July 17, 2025 • 33 mins
NFL coach. Team GB captain. Flag football queen.
In this Let Her Shoot mini-episode, we’re joined by Phoebe Schecter — former Buffalo Bills coach and international football star — to talk all things women’s flag football.
💥 Could Kelsey Plum be a quarterback?
🔥 Which 40-year-old players are DOMINATING the game?
🏈 And is flag football the next big Olympic sport?
This one’s funny, inspiring, and lowkey chaotic in the best way. Watch now!
🔗 Follow us everywhere @TheDailyWSports
🎧 Subscribe for more unfiltered women’s sports coverage
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Twice in one week. We're here this week.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Yeah, and I'm still in a bad mood. But we
do have a guest, so I have to have my
game on. I have to be nicer. I've already been
chastised for really just calling Sarah out for the first
time I've ever seen her in lipstick, glip gloss ever
in life, and I was just like, Wow, he's really
put took your game to a new level.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
And it's like, be nice to Sarah, just like.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
I had to be ready for our guests. I had
to be ready for our guests to.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Call you out on your stuff.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Guests ready, guests ready.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Let me down.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
They were like, Sarah looks nice, Trista, you leave her alone.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
You leave me alone.
Speaker 4 (00:36):
I'm I hot, he A'm I hot here I get
anything out wrong.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
This is my world.
Speaker 5 (00:41):
I make big moves in my big hus Since.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
I day that I was born, I've made a big
tim We have a guest.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
I'm so excited. Welcome to a mini episode of Let
Her Shoot. We are the podcast pretty much the only
podcast that we'll talk about women's sports like it's not
a baby bird egg waiting to break and never survive.
Like I'm not just going We are not going to
just empower and lift and give gold stars. We're gonna
do the whole thing, uplift, criticize, make jokes. The Caitlin
(01:11):
Clark outfit video has received some IYR which I do
not care. No kid gloves, disrespect for the athletes. We
got respect for the commentators, which is a little tease
for the show.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
All the reasons to stay locked in.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Sarah Chovnik still hanging by a thread on her bullshit
two time Emmy Award winning producer.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
You can see it.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
In the back. They're those Emmys. Well one Emmy she's
waiting on the other one.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
I think that one's on. I think it's on Layol, buying.
Speaker 4 (01:40):
That until the price comes down a little bit, because
they're like, they're like a grand.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
The Emmys are a victim of the tariffs. Trista Criek
doesn't worry about the tariffs of the Emmys because I
have zero of them. I think I've been nominated also
for zero.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (01:59):
Well, as this community already knows, let her shoot can
can mean anything, right, including let her.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Score a touchdown.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
So we have a very special guest, Phoebe Scheckter from
the Great Britain national team captain, NFL coach and one
of the biggest advocates for the growing game of flag
football women's flag football.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
So we are super excited. We've got a big event
this weekend. Phoebe, Welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 5 (02:28):
Thank you guys so much for having me. I love it.
Speaker 6 (02:31):
I love the grittiness already, the honesty and where we're
going with this.
Speaker 5 (02:36):
So I'm so thrilled.
Speaker 6 (02:38):
But yeah, I know, I can't wait to talk some
more flag football with you guys. Is It's one of
the fastest growing sports in the world right.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
Now, Phoebe.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
I hated when I just told you off air, right
before we came on, I play. I lived in DC
and I hated d C for like the first eighteen
months I lived there. And you know the thing that,
actually I swear I put this.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
On my mom's life.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
The one thing that got me to love d C
was flag football.
Speaker 5 (03:04):
Yeah, that's so good.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
I joined a co ed league and we played on
the National Mall and the Washington Monument.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Was one end zone, like looking that way, and then the.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
What's the other one, Sarah, The Capitol Building, the Capitol Building,
that's the one capital back Island super plugged into politics.
The Capitol Building was on the other side, and we
played right there on the grass of the National Mall,
and there was camaraderie. I was, obviously, I mean for
a very amateur side of things, pretty good. We all
(03:41):
were all were cleats, so we were fucking into it
right like people were, oh cleats.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
So anyway, I'm super excited about this.
Speaker 6 (03:49):
And I love that you played flag football in DC.
I mean, what a beautiful background.
Speaker 5 (03:54):
It's funny.
Speaker 6 (03:55):
One of my teammates from over in the UK, three
of them actually been out playing with the DC Divas,
the women's tackle team out there. Because so this weekend
I'm in Canton, Ohio, and they're playing the following weekend
for their finals in Canton, Ohio as well, with flag
and with tackles.
Speaker 5 (04:12):
So it all comes full circle.
Speaker 4 (04:14):
Tell us a bit why you're in Canton. What's going
on in Canton this weekend?
Speaker 5 (04:18):
Absolutely so.
Speaker 6 (04:19):
This week is the second annual NFL Flag Championships, and
ultimately last year the NFL took them over from NFL
Flag in the sense of they're making it one of
their tent pole events. And if you think about some
of the other tent pole events that the NFL have.
You're looking at Pro Bowl, the Super Bowl, the Draft.
(04:39):
I mean, these are massive events. And throughout the year,
all thirty two teams the NFL have regionals where teams
can then qualify to go and play in these huge
competitions this week, which are all literally.
Speaker 5 (04:53):
Being taken care of by ESPN.
Speaker 6 (04:55):
I mean, the coverage is going to be phenomenal and
I get to be there as a commentator for the
second year in a row for ESPN. We're covering the
fourteen you boys, and then we've got high school girls
age and lastly we've got International with eight different teams
from around the globe coming to compete.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
And how old are the how old are the ones
in those in the International?
Speaker 6 (05:20):
So International is a slightly different age group. It's twelve
you and at the moment you have to have two
girls on your roster. It helped me that is just
trying to get to a place where there are more
girls playing the sport. There's not enough girls to have
a girl's only team, but there are still girls that
really want to partake in it. And when you look
(05:41):
at NFL Flag, it's pretty much mixed or it's a
girls division, so you know, you've got to find a
way to make it work ultimately.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
You know what was I was talking to Sarah about
this this morning, and I said, as a lady in
flag football, I love playing COVID because I always felt
like guys would underestimate the women receivers and they would.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Double cover the men and I would. We had our
own little like hey, someone's laying off me signal. It
was pineapple. It was like pineapple, pineapple run like a
little diamond route and if I'm.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
On the move, phoebe, You're not catching me, girl, You're
not catching me.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
How how did you.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
Get interested in flag football?
Speaker 6 (06:22):
Well, first of all, I would love to play against you,
because I feel like you would be just so much fun,
just like smack talking the entire time she would. But honestly,
my journey through to get to where I am from
flag to flag football is not being straightforward whatsoever. I
as we kind of you introduced me earlier.
Speaker 5 (06:42):
I do live in the UK.
Speaker 6 (06:44):
I have dual citizenships, so my mom is British, so
I have two passports. I've been there for almost thirteen
years now, and I moved initially to work with horses
so something that is totally different from what I do today.
But when I moved over there, it was December in
England and I can't tell you how crossing the weather is.
(07:07):
It's horrid, and you know, it was just really long
days and I started to really miss home. And in
February I saw an ad for American football about thirty
minutes from me, and I thought this has to be
a sign. And so I think when you're out of
your comfort zone, you're so much more willing to take risks.
And I just went for it and tried out for
(07:27):
a team. Never played contact sport before, never really followed
the NFL or American football, but managed to make Great
Britain the national program, played and captained with them for
eleven years in tackle, and through tackle, I got involved in.
Speaker 5 (07:42):
Flag and flag.
Speaker 6 (07:43):
I've probably transitioned heavier into flag, especially in the past
five years, but both formats are just fantastic. And I
think as a woman, the way that it is empowered
me and given me confidence.
Speaker 5 (07:57):
There is no feeling like this.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
It's so funny.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
So we had a question from the viewers yesterday when
we recorded, and it was how we got into women's sports.
Ed Sarah's answer started with her time in equestrian and
I was like, okay, Sarah, you're going too far back.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
We don't give a fuck about it. And so I
almost did it.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
I almost did it to you just to keep the
bit going, but it would have you wouldn't have gotten
the joke.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
But anyway, Sarah, were you thinking that when she said that?
Speaker 4 (08:27):
Yeah, well, I mean I wanted to ask her just
because I feel like there's so few of us that
like come across each other, like out in the real
world that are like, you know, and I'm sure Phoebe's
heard this too, but equestrians not a sport.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
And so like we we we get that a lot.
Speaker 4 (08:43):
And so like when I hear someone who's like, well,
my athletic background started an equestrian, and I'm like, yes,
thank you.
Speaker 6 (08:49):
I predominantly worked with children's ponies. I'm only five foot
three in a bit, so I've got to I got
to work with the child Sarah, and see, look you're
on the same wavelength.
Speaker 5 (09:01):
But I loved it.
Speaker 6 (09:02):
We do all the competitions, the circuits, and then when
I ended up moving to England, half of my kind
of poll was doing something totally different. So doing three
day eventing, your postage show jumping in cross country, I thought,
I'm going to leave a really cushy job. It's going
to be to challenge myself and do something totally outside
(09:22):
the norm. And it was right after London twenty twelve
where he'd competed, so I thought, I'm going to leave
to be working for someone at the top of their
game after just competing in the Olympics.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
As someone who doesn't know really anything about horses, but
I do know about football as someone who's covered it
for a decade. Like for you, as someone who has
been immersed in both sports, what feels more physically like
fear producing? Is it being on a horse or is
it like headed towards someone who's like two hundred and
(09:55):
fifty pounds come and right at you.
Speaker 6 (09:59):
You know what, I don't even know if either actually
induced you at all.
Speaker 5 (10:03):
I don't really ever think so. I think.
Speaker 6 (10:05):
I think working with horses prepared me for so much
of my life, so it would be I mean, whether
you're talking about coaching the NFL and dealing with some
of these big dudes, where you're like, I've worked with
thousand pound animals, there's nothing you're going to say or
do that's going to phaze me or from being a
player myself. You know, I always think of fear as
it's really the same feeling as excitement, right, It's those
(10:28):
butterflies in your stomach.
Speaker 5 (10:29):
It's just how we translate that to ourselves.
Speaker 6 (10:32):
So whenever I feel fearful, I just kind of say,
I'm just really excited because I care a lot about it,
So I don't really feel the fear side of things,
But I do think both have equally been huge in
my kind of preparation for one or the other, and
like horses, just from a young age, the discipline, the responsibility,
(10:52):
all of those really intangible skills that actually then help
me so much in my football career.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
You never had fear of injury in either realm.
Speaker 6 (11:02):
Honestly, I've not gone wood. I've been so lucky, you know.
I've I got one of my first few times playing flags,
somebody broke my nose, But you just get right back
into it, you don't. I never really thought about it,
I guess. I mean, maybe you'd have a little bit
of fear riding sometimes if you know it's a kind
of wild one, But other than that, no.
Speaker 5 (11:23):
I just love it.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
I bet it.
Speaker 4 (11:25):
I feel like horses probably have to, like because when
when you're young and you get told like you're gonna
get hurt doing this, so you probably learn really really quickly,
like there's really not a lot of things to fear.
Speaker 6 (11:40):
Exactly, And I honestly, at the base of all that,
in regards to sports, gymnastics is by far the best
thing I would say any kid can do. Like learning
how to fall makes such a difference whether you're falling
off a horse, falling down to the ground. I would
say if you can do gymnastics, or have your kids
do gymnastics, that will benefit them.
Speaker 5 (11:59):
Or to things like that.
Speaker 6 (12:01):
That's we literally used to tackle have to teach girls
how to fall because people just tend to go stiff
and like really tense up. But you have to go
completely opposite. So falling off of horses and that whole
very cliche. You know, you fall off, you've got to
get right back on again. You can kind of carry
that mantra through every element of your life going forwards.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Oh, that's fascinating.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
You were also the Bills Tightened assistant from twenty eighteen
twenty nineteen. I go on WGR in Buffalo every Tuesday throughout.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
The NFL season.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
So I would say even as a Cowboys fan, I
root very, very heavily for the Bills. That's my that's
my little big b squad.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
What was that like?
Speaker 5 (12:45):
You know what?
Speaker 6 (12:46):
That was the most incredible experience, And I think, first off,
I'm so fortunate to get to be with an organization
that I'm sure tris so you see it now, they're
they're not like all the other teams out there.
Speaker 5 (12:58):
I mean not just because it's Buffalo.
Speaker 6 (12:59):
And that community is so unique, but from an ownership
through to Sean McDermott as a head coach, you know,
and it's such a cliche, you know, if everyone wants
to talk about culture, culture, but they truly have built
a phenomenal culture in Buffalo, you know, to the point
where people are wanting to go to Buffalo and it's
not the best place to live, right you're talking about
(13:22):
weather wise or anything like that, but they want to
be a part of what's being built there.
Speaker 5 (13:26):
And as a.
Speaker 6 (13:27):
Coach, you know, the players just want to know are
you going to get us better or not. They don't
care what you look like, what you believe in, you
could be purple green, who cares?
Speaker 5 (13:36):
Are you going to help us win games?
Speaker 6 (13:39):
And for me, it truly has been a life changing
experience to be in Buffalo, and I actually I'm going
back in two weeks to be with them for a
training camp for a couple of days.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
Oh, that's super dope. Sarah's a commander's fan. We don't
you know?
Speaker 4 (13:56):
Yeah, I almost wore my Jaden Janiel shirt today just
you know.
Speaker 5 (14:00):
I love him. I think he's phenomenal.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Best, He's the best.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
I ask people this that played flag and it's like
one of my favorite like random questions to ask, is
it more thrilling for you to catch even like a
screen pass to the house?
Speaker 5 (14:17):
Okay?
Speaker 3 (14:17):
Or a pick six?
Speaker 6 (14:20):
Ooh, I'm definitely defensive. I do both, but I'm defensive minded.
But if you can, if you can get a pick six,
that is so hard because the offense knows exactly where
they're going, they know the routs are running, they know
where they're trying to find the ball, throw the ball
based off the defense. So for you as a defender
to be able to read and react and make it
so perfect and then outrun everyone else like that is
(14:43):
so much.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
More challenging and just peak peak excitement.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Yeah, like a, so what why do you think the
sport is exploding so quickly now?
Speaker 6 (14:58):
I think like football's explode at such a high rate
because of predominantly the accessibility, right. Unlike tackle football, where
you need helmets, shoulder pads, a massive football field.
Speaker 5 (15:10):
In flag all you need are flag.
Speaker 6 (15:13):
Belts, You need a football and the field itself is
played on seventy by twenty five yard full field, so
you could fit three of those within a football field essentially,
or rugby or soccer field, and I think that helps
the There's fewer barriers to participation in terms of the
rules too. You know you've got, depending on what format
(15:34):
you're playing internationally, you've got four temps, gafway another four
to score, so it's easier for someone to digest. And
I think the last kind of two pieces are a
lot of parents are looking at starting their kids later
in tackle and flag is a great way again to
work on those fundamental skills to you know, help with
decision making and all of that. And then of course
(15:58):
just having flag football being the Olympics.
Speaker 5 (16:00):
Now LA three eight, I mean that is just.
Speaker 6 (16:03):
Open the floodgates in terms of the participation, people wanting
to be involved and globally right because the sport that
you could be anywhere in the world and you can
play this sport, and I think that element of it
is has been hugely exciting with truthfully, women leading the
way throughout all of this, whether you're looking at in
(16:25):
high school, you know, varsity sport in fifteen different states
and that will keep growing, or in college you can
get scholarships n AIA, JUCO soon to be you know,
d NC double A. So there's so many different ways
that you can play and that's all for women.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
What do you think has created the biggest shift that
you've seen in opportunities for women.
Speaker 5 (16:52):
I think it.
Speaker 6 (16:53):
Probably goes back to the kind of scholarship piece as well.
I mean, you know, just even talking about football for
a career for a while now, and you have seen
how these men get to They improve because of the
intangibles that you learn from football, right, the leadership, the teamwork,
(17:14):
the resilience, all these kind of key words that create
that perfect football athlete. Well, now females get the opportunity
to do that. And not only that, I can make
the decision to go and play and get a proper
school education and play a sport that I love so much.
And one of the stats that I love is around
(17:36):
forty percent of the young women who participate in flag
have actually never even played sport before. So you start
to look at that kind of thirteen to fifteen year
old age group and those are girls that you would
a lot of times lose to, you know, whatever that
may be, but now they're actually choosing to play sport.
And the mental health, the physical well being, I mean,
(17:58):
there's just so many like emotional social elements too, because
even if I look at it from hey, maybe I'm
not the biggest flag football fan, but I love the
social that I get from this group of women.
Speaker 5 (18:11):
You can absolutely get that too.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
I was just gonna say you mentioned the excitement for
the Olympics, which I took a note for because I
wanted to ask about the opportunities for women first before this.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
But Caitlyn Clark, I don't know if you saw this.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
I think the excitement around the Olympics were starting to
see almost other athletes from other sports chime in about
whether they would like to play or whether they think
they would be good at it, and that has its
own sort of like buzz and controversy whether they're taking
spots from people who actually do this twelve months a year,
but like, what are some of the athletes that you
(18:46):
think would be really great at flag and like what.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
Positions do you think you'd put them in?
Speaker 6 (18:53):
I love that question. I mean Kaitlyn Clark would be
incredible to have. You look at the height, the ability.
I mean she's kind of a manager essentially, right, so
you think of like if you could throw a quarterback position,
someone who can divvy the ball around, moved around like that.
I know George Childs has been super open about wanting
to play some flag I know she's doing some stuff
(19:15):
around NFL Flag Championships for ESPN and just in their
new commercial. But someone like that who's quick, great change
of direction, you know, that kind of explosiveness that you
need within flag football. There's also an element in flag
where you can't actually raise the height of your hips
so you can't jump, but you can lower them so
(19:38):
that ability to drop and come back up again. You
need to have that kind of bounce back, fast twitch
kind of movement to them. I think we in England
have netball. I went to these the netball finals, which
is like a similar to basketball, but you have to
pivot there's no backboard to the hoop. And watch some
(20:00):
of those athletes like one handed grabbing all these like
it was phenomenal. So I would say, you want track stars, basketball, netball, handball, gymnastics.
Speaker 5 (20:12):
You want to bring all these athletes from other sports together.
Speaker 6 (20:14):
And I think for some of us, as you know,
I guess those athletes who might be worried about the
future and what our role is.
Speaker 5 (20:25):
I want this game to grow. I want people to
fall in love with this sport. So heck, yeah, come
get involved.
Speaker 6 (20:30):
I don't care what your background is, like, are you
gonna make us better? Are you going to elevate the.
Speaker 5 (20:34):
Level of the sport? Then yes, beat me out of
my spot.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
Alona Mary would be pretty good.
Speaker 5 (20:39):
She would be pretty epic. She would be. But the
thing is there's no contact, so you have to remember that.
So she's still very quick. But you want a lot
of those like quick body.
Speaker 6 (20:49):
Yeah, and because it's all about evasiveness as well, right,
so who can move their hips the like quick?
Speaker 2 (20:55):
I mean, so Shakira, what you're telling me, Shakira would
be a phenomenal and like Shakira.
Speaker 6 (21:02):
Shiara would be the all the time, is my example
as saying, like, embrace your inner Shakira.
Speaker 4 (21:10):
What about uh, what about a thirty nine and thirty
five year old with past ankle, wrist, and knee injuries?
Speaker 5 (21:20):
I mean, can you dip? Can you get down low
and get back up?
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Girl?
Speaker 3 (21:23):
Probably not quickly and bring it up slow.
Speaker 5 (21:27):
I'm glad that you brought that song up for us.
It's a big part, similar to the.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
Nap and my hips, they don't lie. Yeah, I'm saying live.
Speaker 5 (21:38):
Perfect, then you're in. You're in.
Speaker 6 (21:41):
I honestly, age doesn't even matter if you can move
like that's a I'm thirty five, so I'm still playing.
Speaker 5 (21:48):
I don't know if I'll be in the Olympics, but
I'm still playing for now.
Speaker 4 (21:51):
How about Kelsey Plum because there's a video. I don't
know if you've ever seen the video of Kelsey Plum,
but she rockets this T shirt into the stands and
it almost looks AI.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
Tell us about her form? Is she a quarterback?
Speaker 5 (22:07):
What do we out here?
Speaker 6 (22:08):
So impressed by this? And I was trying to decide
is she left handed with that like that? I mean,
if the form like the shoulder.
Speaker 5 (22:17):
Watched this.
Speaker 6 (22:18):
That elbow goes back, the tricep extension, the follow through
takes money out of the back, you know, your other pocket.
She could definitely be a quarterback for any team out there.
Speaker 5 (22:32):
Like this was unbelievable when I saw this coming out.
Speaker 3 (22:34):
It was a dime.
Speaker 5 (22:35):
It wasn't done.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
How far was that? Do we think? Was that?
Speaker 3 (22:40):
Like a that looked like forty yards to me?
Speaker 2 (22:44):
And it was up So there's it's not just the
like distance this way, it's the arc over too. I
mean you got time to get downfield because she was yeah,
time getting on field and it was like on the incline. Yeah.
Caitlin did something similar with the all football on a
basketball court the other day and it went the entire
(23:04):
length of the basketball court.
Speaker 5 (23:06):
That's crazy. See all the talents.
Speaker 6 (23:09):
It's and that's why multi sports are so important as well.
Like I think it's so good for people to play
as many different sports as possible.
Speaker 4 (23:17):
Let's hear though about some of these you know, athletes
that are playing the game. We've got a couple names here.
I want to get your cell on these players. But
Ashley clam.
Speaker 6 (23:28):
So, Ashley has been one of my teammates since she
was fifteen. We have played together for a long time,
so I've seen her growth a lot. But she is
she's kind of the future of the sport. Really, you know,
she's the one that's going to be in the Olympics
in twenty twenty eight. She's only young, she's got to
be twenty one now, but so talented. Again, those kind
(23:52):
of long levers. She played center for Team USA. Just
a baller and like a great teammate to have.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
Vanita Crouch. Am I saying that right?
Speaker 6 (24:04):
Yes, smashed it quarterback for Team USA. Again, talk about age,
she's in her forties, but you watch her.
Speaker 5 (24:12):
She Yeah, she can throw the ball like no one else.
Speaker 6 (24:17):
I mean, she stands about ten eleven yards back from
the line of scrimmage and she will get further back.
Speaker 5 (24:27):
She could throw every length of the field.
Speaker 6 (24:29):
I mean, she's phenomenal and just a pro, absolute pro.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
Forty years old. That's incredible.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
That spiral must be tight boy Tom that Tom Brady
of flag football and just ageless wonder exactly.
Speaker 4 (24:46):
And the name that I feel like is probably like
one of the most household names right now. But Diana Flores,
she we see her kind of all over the place now,
like she's really her celebrity is growing.
Speaker 5 (24:58):
Yeah, she's my girl.
Speaker 6 (24:59):
I mean again other one of my teammates her Ashley,
and I played together when we were younger. But someone
who just really embodies what the sport means and that
kind of humility and you know the diversity that the
sport has as well. I mean, she has done so
much for Mexico as a whole. She's Team Mexico's quarterback.
(25:21):
She was the first one to be in the Super
Bowl commercial that really advertised flag football and brought so
much attention to this incredible sport.
Speaker 5 (25:30):
But such a great ambassador.
Speaker 6 (25:33):
You know, we cross paths in so many different roles,
you know with our International Federation and she's Athletes committee chair.
It's just she's just so wonderful and such an inspiration
to so many around the world. And she throws a
dime like unbelievable. Her speed, her twitchiness. You got Benita
who can like chuck it so far, and so can Deana,
(25:55):
But like it's her twitchiness that makes her so dangerouscause
she go out and be a receiver as well.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
Who's the best at like like pocket elusiveness.
Speaker 5 (26:07):
It would definitely be Deanna.
Speaker 6 (26:09):
Venita will hang in there because you've got the rusher
who comes from seventy yards, so she'll hang in there
until the rusher's there. But Deanna is the one that
you're gonna see all those highlights of her breaking people's ankles.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
Oh, I can't wait to see that break.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
Same except for like a real break, Like we don't
want to see it bones come out, but we want
to see people get embarrassed and stepped over.
Speaker 3 (26:32):
What are the stakes?
Speaker 2 (26:34):
Like what I like to, you know, watch something with like,
oh man, something is on the line here. I think
they're the Olympics are on everyone's mind, Like, what are
the stakes as we go into this weekend?
Speaker 5 (26:46):
Yeah, so this weekend.
Speaker 6 (26:47):
I mean, first off, to make it to the finals
would be phenomenal. These games, there is nothing like the
level of competition of these teams. They're pretty much all
star teams from all over the US have made it
to this point. But to be able to be on
that huge stage and be playing on a very of
(27:08):
different channels, I mean, and to take that crown right
to ultimately be the winners of the NFL Flag Summer
Championships is something that you can hold onto for the
rest of your life. We also at the same time
have for the boys and the girls. We have the
five finalists in each gender for our NFL Flag Player
(27:30):
of the.
Speaker 5 (27:31):
Year happening at the same time. And this is what
I like, I love about Flag.
Speaker 6 (27:36):
So the finalists have all had to share report cards,
they have to be over a certain GPA. They do
video highlight reels they send in, they have to write
letters about the different values that they use within the NFL,
you know, integrity and respect. Their coaches write letters as well,
and then the winners get to go to Super Bowl
(27:57):
Week basically, so they do NFL on they work with
Oakley and all the different sponsors of NFL and NFL Flag,
they go to the Super Bowl. I mean, so you know,
there's so much that happens around the sport, and with
the marriage of NFL Flag and NFL, it's like sky
is the limit.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
Ultimately, well, I can't wait to watch what what channel
can I see this on? Like?
Speaker 3 (28:21):
Is it on ESPN one two? Digital plus? Where where
do we where do we tune in?
Speaker 6 (28:28):
So kind of all over those places. To be honest
with you, we're going to be able to air. We're
going to have it on Disney, ESPN, ESPN N Plus
as the weeks go on. As the week goes on,
you're going to get a more and more channels, so
just tune in. We have multiple games every single day,
(28:49):
but you will not be disappointed in the competition and
the level of competition of flag And then on Saturday
you'll have the final, semifinals and finals for international if
you want to see some of the countries around the
globe and what they're really delivering as well.
Speaker 4 (29:06):
It's I love this movement of girls women in football
because as I grew up where football was, I mean,
horses were my love, but football was always my true
love and I wish that I had had a place
to play it.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
It would have been great.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
When you said, Phoebe, you've gone all over the world
for flag football, I was like, can I do that?
Speaker 1 (29:28):
Now?
Speaker 3 (29:29):
Can I go all over the world at thirty nine? Now?
Speaker 1 (29:32):
Apparently?
Speaker 3 (29:33):
So I don't have to come behind though, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
I'm gonna need some can you coach men? We had
some skills development to work on, Phoebe. I'm gonna have
to come out to the UK get some work in.
Speaker 6 (29:47):
You will be great honestly, we have competitions every year, Germany, Amsterdam,
wherever you want to come, there are going to be
teams that will want you to play for them, so
you are both welcome any time to join in.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
I think i'd make a good run.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
I think I could make a good running back.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
You think I'm slippery, I almost well, I think I.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
I don't know what it was. It was like a jam.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
I bet you've jammed your fingers a million times playing flag.
The pinkies are always the ones to go, and I couldn't.
I couldn't like bend this pinky for almost two years.
It was just so hurt, so bad trying to poke
the ball free on defense. It's a physical sport. Man
tore my calf playing flag football still got to the
(30:35):
end zone. Phoebe still got to the end zone.
Speaker 5 (30:38):
That's a matter. It's a true competitor.
Speaker 1 (30:42):
I played.
Speaker 4 (30:43):
I played flag for in my freshman year of college.
I went to Alabama and at the time, and they
might still allow it, but they let the football players
play flag.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
That's insane.
Speaker 4 (30:56):
It was all co ed, and I remember being on
teams was like actual and like NFL. Yeah, like me
and and right and mark Ingram just on the same team,
and it's like, well, I'm never actually gonna.
Speaker 3 (31:11):
Be able to play this. I'm not getting the ball.
Speaker 2 (31:13):
No red zone scoring though in flag is I think
the hardest thing. It's just so tight. You can't like
you can't be shifty enough. I need to get some
Phoebe taped. Is there a place that I can see
some footage of you to see what you're what you're
working with.
Speaker 6 (31:30):
Yeah, I have to send it across, but otherwise I'm
trying to put it on Instagram and all that stuff.
Speaker 5 (31:35):
But yeah, and you're so right. The red zone. Red
zone defense is so hard. The end zones are.
Speaker 6 (31:40):
It's like you can't even breathe and you're trying to
cover all this ground in such a short period of time.
Speaker 5 (31:45):
You've got like two and a half seconds to make
a decision. So yeah, tough down there.
Speaker 3 (31:50):
Well, awesome stuff.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
I can't I'm so happy that we did this on
short notice. Thanks for taking the time and the humidity
when you're on the road.
Speaker 3 (32:00):
We always say at the end of the show, I
want to get get it from you too, Phoebe. So
the name of.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
The podcast is letter Shoot because it's all about like
men letting us shoot and leaving us open and then
getting cooked as a result.
Speaker 3 (32:13):
So at the end of every episode we go, letter shoot.
Can we get a letter shoot?
Speaker 5 (32:19):
Absolutely? Letter shoot?
Speaker 3 (32:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (32:23):
Perfect.
Speaker 3 (32:24):
That's all the time that we have for this podcast.
Speaker 2 (32:26):
Big shout out to Phoebe Schechter, just an absolute boss bitch.
Speaker 3 (32:31):
Check out ESPN all the channels for.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
The Flag Football this weekend. I know I'm gonna be
tuning in even from Vegas, well actually no, from Indianapolis
for the Women's UH and the NBA w.
Speaker 3 (32:42):
NBA All Star Weekend.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
Lots of shit going on, Sarah, lots of shit going on, Phoebe.
Speaker 1 (32:48):
You got you got a lot going on. Boy, had
a great time, me too. We can't we can't wait
to get our drills in and suit with Phoebe.
Speaker 5 (32:55):
Yes, I'm a hot heah, I'm a hotter. I gave
anything out blong.
Speaker 6 (32:59):
This is my I make big moves in my big
hills since the day then I was born.
Speaker 3 (33:04):
I mean a big hill.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
M hm.
Twice in one week. We're here this week.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Yeah, and I'm still in a bad mood. But we
do have a guest, so I have to have my
game on. I have to be nicer. I've already been
chastised for really just calling Sarah out for the first
time I've ever seen her in lipstick, glip gloss ever
in life, and I was just like, Wow, he's really
put took your game to a new level.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
And it's like, be nice to Sarah, just like.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
I had to be ready for our guests. I had
to be ready for our guests to.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Call you out on your stuff.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Guests ready, guests ready.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Let me down.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
They were like, Sarah looks nice, Trista, you leave her alone.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
You leave me alone.
Speaker 4 (00:36):
I'm I hot, he A'm I hot here I get
anything out wrong.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
This is my world.
Speaker 5 (00:41):
I make big moves in my big hus Since.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
I day that I was born, I've made a big
tim We have a guest.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
I'm so excited. Welcome to a mini episode of Let
Her Shoot. We are the podcast pretty much the only
podcast that we'll talk about women's sports like it's not
a baby bird egg waiting to break and never survive.
Like I'm not just going We are not going to
just empower and lift and give gold stars. We're gonna
do the whole thing, uplift, criticize, make jokes. The Caitlin
(01:11):
Clark outfit video has received some IYR which I do
not care. No kid gloves, disrespect for the athletes. We
got respect for the commentators, which is a little tease
for the show.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
All the reasons to stay locked in.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Sarah Chovnik still hanging by a thread on her bullshit
two time Emmy Award winning producer.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
You can see it.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
In the back. They're those Emmys. Well one Emmy she's
waiting on the other one.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
I think that one's on. I think it's on Layol, buying.
Speaker 4 (01:40):
That until the price comes down a little bit, because
they're like, they're like a grand.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
The Emmys are a victim of the tariffs. Trista Criek
doesn't worry about the tariffs of the Emmys because I
have zero of them. I think I've been nominated also
for zero.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (01:59):
Well, as this community already knows, let her shoot can
can mean anything, right, including let her.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Score a touchdown.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
So we have a very special guest, Phoebe Scheckter from
the Great Britain national team captain, NFL coach and one
of the biggest advocates for the growing game of flag
football women's flag football.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
So we are super excited. We've got a big event
this weekend. Phoebe, Welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 5 (02:28):
Thank you guys so much for having me. I love it.
Speaker 6 (02:31):
I love the grittiness already, the honesty and where we're
going with this.
Speaker 5 (02:36):
So I'm so thrilled.
Speaker 6 (02:38):
But yeah, I know, I can't wait to talk some
more flag football with you guys. Is It's one of
the fastest growing sports in the world right.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
Now, Phoebe.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
I hated when I just told you off air, right
before we came on, I play. I lived in DC
and I hated d C for like the first eighteen
months I lived there. And you know the thing that,
actually I swear I put this.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
On my mom's life.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
The one thing that got me to love d C
was flag football.
Speaker 5 (03:04):
Yeah, that's so good.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
I joined a co ed league and we played on
the National Mall and the Washington Monument.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Was one end zone, like looking that way, and then the.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
What's the other one, Sarah, The Capitol Building, the Capitol Building,
that's the one capital back Island super plugged into politics.
The Capitol Building was on the other side, and we
played right there on the grass of the National Mall,
and there was camaraderie. I was, obviously, I mean for
a very amateur side of things, pretty good. We all
(03:41):
were all were cleats, so we were fucking into it
right like people were, oh cleats.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
So anyway, I'm super excited about this.
Speaker 6 (03:49):
And I love that you played flag football in DC.
I mean, what a beautiful background.
Speaker 5 (03:54):
It's funny.
Speaker 6 (03:55):
One of my teammates from over in the UK, three
of them actually been out playing with the DC Divas,
the women's tackle team out there. Because so this weekend
I'm in Canton, Ohio, and they're playing the following weekend
for their finals in Canton, Ohio as well, with flag
and with tackles.
Speaker 5 (04:12):
So it all comes full circle.
Speaker 4 (04:14):
Tell us a bit why you're in Canton. What's going
on in Canton this weekend?
Speaker 5 (04:18):
Absolutely so.
Speaker 6 (04:19):
This week is the second annual NFL Flag Championships, and
ultimately last year the NFL took them over from NFL
Flag in the sense of they're making it one of
their tent pole events. And if you think about some
of the other tent pole events that the NFL have.
You're looking at Pro Bowl, the Super Bowl, the Draft.
(04:39):
I mean, these are massive events. And throughout the year,
all thirty two teams the NFL have regionals where teams
can then qualify to go and play in these huge
competitions this week, which are all literally.
Speaker 5 (04:53):
Being taken care of by ESPN.
Speaker 6 (04:55):
I mean, the coverage is going to be phenomenal and
I get to be there as a commentator for the
second year in a row for ESPN. We're covering the
fourteen you boys, and then we've got high school girls
age and lastly we've got International with eight different teams
from around the globe coming to compete.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
And how old are the how old are the ones
in those in the International?
Speaker 6 (05:20):
So International is a slightly different age group. It's twelve
you and at the moment you have to have two
girls on your roster. It helped me that is just
trying to get to a place where there are more
girls playing the sport. There's not enough girls to have
a girl's only team, but there are still girls that
really want to partake in it. And when you look
(05:41):
at NFL Flag, it's pretty much mixed or it's a
girls division, so you know, you've got to find a
way to make it work ultimately.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
You know what was I was talking to Sarah about
this this morning, and I said, as a lady in
flag football, I love playing COVID because I always felt
like guys would underestimate the women receivers and they would.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Double cover the men and I would. We had our
own little like hey, someone's laying off me signal. It
was pineapple. It was like pineapple, pineapple run like a
little diamond route and if I'm.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
On the move, phoebe, You're not catching me, girl, You're
not catching me.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
How how did you.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
Get interested in flag football?
Speaker 6 (06:22):
Well, first of all, I would love to play against you,
because I feel like you would be just so much fun,
just like smack talking the entire time she would. But honestly,
my journey through to get to where I am from
flag to flag football is not being straightforward whatsoever. I
as we kind of you introduced me earlier.
Speaker 5 (06:42):
I do live in the UK.
Speaker 6 (06:44):
I have dual citizenships, so my mom is British, so
I have two passports. I've been there for almost thirteen
years now, and I moved initially to work with horses
so something that is totally different from what I do today.
But when I moved over there, it was December in
England and I can't tell you how crossing the weather is.
(07:07):
It's horrid, and you know, it was just really long
days and I started to really miss home. And in
February I saw an ad for American football about thirty
minutes from me, and I thought this has to be
a sign. And so I think when you're out of
your comfort zone, you're so much more willing to take risks.
And I just went for it and tried out for
(07:27):
a team. Never played contact sport before, never really followed
the NFL or American football, but managed to make Great
Britain the national program, played and captained with them for
eleven years in tackle, and through tackle, I got involved in.
Speaker 5 (07:42):
Flag and flag.
Speaker 6 (07:43):
I've probably transitioned heavier into flag, especially in the past
five years, but both formats are just fantastic. And I
think as a woman, the way that it is empowered
me and given me confidence.
Speaker 5 (07:57):
There is no feeling like this.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
It's so funny.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
So we had a question from the viewers yesterday when
we recorded, and it was how we got into women's sports.
Ed Sarah's answer started with her time in equestrian and
I was like, okay, Sarah, you're going too far back.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
We don't give a fuck about it. And so I
almost did it.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
I almost did it to you just to keep the
bit going, but it would have you wouldn't have gotten
the joke.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
But anyway, Sarah, were you thinking that when she said that?
Speaker 4 (08:27):
Yeah, well, I mean I wanted to ask her just
because I feel like there's so few of us that
like come across each other, like out in the real
world that are like, you know, and I'm sure Phoebe's
heard this too, but equestrians not a sport.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
And so like we we we get that a lot.
Speaker 4 (08:43):
And so like when I hear someone who's like, well,
my athletic background started an equestrian, and I'm like, yes,
thank you.
Speaker 6 (08:49):
I predominantly worked with children's ponies. I'm only five foot
three in a bit, so I've got to I got
to work with the child Sarah, and see, look you're
on the same wavelength.
Speaker 5 (09:01):
But I loved it.
Speaker 6 (09:02):
We do all the competitions, the circuits, and then when
I ended up moving to England, half of my kind
of poll was doing something totally different. So doing three
day eventing, your postage show jumping in cross country, I thought,
I'm going to leave a really cushy job. It's going
to be to challenge myself and do something totally outside
(09:22):
the norm. And it was right after London twenty twelve
where he'd competed, so I thought, I'm going to leave
to be working for someone at the top of their
game after just competing in the Olympics.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
As someone who doesn't know really anything about horses, but
I do know about football as someone who's covered it
for a decade. Like for you, as someone who has
been immersed in both sports, what feels more physically like
fear producing? Is it being on a horse or is
it like headed towards someone who's like two hundred and
(09:55):
fifty pounds come and right at you.
Speaker 6 (09:59):
You know what, I don't even know if either actually
induced you at all.
Speaker 5 (10:03):
I don't really ever think so. I think.
Speaker 6 (10:05):
I think working with horses prepared me for so much
of my life, so it would be I mean, whether
you're talking about coaching the NFL and dealing with some
of these big dudes, where you're like, I've worked with
thousand pound animals, there's nothing you're going to say or
do that's going to phaze me or from being a
player myself. You know, I always think of fear as
it's really the same feeling as excitement, right, It's those
(10:28):
butterflies in your stomach.
Speaker 5 (10:29):
It's just how we translate that to ourselves.
Speaker 6 (10:32):
So whenever I feel fearful, I just kind of say,
I'm just really excited because I care a lot about it,
So I don't really feel the fear side of things,
But I do think both have equally been huge in
my kind of preparation for one or the other, and
like horses, just from a young age, the discipline, the responsibility,
(10:52):
all of those really intangible skills that actually then help
me so much in my football career.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
You never had fear of injury in either realm.
Speaker 6 (11:02):
Honestly, I've not gone wood. I've been so lucky, you know.
I've I got one of my first few times playing flags,
somebody broke my nose, But you just get right back
into it, you don't. I never really thought about it,
I guess. I mean, maybe you'd have a little bit
of fear riding sometimes if you know it's a kind
of wild one, But other than that, no.
Speaker 5 (11:23):
I just love it.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
I bet it.
Speaker 4 (11:25):
I feel like horses probably have to, like because when
when you're young and you get told like you're gonna
get hurt doing this, so you probably learn really really quickly,
like there's really not a lot of things to fear.
Speaker 6 (11:40):
Exactly, And I honestly, at the base of all that,
in regards to sports, gymnastics is by far the best
thing I would say any kid can do. Like learning
how to fall makes such a difference whether you're falling
off a horse, falling down to the ground. I would
say if you can do gymnastics, or have your kids
do gymnastics, that will benefit them.
Speaker 5 (11:59):
Or to things like that.
Speaker 6 (12:01):
That's we literally used to tackle have to teach girls
how to fall because people just tend to go stiff
and like really tense up. But you have to go
completely opposite. So falling off of horses and that whole
very cliche. You know, you fall off, you've got to
get right back on again. You can kind of carry
that mantra through every element of your life going forwards.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Oh, that's fascinating.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
You were also the Bills Tightened assistant from twenty eighteen
twenty nineteen. I go on WGR in Buffalo every Tuesday throughout.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
The NFL season.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
So I would say even as a Cowboys fan, I
root very, very heavily for the Bills. That's my that's
my little big b squad.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
What was that like?
Speaker 5 (12:45):
You know what?
Speaker 6 (12:46):
That was the most incredible experience, And I think, first off,
I'm so fortunate to get to be with an organization
that I'm sure tris so you see it now, they're
they're not like all the other teams out there.
Speaker 5 (12:58):
I mean not just because it's Buffalo.
Speaker 6 (12:59):
And that community is so unique, but from an ownership
through to Sean McDermott as a head coach, you know,
and it's such a cliche, you know, if everyone wants
to talk about culture, culture, but they truly have built
a phenomenal culture in Buffalo, you know, to the point
where people are wanting to go to Buffalo and it's
not the best place to live, right you're talking about
(13:22):
weather wise or anything like that, but they want to
be a part of what's being built there.
Speaker 5 (13:26):
And as a.
Speaker 6 (13:27):
Coach, you know, the players just want to know are
you going to get us better or not. They don't
care what you look like, what you believe in, you
could be purple green, who cares?
Speaker 5 (13:36):
Are you going to help us win games?
Speaker 6 (13:39):
And for me, it truly has been a life changing
experience to be in Buffalo, and I actually I'm going
back in two weeks to be with them for a
training camp for a couple of days.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
Oh, that's super dope. Sarah's a commander's fan. We don't
you know?
Speaker 4 (13:56):
Yeah, I almost wore my Jaden Janiel shirt today just
you know.
Speaker 5 (14:00):
I love him. I think he's phenomenal.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Best, He's the best.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
I ask people this that played flag and it's like
one of my favorite like random questions to ask, is
it more thrilling for you to catch even like a
screen pass to the house?
Speaker 5 (14:17):
Okay?
Speaker 3 (14:17):
Or a pick six?
Speaker 6 (14:20):
Ooh, I'm definitely defensive. I do both, but I'm defensive minded.
But if you can, if you can get a pick six,
that is so hard because the offense knows exactly where
they're going, they know the routs are running, they know
where they're trying to find the ball, throw the ball
based off the defense. So for you as a defender
to be able to read and react and make it
so perfect and then outrun everyone else like that is
(14:43):
so much.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
More challenging and just peak peak excitement.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Yeah, like a, so what why do you think the
sport is exploding so quickly now?
Speaker 6 (14:58):
I think like football's explode at such a high rate
because of predominantly the accessibility, right. Unlike tackle football, where
you need helmets, shoulder pads, a massive football field.
Speaker 5 (15:10):
In flag all you need are flag.
Speaker 6 (15:13):
Belts, You need a football and the field itself is
played on seventy by twenty five yard full field, so
you could fit three of those within a football field essentially,
or rugby or soccer field, and I think that helps
the There's fewer barriers to participation in terms of the
rules too. You know you've got, depending on what format
(15:34):
you're playing internationally, you've got four temps, gafway another four
to score, so it's easier for someone to digest. And
I think the last kind of two pieces are a
lot of parents are looking at starting their kids later
in tackle and flag is a great way again to
work on those fundamental skills to you know, help with
decision making and all of that. And then of course
(15:58):
just having flag football being the Olympics.
Speaker 5 (16:00):
Now LA three eight, I mean that is just.
Speaker 6 (16:03):
Open the floodgates in terms of the participation, people wanting
to be involved and globally right because the sport that
you could be anywhere in the world and you can
play this sport, and I think that element of it
is has been hugely exciting with truthfully, women leading the
way throughout all of this, whether you're looking at in
(16:25):
high school, you know, varsity sport in fifteen different states
and that will keep growing, or in college you can
get scholarships n AIA, JUCO soon to be you know,
d NC double A. So there's so many different ways
that you can play and that's all for women.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
What do you think has created the biggest shift that
you've seen in opportunities for women.
Speaker 5 (16:52):
I think it.
Speaker 6 (16:53):
Probably goes back to the kind of scholarship piece as well.
I mean, you know, just even talking about football for
a career for a while now, and you have seen
how these men get to They improve because of the
intangibles that you learn from football, right, the leadership, the teamwork,
(17:14):
the resilience, all these kind of key words that create
that perfect football athlete. Well, now females get the opportunity
to do that. And not only that, I can make
the decision to go and play and get a proper
school education and play a sport that I love so much.
And one of the stats that I love is around
(17:36):
forty percent of the young women who participate in flag
have actually never even played sport before. So you start
to look at that kind of thirteen to fifteen year
old age group and those are girls that you would
a lot of times lose to, you know, whatever that
may be, but now they're actually choosing to play sport.
And the mental health, the physical well being, I mean,
(17:58):
there's just so many like emotional social elements too, because
even if I look at it from hey, maybe I'm
not the biggest flag football fan, but I love the
social that I get from this group of women.
Speaker 5 (18:11):
You can absolutely get that too.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
I was just gonna say you mentioned the excitement for
the Olympics, which I took a note for because I
wanted to ask about the opportunities for women first before this.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
But Caitlyn Clark, I don't know if you saw this.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
I think the excitement around the Olympics were starting to
see almost other athletes from other sports chime in about
whether they would like to play or whether they think
they would be good at it, and that has its
own sort of like buzz and controversy whether they're taking
spots from people who actually do this twelve months a year,
but like, what are some of the athletes that you
(18:46):
think would be really great at flag and like what.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
Positions do you think you'd put them in?
Speaker 6 (18:53):
I love that question. I mean Kaitlyn Clark would be
incredible to have. You look at the height, the ability.
I mean she's kind of a manager essentially, right, so
you think of like if you could throw a quarterback position,
someone who can divvy the ball around, moved around like that.
I know George Childs has been super open about wanting
to play some flag I know she's doing some stuff
(19:15):
around NFL Flag Championships for ESPN and just in their
new commercial. But someone like that who's quick, great change
of direction, you know, that kind of explosiveness that you
need within flag football. There's also an element in flag
where you can't actually raise the height of your hips
so you can't jump, but you can lower them so
(19:38):
that ability to drop and come back up again. You
need to have that kind of bounce back, fast twitch
kind of movement to them. I think we in England
have netball. I went to these the netball finals, which
is like a similar to basketball, but you have to
pivot there's no backboard to the hoop. And watch some
(20:00):
of those athletes like one handed grabbing all these like
it was phenomenal. So I would say, you want track stars, basketball, netball, handball, gymnastics.
Speaker 5 (20:12):
You want to bring all these athletes from other sports together.
Speaker 6 (20:14):
And I think for some of us, as you know,
I guess those athletes who might be worried about the
future and what our role is.
Speaker 5 (20:25):
I want this game to grow. I want people to
fall in love with this sport. So heck, yeah, come
get involved.
Speaker 6 (20:30):
I don't care what your background is, like, are you
gonna make us better? Are you going to elevate the.
Speaker 5 (20:34):
Level of the sport? Then yes, beat me out of
my spot.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
Alona Mary would be pretty good.
Speaker 5 (20:39):
She would be pretty epic. She would be. But the
thing is there's no contact, so you have to remember that.
So she's still very quick. But you want a lot
of those like quick body.
Speaker 6 (20:49):
Yeah, and because it's all about evasiveness as well, right,
so who can move their hips the like quick?
Speaker 2 (20:55):
I mean, so Shakira, what you're telling me, Shakira would
be a phenomenal and like Shakira.
Speaker 6 (21:02):
Shiara would be the all the time, is my example
as saying, like, embrace your inner Shakira.
Speaker 4 (21:10):
What about uh, what about a thirty nine and thirty
five year old with past ankle, wrist, and knee injuries?
Speaker 5 (21:20):
I mean, can you dip? Can you get down low
and get back up?
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Girl?
Speaker 3 (21:23):
Probably not quickly and bring it up slow.
Speaker 5 (21:27):
I'm glad that you brought that song up for us.
It's a big part, similar to the.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
Nap and my hips, they don't lie. Yeah, I'm saying live.
Speaker 5 (21:38):
Perfect, then you're in. You're in.
Speaker 6 (21:41):
I honestly, age doesn't even matter if you can move
like that's a I'm thirty five, so I'm still playing.
Speaker 5 (21:48):
I don't know if I'll be in the Olympics, but
I'm still playing for now.
Speaker 4 (21:51):
How about Kelsey Plum because there's a video. I don't
know if you've ever seen the video of Kelsey Plum,
but she rockets this T shirt into the stands and
it almost looks AI.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
Tell us about her form? Is she a quarterback?
Speaker 5 (22:07):
What do we out here?
Speaker 6 (22:08):
So impressed by this? And I was trying to decide
is she left handed with that like that? I mean,
if the form like the shoulder.
Speaker 5 (22:17):
Watched this.
Speaker 6 (22:18):
That elbow goes back, the tricep extension, the follow through
takes money out of the back, you know, your other pocket.
She could definitely be a quarterback for any team out there.
Speaker 5 (22:32):
Like this was unbelievable when I saw this coming out.
Speaker 3 (22:34):
It was a dime.
Speaker 5 (22:35):
It wasn't done.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
How far was that? Do we think? Was that?
Speaker 3 (22:40):
Like a that looked like forty yards to me?
Speaker 2 (22:44):
And it was up So there's it's not just the
like distance this way, it's the arc over too. I
mean you got time to get downfield because she was yeah,
time getting on field and it was like on the incline. Yeah.
Caitlin did something similar with the all football on a
basketball court the other day and it went the entire
(23:04):
length of the basketball court.
Speaker 5 (23:06):
That's crazy. See all the talents.
Speaker 6 (23:09):
It's and that's why multi sports are so important as well.
Like I think it's so good for people to play
as many different sports as possible.
Speaker 4 (23:17):
Let's hear though about some of these you know, athletes
that are playing the game. We've got a couple names here.
I want to get your cell on these players. But
Ashley clam.
Speaker 6 (23:28):
So, Ashley has been one of my teammates since she
was fifteen. We have played together for a long time,
so I've seen her growth a lot. But she is
she's kind of the future of the sport. Really, you know,
she's the one that's going to be in the Olympics
in twenty twenty eight. She's only young, she's got to
be twenty one now, but so talented. Again, those kind
(23:52):
of long levers. She played center for Team USA. Just
a baller and like a great teammate to have.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
Vanita Crouch. Am I saying that right?
Speaker 6 (24:04):
Yes, smashed it quarterback for Team USA. Again, talk about age,
she's in her forties, but you watch her.
Speaker 5 (24:12):
She Yeah, she can throw the ball like no one else.
Speaker 6 (24:17):
I mean, she stands about ten eleven yards back from
the line of scrimmage and she will get further back.
Speaker 5 (24:27):
She could throw every length of the field.
Speaker 6 (24:29):
I mean, she's phenomenal and just a pro, absolute pro.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
Forty years old. That's incredible.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
That spiral must be tight boy Tom that Tom Brady
of flag football and just ageless wonder exactly.
Speaker 4 (24:46):
And the name that I feel like is probably like
one of the most household names right now. But Diana Flores,
she we see her kind of all over the place now,
like she's really her celebrity is growing.
Speaker 5 (24:58):
Yeah, she's my girl.
Speaker 6 (24:59):
I mean again other one of my teammates her Ashley,
and I played together when we were younger. But someone
who just really embodies what the sport means and that
kind of humility and you know the diversity that the
sport has as well. I mean, she has done so
much for Mexico as a whole. She's Team Mexico's quarterback.
(25:21):
She was the first one to be in the Super
Bowl commercial that really advertised flag football and brought so
much attention to this incredible sport.
Speaker 5 (25:30):
But such a great ambassador.
Speaker 6 (25:33):
You know, we cross paths in so many different roles,
you know with our International Federation and she's Athletes committee chair.
It's just she's just so wonderful and such an inspiration
to so many around the world. And she throws a
dime like unbelievable. Her speed, her twitchiness. You got Benita
who can like chuck it so far, and so can Deana,
(25:55):
But like it's her twitchiness that makes her so dangerouscause
she go out and be a receiver as well.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
Who's the best at like like pocket elusiveness.
Speaker 5 (26:07):
It would definitely be Deanna.
Speaker 6 (26:09):
Venita will hang in there because you've got the rusher
who comes from seventy yards, so she'll hang in there
until the rusher's there. But Deanna is the one that
you're gonna see all those highlights of her breaking people's ankles.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
Oh, I can't wait to see that break.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
Same except for like a real break, Like we don't
want to see it bones come out, but we want
to see people get embarrassed and stepped over.
Speaker 3 (26:32):
What are the stakes?
Speaker 2 (26:34):
Like what I like to, you know, watch something with like,
oh man, something is on the line here. I think
they're the Olympics are on everyone's mind, Like, what are
the stakes as we go into this weekend?
Speaker 5 (26:46):
Yeah, so this weekend.
Speaker 6 (26:47):
I mean, first off, to make it to the finals
would be phenomenal. These games, there is nothing like the
level of competition of these teams. They're pretty much all
star teams from all over the US have made it
to this point. But to be able to be on
that huge stage and be playing on a very of
(27:08):
different channels, I mean, and to take that crown right
to ultimately be the winners of the NFL Flag Summer
Championships is something that you can hold onto for the
rest of your life. We also at the same time
have for the boys and the girls. We have the
five finalists in each gender for our NFL Flag Player
(27:30):
of the.
Speaker 5 (27:31):
Year happening at the same time. And this is what
I like, I love about Flag.
Speaker 6 (27:36):
So the finalists have all had to share report cards,
they have to be over a certain GPA. They do
video highlight reels they send in, they have to write
letters about the different values that they use within the NFL,
you know, integrity and respect. Their coaches write letters as well,
and then the winners get to go to Super Bowl
(27:57):
Week basically, so they do NFL on they work with
Oakley and all the different sponsors of NFL and NFL Flag,
they go to the Super Bowl. I mean, so you know,
there's so much that happens around the sport, and with
the marriage of NFL Flag and NFL, it's like sky
is the limit.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
Ultimately, well, I can't wait to watch what what channel
can I see this on? Like?
Speaker 3 (28:21):
Is it on ESPN one two? Digital plus? Where where
do we where do we tune in?
Speaker 6 (28:28):
So kind of all over those places. To be honest
with you, we're going to be able to air. We're
going to have it on Disney, ESPN, ESPN N Plus
as the weeks go on. As the week goes on,
you're going to get a more and more channels, so
just tune in. We have multiple games every single day,
(28:49):
but you will not be disappointed in the competition and
the level of competition of flag And then on Saturday
you'll have the final, semifinals and finals for international if
you want to see some of the countries around the
globe and what they're really delivering as well.
Speaker 4 (29:06):
It's I love this movement of girls women in football
because as I grew up where football was, I mean,
horses were my love, but football was always my true
love and I wish that I had had a place
to play it.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
It would have been great.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
When you said, Phoebe, you've gone all over the world
for flag football, I was like, can I do that?
Speaker 1 (29:28):
Now?
Speaker 3 (29:29):
Can I go all over the world at thirty nine? Now?
Speaker 1 (29:32):
Apparently?
Speaker 3 (29:33):
So I don't have to come behind though, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
I'm gonna need some can you coach men? We had
some skills development to work on, Phoebe. I'm gonna have
to come out to the UK get some work in.
Speaker 6 (29:47):
You will be great honestly, we have competitions every year, Germany, Amsterdam,
wherever you want to come, there are going to be
teams that will want you to play for them, so
you are both welcome any time to join in.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
I think i'd make a good run.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
I think I could make a good running back.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
You think I'm slippery, I almost well, I think I.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
I don't know what it was. It was like a jam.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
I bet you've jammed your fingers a million times playing flag.
The pinkies are always the ones to go, and I couldn't.
I couldn't like bend this pinky for almost two years.
It was just so hurt, so bad trying to poke
the ball free on defense. It's a physical sport. Man
tore my calf playing flag football still got to the
(30:35):
end zone. Phoebe still got to the end zone.
Speaker 5 (30:38):
That's a matter. It's a true competitor.
Speaker 1 (30:42):
I played.
Speaker 4 (30:43):
I played flag for in my freshman year of college.
I went to Alabama and at the time, and they
might still allow it, but they let the football players
play flag.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
That's insane.
Speaker 4 (30:56):
It was all co ed, and I remember being on
teams was like actual and like NFL. Yeah, like me
and and right and mark Ingram just on the same team,
and it's like, well, I'm never actually gonna.
Speaker 3 (31:11):
Be able to play this. I'm not getting the ball.
Speaker 2 (31:13):
No red zone scoring though in flag is I think
the hardest thing. It's just so tight. You can't like
you can't be shifty enough. I need to get some
Phoebe taped. Is there a place that I can see
some footage of you to see what you're what you're
working with.
Speaker 6 (31:30):
Yeah, I have to send it across, but otherwise I'm
trying to put it on Instagram and all that stuff.
Speaker 5 (31:35):
But yeah, and you're so right. The red zone. Red
zone defense is so hard. The end zones are.
Speaker 6 (31:40):
It's like you can't even breathe and you're trying to
cover all this ground in such a short period of time.
Speaker 5 (31:45):
You've got like two and a half seconds to make
a decision. So yeah, tough down there.
Speaker 3 (31:50):
Well, awesome stuff.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
I can't I'm so happy that we did this on
short notice. Thanks for taking the time and the humidity
when you're on the road.
Speaker 3 (32:00):
We always say at the end of the show, I
want to get get it from you too, Phoebe. So
the name of.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
The podcast is letter Shoot because it's all about like
men letting us shoot and leaving us open and then
getting cooked as a result.
Speaker 3 (32:13):
So at the end of every episode we go, letter shoot.
Can we get a letter shoot?
Speaker 5 (32:19):
Absolutely? Letter shoot?
Speaker 3 (32:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (32:23):
Perfect.
Speaker 3 (32:24):
That's all the time that we have for this podcast.
Speaker 2 (32:26):
Big shout out to Phoebe Schechter, just an absolute boss bitch.
Speaker 3 (32:31):
Check out ESPN all the channels for.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
The Flag Football this weekend. I know I'm gonna be
tuning in even from Vegas, well actually no, from Indianapolis
for the Women's UH and the NBA w.
Speaker 3 (32:42):
NBA All Star Weekend.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
Lots of shit going on, Sarah, lots of shit going on, Phoebe.
Speaker 1 (32:48):
You got you got a lot going on. Boy, had
a great time, me too. We can't we can't wait
to get our drills in and suit with Phoebe.
Speaker 5 (32:55):
Yes, I'm a hot heah, I'm a hotter. I gave
anything out blong.
Speaker 6 (32:59):
This is my I make big moves in my big
hills since the day then I was born.
Speaker 3 (33:04):
I mean a big hill.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
M hm.
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