Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where the Price of Eggs has us paint and potatoes for the Easter hunt this weekend. The prices are too damn high. It's Friday, April eighteenth, Happy Friday, Slices. On today's show, we'll be chatting with US women's national team legend and two time Olympic gold medalist Briana Scurry about the battle for the
new number one keeper on the national team. Briana breaks down the player's head coach Emma Hayes has to choose from talks about what separates the greats from the goods, teaches me a thing or two about possession and shares the financial literacy lessons she's passing on to the next generation of footy phenoms. Plus, it's almost time to crown some champs on the mat. The PWHL draft is headed
north of the border. And always remember, no matter where, no matter when, Shelley and Fraser Price will will pure ass in a race that's all coming up right after this Welcome Backslices. Here's what you need to know today in gymnastics News. On yesterday show, we got you ready for the National Collegiate Women's Championship semi finals with Trinity Thomas.
But if you miss those last night, be sure you tune into the National Championship tomorrow four on the floor, as they call it, the final team competition, where the four top teams compete for the national title. You can catch the competition starting at four pm Eastern on ABC. And if you need a refresher on who to look out for and how to be a smarter viewer, go back and listen to that interview with Trinity. We'll link
to it in our show notes. In NWSL news, Angel City FC has found its new head coach Bayern Munich. Alexander Strauss will depart Germany to join the undefeated LA side on June first. His hiring completes a search that began when the franchise fired previous coach Becky Tweed in December. Strauss's run with Byron has been stellar after getting the job there in twenty twenty two. His squads have won back to back frown Bundesliga titles and they're currently in good.
Shape to earn a third.
He'll take over an ACFC team sitting at fourth in the NWSL standings. Speaking of the NWSL, there's a whole lot of league action to look forward to tonight and tomorrow, with seven games in total. Tonight kicks off with the Chicago Stars at Utah Royals at nine thirty pm Eastern on NWSL Plus, then the Portland Thorns at Seattle Rain at ten pm Eastern on Prime Video, followed by a Top five battle between Gotham FC and Angel CITYFC. That's ten thirty Eastern back on NWSL Plus. Then on Saturday
there are four more games starting at two pm. We'll link to the full NWSL schedule in our show notes more pro soccer. The Northern Super League's first game was storybook stuff you remember. Earlier this week, Canadian soccer legend Christine Sinclair was on the show gushing over her former NWSL opponent and Team Canada teammate Quinn about them joining the NFL and their potential to be the face of
the league. Well, Quinn lived up to the hype, scoring the first goal in NFL history via a penalty kick in the twenty first minute on Wednesday night at BC Place. That score proved to be the difference as their Vancouver Rise FC side took a one nil victory over Calgary wild FC just feels right to have a Canadian legend go down in the record books with the first ever tally. The NFL continues its inaugural weekend tomorrow as AFC Toronto takes on Montreal Ross FC at four pm Eastern.
You could stream that on ESPN Plus.
In International Hockey News, Team USA cruised past Germany three not then yesterday to punch a ticket to the semifinals of the Women's World Championship. Kelly Panic, Lacey Eden, and Alex Carpenter each put one in the back of the net for the Stars and Stripes in the victory. Hillary Knight assisted on Carpenter's score, raising her World Championship record assist tally to fifty one. The semi finals are tomorrow.
As of this recording, we don't yet know the game the US will be playing in, so we'll link to the full schedule in the show notes. That game will be on NHL Network. In Pro Hockey News, the PWHL Draft is headed to Ottawa. The league made the announcement earlier this week, bringing the festivities back to Canada, where the inaugur ol draft took place in twenty twenty three.
The draft will be at the city soon to be opened hard Rock Hotel on June twenty fourth, and players have until May eighth to declare and become eligible for selection. You might remember us mentioning the PWHL's Gold Plan their effort to deter tanking.
Here's a refresher. So the draft order has.
Decided based on how many points a team earns after being mathematically eliminated from the postseason. So once a team gets bounced, they've got to keep trying and earning points if they want to snag the number one pick. This discourages squads from tanking toward the end of the season.
Looking at you, MNBA in hoops, the WNBA Players Association and AFLAC have renewed their partnership and as a result, this year's All Star Weekend winners will walk away with more dough in their pockets thanks to the insurance Company's contribution. The victor of the three Point contest at the Indiana Fever's Gainbridge field House in July will receive sixty thousand bucks, and the Skills Challenge winner will get fifty five thousand.
That brings the total prize money to one hundred and fifteen thousand dollars, up from one hundred ti ten thousand last season. These earnings now equal the hall that MNBA players bring in for the same events at their All Star break per their league CBA. Speaking about the deal, WNBPA president Neka Ogumakay said, the move is quote not just about the rewards. It's about building a future where our value is undeniable.
End quote. Well we hear a good game, never denied it. Go get that money. Honeys slices. Listen up. We have a special offer for you.
So Next Tuesday, April twenty second is the Business of Women's Sports Summit in New York City. This event is put on by Laura Currenti and Deep Blue Sports. You might remember them as one half of the partnership with iHeart that created this whole iHeart Women's Sports Network. And you can watch the event via live stream and using the slices twenty twenty five code will give you fifty percent off those virtual passes to watch online.
This lineup is so worth your time. Let me just give you a couple names.
Chelsea Clinton, Azy Fudd, Sue Brd, Meghan Rapino, Flage Johnson, Lauren Betts, aj Andrews Kerrey Champion, Ari Chambers, Kia Clark, Allison Felix, Lori Hernandez, Olivia Miles, Monica McNutt, Renee Stubs, Briana Scurry, Yours truly and so many more. So had to Bose twenty twenty five. Dot splash that dot com and use the code slices twenty twenty five. For the discount, we will put the link in our show notes. It's
Bows twenty twenty five. Dot splash that dot com. You can fine it in our show notes and use the code slices twenty twenty five. Also a quick note about the WNBA draft and outfit changes. Shout out to Slice jen Ford for reminding me that Rakia Jackson was the
og fit change artist at the WNBA draft. So if you remember during our draft reaction show, Aaron Foley and I couldn't remember if anyone before Page Beckers had done the change up from the carpet to the stage, and of course it was miss Orange Carpet herself, Rakia Jackson. Just one year earlier, she swapped out a redfit for a silver one midway through the draft, both designed by Tasha hartzog No wonder they put her in charge of Orange carpet interviews this year, So thank you Jen and
Yes pagebackers and Rikia Jackson. We got to take a quick break when we come back. My conversation with US women's national team legend Brianna Scurry, and uh, one.
Thing before we jump in.
So early on in the interview with Brianna, I admit to a shortcoming. I admit that I just realized she only has one en in her name, not two, and I've been spelling it wrong all this time. But then I start patting myself on the back for at least saying her name right, if not spelling it right. You know, she's always called Brianna Scurry, and I know that's not right. But the problem is, guys, apparently the version I was using for most of the interview Brianna Scurry also is
not right. So I said, right too, Brianna, at least I'm saying your name right, and like, I get points for that, and then proceed to say Brianna the whole damn interview. And you know what, I tried to at least come up with an excuse. It's like, oh, maybe it's like Chicago is coming out, but that's not it, I just lock it up. And the thing is, she doesn't even correct me, and I feel like it must be at this point, She's like, listen, I'm too tired of this like to even correct you anymore.
I'm too tired to correct people anymore.
I'm just gonna let you take false credit for getting it right like a chump and not even say anything.
So I don't know.
I guess my point is stay humble, y'all, because the learning never stops even while you're midway through congratulating yourself. So sorry, Briana, I got it now, Bryanna scurry, I got it.
I promise all right.
That interview with Briana is next back in a second joining US now one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time.
A two time Olympic gold medalist and World Cup champion, she played for the US women's national team from nineteen ninety four to two thousand and eight, competing in four World Cups and three Olympics, including starting and playing in every minute of the team's five matches of their gold medal winning run at the ninety six Olympic Games and playing every minute of their triumphant ninety nine World Cup run.
Her career total of one hundred and seventy three international appearances is the second most among female soccer goalkeepers and the fifteenth most of any American female player. She was a founding player for the Atlanta Beat of the WUSA, was elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame in twenty seventeen, and wrote a memoir, My Greatest Save. She's been a coach, gm owner, and analyst. And she appeared as herself an air Bud World. Pop It's Brianna Scurry, Hi, Brianna.
Hello, how are you?
That's that was one of the most fantastic intros I've heard in a long time.
Great, I need to watch I need to watch Air Bud World.
You totally need to watch.
That's how the young is that The only way the little kids know about me is if they saw me the air Bud movie.
Well, thanks for joining us.
I last saw you, No Big Deal at the Vice President's house in Washington, d C.
Oh, Yes, okay, just no, biggie.
You were signing your name to the guestbook with your number, and other people like, oh, should I write my number?
I'm like, only if you're Briana Scurry, Like, what do you mean? You're junior high number.
No, I.
I love it.
I have to ask the most important question first, What happens more often your name is misspelled or mispronounced?
Mispronounced almost every single time?
Yeah, yeah, it's okay.
Yeah, I have to admit I've been misspelling it for most of the time. I thought there were two ends, but I've been saying it right.
So I do get points for that.
But you can take points for that.
I take one end. Where have I been? At least I've been saying it right.
Okay, So it's it's a great time to have you on to talk about the US women's national team. They are currently looking for their next Briana Scurry. Not that that's easy to find, but they are looking, and after passing of the baton from you to Hope Solo to a Lissa they air the team is really on the hunt for a keeper and without a true number one, clear number one for the first time in a really long time. So I want to talk about some of the players in the mix and what Emma Hayes is
looking for. But I want you to educate us a little first. I think the average soccer player is pretty adept at watching shot stopping. We can understand a great save, we can understand a mist save that probably.
Should have been made. What else should we be watching for with these keepers to help us sort of understand their role in the larger style and strategy of a team and whether they're great or not.
I think one of the nuances you need to watch for is something that most people don't even think about, and that's communication with their back line, in particular the central defenders. So Tmusa often plays with the four back and so the two central defenders are really vital to defending because if the goalkeeper is not communicating with them vocally and directly, and you know that they're understanding her,
then weird stuff happens. I mean, the untrained eye may not be able to tell if it was a communication error that caused something, but I can. So what I would say is one of the most important things other than the shot stopping, obviously is important, is a communication because what ends up happening is if you have bad communication, you end up with way more shots, right, which is not good?
Yeah, yeah, fewer shots, fewer goals usually not always.
Yes.
There's a great story from ESPN's Jeff Kasoof, writing about the battle for this keeper position, and in it he says that Emma Hayes has said on many occasions she expects their keeper to be comfortable on the ball to help the Usman's national team possess in deeper spaces.
Can you explain what that means?
Yes, So, when you have possession of the ball in your defensive end or on a free kick such as a goalkick, Emma wants the goalkeeper to be able to be part of that possession triangle or that possession stance. Not just a goalkeeper that kicks the ball forward and out of the danger zone. She wants the goalkeeper to be positioned well so that she can get the ball at her feet and redistribute as well. So if you have the goalkeeper that can do that well, then you always have numbers up in the back.
Got it.
So on the ball means playing on the ball like a field player, yes, picking it up and kicking or not.
Redistributing that position, yes, yes, to receive the ball and to get us get the team out of danger if there's pressure on one side or the other.
I mean, that's certainly something we notice, is which teams are able to go back and forth to their keeper and really incorporate it to reset a play versus when it feels like it's the last resort. And there's certainly some very when you're younger in soccer, they're like, never kick it toward your own goal, and when you get older you have to actually use that to help set things up. Okay, So Jane Campbell is one of the only two players vuying for the job who has major
tournament experience, but it's not much. She was an alternate a last year's Olympics. She plays for the Houston Dash, which is attempting to build an identity as a possession oriented team.
How does that.
Style fit with what you just told us with Hayes wanting a keeper who can be a part of that and be on the ball.
Well, for Campbell, it's a great advantage. I mean, she's going to be working on that daily with her team and so she'll have a better understanding. Not only that, but she'll also have a lot more confidence in being able to command that presence that you need to have in the back as a as a goalkeeper who can use her feet incredibly well. I've always liked Jane Campbell. She's fantastic, But what I fear is the fact that she does have to make so many saves in a game.
It is truly a mountain of saves that she has to make. I don't know if that's from a lack of quality from her club team, her defense, or if it's a lack of communication on her part to her backs. Like I said earlier, like she has a lot of emergency situations on her team, and that's usually not a good thing. And unfortunately the Dash, you know, they struggle
a little bit throughout the seasons. But she has a great advantage on a team that won't strug, which is the national team, to be able to be comfortable on the ball.
Yeah, so when it's a possession oriented team, they want to control and be tactical in their approach, but often push up toward the opposing team's goal. That's different in the sense of teams that maybe are trying to rely more on one or two players that are just really fast or really skilled, where then they're not worrying as much, or they're not maybe able to depend on their whole team to set things up.
They have to take more chances.
That's kind of the difference between a possion oriented team and another team.
Yes, that is definitely the difference between the two.
Also, in the course of a game, if you're a possession oriented team, you're letting the ball do the work as opposed to your individual players doing the work.
And what you're also doing is.
You're moving that opposing team, that opponent around the pitch at will. You're shifting them from one side to the other, which then opens up that potential for that fourward two streak through there somehow, you know, make a diving run
or a slice run through the back. And so if you're a team that can say, you know, have a slower tempo and then spring the attack, which is what that's called, you you can do that more easily as a team that possesses the ball versus a team who has just a lot of raw talent and it's expecting there forwards to truly make make something happen. Over the course of a game, the possession orientation team will most likely win and do.
Better right because they're tiring out the opponent who's running around, whereas their tactical and pinpointed passes are moving the ball up without them having to be the ones making those runs. Let's talk about some of the other keepers in the mix. So besides Campbell, there's Utah's Mandy McGlenn, Manchester United's Fallin Tellus Joyce, North Carolina's Casey Murphy, and then Angel Cities Angelina Anderson. Murphy is the only other player besides Campbell
with major tournament experience. She has the most twenty eight years old, She's got twenty caps. She was the backup keeper for last year's Olympics and the twenty twenty three World Cup, so most experienced, but she has not received a call up twenty twenty five. Do you think that is Emma giving others a chance or do you think the window has closed a bit on Murphy as being a viable contender for the spot.
I have really thought about this because I also noticed that she hadn't gotten called up at all this year yet, and so part of me is wondering if Emma's seeing something in her form that she's not exactly loving, or she is, you know, just trying to give other people
a chance. At this point, I would say that it might be she's not in favor with Emma and she's looking for someone who has a little bit more of maybe a presence in the back like Jane Campbell does with her feet, and so in that case, you know, Campbell might have catapulted over Murphy in the in the lineup because she was actually in front of her when Emma came in. Came in, Murphy was number two and
Campbell was three or four. And now it seems like the reverse has happened, and I feel like maybe Emma just doesn't have the same feeling about Murphy as she does with Campbell.
Now, the Courage are the most possession oriented team in the league, so you would think that Murphy would be best suited to the style Emma's looking for. Is there something about her game that you think just might not be a fit.
Well, you you definitely want to do your number one thing, which innimbus case is possessed the ball. But if she sees a dramatic difference in between her shot stopping abilities versus another goalkeeper's shot stopping abilities and her ball her ballwork, it could be too big of a mountain too to overcome. She might be the best with the ball at her feet, but if her shot stopping is dramatically, you know, lower in quality than another goalkeeper. Then that's going to hinder
her a little bit. But it's hard to say because Emma, you know, she keeps her keeps her car close to the vest, and you just don't know what she's what she's doing, and she doesn't always tell you, which is great, so we're left to try to figure out what would exactly her cards read. But she's doing a lot of different things and she has time. That's the nice thing also about it.
She has time.
Yeah, with a particular time or in the international window with the Olympics and World Cup, it's a great time for her to be looking. Thank you, Alyssena or for timing this well. Mandy McGlenn had a thrilling goalkeeper assist on opening weekend that caught people's attention. We got very excited about how they were using her in that play. But Hayes has said she needs to work on reading the game in possession and knowing when to play short or go long. What have you seen from McGlynn.
I've seen a lot of talent.
I've seen a lot of potential and for me with the goalkeeping, a lot of it has to do with the potential of that player. Can that player grow their way into the position. Does a coach feel confident that they want to put the time in to her in order for her to come along, because when you come into an environment like the national team, it forges, you know, into a champion. You can't you can't help but have that be the case, and if you don't have the
goods coming in, then it's going to be difficult. And I think Emma definitely sees some potential in her and we'll see, because it's sometimes the popcorn doesn't pop, you know what I mean, And.
You don't know that in the beginning.
And so for me, the best you know, indicator of a high quality goalkeeper, you really can't tell until the actual tournament starts, when the heat is on, Yes, exactly and at its.
Highest, Yeah, fallon tell us Joyce earning a lot of excitement and praise. But Hayes had the same feedback as she did about McGlenn knowing when to possess, not playing the ball too long too often, but also said that's sort of inevitable in a debut, you're kind of just wanting to get it the hell away from you.
Was off exactly, a little nervous, You're like, get away, not over your house is on fire, tell us. Joyce a little bit of a late bloomer. She's twenty eight.
She just got her first call up to camp last November, but she has made some spectacular plays. Her nickname is the octopus because of her marine biology background.
She likes to do diving.
But also after that double save we just saw from her last week, it has a double meeting.
It looks like she's got eight arms and legs out there. What have you seen from her?
You're absolutely right, she is the octopus out there. I've seen her make some saves that are absolutely outstanding in league play, and it is great that she's not getting her opportunity. I feel like maybe before Emma came in, there wasn't any really any real room for her to crack into that group, and now she's been able to do it because you know, Emma's trying a lot of different things now, so now is her chance to shine.
So if she can come along really quickly with the ball at her feet and show that she's more comfortable, then I think she'll be able to stay.
And the longer she gets to stay.
The more potential she has to, you know, evolve and develop, and I feel like for the goalkeeping crew, I mean, that's a big shoes.
To fill for any funny.
I mean, the history of the national team goalkeepers is all hall of famers.
So yeah, no big deal. That's the thing.
Right, So what I would say to these young ones that Emma's talking about the ability to know when to play far and long and when to keep possession. It really comes down to confidence, it really does. And so if you can just even if your heart is like fluttering like crazy and you're like, you know, I want to kick it, get kick a wide or kick it far.
Just fight, fight against that feeling.
And just try to see if you can, if you can manage it, and then and try to do what coach says, because you know, if you can, you'll find yourself on the team.
Well, I think confidence and communication and connection which will only come when they finally decide who it is and that person gets a lot of reps with their back line, with their defenders, with the folks that they need to have confidence in along with themselves. Right, because you can have a lot of confidence in yourself and then tee up the wrong players in spots that aren't good for
them or that expose their weaknesses. Angela Anderson finally she got called up as a training camp player for the national team, you know. In interestingly, she kind of sat back in her rookie season in the NWSL with angel City, then got an opportunity to start, then got replaced again.
Now she's back playing.
So she's been in and out sort of like actually with Valentelli's Joyce, Right, Valentelli's Joyce might end up being the best one of the bunch, but was behind Mary ERPs for so long we just didn't quite know what you had. Maybe Angelina Anderson just needs a little more time. She's kind of like on the outskirts of this group because she's just a training camp player.
But have you seen anything from her you like I do.
I see that she's got great potential as well. I see that she understands the game, but I really, for me, there's a little bit of a psychological edge to her. So if she can come in and really make the most of the opportunity and grab it by the horns and really go for it, like tellus Joyce did her last game, I feel like.
She's in the mix as well.
I mean, because if you're continuing to get invited into the camp, and you can perform well at every session, which is hard to do.
It's hard to go from peak to peak.
But if you can do that as a young goalkeeper, then there's no telling how long your runway could be. And so, you know, I feel like all of these young keepers have a great advantage over say Campbell or Murphy because they're just coming in and they're unaware, and they're out there just doing their thing, and they're not worried about the past or what has come before them as much as maybe some of the older goalkeepers are.
But Anderson's definitely got a lot of potential there. She can easily come along and do what Emma's asking her to do. I have full confidence in her because as a goalkeeper who is in and out, in the in and out, that's a psychological tell if you're able to handle that. So she's got the mentality, she just needs to show it in her inner game. When Emma's watching.
I hear dog over there?
Are they they want to be a part of the interviewer, tell us the name, tell us the kind.
Her name is Mazie.
She is a one year old Nova Scoti duck Tolling retriever sure which is able common breed.
We all are very familiar with sure Nova Scotia duck Tolling. All.
Yeah, she's gorgeous. She's absolutely amazing, but she is a little temperamental. She doesn't like when mommy is in her office and she's not Misha.
Alex, what do you think should we toss her? Or be okay?
With a couple of footprints, you would love to toss the doggie.
I got to the doggie red card, red card. Now that we have tossed the dog to do, as Alex put it, a dog zoe at denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity. That's what your dog was doing with this podcast.
You know, you mentioned Emma keeping her cards close to the vest, and while that certainly means that those of us who are media have lots of questions about what's on her mind, do you have a sense of how much she actually communicates for thoughts and expectations to the players, specifically these potential keepers, or how much they also feel like they're sort of left to wonder.
From what I know of Emma, I've known her for a long time, I'm actually thrilled that she got this job. So I was like hopping up and down when she came in because I knew her style and her her personality would really be a great advantage to the team. I feel like she's probably talking to them. I mean, I think she's a very vocal coach. She's communicative with her players, and she has been in the past and
she is now. And I feel like she's letting them know where they stand, which as a player is all you really can ask for, right, I mean, if you if you understand what the coaches is expecting of you and is demanding of you, then you can you can deliver it. So I'm sure she's letting them know, especially the younger ones, because you know, it's a it's a deep it's a deep into the pool, getting tossed in the camp and at a time like this, and it's
really really can be psychologically, you know, stressful. So I think having communication, she's she's good about that.
And I think you can also tell players here's what I'm looking for, here's what I want, and also we are I'll understand that there's some bit of magic, there's the eye test, some subjective feeling about a player that might be willing and able to step up in those moments. So, yes, this is what I want, but it's not going to come down to do I had eight of those and
she had seven, so clearly it's me right. But those lines of communication do, I think make the psychological side of it easier because you just do your best to meet the expectations of what they want and that's all you can do.
Absolutely So, besides just.
Now in this moment becoming our go to analyst on the battle for the number one keeper on the US coland national team, you also.
Do other things.
You're very busy with your own work, and you actually recently signed on as an ambassador for Gainbridge. Can you tell us a bit about this partnership and what you're going to do together.
Absolutely, I'm really excited about this partnership with Gamebridge, and in part because my journey through finance has been a very interesting one and this gives me the opportunity to
talk about it more So. Gamebridge is trying to accomplish is they're trying to obviously fund more women's sports, not only soccer, but basketball, tennis, golf, all over the book, all over the globe for women's sports, and so I'm just feeling really really excited and very honored to be the soccer representation of the Ambassadorship because, you know, athletes, in particular female athletes, A their windows are shorter and B their income is less over time, and so understanding
finances and getting an understanding and a feeling for for you know, finances is really important. It's something that I didn't necessarily understand when I was playing. So I feel like I'm one of a perfect example to help game Bridge spread the word throughout this country for female athletes to understand the importance of having financial aptitude, and game Bridges really helped me with that already.
Yeah, you're going to host clinics, help with the opportunities for women and girls to play, and then empower women to reach their financial goals, which, to your point, is something that I think. It's it's funny because it's almost like men's sports when they have millions and millions, you're like, yeah, you need a financial advisor because you got to not
you know, blow it all. At the same time, they have millions and millions of dollars, there's a little bit of room for error there, whereas on the women's side. We you know, when I was in the ownership side of the Red Stars, we were working really hard to try to set up these like financial literacy meetings, and we ran into some issues with who's the sponsor and if it's not our sponsor, we can't do it with
the other banks. And it's like, Okay, we just want the players to get to have some conversations about this stuff and help them with this. But you know, financial literacy is particularly of interest to you, and you mentioned this because you had some real financial hardship after the concussion that ended your career. You retired suddenly without planning ahead for it. Because of the concussion in twenty ten, you had headaches and neck pain, insomnia, depression, memory loss.
It really sidelined you from everything in life, not just soccer. You eventually had to get occipital nerve surgery and it was this very, very long journey for you that ultimately resulted in financial issues as well. Can you talk a little bit about that. I know it's something you've written about in your book and spoken about, but it does make you sort of really well qualified to speak to people about these unexpected moments and how they can affect more than just your dreams as an athlete.
Absolutely, yeah.
That My my financial journey is one for the books, if you will. And it's been up and down, you know, all over the place. And that particular time after that head injury, you know, the last thing I was thinking about at the time was my money and my finances. I was just thinking more about trying to get better and how I would do that. And so because I
was declared temporarily totally disabled, I couldn't work. And so it got to a point where, because the funding was running low on on the on the checks I was getting from from the insurance company, I was really struggling because I really couldn't work.
And so for me, the only thing of.
Value that I had at the time were my medals, and so I made their really difficult and very very you know, hard to hard to fathom decision of pawning them because at the end of the day, I had bills to pay, and so I had to do it. And it pained me so much to do that, but I was actually, you know, I felt I had no other choice, and so I did that.
But I did eventually.
Get them back within a rather relatively short amount of time, and I have them today. But you know what, that that journey, that experience has really made me more focused on finances for myself and and and over time. How athletes, in particular female athletes, a lot of times the athlete doesn't think about tomorrow or after their career when they're in it. It's almost like it's a taboo thing to do. Like if I'm thinking about after my career, I'm gonna,
you know, my presence somehow exactly thinks yourself. And I'm here to with Gamebridge to try to you know, the spell that myth that your your athletic window.
Your game window is only.
So big, so long, several years and if you're lucky, it's ten years, but your life after is orders of magnitude more So, let's be logical about that and bring that thinking into the present. And I think Gamebridge is going to really help me reach all these young ladies who are playing sports and help them understand that I.
Want to ask you a personal question. You can answer with whatever detail or blow me off entirely. But I'm sort of fascinated by people's ingrained messaging around money. I think if you grow up and you have a family, whether you're rich or poor or somewhere in between, that always says, we always find a way. Your approach is that, And if you have a family that is very tight with money, or is always worried about losing it, or goes through these big ups and downs, you tend to
have that approach even in times of abundance. Do you have that understanding of your relationship with finances from young through to now, because you've said it's gone up and down, do you tend to have the same attitude of all work out or oh my god, regardless of other things are good or bad.
I love this question. It's so interesting.
So I know from understanding psychology and sociology and economics and all of that that my belief systems around money came from my family and my parents, and so in my household when I was younger, money was burning a hole in your pocket basically, So the thought was, you know, once you had some money, you had to figure out how to spend it. There wasn't a lot of conversation
around how to save it. And so over time I adopted a similar mentality because that's what I was taught, and it wasn't until you know, in my early adulthood that I realized that I needed to try to do the opposite of burning it all and letting it burn a hole in my in my pocket and try to save some And so, yes, I definitely feel like you understand what you're taught from an early time in your life, and what I think what people need to do with
those belief systems that no longer suit them, especially around finances, is they have to leave them there and get rid of them and make new ones. And so it's always a better thing to understand your belief systems and examine them to see if they still suit you or not.
And so for me now, saving is very important obviously making connections and delivering great value to people, so that I know the dollars I earn are have been earned by me and that I am worthy of them, and that I am also as an African American woman, I'm worthy of having wealth. And it took me a long time to understand that and to even believe that, because in society there's not a whole lot of examples of that.
And I want to try to try to be one as much as I can and go forth and try to explain to young ladies that your money is your responsibility and in order to wield that power, you have to understand understand the power, and so hopefully I'll help them help them realize that.
Yeah, I've mentioned I have this book coming out June third, and there's a lot of stuff in it about emotional DNA and the language and messaging that we inherit and then can decide with intention to pass on or that it no longer suits us.
And it really is a powerful tool to be.
Able to understand how that's leading your decision making subconsciously and then to decide that doesn't apply to me anymore. Or maybe that worked for my grandparents and it serves some role in the life that they were in.
But today and right now, it is not a.
Useful like line to keep repeating in my head about whatever it is, money or otherwise. So I love that you're understanding of all that stuff and you know all the psychology behind it, because it is so important, and especially as a female athlete, you cannot be like, this money's burning a hole in my pocket.
Let me go ahead get rid of it, cuz exactly.
Yeah, you know, you've also talked about concussion research and you've testified it front of Congress about it. Are there measures that you would like to see embraced by US soccer or the larger global soccer forces as immediately as possible. Do you think we're behind on figuring out.
I do think we're behind, And what I would love to see on a global scale in soccer is more research dollars being poured into testing and figuring out the statistics for women, in particular women women footballers. Most of the research and most of the information that we have the body of work is essentially around men, and even more narrow is around NFL football players and how they you know, how they evolved in how their brains have changed over the course of having a bunch of hits.
But in soccer, people say it's non contact, but I beg to differ. You know, there's a lot of collisions that happen, and now the research is showing that, you know, many many concussions happen, you know, but potentially by the by the dozens, if not by the hundreds.
And everything else.
Absolutely, and just like you know, going into a tackle hard and maybe your neck moves a little bit fast, or somebody just barely nicks you and you're not ready, and you're changing direction. Your brain is sloshing around in your skull all the time, and so it becomes impaired over time.
It's that repetitiveness that's the issue.
And if the soccer community can put more information and more research into how this affects female footballers over the course of the years, then it would be more safe in the future for not only men, but also for women as well.
I'm glad Michelle Kang's donation is in part going to that kind of research. For newest and latest partnership with US Soccer will be about studying, you know, women athletes and the bodies of women. I mean, we know men's brains are smaller at science, so obviously they're going to interact differently with just so little reverse anchorman. Okay, got to let you go, but I have to ask you just last thing. What do you do for joy these days? What's your happy place or your happy activity?
Well, one of the things I do for joy as of late in the last year is my little puppy.
Yeah, amazing, she's amazing, she really is. I love her.
She's dear to me. But also what I do for joy is I really continue to be physical. So I like to lift, I like to go for walks, you know, I like to do things like that. And then also i'm a mom. Now, I'm a bonus mom. I got two amazing step children, and trying on the mom's shoes is one of my favorite hobbies since it has They're twenty two and eighteen.
Okay, okay, you got them at a decent age, right, Yes, the damage is done, you take it exactly.
I'm just trying to fine tune things. I'm just trying to, you know, polish and provide clarity where I can.
How new is this with your partner wife?
Yes? My wife? Yes?
Okay, you made it legal. Okay. How long have you been a bonus mom?
I've been a bonus mom for going on seven years now, to be seven years in June, and so I'm.
Still learning enough to have some authority.
Absolutely to be more fun anyway.
Yeah, no, now you got to be Now, you gotta be bad cops sometimes too. You don't exactly the one that takes them out, you know, for Candy.
When Mom's gone.
Well, Brian, it's so great to talk to you always, and I feel so much more informed about this keeper battle. I'm just really even more excited to watch all these different players try to make their run for it.
I don't know why, but the octopus is leading the way for me.
I just I like the idea of someone with a great nickname taken over for uncle, Uncle nayor.
Thank you so much for the time.
We really appreciate it absolutely, thanks for having me appreciate it.
Thanks so much to Briana for joining us.
We have to take another break when we come back and Olympian faces some less than stiff competition.
Welcome back, Slices.
We always love that you're listening, but we want you to get game every day too, So here's our good gameplay of the day. They're so nice, we got to promote them twice. Tune into the National Collegiate Women's Gymnastics Championship tomorrow four pm Eastern on ABC and get your second screen ready because you also got to watch game two of the Northern Super League AFC Toronto and Montreal Roses FC. That's also at four pm Eastern. You can catch that on ESPN.
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It's easy.
Watch three time Olympic gold medalist Shelley and Fraser Price competing in the Parents' Day race at her son's Ion School, rating ten out of ten.
Lol's review.
One week after announcing that she's not retired, she'll race one final season this year. Jamaican sprinter Shelley and Fraser Price stepped to the starting line on Wednesday for a very important race, the one against the other parents at her son's school. We'll link to the video in our show notes so you can watch it for yourself, but just picture this. The race starts and almost immediately Shelley
Anne is the only person still in the frame. The other parents are trailing so far behind, and then she literally runs out of the frame.
The drone filming cannot keep up.
Quick reminder here, so Fraser Price is the third fastest woman of all time, winning gold in one hundred meters at both the twenty eight and twenty twelve Olympics. She's a ten time world champion, and she originally said she planned to retire after the twenty twenty four Paris Olympics, but last week she posted a video on Instagram with the headline unfinished Business to signify her return to the track. Safe to say, if she races like she did at Zion's Parents' Day, she has a few more ws coming
her way this season. Also, this wasn't the first time she was competing at Parents' Day. There's video of the last time too, and on Instagram she wrote quote, they haven't banned me yet, so I'm at the line.
It's so good. You gotta watch. Okay, now it's your turn. Please rate and review. Go give us five stars, say something nice.
Thanks for listening, y'all. See you next week. Good game, Briana, Good game, Quinn. You confidently mispronouncing something over and over and over again. 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. Our editors are Emily Rutterer, Britney Martinez and Grace Lynch. Our associate producer is Lucy Jones and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain