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Nos Audietis, Episode 243: Seattle Reign FC panel at YachtCon II
62 Plays8 years ago
YachtCon ended up being nearly three hours, so we broke it up into three episodes. This is the first of those episodes and it runs through the Seattle Reign panel.
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Transcript
Sponsorship and Introduction
00:00:00
Speaker
This episode of Nos Adieres is sponsored by Full Pool Wines. Full Pool Wines are based in Seattle, owned and operated by Sanders fans, and have been sponsoring Nos Adieres since 2011. They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, the Pacific Northwest. Their model is simple. One, they email compelling offers.
00:00:24
Speaker
Two, you request bottles that sound appealing. And three, your wine arrives at their soda warehouse and is ready for pickup or shipping. Their soda tasting room is also open to the public. If you're interested in joining their mailing list or learning more about them, visit fullpaulwines.com.
00:00:55
Speaker
Exciting and new Come aboard We're expecting you Yacht Life's sweetest reward Let it flow It floats back to you
00:01:28
Speaker
All right.
Welcome to Yacht-Con 2
00:01:57
Speaker
Welcome everyone. We're getting ready to get started. So first off, I'm amazed that this many people are here right now. Give yourself a big applause. And yeah, so this is the Yacht-Con 2. I don't know how many of you were here last time, but not all of you, that's for sure.
00:02:22
Speaker
But who knows if this goes well, maybe we'll turn this into like an annual thing. But this feels like a good time of year, right, to do this? Yeah? So I wanted to kind of give you a rundown of what to expect in case you hadn't seen all the emails and various other posts about it. But we're going to have a few different things. We're going to have a presentation from the Seattle Children's Autism Center and all the merchandise, the raffle,
00:02:49
Speaker
All that stuff is going to go, all the proceeds, the tickets from this are all going to benefit the Autism Center. They're going to come and talk about a specific project that they're going to use the money for. This is a pretty cool thing to get involved with them. They do a lot of great work. Thank you for supporting them and supporting us.
00:03:12
Speaker
So we're going to start off, we're going to show a little intro video here in a few minutes. And that will kind of set the mood, I think, for the proceedings. Then we're going to have a panel of rain players and Leslie Gallimore, who is hopefully you know the legendary UW women's soccer coach.
00:03:36
Speaker
And then we're going to have a pre-recorded interview with Christian Roldan that we did over at Starfire. That was a lot of fun. Hopefully, you guys will enjoy that. There's a longer version of that interview that we'll throw up on YouTube eventually, but you guys get to see the first peak of that. Christian was a very good sport.
00:03:56
Speaker
And we're going to close out with a panel with sounders, players, and coaches, or front office personnel, I guess. Garth Legaway, Chris Henderson, Christian Roldan, or Stefan Fry are all going to be involved in that. And I should also say Lindsay Elston and Hailey Cottmeyer are here from the rain that will also be a part of that.
00:04:18
Speaker
And that will actually be directed by Richard Farley, who hopefully you've read some of his stuff on 442, or read him on Twitter where he has many personalities. But I also wanted to make sure to thank the people that made this event possible. First of all, Queen Anne Beer Hall was great about
00:04:44
Speaker
They're great about opening up this venue for us and basically allowing us to do a private event. And they've been really helpful letting us basically do whatever we wanted. Bootstrapper Studios is doing all the streaming work. They're probably doing the most real work of this thing. So please give them a big thank you.
00:05:07
Speaker
You may recognize their work. They stream rain games. They stream a bunch of stuff for sounders when they're over at Starfire. They do really great work and they even do stuff like this for people
Acknowledgments and Supporters
00:05:21
Speaker
like us. So it's really cool. Constellation and Company did all the printing.
00:05:29
Speaker
They've been really great to work with. They made these tickets. If you didn't get a ticket and you really want one, let us know and we'll see about running another batch of those. But they are really gorgeous little letterpress tickets and made this kind of a special thing. If you bought an Ascot or you want to buy an Ascot, there's a merchandise table in the back. We're also selling stickers, we're selling raffle tickets, we're selling
00:05:56
Speaker
posters that were done by Emily Cummings, who you might know as MLS Watercolorist.
00:06:06
Speaker
And I really should think, Fool Pool Wines is not here, but they've been such a huge supporter of Nos Adietes. And they're really one of the main reasons that we've been doing this for as long as we've been doing it. So thank you to Fool Pool Wines. Queen Anne Acupuncture is another longtime sponsor. They donated some stuff for the raffle. And I should probably really quickly go over the way we're running this raffle.
00:06:30
Speaker
We have a bunch of signed items that were from Alexi Lawless, Steve Zakawani. The Sounders gave us an Eric Freeberg signature on a jersey. And then DeAndre Yedlin's uncle is actually getting us a signed DeAndre Yedlin jersey. We don't have it in our possession yet, but we will coordinate with the winner to make sure you get that. But huge thanks to them. All those people landed a huge hand in making this happen. Mark Nesteroff.
00:07:00
Speaker
is once again donating a yacht cruise and so what we're going to do is we're going to have separate drawings for each of the signed items then one big drawing where we have a bunch of stuff and all the people that didn't win will be thrown into there. Hopefully that makes sense to everyone.
00:07:19
Speaker
And I'm trying to think, do I have anything else? Is there any other questions that, oh, Top Pot donuts brought in a bunch of donuts. Hopefully you've had some of those. I have no idea if they're left, but thank you so much to Top Pot for hooking us up with lots of food that will make us surely feel really good about ourselves.
00:07:40
Speaker
And then finally, two more things. We have a photo booth in the back. There is a iPad that's set up with a remote. If you want to snap those pictures, we'll post them on Twitter and Facebook and wherever else. You can also, obviously, use your own camera if you want. There's a remote there that pairs pretty easily with any
00:08:02
Speaker
Bluetooth-enabled device. And then finally, the last time we had an event here, I think there may have been a window broken, so try not to break any windows. That was for MLS Cup. So hopefully we have a much more calm, but have fun. But I think that's it. And we're gonna play a video, and we'll come back and we'll do the rain panel. Thank you so much.
00:08:58
Speaker
Exciting and new Come aboard We're expecting you Yacht Life's sweetest reward Let it flow It floats back to you
00:09:27
Speaker
The yard car, soon we'll be making another run The yard car, promises something for everyone Is that a cause for adventure? Your mind on a new romance
00:10:15
Speaker
I have to go now. My planet needs me.
Seattle Rain FC Panel Discussion
00:10:40
Speaker
All right, everybody, let's go ahead and get this started. You heard Jeremiah allude to our panel from left to right up here, the incoming number one goalkeeper for the Seattle Rain, Hailey Cottmayer. In the middle of our panel, maybe the most respected coach, college, or professional on the west coast of the United States, Leslie Gallimore.
00:11:11
Speaker
And then on the right, Crossfire alum, University of Washington alum, Lindsay Elston.
00:11:20
Speaker
So this is definitely going to be more about what questions you want to ask for the panel. And if you don't have questions, I'll try to keep it going here. But this is actually a pretty big day for Rain FC in general. I know a lot of you or some of you probably stayed up late into the morning to see four or five Rain FC players help Melbourne City take home the W League title.
00:11:44
Speaker
Two to nothing victory there. Two goals by Rain FC members, including head player coach Jessica Fishlock scoring the opening goal today. So congratulations to her and the whole crew along with other Rain players who were down there like Christine Nairn who is coming back to the Seattle Rain this year. They'll be returning next month for the preseason.
00:12:02
Speaker
So a lot of things to be excited about, even though the rain just barely missed out on the playoffs last year. They're going to be back with a vengeance. Laura Harvey has made a ton of moves this offseason, highly competitive NWSL. It's going to continue challenging them. So ladies, just first, let's talk about the good news. Haley, I know that you've actually played down in Australia with a little bit. What do you think today? The result today down in Australia, seeing so many of your teammates actually win a league title?
00:12:32
Speaker
Got it. Does this work? Yeah, it does work. Yeah, no, I was going to try to stay up and watch the game, but it was really late. So I woke up to the news, and it's been cool to kind of see, again, there's so many players over there, but so many players on that team in particular, and sort of their progression this season, and kind of hit a blip in the middle of the year, and then sort of to come back and play that strong of a game and performance, and kind of win 2-0, made it look pretty easy.
00:13:01
Speaker
Yeah, it's cool what they've been able to do, and it's amazing that there's so many of our teammates on that team. Lindsey, did you actually manage to stay up to it? It's not only about staying up, logging into ESPN3. Either way, what was your reaction seeing your teammates be the core of that team that took home a title?
00:13:20
Speaker
Is this one working? All right. Pretty exciting. I mean, after the end of the season, for them to carry the momentum and then get the result down there, I think it just goes to show that their top players, they want to compete, get better, and let's continue that into our season moving forward.
00:13:38
Speaker
And then coach, I want to get your reaction to seeing somebody like Jessica Fishlock, who is such a great player on the field and a leader on the field. She had to transfer that leadership off the field to the practice field, to the locker room, to everything that was involved in stepping in and being a coach. What is your reaction seeing her actually win a title in her first spell doing this?
00:13:56
Speaker
Well, I mean, she's legendary already here in Seattle as far as women's soccer is concerned. And for those of you that have followed Jess Fishlock's career, she does that on every team she plays on. She's played on a bunch of different continents and a bunch of different leagues. And since she stepped on the field in a Rangers, she's been nothing but a leader and a captain like player. The way she plays
00:14:17
Speaker
If you watch games, one of the most entertaining things for me is to watch she and Harv's walk in and out of the locker room together. Fish always has something to say about what's happening in the game, and she's a coach on the field, and I can't wait to watch her for her fifth season.
00:14:30
Speaker
So if anybody has any questions, feel free to step up to the microphone right here. It'll be all on you. Just happy to hand that over. So let me talk a little bit about the panelists we have here. I mentioned before, Haley is going to be fully stepping into the number one shirt this year, although I think she's still going to wear a 28 this year, probably, going that for quite some time.
00:14:49
Speaker
But Hailey finished the year last year as the number one. She's going to be going into the team this year as being the full-time goalkeeper. First time in her career at pro level, she's had that job. She had an illustrious career at the University of Michigan where she was second team All-American, I believe, her senior year there. So has every school record at the University of Michigan for saves, wins, everything you can imagine.
00:15:14
Speaker
Lindsey is in she was drafted picked up by the dash out of the University of Washington in 2014 went over spent a little bit of time in France has come back here made 12 appearances with the team this coming year and will be fighting for time in midfield this year in a
00:15:30
Speaker
in a remade, but still very talented midfield. And then Leslie Gallimore is in the middle of her third decade at the University of Washington. What most people don't know, she was a highly accomplished player in California, is a member of the California Sports Hall of Fame. She was a legendary player in the LA area, as well as at Cal Berkeley. And she was the former coach at SDSU, where she's still, as I know from being from San Diego, remember finally down there.
00:15:57
Speaker
out of the crowd. I went to Cal, which is the same place as Stefan Fry played college. So there you go.
00:16:05
Speaker
Just making sure that the Cal influence is felt up here in the Pacific Northwest. So one thing I wanted to talk to you about first, and I'm sure we'll talk about the league in general as we go forward, is just all the changes that have happened this year, this offseason with the Seattle rain. After two trophy-winning seasons in a row, the league caught up to you a little bit last year, and now you've lost Kim Little.
00:16:29
Speaker
You've lost your captain, Keelan Winters. You've lost, maybe, your most dangerous attacker, Matt O'Mellis. And you've lost hope, solo, and goal. So, Lindsay, let's start with you. How are you feeling about the team going into its fifth season?
00:16:42
Speaker
Well, we're really disappointed to have lost such great players and talent from our squad. It's also exciting for us because last year we didn't achieve the results that we necessarily aim for, but now we have new people coming in and it's a fresh start. There's energy. It's going to be a really competitive pre-season. Everyone's going to be looking to get on the field and figure out how we are going to fill those shoes as much as we can without
Team Changes and Challenges
00:17:11
Speaker
But we will be missing them a lot this year. And so I'm glad that I had at least one season with those players because they've taught me so much. And I hope to continue to teach the new players that come in what I've learned from them and kind of continue with their legacy and look to really move forward into a good season next year.
00:17:31
Speaker
Hailey, I want to get your thoughts on it too, but coach, maybe we can tell everybody here what exactly the team is losing, because they're losing, they're most dangerous forward, they're losing a former MVP in the midfield, they're losing their captain, and in my opinion, the best holding midfielder in the league, in Keelan Winters, and they're losing a world-class goalkeeper. So, how do you combat that?
00:17:52
Speaker
Yeah, it's a lot to replace at one time, but with that said, I think Lindsay touched on it really well. They had a season last year that didn't necessarily go the way they wanted, and I've watched this team now under Laura's tutelage for four seasons, and I think last year it was a combination of a bunch of different things, not just that the league had caught up to them, but
00:18:11
Speaker
They really wanted it badly, and there were times when things weren't clicking where I think their frustration started to come through. They want to play a certain way, they want to achieve certain results, and they had a little bit of a dip, but then they made a run at it. And a lot of those players that left were, you know, Keelan, for instance, it wasn't like this was the beginning of her career. She was starting to get up there a little bit.
00:18:31
Speaker
Same with Hope. She had the injury to her shoulder, etc. So there's young players that are going to come in behind. And you saw last year the league winner was Western New York with the youngest roster in the league. So a little bit to be said for that mix and balance of age and experience. And I think the newness going into year five is going to be a great boost for the rain.
00:18:49
Speaker
Now, Haley, I want to get your thoughts on the changes, but the one place where there is some stability, you are bringing in Rebecca Stott at the back, but you got pretty much the back returning and you played the last half of the season as a starting goalkeeper. So that's got to be, that's got to be some reason for reassurance, right? The defense that has been so strong ever since that first season, it's back.
00:19:12
Speaker
Yeah, I think the thing that's been good is, you know, again, we haven't had a whole ton of changes there. And I think that, you know, there were times last year when we struggled up top. And as we look kind of again to piece things together and figure out how to run an offense and finding a rhythm and finding the right personnel that hopefully kind of that back line is what will keep us in games and, you know, kind of hold down the fort as we figure out. Now, I mean, hopefully we just kind of come out at 100 miles an hour and score a ton of goals.
00:19:40
Speaker
In the instance that that doesn't happen, I think we have really good connection in the back, and I think Stadi will fit in great, and she's very versatile, and she can play in a lot of different places. Again, I'm excited that we have that many people coming back in the back line.
00:19:57
Speaker
Stadi is Rebecca Stott. She started it right back today for Melbourne City. It's going to be a great addition, strengthen the fullback positions, can also play central defense for Laura if she wants to. Coach G, I want to get your comment on this. But to me, I didn't think the rain were actually that much worse last year. I thought this growing league that continues to acquire and develop talent has just gotten so much better. And as hard as it is to stay on top, it's even harder when you have a target on you. And it really did seem like the rain treated
00:20:24
Speaker
the team as if they were the best in the league, fought with them maybe harder than they did other teams week in and week out. What was your perception about that? I think so. You know, Kim Little wasn't a secret anymore. And so when you watch games as good as the midfield was for the rain with Keelan, with Jess, with Kim, Laura had to find different ways to move Kim around on the field to free up space for her. And she's pretty good at finding space on her own and creating for her teammates and creating for herself. But you saw a lot of games were defensively. There was a lot of attention played to that.
00:20:54
Speaker
to that role and Lindsay is a young player sort of trying to find her way into that midfield as a player off the bench got to sit and watch a lot of how teams defended against them and I'm sure she could speak you know a lot to how that felt being on that team when teams did seem to try to sort of thwart the midfield play of the rain they had to go a little bit more direct and that put a lot of pressure on the forwards to get behind lines and you know finish but
00:21:18
Speaker
You know year three for her Definitely brought more attention and she wasn't a secret in the league So I think that that had a lot to do with how their season went in some ways
00:21:28
Speaker
Lindsay, let's pick up on that, like Coach G said. You were coming on late in a lot of games, coming in with an attempted solution. Teams were really compacting that midfield last year, testing the team to go over the top, try to get to Manon behind the lines. So what's your perception of what Coach G was talking about? How difficult was that when you guys are going into games? The strength of your team is that spectacular midfield, and teams are so planning to try to restrict that space and really limit the effectiveness of Kim and Jessica Fishlock and Keelan Winters.
00:21:58
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it was no secret that our midfield was stacked. I mean, the three in there were everyone knew about him going into this season. And I think that I got a lot of time playing against them in practice and seeing what they could do. And I think our team just we've relied on them because they're also talented. But with teams just focus focusing on shutting that down. I don't know if we spent enough time figuring out how to adapt around that and how to
00:22:27
Speaker
rely on different weapons because we've played through the middle so much and we like to play that quick on the ground touch pass move and I think teams tried to take that away from us and just bypass the midfield in general and so
00:22:43
Speaker
learned a lot from that last season and then we're going to take what lessons we did learn there and focus on fixing that in the future and finding different ways and different solutions and with different personnel out on the field teams aren't going to know exactly our strategy and our style of play and so with different people and with different influences on the game I think this year we're going to be a little less predictable and that'll benefit us in the long run.
00:23:10
Speaker
I say this is an ultimate sign of respect for Coach Harvey, but really early in the season last year, it started to be whispered amongst the NWSL coaches that, hey, maybe we're seeing something tactically that we can do against Seattle finally. Now, on one hand, okay, they figured something out. It took teams two and a half, maybe even three years if you want to count the first year, because although Seattle didn't have a great record the first year, coaches were leaving the field
00:23:32
Speaker
playing against Laura's team, saying how difficult they were to finish off before that last 10 or 15 minutes. So it's going to be very interesting to see how the rest of the league adjusts this year and how Laura Harvey adjusts. It was fun. It was interesting to see the league finally catch up to Laura Harvey a little bit. Haley, I want to start shifting the conversation a little bit to things around the rain off the field. But one topic I would be remiss about. And this is a topic, I guess, I've invested a lot in because I think she's such a great player.
00:24:00
Speaker
But you're losing Keelan Winters now. To me, she's been one of the best midfielders over the four years of this league. Also the captain of the team, Coach G. I know you've watched her. She's a UP product, so you're very familiar with her from being up here in the Pacific Northwest. But Haley, can you talk a little bit just about what this organization is losing with Keelan Winters retiring?
00:24:24
Speaker
Yeah, when a player like Keelan retires, you know, especially one who, you know, you don't know how many more years maybe she would have played under different circumstances or had she, you know, kind of stayed in, you know, within the allocation process of the U.S. team, I think for us, we lost such a character player. I mean, she was fantastic. She was so good at what she did, at holding the ball, keeping it moving, and she was just solid. But we kind of lost that locker room. I mean, we did. We lost truly our captain on and off the field.
00:24:53
Speaker
In that sense, that's, I think, a big question mark for us and who's going to step up this year and take that spot of the leader on the field, but also off the field and making sure people are happy in the locker room and just bringing that good team spirit vibes and creating that culture that we've worked so hard to establish.
00:25:19
Speaker
Coach G, I want to ask you about this because I think as much as opponents and coaches respect Akila Winters, for some reason, she never got the same respect from the national team program. She was allocated her first year. She did have her chances at the U levels, never did get the same kind of light at the senior level that I think a lot of clubs around the league, coaches around the league saw in her.
00:25:42
Speaker
Why don't you think U.S. soccer, the senior national team set up, why don't you think they were ever able to leverage Keelan Winters? You know, I can't ever speak for the coach that's doing the picking and I certainly won't speak for Jill as to why or why not Keelan. I know we had two Januarys
Financial Challenges in NWSL
00:25:59
Speaker
ago, I was an assistant coach, we had an over age camp for under 23s that included NWSL players that were over age players that were
00:26:06
Speaker
training alongside the national team and there at the same time that the national team was in camp and that Keeland did get called the trainings and she was watched and evaluated and you know it's tough for me to say because if I had to pick I would pick her for a lot of different reasons but it's like any coach and any player if you see someone up close for a really long time and you know what their intangibles are
00:26:28
Speaker
I think that's easier for someone to tell you what Keelan's intangibles are than someone like Jill who maybe hasn't seen her up close and personal as many times. She might have a better feel for a different player. In my opinion, certainly good enough to have been there. But at the same time, she wasn't at the front end of her career. She was starting to physically get towards the back end of it. When she was in camp, she actually, I think, had a little tiny injury that maybe held her back physically from being as fit as she could have been.
00:26:57
Speaker
Keelan's a great player, and there's plenty of players that are great players. Lauren Barnes is another one that's been in and out with that group. It's tough. It's difficult to make that roster, and when it's someone else doing the picking, you don't want to be overly critical of why they do or why they don't. It's just a really tough thing to do to make the national team.
00:27:14
Speaker
Well, hopefully as the NWSL grows and more success for the rain going forward, people won't forget the four years that Keelan Winters put in here because she was an incredibly valuable and important person to the initial stages of this organization. But Keelan's plight kind of speaks to another reality around the NWSL. Keelan, for people that don't know, has a very successful part of her life training away from the NWSL. She can go there.
00:27:39
Speaker
she can kind of continue a career there. For other people in the NWSL, they're having to make professional decisions that take them away from the game because of the current state of the NWSL as a growing league. You get into your mid to late 20s, you have to evaluate whether it's really worth continuing anymore. Haley, Lindsay, you are
00:27:56
Speaker
Right in that area, you both have had to make decisions with your careers to jump overseas, come back, try to really pursue this. Can you talk a little bit, just from your point of view, the struggles in your mind or the struggles that you have to go through on just a daily basis as you're trying to pursue this career with the financial limitations that are a reality of a growing league? Lindsay, do you want to go first?
00:28:22
Speaker
It's a little tough to pay the bills sometimes, but ultimately it's what we love to do. And I've gone back and forth at different points in my career, and I think every time I kind of move away, I'm like, ah, I shouldn't be doing this anymore. I should get a real job, enter the world.
00:28:42
Speaker
pay my bills, a coach or someone's like, Lindsay, if I could get paid 100 bucks to practice or do, you know, like whatever amount, I would do it in the heartbeat. And at the end of the day, that's what it's all about. Like these are precious years when you're young and
00:28:59
Speaker
you're fit and you're active and you can play soccer and make it somewhat of a career, but I definitely have to find other ways to help my income and I coach on the side and it's difficult some days after training where we run a ton and I'm tired and I don't necessarily want to go stand out in the rain or stand out on my legs and
00:29:21
Speaker
waste some more energy in the evening, but it's what I love to do and I make it work because it's fun. At the end of the day, yeah, it's what you want to do. So for those that don't know, I think most people in this room do know that the minimum salary in the NWSL its first year was $6,000. That was for a 20 to 24 game season and that rose to $7,200 I believe last year. Now, with the new investment, with the TV contract and some other things that are going on in the NWSL,
00:29:51
Speaker
Some people are anticipating that'll grow up into close to $15,000. But to this point, the back six, seven, eight players on the end of every roster was making about $1,000 a month for a six-month season. Hailey, you've been there a while. You've had to fight through it. You're at the point now where you will have a prominent place and a prominent team.
00:30:13
Speaker
But in between, you had to go to Cyprus for a little bit. You went down to Australia one time and played for Brisbane. So from your point of view, what's that life like?
00:30:23
Speaker
You know I think it is it's there's pieces of it and kind of to be there from the beginning it's also been cool kind of to see to see the rise and you know as as we've grown and you know we've grown in trying to form a players union and all the things like that you know we've kind of seen how the MLS did it truthfully and where they started and what those guys made and sort of how they grew their league and kind of you know it didn't happen overnight and
00:30:49
Speaker
You know, we've definitely been there. I think my first year was I was definitely like pretty low on the totem pole and But yeah, you know, I was coaching I was doing things to make sure it worked to kind of get my shot to where I am now so, you know, I wouldn't trade it and I'm
00:31:06
Speaker
super thrilled for all the players coming in that have a higher minimum salary and it's much more livable than what it previously was. So hopefully it just keeps continuing to grow and that the new TV deal with A&E will kind of increase our exposure even more and we just keep getting more and more fans and growing the game.
NWSL's TV Deal with A&E Networks
00:31:35
Speaker
So for those of you that aren't aware, last week the NWSL announced its first ever permanent television contract, but it's actually more than a television contract. A&E Networks actually bought an ownership stake in the league. They have two places at the board of directors table.
00:31:51
Speaker
They are very, very invested in making this league grow. There's going to be a weekly game on Lifetime Television. It's part of a series of channels, as these broadcast outlets are nowadays, that are going to be helping grow the NWSL. It's a huge step for the league, and the league was incredibly excited about it, and I think for good reason. This is a really good step to see A&E Networks invest in the league, but also two different franchises were sold this offseason.
00:32:20
Speaker
So to have people from the outside saying we want to buy into the NWSL is a pretty incredible thing right now. We have our first question. Just go ahead and say your name and ask your question. And if anybody else wants to ask questions, feel free to come up to the microphone.
00:32:33
Speaker
OK, my name is Norm Kirby. Can I ask two questions? So the first one's for Lindsay. Back in 2012, I think you played a year for the Seattle Women's Sounders. And that was in between the folding of the previous women's league and then before the NWSL. So you were still going to UW. What was that experience like playing with Alex Morgan, Sydney LaRue? And what did you learn from that at that young age?
00:33:01
Speaker
It was an awesome experience, just to even have a team in the summer to train and stay fit and ready for the season at UW. But I think at that time, there was a lot to being a pro that I didn't realize yet.
00:33:16
Speaker
When you have players like Alex Morgan and Hope and Sydney in the locker room and you see how they take care of themselves off the field and the preparation that it takes to get there. I think at the time I was just in college. I'd get to practice and work hard there obviously. But there are a lot of things off the field that I wasn't doing yet for my game. And I think making those additions and just recognizing what it takes to be a true professional and
Youth Recruiting and Development
00:33:46
Speaker
to really
00:33:46
Speaker
be mentally ready and physically prepared for training and what it takes helped me a lot. Thank you. And this one's for coach. Sure you get asked this a lot, but when you're recruiting beyond athletic ability, what do you look for in a youth player that you would want to bring on to your team?
00:34:10
Speaker
Anybody in the room that has a daughter that plays youth or high school or younger soccer these days knows that at the Division I level, the recruiting process compared to the men's even has really sped up. So we're looking at kids that are way younger than I'd like to be evaluating them and looking at to recruit them. So it's put a lot more guesswork into the recruiting game, to be honest. It's not something that I prefer, but it's sort of what the market has driven, so to speak.
00:34:35
Speaker
So in addition to their soccer ability and kind of predicting physically how they're going to develop as they get to be 17, 18, and 19, it's sort of the intangibles I was talking about. Keelan Winters is a great example.
00:34:50
Speaker
Lindsey's a great example. Haley's a great example. Veronica Perez, who played for the Mexican Women's National Team for the Sounder Women and played for us at UW. The intangibles to me are, you know, you can be someone who plays soccer or you can be a soccer player. We want soccer players. Players that it's part of like who they are that you can't change in them.
00:35:10
Speaker
And so to find that level of passion and caring in a young player who is motivated by their own feelings about the game and training and life is really important to us. To find the type of person who is self-motivated, not necessarily just parent-driven. And by driven, I mean literally and figuratively.
00:35:31
Speaker
driven all over, you know, Kingdom Come to play soccer and doing it because their parents want them to. So, I would say that and just the overall feeling that they're a winner. Somebody that's a winner at life that doesn't want to lose at anything. Not just from a competitive standpoint, but by doing it the right way. And Lindsey makes a great point about learning how to be a professional and, you know, going from, and the standards of the league. You know, these two come from two really great programs in Michigan and Washington. And a lot of times going into being a professional is
00:36:01
Speaker
It is a step down from what they get as college athletes and that's the shock to them probably is the amount of gear they get, the amount of food that they're given, I mean it's a little bit of a shell shocker so you have to prepare them for that too and then how much you have to train on your own compared to training
00:36:16
Speaker
with the team or with the coach, how to take care of yourself when you're left to your own devices. So that whole transition from being a youth player to a college player to a professional is, those are a lot of big jumps. So we look for kids that have the ability to be able to process that and the maturity to do it. All right, thank you. Yeah, you're welcome.
00:36:43
Speaker
Hailey, Lindsay, I want to talk to you two about that because you both kind of felt the harshest part of that transition. You're both in the league now, but you both got released during your first year, had to kind of fight your way back in the league. Hailey, you came back right the next year with Seattle. Lindsay, you went over, played in France for a little bit. Can you talk about what that transition was like and kind of having to deal with that really harsh reality really early?
00:37:09
Speaker
Yeah, I was, you know, obviously I had a unique situation when I came in because I got drafted out of college. I came into camp and hope was hurt at the time. So I was able to kind of just stay on as the number two to Michelle Betos. And obviously once hope got healthy again, it was kind of like one of us has to go. And I was released from my contract and that was kind of like my
00:37:35
Speaker
Oh my god, what do I do, moment? I am 23 or 22 and I am unemployed and I have to feed my dog.
00:37:45
Speaker
So I was like, oh my god, what do I do here? And they kind of gave me the opportunity to stick around and train and just say, hey, you can't go to games. You can't do much else. You didn't get picked up. But if you'd like to kind of put the work in. So I did. I grabbed every coaching job I could find to keep my place and feed my animal.
00:38:08
Speaker
And, you know, I stuck it out for the rest of the season and then I moved down to Southern California and hired a coach and was like, you know, I got to give this something. I got to give this one effort. And I think, you know, as much as I was like, this really sucks and I don't want to get released and be unemployed, I did have that shock that I wasn't good enough to be in the league and I wasn't good enough to play there yet and I wasn't fit enough or strong enough and just genuinely I wasn't a good enough goalkeeper.
00:38:36
Speaker
It was kind of taking that head on and knowing, you know, they made the decision they made whether, you know, they had to logistically and whether they liked me as a person or not, you know, in the pros, you kind of got to put that aside. And, you know, fortunately, I would film my trainings and send them back to Laura in the off season. And I was fortunate enough to come back and, you know, have a good rapport with Hope and, you know, made it to year five. So I'm excited and happy to kind of still be in the position that I am.
00:39:06
Speaker
Yeah, and positioned to really break out this year too, so best of luck with that. Lindsay, what about you going from Washington, going down to Houston, and eventually being put in a very similar position to what Haley was put in?
00:39:17
Speaker
Yeah, I went down to Houston and walked onto the team, actually. Towards, I think it was a couple months in, I got an injury. I had a high ankle sprain. And in the pros, I mean, if you're at that bottom point, you're going to get replaced. It was a different kind of realization for me. Like, after playing in college and stuff, you're on the team. You're part of it. In the pros, it's like, OK, the next person's going for your spot.
00:39:44
Speaker
And so for me, it was like Haley said, it's just that, wow, OK, what next? What am I going to do? And at the time, I was like, I just need to enjoy it again, enjoy playing and believe in myself and find my footing again. And so I went overseas and played a little in France and then came back and decided I was just going to work my butt off and try out for the rain and good things happened. And the rest is history, yeah.
00:40:16
Speaker
Congratulations on that too. We have a question. Oh yeah, Chris Anderson. One of the questions I had is, since you guys are actually involved in the soccer system, what is your viewpoint on the equal pay suit that went on last year and is currently in the negotiations on the national team level?
Equal Pay Debate in Women's Soccer
00:40:38
Speaker
You know, wherever they are in it currently, I know they've replaced their legal representation. I've recently seen a couple of statements from Carly Lloyd from Becky Sauerbrunn. It's still something they're fighting for. They're obviously in camp now getting ready for the She Believes Cup, so there hasn't been a strike, which I think people feared that it would come to that having to strike. I also don't know that they have actually come to an agreement.
00:41:02
Speaker
You know, it's beyond my breadth and my comprehension to the details of what's written. But on the face of it, it's pretty obvious that something needs to happen. Our women in this country in particular have set the bar for other countries. And when players like Alex Morgan, not just for developmental purposes, have to go overseas and play in a foreign league, Carly Lloyd's,
00:41:29
Speaker
rumored to be going to a foreign league crystal done so they're leaving our league to go and again those are the high-end players that can probably make money anywhere they go but it's not just about those players it's about the overall equity that you see these two sitting next to me that do the same training do the same thing every day as the rest of the players on the roster and they should be able to make a living doing it just like the men do and when
00:41:54
Speaker
You know, I don't know what Christian Roldan will say when he comes. And I just, I love that kid. I mean, there's no one more hardworking. And I was so happy for him as someone that got to watch him in his career at the University of Washington, literally work his tail off to earn his time and his spot in that championship with the Sounders. But some of the players that are in the MLS, it's not easy for them to make a living either. Now 20 plus years in,
00:42:20
Speaker
I think the standard has gone up and now they can be with the developmental system, with home-growns and everything else. I'm pretty sure if you were to look at their contracts compared to some of the lower end rostered players in the NWSL, there's still a big discrepancy. And that's something that US soccer has to look really hard at. It's only right. It's only right. Yeah. Cool. Thank you. One more thing real quick. What type of dog?
00:42:51
Speaker
lab. Lab. Hey guys, I'm Tim Foss. In a little bit I'm going to show you all how to tie your ascots. You're good though.
00:43:11
Speaker
In an abstract sense, for a lot of fans, the fact that the league is going into its fifth year now is super exciting, sort of unprecedented territory for the United States Women's Leagues. It seems really big to fans. How does that impact you as players and coaches developing players for that level? Could you state the beginning of your question again?
00:43:37
Speaker
With the league moving into its fifth year, sort of establishing a bit more of a concrete presence, a little bit more stability to players and people involved, how does that affect all of you?
00:43:51
Speaker
I think we're really, really fortunate at the University of Washington. I tell people all the time, I coach in the greatest setting of American football or soccer in the country. Seattle is the best soccer city and people that come here from anywhere else.
00:44:07
Speaker
know that and I was I was at a seminar yesterday women's empowerment seminar where someone from out of town who was a pro who used to play for the women's national team Lori Lindsay she spoke to the Seattle rain in particular about how
00:44:23
Speaker
The players here were very, very fortunate to work for the ownership of the Predmores who came into the league a little naive, to be honest. And they listened to the players and got the message loud and clear. And now I think they're one of the best ownership groups in the country. So as far as it going into year five, I think the pressure on US soccer for the CBA, for the national team players to make this league stick around so we can develop players here.
00:44:49
Speaker
when the women's national team continues to draw huge crowds in its stadiums is it's it's everything and so we want to set the standard for the professional league and not let it be another country that does it and year five is it's a big deal to get over the hump of the first three and out as we did with the first two leagues to get to year five with US soccer support has been tremendous and as a college coach
00:45:12
Speaker
to be able to have our kids in town watch live games of these women playing, it's everything to them and it puts us at a great advantage I feel.
00:45:24
Speaker
We're getting close to wrapping it up, everybody. So if you do have questions, now is the time to come up here. But I want to build off of where Tim just was, talking about the
Future of NWSL and Expansion
00:45:33
Speaker
future. I know just covering the game, it was really stark last year when we stopped talking about whether the league will survive. We stopped having the opinion pieces about what does the NWSL need to do to make it to the next year.
00:45:46
Speaker
We're actually in a league where we don't have to worry about whether the games are going to get played, not only this year, but now with this new TV deal into the future. The league's going to be here. So I want to ask all of you, where do you see that future going over the next two or three years? Not only for the league, but here in Seattle, it's a very unique situation. As Leslie said, it's an amazing soccer city. You're playing at Memorial Stadium. That can probably hold a couple of thousand more people, but then you're probably going to have to move somewhere else.
00:46:14
Speaker
where do you see the future going for the league in the club over the next say three years start with you haley
00:46:20
Speaker
I think what's kind of been cool with teams getting sold this off-season is it's kind of a show that you can't be in this league with, excuse my language, kind of half-assed ownership. If you want to have a women's team and you want to have a women's league, you have to put the time into it and you can't give away your fields for TLC concerts.
00:46:57
Speaker
This room got that that's awesome because that's like fringe NWSL knowledge Yeah, and you know it just kind of shows that you know if you want to have a team you need the backing you need the support and you you have to create a professional environment and that's kind of what you know the standard that's been set is
00:47:17
Speaker
that's what this is moving towards. It's gonna be a professional league, which is great because we're giving up everything time-wise to do this, and to get traded like professionals is exactly where we are and where we wanna go. Lindsey, you have actually been in Seattle for a long time. And you've seen, obviously, you were asked about your role with the previous Sounders women's team and the old W League. Now you're a part of the next team here.
00:47:47
Speaker
What do you think is realistic for Bill and Teresa to be targeting for the team's growth over the next two or three years? I think the Predmores, I mean, they're already doing a fantastic job. I've been to a couple different clubs and just the way things are run here in Seattle, it's just, it's top notch and they treat us like professionals, which in return makes us want to even work that much harder to show them that we're as committed to being the best we can be for them.
00:48:15
Speaker
As a coach and having been grown having grown up in this community I think it's so important that we have a women's league that we have People that the young girls can look up to and aspire to play like I mean it's it's just
00:48:31
Speaker
the little girls on my team, the way that they talk about it after going to a game, I mean, it's fantastic and I hope that we can only continue to grow and the fact that we have the season already set up, it's just reassuring to us that we have our jobs in the future and we're training this hard for something and so I think it's come a long way and I hope we can only continue to build on it for the next generation.
00:48:54
Speaker
And then coach, you have a arc in the game that goes back into the 80s and 90s. You familiar with WUSA, their struggles, NWSL struggles, WPS's struggles in between. What do you think this league needs to do to keep avoiding the pitfalls that made that number three such an important number to get over?
00:49:16
Speaker
Two things, I think the structure the third time around and the commitment by US soccer to help fund the league and to see that with their national team players and you know with what the resources that they have put into that to try to win World Cups, try to win Olympics.
00:49:33
Speaker
that for the development of our sport and what they're doing at the youth national team level that the in between is the professional league so we can continue to develop our women players. So US soccer's commitment to continue to help subsidize the league I think is huge to involve other federations around the country specifically
00:49:50
Speaker
Canada, Mexico, and to help bring top foreign players here to make the league a legitimate professional league, I think is important. Expansion, you know, after year five you're gonna look and there's a lot of people that look at the West Coast and say the fact that Portland and Seattle are the only two teams out this direction, it's got to expand to California at some point, you would think, just based on the population, the MLS popularity there, and the, you know,
00:50:14
Speaker
the amount of great players that come from California. So after year five, I think they can sit and they can look at that. A TV deal, sponsorship dollars, great fans, a great product, not just on the field, but one presented into the media is always going to be the key to professional sports in this country. And it's a tough market because there's so many things you're competing with. But I think women's soccer is a great product and it starts with the rain. They're a wonderful team to watch if you like good football. They really are.
00:50:42
Speaker
So hopefully people come out and support him. Speaking of support, Hailey Cottmeyer, Lindsay Elston, Leslie Gallimore, they're here on their own time, here for you. And everybody get out to Memorial Stadium.
00:50:59
Speaker
Green Douglas spur where the water's cut through. Down to wild mountains and tangents you flew. Canadian northwest to the ocean so blue. It's Roll On, Columbia Roll On. Roll On, Columbia Roll On. Roll On, Columbia Roll On. Your power is turning our darkness to dawn. Roll On, Columbia Roll On.