Smashin' It with Angelina Anderson

Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we've discovered all the four D replays from ESPN's NCAA Gymnastics Championships coverage. They installed thirty cameras at the Beam and Vault to create these insanely cool videos.

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It's Monday, April twenty first, and on today's show, we'll be talking to Angel City goalkeeper Angelina Anderson about keeping her confidence even as she endured moves from backup to starter, to backup, back to starter again. We discuss ACFC naming a new head coach, the Angel City celebrity owners she most wants to meet, and getting her first US women's national team call up. Plus a border battle we can get behind, a reason to feel unwell, and celebrating losing

Take a listen, all right, tell me what is going through your mind?

Honestly, before, during, during, not a lot like just like peer instinct.

I guess how were you able to stop.

Everything that came your way?

Why Did's not that y by?

I had a lot of really good help in front of me, so they made my life as easy as it could be.

Tell me what you're feeling in this moment right now.

Shock it off. I'm ecstatic.

Congratulation, Thank you, I love it.

Hillary Knight, who holds nearly every record in the books for Women's Worlds extended another with her record tenth gold medal, and she's heading home with the nifty shiner on her left eye too. Tmusa had made it to the final with a two one win over host nation Checkia on Saturday, while the Canadians defeated Finland eight to one in the other semi More hockey, the Professional Women's Hockey League has reportedly picked its first expansion city, Vancouver. Local Vancouver paper

To come this Wednesday.

Per the Associated Press, Seattle appears to be the top contender for expansion city, now number two, though plans to announce Seattle as the pick are currently on hold. To Gymnastics, Oklahoma captured the NCUBLEA Gymnastics Championship on Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas, besting second place UCLA, third place Missouri, and fourth place Utah. This is Oklahoma's third title in four seasons and seventh overall. Tying them with the UCLA for third most titles in

We look forward to her returning when she's healthy. End quote.

Rodman's agent told The Washington Post that she'll be meeting with a doctor in London and will return to the team as soon as she's healthy. Rodman has battled back injuries for several years now and has previously said that she never expects to be back to one hundred percent

We got to take a quick break. When we come back. It's Angelina Anderson.

We caught up with her last Thursday, the day before Angel City's four nothing lost to Gotham, the team's first loss of the season.

Are we bad luck? I say no, but Angel City might feel otherwise. Stick around joining us now.

She's the keeper of Angel Cities, Hopes and Dreams aka, the starting goalkeeper for ACFC, and she recently got her first US.

National team call up.

A Berkeley grad who was a team captain her sophomore, junior, and senior seasons in college, her mom was a track star, her dad was a football player, and her middle name is Dora. It's Angelina Anderson. How often do you get Dora the Explorer?

Just all the time?

I got that a lot growing up in like elementary school. People thought that was really really funny. Now I don't mind, but only only special people know my middle name.

So now all of our.

Listeners, Yeah, a really nice start for your Angel City club to to and o sitting in fourth in the league.

What's going well for you guys?

Yeah? I mean I am so proud of us. I'm so excited. Been a great start. Like you said, it just feels great to be undefeated. Honestly, I think the team's just really together. Like we've had a lot of moving parts, and obviously with some interim positions and new people coming in and new players coming in, but it's been like a seamless transition, and I just kind of have an impression that no matter what's going on outside in the world or external forces, like, if your team's together,

Yeah, I love that.

I actually was recently talking to a retired player and it was that conversation about vibes that, yeah, of course you need skill, and of course you need structure, but there's something about a magic between teammates that if it's happening early in the season, just like the intangibles and the things you almost can't describe, happen, and it keeps you united through the tough times and keeps you together

He won't be here yet.

He's going to leave German squad Byron Munich and come in June, but has had a lot of success with them since twenty twenty two out there.

What do you know about him? If anything?

Not much, pretty much basically what you've just said. Obviously, the team was told and we got kind of a brief synopsis. I think it was nice to hear from management their confidence in him and that throughout the search, one of the big priorities was finding like a winner, you know, who has proven time and time again that they can win in big moments, and so I think we all love to hear that from him, and it's exciting. But at the same time, like, I'm just proud of

How has it been playing under Sam Sam Lady your interim coach, knowing he's not going to stay on his head coach but will be around. Does it feel any different than any other year when you've got a full time coach in place?

Not necessarily. I think you kind of you act under the guys that this is your head coach and he's kind of setting our style of play and leading the ship. And I think Sam's done a really good job with that of coming in and bringing us together. And obviously he's been in the league for a while, so he knows how this league works. And I think that's definitely shown. I feel like he has the group together and it doesn't really feel like he's interim necessary.

Yeah, I know the new coach news is very new, but do you have any indication about whether they'll start to try to have your new coach's style or any of his impressions transferred to Sam to start you working on things. Is there going to be a difference between Alexander's approach and Sam's in a way that Sam might want to start slowly introducing so that when Alexander gets here, y'all are already, you know, understanding what kind of approach he has the game.

Right from what we've been told. Part of that search was finding somebody who like aligns with the type of football that Angel City wants to play, that we want to put in front of the fans, that management wants us to play, that we have players who can play this way. So I think that was one of the big like guiding factors too throughout the hiring process, of like, who is somebody that we're aligned with, They're aligned with us, so we can just play the like, dynamic, exciting football

Well, on the one hand, it's great that Sam will be sticking around to be the senior assistant because he knows the team well.

He'll help with the transition.

It's going to be mid season, so that way Alexander doesn't have to come in and just try to figure it out himself, but also always to have someone go to a position of a little less authority after being the head man. Do you have an impression based on what you know of Sam of how he'll handle that.

Yeah, I couldn't imagine that role change for sure, like it would. I could imagine that you might feel some type of way about it, But I think Sam has just shown such professionalism and his goal at the end of the day is to help us win and to help us be successful. And I think like overall in our club, we have that mentality like whatever your role is, you do it to the best of your ability, and that's what it's going to take to get us to

You personally have had to deal with a little bit of that top of the rung, a little bit back and forth. You were drafted twenty seventh overall in twenty twenty three. You made four regular season appearances. Your rookie season started the first playoff game in Angel City, franchise history, first rookie and quite some time to get us start in the playoffs, and then you started the beginning of last year, but replaced by did Harcich before resuming the starting role again this season.

That's a lot of back and forth for a young career.

How did you handle that setback last year and stay focused and ready in your backup role and make sure you were still doing your best for the team.

It's definitely a lot of back and forth, and I think it's really easy to look at, you know, starting last year and then getting benched, It's easy to see that as a really like a negative thing. I personally think that last year will probably be one of the most valuable years of my professional career for a long long time, just of learning how to be a pro when things aren't going your way and how like to really really own your role and to be the best

I love that you've actually described last year as the biggest year of growth in all your life. I think it takes a certain kind of person to be ready for that moment and to handle it the way you have and to realize even in that moment, what an opportunity it is, what a learning experience it is. A lot of people can look back years later and be like, oh, that was good for me, But you seem to have had the emotional awareness to do it in the moment.

To what do you attribute that.

I don't know. I've been told that I am wise beyond my ears. Maybe it's that, yeah, but no, I just yeah, I think like I had a really good support system around me too, of people like who lifted me up and still made me feel valued, and so I was able to still really feel like I do impact this team. I make this team better right now. I need some development. I gotta get my feet under me a bit more, and I know my time's coming. I think that was kind of my mindset of just

Yeah, your teammate Alyssa Thompson has been on one lately, scoring in three or four Angel City games, lighting it up in the national team friendlies. I imagine that facing her and training every day has probably helped with you honing those skills.

Absolutely. Yeah, like you said, Alyssa is in top form right now, and I mean she is special, like Alyssa Thompson is special. And it's funny because her and I have such a great relationship. We're draft mates, we're roommates on the road, like Alyssa is my girl. So I'm so happy to see her being so successful. But yes, in training, it's just like the best training ever for me. I mean, you have shifty Alyssa coming at you, and I just have to say she is way quicker in

To make that so proud of hers.

Yeah, right, but no, she's special, and I just I mean, yeah, she's playing at such a high level right now. I'm so happy for her.

I love that you also get to spend a lot more time with her because you're at US women's national team practices together. So you played for the US under seventeen and under twenty teams, and then you got your first senior national team call up in January of this year as a training player, one of a handful of keepers that Emma Hayes wants to get a look at.

So how did it feel to get that first call?

Oh my god, I cried. I mean, getting called up to the senior team has always been like a life goal of mine, and now it's happened twice this year. So I'm just like, I mean, I'm overjoyed. I'm honored just going into that environment. It's like my goal is just to improve and to smile and take it all in and be grateful and just like, look, look around

Yeah, it's an exciting and interesting time for the US women's national team. When it comes to the keeper position, it's kind of an unusual moment. There's been this pretty clear transition from Brianna Scurry to Hope Solo to a listener and now there's.

A real battle for it.

How has the sort of pod of keepers at national camp dealt with the uncertainty around the role.

That's an interesting question. I think goalkeepers in particular are pretty good at like creating an environment that's like conducive to success through challenging each other and supporting each other. And so I feel like we're all pretty well versed of like we know that this is like the squad and at the end of the day, somebody's gonna play over somebody else. But when I've gone in, it's been

What have you learned from some of their keepers, anyone in particular that has given you a tip where you've watched them been like, oh yeah, I get I see that.

I mean definitely, just like little technical things in training, like you get to watch people five yards away from you making insane saves and I think that's something I got to learn my rookie year of like watching Ddy do some crazy stuff right in front of me. I was like, oh, okay, that's how you get your foot

Jane Campbell. Yeah.

Yeah, So I would just say, like being that in that ironman and being pushed by people that I've always really respected has been really valuable.

You're one of the younger ones and you've got plenty of time to make your mark, so it's maybe a little bit easier to just go and soak it all

But there's one keeper.

Yeah, they probably are going to play every minute of every game, right, how do you? I mean it's easy to say, oh, you just have to be ready and like be you ready when your name is called.

But that's hard.

How much do you actually talk about that with either coaches or psychologists when you start to get on a path to be a professional or an elite keeper.

Yeah, I mean it's something that you quickly learn if you're not the starter playing every single minute. And I think like what it comes down to is just you goalkeepers have to have this insane sense of like just perseverance through anything. And so yeah, like when you're when you're not starting and you're chilling on the bench for all these games, like you have to just stay ready and keep training as if you're going in. But it's

You know, it's interesting that you mentioned that because Briana Scurray was on our show recently. She actually talked about when she was going through all the different keepers in camp. She specifically said about you that you had the psychological edge because of starting, moving to back up, and working your way back to starter. She really sees toughness and resilience in that and sees you as someone who can deal with the pressures of being in a camp and battling it out for number one.

Do you think that does.

Give you an edge at all when dealing with the pressure of competing for national team spots, that there are athletes who maybe have never gotten knocked down yet they've just always been number one starter, and that you maybe have already figured out how to get through the tough stuff.

First of all, Wow, what a awesome compliment. And I do think that that might give me an edge. Yeah. I think it's just a really valuable experience to kind of have some of those hardships early on as a pro And that's why I feel like last year might prove to be one of the most valuable years, you know, coming up, And yeah, I think having the experience of going through that is definitely going to help me, no

I want to hear about Emma Hayes' style and communication.

What kind of manager is she?

Oh my gosh, I mean, no secret when you're around her why she's been so successful. I think her as a human being, probably in every aspect of her life, is just somebody who strives for excellence than just continues to push that boundary. And you can tell, like when you're in the environment. I mean, she's a super cool person, but on the pitch, like she's as professional as they come. She is driving a standard and elite standard and that

I do think that's the sweet spot.

It's like they have to be demanding and expect a ton out of you and push you to get your best, but you have to respect them and like them so much. Yeah that you're like, oh, yeah, tell me what to do versus like this motherfucker right.

Like I will follow you.

Yeah exactly. Yeah. Yeah.

Do you feel like you know what she expects out of you and wants you to work on. Is she pretty transparent about saying here's what you need to get better at, here's what I don't like when you do this, or do you feel like you're trying to like search and figure that out?

I mean, I think all the staff on the you know, on the US team, they have a certain level of professionalism about them where they're not just laying their cards out in front of everybody, which I think is really a great way to go about it. But on an individual level, obviously I work a lot with the goalkeepering coach as well, just like more one on one with that.

So I actually learned a lot from Briana Scurry about a couple things, including what Emma Hayes wants like in terms of a keeper who could be on ball, which means you can use your feet and stuff and not just pick it up and take it far. And they want to be kind of a possession team and integrate the keeper into the angles and possession to set things up instead of always feeling like you're separate from the rest of the team and moving into the offensive space.

A little bit of an adjustment, I think a Angel City, a lot of my role at the moment has been like relieving pressure and you know, finding those smaller, more possession based passes when I can and when it's on. But I think for us we really want to for Angel City, that is, we want to maintain possession higher up the field, and one of my strong suits is

Wherever you go.

Yeah, I'm starting to learn some of the differences in understanding style of keepers. Everyone that's elite is a good shot stopper, that's kind of necessary for the role, but there's so much more to it. Are there certain keepers that you watched growing up or more recently even that are kind of your influencers or role models or you try to model your game after.

Uh, yeah, I'm currently my one of my biggest role models or someone that I'm just I disrespect so much is and Caterrin Berger and we're playing her tomorrow. I just think she is unbelievable with the ball at her feet, and you have to the other team has to play you differently when you're a goalkeeper who can play the ball anywhere on the field, at any time, any height on a dime. I'm just, yeah, I'm so impressed with her, and I literally I want to I want to be

Oh my god, I love it.

Do the jersey swap for those who aren't familiar place for Gotham FC German keeper and was the NWSL Keeper of the Year last year. Really changed a lot for that team and changes their style because they've got her back there.

She's She's fantastic. I love the jersey swap.

Okay, I gotta let you go, but we're gonna do a very quick La speed round. So what are your favorite ways to decompress or distress in La?

Oh?

Yeah, it's a challenge hanging out with my cat and I'm a big like meditator, breathwork visualizer, so I make sure I get that in every day. And hard to find nature around here, but I do my best. I take I take little hikes or I hit the Yeah.

I like how you think it's hard to find nature in La. I'm in Chicago. Okay, we do have a lake to ride a bike on or whatever. But I miss living in La because I would hike like three to four times a week. But it was my favorite spots were Pacific palisades that are no longer with us my favorite hiking places. But yeah, I mean, soak up the la vibes that you do have. There's a lot more nature near you than you probably think.

I know, I'm from nor Cal where I could walk out.

My back so spoiled. That's right. Okay, I get it. I get it.

Which Angel City team owner were you or are you most excited or nervous to meet?

Oh? Meeting Jennifer Gardner and Natalie Portman. That was like I was starstruck for sure.

Jennifer's on my list.

I've met Natalie a couple of times, but Jennifer's like, I feel like we'd be bff.

Jennifer, she seems like so cool when I talked to her, or like when I would be warming up last year, she was always sitting pitchside and I'd be like hi, and she'd be.

Like, oh, I love that. Okay, go to La restaurant.

Okay, I'm this one's This one's a hole in the wall. Well maybe not a hole in the wall, but it's underground. It's right in Woodland Hills in the valley called Monty's Steakhouse. Okay, Old unassuming, would never think to go in there, so every time.

Okay, good to know favorite store to splurjet.

Oh gosh, I will say since moving to La I have become a chopoholic, really bad.

You got to keep up with the girlies on your team.

They are like bringing the fits and I'm trying.

Honestly. The mall, which is like five minutes away from me, has every store imaginable, so I just walk in there.

It's a whole mall.

Uh. And then final, one notable celebrity encounter outside of your own team's owners.

I actually haven't had that many. But I did see Simon Cowell. Okay, that was pretty cool.

Did he look crouchy?

No, we actually seemed really happy.

I'm good. Maybe it's just a persona for television, I think so. Well, it was so nice to get to know you. Congrats on the success. It's been really fun to watch angel City have such a great start and we look forward to watching more this season.

Thanks so much.

Thanks again to Angelina for taking the time. We got to take another.

Break when we return to quote Sam, muis are you having an okay time?

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We always love that you're listening slices, but we want you to get in the game every day. So here's your good game play of the day. We are rapidly approaching our two hundredth episode, Holy Shit, and we're planning to both celebrate our loyal listeners and help new slices rookies seedlings if you will catch up on what they've missed. So, if you were talking to a new listener, what would you tell them they need to know about the show?

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Good Game, Angelina, Good Game, Oklahoma gymnasticsk you back Injuries. Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network, our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rudder.