Sam Staab

Aly Wagner sits down with Washington Spirit defender Samantha Staab to discuss her inclusion in the NWSL's Best XI Presented by Mastercard for 2023, the season's highs and lows, and her back line.

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
In twenty twenty three, Sam Stobb proved once again why
she is one of the NWSL's most complete defenders. The
twenty six year old anchored the Spirits defense, leading the
team to five clean sheets this season, all the while
being instrumental initiating the attack. A finalist for the league's
Defender of the Year award, Stop played every minute of
the regular season. I sat down with the twenty twenty

(00:26):
three NWSL Best Eleven presented by a MasterCard honoree, to
discuss this season's highs, lows, and her presence in the
back line. Well. First, Sam, I want to say congratulations
on being named to the Best Eleven in the twenty
twenty three season presented by MasterCard. I mean, that's an
incredible accomplishment. When you look back on the year, did

(00:48):
you think that you'd land in this spot.

Speaker 2 (00:52):
No, I don't think so. Thank you, by the way,
but yeah, I don't think so. I think I never
start the season being like, oh I want to do this,
I want to do that. I just want to do
the best for the Spirit year in and year out,
and it's cool to get recognized, but yeah, I just
want to do my best for the team At the
end of the day.

Speaker 1 (01:09):
Well, you're certainly doing that. I just saw that you
signed a contract extension for another three years in Washington.
You know what has been I would ask you what
has been at the reason for your assimilation so quickly
into that setting, into the team, into the club, into
the environment that is having you excel.

Speaker 2 (01:28):
Yeah, I would say, I think it's just like having
good people around. I think it's not easy to be
able to assimilate quickly, but like when you have good
people around that want you to succeed and want you
to excel, it definitely makes it easier. And that's on
the staff side, but also the girls on the team,
Like everyone on the team is so amazing. We all
get along really well. So it just makes the environment

(01:49):
and the vibe just really good. And then when you're
comfortable somewhere, it's much easier to do do better and
do well for those around you.

Speaker 1 (01:58):
I'll talk about that a little bit for people that
don't know that haven't played a team sport. When you
talk about how difficult it can be to assimilate into
a brand new environment, what are some of the challenges
that people or that you have faced historically.

Speaker 2 (02:10):
Yeah, I would say, it's just like we all come
from different backgrounds. We all come from different areas, and
that's like I said, on the staff side and on
the player's side, and you just come from different places
where you're used to certain things. And then you get
here and the coach wants something, or the assistant coach
wants something, or another girl on the team wants something else.

(02:31):
So it's just trying to like mesh all those personalities,
all those ideas and trying to create a culture around
that can be tough, but like I said, good people
around you it makes it so much easier, and we've
definitely been lucky with that at the Spirit for sure.

Speaker 1 (02:47):
How would you describe a culture at the Spirit.

Speaker 2 (02:51):
I would say it's definitely a culture of like it's lighter.
I would say it's very fun. Everyone's there to like
uplift each other, but I definitely think we're also there
to get things done. Unfortunately, we didn't make the playoffs
this year, so that's been like a very heavy hit
for all of us. But I think the culture and
the environment is to win and succeed and do well,

(03:12):
but also do it while having fun on and off
the field, which is something that I really appreciate and
something that I try to live my life by. And
I think that's why I've liked and done well here
because it kind of like fits me personally as well
as like what the club is doing. Well.

Speaker 1 (03:28):
You just mentioned it. I mean, you guys go from
winning the championship in twenty one, a few years later,
you guys miss playoffs. What has been the reflection and
the narrative internally on your season.

Speaker 2 (03:40):
This season in particular, Yes, yeah, I would say, yeah,
that's a tough one. I don't know if I've fully
fully digested the season and how it ended and how
everything happened. I think it's still frustrating, it's still shocking
and all of that. But I think how we've always

(04:00):
looked here is just like looking ahead to the next year,
the next chapter. We have had a lot of changes
already go on. But I think it's just you got
to put your head down and work again. I think
obviously it's tough. It's not fun not making the playoffs,
especially with the caliber of players that we have. I
think we definitely could be there. But yeah, I think
it's just kind of you just got to put your

(04:21):
head down and work again.

Speaker 1 (04:23):
How challenging was it for you, in particular a brand
new backline around you. You're talking about the difficulties and
necessarily assimilating into an environment. What challenged you about that
process or was there chemistry from the beginning?

Speaker 2 (04:37):
Yeah, I would say there's always the challenges of working
with new players, but it's not something that I'm not
used to. In my four years prior to this year,
this is my fifth year, I think I probably played
with like ten or twelve different like left backs, a
few different center backs, so like that was not playing
with new people. Wasn't anything like new for me, and

(05:00):
having that consistency was really awesome and I think helped
me as well as the back line like succeed and
do well. So I think honestly it was new, it
was different, but it also once we got the group
of people that we wanted, it didn't change too much,
which I think was like really great for the team,
the back line, and then also like individually all of us.

Speaker 1 (05:21):
What kind of leader are you back there? Because you
do I would say run the show to a certain extent.

Speaker 2 (05:28):
I would I would hope that people would say I'm
like an encouraging but like demanding leader. I try to
be vocal. I've played a lot of minutes for the Spirit,
so I try to be vocal. But at the same time,
like I think, we're all still learning about each other
and learning the positions and how to play together. So
I think I would want people to say that I'm
like encouraging but also fairly demanding. Yeah, I think that's

(05:52):
what I would say.

Speaker 1 (05:53):
Are you vocal?

Speaker 2 (05:55):
I try to be. I'm probably not as lot as Aubrey.
She's always yelling in the game, but like I to be.
So you had to make up for when she was
gone at the World Yes, yeah, definitely.

Speaker 1 (06:07):
Okay, you said it. You you played a lot of
minute to the Spirit, three Iron Woman seasons in a row.
I am someone who was always injured in my career.
How are you staying healthy? How are you staying able
to perform at the highest level? You know, ninety games
in a row.

Speaker 2 (06:23):
Yeah, I don't know. Like the magic potion or trick
or whatever it is. I think just I really focus
on recovery. We have a lot of staff around us
helping us for whether it's like pre training, during training,
after training. We have a lot of eyes on us
to help. But at the same time, like I just
want to play. Like, mentally, I'm always like what can
I do to play? I get really anxious when I'm

(06:44):
not playing, So I just everything is like mentally about
what I can do to be in the eleven and
luckily I've been chosen every time. But yeah, I think
a lot of it is like I focus a lot
on recovery, spend a lot of time on that. We
have really great staff, but like at the end of
the day, it's like I want to be there and
I'm going to do everything I can to be there
and be able to perform.

Speaker 1 (07:03):
I think you're selling yourself short by saying luckily you're
chosen every time. For instance, has called you one of
the top passing center backs in the league. Why do
you think it is that it's either innate to you
or that you train upon to live in that expectation,
the expectation of always playing, of being an incredibly incredible

(07:24):
passing center back. Oh yeah, I would say honestly, it's
because I've played probably everywhere on the field in my career.
I've been I was a midfielder for like most of
my career, so it's just like a completely different position.
A very like passing position, and in college I get
switched to center back and kind of played it as
a midfielder a little bit. But yeah, I think that's

(07:45):
kind of a lot of it is. I've seen the
game in different roles and try to bring that to
playing center back. Maybe it is like a little risky
sometimes and some of the passes that I play, but
like the game's fun, might as well add a little
his as right. That is so spot on because I
think about it, there's so much risk involved with playing
out of the back, and do you ever have a
moment of Wow, I probably shouldn't play this bast but

(08:08):
I'm going to try it anyways.

Speaker 2 (08:12):
I think earlier in my career I definitely took a
lot more risk. I will say I still take risk,
but it's not like a oh screw it, let's try this.
It's like very it's more calculated. I would say, I'm
more calculated than the risks that I'm taking now for sure. Yeah,
you're mature, yeah a little bit, just a little.

Speaker 1 (08:29):
What are your aspirations? I mean, we talk about what
a successful soccer career looks like for you, if you
could script it, what would it look like?

Speaker 2 (08:37):
Yeah, I would say I have open goals. There's not
like something where I'm like, oh, if I don't get this,
I'm going to be upset. I definitely have open goals.
I just really want to like be happy with how
I'm playing and be successful on whatever team that is
that I'm on, whether it be at the Spirit, whether
it be at another level or anything like that. Like,

(08:57):
I just want to be happy with how I'm playing
and like successful in my own terms of that. A
lot of that has to do with like just how
I feel personally, emotionally, mentally, physically, all of that. But
I would say I don't have any like, oh, I
want to like win this, I want to win this
many championships, I want to connect this many passes. It's
very open.

Speaker 1 (09:18):
Do you want to play on the US Nation?

Speaker 2 (09:20):
Which I think I hope, So, I mean I wouldn't
be playing. I wouldn't be playing in the end of yourself.
I didn't have that aspiration. I think everyone does. But yeah,
everything is very open, and I think is like healthy
to have like open goals like that. But yeah, I.

Speaker 1 (09:35):
Think when I hear you say that, there's so much
that sounds like it's uncontrollable right to be happy and
how you're playing. Sometimes you have good games, sometimes you know,
not the living up to the performance you'd expect for yourself.
You know what, how do you actually make that a
controllable outcome for yourself? What do you focus on to
maintain that happiness?

Speaker 2 (09:53):
Well, like you said, a lot of it is uncontrollable,
So it's like control the things that you can control.
So like, what's my attitude going to be day in
and day out training? Like, of course you're going to
have bad days, but like can you bounce back quick
and make the next day like back at your standard?
I think that's a lot of like what I've tried
to focus on, And I think not necessarily just me individually,

(10:13):
but also like with the group. I think I have
like a pretty good pulse on the team and kind
of influence the morale, and I think if I try
and bring my best, it can also hopefully help someone
else on the team bring their best, whether they're having
a good day or not. So it's things like that.
I think you just have to control what you can
control on the ball and off the ball, Like I

(10:34):
think off the ball stuff is really important too. With
the team, and then also just how you then drive
when you're on the ball.

Speaker 1 (10:42):
Yeah, how do you balance that with life? You know
you've got You've got soccer, Sam, football, Sam. What does
the balance look like in your life?

Speaker 2 (10:50):
Yeah? I really try to do a good job of
balancing them. I am lucky, luckily I have friends outside
of soccer that live here in DC as well. So
it's nice to be able to get away and just
like not talk about training, not talk about like anything
that has to do with the NWSL, with soccer or anything.

(11:12):
So I'm really lucky to have that, but also just
being able to just get away, like go for walks,
go out, be social, like go for dinner, things like that.
I'm always on the go, I'm always busy a lot
of times, I have people visiting. So I think that's
a really nice thing that I luckily get to have
and enjoy to be able to balance it out a
little bit. Because the season's long, it can get like mundane.

(11:35):
But you definitely have to have like a good balance
in order to be successful day in and day out.

Speaker 1 (11:41):
Yeah, no doubt. Back to soccer, who is the player
that you hate playing against? What striker?

Speaker 2 (11:50):
I think I've struggled the most with Sophia Smith, so
definitely her. But she's she's a great player for sure. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (11:56):
And then on the flip side, talk about Ashley hatch
You know, a fellow at Best eleven alongside you. How
is it to play with her? What do you find
so easy to connect with? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (12:06):
I mean Hatchie is like a ray of sunshine on
her team. That's literally like what we call her, but
like she is so sweet, always like wants to do
better and wants to help everyone else do better. So
I mean, you can't go wrong with having a teammate
like that on the field with you, always encouraging people,
and she just like will score scores goals, Like that's
what you want on the team, right, So it's awesome

(12:28):
playing with her. I love playing with her.

Speaker 1 (12:30):
Do you see anything in her training that makes her
such an exceptional goal scorer that you don't see out
of other forwards?

Speaker 2 (12:37):
I mean I've only played with the girls like at
the Spirit honestly, but she just like is always trying
to do better. After training, She'll be pulling coaches being like, oh,
like can we get extra ups doing this? Something that
she wants to work on She's always taking pks too,
and she's always scoring those, so that's always really great.
But yeah, I just think she is always striving for

(12:58):
more and working really hard, and you can't someone for
doing that.

Speaker 1 (13:01):
So, Sam, I got to know, what is your priceless
moment from the twenty twenty three season.

Speaker 2 (13:07):
Yeah, I would say that we have a lot. We've
definitely had a lot of fun. But one that sticks out.
My priceless moment for a twenty twenty three was Trend's
second goal against Kansas City, kind of late in the season.
I don't think I've ever screamed or ran that fast
or screamed that hard for a goal. I was out
of breath by the time we were celebrating, and it
just felt like it was just one of the best

(13:27):
moments because we had worked so hard and kind of
just hadn't had the results and then we finally got that,
So it was that is definitely my priceless moment for
twenty twenty three.

Speaker 1 (13:37):
Could you catch her?

Speaker 2 (13:39):
Oh No, I mean no one can add but like
we all finally caught.

Speaker 1 (13:42):
Up to her, that is certainly priceless, and I remember
seeing the highlights, so it was a sick goal. Yeah,
I think the only other thing that maybe I wanted
to ask as a follow up to that, and I
think you know, you touched on it a little bit,
but but you're low for the season. You guys miss
out on playoffs. You know, was it that final game
decision day that that was your low for the twenty

(14:03):
twenty three season, and then how are you using that
to drive you forward?

Speaker 2 (14:08):
Yeah, I would definitely say my love for the season
was that game. It was horrible, it was It just sucked,
And I definitely I remember the entire game, and so
I'm gonna keep replaying that entire game this whole offseason
and through the rest of the season until we or
through the rest of the off season until we start

(14:28):
next season. We go in preseason, and that's definitely like
a driving factor. We were so close, we were in it,
and yeah, just unfortunately doesn't go your way. But I
definitely remember basically every moment of that game, and that's
gonna keep replaying until we get to go again.

Speaker 1 (14:45):
What do you feel like went wrong in that match?

Speaker 2 (14:50):
Yeah, I mean there there was a lot. I would
say I thought we came out within a pretty good
game plan. I don't know, I can say my true
thoughts without getting fined. But I would say there's there
there was a lot that just didn't go our way,
and unfortunately we couldn't score. We had got an unfortunate

(15:11):
goal against us, And yeah, it was just tough. It
was definitely a tough game against a really good opponent.
I mean you can't fault them either. They played really well.
So it just it just sucks losing in that way,
especially when we were in it to start the day.
But yeah, it just it just sucks. And like I said,
it's going to be replaying in my mind until we

(15:32):
get to go again next season.

Speaker 1 (15:34):
And you guys that are now in your off season,
but you're one of the few that staying behind and training.
What does off season look like for you? Will you
stay in market and how much time will you take off?

Speaker 2 (15:44):
Yeah, I mean I'll kind of be bouncing around, like
definitely want to use the time to get away when
I can, but yeah, I'll be like bouncing around in
market going back home to San Diego because I want
to go back to that nice weather for sure. But yeah,
I would say it's just kind of bouncing around taking
a little bit of time off. If I took a
week off last week and so just kind of getting

(16:06):
back into it, and then once it comes holiday time,
it'll be a bit of training here and there, but
definitely taking the time off to recuperate and things like that.

Speaker 1 (16:15):
West Coast or East Coast.

Speaker 2 (16:17):
So that's a tough question because I've been on the
East Coast for so long, but I'm from the West Coast.
I think I'm only kind of two different people. Like
when I'm at home, I'm kind of a different person
than when I'm like in my own world on the
East Coast. But I've been an East Coast girl for
so long. I guess I have to say East Coast now.
But yeah, I.

Speaker 1 (16:35):
Think that'll make your family quite sad.

Speaker 2 (16:37):
Yeah, but I mean my dad's from the East Coast,
my mom's in the West Coast. Like it's been split
like forever.

Speaker 1 (16:43):
But yeah, well West Coast missus. Yeah, congrats again, appreciate
the time, Sam, Thank you so much. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (16:50):
Thanks,