March 17, 2022 • 39 mins
In celebration of Women’s History Month, we’re proud to deliver our first-ever all-female podcast episode featuring a handful of accomplished women and trailblazers in the basketball world. Abby Chin and Amanda Pflugrad host and bring in Big East Commissioner and the first president of the WNBA Val Ackerman, Connecticut Sun President Jen Rizzotti, and Boston Celtics scout and three-time national champion Ashley Battle. The group weaves through a long list of topics all centered around what it’s like to be a woman in the sporting world, and in particular, the world of basketball.
2:20 – Abby and Amanda welcome in their ridiculously impressive list of guests
3:35 – Val Ackerman explains the path she’s taken to becoming the Commissioner of the Big East
5:55 – Ashley Battle jumps in to tell the story of her career
7:55 – Jen Rizzotti rounds out the group by explaining how she came to be president of the Connecticut Sun
11:20 – Rizzotti and Battle explain how the WNBA bubble empowered the players of the league
15:00 – Ackerman states her ‘four buckets’ between the connection of women and sports
18:00 – Ackerman recalls an experience that scarred her and proved to her just how much more work needs to be done within FIBA to embrace women in basketball
23:43 – The group discusses the challenges women face of having a family while trying to build their careers
28:15 – The group gives advice on how to overcome challenges while discussing their own stories
32:40 – Allison Feaster, the Celtics’ Vice President of Player Development and Organizational Growth, is discussed amongst the group
36:05 – Rizzotti reveals her perspective on women in the workforce
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome everyone. This is View from the Rafters. It is
my absolute pleasure to welcome in one of the pillars
of this organization. Everybody for guests part good work. Don't
go there, not yet will we talk about you haven't
told him like he had just come off the battlefield.
I know what a dream is to work in half
our listeners probably don't even know what that is. Always
gonna be green Baby. Welcome to View from the Rafters
(00:24):
Behind the Scenes with the Buston Celtics, presented by Cardless.
Here's your host, Abby Chin with special guest host Amanda
food Grad. Welcome into View from the Raptors Behind the
Scenes with the Boston Celtics, and we are making history today.
But we have the first all female podcast as we
(00:45):
are celebrating Women's History Month and International Women's Day on
March eighth. I am joined by Celtics dot Com incredible
reporter Amanda Flew Grad and Amanda we called in the
big guns for this one to have a really meaningful
conversation about not only just women in sports, but really
(01:06):
the life of this game, what it's like to be
a part of it as a woman, and also to
kind of look back on how far women have come
as well. Yes, I mean just powerful conversations Abbey and
women that are just trailblazers in their field, their journey
of what they've been through to get to where they
(01:26):
are today, and having a seat at the table, it's
just so inspiring and also hearing some of the advice
that they have to for for women wanting to get
into the field and in the road that they took
to get there. I they just think it's a wonderful,
wonderful thing, and I love it that we're making history
too with an all female podcast as well. It really
(01:47):
is an empowering conversation, and not just for women, but
I think anyone who has dealt with any sort of
adversity or challenges in your professional life to hear how
these incredible women deal with that on a daily basis
and have overcome those sort of things to get to
where they are. So without further ado, please enjoy the
(02:10):
first ever women's all female podcast here on view from
the Raptors behind the scenes of the Boston Myself, Amanda,
and I are so honored to be joined now by
three legends of the game, but also trailblazers not only
in women's sports. But in the world of sports, I'm
gonna do quick intros for everybody, and then we're gonna
(02:33):
ask you to give us your journey and kind of
summarize it, although all of you have had such incredible
journeys that I know it will be hard to summarize,
but we want to hear from you and then we
will dive into the conversation. So first let me introduce
Val Ackerman, the current Big East commissioner. Of course, you
were the first president of the w n b A
(02:55):
and president of USA Basketball and a four year starter
at the University of for ginya um also joined by
Ashley Battle, now currently in her first year as a
scout for the Boston Celtics, but obviously a three time
national champ with the Yukon Huskies and defensive player of
the Year in two thousand three, and finally a legend
(03:18):
of the Northeast. Jennifer Rosatti, president of the Connecticut son,
longtime women's basketball coach at the collegiate level, and uh,
of course a national champion and player of the Year
in So ladies were just so honored to have you here. Val,
I would like to start with you. Can you kind
(03:40):
of tell us the path that you took to get
to where you are now. Thanks Abby, great being with
you and a man of course Ashley and gin Um,
so I you know my path is not unlike there's. Um.
I was an athlete growing up and played basketball in
college in the early years of Title nine. Um I
was able to go on a basketball scholarship to uh
(04:03):
To University, to the University of Virginia. And I don't
know if Ashley and Jen know this, I just miss
coached coach Oriama. He arrived in Charlesville the fall after
I graduated in May, um in one, so we missed
each other. But um um, of course you know it's
great to have that tie with such a such a
great leader in the women's game. Um I I'm a lawyer.
(04:26):
I went to law school after playing a year overseas
following my dais at uv a UM and then practiced
on Wall Street for a couple of years before I
wound up at the NBA UM in the late eighties
as a staff lawyer, and I spent sixteen years at
the company, UM the first aid on the men's side,
and then when the w NBA started in I was
(04:51):
the first president so um have you know, have a
lot of pride and how far the league has come
in the last twenty five years, and um, how you
know how far our women's basketball generally has progressed since
my playing days at u v A. Um, as you noted,
I'm now the commissioner the Big East. I've been in
this job now for nine years. Uh it feels like
(05:13):
what is dog years? One time seven? So nine times
seven is sixty three? Okay, No, but it's been a great,
great ride being back in college basketball and I you know,
I have you know, I have to say having yukon
returning to the Big East after a break, um of
course charter member when the league was formed in seventy
(05:34):
nine and now back with us, and it's just been amazing.
Everything that they've brought back to UH, to the conference
over the last couple of years since they rejoined has
been has been wonderful. So um, it's been a fun
ride and again great to be with such an amazing
group of women today. Actually, wow, that was so great. UM,
(05:55):
I didn't know that you missed, you know, coach by
by your that would have been awesome and Fultor events
were coached by him that had been really random. But yeah,
very cool. Thank you for having me. Um, this is great.
I'm so happy to be here with this esteemed group
of ladies. Uh. My journey is, you know, quite similar
(06:15):
to vows and gins. I played, grew up in Pittsburgh,
played at Yukon. Uh we did fairly well there, to
say the least. Um, And I was drafted to the
w n B a UM in two thousand five. I
didn't know if I was going to get drafted or not.
I wasn't sure if I was going to play. I
(06:36):
had a job waiting for me at Nike, and I
was like, all right, you know, if I get drafted,
that's great. If not, you know, it's okay. There's a
good road. And so but I did get drafted to Seattle.
I was able to have a pretty long career, and
you know, like most women or athletes in general, my
career ended on an injury to my hip and my ankle.
(06:57):
And I was had like this love hate relationship with
basketball at the time when that was happening, because I
wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I was mad
because I couldn't play. So I had all these you know,
different things that was happening in my life. And you know,
so I went into banking, you know, because I didn't
wanted to have anything to do with sports. I got
(07:19):
into banking. Um, I ended up helping build a sports
and entertainment division at a financial planning firm, which really
got me back into sports. And I was just like,
what am I doing? Like, I love I love sports
in general. I love basketball, and I end up going
I'm working at the league office at the NBA, where
(07:39):
I worked with the w n b A and a
lot of different departments within the league. From there, I
end up circling back twenty years later and working at
Nike in Jordan's and now I'm currently a scout with
with the Celtics. And yeah, well, I don't know if
my my journey is quite as a random maybe as Ashley's.
(08:03):
I haven't left basketball. I started in it and and
haven't left. And uh. I grew up in Connecticut, so
fortunately at a time where you know, Yukon women's basketball
was on the rise, and certainly made a great decision
to attend the university and play for GINO and I'll
be a part of the first ever national championship at
the University of Connecticut, so excited to have been able
(08:25):
to kind of pave the way for what that program
has become. But you know, I also, I mean, they're
probably gonna talk about her journey the whole entire podcast,
because you know, she's the reason so many of us
are even here. She's the reason that so many of
us have the opportunity to to play after college and
be a professional basketball player in the United States. And
you know, we're we're super grateful for all the women
(08:48):
that lived through Title nine, and as we're about to
celebrate its fiftieth anniversary coming up UM this summer, it's
just unbelievable to see where the sport has come. UM.
You know, So I had a chance to play for
the American Basketball League for a few years in Hartford,
they had a franchise in Hartford before it folded, and
then was drafted into the w n B A UM
(09:08):
and during that time, I was also offered the head
coaching job at the University of Hartford. So I simultaneously
played basketball and the w n B A and the
summer and coached college basketball UM the rest of the
year for five years. UM. And then I got to
the point where my second team in the w n
b A was. You know, I was ready to fold
in the Cleveland Rockers. Unfortunately I was creeping up on
(09:31):
thirty and UM, you know, I had a great obviously
second career in coaching, and I wanted to start a family. UM.
So you know, it's a tough, tough decision to make
for a lot of women that played professional basketball. Is
you know, trying to make sure you have that time
to to have a family when when possible. So, UM,
I was fortunate to be able to continue my coaching
(09:52):
career and where where I did that at the University
of Hartford and George Washington for twenty two years, UM,
before pivoting last year to take the job at the
Connecticut Suns. So UM didn't really expect that. UM, it's
just an opportunity that came up as one door closed
for me. UM. But it's just has been a really
natural fit, you know, just an opportunity for me to
(10:15):
return back to the w especially after the last few years,
and UM, the growth that we've seen, the momentum that
the league has has right now, the UM, you know,
the platform that the players have elevated. UM, just a
chance for me to come home to Connecticut, be a
part of the league, UM and think about what, you know,
the position that I'm in, to help amplify the voices
(10:37):
of these wonderful women in the league, UM, to elevate
the experience of the players in in Connecticut. UM, and
and try and help bring the first w NBA championship
to our franchise. So um, just kind of everything aligned
for me to be able to come home and take
this job. And it's it's been a thrill. I absolutely
love it. Yeah, Jen to follow up on that, I
mean you said elevating the players and and we're being
(11:00):
that more and more in the w n b A.
And worked for the Aces doing sideline reporting. Asia Wilson
was one that was just out in the community and
for all of you, how have you seen the steps
that the w n b A has taken in terms
of the players just being able to be out there more,
have more of a voice, and more of a platform too. Well,
you know, I think a couple of things. Obviously, the
(11:21):
season in the bubble is as hard as it was
and a challenging as it was, it did give them
an opportunity physically to all be together and and make
decisions as a group on issues that were really important
to them. Obviously, it was a difficult time in our country,
and social justice became you know, two came to the forefront,
and UM, I'm so proud that they took actionable items. UM.
(11:43):
You know, so many people just try and say the
words or wear a T shirt. Um, the women of
w n b A actually made change, you know, they
they impacted change in our country and it was just
really impressive to watch. And I also think, um coupled
with that is the support that they get not only
from their individual franchises to utilize their voices, but from
(12:03):
the league leadership. You know, we we are a league,
a player lead league, and you know, the leadership in
the w n b A has allowed them to use
their voices for the common good. There's you know, nobody
getting sanctioned for kneeling for the anthem, or nobody getting
asked to to keep their opinions to themselves. Um, They've
been applauded and encouraged to use their voices. And so
(12:27):
I just thought, from my position leadership position of the
Connecticut Sun, I can continue to make sure that that
is a regular thing in the w n b A,
and at least for my players to make sure I'm
also having their back and and and putting programs in
place where they can continue to use those actionable items
to make change in our community and in our country. Actually,
(12:47):
as a former player, how much pride did you take
in watching all of that kind of unfold and and
just the leadership role that the w n b A took,
not only I mean within the world of basketball, but
I feel like nationally and and really becoming the face
of that cause in that moment, I think, you know,
it's something to say because the w n b A
(13:08):
and the players that are playing have led the charge
when it's socially this entire time, you know, whenever it
was you know, Floyd or George, I mean, whatever happened,
the w NBA players have been leading and have been
in the forefront, and other teams and other players have
picked up or what the w players have done. So
(13:32):
I think I've been in incredibly supportive and also just
proud to be a part of a generation and watching
the younger generations just really flourished in that in that area.
I mean when we were growing up, and I mean
social media was just becoming a thing. Twitter had just
come out when I was playing in the w n
(13:53):
b A, and Instagram wasn't even a thing. Snapchat wasn't
even a thing. So they have the following and the
and the social that they're also you know, socially encouraged
to do things, but they also have you know, the
following to get to have their voice be heard by
the masses on so many different platforms and so many
(14:14):
different levels that they're able to really speak their mind
and encourage change. Yeah, I mean they literally got a
mayor hired or you know elected, So like, these are
things that they've been able to do around the country
and to invoke change and invoked two people to think
(14:34):
about more than what's just around their little bubble about.
For you, I think a bigger picture. Can you imagine?
Could you have imagined? I mean, like you said you
were part of that first generation of Title nine? How
far have you seen women's sports come over that time?
(14:56):
And and and how much more do we have to go?
You know? Addy want I only think about UM, like
the connection between women and sports and UM and so
how it's unfolded. I you know, maybe I'll share my
quick list here, you know, I think of four buckets.
The first is participation, and that was the immediate contribution
(15:19):
of Title nine was that it opened the doors for
girls and women high school and college to play sports
in ways that had never been available to them before
and and and mandated through the force of federal law,
the resources to make that possible. So we all know,
I mean, there's great data here how many more girls
and women play sports because of this law in large measures.
(15:41):
That's one number two. I think often about women as fans, um.
And in fact, when we launched the w n b A,
that was a thesis that we would be able to
attract to the league as fans more women then we're
coming out to NBA games, and that proved correct. In Spapes,
I mean we um, you know, we were saying when
I was there, you know, of the building, we're women
(16:05):
of all ages, um. And that was you know expected. Um.
We thought we'd have more NBA fans in the buildings
in the summer than we had but and we didn't.
That didn't really you know, play out, But we had
so many women and that was that was good. And
we know now women are supporting men's sports and growing
ways like the Celtics. Sure some portion of the Celtics
(16:26):
fan base is female, and so that's forcing sports organizations
of all kinds to say, how do we make sure
that our women are female? Fan base is sort of
good and growing. So you have that. Then you have
the elite leagues, which are direct by product of Title nine.
So whether it's the w n b A, the NWSL
trying to make it in soccer. We're seeing at the
collegiate level, UM sports um that weren't as much on
(16:50):
the radar screen fifty years ago, like volleyball, UM. Softball's grown, lacrosse.
I mean, girls weren't playing lacrosse when I was coming up. UM.
And you know the Olympic sports. The number of women
participating at the Olympic level is you know, it's nearly fifty,
which is the way it should be. So you have
those buckets. And then last, but not least, and that's
(17:10):
all good. The last one is the leadership one. This
is the one where we talk about how many women
are like leading sports organizations and not just women's sports organizations,
but men's sports and organizations as well. And that's where
the numbers we have ways to go here, I mean
I'm one of I think nine D one female commissioners,
which is good, um, but you know we're not seeing enough.
(17:34):
It's better than it used to be, right, but you know,
toworted to get those numbers up, whether it's at the
pro leagues, the networks, the agencies, um, you know, at
in the sponsor and you know, you want to have
women in the room making important decisions and and being
you know, being there and weighing in and making sure
(17:55):
that all perspectives are being shared here. And so that's
where and globally we're nowhere close. I spent eight years
as the US representative on the International Basketball Federation Board FIBA,
and I mean I to this day, I'm still I'm
still like wounded from how far FIBA has to go
in terms of, you know, not being patriarchal, but really
(18:16):
embracing women in basketball at the leader levels. And so
the answer to your question is we've come a long way,
you know, in all four areas. But is there work
to be done in all four areas? Yes, there is,
But I think what kind of women we now have
in the business. I think pretty much anything is possible.
Now you kind of touched on that just the representation
of women, and Abby and I have discussed that too.
(18:38):
When we walk into a room and we're covering a game,
it's it's usually just us two when we go in,
But now, how are you seeing? We still have steps
to go? But when you look at how that situation
is for each of you, do you think about that
when you're walking into a room and maybe you're the
only female. Does that even cross your mind or do
you feel that maybe I don't want to say an
(19:00):
added responsibility, but knowing that you have a seat at
the table and wanting to make an impact that way
A lot two Starks I know, Jen and and ashually
have their stories here. I'm used to being the only
woman in the room. That was my That was my
experience at the n b A. I mean, there were
no women that I could look up to. My boss
is fortunately David Stern, Russ grantic Rick well to other's day.
(19:23):
I don't know. It took a shine and got me
on boards and in rooms and you know, so that
was good. Um. I think I might have been one
of the first women working in basketball. On the men's side,
I was in the NBA legal department. I was working
on salary cat matters. You know, every trade in the
NBA has to be approved by the League office. That there,
I was like running trade calls like you know, very stressful, um,
(19:45):
and dealing with you know, the NBA g MS on
day to day matters. And so I'm just I hate
to say, I'm kind of used to it. I still
see some of that in college sports. I mean, I'll
just share a note. I mean, we've got eleven eleven
schools in the Big East. Now we have eight male
women's basketball coaches in the Big East. I have nothing
but great things to say about each and every one
(20:06):
of them, including coach Ori Emma. But I'm just saying,
you know, that's if if sort of the number women coaching,
um is an indicator of progress of swords we still have.
You know, we still have a ways to go there. Um.
But and that's going to take men and women alike.
You know, we call it ally ship and men and
women are like are joining forces to make sure women
(20:28):
are elevated and stay up there. So um. You know,
we all have our stories, I'm sure, but again, you know,
I'm going to take the glass half full perspective on
this and say that it's better than it was, and
I think it's going to keep getting better all the time, Ashley,
for you, was that part of one of your goals
or is that a driving force and the role that
you're in now to kind of be able to aspire
(20:51):
to those leadership roles you and um Alison Feaster has
really carved out a role for herself in the Celtics
front office and it's blazing a trail in that way.
But it's that somewhere that you would like to see
yourself and where women can kind of make inroads when
it comes to leadership in the NBA. Absolutely, you know,
(21:11):
I think it starts, you know, it just it just
takes one person really to really start that ball action
and the ball moving for people to understand that you have.
You know, some of the greatest basketball minds have come
from the w n b A, you know, and and
they're associated with that league. And you know, oftentimes, to
(21:34):
touch on the question that you ask previously, like not
only am I oftentimes the only female and I'm also
the oftentimes only like black person in the room as well,
So it's um you know, so those are things that
you'd like to see more of because representation matters on
all levels. You know, if you're able to see someone
(21:54):
who who looks like you, who come from a similar
background of you, and you're able to reach out and say, hey,
I was able to do this as well. These are
the steps that I took. It may not be the
steps that you know that you would take likely take,
but I'm here to help and guide you along the
way and answer questions and and help you as much
as I possibly can. Then you'll start to see, you know,
(22:17):
women at the top, you know, start pulling other people up,
you know, And and the thing is that oftentimes, like
we're very qualified. So it's not it's not like you're
getting someone who can't or is incapable of doing the job,
but we're very qualified to do it. You just got
to learn a little bit. Maybe it's just the matter
of shifting from the women's game to the men's game.
(22:38):
But they're very comfortable. You know, a lot of the
things that are a lot the same, and so it's
it's just a little shift. Not even the players really,
but everyone's gonna have a learning curve and whatever your job,
you take, and you know, we're very capable. And I
suggest because prospective matters as well, you know, so when
you add you know more menten in leadership positions, you're
(23:02):
going to have change in the culture, change in the environment,
and oftentimes it's for better. We'll be right back after
a quick time out. Today's episode is presented by the
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(23:24):
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dot Com Forward slash Celtics. Jen, you mentioned something in
(23:45):
your introduction about having to kind of decide if you
wanted to have a family as well, and I think
that that is a very it's a it is a
big decision for any woman who has a career and
has spent her entire life. Bill think towards that, and
then I think that is something that no one ever
tells you when you're growing up, is that as a woman,
(24:05):
you have this finite window of when you can do
those things, and um, if you blink, it's over. And
there are a lot of hard decisions that you have
to make at a time when your career could just
be starting to blossom. And for you, as a professional athlete,
but also someone who works with young women on a
(24:25):
regular basis, how do you kind of direct those conversations
and and how did you make the decisions that you
did in your life. Yeah, I mean it's a great question.
And you know, for me, I've been really fortunate in
my career to have a lot of women to look
up to. You know. When I was hired at the
University of Hartford, UM, it was by Pat Miser and
(24:46):
she was the first UM. She was the women's basketball
coach at Penn State that got gave out the very
first basketball scholarship. So she was like, you know, grew
up as a coach in the Title nine era. She
was a part of the you know, explosion of our sport. Um.
She was also a mom, you know, and so when
(25:07):
I took the job there, the first, you know, my
first hurdle was, Hey, do you mind if I continue
my career because I still want to play, but I
love coaching. Can we work something out? And she immediately
figured it, helped me figure it out. Um, and then
it was I was ready to have a family, and
can I make this work, you know, as somebody who's
obsessed with their job and here all the time and um.
(25:30):
And so not only was I able to hire my
husband on my staff, which made it a true family affair,
but my kids grew up at the University of Hartfords Arena.
I mean, they were on the floor for our practices,
and they were, you know, with my parents watching every game.
And you know, they saw our N State tournament. You know,
they came to our N State Tournament matches, and you
know they traveled with us all around the world, you
(25:52):
know too, because they were part of this basketball family. Um.
So I look back, and I don't think I ever
knew it the time. How lucky I was to work
for someone who allowed me to be a woman, to
be a wife, to be a mom, and to be
a young coach that had no idea what she was
doing and grow up as a as a as a
(26:12):
leader of a sports team. And so that was part
of the reason I stayed there for seventeen years. People
always ask me why did you stay at hard for
for so long? So don't really know how how good
I had it, you know. Um, so you know, when
I look at my journey, you know, when I left
the America East, we also had a female commissioner and
Amy huf Housend, so I was really fortunate to be
impacted and influenced by her leadership at the league level.
(26:36):
You know, in the A ten we have a female commissioner.
So I've definitely had some you know, pretty good opportunity
to be able to, through my experiences, be influenced by
you know, some great women in the sport of basketball
and now and so now I take a lot of responsibility,
um to be a role model for for girls who
come up behind me. I wanted to always show my
(26:57):
players that you could have it all, that you could
do it all, that you could make your job your family,
and that you could you could have kids, you could
still have the work life balance and be successful. That
was important to me, and I want to continue to
do that. And actually brought up something really important a
few moments ago about you know, represent presentation in the room.
And now that I'm a leader who has to hire
(27:19):
a staff, I need to have different opinions around me.
I need to have diversity and all sorts of diversity,
and much diversity of opinion and experience and age and race,
because I work in this wonderful game of women's basketball
where those opinions matter and They're only going to make
me better at my job if I'm surrounded by people
who can challenge me to think a different way. Um.
(27:40):
And so it's it's part of my job now to
make sure that my players see representation of themselves in
our staff, that I'm promoting opportunity for women in my
office place to be future leaders of our sport. Uh.
And then I lead in a way you know, with
with you know, integrity and with compassion and um um,
(28:01):
with a level of accountability to to this league that
um we're gonna we're gonna hold ourselves to a high
standard and we're going to do things the right way,
and we're gonna we're gonna show the world what we're
capable of. All of you are looked at is as
just such strong leaders in role models. And I know
there are a lot of challenges sometimes when women are
(28:22):
first starting out in sports and just trying to break
those barriers and get in and there are days where
you come home and you're maybe just feeling a little
bit depleted at times. For each of you, if there's
been a moment where that has happened, what advice do
you give to someone or maybe what do you say
to yourself to just get through that time and that
challenge that young women can take and other women can
(28:44):
take to just continue forward on those days. My quick
one would be just sort of, um, know yourself. You know,
we all have limits. I mean, um, some days you're super,
another days you're not very super. So um, no one
can make that judgment on way you need to sort
of take the breather for you, you know, And I
(29:04):
you know, I know myself. I've been victims sometimes of
pushing really hard and staying up late and doing road
trip after road trip and sort of all the things
you feel like you have to do for the job.
I think sometimes you don't have to do all that,
but you do anyway, because we all set high standards
for ourselves, um, and we think others have high expectations
of us that we want to meet. So I think
(29:27):
knowing when to sort of like let the foot off
the gas and that's personal to everybody. When to take
you know, a meal break, when to get some exercise
UM is important for women UM at all levels. And
then the other one is just sort of asking for help.
I mean, sometimes you just can't do it alone. And
my my darkest days on the job, I've tried to
(29:47):
seek out help from colleagues. I still do you know, UM,
you know, just to say, hey, how how would you
handle this situation? Or am I crazy to think that X? No, No,
you're you know you're not crazy to a few good
because I thought I was crazy. The thing is so
having UM your kitchen cabinet, you know. I think Jen
(30:07):
said it well, and she talked about the quality of
people you surround yourself with. They're not only offering you
perspectives that maybe you didn't think about, but in their
way they offer also offering you support so that if
you have a hard decision to make or you have
to come back from a setback, it's not quite as
hard as if you're doing it by yourself. I mean,
I think Val really summed it up really well and
really great. UM. Because I do those same things. I
(30:30):
have mentors that I look to for advice. UM. My
family they're always very supportive. But I think what's most
important is that they're very honest with me, and they're
not you know, sugarcoating just to make me feel good.
They're honest. When I need a kick in the butt,
(30:50):
they give me the kick in the butt. When I
need a hug, they give me a hug. And and
you're going to have those days. Um, everyone has them,
you know. But I try, and I've learned this through
basketball and through sports, is just I try not to
get too high with the highs and too low with
the lows. And I kind of try to stay in
this like even space with my emotions because you know,
(31:15):
sometimes if you get too low, it's it's hard, it's
hard to come out of that. And and sometimes when
you're like really excited and really high, you know, your
your heart gets broken. And so I tried to just
stay like in this place where I'm focused. You know,
I know that I need to get better every day,
especially in this job, because I'm like relative, I'm really
(31:38):
fresh and wet behind the ears and so and I
and I'm not afraid I've gotten into something that is
just so important. I'm not afraid to ask for help
and I think it's a I humbled myself and I
try to figure it out initially, but I humbled myself.
And if I can't do it, it's okay, you know,
I'm not I'm okay to learn from people who've been
in the business for twenty plus years and they know
(31:59):
more than I do. And and the only thing that
I could do is just listen and learn and then
put my own spin on it. And I think, you know,
that is one of the things that is And I
think people respect you more if they're just like, oh,
you're not you know, maybe I've had like this preconceived
notion of how I thought like athletes are are when
(32:21):
they leave sports, and now I'm like, oh, you're not
like that at all. Like I, you want to learn,
you want to grow, and you want to be molded
by good people, um and so. And that's how I
was as a player, and that's how I'm going to be,
you know, moving forward as well. How I've always been
is just really wanted to learn and grow and get better.
How much have you relied on Alison Feaster during this
(32:43):
time too, and using her as a mentor? Oh, I
mean Alison, Alison, and I go back like a long time. Um,
and she's been you know, just great throughout this entire process. Um.
And when when I came on board, Um, well she
loosed herselfs um. The interviewing process. UM. So we didn't
(33:04):
even we didn't talk the entire time. You know. She
would just be like how to go, and I was like,
I think it went well and that that would be it.
You know, so there was just like no but like
but there's just no conflict of interest. Like it wasn't
like one of these things where it's like, all right,
well you you got this job because of Alison. No.
I got this job because I'm qualified and I can
(33:25):
do the I could do the work and other and
I interviewed with Brad and Austin. You know, I didn't
interview with Austin with Allison because people would definitely think
you got this job because you know Allison is there,
and they know that she and I have been friends
for for a long time, so long that I used
to babysit her daughter, and now her daughter is getting recruited,
(33:46):
you know, by major universities. Um. So I just want
to stay championships. It's only a sophomore and I hope
she goes to Yukon. I'm put out there because I
wanted to go to you kind because she's really good.
Um but I mean, but she's just interested. Actually yeah,
I was gonna say now, I just say that. I
(34:09):
feel really old right now because I remember when Allison
came into the w n B A. We were so
happy to have a Harvard player coming into the league.
I think she ended up in Charlotte, you know, God
bless r. I p the Charlotte sting so to hear
that she's now got a kid, what's going on to
in high school? I was five when I took the
(34:29):
w NBA job. Just so everybody knows, I don't want
to date myself. Great story, great story. Actually we knew,
we knew then she was destined for great things. Oh,
no doubt, no doubt. She's a hard knows you know,
does the words results, and she's always been like that
even as a player, you know, and she's gonna fight
(34:50):
you tooth and nail, you know, to succeed and being
in I think that's what's great about athletes in general,
because oftentimes, like a lot of us, have that grid in,
that grind and that mentality and and you see a
lot of different organizations and businesses want to higher athletes
because we just grind it out and you wanted to
see it, and you want to win. We want to
(35:11):
do well even if we fail, or just like okay,
well how do we how do we make it better
and let's go. And so I think you'll see in
other businesses as well where a lot of athletes would
be incorporated in. For me, though, hearing both of you
who have achieved so much, um, it's really reassuring to
hear that you do ask for help and that you
(35:33):
are not afraid to admit that there is something that
maybe you don't know or that you can't handle, because
I feel like as a woman, oftentimes in any business,
even even just being a mom, you know sometimes it
feels like you need to do all of this. You
need to be this person who you think everyone is expecting,
(35:53):
and and that's those just are unrealistic expectations that you
are holding yourself to. No one else is doing that
kind of thing. Um, So I really appreciate you sharing
that and and helping me to see that. Jennifer, for you,
what is your kind of piece of advice and something
that you share with people to persevere challenges well, you
(36:15):
know as as as well. And actually we're talking, I
was thinking a little bit about how, you know, so
many people in sports and maybe just in general think
that there's a double standard for men and women, and
so we've always had to somewhat think about overcoming um,
you know, this this standard, this double standards, so you know,
and how you you know, speak to your administrators when
(36:37):
you're a coach, you know, it's like if you say
something a certain way, you're emotional or you're erratic, and
and then you hear a men's you know, coach of
a sport speak a certain way and it's totally okay
or you know, you I've heard men's coaches like screaming
at their players through the you know, the wall of
(36:58):
locker rooms in ways that I would never talk to
my women. And yet there's always conversations to women's coaches
about you know, how are you speaking to officials and
how are you speaking to your players, and how are
you speaking to administrators? And so you think, like you
you always are like thinking you you have to be better,
and so it can be a challenge, right or or
(37:19):
you can look at it as a way like, well,
here's an opportunity for me to just be smarter than
everybody else, right, And and sometimes that's how unfortunately you
said it, we have to just be better, um and
that can be hard, and that can be a burden.
And I think that's why we're willing to ask for help, right.
I think that's why we need people around us that
will make us stronger. Is because sometimes we feel like
we have to do double the work or be doubly
(37:42):
you know, behaved well in order to live up to
the same standard as a man in our business. Um.
But I also see women not advocating for themselves, and
so that's what I that's what I want to see
more of. I want to see more confidence in you know,
young women saying I can do this job. It doesn't
matter that it's the NBA, it's basketball, Like I know,
(38:03):
you know I can, I can do this job equally
equal to a man. Um, I deserve this salary. You know,
when when you are in the process of hiring people,
it's amazing how man will come in and tell you
what they think you're they're worth versus a woman. So
how do we get more women to be confident in.
You know, their skill set and the fact that they're there.
(38:24):
Their skills from basketball or any sport that they do
translate into the business world so well. And so if
I can help in that way now as somebody who
has transitioned from their playing and coaching career into the
front office, it's that we can do these jobs because
we had to be great teammates, and we had to
be leaders, and we had to put in the extra hours,
(38:44):
and we had to be smarter than everybody else, and
so it translates. It translates all those leadership skills translates
into the front office. So have confidence that you can
do these jobs. You know, ask people to pay you
what you're worth, because I think we need more women
to really have that level of confidence. And as Ashley said,
we need to continue to pick each other up. Um,
(39:05):
we need to pull people with us. We need to
pave the way. Just like val and and and people
like her have paved the way for Ashley and I,
we need to now turn around and make sure we're
paving the way for the next generation to come. And
to me, a huge part of that is communication and
what makes conversations like this so important and just for
(39:25):
women to be able to share amongst each other and
two then also lift each other up. And so I
just want to thank you all for taking the time
and also for being the trailblazers that you are and
like you all said, uplifting bringing all of us with you.
We can't thank you. Thank you for listening to view
(39:46):
from the Raptors behind the Scenes with the Boston Celtics,
presented by Cardless
Welcome everyone. This is View from the Rafters. It is
my absolute pleasure to welcome in one of the pillars
of this organization. Everybody for guests part good work. Don't
go there, not yet will we talk about you haven't
told him like he had just come off the battlefield.
I know what a dream is to work in half
our listeners probably don't even know what that is. Always
gonna be green Baby. Welcome to View from the Rafters
(00:24):
Behind the Scenes with the Buston Celtics, presented by Cardless.
Here's your host, Abby Chin with special guest host Amanda
food Grad. Welcome into View from the Raptors Behind the
Scenes with the Boston Celtics, and we are making history today.
But we have the first all female podcast as we
(00:45):
are celebrating Women's History Month and International Women's Day on
March eighth. I am joined by Celtics dot Com incredible
reporter Amanda Flew Grad and Amanda we called in the
big guns for this one to have a really meaningful
conversation about not only just women in sports, but really
(01:06):
the life of this game, what it's like to be
a part of it as a woman, and also to
kind of look back on how far women have come
as well. Yes, I mean just powerful conversations Abbey and
women that are just trailblazers in their field, their journey
of what they've been through to get to where they
(01:26):
are today, and having a seat at the table, it's
just so inspiring and also hearing some of the advice
that they have to for for women wanting to get
into the field and in the road that they took
to get there. I they just think it's a wonderful,
wonderful thing, and I love it that we're making history
too with an all female podcast as well. It really
(01:47):
is an empowering conversation, and not just for women, but
I think anyone who has dealt with any sort of
adversity or challenges in your professional life to hear how
these incredible women deal with that on a daily basis
and have overcome those sort of things to get to
where they are. So without further ado, please enjoy the
(02:10):
first ever women's all female podcast here on view from
the Raptors behind the scenes of the Boston Myself, Amanda,
and I are so honored to be joined now by
three legends of the game, but also trailblazers not only
in women's sports. But in the world of sports, I'm
gonna do quick intros for everybody, and then we're gonna
(02:33):
ask you to give us your journey and kind of
summarize it, although all of you have had such incredible
journeys that I know it will be hard to summarize,
but we want to hear from you and then we
will dive into the conversation. So first let me introduce
Val Ackerman, the current Big East commissioner. Of course, you
were the first president of the w n b A
(02:55):
and president of USA Basketball and a four year starter
at the University of for ginya um also joined by
Ashley Battle, now currently in her first year as a
scout for the Boston Celtics, but obviously a three time
national champ with the Yukon Huskies and defensive player of
the Year in two thousand three, and finally a legend
(03:18):
of the Northeast. Jennifer Rosatti, president of the Connecticut son,
longtime women's basketball coach at the collegiate level, and uh,
of course a national champion and player of the Year
in So ladies were just so honored to have you here. Val,
I would like to start with you. Can you kind
(03:40):
of tell us the path that you took to get
to where you are now. Thanks Abby, great being with
you and a man of course Ashley and gin Um,
so I you know my path is not unlike there's. Um.
I was an athlete growing up and played basketball in
college in the early years of Title nine. Um I
was able to go on a basketball scholarship to uh
(04:03):
To University, to the University of Virginia. And I don't
know if Ashley and Jen know this, I just miss
coached coach Oriama. He arrived in Charlesville the fall after
I graduated in May, um in one, so we missed
each other. But um um, of course you know it's
great to have that tie with such a such a
great leader in the women's game. Um I I'm a lawyer.
(04:26):
I went to law school after playing a year overseas
following my dais at uv a UM and then practiced
on Wall Street for a couple of years before I
wound up at the NBA UM in the late eighties
as a staff lawyer, and I spent sixteen years at
the company, UM the first aid on the men's side,
and then when the w NBA started in I was
(04:51):
the first president so um have you know, have a
lot of pride and how far the league has come
in the last twenty five years, and um, how you
know how far our women's basketball generally has progressed since
my playing days at u v A. Um, as you noted,
I'm now the commissioner the Big East. I've been in
this job now for nine years. Uh it feels like
(05:13):
what is dog years? One time seven? So nine times
seven is sixty three? Okay, No, but it's been a great,
great ride being back in college basketball and I you know,
I have you know, I have to say having yukon
returning to the Big East after a break, um of
course charter member when the league was formed in seventy
(05:34):
nine and now back with us, and it's just been amazing.
Everything that they've brought back to UH, to the conference
over the last couple of years since they rejoined has
been has been wonderful. So um, it's been a fun
ride and again great to be with such an amazing
group of women today. Actually, wow, that was so great. UM,
(05:55):
I didn't know that you missed, you know, coach by
by your that would have been awesome and Fultor events
were coached by him that had been really random. But yeah,
very cool. Thank you for having me. Um, this is great.
I'm so happy to be here with this esteemed group
of ladies. Uh. My journey is, you know, quite similar
(06:15):
to vows and gins. I played, grew up in Pittsburgh,
played at Yukon. Uh we did fairly well there, to
say the least. Um, And I was drafted to the
w n B a UM in two thousand five. I
didn't know if I was going to get drafted or not.
I wasn't sure if I was going to play. I
(06:36):
had a job waiting for me at Nike, and I
was like, all right, you know, if I get drafted,
that's great. If not, you know, it's okay. There's a
good road. And so but I did get drafted to Seattle.
I was able to have a pretty long career, and
you know, like most women or athletes in general, my
career ended on an injury to my hip and my ankle.
(06:57):
And I was had like this love hate relationship with
basketball at the time when that was happening, because I
wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I was mad
because I couldn't play. So I had all these you know,
different things that was happening in my life. And you know,
so I went into banking, you know, because I didn't
wanted to have anything to do with sports. I got
(07:19):
into banking. Um, I ended up helping build a sports
and entertainment division at a financial planning firm, which really
got me back into sports. And I was just like,
what am I doing? Like, I love I love sports
in general. I love basketball, and I end up going
I'm working at the league office at the NBA, where
(07:39):
I worked with the w n b A and a
lot of different departments within the league. From there, I
end up circling back twenty years later and working at
Nike in Jordan's and now I'm currently a scout with
with the Celtics. And yeah, well, I don't know if
my my journey is quite as a random maybe as Ashley's.
(08:03):
I haven't left basketball. I started in it and and
haven't left. And uh. I grew up in Connecticut, so
fortunately at a time where you know, Yukon women's basketball
was on the rise, and certainly made a great decision
to attend the university and play for GINO and I'll
be a part of the first ever national championship at
the University of Connecticut, so excited to have been able
(08:25):
to kind of pave the way for what that program
has become. But you know, I also, I mean, they're
probably gonna talk about her journey the whole entire podcast,
because you know, she's the reason so many of us
are even here. She's the reason that so many of
us have the opportunity to to play after college and
be a professional basketball player in the United States. And
you know, we're we're super grateful for all the women
(08:48):
that lived through Title nine, and as we're about to
celebrate its fiftieth anniversary coming up UM this summer, it's
just unbelievable to see where the sport has come. UM.
You know, So I had a chance to play for
the American Basketball League for a few years in Hartford,
they had a franchise in Hartford before it folded, and
then was drafted into the w n B A UM
(09:08):
and during that time, I was also offered the head
coaching job at the University of Hartford. So I simultaneously
played basketball and the w n B A and the
summer and coached college basketball UM the rest of the
year for five years. UM. And then I got to
the point where my second team in the w n
b A was. You know, I was ready to fold
in the Cleveland Rockers. Unfortunately I was creeping up on
(09:31):
thirty and UM, you know, I had a great obviously
second career in coaching, and I wanted to start a family. UM.
So you know, it's a tough, tough decision to make
for a lot of women that played professional basketball. Is
you know, trying to make sure you have that time
to to have a family when when possible. So, UM,
I was fortunate to be able to continue my coaching
(09:52):
career and where where I did that at the University
of Hartford and George Washington for twenty two years, UM,
before pivoting last year to take the job at the
Connecticut Suns. So UM didn't really expect that. UM, it's
just an opportunity that came up as one door closed
for me. UM. But it's just has been a really
natural fit, you know, just an opportunity for me to
(10:15):
return back to the w especially after the last few years,
and UM, the growth that we've seen, the momentum that
the league has has right now, the UM, you know,
the platform that the players have elevated. UM, just a
chance for me to come home to Connecticut, be a
part of the league, UM and think about what, you know,
the position that I'm in, to help amplify the voices
(10:37):
of these wonderful women in the league, UM, to elevate
the experience of the players in in Connecticut. UM, and
and try and help bring the first w NBA championship
to our franchise. So um, just kind of everything aligned
for me to be able to come home and take
this job. And it's it's been a thrill. I absolutely
love it. Yeah, Jen to follow up on that, I
mean you said elevating the players and and we're being
(11:00):
that more and more in the w n b A.
And worked for the Aces doing sideline reporting. Asia Wilson
was one that was just out in the community and
for all of you, how have you seen the steps
that the w n b A has taken in terms
of the players just being able to be out there more,
have more of a voice, and more of a platform too. Well,
you know, I think a couple of things. Obviously, the
(11:21):
season in the bubble is as hard as it was
and a challenging as it was, it did give them
an opportunity physically to all be together and and make
decisions as a group on issues that were really important
to them. Obviously, it was a difficult time in our country,
and social justice became you know, two came to the forefront,
and UM, I'm so proud that they took actionable items. UM.
(11:43):
You know, so many people just try and say the
words or wear a T shirt. Um, the women of
w n b A actually made change, you know, they
they impacted change in our country and it was just
really impressive to watch. And I also think, um coupled
with that is the support that they get not only
from their individual franchises to utilize their voices, but from
(12:03):
the league leadership. You know, we we are a league,
a player lead league, and you know, the leadership in
the w n b A has allowed them to use
their voices for the common good. There's you know, nobody
getting sanctioned for kneeling for the anthem, or nobody getting
asked to to keep their opinions to themselves. Um, They've
been applauded and encouraged to use their voices. And so
(12:27):
I just thought, from my position leadership position of the
Connecticut Sun, I can continue to make sure that that
is a regular thing in the w n b A,
and at least for my players to make sure I'm
also having their back and and and putting programs in
place where they can continue to use those actionable items
to make change in our community and in our country. Actually,
(12:47):
as a former player, how much pride did you take
in watching all of that kind of unfold and and
just the leadership role that the w n b A took,
not only I mean within the world of basketball, but
I feel like nationally and and really becoming the face
of that cause in that moment, I think, you know,
it's something to say because the w n b A
(13:08):
and the players that are playing have led the charge
when it's socially this entire time, you know, whenever it
was you know, Floyd or George, I mean, whatever happened,
the w NBA players have been leading and have been
in the forefront, and other teams and other players have
picked up or what the w players have done. So
(13:32):
I think I've been in incredibly supportive and also just
proud to be a part of a generation and watching
the younger generations just really flourished in that in that area.
I mean when we were growing up, and I mean
social media was just becoming a thing. Twitter had just
come out when I was playing in the w n
(13:53):
b A, and Instagram wasn't even a thing. Snapchat wasn't
even a thing. So they have the following and the
and the social that they're also you know, socially encouraged
to do things, but they also have you know, the
following to get to have their voice be heard by
the masses on so many different platforms and so many
(14:14):
different levels that they're able to really speak their mind
and encourage change. Yeah, I mean they literally got a
mayor hired or you know elected, So like, these are
things that they've been able to do around the country
and to invoke change and invoked two people to think
(14:34):
about more than what's just around their little bubble about.
For you, I think a bigger picture. Can you imagine?
Could you have imagined? I mean, like you said you
were part of that first generation of Title nine? How
far have you seen women's sports come over that time?
(14:56):
And and and how much more do we have to go?
You know? Addy want I only think about UM, like
the connection between women and sports and UM and so
how it's unfolded. I you know, maybe I'll share my
quick list here, you know, I think of four buckets.
The first is participation, and that was the immediate contribution
(15:19):
of Title nine was that it opened the doors for
girls and women high school and college to play sports
in ways that had never been available to them before
and and and mandated through the force of federal law,
the resources to make that possible. So we all know,
I mean, there's great data here how many more girls
and women play sports because of this law in large measures.
(15:41):
That's one number two. I think often about women as fans, um.
And in fact, when we launched the w n b A,
that was a thesis that we would be able to
attract to the league as fans more women then we're
coming out to NBA games, and that proved correct. In Spapes,
I mean we um, you know, we were saying when
I was there, you know, of the building, we're women
(16:05):
of all ages, um. And that was you know expected. Um.
We thought we'd have more NBA fans in the buildings
in the summer than we had but and we didn't.
That didn't really you know, play out, But we had
so many women and that was that was good. And
we know now women are supporting men's sports and growing
ways like the Celtics. Sure some portion of the Celtics
(16:26):
fan base is female, and so that's forcing sports organizations
of all kinds to say, how do we make sure
that our women are female? Fan base is sort of
good and growing. So you have that. Then you have
the elite leagues, which are direct by product of Title nine.
So whether it's the w n b A, the NWSL
trying to make it in soccer. We're seeing at the
collegiate level, UM sports um that weren't as much on
(16:50):
the radar screen fifty years ago, like volleyball, UM. Softball's grown, lacrosse.
I mean, girls weren't playing lacrosse when I was coming up. UM.
And you know the Olympic sports. The number of women
participating at the Olympic level is you know, it's nearly fifty,
which is the way it should be. So you have
those buckets. And then last, but not least, and that's
(17:10):
all good. The last one is the leadership one. This
is the one where we talk about how many women
are like leading sports organizations and not just women's sports organizations,
but men's sports and organizations as well. And that's where
the numbers we have ways to go here, I mean
I'm one of I think nine D one female commissioners,
which is good, um, but you know we're not seeing enough.
(17:34):
It's better than it used to be, right, but you know,
toworted to get those numbers up, whether it's at the
pro leagues, the networks, the agencies, um, you know, at
in the sponsor and you know, you want to have
women in the room making important decisions and and being
you know, being there and weighing in and making sure
(17:55):
that all perspectives are being shared here. And so that's
where and globally we're nowhere close. I spent eight years
as the US representative on the International Basketball Federation Board FIBA,
and I mean I to this day, I'm still I'm
still like wounded from how far FIBA has to go
in terms of, you know, not being patriarchal, but really
(18:16):
embracing women in basketball at the leader levels. And so
the answer to your question is we've come a long way,
you know, in all four areas. But is there work
to be done in all four areas? Yes, there is,
But I think what kind of women we now have
in the business. I think pretty much anything is possible.
Now you kind of touched on that just the representation
of women, and Abby and I have discussed that too.
(18:38):
When we walk into a room and we're covering a game,
it's it's usually just us two when we go in,
But now, how are you seeing? We still have steps
to go? But when you look at how that situation
is for each of you, do you think about that
when you're walking into a room and maybe you're the
only female. Does that even cross your mind or do
you feel that maybe I don't want to say an
(19:00):
added responsibility, but knowing that you have a seat at
the table and wanting to make an impact that way
A lot two Starks I know, Jen and and ashually
have their stories here. I'm used to being the only
woman in the room. That was my That was my
experience at the n b A. I mean, there were
no women that I could look up to. My boss
is fortunately David Stern, Russ grantic Rick well to other's day.
(19:23):
I don't know. It took a shine and got me
on boards and in rooms and you know, so that
was good. Um. I think I might have been one
of the first women working in basketball. On the men's side,
I was in the NBA legal department. I was working
on salary cat matters. You know, every trade in the
NBA has to be approved by the League office. That there,
I was like running trade calls like you know, very stressful, um,
(19:45):
and dealing with you know, the NBA g MS on
day to day matters. And so I'm just I hate
to say, I'm kind of used to it. I still
see some of that in college sports. I mean, I'll
just share a note. I mean, we've got eleven eleven
schools in the Big East. Now we have eight male
women's basketball coaches in the Big East. I have nothing
but great things to say about each and every one
(20:06):
of them, including coach Ori Emma. But I'm just saying,
you know, that's if if sort of the number women coaching,
um is an indicator of progress of swords we still have.
You know, we still have a ways to go there. Um.
But and that's going to take men and women alike.
You know, we call it ally ship and men and
women are like are joining forces to make sure women
(20:28):
are elevated and stay up there. So um. You know,
we all have our stories, I'm sure, but again, you know,
I'm going to take the glass half full perspective on
this and say that it's better than it was, and
I think it's going to keep getting better all the time, Ashley,
for you, was that part of one of your goals
or is that a driving force and the role that
you're in now to kind of be able to aspire
(20:51):
to those leadership roles you and um Alison Feaster has
really carved out a role for herself in the Celtics
front office and it's blazing a trail in that way.
But it's that somewhere that you would like to see
yourself and where women can kind of make inroads when
it comes to leadership in the NBA. Absolutely, you know,
(21:11):
I think it starts, you know, it just it just
takes one person really to really start that ball action
and the ball moving for people to understand that you have.
You know, some of the greatest basketball minds have come
from the w n b A, you know, and and
they're associated with that league. And you know, oftentimes, to
(21:34):
touch on the question that you ask previously, like not
only am I oftentimes the only female and I'm also
the oftentimes only like black person in the room as well,
So it's um you know, so those are things that
you'd like to see more of because representation matters on
all levels. You know, if you're able to see someone
(21:54):
who who looks like you, who come from a similar
background of you, and you're able to reach out and say, hey,
I was able to do this as well. These are
the steps that I took. It may not be the
steps that you know that you would take likely take,
but I'm here to help and guide you along the
way and answer questions and and help you as much
as I possibly can. Then you'll start to see, you know,
(22:17):
women at the top, you know, start pulling other people up,
you know, And and the thing is that oftentimes, like
we're very qualified. So it's not it's not like you're
getting someone who can't or is incapable of doing the job,
but we're very qualified to do it. You just got
to learn a little bit. Maybe it's just the matter
of shifting from the women's game to the men's game.
(22:38):
But they're very comfortable. You know, a lot of the
things that are a lot the same, and so it's
it's just a little shift. Not even the players really,
but everyone's gonna have a learning curve and whatever your job,
you take, and you know, we're very capable. And I
suggest because prospective matters as well, you know, so when
you add you know more menten in leadership positions, you're
(23:02):
going to have change in the culture, change in the environment,
and oftentimes it's for better. We'll be right back after
a quick time out. Today's episode is presented by the
Boston Celtics credit card powered by Cardless. You'll be eligible
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and are approved at Carloss dot com slash Celtics. Then
(23:24):
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dot com Forward slash Celtics for more information. That's Cardless
dot Com Forward slash Celtics. Jen, you mentioned something in
(23:45):
your introduction about having to kind of decide if you
wanted to have a family as well, and I think
that that is a very it's a it is a
big decision for any woman who has a career and
has spent her entire life. Bill think towards that, and
then I think that is something that no one ever
tells you when you're growing up, is that as a woman,
(24:05):
you have this finite window of when you can do
those things, and um, if you blink, it's over. And
there are a lot of hard decisions that you have
to make at a time when your career could just
be starting to blossom. And for you, as a professional athlete,
but also someone who works with young women on a
(24:25):
regular basis, how do you kind of direct those conversations
and and how did you make the decisions that you
did in your life. Yeah, I mean it's a great question.
And you know, for me, I've been really fortunate in
my career to have a lot of women to look
up to. You know. When I was hired at the
University of Hartford, UM, it was by Pat Miser and
(24:46):
she was the first UM. She was the women's basketball
coach at Penn State that got gave out the very
first basketball scholarship. So she was like, you know, grew
up as a coach in the Title nine era. She
was a part of the you know, explosion of our sport. Um.
She was also a mom, you know, and so when
(25:07):
I took the job there, the first, you know, my
first hurdle was, Hey, do you mind if I continue
my career because I still want to play, but I
love coaching. Can we work something out? And she immediately
figured it, helped me figure it out. Um, and then
it was I was ready to have a family, and
can I make this work, you know, as somebody who's
obsessed with their job and here all the time and um.
(25:30):
And so not only was I able to hire my
husband on my staff, which made it a true family affair,
but my kids grew up at the University of Hartfords Arena.
I mean, they were on the floor for our practices,
and they were, you know, with my parents watching every game.
And you know, they saw our N State tournament. You know,
they came to our N State Tournament matches, and you
know they traveled with us all around the world, you
(25:52):
know too, because they were part of this basketball family. Um.
So I look back, and I don't think I ever
knew it the time. How lucky I was to work
for someone who allowed me to be a woman, to
be a wife, to be a mom, and to be
a young coach that had no idea what she was
doing and grow up as a as a as a
(26:12):
leader of a sports team. And so that was part
of the reason I stayed there for seventeen years. People
always ask me why did you stay at hard for
for so long? So don't really know how how good
I had it, you know. Um, so you know, when
I look at my journey, you know, when I left
the America East, we also had a female commissioner and
Amy huf Housend, so I was really fortunate to be
impacted and influenced by her leadership at the league level.
(26:36):
You know, in the A ten we have a female commissioner.
So I've definitely had some you know, pretty good opportunity
to be able to, through my experiences, be influenced by
you know, some great women in the sport of basketball
and now and so now I take a lot of responsibility,
um to be a role model for for girls who
come up behind me. I wanted to always show my
(26:57):
players that you could have it all, that you could
do it all, that you could make your job your family,
and that you could you could have kids, you could
still have the work life balance and be successful. That
was important to me, and I want to continue to
do that. And actually brought up something really important a
few moments ago about you know, represent presentation in the room.
And now that I'm a leader who has to hire
(27:19):
a staff, I need to have different opinions around me.
I need to have diversity and all sorts of diversity,
and much diversity of opinion and experience and age and race,
because I work in this wonderful game of women's basketball
where those opinions matter and They're only going to make
me better at my job if I'm surrounded by people
who can challenge me to think a different way. Um.
(27:40):
And so it's it's part of my job now to
make sure that my players see representation of themselves in
our staff, that I'm promoting opportunity for women in my
office place to be future leaders of our sport. Uh.
And then I lead in a way you know, with
with you know, integrity and with compassion and um um,
(28:01):
with a level of accountability to to this league that
um we're gonna we're gonna hold ourselves to a high
standard and we're going to do things the right way,
and we're gonna we're gonna show the world what we're
capable of. All of you are looked at is as
just such strong leaders in role models. And I know
there are a lot of challenges sometimes when women are
(28:22):
first starting out in sports and just trying to break
those barriers and get in and there are days where
you come home and you're maybe just feeling a little
bit depleted at times. For each of you, if there's
been a moment where that has happened, what advice do
you give to someone or maybe what do you say
to yourself to just get through that time and that
challenge that young women can take and other women can
(28:44):
take to just continue forward on those days. My quick
one would be just sort of, um, know yourself. You know,
we all have limits. I mean, um, some days you're super,
another days you're not very super. So um, no one
can make that judgment on way you need to sort
of take the breather for you, you know, And I
(29:04):
you know, I know myself. I've been victims sometimes of
pushing really hard and staying up late and doing road
trip after road trip and sort of all the things
you feel like you have to do for the job.
I think sometimes you don't have to do all that,
but you do anyway, because we all set high standards
for ourselves, um, and we think others have high expectations
of us that we want to meet. So I think
(29:27):
knowing when to sort of like let the foot off
the gas and that's personal to everybody. When to take
you know, a meal break, when to get some exercise
UM is important for women UM at all levels. And
then the other one is just sort of asking for help.
I mean, sometimes you just can't do it alone. And
my my darkest days on the job, I've tried to
(29:47):
seek out help from colleagues. I still do you know, UM,
you know, just to say, hey, how how would you
handle this situation? Or am I crazy to think that X? No, No,
you're you know you're not crazy to a few good
because I thought I was crazy. The thing is so
having UM your kitchen cabinet, you know. I think Jen
(30:07):
said it well, and she talked about the quality of
people you surround yourself with. They're not only offering you
perspectives that maybe you didn't think about, but in their
way they offer also offering you support so that if
you have a hard decision to make or you have
to come back from a setback, it's not quite as
hard as if you're doing it by yourself. I mean,
I think Val really summed it up really well and
really great. UM. Because I do those same things. I
(30:30):
have mentors that I look to for advice. UM. My
family they're always very supportive. But I think what's most
important is that they're very honest with me, and they're
not you know, sugarcoating just to make me feel good.
They're honest. When I need a kick in the butt,
(30:50):
they give me the kick in the butt. When I
need a hug, they give me a hug. And and
you're going to have those days. Um, everyone has them,
you know. But I try, and I've learned this through
basketball and through sports, is just I try not to
get too high with the highs and too low with
the lows. And I kind of try to stay in
this like even space with my emotions because you know,
(31:15):
sometimes if you get too low, it's it's hard, it's
hard to come out of that. And and sometimes when
you're like really excited and really high, you know, your
your heart gets broken. And so I tried to just
stay like in this place where I'm focused. You know,
I know that I need to get better every day,
especially in this job, because I'm like relative, I'm really
(31:38):
fresh and wet behind the ears and so and I
and I'm not afraid I've gotten into something that is
just so important. I'm not afraid to ask for help
and I think it's a I humbled myself and I
try to figure it out initially, but I humbled myself.
And if I can't do it, it's okay, you know,
I'm not I'm okay to learn from people who've been
in the business for twenty plus years and they know
(31:59):
more than I do. And and the only thing that
I could do is just listen and learn and then
put my own spin on it. And I think, you know,
that is one of the things that is And I
think people respect you more if they're just like, oh,
you're not you know, maybe I've had like this preconceived
notion of how I thought like athletes are are when
(32:21):
they leave sports, and now I'm like, oh, you're not
like that at all. Like I, you want to learn,
you want to grow, and you want to be molded
by good people, um and so. And that's how I
was as a player, and that's how I'm going to be,
you know, moving forward as well. How I've always been
is just really wanted to learn and grow and get better.
How much have you relied on Alison Feaster during this
(32:43):
time too, and using her as a mentor? Oh, I
mean Alison, Alison, and I go back like a long time. Um,
and she's been you know, just great throughout this entire process. Um.
And when when I came on board, Um, well she
loosed herselfs um. The interviewing process. UM. So we didn't
(33:04):
even we didn't talk the entire time. You know. She
would just be like how to go, and I was like,
I think it went well and that that would be it.
You know, so there was just like no but like
but there's just no conflict of interest. Like it wasn't
like one of these things where it's like, all right,
well you you got this job because of Alison. No.
I got this job because I'm qualified and I can
(33:25):
do the I could do the work and other and
I interviewed with Brad and Austin. You know, I didn't
interview with Austin with Allison because people would definitely think
you got this job because you know Allison is there,
and they know that she and I have been friends
for for a long time, so long that I used
to babysit her daughter, and now her daughter is getting recruited,
(33:46):
you know, by major universities. Um. So I just want
to stay championships. It's only a sophomore and I hope
she goes to Yukon. I'm put out there because I
wanted to go to you kind because she's really good.
Um but I mean, but she's just interested. Actually yeah,
I was gonna say now, I just say that. I
(34:09):
feel really old right now because I remember when Allison
came into the w n B A. We were so
happy to have a Harvard player coming into the league.
I think she ended up in Charlotte, you know, God
bless r. I p the Charlotte sting so to hear
that she's now got a kid, what's going on to
in high school? I was five when I took the
(34:29):
w NBA job. Just so everybody knows, I don't want
to date myself. Great story, great story. Actually we knew,
we knew then she was destined for great things. Oh,
no doubt, no doubt. She's a hard knows you know,
does the words results, and she's always been like that
even as a player, you know, and she's gonna fight
(34:50):
you tooth and nail, you know, to succeed and being
in I think that's what's great about athletes in general,
because oftentimes, like a lot of us, have that grid in,
that grind and that mentality and and you see a
lot of different organizations and businesses want to higher athletes
because we just grind it out and you wanted to
see it, and you want to win. We want to
(35:11):
do well even if we fail, or just like okay,
well how do we how do we make it better
and let's go. And so I think you'll see in
other businesses as well where a lot of athletes would
be incorporated in. For me, though, hearing both of you
who have achieved so much, um, it's really reassuring to
hear that you do ask for help and that you
(35:33):
are not afraid to admit that there is something that
maybe you don't know or that you can't handle, because
I feel like as a woman, oftentimes in any business,
even even just being a mom, you know sometimes it
feels like you need to do all of this. You
need to be this person who you think everyone is expecting,
(35:53):
and and that's those just are unrealistic expectations that you
are holding yourself to. No one else is doing that
kind of thing. Um, So I really appreciate you sharing
that and and helping me to see that. Jennifer, for you,
what is your kind of piece of advice and something
that you share with people to persevere challenges well, you
(36:15):
know as as as well. And actually we're talking, I
was thinking a little bit about how, you know, so
many people in sports and maybe just in general think
that there's a double standard for men and women, and
so we've always had to somewhat think about overcoming um,
you know, this this standard, this double standards, so you know,
and how you you know, speak to your administrators when
(36:37):
you're a coach, you know, it's like if you say
something a certain way, you're emotional or you're erratic, and
and then you hear a men's you know, coach of
a sport speak a certain way and it's totally okay
or you know, you I've heard men's coaches like screaming
at their players through the you know, the wall of
(36:58):
locker rooms in ways that I would never talk to
my women. And yet there's always conversations to women's coaches
about you know, how are you speaking to officials and
how are you speaking to your players, and how are
you speaking to administrators? And so you think, like you
you always are like thinking you you have to be better,
and so it can be a challenge, right or or
(37:19):
you can look at it as a way like, well,
here's an opportunity for me to just be smarter than
everybody else, right, And and sometimes that's how unfortunately you
said it, we have to just be better, um and
that can be hard, and that can be a burden.
And I think that's why we're willing to ask for help, right.
I think that's why we need people around us that
will make us stronger. Is because sometimes we feel like
we have to do double the work or be doubly
(37:42):
you know, behaved well in order to live up to
the same standard as a man in our business. Um.
But I also see women not advocating for themselves, and
so that's what I that's what I want to see
more of. I want to see more confidence in you know,
young women saying I can do this job. It doesn't
matter that it's the NBA, it's basketball, Like I know,
(38:03):
you know I can, I can do this job equally
equal to a man. Um, I deserve this salary. You know,
when when you are in the process of hiring people,
it's amazing how man will come in and tell you
what they think you're they're worth versus a woman. So
how do we get more women to be confident in.
You know, their skill set and the fact that they're there.
(38:24):
Their skills from basketball or any sport that they do
translate into the business world so well. And so if
I can help in that way now as somebody who
has transitioned from their playing and coaching career into the
front office, it's that we can do these jobs because
we had to be great teammates, and we had to
be leaders, and we had to put in the extra hours,
(38:44):
and we had to be smarter than everybody else, and
so it translates. It translates all those leadership skills translates
into the front office. So have confidence that you can
do these jobs. You know, ask people to pay you
what you're worth, because I think we need more women
to really have that level of confidence. And as Ashley said,
we need to continue to pick each other up. Um,
(39:05):
we need to pull people with us. We need to
pave the way. Just like val and and and people
like her have paved the way for Ashley and I,
we need to now turn around and make sure we're
paving the way for the next generation to come. And
to me, a huge part of that is communication and
what makes conversations like this so important and just for
(39:25):
women to be able to share amongst each other and
two then also lift each other up. And so I
just want to thank you all for taking the time
and also for being the trailblazers that you are and
like you all said, uplifting bringing all of us with you.
We can't thank you. Thank you for listening to view
(39:46):
from the Raptors behind the Scenes with the Boston Celtics,
presented by Cardless
Host
Marc D'Amico
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