August 25, 2025 • 34 mins
Michelle Laflamme, the International Paralympic Committee’s Senior Manager for World Para Ice Hockey, joins Sarah to discuss the inaugural Women's World Championship (starting this week!), unpack why the “open gender” label hasn’t helped with the development of women’s players, and examine some of the challenges the sport has faced in its history. Plus, Ludmilla pulls a trick out of her hat, Alyssa Thomas is on fire for the Phoenix Mercury, and US Open singles competition is underway.
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Read Jack Maloney’s breakdown of Jessica Shepard’s historically fast triple-double here
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See the full Rugby World Cup schedule here
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See the full US Open schedule here
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Listen to Sarah’s interview with tennis legend Pam Shriver here
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See the full schedule for the Women’s Para Ice Hockey World Championship here
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And catch games streaming on the Paralympic YouTube page here
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Watch Chelsea FC herd sheep here
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Leave us a voicemail at 872-204-5070 or send us a note at goodgame@wondermedianetwork.com
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Follow Sarah on social! Bluesky: @sarahspain.com Instagram: @Spain2323
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Follow producer Misha Jones! Bluesky: @mishthejrnalist.bsky.social Instagram: @mishthejrnalist
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See omnystudio.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're back
from Door County, Wisconsin, full of spotted cow at, cheese curds,
and newly friends with a goat named Natcho. It's Monday,
August twenty fifth, and on today show, we'll be talking
to Michelle Laflam, the senior manager for World Para Hockey,
about the first ever Women's Para Hockey World Championship, which
gets underway this week, why the sports open gender label
(00:24):
hasn't helped with the development of the women's game, and
her ambitious goals looking ahead to the twenty thirty Paralympics.
Plus rising temps meet rising tempers, triple doubling and hat
tricking with speed, and it's time to hang another plaque
in the Good Game Hall of Fame. It's all coming
up right after this Welcome back slices, Happy Monday. Here's
(00:52):
what you need to know today. Let's start with the
NWSL where a new attendance record was set. On Saturday.
AFC welcomed a sold out crowd of forty ninety one
people to Oracle Park, home of the MLB's San Francisco Giants,
for their match with the Washington Spirit. The mark broke
the previous NWSL record of thirty five thousand, set during
(01:13):
a Chicago Stars BFC game at Wrigley Field in June
of last year. BAFC ended up losing the match three
to two, and the team is now winless in its
last six games, but not all bad news. In addition
to being the best attended NWSL game of all time,
the match also broke the attendance record for any US
women's pro sports league. Per ESPN, the NWSL now has
(01:35):
forty eight of the top fifty most attended games in
US women's pro sports history. Another record broken in the
NWSL this weekend, this time by the Chicago Stars.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Lude Mila.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
The Brazilian striker, scored three goals in ten minutes in
the Stars game against the North Carolina Current JO on
Friday to break the NWSL record for fastest hat trick
in league history. The game ended in a three to
three draw, with all six goals coming in the second half,
including Ludmila's equalizer in the eighty sixth minute. More on
WSL and an update to that heat delayed Casey Current
(02:07):
Orlando Pride game we told you about last week quick refresher,
which coincidentally is what the players and fans and attendance
needed that day.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
But I digress.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
So yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Just over a week ago, a match between the Kansas
City Current and the Orlando Pride was delayed due to
extreme heat, with the start pushed back incrementally until the
match finally kicked off three and a half hours later
than intended. The game was initially slated to air on
CBS at three pm Local time four pm Eastern, one
of eleven regular season matches that CBS was set to
air on network television. Due to the delay, it ended
(02:41):
up just being streamed on CBS's website and app instead.
According to new reporting from The Athletic, midway through that
three and a half hour delay, League Commissioner Jessica Berman
threatened to find Kansas City due to a disagreement about
the delay and heat checks. Per the Athletic sources quote,
Berman told current owners in a phone call that the
team could be fined for breaking protocols by asking for
(03:04):
a heat check. After the league decided to go forward
with the game, Berman said, according to the sources, that
missing the scheduled broadcast window would cost the NWSL millions
of dollars end quote. The Athletics report notes that both
teams initially contacted the league at ten thirty am the
morning of the game to ask for a postponement, but
the League denied that request, per the Athletic sources, with
(03:27):
the game slated to kickoff at three pm local time,
the wet bulb globe temperature you remember, that's the heat
index measurement used to determine whether a game is allowed
to be played, was too high and rising. But about
forty five minutes after the game was supposed to kick off,
officials took another reading and it came in at ninety
one point eight degrees fahrenheit, just below the threshold of
ninety two point three degrees where a game would be allowed.
(03:49):
But per the Athletic sources, a cloud was passing overhead
at the time of the reading, and staff on the
ground were certain that the temperature would.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Rise again after the cloud passed.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Kansas City's medical staff contacted league medical staff and advocated
for taking another reading fifteen minutes later, citing the passing cloud,
which the league's medical staff agreed to. Sure enough, when
the next reading was taken fifteen minutes later, the wet
bulb globe temperature had spiked to ninety five point six degrees,
triggering another delay. Per the Athletic It was at this
(04:18):
point that Berman contacted Kansas City owners, warning them that
they had broken protocol and would be fined, though it
is unclear if the league will follow through on that fine.
And there's more bad news out of that game. You
might remember we told you that Once the game finally started,
Pride star Barbara Banda left the pitch just fifteen minutes
in with an injury. While testing has revealed she suffered
(04:40):
what they called a full thickness evulsion of her right
adductor longest tendon aka a hip adductor tendon injury, and
now band has been placed on the season ending injury list.
She was the twenty twenty four NWSL Championship MVP, the
African Women's Player of the Year last year, and the
BBC's Women's Footballer of the Year. She's played a huge
which part in Orlando's success since she joined the team
(05:02):
in March of twenty twenty four, and of course for
their championship win last year. In a statement, Pride GM
Haley Carter said, quote, Barbara has been instrumental to our
success and losing a player of for caliber is heartbreaking
for the entire organization.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
End quote.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Now, the excellent reporting from the Athletic on this game
is not likely the last we're going to hear about it,
with criticism of NWSL Commissioner Jessca Berman growing after fallout
from both this game and the Angel City Utah Royals
game back in May. That continued despite the on field
collapse of Savvy King. In fact, one fan on Blue
Sky reported that they brought a sign that read Berman
out to this past Saturday's Gotham game and that the
(05:39):
sign was confiscated. I think the criticism of Berman and
NWSL leadership this year has been fair, from scheduling issues
to the tone deaf unwell Supporters Group initiative, and more.
It feels like the league just hasn't quite been ready
for the moment. The incredible increased investment in women's sports
in general has been a blessing, but with it comes
a ton of response ability for leadership, whether be NWSL
(06:02):
players and coaches or WNBA players. There's been an uptick
and folks criticizing their leagues throughout this season's growing pains
with more teams, more games, longer seasons and more opportunities
for things like primetime slots and money making events. Commissioners
for both leagues and their support staff are going to
need to have to work that much harder to prioritize
player safety and center player health and wellness. That means
(06:25):
accounting for increased player security, being intentional about scheduling games
considering both weather and rest, and a lot more to
the WNBA. With two and a half weeks left in
the regular season, we have a little bit more clarity
on the playoff picture. In the last week, the Connecticut Sun,
Chicago Sky, and Dallas Wings have all been mathematically eliminated
from the postseason meantime. As of this recording, the Minnesota
(06:49):
Links remain the only team to have officially clinched so far.
That leaves nine teams fighting for seven spots. Behind the Links,
You've got the Atlanta Dream, Las Vegas Aces, Phoenix Mercury,
and the New York Liberty have fallen to fifth.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Also too early to start talking about the.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Twenty twenty six draft, cuz with the teams being eliminated,
I'm already thinking about the Wings getting lazy for asy
paisy together again. In the pros, Paige Beecker's Asy Fud
on a team together again. Forget the amazing basketball, think
about the content, y'all.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
But wait a minute.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
If the Wings take Lauren Betts out of Ucla instead,
that could mean Azy Fudd's available for my Chicago Sky.
Forget Paisy now, I'm dreaming of Azy serving up Angel
in the post. Sorry, sorry, back to this season and
back to the top ranked Links with the FISA call
you're still out with injury. Forward Jessica Shepherd has been
(07:43):
stepping up in a big way for Minnesota. In the
team's ninety five ninety win over the Indiana Fever on Friday,
she recorded the fastest triple double in WNBA history, achieving
the feat in twenty two minutes. In comparison, Alyssa Thomas,
the WNBA's triple double Queen, recorded her fastest in twenty
eight minutes back in twenty twenty three. CBAS Sports Jack
Maloney has a great breakdown of Shepherd's historic night, which
(08:06):
we'll link to in the show notes. Collier has been
sidelined for the last seven games, with the Links going
a fine five and two in her absence, but on
Sunday night, she announced in og fashion that they wouldn't
have to win without her anymore.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Before Minnesota's Sunday night game against the.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Fever, the team put out a statement mirroring the famous
Michael Jordan facts announcing his return to the NBA.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
The letter read simply quote.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
The following statement was released today by Nafisa Collier through
the Minnesota Links social media team located in Minneapolis, Minnesota,
in response to questions about her injury status.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Quote unquote, I'm back with a crown emoji and.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
The contact number in the corner of the statement for
any questions six one two MVP fee. You think she
hears those footsteps from Asia Wilson and Alissa Thomas, She
sure does. Great to see Nafisa Collier back. And speaking
of Alissa Thomas, wouldn't you know it, she got another
(09:05):
triple double soon. We're just gonna have to start telling
you when she doesn't get a triple double. The Phoenix
Mercury star tied her own single season triple double record
on Friday night, with her sixth of the year, recording
thirteen points, twelve rebounds, and sixteen assists in the Mercury's
eighty one seventy two win over the Golden State Valkyries.
In that game, Thomas, who is in her first season
with the Mercury following an eleven year run with the
(09:27):
Connecticut Sun, tied Phoenix's single game assist record as well.
Mercury fans flood at the stadium with MVP chants during
Thomas's impressive outing on Friday night, and they're right, we
better have her name on the MVP shortlist. We have
been remiss in not including her. I mean, just listen
to this stat. Thomas has more triple doubles in her
(09:47):
last nine games five than any other WNBA player has
in their entire career. Four for Sabrina and Escu to rugby,
where the Women's World Cup got underway on Friday, with
the tenth ranked US Eagles getting routed by host nation
and tournament favorite England sixty nine to seven, but in
front of more than forty two thousand fans, which made
(10:09):
it the best attended game in Women's Rugby World Cup history.
Next up for the US a chance to redeem themselves
another group stage match, this time against Australia next Saturday.
We'll link to the full Rugby World Cup schedule in
the show notes to tennis. The women's singles draw at
the US Open got underway on Sunday, with world number
one Arena Sablenka starting her tournament off with a win
(10:30):
over Switzerland's Rebecca Masarova. Another noteworthy game, Alexander Iala made
history becoming the first player representing the Philippines to win
a major singles match in the Open era, defeating Clara Tawson.
The first round continues today with Madison Keys, Taylor Townsend,
and Venus Williams all in action. We'll link to the
full US Open schedule in the show notes, and if
(10:51):
you missed it, be sure to check out my interview
with tennis legend Pam Shreiver live from the US Open
last week. She did a great job breaking down all
the favorites for this year tournament.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
And I'll be back at.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
The US Open tomorrow on Billy Jean Kings Sweet for
some more action and maybe another couple Honey juices. Honestly,
for the amount that I promote this drink, they should
be paying me Grey Goose call me slices. This weekend,
my super slice Hobby Brad and I rolled up to
Wisconsin for the official Dinah Tarassi retirement bench dedication. Brad
(11:24):
sister Becca and her family are wisconsinnight, so we crashed
at their place on Friday night, and then they made
the trek with us to Dora County on Saturday and
it was a gorgeous, not too hot, sunny, perfect day
for a celebration. I gave out some prizes, I cut
the big red ribbon and we watched as it was
put into place on the observation deck looking out at
the beach at Whitefish Dune State Park.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Got a shout out.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
John from the park who helped us out all day
and installed it. He told me lots of folks have
checked in over the last month or so hoping to
see the bench when they were visiting the park, so
he's super excited that it's finely in place. Big shout
out to Sarah who also helped throughout the whole process,
and a huge thank you to Nacho the Goat and
his handlers. Nacho not only gamely war Dinah's number three
(12:06):
Mercury jersey, he also took photos with any and all passerby,
and he even took a little goat whiz on the
jersey as well, making it officially game worn. I have
to decide if I want to wash it before I
sent it to DT to sign, or if I should
give it to her appropriately covered in a little goat
sweat if you will. Some super slices made the trip
from pretty far places like Madison and Two Rivers and
(12:29):
hung out afterward at the hitching Boast for some beers
and snacks and chatted all things good game which was
super super fun. High fives especially to both Sarah's, Kelly
Whitney and Emily. I loved getting to hang with you
all and had a blast at the bench and at
the hitching post and just taking in all the sights
of Dori County. A video of the whole day is
soon to come. We got to take a quick break
(12:50):
when we come back.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
It's Michelle Laflop.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
We caught up with her last week ahead at the
inaugural Women's Para Hockey World Championships. Joining us now, she's
the Senior Manager for World Para Ice Hockey at the
International Paralympic Committee. Originally from Montreal, Canada and now based
in Germany, she's worked with the NHL's Ottawa Senators, Hockey Canada,
(13:14):
the Invictus Games, and the Pan and Para Pan American Games.
She has degrees in English, Russian and Fine Arts. Has
won the King Charles the Third Coronation Medal and the
IPC International Women's Day Award. She was recently named to
the Leaders Under forty class of twenty twenty five by
Leaders in Sport.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
It's Michelle laflam Hi, Michelle Hi, Sarah, English, Russian and
Fine Arts.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
I assume you also speak French based on that last
name in the Canadian roots.
Speaker 4 (13:38):
Yeah, originally from Montreal. So first language is French and
then just crushed English in college and Russian and university.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Yeah. Yeah, No, biggie, any other languages or are we
limited to those?
Speaker 4 (13:50):
No? Sadly yeah, I've been in Germany for five years
now and it's just it's not getting it.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Do you want to hear my favorite German word, of course, please,
vulcan kratzer.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
I'll take it.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
It means means skyscraper, amazing, just love.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
We're talking to ahead of the first ever Women's Para
Hockey World Championship, and before we get to that tournament,
I do want to clarify a couple of things. First,
we have seen the terms para ice hockey sled hockey,
sledge hockey.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
That's all the same sport, right.
Speaker 4 (14:21):
I'm so glad that you ask, especially if this is
in the US. So the official name of the sports
is para ice hockey. In twenty sixteen there was a rebrand,
so we went from sled sled hockey.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
To para ice hockey. I always joke.
Speaker 4 (14:37):
With Temusay that just like your centimeters and miles and
foot in inches, you'll eventually you'll catch on. But yeah,
it is the same sport, and it is para ice hockey.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
For now, we're insisting on saying sled hockey, and we
will until we are stubbornly forced to change. I want
to talk about the history of women's para hockey. What
are some of the challenges that the sport has face
in the past.
Speaker 4 (15:01):
Yes, I mean a lot of it comes from, I
want to say, I think good intention. So, for those
of you who don't know, pair of ice hockey at
the Paralympics has been an open sport. So basically what
it means is that it's not a mixed sport, so
it's not mandatory that men and women compete.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
Together, but it is allowed.
Speaker 4 (15:21):
So what's happened is that because there was this door
that was semi open. I don't think anything had been
done at the national level to really grow the sports
by focusing solely on women. So there was always that's
saying of like, well, women can make the team, they're
just not making the roster. I'm like, okay, fair enough,
but it's been it's been thirty years now, so can
we just relook at the situation and try to address
(15:44):
the problem, which is what we've been doing over the
last over the last five years. So yes, I think
one of the main issue was the fact that there
wasn't a real pathway for the women to grow as
an independent team. There was always this dream of maybe
they'll make the roster, but it's just when you look
at the number, it wasn't adding up.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
Yeah, So, like you said, it's open or co ed.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
At the Paralympics, teams of historically been limited to seventeen players.
They can expand to eighteen if a woman is included,
but that hasn't happened very often, right.
Speaker 4 (16:15):
No, so we've only ever had three. So the first
the first pair of ice hockey event at the Paralympics
was in nineteen ninety four, so three since nineteen ninety four,
and that's not enough.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
And never never for the US led hockey team or
no hockey team at the senior national level.
Speaker 4 (16:33):
That's right, So never at a World champ Never at
a World Cup or any of those those events.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
No, okay, So since twenty twenty, you've led World Pair
of Ice Hockey's entire global operations, so grassroots development all
the way up to the Paralympic winner games, as the
only full time employee. When you took that job in
twenty twenty, what was your primary assignment or.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
What was the goal when taking the job.
Speaker 4 (16:55):
Yeah, I mean the goal was, here's the federation, let's go.
So basically, we did a strategic plan when I first started,
and one of the priority that we had determined was
development just in general. So we wanted to develop the
women's programs, we wanted to develop our officials, we wanted
(17:15):
to develop new nations that maybe weren't involved in pair
of ice hockey before. So just growing the sport in
general was very a key strategic point for us, and
this is what we've been going since then. Really, so
all of the markets that we can try to hit,
we're trying to target.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
And that's on men's and women's side, correct, Yes, yeah,
So did you replace someone who was the only full
time employee or did World Pair of Ice Hockey just
not really have much infrastructure before you arrived.
Speaker 4 (17:42):
So in twenty twenty, I did replace someone who went
on maternity leave. So she has a beautiful family now
and I was able to join in. At that time,
we were two staff, so one manager, one coordinator. Then
of course, good old COVID happened, and then we looked
at the bud and we looked at the finances and
we're like, okay, let's let's see.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
What we can do.
Speaker 4 (18:04):
And then the coordinator was moved to another sport and
she did fantastic in that new role, and it was
a sport that she really really liked, so it was
a perfect fit for her. And then I just took on,
you know everything, people, fine, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Before we get to the first ever women's World Championship,
I want to talk about the Para Ice Hockey Women's
World Challenge. So Team USA Para Hockey are the three
time champions of that event. They've won it every year
since the inaugural tournament back in twenty twenty two in
Green Bay, Wisconsin. Who competes in that World Challenge and
why was it maybe not enough?
Speaker 4 (18:38):
Yeah, So for us, what we did, like, once we
first established the fact that okay, we need to we
need we need a clear path to get to the Games,
a lot of the information that I think our members
were hearings were incorrect in their interpretation on how to
get to the Games. So we had to really change
(18:58):
the messaging and we had to start literally from scratch.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
So we had the.
Speaker 4 (19:02):
Option of continuing to hope and wait that national teams
would just appear and then we would have enough to
do a World Championships. And you know, again, we were
doing that strategy for thirty years and it wasn't working.
So we decided to just start small and expand right
because I think the first thing we needed to establish
was what is our market, what is our reality?
Speaker 3 (19:25):
Where are the players?
Speaker 4 (19:27):
Because there's no way that every sports in the world
have fairly equal amount of male and female athletes.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
Except for pair of ice hockey.
Speaker 4 (19:36):
Like that's there's no way that women in general just
gathered and decided, you know what, pair of ice hockey
is not for us, So we're just gonna step aside.
No I think the problem was that they didn't know
they could play. So the first thing we had to
do is show them that there's a sport for them
if they're interested in that sport. So that's why we
started with a Challenge. So we didn't have enough teams
(19:57):
to do a World Championships. We didn't have enough knowledge
of the market of again where our athletes were. We
needed to share the information to our existing member that
this was a possibility if they wanted to join us
in that journey. So we started small. We started with
the Women's World Challenge. We said it's going to be
a sanctioned event, so we're going to follow the same
(20:19):
rules as we do at all of our events, but
it's not gonna be a World Championships. So with that
we were able to get USA and Canada. They raise
their hand first, and then when GB Great Britain heard
that this event was starting, then they started their programs,
so they went from zero to a full squad. Then
(20:40):
they competed as a third team, and then we just
told everybody in the world, hey, if you want to play,
we'll make a team of basically renegade athletes that want
to play. Right, So we got one athlete from Latvia
and one from Germany and two from Norway, and we
just assemble the team World.
Speaker 3 (20:57):
So that's how the word got out that.
Speaker 4 (20:59):
There was a sanctioned event annually that was happening that
women could play. We also went out and recruited all
female officials, so both on and off the ice, the
entire event was led by women.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
So that's how we did it.
Speaker 4 (21:13):
So we started by getting the word out and now
it's grown to the point where we can officially have
our first World Championship.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
Okay, so I want to talk about the World Championship,
but I want to mention something. So my producer Alex
wrote a story for NBC Sports on her turf back
in twenty twenty two, talking about starting to create this
Paralympic pipeline for women because of the restrictions around it
being quote unquote open or co ed, but that not
really in practice, allowing for very many women to play.
And to your point, it's almost like there's two problems.
(21:44):
One was they didn't necessarily think they could play at
all because they didn't see a lot of women and
because there weren't women making those final rosters. On the
other hand, there were women who were playing who were
running into issues with unclear rules. There was a Swedish
led hockey player who actually showed up at the two
thousand and six ter Reno Paralympics aiming to play with
her team and then was told she wasn't able to
because she was a woman, and she had been under
(22:06):
the impression that things had been opened, but at one
point during the nineties the.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Early two thousands, the sport had sort of.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
Switched being only men, but hadn't really been updated to
the point where she was informed about that before arriving
at the game, so she had to kind of be
a cheerleader for her team despite having played with them.
That sparked this inquiry that allowed them to go back
to being mixed gender ahead of the twenty ten Vancouver Paralympics,
but still there were so few women competing that it
might as well have not been co ed right, which
(22:34):
leads us back to where you are. Where you're trying
to create this pipeline where you say, yes, you can play,
and we're going to make opportunities for you to play
in the women's space, so that you are guaranteed or
not guaranteed, but so that you have an option to
actually make a roster and compete, which brings us to
this incredible event that's happening for the very first time,
the Women's World Championships, just a few days in Slovakia.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
So tell us about the Championships.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
Why is this such a big thing, and how did
that women's development pathway that you started end up increasing
participation enough to allow for this to happen.
Speaker 4 (23:07):
Yeah, so really I can't stretch enough how big of
a deal it is, right. I mean, I'm looking at
the numbers and it's going to be a little less
than thirty years after the first ever men's World Championship,
and you know, I compare it with the ICHEF. I
think they had a sixty year gap between their first
men's World champ and their first women's World champ So,
you know, we're getting fifty percent. Thirty years is still
(23:29):
a big difference. Finally we get to, you know, put
an end to this and just say like no, we
now have officially annual Women's World Championship. So that is
amazing and also like a huge thank you to NPC Slovakia,
who is hosting that event. So they're the one who's
putting the event together on the ground, and there have
been great partners of ours and just the fact that
(23:51):
they're welcoming the world to beautiful Doney Cubin where we'll
be going, is just great. So I think when it
comes to you know, how we got there, it's going
to sound silly, but it's repetition, repetition, repetition, Like we
say the same thing to our members over and over
again for the last five years, and still every year
I get like, oh, really women can play, or like, oh,
(24:14):
this year is the first women World Challenge, Like.
Speaker 3 (24:16):
Yes, yes it is. Please take notes or read the
minutes that we sent you.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
It is.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
We are serious about this, please show up right.
Speaker 4 (24:25):
So what's been great is that we've got new national
teams now because for the last when we were doing
the Women's World Challenge, we always had USA, Canada and
Great Britain. Now Norway has its own national teams, Australia
as its own national team that is joining the event.
And then we're also going to do a Team World
as well, because we want those athletes in Team Worlds
(24:47):
to go back to their countries and again share the word,
share the message that it's serious.
Speaker 3 (24:53):
It is happening. I think one of.
Speaker 4 (24:56):
The issue that we had in the past was that
there was always this narrative of like, yes, a women's
World Championship will come along the way, yes in the
near future, Like no, now it's real. So we said
it was going to happen five years ago, and we're
sticking to our timeline. So we're going to continue the messaging.
We're going to continue to say this is year one,
(25:17):
We're going to have another one next year and another
one after that.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
Our goal is still to go to the.
Speaker 4 (25:22):
Twenty thirty Paralympic Winter Games. It is very ambitious. Some
might say aggressive, but I'll take it because between now
and the time we need to do the application for
twenty thirty, basically we need to have eight national teams.
Now we're at five, so we're still again. We went
from zero team to three teams in a year, and
(25:44):
then we went from three teams to five teams in
three years. It's not impossible that we get to eight teams.
But we need the countries to again answer the call
and show up.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
Yeah, you mentioned the rise and participation just from the
increased kind of awareness, dedication, repetition to the point where
female athlete representation in pair of hockey rows from point
seventy six percent to twenty one point seventy five percent
in just three years. So nearly twenty two percent of
pair of ice hockey players.
Speaker 2 (26:15):
Are now women.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
After for so long it felt like they didn't even
realize that there was an opportunity for them to play,
So already well on the way to creating more opportunity,
more programs, more countries that could be represented for this
particular championship, this first one, USA, Canada, Great Britain, Norway,
Australia and a Team World So tell me about the
Team World team.
Speaker 4 (26:37):
Yeah, so Team Worlds we have athletes from literally everywhere
around the world. So we have athletes from Finland, Sweden, Korea, Germany.
France is there as well. So they all train either
with men or they trend by themselves in their own country.
For xyzad reason, they don't have a national women's teams program.
(27:00):
Because of that, they are registering as individual athletes under
their their their country. Then we get them together literally,
we announced their roster officially last week. We introduced them
to their teammates, so they started their WhatsApp group. We
introduced them to their coaches. So we're getting coaches from
national program as well. So we're getting the coach from Germany,
(27:22):
We're getting the head coach from Slovakia, We're getting the
head coach from Czech Ya. They're all coming in and
then it's going to be their team for the week,
win or lose. They probably some translators, yes, yes, a
lot of Google Translate, a lot of phone, a lot of.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
Hand signals or I don't know how they're going to
come up with the ways to communicate with each other
on the ice in such a short time, but what
an incredibly fun way to be connected to people from
all over the world.
Speaker 4 (27:48):
Yeah, and that's that's what's amazing about this this event,
or just the women's pathway in general, is just all
the connection that those athletes are making. And that's something
I always tell the Adam leads and the coaches and
the managers. It's like, as much as we want, you know,
I expect everybody to want to win, it's like you're
not just winning a medal this year, like you are
(28:09):
playing to make sure that the dream continues, to make
sure that in ten fifteen years from now, women won't
even question whether or not they can't play right because
it will already be a consistent event, will already be
in the games probably right, So like we won't people
to understand how much it means for the sport but
(28:30):
also for the future generations. Everything that we're doing this
year is going to have an impact for the next
duration of the sport.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
Well, we'll keep an eye on that and we'll be
watching for you and your team, which is you, to
see what's next out of the world Pair of Ice Hockey.
Thank you so much for your time and congrats on
getting this tournament up and running and I hope it's
an absolute blast and a thrill for everyone that gets
to compete and changes the landscape as we approach the
upcoming Olympics and Paralympics and the ones in the future
(28:59):
that you hope to compet.
Speaker 3 (29:01):
Great, Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
Thanks again to Michelle for taking the time. We got
to take another break. When we come back, it's time
to hang another plaque in the Good Game Hall of Fame.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
Welcome back Slices.
Speaker 1 (29:20):
It's time to open the door, or better yet, smash
it down to welcome in the latest inductee into the
Good Game Hall of Fame. Ah Yes, the Good Game
Hall of Fame, where we celebrate women's sports lore, the
kind of legendary stories that we should all know by heart,
just like we know about Kurt Shillings, Bloody Sock and
(29:40):
the break lights outside Dodger Stadium, as fans who left
early heard the roar for Kirk Gibson's legendary World Series
walk off Homer. Honestly, we got some catching up to
do when it comes to women's sports stories. So grab
another plaque and find a good place on the wall,
because today we've got another inductee.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
The last place.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
Dallas Wings may be struggling, but Page is still finding
a way to fly, and during a game last week
against the Los Angeles Sparks, the twenty three year old
guard set the WNBA single game rookie scoring record, recording
forty four points in the wings eighty one to eighty loss.
Little context on Becker's big night. Her forty four points
accounted for fifty five percent of Dallas's total, the fifth
(30:21):
highest percentage in WNBA history and highest mark any player
has achieved since two thousand and four, and Becker's efficiency
was off the charts. She shot seventeen of twenty one,
becoming the first WNBA player to shoot at least eighty
percent from the field while scoring forty or more points. Now,
it's worth noting that back in the league's inaugural season
in nineteen ninety seven, then first year WNBA player Cynthia
(30:44):
Cooper also scored forty four points in a game. But
given the Cooper was thirty four years old at the
time and had previously played professionally overseas for more than
a decade, the true rookie record was previously held by
Candice Parker, who scored forty points in her rookie season
in two thousand and eight.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
Hat's off to Page.
Speaker 1 (31:01):
It's hard to believe that just a few months ago
she was cutting down the nets with her Yukon Huskies,
and since she's probably lost more games than the rest
of her career combined, but we know that brighter days ahead.
And one fun footnote to this, sitting court side to
watch Page break this record was star of Criminal Mind
Schamar Moore, one of two people that Paige had said
(31:23):
would be her top choice to come see her play now.
Page said that because she's a huge Criminal minds fan. I,
on the other hand, worked at a restaurant in La
in my twenties, and when Shamar Moore walked in, I
literally dropped all of the silver where I was holding
because he is so frickin' hot.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
I don't think that's why.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
Page wanted him to be there, but we all have
her own reasons for getting excited about Shamar Moore sitting
court side. Anyway, Congrats to Paige and welcome to the
Good Game Hall of Fame. We love that you're listening slices,
but we want you to get in the game every
day too, So here's our good Game play of the day.
Follow along as the inaugural Women's Para Hockey World Champion
and Ships get underway. The tournament starts tomorrow in Slovakia
(32:03):
and continues through Sunday. We'll link to the full schedule
as well as the Paralympic YouTube page where you can
stream every game in the show notes and we always
love to hear from you, 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 don't forget to subscribe Rain and.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
Review, y'all. It's so easy watch.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
Chelsea Chasing Sheep rating twenty out of twenty Properly Contained
Sheep review. There's nothing like a team that puts a
little fun spin on training camp duties. In a session
a little over a week ago, Women's Super League side
CHELSEAFC got some recovery work in by hurting sheep at
a farm near the club's training ground in the Netherlands.
The team posted a video from that session and it
(32:47):
is pure gold. It's no wonder that attacking third calls
them side QUESTFC. So good we'll link to it in
our show notes. We're glad to see Chelsea's players back
in action, aren't you. The flock or squad kicks off
the Super League slate on September fifth against Manchester City
from Stamford Bridge, and it's an afternoon start for us
(33:08):
here in the States, so it won't even be past
your bedtime. Sorry, I sheepishly had to ram that one in. Okay, Okay,
that was bad. Oh my gosh, you've heard enough. Oh
my god, I'm wooly sorry. Now it's your turn, rate
and review. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
See you tomorrow. Good game, Michelle, Good game. Slices of Wisconsin.
Speaker 1 (33:32):
You a full thickness evulsion of a right adduct or
longest tendon. Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart
women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.
You can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network,
our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive
(33:54):
producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder.
Our edit are Emily Rutter, Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch and
Gianna Palmer. Our associate producer is Lucy Jones. Production assistance
from Avery Loftus and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're back
from Door County, Wisconsin, full of spotted cow at, cheese curds,
and newly friends with a goat named Natcho. It's Monday,
August twenty fifth, and on today show, we'll be talking
to Michelle Laflam, the senior manager for World Para Hockey,
about the first ever Women's Para Hockey World Championship, which
gets underway this week, why the sports open gender label
(00:24):
hasn't helped with the development of the women's game, and
her ambitious goals looking ahead to the twenty thirty Paralympics.
Plus rising temps meet rising tempers, triple doubling and hat
tricking with speed, and it's time to hang another plaque
in the Good Game Hall of Fame. It's all coming
up right after this Welcome back slices, Happy Monday. Here's
(00:52):
what you need to know today. Let's start with the
NWSL where a new attendance record was set. On Saturday.
AFC welcomed a sold out crowd of forty ninety one
people to Oracle Park, home of the MLB's San Francisco Giants,
for their match with the Washington Spirit. The mark broke
the previous NWSL record of thirty five thousand, set during
(01:13):
a Chicago Stars BFC game at Wrigley Field in June
of last year. BAFC ended up losing the match three
to two, and the team is now winless in its
last six games, but not all bad news. In addition
to being the best attended NWSL game of all time,
the match also broke the attendance record for any US
women's pro sports league. Per ESPN, the NWSL now has
(01:35):
forty eight of the top fifty most attended games in
US women's pro sports history. Another record broken in the
NWSL this weekend, this time by the Chicago Stars.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Lude Mila.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
The Brazilian striker, scored three goals in ten minutes in
the Stars game against the North Carolina Current JO on
Friday to break the NWSL record for fastest hat trick
in league history. The game ended in a three to
three draw, with all six goals coming in the second half,
including Ludmila's equalizer in the eighty sixth minute. More on
WSL and an update to that heat delayed Casey Current
(02:07):
Orlando Pride game we told you about last week quick refresher,
which coincidentally is what the players and fans and attendance
needed that day.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
But I digress.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
So yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Just over a week ago, a match between the Kansas
City Current and the Orlando Pride was delayed due to
extreme heat, with the start pushed back incrementally until the
match finally kicked off three and a half hours later
than intended. The game was initially slated to air on
CBS at three pm Local time four pm Eastern, one
of eleven regular season matches that CBS was set to
air on network television. Due to the delay, it ended
(02:41):
up just being streamed on CBS's website and app instead.
According to new reporting from The Athletic, midway through that
three and a half hour delay, League Commissioner Jessica Berman
threatened to find Kansas City due to a disagreement about
the delay and heat checks. Per the Athletic sources quote,
Berman told current owners in a phone call that the
team could be fined for breaking protocols by asking for
(03:04):
a heat check. After the league decided to go forward
with the game, Berman said, according to the sources, that
missing the scheduled broadcast window would cost the NWSL millions
of dollars end quote. The Athletics report notes that both
teams initially contacted the league at ten thirty am the
morning of the game to ask for a postponement, but
the League denied that request, per the Athletic sources, with
(03:27):
the game slated to kickoff at three pm local time,
the wet bulb globe temperature you remember, that's the heat
index measurement used to determine whether a game is allowed
to be played, was too high and rising. But about
forty five minutes after the game was supposed to kick off,
officials took another reading and it came in at ninety
one point eight degrees fahrenheit, just below the threshold of
ninety two point three degrees where a game would be allowed.
(03:49):
But per the Athletic sources, a cloud was passing overhead
at the time of the reading, and staff on the
ground were certain that the temperature would.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Rise again after the cloud passed.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Kansas City's medical staff contacted league medical staff and advocated
for taking another reading fifteen minutes later, citing the passing cloud,
which the league's medical staff agreed to. Sure enough, when
the next reading was taken fifteen minutes later, the wet
bulb globe temperature had spiked to ninety five point six degrees,
triggering another delay. Per the Athletic It was at this
(04:18):
point that Berman contacted Kansas City owners, warning them that
they had broken protocol and would be fined, though it
is unclear if the league will follow through on that fine.
And there's more bad news out of that game. You
might remember we told you that Once the game finally started,
Pride star Barbara Banda left the pitch just fifteen minutes
in with an injury. While testing has revealed she suffered
(04:40):
what they called a full thickness evulsion of her right
adductor longest tendon aka a hip adductor tendon injury, and
now band has been placed on the season ending injury list.
She was the twenty twenty four NWSL Championship MVP, the
African Women's Player of the Year last year, and the
BBC's Women's Footballer of the Year. She's played a huge
which part in Orlando's success since she joined the team
(05:02):
in March of twenty twenty four, and of course for
their championship win last year. In a statement, Pride GM
Haley Carter said, quote, Barbara has been instrumental to our
success and losing a player of for caliber is heartbreaking
for the entire organization.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
End quote.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Now, the excellent reporting from the Athletic on this game
is not likely the last we're going to hear about it,
with criticism of NWSL Commissioner Jessca Berman growing after fallout
from both this game and the Angel City Utah Royals
game back in May. That continued despite the on field
collapse of Savvy King. In fact, one fan on Blue
Sky reported that they brought a sign that read Berman
out to this past Saturday's Gotham game and that the
(05:39):
sign was confiscated. I think the criticism of Berman and
NWSL leadership this year has been fair, from scheduling issues
to the tone deaf unwell Supporters Group initiative, and more.
It feels like the league just hasn't quite been ready
for the moment. The incredible increased investment in women's sports
in general has been a blessing, but with it comes
a ton of response ability for leadership, whether be NWSL
(06:02):
players and coaches or WNBA players. There's been an uptick
and folks criticizing their leagues throughout this season's growing pains
with more teams, more games, longer seasons and more opportunities
for things like primetime slots and money making events. Commissioners
for both leagues and their support staff are going to
need to have to work that much harder to prioritize
player safety and center player health and wellness. That means
(06:25):
accounting for increased player security, being intentional about scheduling games
considering both weather and rest, and a lot more to
the WNBA. With two and a half weeks left in
the regular season, we have a little bit more clarity
on the playoff picture. In the last week, the Connecticut Sun,
Chicago Sky, and Dallas Wings have all been mathematically eliminated
from the postseason meantime. As of this recording, the Minnesota
(06:49):
Links remain the only team to have officially clinched so far.
That leaves nine teams fighting for seven spots. Behind the Links,
You've got the Atlanta Dream, Las Vegas Aces, Phoenix Mercury,
and the New York Liberty have fallen to fifth.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Also too early to start talking about the.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Twenty twenty six draft, cuz with the teams being eliminated,
I'm already thinking about the Wings getting lazy for asy
paisy together again. In the pros, Paige Beecker's Asy Fud
on a team together again. Forget the amazing basketball, think
about the content, y'all.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
But wait a minute.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
If the Wings take Lauren Betts out of Ucla instead,
that could mean Azy Fudd's available for my Chicago Sky.
Forget Paisy now, I'm dreaming of Azy serving up Angel
in the post. Sorry, sorry, back to this season and
back to the top ranked Links with the FISA call
you're still out with injury. Forward Jessica Shepherd has been
(07:43):
stepping up in a big way for Minnesota. In the
team's ninety five ninety win over the Indiana Fever on Friday,
she recorded the fastest triple double in WNBA history, achieving
the feat in twenty two minutes. In comparison, Alyssa Thomas,
the WNBA's triple double Queen, recorded her fastest in twenty
eight minutes back in twenty twenty three. CBAS Sports Jack
Maloney has a great breakdown of Shepherd's historic night, which
(08:06):
we'll link to in the show notes. Collier has been
sidelined for the last seven games, with the Links going
a fine five and two in her absence, but on
Sunday night, she announced in og fashion that they wouldn't
have to win without her anymore.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Before Minnesota's Sunday night game against the.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Fever, the team put out a statement mirroring the famous
Michael Jordan facts announcing his return to the NBA.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
The letter read simply quote.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
The following statement was released today by Nafisa Collier through
the Minnesota Links social media team located in Minneapolis, Minnesota,
in response to questions about her injury status.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Quote unquote, I'm back with a crown emoji and.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
The contact number in the corner of the statement for
any questions six one two MVP fee. You think she
hears those footsteps from Asia Wilson and Alissa Thomas, She
sure does. Great to see Nafisa Collier back. And speaking
of Alissa Thomas, wouldn't you know it, she got another
(09:05):
triple double soon. We're just gonna have to start telling
you when she doesn't get a triple double. The Phoenix
Mercury star tied her own single season triple double record
on Friday night, with her sixth of the year, recording
thirteen points, twelve rebounds, and sixteen assists in the Mercury's
eighty one seventy two win over the Golden State Valkyries.
In that game, Thomas, who is in her first season
with the Mercury following an eleven year run with the
(09:27):
Connecticut Sun, tied Phoenix's single game assist record as well.
Mercury fans flood at the stadium with MVP chants during
Thomas's impressive outing on Friday night, and they're right, we
better have her name on the MVP shortlist. We have
been remiss in not including her. I mean, just listen
to this stat. Thomas has more triple doubles in her
(09:47):
last nine games five than any other WNBA player has
in their entire career. Four for Sabrina and Escu to rugby,
where the Women's World Cup got underway on Friday, with
the tenth ranked US Eagles getting routed by host nation
and tournament favorite England sixty nine to seven, but in
front of more than forty two thousand fans, which made
(10:09):
it the best attended game in Women's Rugby World Cup history.
Next up for the US a chance to redeem themselves
another group stage match, this time against Australia next Saturday.
We'll link to the full Rugby World Cup schedule in
the show notes to tennis. The women's singles draw at
the US Open got underway on Sunday, with world number
one Arena Sablenka starting her tournament off with a win
(10:30):
over Switzerland's Rebecca Masarova. Another noteworthy game, Alexander Iala made
history becoming the first player representing the Philippines to win
a major singles match in the Open era, defeating Clara Tawson.
The first round continues today with Madison Keys, Taylor Townsend,
and Venus Williams all in action. We'll link to the
full US Open schedule in the show notes, and if
(10:51):
you missed it, be sure to check out my interview
with tennis legend Pam Shreiver live from the US Open
last week. She did a great job breaking down all
the favorites for this year tournament.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
And I'll be back at.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
The US Open tomorrow on Billy Jean Kings Sweet for
some more action and maybe another couple Honey juices. Honestly,
for the amount that I promote this drink, they should
be paying me Grey Goose call me slices. This weekend,
my super slice Hobby Brad and I rolled up to
Wisconsin for the official Dinah Tarassi retirement bench dedication. Brad
(11:24):
sister Becca and her family are wisconsinnight, so we crashed
at their place on Friday night, and then they made
the trek with us to Dora County on Saturday and
it was a gorgeous, not too hot, sunny, perfect day
for a celebration. I gave out some prizes, I cut
the big red ribbon and we watched as it was
put into place on the observation deck looking out at
the beach at Whitefish Dune State Park.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Got a shout out.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
John from the park who helped us out all day
and installed it. He told me lots of folks have
checked in over the last month or so hoping to
see the bench when they were visiting the park, so
he's super excited that it's finely in place. Big shout
out to Sarah who also helped throughout the whole process,
and a huge thank you to Nacho the Goat and
his handlers. Nacho not only gamely war Dinah's number three
(12:06):
Mercury jersey, he also took photos with any and all passerby,
and he even took a little goat whiz on the
jersey as well, making it officially game worn. I have
to decide if I want to wash it before I
sent it to DT to sign, or if I should
give it to her appropriately covered in a little goat
sweat if you will. Some super slices made the trip
from pretty far places like Madison and Two Rivers and
(12:29):
hung out afterward at the hitching Boast for some beers
and snacks and chatted all things good game which was
super super fun. High fives especially to both Sarah's, Kelly
Whitney and Emily. I loved getting to hang with you
all and had a blast at the bench and at
the hitching post and just taking in all the sights
of Dori County. A video of the whole day is
soon to come. We got to take a quick break
(12:50):
when we come back.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
It's Michelle Laflop.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
We caught up with her last week ahead at the
inaugural Women's Para Hockey World Championships. Joining us now, she's
the Senior Manager for World Para Ice Hockey at the
International Paralympic Committee. Originally from Montreal, Canada and now based
in Germany, she's worked with the NHL's Ottawa Senators, Hockey Canada,
(13:14):
the Invictus Games, and the Pan and Para Pan American Games.
She has degrees in English, Russian and Fine Arts. Has
won the King Charles the Third Coronation Medal and the
IPC International Women's Day Award. She was recently named to
the Leaders Under forty class of twenty twenty five by
Leaders in Sport.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
It's Michelle laflam Hi, Michelle Hi, Sarah, English, Russian and
Fine Arts.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
I assume you also speak French based on that last
name in the Canadian roots.
Speaker 4 (13:38):
Yeah, originally from Montreal. So first language is French and
then just crushed English in college and Russian and university.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Yeah. Yeah, No, biggie, any other languages or are we
limited to those?
Speaker 4 (13:50):
No? Sadly yeah, I've been in Germany for five years
now and it's just it's not getting it.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Do you want to hear my favorite German word, of course, please,
vulcan kratzer.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
I'll take it.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
It means means skyscraper, amazing, just love.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
We're talking to ahead of the first ever Women's Para
Hockey World Championship, and before we get to that tournament,
I do want to clarify a couple of things. First,
we have seen the terms para ice hockey sled hockey,
sledge hockey.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
That's all the same sport, right.
Speaker 4 (14:21):
I'm so glad that you ask, especially if this is
in the US. So the official name of the sports
is para ice hockey. In twenty sixteen there was a rebrand,
so we went from sled sled hockey.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
To para ice hockey. I always joke.
Speaker 4 (14:37):
With Temusay that just like your centimeters and miles and
foot in inches, you'll eventually you'll catch on. But yeah,
it is the same sport, and it is para ice hockey.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
For now, we're insisting on saying sled hockey, and we
will until we are stubbornly forced to change. I want
to talk about the history of women's para hockey. What
are some of the challenges that the sport has face
in the past.
Speaker 4 (15:01):
Yes, I mean a lot of it comes from, I
want to say, I think good intention. So, for those
of you who don't know, pair of ice hockey at
the Paralympics has been an open sport. So basically what
it means is that it's not a mixed sport, so
it's not mandatory that men and women compete.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
Together, but it is allowed.
Speaker 4 (15:21):
So what's happened is that because there was this door
that was semi open. I don't think anything had been
done at the national level to really grow the sports
by focusing solely on women. So there was always that's
saying of like, well, women can make the team, they're
just not making the roster. I'm like, okay, fair enough,
but it's been it's been thirty years now, so can
we just relook at the situation and try to address
(15:44):
the problem, which is what we've been doing over the
last over the last five years. So yes, I think
one of the main issue was the fact that there
wasn't a real pathway for the women to grow as
an independent team. There was always this dream of maybe
they'll make the roster, but it's just when you look
at the number, it wasn't adding up.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
Yeah, So, like you said, it's open or co ed.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
At the Paralympics, teams of historically been limited to seventeen players.
They can expand to eighteen if a woman is included,
but that hasn't happened very often, right.
Speaker 4 (16:15):
No, so we've only ever had three. So the first
the first pair of ice hockey event at the Paralympics
was in nineteen ninety four, so three since nineteen ninety four,
and that's not enough.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
And never never for the US led hockey team or
no hockey team at the senior national level.
Speaker 4 (16:33):
That's right, So never at a World champ Never at
a World Cup or any of those those events.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
No, okay, So since twenty twenty, you've led World Pair
of Ice Hockey's entire global operations, so grassroots development all
the way up to the Paralympic winner games, as the
only full time employee. When you took that job in
twenty twenty, what was your primary assignment or.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
What was the goal when taking the job.
Speaker 4 (16:55):
Yeah, I mean the goal was, here's the federation, let's go.
So basically, we did a strategic plan when I first started,
and one of the priority that we had determined was
development just in general. So we wanted to develop the
women's programs, we wanted to develop our officials, we wanted
(17:15):
to develop new nations that maybe weren't involved in pair
of ice hockey before. So just growing the sport in
general was very a key strategic point for us, and
this is what we've been going since then. Really, so
all of the markets that we can try to hit,
we're trying to target.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
And that's on men's and women's side, correct, Yes, yeah,
So did you replace someone who was the only full
time employee or did World Pair of Ice Hockey just
not really have much infrastructure before you arrived.
Speaker 4 (17:42):
So in twenty twenty, I did replace someone who went
on maternity leave. So she has a beautiful family now
and I was able to join in. At that time,
we were two staff, so one manager, one coordinator. Then
of course, good old COVID happened, and then we looked
at the bud and we looked at the finances and
we're like, okay, let's let's see.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
What we can do.
Speaker 4 (18:04):
And then the coordinator was moved to another sport and
she did fantastic in that new role, and it was
a sport that she really really liked, so it was
a perfect fit for her. And then I just took on,
you know everything, people, fine, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Before we get to the first ever women's World Championship,
I want to talk about the Para Ice Hockey Women's
World Challenge. So Team USA Para Hockey are the three
time champions of that event. They've won it every year
since the inaugural tournament back in twenty twenty two in
Green Bay, Wisconsin. Who competes in that World Challenge and
why was it maybe not enough?
Speaker 4 (18:38):
Yeah, So for us, what we did, like, once we
first established the fact that okay, we need to we
need we need a clear path to get to the Games,
a lot of the information that I think our members
were hearings were incorrect in their interpretation on how to
get to the Games. So we had to really change
(18:58):
the messaging and we had to start literally from scratch.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
So we had the.
Speaker 4 (19:02):
Option of continuing to hope and wait that national teams
would just appear and then we would have enough to
do a World Championships. And you know, again, we were
doing that strategy for thirty years and it wasn't working.
So we decided to just start small and expand right
because I think the first thing we needed to establish
was what is our market, what is our reality?
Speaker 3 (19:25):
Where are the players?
Speaker 4 (19:27):
Because there's no way that every sports in the world
have fairly equal amount of male and female athletes.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
Except for pair of ice hockey.
Speaker 4 (19:36):
Like that's there's no way that women in general just
gathered and decided, you know what, pair of ice hockey
is not for us, So we're just gonna step aside.
No I think the problem was that they didn't know
they could play. So the first thing we had to
do is show them that there's a sport for them
if they're interested in that sport. So that's why we
started with a Challenge. So we didn't have enough teams
(19:57):
to do a World Championships. We didn't have enough knowledge
of the market of again where our athletes were. We
needed to share the information to our existing member that
this was a possibility if they wanted to join us
in that journey. So we started small. We started with
the Women's World Challenge. We said it's going to be
a sanctioned event, so we're going to follow the same
(20:19):
rules as we do at all of our events, but
it's not gonna be a World Championships. So with that
we were able to get USA and Canada. They raise
their hand first, and then when GB Great Britain heard
that this event was starting, then they started their programs,
so they went from zero to a full squad. Then
(20:40):
they competed as a third team, and then we just
told everybody in the world, hey, if you want to play,
we'll make a team of basically renegade athletes that want
to play. Right, So we got one athlete from Latvia
and one from Germany and two from Norway, and we
just assemble the team World.
Speaker 3 (20:57):
So that's how the word got out that.
Speaker 4 (20:59):
There was a sanctioned event annually that was happening that
women could play. We also went out and recruited all
female officials, so both on and off the ice, the
entire event was led by women.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
So that's how we did it.
Speaker 4 (21:13):
So we started by getting the word out and now
it's grown to the point where we can officially have
our first World Championship.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
Okay, so I want to talk about the World Championship,
but I want to mention something. So my producer Alex
wrote a story for NBC Sports on her turf back
in twenty twenty two, talking about starting to create this
Paralympic pipeline for women because of the restrictions around it
being quote unquote open or co ed, but that not
really in practice, allowing for very many women to play.
And to your point, it's almost like there's two problems.
(21:44):
One was they didn't necessarily think they could play at
all because they didn't see a lot of women and
because there weren't women making those final rosters. On the
other hand, there were women who were playing who were
running into issues with unclear rules. There was a Swedish
led hockey player who actually showed up at the two
thousand and six ter Reno Paralympics aiming to play with
her team and then was told she wasn't able to
because she was a woman, and she had been under
(22:06):
the impression that things had been opened, but at one
point during the nineties the.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Early two thousands, the sport had sort of.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
Switched being only men, but hadn't really been updated to
the point where she was informed about that before arriving
at the game, so she had to kind of be
a cheerleader for her team despite having played with them.
That sparked this inquiry that allowed them to go back
to being mixed gender ahead of the twenty ten Vancouver Paralympics,
but still there were so few women competing that it
might as well have not been co ed right, which
(22:34):
leads us back to where you are. Where you're trying
to create this pipeline where you say, yes, you can play,
and we're going to make opportunities for you to play
in the women's space, so that you are guaranteed or
not guaranteed, but so that you have an option to
actually make a roster and compete, which brings us to
this incredible event that's happening for the very first time,
the Women's World Championships, just a few days in Slovakia.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
So tell us about the Championships.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
Why is this such a big thing, and how did
that women's development pathway that you started end up increasing
participation enough to allow for this to happen.
Speaker 4 (23:07):
Yeah, so really I can't stretch enough how big of
a deal it is, right. I mean, I'm looking at
the numbers and it's going to be a little less
than thirty years after the first ever men's World Championship,
and you know, I compare it with the ICHEF. I
think they had a sixty year gap between their first
men's World champ and their first women's World champ So,
you know, we're getting fifty percent. Thirty years is still
(23:29):
a big difference. Finally we get to, you know, put
an end to this and just say like no, we
now have officially annual Women's World Championship. So that is
amazing and also like a huge thank you to NPC Slovakia,
who is hosting that event. So they're the one who's
putting the event together on the ground, and there have
been great partners of ours and just the fact that
(23:51):
they're welcoming the world to beautiful Doney Cubin where we'll
be going, is just great. So I think when it
comes to you know, how we got there, it's going
to sound silly, but it's repetition, repetition, repetition, Like we
say the same thing to our members over and over
again for the last five years, and still every year
I get like, oh, really women can play, or like, oh,
(24:14):
this year is the first women World Challenge, Like.
Speaker 3 (24:16):
Yes, yes it is. Please take notes or read the
minutes that we sent you.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
It is.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
We are serious about this, please show up right.
Speaker 4 (24:25):
So what's been great is that we've got new national
teams now because for the last when we were doing
the Women's World Challenge, we always had USA, Canada and
Great Britain. Now Norway has its own national teams, Australia
as its own national team that is joining the event.
And then we're also going to do a Team World
as well, because we want those athletes in Team Worlds
(24:47):
to go back to their countries and again share the word,
share the message that it's serious.
Speaker 3 (24:53):
It is happening. I think one of.
Speaker 4 (24:56):
The issue that we had in the past was that
there was always this narrative of like, yes, a women's
World Championship will come along the way, yes in the
near future, Like no, now it's real. So we said
it was going to happen five years ago, and we're
sticking to our timeline. So we're going to continue the messaging.
We're going to continue to say this is year one,
(25:17):
We're going to have another one next year and another
one after that.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
Our goal is still to go to the.
Speaker 4 (25:22):
Twenty thirty Paralympic Winter Games. It is very ambitious. Some
might say aggressive, but I'll take it because between now
and the time we need to do the application for
twenty thirty, basically we need to have eight national teams.
Now we're at five, so we're still again. We went
from zero team to three teams in a year, and
(25:44):
then we went from three teams to five teams in
three years. It's not impossible that we get to eight teams.
But we need the countries to again answer the call
and show up.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
Yeah, you mentioned the rise and participation just from the
increased kind of awareness, dedication, repetition to the point where
female athlete representation in pair of hockey rows from point
seventy six percent to twenty one point seventy five percent
in just three years. So nearly twenty two percent of
pair of ice hockey players.
Speaker 2 (26:15):
Are now women.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
After for so long it felt like they didn't even
realize that there was an opportunity for them to play,
So already well on the way to creating more opportunity,
more programs, more countries that could be represented for this
particular championship, this first one, USA, Canada, Great Britain, Norway,
Australia and a Team World So tell me about the
Team World team.
Speaker 4 (26:37):
Yeah, so Team Worlds we have athletes from literally everywhere
around the world. So we have athletes from Finland, Sweden, Korea, Germany.
France is there as well. So they all train either
with men or they trend by themselves in their own country.
For xyzad reason, they don't have a national women's teams program.
(27:00):
Because of that, they are registering as individual athletes under
their their their country. Then we get them together literally,
we announced their roster officially last week. We introduced them
to their teammates, so they started their WhatsApp group. We
introduced them to their coaches. So we're getting coaches from
national program as well. So we're getting the coach from Germany,
(27:22):
We're getting the head coach from Slovakia, We're getting the
head coach from Czech Ya. They're all coming in and
then it's going to be their team for the week,
win or lose. They probably some translators, yes, yes, a
lot of Google Translate, a lot of phone, a lot of.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
Hand signals or I don't know how they're going to
come up with the ways to communicate with each other
on the ice in such a short time, but what
an incredibly fun way to be connected to people from
all over the world.
Speaker 4 (27:48):
Yeah, and that's that's what's amazing about this this event,
or just the women's pathway in general, is just all
the connection that those athletes are making. And that's something
I always tell the Adam leads and the coaches and
the managers. It's like, as much as we want, you know,
I expect everybody to want to win, it's like you're
not just winning a medal this year, like you are
(28:09):
playing to make sure that the dream continues, to make
sure that in ten fifteen years from now, women won't
even question whether or not they can't play right because
it will already be a consistent event, will already be
in the games probably right, So like we won't people
to understand how much it means for the sport but
(28:30):
also for the future generations. Everything that we're doing this
year is going to have an impact for the next
duration of the sport.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
Well, we'll keep an eye on that and we'll be
watching for you and your team, which is you, to
see what's next out of the world Pair of Ice Hockey.
Thank you so much for your time and congrats on
getting this tournament up and running and I hope it's
an absolute blast and a thrill for everyone that gets
to compete and changes the landscape as we approach the
upcoming Olympics and Paralympics and the ones in the future
(28:59):
that you hope to compet.
Speaker 3 (29:01):
Great, Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
Thanks again to Michelle for taking the time. We got
to take another break. When we come back, it's time
to hang another plaque in the Good Game Hall of Fame.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
Welcome back Slices.
Speaker 1 (29:20):
It's time to open the door, or better yet, smash
it down to welcome in the latest inductee into the
Good Game Hall of Fame. Ah Yes, the Good Game
Hall of Fame, where we celebrate women's sports lore, the
kind of legendary stories that we should all know by heart,
just like we know about Kurt Shillings, Bloody Sock and
(29:40):
the break lights outside Dodger Stadium, as fans who left
early heard the roar for Kirk Gibson's legendary World Series
walk off Homer. Honestly, we got some catching up to
do when it comes to women's sports stories. So grab
another plaque and find a good place on the wall,
because today we've got another inductee.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
The last place.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
Dallas Wings may be struggling, but Page is still finding
a way to fly, and during a game last week
against the Los Angeles Sparks, the twenty three year old
guard set the WNBA single game rookie scoring record, recording
forty four points in the wings eighty one to eighty loss.
Little context on Becker's big night. Her forty four points
accounted for fifty five percent of Dallas's total, the fifth
(30:21):
highest percentage in WNBA history and highest mark any player
has achieved since two thousand and four, and Becker's efficiency
was off the charts. She shot seventeen of twenty one,
becoming the first WNBA player to shoot at least eighty
percent from the field while scoring forty or more points. Now,
it's worth noting that back in the league's inaugural season
in nineteen ninety seven, then first year WNBA player Cynthia
(30:44):
Cooper also scored forty four points in a game. But
given the Cooper was thirty four years old at the
time and had previously played professionally overseas for more than
a decade, the true rookie record was previously held by
Candice Parker, who scored forty points in her rookie season
in two thousand and eight.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
Hat's off to Page.
Speaker 1 (31:01):
It's hard to believe that just a few months ago
she was cutting down the nets with her Yukon Huskies,
and since she's probably lost more games than the rest
of her career combined, but we know that brighter days ahead.
And one fun footnote to this, sitting court side to
watch Page break this record was star of Criminal Mind
Schamar Moore, one of two people that Paige had said
(31:23):
would be her top choice to come see her play now.
Page said that because she's a huge Criminal minds fan. I,
on the other hand, worked at a restaurant in La
in my twenties, and when Shamar Moore walked in, I
literally dropped all of the silver where I was holding
because he is so frickin' hot.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
I don't think that's why.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
Page wanted him to be there, but we all have
her own reasons for getting excited about Shamar Moore sitting
court side. Anyway, Congrats to Paige and welcome to the
Good Game Hall of Fame. We love that you're listening slices,
but we want you to get in the game every
day too, So here's our good Game play of the day.
Follow along as the inaugural Women's Para Hockey World Champion
and Ships get underway. The tournament starts tomorrow in Slovakia
(32:03):
and continues through Sunday. We'll link to the full schedule
as well as the Paralympic YouTube page where you can
stream every game in the show notes and we always
love to hear from you, 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 don't forget to subscribe Rain and.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
Review, y'all. It's so easy watch.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
Chelsea Chasing Sheep rating twenty out of twenty Properly Contained
Sheep review. There's nothing like a team that puts a
little fun spin on training camp duties. In a session
a little over a week ago, Women's Super League side
CHELSEAFC got some recovery work in by hurting sheep at
a farm near the club's training ground in the Netherlands.
The team posted a video from that session and it
(32:47):
is pure gold. It's no wonder that attacking third calls
them side QUESTFC. So good we'll link to it in
our show notes. We're glad to see Chelsea's players back
in action, aren't you. The flock or squad kicks off
the Super League slate on September fifth against Manchester City
from Stamford Bridge, and it's an afternoon start for us
(33:08):
here in the States, so it won't even be past
your bedtime. Sorry, I sheepishly had to ram that one in. Okay, Okay,
that was bad. Oh my gosh, you've heard enough. Oh
my god, I'm wooly sorry. Now it's your turn, rate
and review. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
See you tomorrow. Good game, Michelle, Good game. Slices of Wisconsin.
Speaker 1 (33:32):
You a full thickness evulsion of a right adduct or
longest tendon. Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart
women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.
You can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network,
our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive
(33:54):
producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder.
Our edit are Emily Rutter, Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch and
Gianna Palmer. Our associate producer is Lucy Jones. Production assistance
from Avery Loftus and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain
Host
Sarah Spain
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