April 26, 2022 • 29 mins
After her first minutes with the U.S. Women’s National Team, Jessica McDonald returns to the NWSL, and is once again on the move. This time, it’s her entire team, as the Western New York Flash become the North Carolina Courage. McDonald is only paid roughly $13,000 per season; but she flourishes back in the Triangle, where she’d once attended college, thanks to a chance encounter with a local family, which turns into a deep and lasting bond. And as McDonald and the Courage dominate the 2018 NWSL season, among the people who can’t stop watching: USWNT head coach Jill Ellis.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Long Shot is a production of McClatchy Studios and I
Heart Radio previously on Payback. The female athletes are using
their platforms in ways that we have never seen before.
The players Union, demanding an into what it calls systemic
abuse plaguing the NWSL, was like, I have my dignity
and I'm tired of the bullshit. He would be like,
(00:23):
why are you playing like Crafts days? Because your son
was up all night. We won that year. We had
no business learning what we did, and I think it's
because of like the joy of the game. She breaks
a scoring record. She's an olden boot champion. She's working
below minimum wage and hopes to make that national team.
(00:45):
Growing up, I wanted dissembling. Whenever I'd blow out candles
on my birthday, write a letter to stand up for Christmas,
or throw a penny in a fountain. I would always
wish for a brother or sister. Isabelle Rockaway is eighteen
years old and has been fine tuning. Her essay is
for college applications. Here she's reading me one of her
admissions essays. This wish soon became a reality and my
(01:07):
life change forever. Jessica and Jeremiah weren't my biological siblings
or even adopted siblings. There were simply a single young
mother and her six year old boy who were seeking
a place to sit. At the start of the season,
so much in soccer seemed to be going right for Jess.
She'd added an NWSL title to her championship resume, and
(01:27):
she earned a little playing time for the U S
women's national team. In Jessic's life, however, the difficulties have
rarely seemed to come on the soccer field. At home,
the challenges of being an overworked and underpaid single mom.
We're catching up with her. She started coaching Isabel, and
that's how we met Isabel's father, Dan Rockaway. As we
(01:47):
get to know Jess, we got to know her story
as well, and it was a sad story. I just
felt like, if this were my daughter, I would want
to be there for her. So we try to provide,
you know, of the best support system that someone like
her could have in a career of off seasons filled
with second jobs. It was the connection Jess found with
(02:08):
one particular teenager and her parents that would alter the
trajectory of all their lives. Dan and Marta Rockaway I
called in my North Carolina family literally like a mom
and dad to me. And they have a daughter, Isabelle,
who I called my sister. I was coaching there for
a while and we just got like super close. We
just became one big family. By the time she met
(02:30):
the rock Ways, Jesse's career arc had been a case
study in perseverance over trauma and adversity. McDonald got it
behind and the soccer world was about to see what
a difference a little stability could make. Definite again from
The Charlotte Observer, Raleigh News, An Observer, McClatchy Studios, and
(02:50):
I Heart Radio. This is Payback. I'm alexandreav and this
is part seven. Smooth as Butter. I mean, the war
between the sexes could become an armor gandon if we
don't get on with our revolution. During dress McDonald's trial
(03:13):
with the U S women's national team, the question of
equality was once again on players minds, as late feminist
Betty for Dan put it more than forty years prior.
But if we do get on with it, and we
restructures deciety to make equality really possible, that I think
the war between the sexes will end. After years of
battling the US Soccer Federation largely behind the scenes for
(03:35):
what they believed was fair compensation, The women's national team
players launched an aggressive news stand Today, five of America's
top athletes filed a federal complaint charging that soccer pays
women a pittance to win world championships while it pays
big to the men who lose them. Alex Morrigan, Harley Lloyd,
(04:00):
Megan Rippino, Becky Sauerbrun and Hope Solo collectively filed their
federal complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. It was
a landmark moment in the modern iteration of the U
S women's teams fight for equal pay. Currently, when athletes
play in World Cup Games, qualifiers, and non competitive friendly matches,
they're paid a base annual salary and if they make
(04:22):
the World Cup roster, female players received of what their
male counterparts earned. Lloyd spoke on the Today Show. We've
proven our worth over the years, and we want to
continue to fight. The generation of players before us fought
and now it's our job to keep on fighting. Their
federal complaint would have limited financial impact on National Women's
(04:43):
Soccer League players like Jess who are just trying to
make the national team at all, but the ripple effects
had the potential to be substantial for nws L management
and its players. When US Soccer agreed to subsidize the
formation of the NWSL, it created in fact, demanded the
league act as a pipeline for current and future national
team players. US Soccer agreed to allocate national team players
(05:06):
to nws L teams and pay their salaries. In return,
the vast majority of those players were mandated to be
part of the league. Having those big names on the
field obviously benefited the n b s L team owners,
but it also set up an uneasy control structure in
which those national team players were employees of US Soccer,
not their nws L teams. They were not part of
(05:28):
the nbs L Players Association, and any sort of disputes
or work stoppages those national team players had with US
Soccer were entirely outside the control of their nbs L teams. Meanwhile,
their nws L teammates closely watched for whatever concessions national
team players could extract from US Soccer. The rest of
those nbs L players were pushing for their first collective
(05:50):
bargaining agreement exactly as the U S women had first
done in nineteen ninety nine, and moves at the highest
level of the sport had the potential to cascade down.
I've played this kind of trivia game with folks to
kind of orient where women's soccer has been and where
it is now. We met Megan Burke last episode. She
was one of the old guard players who was part
of the first two failed women's professional soccer leagues. She
(06:12):
finally hung up her cleats and went to law school.
Today she's returned to the game as the executive director
of that NWSL Players Association. Do you know what the
league minimum was that the veterans in two thousand three
in the ws A. I'm going to say it was
pretty low. I mean, was it under ten thousand? This
is the interesting part of the history of women's soccer.
(06:32):
It was twenty five thousand dollars in two thousand three.
Do you know what the league minimum is in nws
L eighteen years later? Twenty two? Right? That's wild. That's
what I talked about with our players is we need
to know our history. We need to know who we
come from, where we come from, where we've been, and
where we want to go. The NWSL, players like Jess
(06:55):
certainly wanted to increased pay as part of a collective
bargaining agreement with the league, but they also wanted to
increased protection and control over the kinds of trades. That's all.
Jess play in Chicago and Seattle and Portland and Houston
and Western New York, all in her first five years
in the league. That weighed on Jess's mind through early
(07:16):
I make the She Believes Cup roster, so my first
tournament with the US team, and we won the tournament,
which is really awesome, and I didn't get a call back. Unfortunately,
those national team camps that spring didn't lead to the
big break Jess had hoped for. I think we show
a lot of really good things. It's too early for
(07:37):
me just to look at relationships and who this pairing
is going to be. Publicly. Coach Joe Ellis said there
was plenty of time before she would finalize the U
S roster for the upcoming World Cup. Here she is
speaking at a press conference that summer. I gave myself
nine months and we'll come out of the back end
of this and then have a pretty good idea in
terms of how we start to formulate how this team looks.
(07:59):
But privately, Jess was preparing to close the book on
that world kept dream. I've been back in camps and
so I was satisfied enough at that point because I
got my chance. It didn't work out, okay, at least
you know, I took my chance and I tried. I
did everything I could. At this point, I've accepted it.
(08:20):
There was so much to be said about Jess as
a trailblazing journeywoman and American soccer, even if that was
ultimately her legacy in the game. So Jess told me,
she once again became determined to make the most of
her time in the end of b s L. The
upcoming season, it's going to be the first time she'd
been with the same team for more than a year.
But that's not to say the same city. Despite winning
(08:40):
the league championship in twenty the Flash had struggled to
grow attendance since the launch. At the end of BSL,
so in a stroke of luck for Jess, the team
was sold to an ownership group outside Raleigh and relocated
to the tar Heel state. The Western New York Flash
would become the North Carolina Courage. Our team. I got
(09:01):
and I'm like, Okay, We're going to North Carolina. This
time before the season, Jess couldn't wait to relocate this time.
She felt like she was going home biagone anywhere else
in the United States. To be honest, I don't even
know if I would still be playing because I have
a support system here. This is my second home. Playing
it from my alma mater. Doesn't get any better than that.
(09:24):
We'll tell you about that after the break. M long
Cross headed back to the Middle Palm and a Way
by Harris Chance for McDonald g scores. The North Carolina
Courage arrived in Carolina just weeks before the start of
(09:45):
the seventeen season. Jess McDonald's her first that included Jess
teammate Lynn Williams, and head coach Paul Riley. Late my
reporting for this podcast, in an explosive report by Meglenahan
of The Athletic, two former players of Riley's on the
(10:05):
Portland Thorns alleged that Riley had verbally and emotionally abused
them in Portland. The Courage released a statement that said, quote,
when we hired Paul, we made perfectly clear the expectations
of the job and the values of our club and
from what we know, he has lived up to those expectations.
End quote. The courage said that if anyone had information
about Riley behaving otherwise during his time with the team,
(10:28):
they were encouraged to come forward. No one has, at
least not that the public has been made aware of.
Dall kept ferst delivery headed by her set hits off
the cross bar and it's buried by Jess McDonald's. Jess
maintained to me that Riley's coaching letter to further improvement
as a player. Once the team arrived in North Carolina.
Jess McDonald had the opener last week. She gives the
(10:51):
courage of what death you lead In this match up
against the Boston Breakers, just scored the only goal and
simultaneously broke the end of us HOW scoring record with
thirty three career goals. Well. She is now number one
on the n wus so All Todd gold was a
championship Lastern and Western New York and now her second
goal this season. But as much success as Jess was
(11:13):
finding in the league, her primary motivation came at home.
My son is sad in my training sessions as a baby,
like an hist roller. By himself. He was never a
crier in anything like that. He slept twelve hours a night,
which is you know, really if he still does to
this day. Man, Thankfully, I have such an easy going kid.
When Williams again, when he was younger, he used to
(11:34):
travel with the team a lot, which was pretty cool.
I think it's definitely a unique way to grow up
around a bunch of women soccer players. But I think
that it just shows respecting women, and you can tell
that he does, and I think we need more little
boys like that. When things are working for me as
a mom, I'm like, okay, thanks, are mere working for
me on the OCCA fille as well? All right, here
(11:54):
we Golhan. But he's just smooth is butter. And the
reason why I have fun and I want to perform
at high levels because I need to show an example
for my son. That's my motivation. That's what inspires me
day in and day out. I think that society has
made people feel like being vulnerable about being a mom
is bad when it it shouldn't be that way at all.
(12:17):
Jeremiah also inspired a reunion with Jesse's mom, Tracy McDonald.
By the middle of Seen Jeremiah was five, and nothing
brings a family together like a grandchild. Besides, Jess could
use some help at home here. I am this new
like single parent pretty much trying to figure it out.
And so I called my mom because I'm like, she's
(12:38):
a grandma now, you know, And I didn't want to
keep that from Jeremiah. For Jess, everything had changed for
the worst that day, she says, Tracy hit her back
in high school. Even twenty years later, Jess said their
relationship had never really gotten better, but she was ready
to move on from the past, and there was enough
room in the modest department Jess was renting with her
(12:58):
monthly housing stipend from the Courage, so the timing felt
right to reconnect. She came in the middle of the
seventeen season, and whenever I traveled, you know, she stayed
here with Jeremiah and took him to school and you know,
took care of him while I was gone, and Jeremiah
loves her. They were super close. McDonald was there again
(13:20):
and if it's our second of the game that seen season,
McDonald and the Courage made believers of their new hometown fans.
Jess McDonald finishes on the doorstep three one courage in control,
maybe none more so than people. Jess would come to
call the closest family she's ever had, in many ways,
the immediate family she never had. My name is Dan Rockaway.
(13:41):
I consider myself Jessic's North Carolina father. I'm Isabel Rockaway,
and I would consider myself Jessica's sister. I am Marca Rockaway,
and I am her Columbian mom. In Isabel Rockaway was
bit by the soccer bug. The courage game at weak
(14:01):
Med Soccer Park seemed to Dan like a great father
daughter experience, even if the father wasn't entirely sold yet.
I was like, I'm gonna go because and taking my daughter.
And then we had these seats by the goal, and
I remember they were warming up and they missed the
goal and the ball team flying by us and hit
the seats where we're sitting, and it was so loud
and powerful it scared me. I was like, wow, this
(14:22):
is some hardcore stuff. I'm like, this is a perfect
example for Isabelle, our daughter, to see powerful women and
on the field. Jess in particular was unmissable. Five ten
signature long dread box and a canvas of tattoos with
a relentlessness that kept her in the center of the
action all the time. Forget simply being powerful, just being
(14:43):
completely fearless. You know, I don't watch the men's team
too much. I feel like the men they just roll
around the ground, they try to get a foul, they
act like they're hurt. And when I see the women fall,
they hit the ground, they get up and they started
running harder. The Rockaways watched has just helped Carolina win
League Shield, awarded to the team with the best regular
season record, and Jeremiah became a fan favorite, showing up
(15:06):
at his mom's matches dressed however he liked, which was
often like a superhero. Everyone knows that Jeremiah Jesse's son,
and all that stuff there at the game. It's like
he shows up in all these different costumes of like
a Batman suit on or Spiderman suits. Jess helped lead
the Courage to the championship game, where they lost to
the Portland Thorns. The Rockaways went all in and bought
(15:29):
season tickets in the owner's box level at WAKEMD Park.
A few months later, the Courage held a small fan
celebration for all the upcoming season ticket holders. Remember Jess
was over in a corner and I was like, I
want my picture taken with her. I was like scared
to approach Jesse. She's five ten, she's got tattoos, she's built,
(15:50):
and I remember like kind of walking over my head down,
say hey, can we get your picture, and she just
smile and just yeah, let's take a picture and everything.
We didn't even know her. And it's kind of cool
because I still have those pictures. So sunny and cool
(16:11):
Saturday afternoon in Carrie, North Carolina, where Sky Blue FFC
opens the two thousand eighteen season on the road. By
the start of season, Jess helped lead her NWSL team
to back to back league championship games. Jeremiah had just
turned six. She felt at home there in North Carolina,
and at least on the field, life was good ahead
(16:34):
for mcdattal. Jess were her first goal of the season
with this stoppage time game winner against sky Blue FC,
who Carolina in the nineties second minute stunts sky Blue.
I'm like, oh, I'm feeling good. I'm thirty. No injuries,
you know, like nothing hurts. And so was an incredible
(16:56):
year for the North Carolina Courage. We lost one game
that whole season. That's just so unheard of in the
USL McDonald in space, can't she be baked? Also? The
second time she does. Just scored another game winner two
matches later against Seattle, and it's McDonald with her second
goal of the season to put North Carolina up. I
(17:19):
remember in the middle of the summer, I went up
to Paul Riley and I asked him. I was like,
what do you think my chances are of getting back
into a camp? Just felt better than ever, she was
playing better than ever, and since she'd gotten a try
out with the National Team of Year earlier, maybe she
hoped it wasn't crazy to think she might get another shot.
He was like, Jess, I just I don't see it happening.
(17:40):
They're already stacked. They've had the same team for so
many years. You know, they've got in my position, Alex Morgan,
Carly Lloyd, Tobin Heath, Megan Rapino, Kristen Press, Mallory Pew.
It's hard to even compete with that. I was like, dang, okay,
like whatever, you know, I had my chance, and clearly
I didn't make it in so went on still with
(18:01):
my head held high. The Courage were thriving on their
way to breaking the record for most schools scored in
a season with fifty three. By early gulyt Justin scored
six of those schools, one of the best individual marks
in the league. But then she stopped Justin and scored
another goal for nearly two months until the final game
(18:23):
of the regular season. She started every match that year
until July fourteen, when she suddenly didn't play at all.
I remember I called her once, like what's going on?
She wasn't playing too well and she was coming off
the bench. I'm like, what's going on. Here's Phoenix College
coach and friend Dave Cameron. She wasn't starting on her
team and stuff because she was struggling at home. As
(18:45):
Jess remembers it, Tracy had overstayed her welcome and was
becoming an increasingly destabilizing force in Jess's home, and for once,
adversity off the field wasn't translating to success on it.
Behavior changes started with her what I would see when
I was a little girl. This time it wasn't just
jesseeing the mood swings in the drama, but Jeremiah too.
(19:08):
I'm like, can you just leave, and she just refused
to leave. I'm just trying to figure out, like, how
can I get her out of the house. And I
had to call my dad to come and save me initially,
So my dad came to North Carolina while she was here,
and this is his first time ever witnessing her in
this state of mind. At one point that summer, just
(19:31):
told us she had to call the police to try
to force Tracy out. She told me one of the
most horrible things that a parent can ever tell their
child in front of my then five year old well,
she told me on this evening of July two, eighteen,
I will never forget this date for as long as
I live. She told me she wished she had flushed
(19:51):
me on a toilet when she had the chance. My
mother told me that to my face. I just didn't
want anything to do with her at that point. Throughout
our reporting, we tried multiple times to get in touch
with Tracy McDonald, but after a brief scheduling conversation ahead
of our Arizona trip, she stopped answering our cults. Since then,
(20:12):
the only thing we've heard of Tracy is this voicemail
greeting recorded by Jeremiah likely about three years ago. You
reach my agreem and she's not available. Weave for me
DA fine, sorry, L box is full. But whatever anguish
Tracy might have brought to Jess's life there in North Carolina,
her presence also brought Jess an unexpected gift. That twenty
(20:35):
eighteen season, Jessica's mother was visiting, so she was in
the owner's box with Jeremiah. Here's Dan Rockaway. So I
befriended her mother and I'm like, hey, look, my daughter
plays soccer. Do you think that Jess and I had
no idea if this would happen. I'm like, do you
think the Jefs would coach her one on one? And
She's like sure, And she looked into Jeremiah. Give her
(20:58):
your phone number, your Mons phone number. So Jeremy rounded
off his mother's phone number. I took notes and I
called and she started coaching Isabel. By the fall of
Tracy McDonald had left North Carolina and Jess and Jeremiah
we're back to their old routine, owned over years of
Jesse's side hustles for the Rockaways. They showed up at
the practice field where jess would set out drills to
(21:19):
train as well, Jeremiah brought along a snack in an
iPad and quietly sat on the sideline until his mother
was done working. So we would show up with this
allel and then she will show up with Jeremiah. In Jeremiah,
we will bring a little lunchbox with food and in
an iPad. Dan and Marta Rockaway are educators by trade
and on a string of child care facilities throughout North Carolina.
(21:42):
Here's Marda. They said, okay, tour in me in this mom,
And I'm like, I need to do something. And so
I said, Jessica, how about if we wished changed children,
You coaches a little and we take Jeremiah for a
walk in Jeremiah. He's like, yeah, I want to go
with them. So soon the family started grabbing dinner together
(22:02):
after Isabel's practices. Eventually at the Rockaways house, well, you
noticed that she had no support structure at all. It
was just her. And I just felt like, if this
were my daughter, I would want to be there for her.
So we try to provide, you know, the best support
system that someone like her could have. McDonald tryed the bass,
(22:28):
and she does from the first score off the night.
If she squeezes I won't pass on the outside. Justin
Jeremiah had become regulars at the Rockaway Household. By the
final game of that eighteen regular season. They offered a
sense of familiar stability Jessa never known before McDonald can
I slip it through the Williams my fun and the
(22:50):
second goal off at night? Just recorded a goal, went
to assist in that regular season finale against the Houston
Dash It was one of the best for mormons Is
of Jess's career. She finished the season among the league
leaders and goal scored and lead the ends. I want assists,
will do it for us here in North Carolina. A
(23:11):
final score. I want Carolina Fine. He was staying zero
literally after that night after my mom left, after her
telling me that it was like my life just fell
into place, like everything was just going great from that
point on. But would be enough to get Jess at
last or she'd always wanted to go. We'll be right
(23:32):
back tonight as we come on the air. What authorities
are now calling the Storm of a lifetime As impressive
as the courage had been during the season, as they
prepared for the postseason that September, any of their fans
in North Carolina had other things on their minds. Ricane
(23:55):
Florence prepares to hit the East coast, and the governor
right here in North Carolina as Anita's warning, disaster is
at the doorstep and it's coming in. As owners of
the best record in the league, the Courage were scheduled
to host the Chicago Red Stars in the NWSL semifinals,
but Mother Nature had other plans, so Jess and Jeremiah
altered their's. We invited on the comp stattas for a
(24:17):
few days to wan Let's make Hurricane threat Dan rockaway
and they went really well. And at that point she
went away and we kept Jeremiah. With the storm bearing down,
the NWSL relocated the semifinal game between the Courage and
the Red Stars to Portland on the other side of
the country. If the Courage won that game, Jess would
(24:39):
stay there to play in the championship and could be
gone for almost a week. Instead of taking Jeremiah, just
entrusted him to the Rockaways and will be let go
enjoy the game play, just enjoyed. I know you're going
to think about Jeremiah, and I understand, but but he's
going to be okay here, So just cheme on her
(24:59):
that piece of nine, Jess McDonald dealing onto and now
in the box. That it worked. That is how fast
they can strike. It was than five minutes into that
semifinal Jes scored for the Courage. Another goal from Sam
lewis locked into two nil win for North Carolina. With
(25:22):
Jeremiah safe with the rockaways, Jessica focus for the next
four days entirely on soccer A. North Carolina's opponent in
the championship, the hometown Portland Borns. The Jeames t how
down to the championship is on and they're just made
every moment count, cracking up scoring chance after scoring chance.
(25:42):
Cross That is the second one that Jess McDonald probably
not only could have but should have put away. Finally,
in the minute, Jess broke through, catching up to a
long ball by jay Lene Hankle and having it past
Portland's keeper. Eight goal look God capizes, but Jess wasn't
(26:08):
done yet. Midway through the second half, she found space
in the crowd in front of Portland's goal, and Jess
used her size to jump and get her head on
a curling ball From there at Mathias Mathias for the shot.
Jess McDonald does it again, and just like Brandy Chestain
had once done in her own championship match, just were
off her jersey and ran to her teammates in celebration.
(26:30):
The tank top she revealed read, Jesus paid it all,
nor Courage your two thousand n W South champions. The
Courage won the championship three to zero. Jess played what
might have been the most dominant game of her career.
She scored two of North Carolina's three goals. And now
I'd like to present our two eighteen and W as
(26:52):
South Championship Most Valuable Player. Congratulations, Jessica McDonald. Jess capped
a record breaking season with her second nd BSL championship
in three seasons and the MVP of the title game.
When she came home from that, it was a big deal.
(27:12):
We hurried up and ran the staples. We had this
big banner PRINTADAV saying my Mom's m v P or
something like that, Dan Rockaway. We were celebrating because it
was the first four or five days stay with us
that Jeremiah had and everybody approached us. The coach at
the time, other people thanked us for watching Jeremiah. They
(27:33):
said this was the first time that just went away
and didn't worry about him at all, and that probably,
you know, helped her play better and become m v P.
It was great Jess with Lynne later that the Rockaways
weren't the only people paying close attention to those games.
So was Joell Ellis, coach of the U S national team,
scouting future talent. I get a text from Joel Ellis.
(27:54):
She was like, you're absolutely tremendous. I remember seeing the
words tremendous, like congratulations on the wind in on the award.
And I know this year, in eighteen, this is the
year they're prepping for the World Cup, and so you
would think this team is already set in stone. But
after this text, I was like, I might be going
into camp like this is it. You've got to make it.
(28:18):
And on part eight of Payback, I was shocked when
I found out, you know, she's the sole provider for
her child. She doesn't give any other financial help from anybody.
I got invited into November camp. How to think about
Jeremiah though he's in school full time, he's in the
first grade. I'm like, crap. She hit so many barriers
and she got through each one of them. And then
(28:39):
went two years before that she was homeless, which is crazy.
I remember us saying a prayer. She was just like,
I'm proud of your daughter. I'm alexandreav Payback is a
production of The Charlotte Observer, Raleigh News and Observer, McClatchy Studios,
and I Heart Radio. It's produced by Cotta Stevens, Casey Tough,
(28:59):
Julia Wall, and Davin Cockburn. The executive producer for iHeart
Radio is Shawn ti Tone. For lots more on this
story and to support journalism like this, visit Charlotte Observer
dot com slash payback or News Observer dot com slash payback,
and for more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit the
I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
(29:23):
to your favorite shows.
Long Shot is a production of McClatchy Studios and I
Heart Radio previously on Payback. The female athletes are using
their platforms in ways that we have never seen before.
The players Union, demanding an into what it calls systemic
abuse plaguing the NWSL, was like, I have my dignity
and I'm tired of the bullshit. He would be like,
(00:23):
why are you playing like Crafts days? Because your son
was up all night. We won that year. We had
no business learning what we did, and I think it's
because of like the joy of the game. She breaks
a scoring record. She's an olden boot champion. She's working
below minimum wage and hopes to make that national team.
(00:45):
Growing up, I wanted dissembling. Whenever I'd blow out candles
on my birthday, write a letter to stand up for Christmas,
or throw a penny in a fountain. I would always
wish for a brother or sister. Isabelle Rockaway is eighteen
years old and has been fine tuning. Her essay is
for college applications. Here she's reading me one of her
admissions essays. This wish soon became a reality and my
(01:07):
life change forever. Jessica and Jeremiah weren't my biological siblings
or even adopted siblings. There were simply a single young
mother and her six year old boy who were seeking
a place to sit. At the start of the season,
so much in soccer seemed to be going right for Jess.
She'd added an NWSL title to her championship resume, and
(01:27):
she earned a little playing time for the U S
women's national team. In Jessic's life, however, the difficulties have
rarely seemed to come on the soccer field. At home,
the challenges of being an overworked and underpaid single mom.
We're catching up with her. She started coaching Isabel, and
that's how we met Isabel's father, Dan Rockaway. As we
(01:47):
get to know Jess, we got to know her story
as well, and it was a sad story. I just
felt like, if this were my daughter, I would want
to be there for her. So we try to provide,
you know, of the best support system that someone like
her could have in a career of off seasons filled
with second jobs. It was the connection Jess found with
(02:08):
one particular teenager and her parents that would alter the
trajectory of all their lives. Dan and Marta Rockaway I
called in my North Carolina family literally like a mom
and dad to me. And they have a daughter, Isabelle,
who I called my sister. I was coaching there for
a while and we just got like super close. We
just became one big family. By the time she met
(02:30):
the rock Ways, Jesse's career arc had been a case
study in perseverance over trauma and adversity. McDonald got it
behind and the soccer world was about to see what
a difference a little stability could make. Definite again from
The Charlotte Observer, Raleigh News, An Observer, McClatchy Studios, and
(02:50):
I Heart Radio. This is Payback. I'm alexandreav and this
is part seven. Smooth as Butter. I mean, the war
between the sexes could become an armor gandon if we
don't get on with our revolution. During dress McDonald's trial
(03:13):
with the U S women's national team, the question of
equality was once again on players minds, as late feminist
Betty for Dan put it more than forty years prior.
But if we do get on with it, and we
restructures deciety to make equality really possible, that I think
the war between the sexes will end. After years of
battling the US Soccer Federation largely behind the scenes for
(03:35):
what they believed was fair compensation, The women's national team
players launched an aggressive news stand Today, five of America's
top athletes filed a federal complaint charging that soccer pays
women a pittance to win world championships while it pays
big to the men who lose them. Alex Morrigan, Harley Lloyd,
(04:00):
Megan Rippino, Becky Sauerbrun and Hope Solo collectively filed their
federal complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. It was
a landmark moment in the modern iteration of the U
S women's teams fight for equal pay. Currently, when athletes
play in World Cup Games, qualifiers, and non competitive friendly matches,
they're paid a base annual salary and if they make
(04:22):
the World Cup roster, female players received of what their
male counterparts earned. Lloyd spoke on the Today Show. We've
proven our worth over the years, and we want to
continue to fight. The generation of players before us fought
and now it's our job to keep on fighting. Their
federal complaint would have limited financial impact on National Women's
(04:43):
Soccer League players like Jess who are just trying to
make the national team at all, but the ripple effects
had the potential to be substantial for nws L management
and its players. When US Soccer agreed to subsidize the
formation of the NWSL, it created in fact, demanded the
league act as a pipeline for current and future national
team players. US Soccer agreed to allocate national team players
(05:06):
to nws L teams and pay their salaries. In return,
the vast majority of those players were mandated to be
part of the league. Having those big names on the
field obviously benefited the n b s L team owners,
but it also set up an uneasy control structure in
which those national team players were employees of US Soccer,
not their nws L teams. They were not part of
(05:28):
the nbs L Players Association, and any sort of disputes
or work stoppages those national team players had with US
Soccer were entirely outside the control of their nbs L teams. Meanwhile,
their nws L teammates closely watched for whatever concessions national
team players could extract from US Soccer. The rest of
those nbs L players were pushing for their first collective
(05:50):
bargaining agreement exactly as the U S women had first
done in nineteen ninety nine, and moves at the highest
level of the sport had the potential to cascade down.
I've played this kind of trivia game with folks to
kind of orient where women's soccer has been and where
it is now. We met Megan Burke last episode. She
was one of the old guard players who was part
of the first two failed women's professional soccer leagues. She
(06:12):
finally hung up her cleats and went to law school.
Today she's returned to the game as the executive director
of that NWSL Players Association. Do you know what the
league minimum was that the veterans in two thousand three
in the ws A. I'm going to say it was
pretty low. I mean, was it under ten thousand? This
is the interesting part of the history of women's soccer.
(06:32):
It was twenty five thousand dollars in two thousand three.
Do you know what the league minimum is in nws
L eighteen years later? Twenty two? Right? That's wild. That's
what I talked about with our players is we need
to know our history. We need to know who we
come from, where we come from, where we've been, and
where we want to go. The NWSL, players like Jess
(06:55):
certainly wanted to increased pay as part of a collective
bargaining agreement with the league, but they also wanted to
increased protection and control over the kinds of trades. That's all.
Jess play in Chicago and Seattle and Portland and Houston
and Western New York, all in her first five years
in the league. That weighed on Jess's mind through early
(07:16):
I make the She Believes Cup roster, so my first
tournament with the US team, and we won the tournament,
which is really awesome, and I didn't get a call back. Unfortunately,
those national team camps that spring didn't lead to the
big break Jess had hoped for. I think we show
a lot of really good things. It's too early for
(07:37):
me just to look at relationships and who this pairing
is going to be. Publicly. Coach Joe Ellis said there
was plenty of time before she would finalize the U
S roster for the upcoming World Cup. Here she is
speaking at a press conference that summer. I gave myself
nine months and we'll come out of the back end
of this and then have a pretty good idea in
terms of how we start to formulate how this team looks.
(07:59):
But privately, Jess was preparing to close the book on
that world kept dream. I've been back in camps and
so I was satisfied enough at that point because I
got my chance. It didn't work out, okay, at least
you know, I took my chance and I tried. I
did everything I could. At this point, I've accepted it.
(08:20):
There was so much to be said about Jess as
a trailblazing journeywoman and American soccer, even if that was
ultimately her legacy in the game. So Jess told me,
she once again became determined to make the most of
her time in the end of b s L. The
upcoming season, it's going to be the first time she'd
been with the same team for more than a year.
But that's not to say the same city. Despite winning
(08:40):
the league championship in twenty the Flash had struggled to
grow attendance since the launch. At the end of BSL,
so in a stroke of luck for Jess, the team
was sold to an ownership group outside Raleigh and relocated
to the tar Heel state. The Western New York Flash
would become the North Carolina Courage. Our team. I got
(09:01):
and I'm like, Okay, We're going to North Carolina. This
time before the season, Jess couldn't wait to relocate this time.
She felt like she was going home biagone anywhere else
in the United States. To be honest, I don't even
know if I would still be playing because I have
a support system here. This is my second home. Playing
it from my alma mater. Doesn't get any better than that.
(09:24):
We'll tell you about that after the break. M long
Cross headed back to the Middle Palm and a Way
by Harris Chance for McDonald g scores. The North Carolina
Courage arrived in Carolina just weeks before the start of
(09:45):
the seventeen season. Jess McDonald's her first that included Jess
teammate Lynn Williams, and head coach Paul Riley. Late my
reporting for this podcast, in an explosive report by Meglenahan
of The Athletic, two former players of Riley's on the
(10:05):
Portland Thorns alleged that Riley had verbally and emotionally abused
them in Portland. The Courage released a statement that said, quote,
when we hired Paul, we made perfectly clear the expectations
of the job and the values of our club and
from what we know, he has lived up to those expectations.
End quote. The courage said that if anyone had information
about Riley behaving otherwise during his time with the team,
(10:28):
they were encouraged to come forward. No one has, at
least not that the public has been made aware of.
Dall kept ferst delivery headed by her set hits off
the cross bar and it's buried by Jess McDonald's. Jess
maintained to me that Riley's coaching letter to further improvement
as a player. Once the team arrived in North Carolina.
Jess McDonald had the opener last week. She gives the
(10:51):
courage of what death you lead In this match up
against the Boston Breakers, just scored the only goal and
simultaneously broke the end of us HOW scoring record with
thirty three career goals. Well. She is now number one
on the n wus so All Todd gold was a
championship Lastern and Western New York and now her second
goal this season. But as much success as Jess was
(11:13):
finding in the league, her primary motivation came at home.
My son is sad in my training sessions as a baby,
like an hist roller. By himself. He was never a
crier in anything like that. He slept twelve hours a night,
which is you know, really if he still does to
this day. Man, Thankfully, I have such an easy going kid.
When Williams again, when he was younger, he used to
(11:34):
travel with the team a lot, which was pretty cool.
I think it's definitely a unique way to grow up
around a bunch of women soccer players. But I think
that it just shows respecting women, and you can tell
that he does, and I think we need more little
boys like that. When things are working for me as
a mom, I'm like, okay, thanks, are mere working for
me on the OCCA fille as well? All right, here
(11:54):
we Golhan. But he's just smooth is butter. And the
reason why I have fun and I want to perform
at high levels because I need to show an example
for my son. That's my motivation. That's what inspires me
day in and day out. I think that society has
made people feel like being vulnerable about being a mom
is bad when it it shouldn't be that way at all.
(12:17):
Jeremiah also inspired a reunion with Jesse's mom, Tracy McDonald.
By the middle of Seen Jeremiah was five, and nothing
brings a family together like a grandchild. Besides, Jess could
use some help at home here. I am this new
like single parent pretty much trying to figure it out.
And so I called my mom because I'm like, she's
(12:38):
a grandma now, you know, And I didn't want to
keep that from Jeremiah. For Jess, everything had changed for
the worst that day, she says, Tracy hit her back
in high school. Even twenty years later, Jess said their
relationship had never really gotten better, but she was ready
to move on from the past, and there was enough
room in the modest department Jess was renting with her
(12:58):
monthly housing stipend from the Courage, so the timing felt
right to reconnect. She came in the middle of the
seventeen season, and whenever I traveled, you know, she stayed
here with Jeremiah and took him to school and you know,
took care of him while I was gone, and Jeremiah
loves her. They were super close. McDonald was there again
(13:20):
and if it's our second of the game that seen season,
McDonald and the Courage made believers of their new hometown fans.
Jess McDonald finishes on the doorstep three one courage in control,
maybe none more so than people. Jess would come to
call the closest family she's ever had, in many ways,
the immediate family she never had. My name is Dan Rockaway.
(13:41):
I consider myself Jessic's North Carolina father. I'm Isabel Rockaway,
and I would consider myself Jessica's sister. I am Marca Rockaway,
and I am her Columbian mom. In Isabel Rockaway was
bit by the soccer bug. The courage game at weak
(14:01):
Med Soccer Park seemed to Dan like a great father
daughter experience, even if the father wasn't entirely sold yet.
I was like, I'm gonna go because and taking my daughter.
And then we had these seats by the goal, and
I remember they were warming up and they missed the
goal and the ball team flying by us and hit
the seats where we're sitting, and it was so loud
and powerful it scared me. I was like, wow, this
(14:22):
is some hardcore stuff. I'm like, this is a perfect
example for Isabelle, our daughter, to see powerful women and
on the field. Jess in particular was unmissable. Five ten
signature long dread box and a canvas of tattoos with
a relentlessness that kept her in the center of the
action all the time. Forget simply being powerful, just being
(14:43):
completely fearless. You know, I don't watch the men's team
too much. I feel like the men they just roll
around the ground, they try to get a foul, they
act like they're hurt. And when I see the women fall,
they hit the ground, they get up and they started
running harder. The Rockaways watched has just helped Carolina win
League Shield, awarded to the team with the best regular
season record, and Jeremiah became a fan favorite, showing up
(15:06):
at his mom's matches dressed however he liked, which was
often like a superhero. Everyone knows that Jeremiah Jesse's son,
and all that stuff there at the game. It's like
he shows up in all these different costumes of like
a Batman suit on or Spiderman suits. Jess helped lead
the Courage to the championship game, where they lost to
the Portland Thorns. The Rockaways went all in and bought
(15:29):
season tickets in the owner's box level at WAKEMD Park.
A few months later, the Courage held a small fan
celebration for all the upcoming season ticket holders. Remember Jess
was over in a corner and I was like, I
want my picture taken with her. I was like scared
to approach Jesse. She's five ten, she's got tattoos, she's built,
(15:50):
and I remember like kind of walking over my head down,
say hey, can we get your picture, and she just
smile and just yeah, let's take a picture and everything.
We didn't even know her. And it's kind of cool
because I still have those pictures. So sunny and cool
(16:11):
Saturday afternoon in Carrie, North Carolina, where Sky Blue FFC
opens the two thousand eighteen season on the road. By
the start of season, Jess helped lead her NWSL team
to back to back league championship games. Jeremiah had just
turned six. She felt at home there in North Carolina,
and at least on the field, life was good ahead
(16:34):
for mcdattal. Jess were her first goal of the season
with this stoppage time game winner against sky Blue FC,
who Carolina in the nineties second minute stunts sky Blue.
I'm like, oh, I'm feeling good. I'm thirty. No injuries,
you know, like nothing hurts. And so was an incredible
(16:56):
year for the North Carolina Courage. We lost one game
that whole season. That's just so unheard of in the
USL McDonald in space, can't she be baked? Also? The
second time she does. Just scored another game winner two
matches later against Seattle, and it's McDonald with her second
goal of the season to put North Carolina up. I
(17:19):
remember in the middle of the summer, I went up
to Paul Riley and I asked him. I was like,
what do you think my chances are of getting back
into a camp? Just felt better than ever, she was
playing better than ever, and since she'd gotten a try
out with the National Team of Year earlier, maybe she
hoped it wasn't crazy to think she might get another shot.
He was like, Jess, I just I don't see it happening.
(17:40):
They're already stacked. They've had the same team for so
many years. You know, they've got in my position, Alex Morgan,
Carly Lloyd, Tobin Heath, Megan Rapino, Kristen Press, Mallory Pew.
It's hard to even compete with that. I was like, dang, okay,
like whatever, you know, I had my chance, and clearly
I didn't make it in so went on still with
(18:01):
my head held high. The Courage were thriving on their
way to breaking the record for most schools scored in
a season with fifty three. By early gulyt Justin scored
six of those schools, one of the best individual marks
in the league. But then she stopped Justin and scored
another goal for nearly two months until the final game
(18:23):
of the regular season. She started every match that year
until July fourteen, when she suddenly didn't play at all.
I remember I called her once, like what's going on?
She wasn't playing too well and she was coming off
the bench. I'm like, what's going on. Here's Phoenix College
coach and friend Dave Cameron. She wasn't starting on her
team and stuff because she was struggling at home. As
(18:45):
Jess remembers it, Tracy had overstayed her welcome and was
becoming an increasingly destabilizing force in Jess's home, and for once,
adversity off the field wasn't translating to success on it.
Behavior changes started with her what I would see when
I was a little girl. This time it wasn't just
jesseeing the mood swings in the drama, but Jeremiah too.
(19:08):
I'm like, can you just leave, and she just refused
to leave. I'm just trying to figure out, like, how
can I get her out of the house. And I
had to call my dad to come and save me initially,
So my dad came to North Carolina while she was here,
and this is his first time ever witnessing her in
this state of mind. At one point that summer, just
(19:31):
told us she had to call the police to try
to force Tracy out. She told me one of the
most horrible things that a parent can ever tell their
child in front of my then five year old well,
she told me on this evening of July two, eighteen,
I will never forget this date for as long as
I live. She told me she wished she had flushed
(19:51):
me on a toilet when she had the chance. My
mother told me that to my face. I just didn't
want anything to do with her at that point. Throughout
our reporting, we tried multiple times to get in touch
with Tracy McDonald, but after a brief scheduling conversation ahead
of our Arizona trip, she stopped answering our cults. Since then,
(20:12):
the only thing we've heard of Tracy is this voicemail
greeting recorded by Jeremiah likely about three years ago. You
reach my agreem and she's not available. Weave for me
DA fine, sorry, L box is full. But whatever anguish
Tracy might have brought to Jess's life there in North Carolina,
her presence also brought Jess an unexpected gift. That twenty
(20:35):
eighteen season, Jessica's mother was visiting, so she was in
the owner's box with Jeremiah. Here's Dan Rockaway. So I
befriended her mother and I'm like, hey, look, my daughter
plays soccer. Do you think that Jess and I had
no idea if this would happen. I'm like, do you
think the Jefs would coach her one on one? And
She's like sure, And she looked into Jeremiah. Give her
(20:58):
your phone number, your Mons phone number. So Jeremy rounded
off his mother's phone number. I took notes and I
called and she started coaching Isabel. By the fall of
Tracy McDonald had left North Carolina and Jess and Jeremiah
we're back to their old routine, owned over years of
Jesse's side hustles for the Rockaways. They showed up at
the practice field where jess would set out drills to
(21:19):
train as well, Jeremiah brought along a snack in an
iPad and quietly sat on the sideline until his mother
was done working. So we would show up with this
allel and then she will show up with Jeremiah. In Jeremiah,
we will bring a little lunchbox with food and in
an iPad. Dan and Marta Rockaway are educators by trade
and on a string of child care facilities throughout North Carolina.
(21:42):
Here's Marda. They said, okay, tour in me in this mom,
And I'm like, I need to do something. And so
I said, Jessica, how about if we wished changed children,
You coaches a little and we take Jeremiah for a
walk in Jeremiah. He's like, yeah, I want to go
with them. So soon the family started grabbing dinner together
(22:02):
after Isabel's practices. Eventually at the Rockaways house, well, you
noticed that she had no support structure at all. It
was just her. And I just felt like, if this
were my daughter, I would want to be there for her.
So we try to provide, you know, the best support
system that someone like her could have. McDonald tryed the bass,
(22:28):
and she does from the first score off the night.
If she squeezes I won't pass on the outside. Justin
Jeremiah had become regulars at the Rockaway Household. By the
final game of that eighteen regular season. They offered a
sense of familiar stability Jessa never known before McDonald can
I slip it through the Williams my fun and the
(22:50):
second goal off at night? Just recorded a goal, went
to assist in that regular season finale against the Houston
Dash It was one of the best for mormons Is
of Jess's career. She finished the season among the league
leaders and goal scored and lead the ends. I want assists,
will do it for us here in North Carolina. A
(23:11):
final score. I want Carolina Fine. He was staying zero
literally after that night after my mom left, after her
telling me that it was like my life just fell
into place, like everything was just going great from that
point on. But would be enough to get Jess at
last or she'd always wanted to go. We'll be right
(23:32):
back tonight as we come on the air. What authorities
are now calling the Storm of a lifetime As impressive
as the courage had been during the season, as they
prepared for the postseason that September, any of their fans
in North Carolina had other things on their minds. Ricane
(23:55):
Florence prepares to hit the East coast, and the governor
right here in North Carolina as Anita's warning, disaster is
at the doorstep and it's coming in. As owners of
the best record in the league, the Courage were scheduled
to host the Chicago Red Stars in the NWSL semifinals,
but Mother Nature had other plans, so Jess and Jeremiah
altered their's. We invited on the comp stattas for a
(24:17):
few days to wan Let's make Hurricane threat Dan rockaway
and they went really well. And at that point she
went away and we kept Jeremiah. With the storm bearing down,
the NWSL relocated the semifinal game between the Courage and
the Red Stars to Portland on the other side of
the country. If the Courage won that game, Jess would
(24:39):
stay there to play in the championship and could be
gone for almost a week. Instead of taking Jeremiah, just
entrusted him to the Rockaways and will be let go
enjoy the game play, just enjoyed. I know you're going
to think about Jeremiah, and I understand, but but he's
going to be okay here, So just cheme on her
(24:59):
that piece of nine, Jess McDonald dealing onto and now
in the box. That it worked. That is how fast
they can strike. It was than five minutes into that
semifinal Jes scored for the Courage. Another goal from Sam
lewis locked into two nil win for North Carolina. With
(25:22):
Jeremiah safe with the rockaways, Jessica focus for the next
four days entirely on soccer A. North Carolina's opponent in
the championship, the hometown Portland Borns. The Jeames t how
down to the championship is on and they're just made
every moment count, cracking up scoring chance after scoring chance.
(25:42):
Cross That is the second one that Jess McDonald probably
not only could have but should have put away. Finally,
in the minute, Jess broke through, catching up to a
long ball by jay Lene Hankle and having it past
Portland's keeper. Eight goal look God capizes, but Jess wasn't
(26:08):
done yet. Midway through the second half, she found space
in the crowd in front of Portland's goal, and Jess
used her size to jump and get her head on
a curling ball From there at Mathias Mathias for the shot.
Jess McDonald does it again, and just like Brandy Chestain
had once done in her own championship match, just were
off her jersey and ran to her teammates in celebration.
(26:30):
The tank top she revealed read, Jesus paid it all,
nor Courage your two thousand n W South champions. The
Courage won the championship three to zero. Jess played what
might have been the most dominant game of her career.
She scored two of North Carolina's three goals. And now
I'd like to present our two eighteen and W as
(26:52):
South Championship Most Valuable Player. Congratulations, Jessica McDonald. Jess capped
a record breaking season with her second nd BSL championship
in three seasons and the MVP of the title game.
When she came home from that, it was a big deal.
(27:12):
We hurried up and ran the staples. We had this
big banner PRINTADAV saying my Mom's m v P or
something like that, Dan Rockaway. We were celebrating because it
was the first four or five days stay with us
that Jeremiah had and everybody approached us. The coach at
the time, other people thanked us for watching Jeremiah. They
(27:33):
said this was the first time that just went away
and didn't worry about him at all, and that probably,
you know, helped her play better and become m v P.
It was great Jess with Lynne later that the Rockaways
weren't the only people paying close attention to those games.
So was Joell Ellis, coach of the U S national team,
scouting future talent. I get a text from Joel Ellis.
(27:54):
She was like, you're absolutely tremendous. I remember seeing the
words tremendous, like congratulations on the wind in on the award.
And I know this year, in eighteen, this is the
year they're prepping for the World Cup, and so you
would think this team is already set in stone. But
after this text, I was like, I might be going
into camp like this is it. You've got to make it.
(28:18):
And on part eight of Payback, I was shocked when
I found out, you know, she's the sole provider for
her child. She doesn't give any other financial help from anybody.
I got invited into November camp. How to think about
Jeremiah though he's in school full time, he's in the
first grade. I'm like, crap. She hit so many barriers
and she got through each one of them. And then
(28:39):
went two years before that she was homeless, which is crazy.
I remember us saying a prayer. She was just like,
I'm proud of your daughter. I'm alexandreav Payback is a
production of The Charlotte Observer, Raleigh News and Observer, McClatchy Studios,
and I Heart Radio. It's produced by Cotta Stevens, Casey Tough,
(28:59):
Julia Wall, and Davin Cockburn. The executive producer for iHeart
Radio is Shawn ti Tone. For lots more on this
story and to support journalism like this, visit Charlotte Observer
dot com slash payback or News Observer dot com slash payback,
and for more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit the
I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
(29:23):
to your favorite shows.
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