Episode 216: Nicole Douglas, Mark Parsons, Karen Issokson-Silver

On this episode, we welcome former Arizona State University star and current Washington Spirit rookie Nicole Douglas. We also hear from Spirit Head Coach Mark Parsons talking about Nicole and her role on the team.

And While we're looking into the future of women’s soccer, we examine a new report by Women's Sports Foundation Head of Research Karen Issokson-Silver.

During her time at Arizona State University, Nicole Douglas turned heads with her goal-scoring talent and ball-handling ability, as she broke the school's all-time goal-scoring record with 60 all-time goals. After being selected 26th overall in the 2023 NWSL College Draft by the Washington Spirit, Nicole is now part of the youthful emergence in the league. The rookie shares her thoughts about coming from her hometown of London and the Chelsea Academy to play college soccer at ASU, your football journey, what the future holds, and more! (21’)

Washington Spirit Head Coach Mark Parsons (14’)

Women's Sports Foundation Head of Research Karen Issokson-Silver (43'')

Episode LinksFollow Nicole Douglas on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/nicoledouglass09/

Follow Washington Spirit on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/washingtonspirit/

Read Nicole’s Washington Spirit bio – https://washingtonspirit.com/team-member/nicole-douglas/

Visit Women’s Sports Foundation – https://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/

Read the Healing Power of Sports – https://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/articles_and_report/the-healing-power-of-sport/

UEFA Women’s Champions League Highlights – https://www.youtube.com/@DAZNUWCL

Catch Patty's new YouTube Show Mission California – https://mission-california.com/

More WWFShow Links:
Follow Women’s World Football Show on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and our blog at wwfshowblog.com.

Listen to Women’s World Football Show on Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio, Spotify, Spreaker, TuneIn Radio, Google Play, Castbox, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and direct from our website at www.WWFShow.com.

Original Broadcast Date: April 23, 2023

Women’s World Football Show is hosted, written, edited and produced by Patty La Bella.

Additional assistance for this episode by Sam Pittman, Nicole Douglas, Karen Issokson-Silver, and Kandice Miller.

Women’s World Football Show website design and theme music by Patricia La Bella

Women’s World Football Show® is a registered trademark and its audio and logo cannot be used without expressed written authorization.

Episode Transcript

(00:05):
We're very happy with how Nicole isdoing and when she has the ball at
her feet, her final pass,her ability to dribble and separate. It's
very, very important special but weall know her top quality is finishing and
as a ten, we feel thatshe's going to be a big problem arriving
into the box of late and bringingthe finishing quality that she has. So

(00:28):
we're happy with her and we're pushingher at the same time we're challenging her.
This is the first first twelve weeksof being a professional soccer player,
and we're excited with us start,but it's a long journey, saying with
Paige Mattea and every other NUBI youngsterwho's joined our team, we try to
keep a long term focus here,but she's she comes in with probably being

(00:49):
one of the most dangerous attackers inthe pack twelve, and she's someone who
I think is going to be atop top player in the end of herself,
but also top international and take alittle bit of time. That was
Washington Spirit head coach Mark Parsons talkingabout his young rookie and our featured guests
on this episode of Nicole Douglas.Mark is more to say about his young
draft pick, along with thoughts onthe youth explosion of his team. What's

(01:11):
it like to be part of thisnew youth movement in women's soccer? And
BSL rookie and former Arizona State Universitystarting Nicole Douglas is here to talk about
that and so much more. Andwhile we look into the future of women's
soccer, we'll examine an important reportrecently released by a women's Sports foundation,
A first of its kind study infact, that examines ways in which girls

(01:32):
sports participation and mental health has beenimpacted by the COVID nineteen pandemic. A
really important study that we can ignore. And we'll have the head of research
at Women's Sports Foundation, Kerrick IsaacsonSilver, here to take us through the
findings. There's definitely a change inthe air in women's football and it's coming
from bright, young and I meanyoung future stars. Are you ready to

(01:53):
embrace the next generation and share intheir youthful exuberance. Let's do it.
This is Women's World Football Show.Hi everyone, welcome to episode two sixteen
of Women's World Football Show. I'myour host, Patti Labella. I hope

(02:14):
you're doing well. I hope thatyou're excited, you're reaching into that inner
child. We've got some youthful exuberanceon this show today as we're talking about
this young generation coming in and man, it's it's just really an exciting time
for women's soccer as we look atsome of these young players coming in and
Nicole Douglas one of them. Imean, man, I've been I've been
watching Nicole tear up the Pac twelvewith the Sun Devils since twenty eighteen and

(02:37):
quickly became one of my favorite collegiateplayers to watch. Over the years,
I always made it a point towatch an ASU match whenever they were on
the local TV here in southern California, just to see Nicole Douglas because she's
just so fun to watch. Shewas drafted by Washington Spirit and she's getting
some game time under her belt.So I'm just a huge fan, and

(02:58):
so is Mark Parsons. If youcan tell, you will be too as
you watch her pro career takeoff,no doubt, So can't wait to play
this interview for you Spirit Nation,talking to you Spirit Nations all over the
world, not just in Washington.Believe me, I know that this might
be a transition year for Washington,but you can really see how bright the

(03:20):
future is, and not just forthem, but just women's soccer in general.
Hey, first, before we getinto this, this great show and
these great interviews we have, areyou watching the UEFA Women's Champions League.
Oh my goodness, semifinals are underway. Wow, just so good. You
know, we try to stay evergreenon the show and not get too much
into like results, game results andthings. But the semifinals, like I

(03:44):
said, underway and wow, they'rejust too good to ignore, too good
not to update you. As ofthis recording, we're heading into the second
leg of the semifinals. That thatfirst leg, Chelsea versus Barcelona, Barcelona
with a win one nil. Imean, Chelsea had their moments, they
had their chances to score, butbut boy, that Barcelona defense just too

(04:05):
good. Lucy Bronze, oh mygoodness, saved a couple of goals.
And of course Barcelona's goalkeepers, SandraPonios just some great say she sometimes plays
the villain. I think she gota yellow card there at the end for
delay game. Of course, sucha good match in that first leg.
And then also Wolfsburg Arsenal that wasa two two tie but boy, Wolfsburg

(04:27):
on paper, you're thinking wow,because Arsenal has been banged up, right,
they have a lot of injuries.It looked to me like that Wolfsburg's
just gonna come in and take themover. But nope, Arsenal had some
other plans. I mean they Wolfsburgwas leading to nil at one point,
but Arsenal coming back to tie itup. Wolfsburg PYO Champions League top score.
Of course, she got a goaland boy, a powerful header by

(04:49):
Raphaela made the game two one.I think that was her first European goal.
I'm not sure, but I thinkit was. And then black Stanius
came in at the second half andtied it up. So we Wolfsburg and
Arsenal tied up all squared and goinginto the second leg. If you want
to watch those highlights, I'll actuallyput the link on our show notes so

(05:10):
you can go in and watch thehighlights second leg as of this recording.
April twenty seventh, Barcelona and Chelseaand then me first Wolfsburg and Arsenal,
and then the final of the UEFAWomen's Champion League is on June third,
and definitely keep you updated on that. Like I said, we try to
stay every Green, But you can'tignore that it's just so good to watch

(05:31):
these all these top teams play withtop players and surprising well Arsenal coming back
to tie that game up just amazing. You never know what's going to happen,
right, It's just so fun.So let's go back to the show.
Like I say this a lot,but I just love interviewing young players.
They have something that's just I don'tknow, it's different. It's different.

(05:53):
I don't know if it's just becausethey don't have a filter. A
lot of times, you know,they just say how they feel. They
laugh and they want to laugh atgiggle in a lot of cases when they
want to giggle. And there's justsomething very cool, very fresh when you're
interviewing a young player. They justthey just this is just almost like they
have the world at their feet,you know, and they know it,

(06:15):
and it's just there's just so muchthat the future is just waiting for them
to kind of grab onto. Soto catch a young and upcoming star,
you know, such as Nicole Douglasat the start of her career, it's
just an amazing, amazing thing.And I hope you can get that same
feeling by listening, you know,to the interview, and you know you
can also hear it in in thecoach's voice too. We'll be hearing from

(06:36):
Mark Parsons as well in the show. I sat it on a press conference
with Mark and reporters are asking themquestions and he's answering. He's all very
serious, and then I was ableto go in and ask him about Nicole
and the young players, and hejust his face just lit up. I
mean he had a big smell onhis face. You can hear his smile.
Actually, you know in the soundbite that we're gonna play for you.

(06:58):
I just I just love it.You just can't you can't, you
can't not be happy to see thisyoung generation come in. And Nicole is
young, but she's you know,she's not young by today's standards. I
think she's I think she'll turn twentythree coming up as they're recording this,
which is a common for recent collegegrads. But lately there's been some really
really young players being signed in theNWSL especially, and I know there's a

(07:24):
little debate about it, you know, how young is too young. Some
people may not like how early youngplayers are entering the pro ranks. Here
in the NWSL. It kind ofstarted in twenty twenty one with Olivia Moultrie
making NWSL history by signing a professionalcontract with the Portland Thorns at fifteen years
old. Fifteen years and two hundredand eighty six days old. I'm telling

(07:45):
you the days for a reason.So Olivia's signing we really kind of got
the conversation going. And then earlierthis year, Washington Spirit signed Chloe Ricketts
to a three year deal, Chloeat fifteen years, two hundred and eighty
three days old, beating out Moultriefor the record by three days. And
then before the ink was dry onthat contract, look out because San Diego

(08:07):
Waves signed fifteen year old forward MelanieBarsanas to a three year contract, making
her the youngest player ever to signa professional deal in the NWSL. Melanie
at the time of her signing fifteenyears, one hundred and thirty eight days
old. Wait, I have toget my calculator at her. Let's see
here, one hundred and forty fivedays younger than Chloe records. So pretty

(08:30):
young, right, I mean mixedplayers like Elissa Thompson and Kaitlin Shaw looked
like old timers, but even so, like lots of seventeen eighteen year olds,
they're skipping collars. You're going rightinto the pros. It's an interesting
time. Remember when it was scandalous, Remember when it was like a wow,
that's like really taboo. I rememberwe had Lindsey Horan on back in
the day when she skipped college togo play in France, and I was

(08:52):
like, do I ask her aboutthat? You know, is that something
that it's okay to ask? Ofcourse I did, but I didn't feel
comfortable. Hey, why I justskips college? You know? I mean,
you know malpu right half semester atUCLA if that Nope, not for
me, just gonna you know.And we had on Kaitlyn Shaw, like
I said on the show a fewepisodes back, and today, there was

(09:13):
no stigma around it, right,I mean, they're skipping school, we're
asking about it, they're talking aboutit. It's just part of the conversation,
so easy to talk about. AndI remember, you know, Jayden
was like, yeah, it wasnever in my plan to go college.
I mean, she just said it, And honestly, you know, for
me, I think that's awesome becausethat means there's more options and more opportunities

(09:33):
for young women players, I mean, don't you. I mean, college
just isn't right for everyone, orit's the perfect place for many of them.
I mean, like our guest today, Nicole Douglas at ASU, that
was the best place for her,and she thrived there and she turned heads
and she made a name for herself. She broke records. So it's an
option, but it's not the onlyone. And I think, you know,

(09:54):
I think it's just great. Imean, if you think about it
back in the day, the playersthat went to college that maybe shouldn't have
gone, Kristin Press comes to mind. I mean, she was like in
southern California. You knew Kristin Presswhen she was in high school, when
she was playing club soccer out here, Like we knew Kristin Press, Like
she was huge. What colleges shecould have signed to it? I mean
that was the next question when shesigned with Stanford, you know, staying

(10:15):
in California, Like it was abig deal. But you talked to Kristin
Press and she was like, thoseweren't happy days for her, right,
She struggled a lot with depression andshe'd be out on the pitch, you
know, crying. I think ifyou were talked to talk to her now
about it, she'd probably say that, you know, it was a great
Laurena experience for her, But Imean she didn't thrive until she left the
United States and played and went andplayed in Sweden and then that's when she

(10:37):
got, you know, refound thatlove for the game again and and really
you know, found herself. SoI don't know, college maybe not the
best thing for everybody. And andnow it's that option. They had kids
have that option so they don't haveto do that. And if you look
at these fifteen year olds who arestill technically in high school, and like
I said, they're signing three yeardeals, so in three years, you

(10:58):
know, they're eighteen. How crazyis that? If they want to go
to college, you know it's therefor them, and you know they don't
skip a beat, you know,just another avenue. And personally, I
think it's great. So, um, let's get into it, shall we,
because we have a pack show todayand I'm so excited to hear from
Nicole Douglas. As you can tell, I've actually been sitting on this interview
for a while now. I interviewedNicole during preseason of this year, and

(11:22):
I had to had to keep pushingthe show back because we had some other
other things, you know, hehad PFC Malaga going into the playoffs.
I wanted to get their story out. And then of course in the big
announcement of NWSL to the Bay,we had Leslie Osborne on last show to
talk about that. So I'm like, we're not pushing Nicole Douglass out anymore.
Nicole kept getting pushed back, butenough, it's Nicole's time. Can't

(11:45):
hold the kids back, It's theirtime. And just so excited to share
this interview with you. But beforewe hear from Nicole, let's hear from
her coach, Washington Spirit head coach, and her fellow countryman, Mark Parsons.
I got to chat with Mark aboutthree games into the regular season,
a day before the first game ofthe twenty twenty three Challenge Cup. By

(12:05):
the way, Washington was facing Gothamand we hadn't seen much of Nicole before
that match, and I just wantedto like get his insights into how she
was doing. She got some minutesin the Louisville game. Early on in
the season, she had a slightsprained ankle, which kept her out of
training. So I wanted to kindof touch base with Mark and see how
Nicole was doing. You know,how he's going to use her, you

(12:26):
know, this season, what herrole is going to be on the team,
because you know that team is stackedat talent and young talent. They
also signed a lot of a lotof young players this season. In fact,
we got a good glimpse of themwhen the Washington Spirit kicked off that
that NWSL Challenge Cup first game witha new starting eleven combination. Four of

(12:48):
their first year players started that match. Savannah Coleman, Paige Mattair, Lena
Salana, and Nicole Douglass mate starts, with all but Matte notching their first
career professional start. The three timestarters comprise the Spirits attacking front. When
Nicole in the number ten, Markactually talks about this so austen to see
these young players like working together.So fun to watch them, you know,

(13:09):
figuring things out. I mean,if you're a Spirit fan, you
aren't just a soccer fan. Youlove this because this is this is the
future, and they're just getting theirfeet wet. I don't know, just
so much fun to watch. Solet's hear from Washington Spirit head coach Mark
Parsons. Just a reminder, thisis a press conference setting. While I
was able to ask Mark a questionabout Nicole and about some of the young

(13:30):
players and his coaching style, thereare other reporters in the room asking questions,
and I just edited the press conferencejust for easy listening. So here
you go. Here's Mark Parsons.Yeah, we're very happy with how Nicole
is doing. We're excited to behoble to see how tomorrow against Guffam.
We see here as a number ten. She's someone who has been so intelligent

(13:54):
with positioning and being behind the midfield, glide and opponent, on the back
shoulder of opponent, and when shehas the ball at her feet, her
final pass, her ability to tribbleand separate, it's very very important and
special. But we all know hertop quality is finishing, and as a
ten, we feel that she's goingto be a big problem arriving into the

(14:16):
box late and bringing the finishing qualitythat she has. But the reason we
see her as at ten is becauseher final pass and ability to be behind
the opponent's midfield and know how toreposition, it's so good, so We're
very happy, but it's it's goingto be a good challenge. We've got
a lot of great players and we'revery happy against Louisville. Unfortunately, sprained

(14:39):
her ankle actually the Louisville halfway throughthe second half, and she missed a
week of training after that game.But she came on and made a big
difference for us in that game andwe needed we needed her to do that.
She almost obviously got a goal,So we're happy with her and we're
pushing her at the same time we'rechallenging her. This is the first first

(15:00):
twelve weeks of being a professional soccerplayer, and we're excited with us start,
but it's a long journey. Sayingwith Paige Mattea and every other NUBI
youngster who's joined our team, wetry to keep a long term focus here.
But she's she comes in with probablybeing one of the most dangerous attackers
in the pack twelve, and she'ssomeone who I think is going to be
a top top playing indomsel but alsotop international and take a little bit of

(15:24):
time thank you for that. I'malso I'm talking about the youth on this
team. I know a lot's beenmade of it as a coach. What's
it like for you to work withso many young players and does it change
the way that you coach. Yeah, we have kind of makeup of our
squad is this team's tasted success andand they had a fantastic run in twenty

(15:46):
one and I was here in theleague when I saw this teamle on that
run and it was very very impressive. And over the last two three years
that was like, it was avery good run and they made they enjoyed
when they enjoyed that success. Itwas also not off over the last few

(16:07):
years. And obviously our goal iswe'd love to be there all the time.
We'd love to be a team that'sfighting for trophies all the time,
and we want to build a stablesituation to be able to do that.
Despite that success, the experience ofthis team is still still quite young.
Trini Rodman has two three years atthis club, but she's still only twenty

(16:27):
and Sanchez twenty three, twenty four, but she's she's only been at the
club for three to four years.There's a lot of players in our team
even though they've been here already,they're still quite young and experience in Portland
Christine Sinclair, Becky Saubran, MeghanKlingenberg. This is experienced that it is
invaluable. Now we've been trying toto empower and build the lead leadership group,

(16:52):
which we doubled the side from threeto six. We're investing in people
on the leadership side, and Nicolebarn Hart is someone who's won multiple trophies
in this league and someone that I'veleaned into a lot to help not just
the team but also the staff inprioritizing our experience. Now on the other
side, so I've just flipped theother side of your question. We do

(17:15):
know we're still quite young, evenwith some of our older players in experience,
and then we got loads of funyouth. I love that got players
like oh no, not want toname names. They all bring energy and
excitement and they have this naive teamwhere they just want to take on the
world. You know, the youngestin being Chloe Ricketts. Since you come

(17:37):
around her debut against North Carolina twoone up away from home and she's doing
scissors in her own half and stepoversin her own half, and she had
a great chance to score. Andyou know we've seen that go in the
back of the net multiple times intraining. He asked about how I coach.
I'd like to coach a young group. I want to keep improving the
experience and develop the leadership. Buthaving youth and your team's important. This

(18:03):
game is fun and joyful, andwith young players, they don't think of
all the problems or issues in theworld or in the opponent or the game.
They see opportunities and they see sunshineand daylight, and keeps a good
balance in this high sensity, especiallyin this league, in this high,
highly demanding league. But I probablysay that coincidence has led from we truly

(18:26):
we have and it will. Itwill only get stronger and strong, and
we truly have tried to prepare everyplayer. We truly have tried to train
every player within the principles of ourteam, and we're very committed to the
individual development, which breeds confidence ofgiving people a chance. So Lena and
Savannah came on against Orain home opener, against internationals all over the pitch.

(18:48):
But Lena and Savannah has played asmany times in our eleven with playing our
principles as Hatch and Trin have.We really have tried to develop and invest
in everyone, same as Nicole inthe number ten when scientist hasn't been hit
Nicole or has got so many repsin You could hear your smile, right,

(19:08):
I mean, just grinned from earto ear talking about his young upstarts
and Nicole so awesome. Like Isaid, he was very serious, but
as soon as he started talking aboutthe kids, his face just lit up.
I mean, how can you notright? And Nicole has a few
things to say about Mark Parsons aswell, So let's get into it.
Why not. Yeah, I've beensitting on this interview for too long,

(19:30):
but before we hear from Nicole Douglasjust a couple of minutes. Just got
away a couple more minutes. Alittle background on the youngster in case you
don't know, of course, shehelps from London. She'll tell you about
her younger days. She grew upplaying in the England women's national team youth
teams, spent most of her growingup days playing in the Chelsea Academy.
We'll talk to her about that.But Nicole really made a name for herself

(19:53):
during her time at Arizona State University, where she broke the school's all time
goalscoring record with sixty all time goals. That's a record, by the way,
that stood for twenty one years atASU, so I expect it to
stay for a while. I mean, just a goal scoring monster. Nicole
earned multiple conference honors. If wewent through them all, we'd be here

(20:14):
all day. So I'm not goingto do that. But I will put
the link to her spirit bio onthe show notes if you want to kind
of dive into her colleague background indepth. Her awards and accolades are as
long as my arm, maybe longer. I have short arms, but I
will tell you that her performances atASU and he earned her a spot on
the All Pac twelve team and becamethe Sun Devil's first ever two time United

(20:36):
Soccer Coaches All American. So justan amazing collegiate career, you know,
for the London girl. In twentytwenty three, Nicole was selected as the
twenty sixth overall pick by the WashingtonSpirit in the NWSELL College Draft. For
Spirit fans, Hey, Spirit Nation, we see you keep your eye on
Nicole. One thing and this is, you know, just from my experience

(20:56):
watching her out west, she isa finished I mean you heard Mark,
She's a goal scorer by nature.In fact, in her first game at
a she as a freshman, shescored two goals. I mean, it's
just who she is. Plus she'sjust super skilled with the ball at her
feet. Just so much fun towatch. Again, this interview is during
preseason, so it couldn't ask herabout her first start, but just so

(21:17):
fun to get to know her betteras she begins this new chapter in her
life. A rising star in thewomen's game for sure. Please welcome Washington
Spirit striker Nicole Douglas. High.Nicole, thank you so much for taking
the time to visit with us.I know you're busy. It's a busy
time for you. You're preparing withthe NWSL preseason and all the training and
all the stuff that goes along withthat, so we really appreciate you taking

(21:40):
the time. Yeah, of course, thank you for having me. And
it's not often that we get agoal scoring record holder on the show,
so that's always exciting for us too. Thank you. Well. You finished
your college career at Arizona State asthe all time leading goal scorer, breaking
a record that stood for like twentyone years something crazy like that. I'm
getting goosebumps just thinking about it,and then you passed it by like ten

(22:03):
goals or something, so they'll bestanding there, you'll be in the record
books for a long time. Firstof all, how did that experience change
just your overall college experience change you? And then what does that what does
that record mean to you? Yeah, for sure, I think like coming
in as a freshman, like Inever thought about breaking records, Like I
didn't even know what they were,like what the statistics were or anything like

(22:27):
that. I didn't know any ofthe wards that existed, like nothing like
that. I just wanted to comein and fight for my place in the
squad and fight for my place andstarting eleven. And so to come out
of college with that record, Istill can't believe that actually happened to me.
And it just really like really taughtme that there is no length,

(22:48):
there is no limit to how successfulyou want to be as a team and
how you want how successful you wantto be as a player. And so
for me, it really hit memy junior year when everyone was talking about
like Nicole, you could really breakthese records, like it really hit me
and saying like wow, like Iactually can, and so like I just

(23:08):
took every day like to work ashard as I could, not that I
didn't before, but like it justgave me that extra motivation to be like,
well I can't actually like put myname in the record books, and
so yeah, it just like reallyhumbled me. And I'm like extremely like
proud of myself and proud of theirteam because again, like without my team,
like breaking records for yourself wouldn't bepossible. So yeah, it was

(23:32):
a really good experience for me.See that I would think that that would
just put more pressure on you,but you can actually thrive through that,
Yeah, no, I did.I think my coach was really helpful in
that process because he was like,because the first like two games of my
senior season, like my fifth yearseason, I didn't score, and so
I was like coming up to himevery day, I was like I'm not

(23:52):
scoring, Like I don't know what'shappening, and he was like, goals
will come, like just keep workinghard and they will come, and they
did. And yeah, I'm justso thankful for that process. But I
wouldn't say it added any pressure tome. I just carried on what I
was doing best and that scoring goals, like assisting and just enjoying every second
of playing in college. Really andtell me about that, because obviously from

(24:15):
England, from London, right,yes, one of my favorite places in
the world. Why did you chooseto play collegiate soccer here in the United
States? And why what led youto ASU in particular? Yeah, so
I was at Chelsea Academy for abouteleven years, and so I wanted to
experience something different, and I thinkAmerica gave me that a great opportunity that

(24:37):
I wanted to take. And abig part of it as well was my
education. So playing soccer and doingmy education at the same time, it
was like an author that I couldn'treally turn down. And it's like a
whole completely different new experience that Iwanted to take on and challenge myself and
ultimately it has paid off a littlebit. Just list a little bit.

(25:00):
How did your family feel about that? I mean that just that you're moving
to the USA, but also thatyou're far away and for so long.
Yeah, I mean when I whenit came down to the decision whether to
stay in England or come to America, my family was really supportive. They
knew that I've worked extremely hard toget a couple of options to further my

(25:22):
career, and they just what theyjust said that they supported me whatever route
that I wanted to take, andum, it wasn't it wasn't an easy
decision whether to stay at home orcome away to America and challenge myself.
But yeah, I'm happy with thedecision I made and they were very supportive
about it. Um. Do youthink that you've mentioned Chelsea Academy. Do

(25:42):
you think that growing up in theChelsea Academy that that kind of helped you
prepare for your college career or isit a totally different experience. Um,
I think it definitely did help.I mean, you don't just play for
Chelsea Academy and not be good enoughto play for them, like even at
a young age. And so forme, playing with technically good players,

(26:03):
like even when I was like sixseven, eight years old, you know,
you're going through that development stage andit really helped me to develop my
technical skills, to develop my understandingof the game, reading the game.
And alongside of that, I wasplaying on a boys team actually with my
twin brother, so that helped meon the physicality side of things. So
I put them both together and it, like I really think it did it

(26:26):
helped me prepare for college soccer?And I'm the pro league in the NWSL.
I'm going to ask you more aboutyour family in a little bit um
because I have some questions for you. I didn't know you were twins though,
Yeah, I follow you on Instagram, so like I know that how
important your family is to you andstuff, So I do want to ask
you about them, but at first, then after college obviously drafted by the

(26:51):
Washington Spirit than the third round inthe NWSL draft, tell us about that
experience because not a lot of playersgo through that experience here, There's very
few of you. It just looksso nerve racking and stressful, and you
were there right in person. Yeah, I was there in person. I
was in America, and my collegecoaches came out with me, So that
was a really good experience for themto experience that with me. But like

(27:15):
I never pictured it to be whatit actually was. Like I had to
pinch myself a couple of times becauseI was like, am I really here?
Like I'm really at this draft oflike every single one of the coaches
with the teams like in the middle, like all the media around walking on
the red carpet. It was justlike I would say, like if anyone

(27:36):
could experience that opportunity or have thatopportunity, like, please take it because
such an amazing experience. But andto have my coaches there, like my
family sadly couldn't make it out,but they did watch it live and even
though they're up like three am inthe morning, but again that's how supportive
they are. But yeah, itwas. It was a very good experience.
So when you're going into like thethird round or you're not being drafted,

(28:00):
did yet are you thinking what's plannedB or what's going to happen?
Or were you kind of confident thatthis was Yeah. I mean when it
got to the third round, Ikind of like give my my coach nagin
arms, just like what's happening next? Like I don't I don't know,
Like I wasn't sure what was goingto happen, like because it's not like
guaranteed you're gonna get drafted. SoI was just like coach, like,

(28:21):
I don't know what's gonna happen,Like I'm gonna have to turn to Plan
B like um, but very verythankful for Washington Spirit to draft me.
There was there was a collective Yahoo, like from the West coast because we've
all lived those of us who havebeen watching you for many years. It
was like, yes, was italways your goal to enter the draft or

(28:41):
was that something that kind of gotto your attention like halfway through college or
um. Yeah, it definitely didget my attention through through while I was
in college to see how much ithas grown, and then getting expansion teams
and we're continuing to get expansion teamsthat like just how much they treat the
players like professional athletes. Like we'vereally drew me into wanting to play in

(29:06):
the NWSL, and again, Iwanted to challenge myself even further. I
had a few options back home,for sure, but I thought like the
NWSL is the next step for me. It's where I feel like I would
grow and develop further and where Iwanted to get to ultimately as a player.
So you've been with the team right, Well, are some of the
things that you like about Washington sofar? Honestly? Everything, Like we

(29:29):
have such a positive environment from thecoaches, to the background staff to the
teammates, Like everyone is just sopositive about the upcoming season. I've heard
like so many good things about thegrowth of Washington Spirit as an organization itself,
and to see that in person islike, I'm really excited to be
part of Washington's Spirit. But thecoaching staff are very, very knowledgeable.

(29:52):
They're really helping me because I'm playingin slightly a new position, slightly not
really, but slightly so in thatposition really well, so, so I'm
thankful for them and all the team, all my teammates are so welcoming because
not often you go and you goonto a brand new team and like everyone's
so welcoming. Um, but thisteam has been like really again, and

(30:15):
I get on with absolutely everybody,like from rookies to veterans to everyone,
and there's like a very like ayouthful energy there isn't there. I Mean
there's a lot of young players comingin. There's a lot of like you
said, like veterans, like likeTrinity, like like Trinity roundings already like
a veteran. Now that's like ye'sso young, you know, right,
So as you feel that energy,that youthful energy there, yeah, for

(30:37):
sure. And I'm just trying to, you know, be a sponge because
and just like taking as much informationand knowledge as I can from my players
that are so experienced, like TrinityRodman, like Amber Brooks, you know
that play that actually Sanchez you know, that play for their national team,
that have been to World Cups.And you know, I'm just trying to
take in as much as I canfrom these players that have experienced so much

(30:59):
more than I have already. Yeah, Ashley Hatch, I'm like just thinking
of the ROSCA right now. It'slike, yeah, like this young team,
it's so it's so exciting. Um. And then you're talking about the
coaches. How important is it thatyou have a head coach like Mark Parsons
who has kind of a Chelsea backgroundhimself, and you know it's kind of
the same I guess culture background asyou Yeah, definitely same culture, same

(31:22):
like mentality like we always want towin, um, you know, well
like hard work and like we wantto press, you know, we want
to score goals. So it's goodto have to have him as a head
coach because I kind of like reallyunderstand the way that he wants to play
and what he's achieving and what hewants to achieve as a team and stuff.
So yeah, really really happy thathe's he's my head coach for sure.

(31:42):
Yeah, it's exciting to talk toyou like right now because you're like
at the beginning stages of your professionalcareer, and it's it's almost like our
listeners can get to know you alittle bit better and then follow your career.
That's like the most fun you know, I guess we can have as
a fan is to see a playerat the very beginning. Have you adjusted
to like not being a student athlete, because this is the first time,

(32:05):
right in your whole life, probablythat you've had to worry about studying.
Yeah, honestly, it really has. I'm like, even even now,
I've been up school for months andI'm still thinking everybody, I'm like,
what schoolwork do I have? Andthen I remember I'm like, I don't
have any schoolwork, so it's likewhat am I Like? I'm spending like
so much time like with soccer,and I'm like so thankful for that.

(32:27):
But then when I'm away from thesoccer field, I'm like, what am
I supposed to be doing? Whatam I doing? So adjustin and as
much as I enjoyed being a studentathlete, I'm kind of happy that I'm
doing no more school when I canjust solely focus on soccer and my development.
I heard I heard a coach saytogether. I can't remember who it
was, but oh, you know, I think it was pr Sun Hung.

(32:50):
She said that soccer is a teacher, and that was pretty interesting,
Like every game is a teacher.So that's I guess that's your new lesson
plan is. Yeah. Yeah,I mean I'm still learning every day,
so yeah, you can say thatthat's good. I'm lucky if it told
you, if Air that because Ibased in California got to watch you a
lot in the Pac twelve over theyears. And but for fans in the

(33:13):
East Coast or around you know,the country, you know, who are
fans of the league who may nothave seen you play at as you tell
us about your style and what aresome of the best attributes that you that
you'll bring to the team. Yeah, so I like to say that I'm
a very hard working player. I'llrun for the team defensively and offensively.
A goal scorer, I mean it'sonly right that I say that, right,

(33:37):
So, a goal scorer creating anassists as well, a team player.
I just want the best for everysingle person on the team. But
I want to do the best whateverrole that I'm putting on game day off
the field, on the field,I want to do the best that I
can for the team and for myself. So I'm, yeah, definitely a
team player, and I'm like soexcited to show the rest of my teammates

(34:00):
and the coaching stuff like who Iam as a player on the field as
well, and whatever opportunity I get, I'm gonna take it with both hands
and do the best I can.Really that I can really do, Yeah,
no doubt. One of the oneof the things that I really love
watching watching you play is that italways seemed like the ball is just stuck
to your foot, Like no matterwhat type of situation you're in where you're

(34:22):
right as a fan you're thinking,oh, she's gonna get de possessed or
something. You know, she's gonnatrip. You come out of the chaos
like but still with the ball atyour foot, and it's just amazing to
watch. It's so much fun.But did you develop that skill over time
or is that something that just camenaturally to you. Yeah, I think
it's going back to, you know, playing at Chelsea Academy, playing with

(34:43):
the boys. I really think thathelped my technical ability a lot, and
I think reading the game as wellbeing one step ahead. I really think
that going through like the Chelsea Academyall the way up until I mean I
trained with the first team on aweekly basis my last two years at Chelsea.
So playing with people then at sixteenseventeen years old, when these players

(35:06):
are going to World carts, playingin European Championships, you know, really
helped me to develop into having thattechnical ability where I can scan, I
can think one step ahead and betechnically good on the ball. Yeah.
Yeah, Well, I think thefans are going to just love watching your
play, no doubt, to keepan eye on you. What are some
of the expectations or goals that youhave for yourself this season as a rookie.

(35:29):
I know it's it's hard to maybelike get into that team, get
into the starting eleven, get minutes. So for me, it's like keep
working hard every single day, showingthe coaches who I am as a player,
and then when given the opportunity tostep out on the pitch for Washington
Spirit, I'm just going to playfreely, play how I play, and

(35:51):
work hard for the team and reallyprove myself that I can compete in this
league. Do you do you thinkabout like you're like the first goal that
you score in the end of yourself. Do you think about like your celebration,
like but your celebration. I thinkI have thought about it. But
for me, like even in college, it was just like run around,
like I was just so excited tolike score, and I think when I

(36:15):
score, like hopefully, when Iscore my first goal for the Spirit,
I'm just gonna be like just speechless. So I'm just gonna stop and be
like wow, like I've just scoredlike my first professional goal, like it
would I can't even imagine it,but hopefully it will come. Yeah,
that'll be fun. And then whenyou post it on the social we'll post

(36:35):
it. Like when you think backto your growing up days, you were
talking about like Chelsea and Chelsea Academy, was playing professionally. I'm sure you're
surrounded by that whole culture. Wasplaying professionally something that you dreamed about?
It something that looked seemed like areality. Yeah, definitely. It's always
something that I that I really wantedto do when I was asked in school
like well you want to do whenthe older is always like, I want

(36:57):
to be a professional soccer player,Like that was my dream. That was
my goal ever since I can remember. And when I truly believe that I
was good enough, I was like, yeah, this is literally what I
want to do. Always always wantedto play professionally, and here I am,
Like I'm still I still can't evenbelieve, like I am like a
professional soccer player. Dreams come true? Yeah for sure. So how old

(37:20):
were you when you started playing,and what were some of the things that
you really loved it, like,like I love this game, Like what
were some of the things that reallyattracted you to it? Yeah, I
think I was about four years oldwhen I started, and then I signed
at Chelsea when ast six, soI was only there was only two years
of development there. But it reallystarted with my brother, with my twin,
just being in the back garden andlike kicking the ball around with him

(37:44):
and then eventually go into his trainingsessions, and so I was playing with
boys and just being around a teamlike really was something I really enjoyed.
And then moving to a girls teamat Chelsea, like they become like your
best friends and someone people that youcan hang around with on and off the

(38:05):
field, and I really love thatabout the game. Um. I like
how you know you can you canalways compare stuff with each other, you
can always talk about like the soccerside of things with people that are on
your team, but also just justa genuine love for the game, Like
I've always loved soccer, Like Iwatched soccer all the time. Um.
So yeah, it's it's in yourit's in your DNA probably it is.

(38:29):
And I come from as sport inbackgrounds, so I think that's where I
get it wrong. Yeah. Ialways wonder that because I mean, especially
here in the States where there's somany different sports that you know, kids
can get involved in and and solike they are not like born with a
soccer ball at their feet, sothere's other things that they can get involved
in. But like I always wonder, like, what is it, even
as you like an athlete, whatdrives you into this this game. It's

(38:52):
just sometimes we can't explain it.Yeah, yeah, you don't explained,
It's just it just happened, justis what it is. So what are
some of the things that you'd liketo achieve in the future, like in
and out of soccer. Yeah,So for me, I think progressing into
this into Washington spirit as much asI can get, playing time, scoring

(39:12):
goals, contributing as much as Ican on and off the field for them,
and then thinking about national team opportunitiesas well. I was with the
English youth national team for a coupleof years, so I'd like to go
back into the national team and thencompete in major tournaments. I mean a
dream would be to play in theWorld Cup, to play in European Championships,

(39:35):
So that's ultimately a goal of mineas well. Thinking away from football,
I think after my career, I'vealways wanted to be a soccer coach
as well. I've been told thatI would make a great coach. I
have attributes that other people are tellingme that I've been that would make a
great coach. So I think throughthe process of being a professional soccer player,

(39:57):
working towards getting my coaching licenses aswell. So that would be definitely
a goal after playing professionally. I'dlove to hear that because we need more
women coaches and we need more playersto stay in the game no matter what.
No matter what they do, someof them just don't have it in
them to be coaches. But ifyou're saying like you already are showing that
those attributes, then yeah, that'sthat's excited. That's another thing we'll watch

(40:20):
about you, and I'm sure thatyou're you're on the on the minds of
the national team as well. Yeah, it's kind of hard to miss you,
especially get you in the NWCL likewe saw Rachel Dalely do the same
thing, right, just yeah,So I was just wishing you a lot
of good luck, Nicole. Thankyou so much for taking the time to
come on. It was awesome toget you here to get to know you
better and like I said, atthe beginning of what's going to be just

(40:42):
an amazing career as you go intoyour professional career. So we appreciate you
taking the time. Wish you allthe best. Thank you, Thank you
for having me appreciate it. Man, talk about youthful exuberance, right,
I told you, how do younot listen to Nicole Douglas and not have
a smile on your face. It'sI mean, just so fun. And
I'm telling you, spirit nation ornon spirit nation. When Nicki some more

(41:06):
playing time, and we all knowthat she will, you heard her coach,
just keep an eye on her.She's dazzling. Can the Spirit handle
another dazzling player? Of course theycan, of course they can. It's
so fun. Talk about having theball at her feet. The world is
right there as well. Hey,big thanks to Washington Spirit communications director Sam
Pittman for setting up that interview.Thank you, Sam. We appreciate all

(41:30):
you do. You know, it'snot an easy job those communication managers have,
so we really appreciate them, andespecially if you work for a team
like the Spirit with so much talent, young and old, mostly young.
Everyone is just ringing up Sam ona daily basis wanting to talk to all
of those players. So thanks Samfor that. And thanks to Nicole.
What a delight. I love watchingher play at as G. I'm so

(41:50):
excited to see her on a regularbasis in the pros and every week I'm
checking the Washington Spirit line up tosee if she's starting or she's coming in
because a lot of times I don'tget to see all the games. I
try to watch all the highlights.But just so, I mean, just
just so much fun. Hey,let's take a short break, and when
we come back, we're gonna diveinto this very important report that was released
by the Women's Sports Foundation with KarenIsaacson Silver be back after this short break.

(42:37):
So while we're seeing an influx ofyoung players in the NWSL in particular,
since COVID happened in twenty twenty,there's been a decline actually in young
girls participation in soccer, I meanin sports in general. And this might
be news to you, I meanit was news to me. I had
no idea until I read this reportthat was released by Women's Sports Foundation titled

(42:57):
the Healing Power of Sport COVID NightTeen Girls Participation, Health and Achievements.
And I'll actually put a link tothat report on our show notes so you
can go in and read it.It's such an interesting report, and it
comes at an interesting time too,I think. So I thought it'd be
a good time to kind of openup that report and understand more and also
understand what we can do, youknow, what we can do to help,

(43:20):
I guess. And so the onlyway to do that, of course,
is to bring in someone who's aheck of a lot smarter than I
am to talk about the report andeducate us on these startling facts and what
it means to the future of women'ssports and how the pandemic affected the mental
health of young athletes, and,like I said, most importantly, what
we can do to help. SoKaren Isaacson Silver is the head of Research
at Women's Sports Foundation and was kindenough to take some time out of her

(43:43):
busy schedule to come on and talkabout it. I think you'll find it
really interesting and informative, so let'shear more. Please welcome Karen Isaacson Silver.
Hi, Karen, thank you forcoming on the show. Anytime we
have the opportunity to interview anyone fromWomen's Sports Foundation, we're so excited,
so thank you for taking the timein And you have a very important job
at Women's Sports Foundation as head ofresearch. Tell us a little bit about

(44:07):
that about your rule at Women's SportsFoundation. First of all, sure,
absolutely. First, thank you forhaving me on the show. It's a
real pleasure to be here. Whenit comes to research and the Women's Sports
Foundation, I would say that,in addition to our advocacy work, research
is sort of the beating heart ofthe Women's Sports Foundation. We've been doing

(44:27):
this work for well over four decadesand really with the goal of understanding the
whole sport ecosystem and the impact specificallyon girls and women with the eye toward
the practical right, we're looking tomove the needle on gender equity. That's
really what it's all about. Inresearch, we work with folks around the
country, right in academia, practitioners, really bringing together folks with different types

(44:52):
of expertise to help fill in thegaps and understanding. So we do a
lot of research qualitative quantity, butreally bringing that all together to inform our
advocacy work is really what it's allabout. And so we're talking about this
report today and what goes into somethinglike that. I'm sure you have a

(45:12):
whole team of people, but frombeginning to end, if you can,
like like condense it to us sowe have a better understanding what actually goes
into creating a report like this.Sure, I mean the first step is
really identifying the need. Right,we always look out the window, I
like to say, to see what'shappening in this space and what if we
already know, because we use thatas foundation for any work that we do,

(45:36):
which, as I said, it'sreally to fill in the gaping holes
and understanding. So we identify theneed and then we develop some research questions
what are we looking to understand?And then most important way, bring in
folks right throughout the field, throughoutthe sector I mentioned before, academia,
practitioners and everyone in between. Welisten to girls, we hear their voices,

(45:57):
we talk to women, we talkto men and boys. We really
want to hear what's happening on theground and marry that right with the data
collection for better understanding. So it'sreally very much a team effort. I
had a feeling it was just readingthrough it, and you know, you
can just tell all the work thatgoes into it, and there's probably many
many man hours, many man andwomen hours going into it. So we

(46:22):
really appreciate you for that. Imean really, and we all know the
importance of Women Sports Foundation and theresearch part is something we don't always talk
about and it's very important what youdo. So the report the Healing Powersport
COVID nineteen and Girls Participation, Healthand Achievements an important report. What were
some of the major findings that youuncovered in that report? Sure, and

(46:44):
I would say, you know,the pandemic really provided this unique uppertunity to
study the connection right between sport andmental health. That's what the report is
really all about and we were reallycurious to know more about how smart participation
can for girls right from some ofthe detrimental impacts of the pandemic, but
really more broadly to better understand theimpacts their mental health. So when it

(47:08):
comes to sort of the key findings, not surprisingly, right, we found
a decline of sport across the board, right for girls and boys, from
about seventy six percent to sixty ninepercent, which really translates roughly into a
loss of a million sport opportunities.So not surprising, but really alarming to
see the incredible drop in sport participationacross the board, and for girls in

(47:31):
particular. We saw the impact whetherwe're talking about girls in rural communities,
twelfth grade girls, girls of color. Unfortunately, but again not surprisingly,
the pandemic had even greater challenges forcommunities that already were falling behind in terms

(47:52):
of access and opportunity. So wesaw tremendous declines in sport participation, particularly
among black and Hispanic girls. Ohthat's so troubling. One thing you said,
though, that kind of struck anerve is that you know that COVID
created an opportunity, and I thinkthat that when we see opportunities from challenges,

(48:15):
it gives us an idea of likewhy certain things happen, and you
know what I mean. So,I mean, yeah, it's very interesting
that you said that. Yeah,exactly. Gave us a real chance to
study mental health generally, and lotsof folks have been doing that. Obviously,
we were in a mental health crisisbefore the pandemic. It was made
worse by the pandemic, but wehad an opportunity to look at sport participation.

(48:37):
But in this report really make theconnection between sport and mental health.
So one of the big findings fromthe report is to see that sport participation,
in fact, participating in more thanone sport, served as protective factors
right against some of the negative mentalhealth outcomes that we saw. And in

(48:58):
addition to being protective against the netoutcomes, we saw the degree to which
sport can really boost self esteem,so efficacy, social support really decreased depression.
So it was really very important tounderstand those connections. And now it's
what we do with that information thatreally matters. Yeah, that's that's the

(49:20):
other thing I was going to ask. I'll ask you about that in a
minute. But while you're talking,like, we talked to a lot of
players, a lot of professional players, and one of the things they always
say is, you know when Iask them, like why soccer specifically,
is because it makes them happy.It's their happy place. You know.
There were a lot of different there'sa lot of different factors, but that's
like the number one reason why girlslove soccer. It's a community. It's

(49:42):
their buddies. They're playing with theirbesties, they're outside, they're having fun.
And I think when I'm reading thisreport, I'm thinking what would happen
if that was taken away? Wherewould these girls be? And so that's
the other thing that you were saying, right, is like what do we
do with this information now? Becausehow do we just write is wrong?
How do we get to get tothe numbers of pre pandemic? Yeah,

(50:05):
exactly, And as you said,girls get so much from playing soccer,
right, all the things that youmentioned, And what's more is those things
translate into other areas of their life. Right, So what they experience on
the field translates into how they feelabout themselves, how they show up in
the classroom, how do they showup in their communities. So it's really

(50:25):
critical that we support a robust returnto play, especially for those who've been
really on the sidelines even before thepandemic. Yeah. The other thing that
we hear too is like a lotof kids are put into like soccer.
We talk a lot about soccer.I'm sure it goes with other sports too,
because their parents want them to gettheir energy out, Like they have

(50:46):
a lot of energy, you know, and their parents want to put them
in something where they're running all thetime, and they're getting like, what
do they do with that energy ifthey're not playing sports? It's scary,
Yeah, it really is. Andyou know, we're trying to educate parents
and teachers and pediatricians and others whowork with young people to recognize that,

(51:07):
you know, while we're focused primarilyanswer to the learning gap right that we
saw took place during the pandemic,that kids who move their bodies, were
physically active in play sport are muchbetter able to focus and fully participate in
the classroom. And so it's reallyimportant to make the connection between not just

(51:28):
the need to move, but whatthat means for the rest of their day
and how they show up, youknow, in their lives. So you
were talking about gender iniquity in sportsin the beginning, and I just wonder,
like, how do you think thatthe decline in girls sports? I
know, originally in my original questions, I specifically said soccer, but now

(51:49):
that you're talking, I mean,it's so much bigger than soccer, so
we're just say girls sports in general. How do you think that that has
the decline in girls sports has exasperatedgender inequity in sports? Sure, I
mean there was already a significant gendergap in sport participation prior to the pandemic.
Right, the pandemic affected everyone,but the return to play has been

(52:15):
particularly challenging for girls and especially girlsof color, and programs are really struggling
to build back. There are feweropportunities to play, more limited resources,
whether it's you know, the needfor better transportation or safe spaces, and
so it's left many girls on thesidelines. And we're very concerned about that,

(52:35):
not only because playing sports is importantin and of itself, but because
of all the benefits that they missout on when they're not able to play.
And so, you know, thatsense of belonging, that feeling of
connection and teamwork and self confidence thatcomes from playing sports. When you're not
playing, you're not getting all ofthose benefits, and that's going to set

(52:59):
girls behind if we don't really prioritizegirls participation and really double down in our
investment. Yeah, now, didyour research go into organized sports and also
non organized sports like just the kidscoming outside and kicking a ball around as
well, or was it strictly organized? Yeah? Good question. This was
a little bit more about organized play. But we're in the middle of any

(53:21):
research study now on sport and mentalhealth that goes beyond this study, right,
So this is a jumping off pointfor us to look even more specifically
at different sports, at individual versusteam sports, to see and discern the
differences between the outcomes. So we'retaking a look at that now. Yeah.
Oh interesting, Okay, So whatcan we do, Like, we're

(53:44):
all supporters, We have a lotof parents, coaches, you know,
even players, but we support girlssoccer. How do we help raise those
numbers back up? How do weget people to come back to the game
and improve that participation? Yeah?First, as hopefully reports like the Hale
and Power of Sport help shed somelight on why sport is important, right,

(54:06):
Playing soccer very important and so prioritizingyou know, girls for participation number
one thing, and how do wedo that right. It's about educating families,
for example, about the critical roleof sports in their daughter's development.
It's about you know, encouraging pediatriciansand educators and others who work with young
people to talk about the importance ofphysical activity and sport to physical health and

(54:29):
mental health, really connecting those dots, and finally really speaking up to school
administrators and community leaders to let themknow that more resources are needed to ensure
that girls have every opportunity that theirmale counterparts have to play and to grow
and to thrive. Yeah, that'sso important. You know. Sometimes we're

(54:50):
in our little boxes and we're like, oh, well, our kid plays
and she's doing fine, but notreally looking at you know, the other
communities and and like you said,some of the disenfranchise communities that we're responsible
for as just human being. Exactly, Yeah, exactly. So COVID was
something we never experienced before and soin our lifetime and we're always learning,
Like we said, challenges create opportunities, and I think we learned a lot

(55:13):
during COVID and in the case wherewe have another pandemic, or another health
crisis. What can we learn fromthis report for the future to make sure
that this doesn't happen again. Yeah, I think especially when young people are
in crisis, physical activity and sportbecomes even more important to maintain health and
well being. And we've certainly learnedthat during the pandemic, and so I

(55:37):
think that we've learned that you canfind creative ways to keep young people moving,
engaged, and connected even during somethingas totally unprecedented as a pandemic which
shuttered you know, schools and sportfacilities. So there are lots of folks
doing that and it really is awonderful example of how you can keep young

(55:59):
people moving and playing even in themidst of as you know, totally unexpected
circumstances. We're seeing a rise infutsal, and I was wondering if that
had like something to do with pantembecause all of a sudden, like futsal
is like the thing the indoor,you know, six on six type of
thing. Yeah, I think wesaw a tremendous number of creative ways that

(56:20):
people were reimagining play and reimagining thesport. And you know, I hate
to talk about silver linings with thepandemic. So I will just say that
we learned a lot, and sotaking the good that came from that period
of you know, innovation and creativityis wonderful to bring forward. We're creative
as human beings, I think.So that really shows. And is there

(56:43):
anything else that you want to talkabout that I haven't touched on? That
something that's important to you. Ithink that you know, all of us
have a role to play in ensuringthat girls have access an opportunity. So
I would just say to the listeners, you know, how do we do
that even on a small scale,right, support your girls local sports teams,

(57:04):
local soccer teams, you know atten games at area high schools and
colleges, follow the professional women's soccergame, you know, seeing the passion
in the power. I think thatgirls and women how for sport is contagious
and girls need to see female athleterole models so they know what's possible.
Second, I would say, youknow, volunteer to coach girls soccer.

(57:25):
Right, you don't have to haveany experience. It's about being a good
coach, you know, is aboutbeing a good mentor. So you don't
have to have experience. To havea meaningful, you know, role and
helping girls get out there and playand finally, you know, learn more.
Certainly I would be roomiss if Ididn't plug the Women's Sports Foundation and
check us out at Women's Sports FoundationDot or follow us on social and help

(57:50):
us celebrate girls and women in sport. Awesome. Yeah, we'll have all
those links on our show notes too, so people can go and see what
you guys are all about and readsome more research papers. We'll have a
link to this report as well.So, Karen, thank you so much
for all you do Women's Sports Foundation. I'm a big fan, and I
know our listeners are as well,So we appreciate all the work and research
you and your team like do ona daily basis, and we appreciate you

(58:12):
coming on and talking to us aboutthis interesting report. We hope that you
come back again. Absolutely, thanks, it was great to be here.
So interesting, right, I mean, such great insight. I just say,
well, we're seeing all these youngstars coming in, but we don't
realize that the next generation, thisyoung generation that was really affected by COVID,
they stop playing, they stop goingout, you know, and it

(58:35):
makes sense. It's just interesting tosee the effects of the pandemic had on
young female athletes, and now thanksto Women's Sports Foundation, we know a
lot more and like I said,more importantly, we have a few ideas
on what we can do, whatwe can do right us in the trenches,
like you and me and fans andparents and coaches and even older players,
like what we can do with thisinformation and how we can help so

(58:59):
so important, So big thanks toKaren for coming on the show and to
earn her team for the hard workthat they put in into this report.
We hear a lot about the Women'sSports Foundation, but I don't think we
ever really know exactly you know,how important they are to women's sports,
women's soccer. We've had a fewof their past presidents on the show as
guests of Angela Angela, Hughkleys andJulie Foudy a couple of our past guests

(59:22):
and past presidents of women's sports foundations, so we know they're important. But
the fact that they're doing so muchresearch, I'm just important and just critical,
critical for these times. So thanksagain, Karen, and also thanks
to Candice Miller for helping to setthat interview up. Thank you Cannis for
reaching out. Appreciate you, andagain, like I said, I'll put
the link to the report on ourshow notes and also if you want to

(59:44):
learn more about Women's Sports Foundation,we'll have their website on the show notes
as well so you can check themout. The rise of youth talent and
women's professional soccer is not only exciting, it's a promising sign for the future
of the sport. As we've seenin recent years, young players have made
a significant impact on the success oftheir teams, both domestically and internationally,

(01:00:06):
especially when you have big talents likeNicole Douglas, who has proven herself at
every level, even under adverse circumstances, and now given the opportunity to prove
herself at the pro level and highlylikely at the international level too. And
with the increased investment and attention givento women's soccer through reports like the Healing
Power of Sports by Women Sports Foundation, we can continue to create more opportunities

(01:00:28):
for young players to develop their skillsand gain exposure. And regardless, if
we're talking about young stars, youknow young fifteen year old stars like Chloe
Ricketts and Melanie Barsanas or collegiate starsheading into the pros like Savannah Coleman and
Lena Slano and Nicole Douglas. Itjust reminds us how bright the future of
women's soccer is. I wholeheartedly believethat the youth trend in women's pro football

(01:00:52):
is a positive sign for the futureof the sport. With continued support and
investment, not just at the prolevel, but at the community level and
the youth level, I mean,we can expect to see more talented young
players emerge. I mean that's thegoal, right, and then that leads
to even greatest success and growth inthe years to come. I really hope
you enjoyed episode two sixteen of Women'sWorld Football Show. I would love to

(01:01:15):
hear your thoughts on my exclusive interviewwith Nicole Douglas and Karen Isaac's and Silver,
along with our SoundBite from Mark Persons. Feel free to email me at
Patty at wwfshow dot com. Iread all the emails that do my best
reply and it's timely manner. Ifyou did enjoy this episode, to subscribe
now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,iHeartRadio app, Google Play, tuned In,
cast Box, Spreaker, Stitcher,wwfshow dot Com, or wherever you're

(01:01:37):
listening to this right now, andif you really really enjoy listening to Women's
Role Football Show, one of thebest ways you can show your appreciation is
to give us a five star ratingand leave a review wherever you listen.
I always love to know your thoughtsand reviews are the best ways for others
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grow this beautiful game that we loveis to tell your friends and family about
Women's World Football Show. If you'relistening on a mobile device, over the

(01:02:00):
cover art and you'll find the episodenotes, including some details you may have
missed. For relative links from thisepisode, visit our show notes on wwfshow
dot com. Connect with us onTwitter, Facebook, and Instagram at WWF
show, and follow me on Twitterat Patti Labella. Twelve Women's World Football
Show was hosted, written, edited, and produced by Patti Labella. That's
Me. Additional assistance for this episodeby Sam Pittman, Nicole Douglas, Karen

(01:02:23):
Isaacson Silver, and Candice Miller.And thank you, especially you for joining
me on this exciting journey through women'sfootball. Stay strong, stay mindful,
keep loving your heart. We'll seeyou all next time. Four