friends were on the team, yeah, essentially saying like my 0:18:14.840 --> 0:18:17.359 job is more important than being your friend right now, 0:18:17.400 --> 0:18:18.960 which is really hard. 0:18:19.000 --> 0:18:21.360 Really hard. Like I didn't. I was literally like tell 0:18:21.400 --> 0:18:23.320 me all of the boy drama, tell me all of 0:18:23.359 --> 0:18:26.600 the like what happened, what's all the like what? Yeah, 0:18:26.760 --> 0:18:30.400 because I just had to, like I had to separate 0:18:30.440 --> 0:18:33.919 it and even personally, like I don't know, for example, 0:18:33.960 --> 0:18:36.600 right now, where there's this social media company we're diving into, 0:18:36.600 --> 0:18:38.679 Like how I can you know, kind of take it 0:18:38.720 --> 0:18:41.000 to the next level, And it's like it's so interesting 0:18:41.119 --> 0:18:45.240 because you can see like your two personalities of like 0:18:45.600 --> 0:18:49.920 normal twenty four year old but like badass coach like I, 0:18:50.680 --> 0:18:54.240 and it's it's been an interesting road to like separate 0:18:54.320 --> 0:18:57.080 that so like tricky in that sense, but not in 0:18:57.119 --> 0:18:58.760 the way of like it's a bad thing. It's just 0:18:58.800 --> 0:18:59.920 been like that's been. 0:19:01.480 --> 0:19:03.280 And it sounds like the easiest is clear right. 0:19:03.320 --> 0:19:07.200 You're able to relate to them, You're able to work 0:19:07.520 --> 0:19:09.240 with folks who are you're similar to. 0:19:09.280 --> 0:19:11.399 We talked about this at the ESPAW summit, the idea 0:19:11.400 --> 0:19:13.360 of sort of a lot of gen z. They want 0:19:13.359 --> 0:19:14.040 to know the why. 0:19:14.119 --> 0:19:16.640 It's not because I told you so, it's here's how, 0:19:16.680 --> 0:19:18.600 here's why, here's we're going to do this together. And 0:19:18.600 --> 0:19:22.200 that's really natural for you coming from that generation of 0:19:22.280 --> 0:19:23.680 being a part of that team just a couple of 0:19:23.720 --> 0:19:26.240 years ago as a player. That's fascinating, know, and I'm 0:19:26.280 --> 0:19:28.640 really impressed by your maturity, not just in the ability 0:19:28.760 --> 0:19:31.119 to sit down with your friends and explain to them 0:19:31.119 --> 0:19:32.919 how that's going to change and how as soon as 0:19:32.960 --> 0:19:35.280 they graduate you can come on back, but also to 0:19:35.320 --> 0:19:38.280 your point being a twenty four year old, particularly right 0:19:38.320 --> 0:19:42.160 now with social media, you can't get caught doing things 0:19:42.200 --> 0:19:45.240 that aren't right for a twenty four year old but 0:19:45.280 --> 0:19:48.320 aren't great for your head coach to be doing right 0:19:48.400 --> 0:19:51.560 that don't feel appropriate, and that's that's really tricky. Okay, 0:19:51.560 --> 0:19:56.280 so season two, now, is it easier flipping those teammate 0:19:56.359 --> 0:19:59.960 to coach relationships? You know you mentioned these are your friends, 0:20:00.080 --> 0:20:01.879 these are folks you were going to parties and bars 0:20:01.920 --> 0:20:04.119 with the further distance you get from that, does it 0:20:04.160 --> 0:20:04.840 seem easier? 0:20:05.240 --> 0:20:08.720 Definitely? I think like it's just more natural, I guess, 0:20:08.720 --> 0:20:12.159 and like expected. But it's really interesting now, and like 0:20:12.240 --> 0:20:14.760 I kind of knew this because I'm a planner. I'm 0:20:14.760 --> 0:20:17.679 a forward thinker like all of us, and you know 0:20:17.720 --> 0:20:21.919