May 26, 2025 • 33 mins
Long weekend = no NTK today! Instead, we’re giving you a re-air of Sarah’s conversation with Chicago Stars goalkeeper and former USWNT player Alyssa Naeher. She and Sarah talk about the origin of “Uncle Naeher,” succeeding Briana Scurry and Hope Solo on the national team, and how she knew it was time to retire from international competition.
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Grab tickets to the USWNT’s friendlies against China and Jamaica here
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're on
a boat in the middle of a lake, looking like
an uncooked broughtworst who hasn't seen the grill in years.
But we're happy as hell anyway, sipping on a cold one,
hanging with friends. Hope you're getting the chance to do
the same. It's Monday, May twenty sixth. Then on Today Show,
we'll be skipping the need to know and jumping straight
into my conversation from March with recent US Women's national
(00:21):
team retiree and current Chicago Stars goalkeeper Alissenaor. We talked
right before the NWSL season began, dishing on the origin
of her unclenay or nickname, talking about her wedding filled
off season, what it felt like succeeding legends Brianna Scurry
and Hope Solo on the national team, and how she
knew it was time to retire from international competition after
eleven excellent years. It was a chat so nice we
(00:44):
wanted to give it to you twice, and with the
Chicago Stars struggling this season and the legendary Mayor not
likely to get a lot of pub these days, we
wanted to remind you of her greatness. We also got
a pair of US women's national team friendlies coming up
against China on May thirty first and Jamaica on you
and third, so you can get a look at the
keepers vying to replace her. That conversation with Nayer is
(01:05):
coming up right after this. Joining us now, she's the
goalkeeper for the NWSL's Chicago Stars, the reigning US Soccer
Female Player of the Year and FIFA Women's Goalkeeper of
the Year, a World Cup champion and an Olympic Golden
(01:27):
Bronze medalist, the first goalkeeper in women's soccer history to
keep clean sheets in a World Cup final and an
Olympic final. She's a proud nitnany lyon and she's everybody's uncle.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
It's Alyssa Mayor.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Hi Melissa, Hi, sir.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
So glad to have you on the show.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
It's kind of hard to believe that the start of
the NWSL season is already here. I imagined for you,
in particular because your off season was entirely weddings.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
It was which was a lot of fun cats. You
celebrate with a lot of teammates, a lot of friends.
So definitely had a good offseason, but went quick that's
for sure.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
I feel like you went to every single women's soccer
wedding this offseason. Did you hit all of them or
was there a single one you weren't invited to?
Speaker 3 (02:05):
I hit most anybody that I played with, I would say,
I think there are some additional ones of other players
that I haven't had the opportunity to play with. But
I think anybody that I would have been teammates with,
I was at their wedding, which was which was awesome.
I love that.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Yeah, And it was kind of nice timing too, Like
right after you announced your steping away from the international game,
you get this series of celebrations in your honor where
you get to hang out with all the people that
you might miss.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
Yeah. I mean, honestly, I can't believe it really worked
out that I was able to like physically beat at
all of them. They spaced it out well enough that
nothing actually overlapped, which was which was great for me.
I didn't have to make any decisions and have to
choose between people, because that would have had been the worst.
I was able to hit them all.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
It was like eight and thirty two days or something.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
Six six and twenty nine or thirty that's insane.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
That's just the travel and the different outfits alone.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Did you double up any outfits?
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Definitely doubled up coffits necessary.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
So you spent your offseason going to weddings and now
you're you got to play soccer.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
What are you most excited about at the start of
the Star season.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
I think just you know, the new the start of
any new season is always exciting. New team, got some
fresh faces, a lot of returning familiar faces, got some
players coming back from injury that excited to get back
onto the field. You know, to be able to have
the same coaching staff that we had last year and
build off of what I felt like was a pretty
successful season for us last year and obviously a disappointing
(03:30):
way to to lose and go out, but you know,
get to go right back to Orlando where it ended
last year to play the same team. You know, we've
we've been working hard this this preseason to get ready
and prepared, and I think now is the you know,
you you get excited about what's to come for the
season and what we're gonna be able to put together
and compete on the field and hopefully get some results
(03:52):
and get ourselves back into a playoffs.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
You mentioned a lot of younger players on the squad.
How have you grown as a leader in your years
with the team. I was listening to Tierna Davidson, your
former teammate, our buddy Tyrna on Sam Muis's Pot, and
she talked about having to be intentional about not only
taking in as she learned how to be a professional player,
but making the pivot to pushing out and what she
was giving back to the players around her as a veteran,
(04:17):
That's sort of something that might core organically with age
and time in the league, but also might be something
you have to really think.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
About in order to be a leader.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
How have you seen yourself grow because you've been with
this team for a long time now your hands down
the vet that is running the show.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Yeah, I think it's you know, I've always been I've
never necessarily been the most the most vocal, the most
you know, high energy, the most in your face kind
of leader. I've I've always been more of the lead
by example, show show up and do my job, and
you know, but I think even within that, especially the
last couple of years, you know, I've I've had a
(04:50):
lot of different experiences. Over my career, I've had every up,
every down, every success, every failure, and I think, you
know it. I think it's my job as as a
leader and a veteran to be approachable, to be that
person that is, you know, I may not be the
one just initiating and going in and saying something right away,
but hopefully I can be approachable enough that young ones
(05:13):
feel comfortable to ask questions, to learn through my experiences
and kind of pick my brain about different things, and
see how I carry myself, and see what I do
in a training session, how I recover off the field,
and what that looks like. And I think I had
the luxury of having so many great veteran players that
I got to learn from and watch. And I think
(05:34):
the beauty of having or the benefit of having those
veteran players is they take on such a burden of
a lot of the media, a lot of the talking,
a lot of conversations with coaches and gms, and a
lot of the off field stuff that when I was
a younger player, whether it was professionally or even with
the national team, my only job was just to keep
the ball out of the back of the net. That
(05:54):
was my sole focus, the only thing I had to do,
and I don't think I realized until I got a
little bit older. And that naturally becomes your role as
you play in you know, a second and a third
World Cup, or second or third Olympics. When it's now
going into I don't even know what season this is.
All I know it's ten with Chicago, but some are
fit fourteen, fifteen sixteen, I lost track. But you know,
(06:15):
you just naturally take on those responsibilities. And I think
the intentionality that Tierne is probably talking about as well,
is that connection with teammates. Are that approachability or making
yourself available to have some of those conversations.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
It feels like this is an obvious answer based on
the number of weddings you were invited to, But is
it difficult at all as a goalkeeper to integrate yourself
with the rest of the team.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
It feels very siloed.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
I don't think so. I think there's there's so much
opportunity off the field. Anytime you traveled. You know, we
just got back from a preseason trip. We were in
Florida for two weeks, and obviously anytime you're away with
the team and traveling and you know, in and out
of you know, locker rooms and meals and anything like that.
Yet in training and in different things like that, we're
(07:03):
probably a little bit more isolated as goalkeepers. But there's
enough opportunity within within travel and just every day practice
and training room and locker room experience that you can
kind of make those connections.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Yeah, a lot of changes with the Stars, not just
the name. I'm going to keep saying Red Stars by mistake,
but I'm going to stick with it. So a lot
of changes with the Stars in recent years, including new ownership.
Have you had an interest in or have you already
pursued connections with the new front office and staff and
owners to try to figure out how you can help
them promote and support the team make this transition from
a previous iteration to what it looks like going forward.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
Yeah, I think my biggest rule has been just letting
them know that, you know, I want to be part
of the changes in the future, and I want to
be part of, you know, making this place better for
not just players, but staff and you know, from a
whole organization. So I think where I've been able to
kind of lend my experience is lending my experience. I
(07:59):
think that you don't know what you don't know, and
I know nothing about what it takes to you know,
own a club or run a club or an organization.
But I have the lived experience. I know what the
day to day looks like. I've seen what works and
what doesn't work. I've seen what builds trust and what
tears down trust. And I think I've been able to
develop a good relationship with you know, both Lauren and Karen,
our president. And doesn't mean we always agree on everything,
(08:23):
but I think there's we've always had very healthy conversations
and there's a lot of mutual respect there of we
have these conversations. Sometimes they say no, sorry, we can't
do that. Here's why, and I respect that. I understand that.
And then there's other things that they go, that's great,
we can definitely incorporate that, we can add that in.
So I think just being able to have that communication
(08:43):
and that mutual respect again, it's just being able to
share what my lived experience has been over the last
you know, fifteen years and then allow them to use
their area of expertise of you know, what that looks
like from a business standpoint or from a club organization standpoint.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Yeah, we've already seen some really cool examples of Laura
Ricketts and her background affecting the team, including that incredible
game at Wrigley Field. Some of the marketing ideas around
the team have changed as results of them already having
this established team in the Chicago Cubs that she also
as an owner of here in the city. I had
a really illuminating conversation with Lauren Holliday back at the
(09:22):
NWSL championship weekend, and one of the things we talked
about was her being a player for so long and
seeing these different iterations of pro leagues and then wanting
to get on the ownership side, and my coming from
the media side entering the ownership side. It benefits people
to come from different spaces and come together and try
to figure out what works, what doesn't, and what's needed,
especially when it's a player activating on the ownership side
(09:44):
and being able to really be a part of the
decision making, because not only then do you understand, oh,
it's way more expensive to do this thing that we've
been asking for than we thought, and so we think
they're just being jerks, but it's really not feasible at
this point for that to happen, but also being able
to then tell them, Okay, if we can't have this,
this is actually way more important to us, and you're
spending a ton over here and our experience is way
(10:04):
more benefited by you spending over here. It feels like
there should almost always be a player liaison in the
front office. Is that too much to ask of a
player in the middle of a season, you think.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
I think maybe in the middle of a season. I
think a lot of that stuff comes in an off
season as you're building. But I think again, it doesn't
need to be necessarily a you know, let's meet weekly,
let's meet every two weeks and kind of catch up.
But I think again, building the relationships and having that
mutual trust of like, hey, just picking up a phone
and they can call me at any point in the season.
(10:38):
I'm more than willing to and want to have the country.
I love that they're willing and they want to hear
from me. That shows me a lot of that they
want to get this right, they want to do the
best thing. And I think where that player liaison comes
in is availability as well, and it's that conversation that
they're like, hey, sorry, I don't have thirty minutes right now.
(10:58):
We're about to get out of the bus, like we've
got a big game coming up. Can we chat next week?
And there's always been that communication. I think what I
am able to share with them, and to their credit,
what they've also been able to share with me, is
the why behind certain decisions. Yeah, you know when I
go and I say, hey, this is you know, we
(11:19):
don't want to travel or this food or whatever, is
actually like, okay, here's why that is what it is
not just like the blanket of you know, because if
you again, you don't know what you don't know, so
I can see sometimes the light bulb go off when
it's oh, that does make a lot more sense. You
kind of put it like that, like I never really
thought about it.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
That communication helps And again.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
They do the same thing like hey, well we've got
a budget, We've got dollars over here, We've got dollars
over here. And I'm a logical person. I can under like, okay,
I can understand that. I can see where that makes
more sense to me than you just saying no, or
you just say like we're not doing that soon. It
all comes back to that that communication and that building
(12:00):
anything to build levels of trust and respect and just
keeping the dialogue going. I think at the end of
the day, we all want the same thing. We want
this club to be successful. We want this club to be,
you know, a place that players and coaches and staff
want to want to come to, want to be at.
We want to build you know, that culture within an
organization that is a place that people want to be.
(12:22):
And in that regard, we're all very much aligned, which
helps kind of tick towards the end goals of from
an organizational standpoint.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
We got to take a quick break when we come
back more with the Listenaire, sit tight. Do you think
you'll approach this NWSL season differently knowing that you don't
have national team duties.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
I think I've always been pretty good throughout my career
of kind of you know, keeping everything compartmentalized, compartmentalized, thank
you compartment. When I've when I've been here, I've been
here and focused on on you know, Chicago and the
Red Stars. And when I've been gone, I've been focused
on you know, whether it was a friendly or a tournament,
(13:10):
things like that. Obviously, it always does overlap, just in
terms of training or different things and wanting to stay
in form and everything else like that. But I think
it's going to be I'm excited to kind of just
be here one singular focus, not have It's gonna be
nice to have some extra off days. I haven't had those.
Usually I'm playing a game and then flying right into camp.
(13:31):
So I'm going to have a little bit more time
here kind of with its players, with the team in Chicago,
to enjoy Chicago summer, which I don't often get to do.
So but yeah, I'm excited again just to build off of,
you know, where we were last year and how we
finished and hopefully keep growing.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
You announced your international retirement on November twenty fifth. You
played your final two games for the US women's national
team on the thirtieth and then December third, both of
them in the Netherlands. It felt very where are you
elicit ay or to not give you as fans, a
chance to say goodbye on home soil. It felt like
you were like, let me just slip on out of here.
What was that intentional?
Speaker 3 (14:09):
I think the intentionality behind it was keeping it clean.
Is just like at the end of the year, it
was not you know, let me avoid the US. Let
me avoid things like that.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
I think it shows of affection and love and praise
and adoration from everywhere.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
It just felt clean. It felt like the most I
wanted to finish the year. Emma and I had had
the conversation in when we had those three games. I
think it was October. I think we had the initial
conversation in Austin of you know, this is what I'm
thinking for next year. You know, what are your thoughts?
(14:49):
Where are you going? Where do you see me? Where
do you see the team going? And it was a
good conversation. I think where we ended up leaving it
was okay, Yeah, I'm pretty I'm pretty settled on this
is what this is what my plan is. You know,
I would like to finish the year with the team.
I would like to see it through. But if you
are you know, I'm telling you I'm looking to walk
(15:10):
away and move on. If this, if this needs through
the end here in October, then I respect that too.
If you need to get other players games and kind
of build, and I think we had the mutual kind
of understanding of it. Oh, we want to finish the year.
We've been We've had a good year together with the team.
We've had a strong year with the team. We knew
we were going in to play two great opponents in
England and the Netherlands, and wanted to have I was
(15:34):
grateful that she gave me the opportunity to play in
those games and finish my time with the team on
a high note. But no, it was not. There was
intentionality in the timing of the time of the year,
but not in terms of you know, avoiding the US
or anything like that.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
We'll get to you either way.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
They'll have a they'll have a giant celebration for you,
and you'll have to sit in all the love that
people have for you.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
I still felt that out of love, that's for sure. Yeah,
even out there, feel very special, the you know, the
outpouring of support and love. I think it was a
bit overwhelming, for sure. It was more overwhelming than I expected,
but there was. There was a lot of emotion, for sure.
But it made me feel, you know, very very special
in that in that week, and I was grateful for
(16:21):
all of the love.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
I got to do some like science or research on
why it's so uncomfortable to like take in compliments and
appreciation because I love attention and I love compliments, but
even I don't like them directly in front of me,
I want to like read about them later when someone
says something nice about it. It's like very uncomfortable to be
in the moment and have people shower you. There's got
to be some good research on that. Do you remember
the moment that you decided to retire? I mean, obviously,
(16:45):
when you're on an international team and you're looking ahead,
you're looking at what's the Olympic cycle, what's the World
Cup cycle? So it's not just the right now like
it is for so many other sports. It's the what's
the next big thing? What age will I be? What
will the team look like? Was it a struggle or
was it just logistical for you?
Speaker 3 (17:02):
I think the struggle comes from like the emotional side
of it. It's like, what like to actually follow I
think in your mind like it makes sense certain things
and timing wise, but then to actually make the decision,
follow through on the decision, and you start making is
this the right decision?
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Is it?
Speaker 3 (17:18):
And then it's like I think that emotional side of
that makes it challenging. I think for me, if I'm
being really really honest, I probably knew in January that
it was at least most likely the end. And I
think that's obviously hard to say because at that point
(17:39):
I had no idea even if I was on the
Olympic roster, if I was playing as the starter at
the Olympics, if I was on the roster, and kind
of you know, if the Olympics go a different way,
the decision may not even have been mine once I was.
So I think there's obviously so many different things that
went into play throughout the whole year, but I think
(17:59):
my mindset going into January into the Gold Cup was
I think it was like this settled feeling of like
this it felt like the last year. It felt like,
you know, let me take everything in a little bit extra,
let me try to, you know, soak it all in.
This could be And I think we all have that
once we start getting older. It's something I've always talked
(18:19):
to to Becky about into other c Yeah, I think
once you start reaching I mean even the last few years,
every time you go into not even just any major tournament,
but any game, you're like, this could be it. I mean,
that's that's the life of sports. You never really know
when the end is the end. And I think for me,
that's something that is not lost on me that I
(18:41):
got to kind of control the ending of it, which
is not normal, it's not common, but I think it was.
It was very much of you could. I could, I
could feel it coming a little bit more of let me,
let me really take take all this in and it's
it's probably gonna be it.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Yeah. I mean.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
Also, not just to get to sort of dictate when
the international part of your career ended, but to go
out on top as a champion in your final major
international tournament is just like storybook stuff.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
It's incredible. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Now that it's over, let's go back to the beginning,
and I want to know what your nerves were like
succeeding Brianna Scurry and Hope Solo, Like that's unreal.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
Yeah, I mean, it's probably too hard to put into
words the actual nerves behind it. I think over the years,
I probably tried to cover it as best I could.
I think it's funny everybody thinks, you know, I'm always
so hard and like this game face and serious and
(19:43):
honestly I'm just trying not to throw up. I was
trying to read. I was trying to keep my way
of like, I'm a very processed, driven person, a very
intentional behind everything that I do. I'm very focused on preparation,
and for me, that was how I was able to
(20:04):
try to control a lot of those those nerves and
the anxiousness that came with, you know, following two legends
of the game, not just for the US but internationally,
like in the world. And I think where I benefited
was I had the time before I was the starter
to earn and build that trust with my teammates. They
(20:26):
got to see the work that I put in in
training every day, in training camps, and you know, maybe
not necessarily on the field in a game, but in
eleven v eleven scrimmages or in those little moments that
the public doesn't see, but the coaches and my teammates
were able to get a sense of who I was
as a as a person, as a teammate, as a player,
(20:47):
so that when I was stepping on the field, you know,
although I was very nervous, very anxious, you know, I
always wanted to succeed for you know, you feel like
when you're part of a team, you don't want to
let the pe around you down. I think that was
always my biggest thing was as a goalkeeper. It's like,
you know, if I let in a goal, I'm like,
oh gosh, I let the whole I let the whole
(21:08):
team down. And what I started learning was I was
the only person that thought that about myself. You know,
my teammates never ever looked back at me. And if
I let in a bad goal, which inevitably we all do,
or make a mistake, I never got the eye rolls.
I never got yelled at. I never got any of that.
It was like, all right, we're good. Like the team
was always the team, and that always gave me so
(21:30):
much confidence going into any game, you know, even in
in tournaments, taking everything one game at a time, and
just again going back to the leadership, the stuff that
we were talking about before is I had incredible teammates
and leaders on the field with me that they made it.
They made it so clear that my only job was
(21:50):
to be me. I just had to play. I just
had to be a goalkeeper. They were going to take
care of all the rest. They were going to make
it so that I didn't have to worry about and
focus on any other thing other than my job. And
hopefully now I was able to see that. I was
able to learn from that, and that's not what I
take as my role, especially here in Chicago and towards
the later stages of the national team as well. But
(22:14):
you know, take that burden from the younger players, because
I was incredibly grateful for it, because I already had
all the expectations from right, you know, following behind Hope
and you know what that looked like, and the expectations
that come with being the US goalkeeper. You know, that's
where there's a lot of high expectations. I have high
expectations for myself as well, but having such incredible teammates
(22:37):
and coaches kind of very much helped me and my
support system off the field. Honestly, my family's been incredible.
You know, they've been there with me since day one.
So there's always going to be the nerves. That's just
how you can channel them.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
Yeah, I mean, I think there's a lot of like
life lessons in there outside of sport for people who
carry the weight and feel like everything is dependent on them.
If they fail, they're failing everyone. And if they ever
actually stepped back, they would understand the support system that
they have and how not everyone's looking at them all
the time to fix everything.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
Yeah, you mentioned the seriousness that was really just being
scared shitless.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
Uh do you remember secrets out?
Speaker 2 (23:15):
It's right. Do you remember who actually came up with
the nickname uncle?
Speaker 3 (23:20):
I think it was Steph McCaffrey here in Chicago.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
Can you tell us about being uncle there?
Speaker 3 (23:25):
It's funny, everyone's really dyed out. I always hated this.
I always hated this, this nickname, but somehow it stuck. No,
I think Steph kind of created it because it was
always people wuld always just call me to come help
them do stuff I had, Like they would have a
flat tire, I would have an air pump in my car,
battery like car batteries. I had stuff to hang pictures
(23:46):
on walls. So I think I just became the person
that people would always call it. They knew I'd pick
up the phone and come help them do whatever they
needed done. So it is an endearing nickname, so I'll
own it. But yes, yeah, it's can't to get away from.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
It, honestly, Uncle, And there is better than what you
would get if this were happening today, which would definitely
be big Midwest dad energy. That's what we say about
like women who can fix everything and are around all
the time at the ready, so I like uncle better.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
Yeah, have the goalies in.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
The current national camp reached out to for guidance or advice?
I know you've worked with some in camp previously, but
especially understanding now that it's their turn to step up,
have they been calling you up and asking for help?
Speaker 3 (24:28):
Not really, and too, I didn't really. I mean i'll
check in after, you know, I'll send a text after
a game and I, you know, good game, different things
like that. I think I tried to make it clear
what I was leaving of, like, hey, if you ever
do need anything, like I'm around, I'm here. Don't hesitate
to reach out. But I actually think it's kind of
a good thing. They've all got each other, they've got
their own thing, They've got a great coach and Stuart
(24:49):
and what that looks like. I think now that the
season is starting and I'll be competing against a lot
of them, I'm sure we'll catch up, you know, on
the field, you grab a couple of coffee or even
just chat after the game and whatnot. So but no,
not necessarily reaching out a ton. But yeah, I'm excited
to see I'm excited to see where it goes, who
steps up, and you know, I think the competition is
(25:09):
going to be great than competition. I always benefited from
having great competition with you know, with Ashland and a
D and Jane and as we were always coming up,
it was, you know, Ash and I were competing the
whole time. As soon as you know, Hope was out.
So I think to have that healthy competition where you're
supportive but also everybody wants to be on the field,
(25:31):
but building that dynamic, building that that support as well
as the competitiveness, goes a long way in what the
goalkeeper that's on the field is able to do for
the team.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
I think most importantly, have you taught your successors how
to be penalty kick stoppers and shooters.
Speaker 3 (25:48):
Everyone's got their own style, so I try not to
mess with it. You know that's everyone's I want you
to mess with it.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
I want to have your style. You're the one. You
want to get it done like that.
Speaker 3 (25:58):
As long as they can make this and you know,
everyone's got their process. So again, I think it's it's
important to be confident with what you're doing when you're
stepping between between the posts and whether to shootout or
just in a game. So I think that process of
even like discovering and finding what your process and what
(26:19):
your routine is will give you that confidence that you
need in those moments.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
But what about taking the kicks?
Speaker 1 (26:26):
Is it unrealistic to expect your successors to be able
to bury the shots too?
Speaker 3 (26:31):
No, I don't think it's unrealistic. I think you know,
we we train it the same way that that the
field players do, especially when it comes into a tournament. Again,
you never know when your number is gonna get, when
you're gonna have to step up. It may not be
in the top five, but I've seen shootouts go all
the way through eleven before where you've got to be ready,
and we always have been. I think it now just
(26:54):
because I shot a little bit higher in the order.
But you know, there was nothing different in this tournament
in the preparation than any other ones other than where
coaches selected kickers to take it. So again, everyone's got there.
We make a big deal about everyone owning their process
and finding what works for them, and I would never
(27:16):
want to impart what I do on anybody else. It's
important that you know you can kind of make it
your own Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
I mean, I think it's just between that Conka caf
W Gold Cup semi final and then the She Believes
Cup game that happened, you know, in March and April,
so back to back. These moments of you making three
penalty saves in a shootout and then burying your own
shot became the stuff of legend. And now I think
we have very high expectations for whoever succeeds you that
they will also be able to do that unbelievable thing.
(27:46):
Speaking of that She Believes, how is it watching as
a fan this was your first kind of tournament with
the trophy that you weren't back there.
Speaker 3 (27:54):
It was It was good. I mean, it was definitely
weird for sure to watch, but it was it was
nice to be a spectator to see where, you know,
the team team was, you know, kind of in their
process of different things. I think it was a great
opportunity for a young group obviously missing a number of
regulars as well, but again it's a great opportunity in
(28:17):
this three year build till the next World Cup for
Emma and the coaches to really start to evaluate and
to see in a lot of those players that got
those chances have been consistently playing well and in the
league and in their clubs environments, so to see somebody
on an international level is important. So to me, it
(28:37):
was it was fun to watch. It was I was
definitely cheering when when we scored some goals and they had,
But you know, it's nice to be a fan. No tears,
No tears, Actually not that that's that surprise. I'm not
a big crier, but they're not surprising.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
Oh cool, Okay, last question, toughest question, the three strikers
you are most dreading seeing coming your way this NWSL season.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
I don't like the phrasing of most dreaded.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
Okay, but most way if you won, no defender between
you and them.
Speaker 3 (29:13):
I mean, we definitely have a big challenge coming up
in our first week playing against Barbara Banda, so we're
gonna raining. That's gonna be a tough, tough challenge for us.
But we obviously saw what she could do not only
against us last year but the rest of the league.
So she's definitely high on that list. But we're preparing,
we'll be ready for whatever she can throw at us.
Hopefully try to keep her, you know, subdued a little
(29:38):
bit quieter. But gosh, it's hard to pick three. There's
so many good attacking players in this league. I think
I feel like every team has like not just one,
but a second. If you take out the main one,
it's like you get hit with the double punch. But
but yeah, I mean, obviously we said we're not gonna
play against Sophia Wilson this year. Necessarily great, great.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
Take off your list.
Speaker 3 (29:57):
Yeah, yeah, she would definitely have been and you yeah, great, great, congrats.
I'm so happy for you know, her and Michael so,
but yeah, she would have been high up on that list. Obviously,
trend always it's good to see her, to see her
back in, and she's always exciting, always has that flare,
obviously chewinga reigning MVP. Always got to know where she is.
(30:19):
You know, she can hit you with the speed, she
can hit you with just you know, a regular shots.
So but yeah, I mean, Ali's yeah, you know, she's
I know she's She's been fun to watch kind of
elevate that game. So I'm sure I'm I'm missing some
off the top of my head that we're going to
be impactful. But but no, I think that's that's one
(30:42):
of the best parts about this league is I think
it's the most competitive league in the world. I think
every single week you're you're playing against high quality opponents
that you have to show them the utmost respect and
and through preparation and everything else, get ready for him
and put your best foot forward. But you can never
let up in this league. You always to be on
your front foot and ready. But I think it's exciting,
(31:05):
it'll be it'll be fun.
Speaker 2 (31:06):
I can't believe it's already here.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
We're so excited for the season for all the Stars
games almost said red Stars, all the Stars games, but
especially another doubleheader with the Fire at Soldier Field, which
is always a blast. So so much to look forward to,
unless I know you're super busy with the season starting.
Thanks so much for giving us this time.
Speaker 3 (31:22):
Of course, Thanks Aara, we have to take another break.
Speaker 2 (31:27):
We'll be right back. Welcome back, Slices.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
We love that you're listening, but we want you to
get in the game every day too. So here's our
good game play of the day. If you're looking for
something to do this weekend and want to take in
some soccer, grab tickets to the US women's national team friendlies.
The squad will face China on May thirty first at
ali On's Field in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and then Jamaica
on June third at Energizer Park in Saint Louis. That's
second match also is going to include a pregame retirement
(32:02):
celebration for one of the listenator's former teammates, Becky souerbrun
a Saint Louis native and US women's.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
National team legend. That should be fun.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
We always love to hear from you slices, so hit
us up on email, Good Game at wondermedianetwork dot com
or leave us a voicemail at eight seven two two
O four fifty seventy and thanks for listening. See you
tomorrow for my conversation with one of the greatest beach
volleyball players of all time, April Ross. Good game, Melissa,
good game, Becky sowerbrun Gie you the fact that every
(32:29):
weekend isnt a three day weekend.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
In fact, why not go for four?
Speaker 1 (32:36):
Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iheartwomen's sports production
in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You could
find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
you Get Your Podcasts production by Wondermedia Network. Our producers
are alex Azzi and Misha Jones. Our executive producers are
Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder. Our
(32:56):
editors are Emily Rudder, Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch and gm
Ana Palmer. Our associate producer is Lucy Jones and I'm
Your Host Sarah Spain
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're on
a boat in the middle of a lake, looking like
an uncooked broughtworst who hasn't seen the grill in years.
But we're happy as hell anyway, sipping on a cold one,
hanging with friends. Hope you're getting the chance to do
the same. It's Monday, May twenty sixth. Then on Today Show,
we'll be skipping the need to know and jumping straight
into my conversation from March with recent US Women's national
(00:21):
team retiree and current Chicago Stars goalkeeper Alissenaor. We talked
right before the NWSL season began, dishing on the origin
of her unclenay or nickname, talking about her wedding filled
off season, what it felt like succeeding legends Brianna Scurry
and Hope Solo on the national team, and how she
knew it was time to retire from international competition after
eleven excellent years. It was a chat so nice we
(00:44):
wanted to give it to you twice, and with the
Chicago Stars struggling this season and the legendary Mayor not
likely to get a lot of pub these days, we
wanted to remind you of her greatness. We also got
a pair of US women's national team friendlies coming up
against China on May thirty first and Jamaica on you
and third, so you can get a look at the
keepers vying to replace her. That conversation with Nayer is
(01:05):
coming up right after this. Joining us now, she's the
goalkeeper for the NWSL's Chicago Stars, the reigning US Soccer
Female Player of the Year and FIFA Women's Goalkeeper of
the Year, a World Cup champion and an Olympic Golden
(01:27):
Bronze medalist, the first goalkeeper in women's soccer history to
keep clean sheets in a World Cup final and an
Olympic final. She's a proud nitnany lyon and she's everybody's uncle.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
It's Alyssa Mayor.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Hi Melissa, Hi, sir.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
So glad to have you on the show.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
It's kind of hard to believe that the start of
the NWSL season is already here. I imagined for you,
in particular because your off season was entirely weddings.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
It was which was a lot of fun cats. You
celebrate with a lot of teammates, a lot of friends.
So definitely had a good offseason, but went quick that's
for sure.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
I feel like you went to every single women's soccer
wedding this offseason. Did you hit all of them or
was there a single one you weren't invited to?
Speaker 3 (02:05):
I hit most anybody that I played with, I would say,
I think there are some additional ones of other players
that I haven't had the opportunity to play with. But
I think anybody that I would have been teammates with,
I was at their wedding, which was which was awesome.
I love that.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Yeah, And it was kind of nice timing too, Like
right after you announced your steping away from the international game,
you get this series of celebrations in your honor where
you get to hang out with all the people that
you might miss.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
Yeah. I mean, honestly, I can't believe it really worked
out that I was able to like physically beat at
all of them. They spaced it out well enough that
nothing actually overlapped, which was which was great for me.
I didn't have to make any decisions and have to
choose between people, because that would have had been the worst.
I was able to hit them all.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
It was like eight and thirty two days or something.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
Six six and twenty nine or thirty that's insane.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
That's just the travel and the different outfits alone.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Did you double up any outfits?
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Definitely doubled up coffits necessary.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
So you spent your offseason going to weddings and now
you're you got to play soccer.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
What are you most excited about at the start of
the Star season.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
I think just you know, the new the start of
any new season is always exciting. New team, got some
fresh faces, a lot of returning familiar faces, got some
players coming back from injury that excited to get back
onto the field. You know, to be able to have
the same coaching staff that we had last year and
build off of what I felt like was a pretty
successful season for us last year and obviously a disappointing
(03:30):
way to to lose and go out, but you know,
get to go right back to Orlando where it ended
last year to play the same team. You know, we've
we've been working hard this this preseason to get ready
and prepared, and I think now is the you know,
you you get excited about what's to come for the
season and what we're gonna be able to put together
and compete on the field and hopefully get some results
(03:52):
and get ourselves back into a playoffs.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
You mentioned a lot of younger players on the squad.
How have you grown as a leader in your years
with the team. I was listening to Tierna Davidson, your
former teammate, our buddy Tyrna on Sam Muis's Pot, and
she talked about having to be intentional about not only
taking in as she learned how to be a professional player,
but making the pivot to pushing out and what she
was giving back to the players around her as a veteran,
(04:17):
That's sort of something that might core organically with age
and time in the league, but also might be something
you have to really think.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
About in order to be a leader.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
How have you seen yourself grow because you've been with
this team for a long time now your hands down
the vet that is running the show.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Yeah, I think it's you know, I've always been I've
never necessarily been the most the most vocal, the most
you know, high energy, the most in your face kind
of leader. I've I've always been more of the lead
by example, show show up and do my job, and
you know, but I think even within that, especially the
last couple of years, you know, I've I've had a
(04:50):
lot of different experiences. Over my career, I've had every up,
every down, every success, every failure, and I think, you
know it. I think it's my job as as a
leader and a veteran to be approachable, to be that
person that is, you know, I may not be the
one just initiating and going in and saying something right away,
but hopefully I can be approachable enough that young ones
(05:13):
feel comfortable to ask questions, to learn through my experiences
and kind of pick my brain about different things, and
see how I carry myself, and see what I do
in a training session, how I recover off the field,
and what that looks like. And I think I had
the luxury of having so many great veteran players that
I got to learn from and watch. And I think
(05:34):
the beauty of having or the benefit of having those
veteran players is they take on such a burden of
a lot of the media, a lot of the talking,
a lot of conversations with coaches and gms, and a
lot of the off field stuff that when I was
a younger player, whether it was professionally or even with
the national team, my only job was just to keep
the ball out of the back of the net. That
(05:54):
was my sole focus, the only thing I had to do,
and I don't think I realized until I got a
little bit older. And that naturally becomes your role as
you play in you know, a second and a third
World Cup, or second or third Olympics. When it's now
going into I don't even know what season this is.
All I know it's ten with Chicago, but some are
fit fourteen, fifteen sixteen, I lost track. But you know,
(06:15):
you just naturally take on those responsibilities. And I think
the intentionality that Tierne is probably talking about as well,
is that connection with teammates. Are that approachability or making
yourself available to have some of those conversations.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
It feels like this is an obvious answer based on
the number of weddings you were invited to, But is
it difficult at all as a goalkeeper to integrate yourself
with the rest of the team.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
It feels very siloed.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
I don't think so. I think there's there's so much
opportunity off the field. Anytime you traveled. You know, we
just got back from a preseason trip. We were in
Florida for two weeks, and obviously anytime you're away with
the team and traveling and you know, in and out
of you know, locker rooms and meals and anything like that.
Yet in training and in different things like that, we're
(07:03):
probably a little bit more isolated as goalkeepers. But there's
enough opportunity within within travel and just every day practice
and training room and locker room experience that you can
kind of make those connections.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Yeah, a lot of changes with the Stars, not just
the name. I'm going to keep saying Red Stars by mistake,
but I'm going to stick with it. So a lot
of changes with the Stars in recent years, including new ownership.
Have you had an interest in or have you already
pursued connections with the new front office and staff and
owners to try to figure out how you can help
them promote and support the team make this transition from
a previous iteration to what it looks like going forward.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
Yeah, I think my biggest rule has been just letting
them know that, you know, I want to be part
of the changes in the future, and I want to
be part of, you know, making this place better for
not just players, but staff and you know, from a
whole organization. So I think where I've been able to
kind of lend my experience is lending my experience. I
(07:59):
think that you don't know what you don't know, and
I know nothing about what it takes to you know,
own a club or run a club or an organization.
But I have the lived experience. I know what the
day to day looks like. I've seen what works and
what doesn't work. I've seen what builds trust and what
tears down trust. And I think I've been able to
develop a good relationship with you know, both Lauren and Karen,
our president. And doesn't mean we always agree on everything,
(08:23):
but I think there's we've always had very healthy conversations
and there's a lot of mutual respect there of we
have these conversations. Sometimes they say no, sorry, we can't
do that. Here's why, and I respect that. I understand that.
And then there's other things that they go, that's great,
we can definitely incorporate that, we can add that in.
So I think just being able to have that communication
(08:43):
and that mutual respect again, it's just being able to
share what my lived experience has been over the last
you know, fifteen years and then allow them to use
their area of expertise of you know, what that looks
like from a business standpoint or from a club organization standpoint.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Yeah, we've already seen some really cool examples of Laura
Ricketts and her background affecting the team, including that incredible
game at Wrigley Field. Some of the marketing ideas around
the team have changed as results of them already having
this established team in the Chicago Cubs that she also
as an owner of here in the city. I had
a really illuminating conversation with Lauren Holliday back at the
(09:22):
NWSL championship weekend, and one of the things we talked
about was her being a player for so long and
seeing these different iterations of pro leagues and then wanting
to get on the ownership side, and my coming from
the media side entering the ownership side. It benefits people
to come from different spaces and come together and try
to figure out what works, what doesn't, and what's needed,
especially when it's a player activating on the ownership side
(09:44):
and being able to really be a part of the
decision making, because not only then do you understand, oh,
it's way more expensive to do this thing that we've
been asking for than we thought, and so we think
they're just being jerks, but it's really not feasible at
this point for that to happen, but also being able
to then tell them, Okay, if we can't have this,
this is actually way more important to us, and you're
spending a ton over here and our experience is way
(10:04):
more benefited by you spending over here. It feels like
there should almost always be a player liaison in the
front office. Is that too much to ask of a
player in the middle of a season, you think.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
I think maybe in the middle of a season. I
think a lot of that stuff comes in an off
season as you're building. But I think again, it doesn't
need to be necessarily a you know, let's meet weekly,
let's meet every two weeks and kind of catch up.
But I think again, building the relationships and having that
mutual trust of like, hey, just picking up a phone
and they can call me at any point in the season.
(10:38):
I'm more than willing to and want to have the country.
I love that they're willing and they want to hear
from me. That shows me a lot of that they
want to get this right, they want to do the
best thing. And I think where that player liaison comes
in is availability as well, and it's that conversation that
they're like, hey, sorry, I don't have thirty minutes right now.
(10:58):
We're about to get out of the bus, like we've
got a big game coming up. Can we chat next week?
And there's always been that communication. I think what I
am able to share with them, and to their credit,
what they've also been able to share with me, is
the why behind certain decisions. Yeah, you know when I
go and I say, hey, this is you know, we
(11:19):
don't want to travel or this food or whatever, is
actually like, okay, here's why that is what it is
not just like the blanket of you know, because if
you again, you don't know what you don't know, so
I can see sometimes the light bulb go off when
it's oh, that does make a lot more sense. You
kind of put it like that, like I never really
thought about it.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
That communication helps And again.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
They do the same thing like hey, well we've got
a budget, We've got dollars over here, We've got dollars
over here. And I'm a logical person. I can under like, okay,
I can understand that. I can see where that makes
more sense to me than you just saying no, or
you just say like we're not doing that soon. It
all comes back to that that communication and that building
(12:00):
anything to build levels of trust and respect and just
keeping the dialogue going. I think at the end of
the day, we all want the same thing. We want
this club to be successful. We want this club to be,
you know, a place that players and coaches and staff
want to want to come to, want to be at.
We want to build you know, that culture within an
organization that is a place that people want to be.
(12:22):
And in that regard, we're all very much aligned, which
helps kind of tick towards the end goals of from
an organizational standpoint.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
We got to take a quick break when we come
back more with the Listenaire, sit tight. Do you think
you'll approach this NWSL season differently knowing that you don't
have national team duties.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
I think I've always been pretty good throughout my career
of kind of you know, keeping everything compartmentalized, compartmentalized, thank
you compartment. When I've when I've been here, I've been
here and focused on on you know, Chicago and the
Red Stars. And when I've been gone, I've been focused
on you know, whether it was a friendly or a tournament,
(13:10):
things like that. Obviously, it always does overlap, just in
terms of training or different things and wanting to stay
in form and everything else like that. But I think
it's going to be I'm excited to kind of just
be here one singular focus, not have It's gonna be
nice to have some extra off days. I haven't had those.
Usually I'm playing a game and then flying right into camp.
(13:31):
So I'm going to have a little bit more time
here kind of with its players, with the team in Chicago,
to enjoy Chicago summer, which I don't often get to do.
So but yeah, I'm excited again just to build off of,
you know, where we were last year and how we
finished and hopefully keep growing.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
You announced your international retirement on November twenty fifth. You
played your final two games for the US women's national
team on the thirtieth and then December third, both of
them in the Netherlands. It felt very where are you
elicit ay or to not give you as fans, a
chance to say goodbye on home soil. It felt like
you were like, let me just slip on out of here.
What was that intentional?
Speaker 3 (14:09):
I think the intentionality behind it was keeping it clean.
Is just like at the end of the year, it
was not you know, let me avoid the US. Let
me avoid things like that.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
I think it shows of affection and love and praise
and adoration from everywhere.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
It just felt clean. It felt like the most I
wanted to finish the year. Emma and I had had
the conversation in when we had those three games. I
think it was October. I think we had the initial
conversation in Austin of you know, this is what I'm
thinking for next year. You know, what are your thoughts?
(14:49):
Where are you going? Where do you see me? Where
do you see the team going? And it was a
good conversation. I think where we ended up leaving it
was okay, Yeah, I'm pretty I'm pretty settled on this
is what this is what my plan is. You know,
I would like to finish the year with the team.
I would like to see it through. But if you
are you know, I'm telling you I'm looking to walk
(15:10):
away and move on. If this, if this needs through
the end here in October, then I respect that too.
If you need to get other players games and kind
of build, and I think we had the mutual kind
of understanding of it. Oh, we want to finish the year.
We've been We've had a good year together with the team.
We've had a strong year with the team. We knew
we were going in to play two great opponents in
England and the Netherlands, and wanted to have I was
(15:34):
grateful that she gave me the opportunity to play in
those games and finish my time with the team on
a high note. But no, it was not. There was
intentionality in the timing of the time of the year,
but not in terms of you know, avoiding the US
or anything like that.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
We'll get to you either way.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
They'll have a they'll have a giant celebration for you,
and you'll have to sit in all the love that
people have for you.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
I still felt that out of love, that's for sure. Yeah,
even out there, feel very special, the you know, the
outpouring of support and love. I think it was a
bit overwhelming, for sure. It was more overwhelming than I expected,
but there was. There was a lot of emotion, for sure.
But it made me feel, you know, very very special
in that in that week, and I was grateful for
(16:21):
all of the love.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
I got to do some like science or research on
why it's so uncomfortable to like take in compliments and
appreciation because I love attention and I love compliments, but
even I don't like them directly in front of me,
I want to like read about them later when someone
says something nice about it. It's like very uncomfortable to be
in the moment and have people shower you. There's got
to be some good research on that. Do you remember
the moment that you decided to retire? I mean, obviously,
(16:45):
when you're on an international team and you're looking ahead,
you're looking at what's the Olympic cycle, what's the World
Cup cycle? So it's not just the right now like
it is for so many other sports. It's the what's
the next big thing? What age will I be? What
will the team look like? Was it a struggle or
was it just logistical for you?
Speaker 3 (17:02):
I think the struggle comes from like the emotional side
of it. It's like, what like to actually follow I
think in your mind like it makes sense certain things
and timing wise, but then to actually make the decision,
follow through on the decision, and you start making is
this the right decision?
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Is it?
Speaker 3 (17:18):
And then it's like I think that emotional side of
that makes it challenging. I think for me, if I'm
being really really honest, I probably knew in January that
it was at least most likely the end. And I
think that's obviously hard to say because at that point
(17:39):
I had no idea even if I was on the
Olympic roster, if I was playing as the starter at
the Olympics, if I was on the roster, and kind
of you know, if the Olympics go a different way,
the decision may not even have been mine once I was.
So I think there's obviously so many different things that
went into play throughout the whole year, but I think
(17:59):
my mindset going into January into the Gold Cup was
I think it was like this settled feeling of like
this it felt like the last year. It felt like,
you know, let me take everything in a little bit extra,
let me try to, you know, soak it all in.
This could be And I think we all have that
once we start getting older. It's something I've always talked
(18:19):
to to Becky about into other c Yeah, I think
once you start reaching I mean even the last few years,
every time you go into not even just any major tournament,
but any game, you're like, this could be it. I mean,
that's that's the life of sports. You never really know
when the end is the end. And I think for me,
that's something that is not lost on me that I
(18:41):
got to kind of control the ending of it, which
is not normal, it's not common, but I think it was.
It was very much of you could. I could, I
could feel it coming a little bit more of let me,
let me really take take all this in and it's
it's probably gonna be it.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Yeah. I mean.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
Also, not just to get to sort of dictate when
the international part of your career ended, but to go
out on top as a champion in your final major
international tournament is just like storybook stuff.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
It's incredible. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Now that it's over, let's go back to the beginning,
and I want to know what your nerves were like
succeeding Brianna Scurry and Hope Solo, Like that's unreal.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
Yeah, I mean, it's probably too hard to put into
words the actual nerves behind it. I think over the years,
I probably tried to cover it as best I could.
I think it's funny everybody thinks, you know, I'm always
so hard and like this game face and serious and
(19:43):
honestly I'm just trying not to throw up. I was
trying to read. I was trying to keep my way
of like, I'm a very processed, driven person, a very
intentional behind everything that I do. I'm very focused on preparation,
and for me, that was how I was able to
(20:04):
try to control a lot of those those nerves and
the anxiousness that came with, you know, following two legends
of the game, not just for the US but internationally,
like in the world. And I think where I benefited
was I had the time before I was the starter
to earn and build that trust with my teammates. They
(20:26):
got to see the work that I put in in
training every day, in training camps, and you know, maybe
not necessarily on the field in a game, but in
eleven v eleven scrimmages or in those little moments that
the public doesn't see, but the coaches and my teammates
were able to get a sense of who I was
as a as a person, as a teammate, as a player,
(20:47):
so that when I was stepping on the field, you know,
although I was very nervous, very anxious, you know, I
always wanted to succeed for you know, you feel like
when you're part of a team, you don't want to
let the pe around you down. I think that was
always my biggest thing was as a goalkeeper. It's like,
you know, if I let in a goal, I'm like,
oh gosh, I let the whole I let the whole
(21:08):
team down. And what I started learning was I was
the only person that thought that about myself. You know,
my teammates never ever looked back at me. And if
I let in a bad goal, which inevitably we all do,
or make a mistake, I never got the eye rolls.
I never got yelled at. I never got any of that.
It was like, all right, we're good. Like the team
was always the team, and that always gave me so
(21:30):
much confidence going into any game, you know, even in
in tournaments, taking everything one game at a time, and
just again going back to the leadership, the stuff that
we were talking about before is I had incredible teammates
and leaders on the field with me that they made it.
They made it so clear that my only job was
(21:50):
to be me. I just had to play. I just
had to be a goalkeeper. They were going to take
care of all the rest. They were going to make
it so that I didn't have to worry about and
focus on any other thing other than my job. And
hopefully now I was able to see that. I was
able to learn from that, and that's not what I
take as my role, especially here in Chicago and towards
the later stages of the national team as well. But
(22:14):
you know, take that burden from the younger players, because
I was incredibly grateful for it, because I already had
all the expectations from right, you know, following behind Hope
and you know what that looked like, and the expectations
that come with being the US goalkeeper. You know, that's
where there's a lot of high expectations. I have high
expectations for myself as well, but having such incredible teammates
(22:37):
and coaches kind of very much helped me and my
support system off the field. Honestly, my family's been incredible.
You know, they've been there with me since day one.
So there's always going to be the nerves. That's just
how you can channel them.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
Yeah, I mean, I think there's a lot of like
life lessons in there outside of sport for people who
carry the weight and feel like everything is dependent on them.
If they fail, they're failing everyone. And if they ever
actually stepped back, they would understand the support system that
they have and how not everyone's looking at them all
the time to fix everything.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
Yeah, you mentioned the seriousness that was really just being
scared shitless.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
Uh do you remember secrets out?
Speaker 2 (23:15):
It's right. Do you remember who actually came up with
the nickname uncle?
Speaker 3 (23:20):
I think it was Steph McCaffrey here in Chicago.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
Can you tell us about being uncle there?
Speaker 3 (23:25):
It's funny, everyone's really dyed out. I always hated this.
I always hated this, this nickname, but somehow it stuck. No,
I think Steph kind of created it because it was
always people wuld always just call me to come help
them do stuff I had, Like they would have a
flat tire, I would have an air pump in my car,
battery like car batteries. I had stuff to hang pictures
(23:46):
on walls. So I think I just became the person
that people would always call it. They knew I'd pick
up the phone and come help them do whatever they
needed done. So it is an endearing nickname, so I'll
own it. But yes, yeah, it's can't to get away from.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
It, honestly, Uncle, And there is better than what you
would get if this were happening today, which would definitely
be big Midwest dad energy. That's what we say about
like women who can fix everything and are around all
the time at the ready, so I like uncle better.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
Yeah, have the goalies in.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
The current national camp reached out to for guidance or advice?
I know you've worked with some in camp previously, but
especially understanding now that it's their turn to step up,
have they been calling you up and asking for help?
Speaker 3 (24:28):
Not really, and too, I didn't really. I mean i'll
check in after, you know, I'll send a text after
a game and I, you know, good game, different things
like that. I think I tried to make it clear
what I was leaving of, like, hey, if you ever
do need anything, like I'm around, I'm here. Don't hesitate
to reach out. But I actually think it's kind of
a good thing. They've all got each other, they've got
their own thing, They've got a great coach and Stuart
(24:49):
and what that looks like. I think now that the
season is starting and I'll be competing against a lot
of them, I'm sure we'll catch up, you know, on
the field, you grab a couple of coffee or even
just chat after the game and whatnot. So but no,
not necessarily reaching out a ton. But yeah, I'm excited
to see I'm excited to see where it goes, who
steps up, and you know, I think the competition is
(25:09):
going to be great than competition. I always benefited from
having great competition with you know, with Ashland and a
D and Jane and as we were always coming up,
it was, you know, Ash and I were competing the
whole time. As soon as you know, Hope was out.
So I think to have that healthy competition where you're
supportive but also everybody wants to be on the field,
(25:31):
but building that dynamic, building that that support as well
as the competitiveness, goes a long way in what the
goalkeeper that's on the field is able to do for
the team.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
I think most importantly, have you taught your successors how
to be penalty kick stoppers and shooters.
Speaker 3 (25:48):
Everyone's got their own style, so I try not to
mess with it. You know that's everyone's I want you
to mess with it.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
I want to have your style. You're the one. You
want to get it done like that.
Speaker 3 (25:58):
As long as they can make this and you know,
everyone's got their process. So again, I think it's it's
important to be confident with what you're doing when you're
stepping between between the posts and whether to shootout or
just in a game. So I think that process of
even like discovering and finding what your process and what
(26:19):
your routine is will give you that confidence that you
need in those moments.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
But what about taking the kicks?
Speaker 1 (26:26):
Is it unrealistic to expect your successors to be able
to bury the shots too?
Speaker 3 (26:31):
No, I don't think it's unrealistic. I think you know,
we we train it the same way that that the
field players do, especially when it comes into a tournament. Again,
you never know when your number is gonna get, when
you're gonna have to step up. It may not be
in the top five, but I've seen shootouts go all
the way through eleven before where you've got to be ready,
and we always have been. I think it now just
(26:54):
because I shot a little bit higher in the order.
But you know, there was nothing different in this tournament
in the preparation than any other ones other than where
coaches selected kickers to take it. So again, everyone's got there.
We make a big deal about everyone owning their process
and finding what works for them, and I would never
(27:16):
want to impart what I do on anybody else. It's
important that you know you can kind of make it
your own Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
I mean, I think it's just between that Conka caf
W Gold Cup semi final and then the She Believes
Cup game that happened, you know, in March and April,
so back to back. These moments of you making three
penalty saves in a shootout and then burying your own
shot became the stuff of legend. And now I think
we have very high expectations for whoever succeeds you that
they will also be able to do that unbelievable thing.
(27:46):
Speaking of that She Believes, how is it watching as
a fan this was your first kind of tournament with
the trophy that you weren't back there.
Speaker 3 (27:54):
It was It was good. I mean, it was definitely
weird for sure to watch, but it was it was
nice to be a spectator to see where, you know,
the team team was, you know, kind of in their
process of different things. I think it was a great
opportunity for a young group obviously missing a number of
regulars as well, but again it's a great opportunity in
(28:17):
this three year build till the next World Cup for
Emma and the coaches to really start to evaluate and
to see in a lot of those players that got
those chances have been consistently playing well and in the
league and in their clubs environments, so to see somebody
on an international level is important. So to me, it
(28:37):
was it was fun to watch. It was I was
definitely cheering when when we scored some goals and they had,
But you know, it's nice to be a fan. No tears,
No tears, Actually not that that's that surprise. I'm not
a big crier, but they're not surprising.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
Oh cool, Okay, last question, toughest question, the three strikers
you are most dreading seeing coming your way this NWSL season.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
I don't like the phrasing of most dreaded.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
Okay, but most way if you won, no defender between
you and them.
Speaker 3 (29:13):
I mean, we definitely have a big challenge coming up
in our first week playing against Barbara Banda, so we're
gonna raining. That's gonna be a tough, tough challenge for us.
But we obviously saw what she could do not only
against us last year but the rest of the league.
So she's definitely high on that list. But we're preparing,
we'll be ready for whatever she can throw at us.
Hopefully try to keep her, you know, subdued a little
(29:38):
bit quieter. But gosh, it's hard to pick three. There's
so many good attacking players in this league. I think
I feel like every team has like not just one,
but a second. If you take out the main one,
it's like you get hit with the double punch. But
but yeah, I mean, obviously we said we're not gonna
play against Sophia Wilson this year. Necessarily great, great.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
Take off your list.
Speaker 3 (29:57):
Yeah, yeah, she would definitely have been and you yeah, great, great, congrats.
I'm so happy for you know, her and Michael so,
but yeah, she would have been high up on that list. Obviously,
trend always it's good to see her, to see her
back in, and she's always exciting, always has that flare,
obviously chewinga reigning MVP. Always got to know where she is.
(30:19):
You know, she can hit you with the speed, she
can hit you with just you know, a regular shots.
So but yeah, I mean, Ali's yeah, you know, she's
I know she's She's been fun to watch kind of
elevate that game. So I'm sure I'm I'm missing some
off the top of my head that we're going to
be impactful. But but no, I think that's that's one
(30:42):
of the best parts about this league is I think
it's the most competitive league in the world. I think
every single week you're you're playing against high quality opponents
that you have to show them the utmost respect and
and through preparation and everything else, get ready for him
and put your best foot forward. But you can never
let up in this league. You always to be on
your front foot and ready. But I think it's exciting,
(31:05):
it'll be it'll be fun.
Speaker 2 (31:06):
I can't believe it's already here.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
We're so excited for the season for all the Stars
games almost said red Stars, all the Stars games, but
especially another doubleheader with the Fire at Soldier Field, which
is always a blast. So so much to look forward to,
unless I know you're super busy with the season starting.
Thanks so much for giving us this time.
Speaker 3 (31:22):
Of course, Thanks Aara, we have to take another break.
Speaker 2 (31:27):
We'll be right back. Welcome back, Slices.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
We love that you're listening, but we want you to
get in the game every day too. So here's our
good game play of the day. If you're looking for
something to do this weekend and want to take in
some soccer, grab tickets to the US women's national team friendlies.
The squad will face China on May thirty first at
ali On's Field in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and then Jamaica
on June third at Energizer Park in Saint Louis. That's
second match also is going to include a pregame retirement
(32:02):
celebration for one of the listenator's former teammates, Becky souerbrun
a Saint Louis native and US women's.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
National team legend. That should be fun.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
We always love to hear from you slices, so hit
us up on email, Good Game at wondermedianetwork dot com
or leave us a voicemail at eight seven two two
O four fifty seventy and thanks for listening. See you
tomorrow for my conversation with one of the greatest beach
volleyball players of all time, April Ross. Good game, Melissa,
good game, Becky sowerbrun Gie you the fact that every
(32:29):
weekend isnt a three day weekend.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
In fact, why not go for four?
Speaker 1 (32:36):
Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iheartwomen's sports production
in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You could
find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
you Get Your Podcasts production by Wondermedia Network. Our producers
are alex Azzi and Misha Jones. Our executive producers are
Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder. Our
(32:56):
editors are Emily Rudder, Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch and gm
Ana Palmer. Our associate producer is Lucy Jones and I'm
Your Host Sarah Spain
Host
Sarah Spain
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