September 8, 2024 • 51 mins
On Episode 229 of Women's World Football Show, we take a look at the legendary career of Alex Morgan days after her retirement announcement.
Listen in on the official press conference highlights hosted by the San Diego Wave, as Alex explains her decision, reflects on her career, and shares her pride in contributing to the growth of women’s soccer and inspiring the next generation.
What’s next for the 2-time World Cup winner? Alex gives us a glimpse into her many business ventures, as she continues to give back to the women’s game in only a way she can.
Episode Links
Watch Alex Morgans full press conference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfL25C-2s54&t=4s
Purchase tickets to the Nov. 3rd SD Wave match celebrating Alex Morgan: https://www.ticketmaster.com/san-diego-wave-fc-san-diego-california-11-03-2024/event/0A00603D96ED1CC1?CAMEFROM=CFC_SAN_DIEGO_WAVE_WEB_SITE_SINGLE-TICKET&utm_source=site&utm_campaign=single-ticket&utm_medium=web
More WWFShow Links:
Follow Women’s World Football Show on 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: Sept 8, 2024
Women’s World Football Show is hosted, written, edited, and produced by Patty La Bella.
Additional assistance for this episode by San Diego Wave FC and Alex Morgan
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.
Listen in on the official press conference highlights hosted by the San Diego Wave, as Alex explains her decision, reflects on her career, and shares her pride in contributing to the growth of women’s soccer and inspiring the next generation.
What’s next for the 2-time World Cup winner? Alex gives us a glimpse into her many business ventures, as she continues to give back to the women’s game in only a way she can.
Episode Links
Watch Alex Morgans full press conference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfL25C-2s54&t=4s
Purchase tickets to the Nov. 3rd SD Wave match celebrating Alex Morgan: https://www.ticketmaster.com/san-diego-wave-fc-san-diego-california-11-03-2024/event/0A00603D96ED1CC1?CAMEFROM=CFC_SAN_DIEGO_WAVE_WEB_SITE_SINGLE-TICKET&utm_source=site&utm_campaign=single-ticket&utm_medium=web
More WWFShow Links:
Follow Women’s World Football Show on 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: Sept 8, 2024
Women’s World Football Show is hosted, written, edited, and produced by Patty La Bella.
Additional assistance for this episode by San Diego Wave FC and Alex Morgan
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.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Hey, everyone, Welcome to episode two twenty nine of Women's
World Football Show. I'm your host, Patty Lavella. How are
you doing. I hope you're doing well well. As you
probably know, I've been taking a little sabbatical from women's soccer,
not from watching it, because dang, like this summer has
been crazy with all the tournaments and just the Olympics
everything going on. So I've been kind of taking a
(00:31):
step back from the show and watching women's soccer as
a fan and really enjoying it and you know, just
kind of taking a break from from the work side
of it, and it's been good for me. Yeah. I
highly recommend it to people who are covering the sport,
whether they're doing a website or blog or podcast. It's
it's good to take a little sabbatical away from the
(00:52):
business of women's soccer and kind of just be up
be a fan because there's so much going on and
it's so enjoyable right now. It's so great to be
a women's soccer fan at this moment. But something happened
a few days ago that gave me no choice but
to dust off my old microphone and pop in for
an episode. Now I shouldn't say dust off my microphone
(01:13):
because I've actually have another podcast that I've been working
on and doing story for another time. But something that
got me like, I got to get back on Women's
World Football Show real quick and talk about this because
it's so important, and that of course, is the retirement
announcement of Alex Morgan. Not at the end of the season,
not at the end of the year, but like literally,
like right now, and she went on social media. This
(01:34):
is when social media, I think works really well, right,
is when people can just get on, especially someone of
the magnitude of Alex Morgan, who has been so important,
so influential to women's soccer over the past, over over
a decade, to just go on social media and just
turn on the iPhone and just talk directly to us
(01:57):
and spill it all out. And she did that and
go on her Instagram or her TikTok you can see
you know, her explaining why she's retiring at this moment.
And I'm actually recording this the day before her last match,
so just you know, in the in the matter of
a couple of days, we don't we hear the announcement.
(02:17):
She said on social media that she had planned to
retire at the end of the at the end of
the year she's got she expedited it because she's expecting
another baby, so that kind of pushed her into the
early retirement. But still nonetheless, I mean, it's huge news,
and it's such huge news that they just announced that
(02:39):
that CBS will be broadcasting that game, the San Diego
Way versus North Carolina Courage on Sunday night, September eighth.
This you'll probably listen to this after that game, but
it's the first time in history that a women's sporting
event has will be broadcast on multiple stations at the
same time. So it's going to be played on CBS
(03:01):
and WSL plus some ESPN. I mean, it's just it's big,
it's huge, and the world will be watching for sure.
I did have the privilege of sitting in on the
press conference by the San Diego Wave. Alex Morgan addressed
the media, and I want to play some sound bites
for you from that. You can actually go on the
San Diego Wave website and they have the full press
(03:23):
conference that you can watch. But you know, a lot
of times people don't have a whole hour to sit
through a press conference. I feel obligated for you guys
for ease of listening, to go in and edit take
out some of the highlights, some of the points that
I feel like Alex Morgan really wanted to make. And
of course that's a press conference setting, so there's reporters
asking questions, and sometimes we don't always need the questions.
(03:46):
We could just hear Alex Morgan. There are times when
we do need the questions, and of course I give
credit to those reporters who ask the questions. There were
a ton of people on that press conference, as expected,
so I didn't get it. I had my hand raised
as high as I could raise it, but they, yeah,
they ran out at time before they got to me.
Didn't take a lot of remote calls, but there was
quite a few people and reporters in the audience of
(04:10):
the press conferences, as well as the full team of
the San Diego Wave. How touching is that. I've never
seen that before, and I have to tell you just
I mean, even in a remote world like I'm logging
in from zoom on this press conference, you can feel
that there was a bevy of emotions, right, I mean,
you're excited for Alex Morgan, because she she's going to
do so much morming. She's only thirty five years old,
(04:32):
so she's going to go out in the world. She
has businesses already, she's already an influencer, you know, in
many different different areas, but especially in women's soccer. And
she's just been one of those soldiers, right if women's
soccer just fighting constantly, fighting for the for equal pay
and better conditions. And she was the only one that
really spoke out and in the early days of the
NWSL about the conditions that they were forced to live
(04:55):
with and you know, in guest housing and then you
know on the road when they were in hotel hills
and there were big roach infested cotels. I'll never forget
that that something that Alex Morgan came out and said,
and making sure that women's soccer was a safe place
for everybody. Everybody was safe in the world of women's soccer.
And I mean just there's just so much And I
(05:17):
have to tell you professionally, it's been a privilege to
cover Alex Morgan over the past I'm gonna say like
twelve thirteen years for me. I started covering the US
women's national team in twenty ten for a media outlet
called Examiner dot com. I was their sole US women's
national team reporter and that lasted up until like the
(05:41):
early days of the NWSL. I became the NWSL reporter
for Examiner dot com. There was another lady on the
East coast and I was on the West coast, and
you know, just just being able to follow her career
in the United States and then abroad as well, just
just a privilege. And then on a personal note, I
actually spent a lot of my childhood and growing up
in Diamond Bar, which of course Alex Morgan put Diamond Bar,
(06:04):
California on the map. And I didn't go to the
same schools she did. Of course I'm old enough to
be her mom, so we didn't go at the same
time obviously, but I was in like her rival, I
was at her rival schools. But it was so fun,
right just as a soccer fan, even in the you know,
watching her progress as a youngster and going through the
(06:26):
ranks of the US and his national team, and and
then you know, even here playing in you know, in
the youth youth teams around southern California, knowing she was
from Diamond Bar, was just I mean, you know, he's
a local kid, so you follow those those type of stories, right,
and so on a personal note, I mean, it's just
been an unbelievable experience, like well, once in a lifetime
experience where you have somebody from a little home, you know,
(06:47):
little town in California, southern California, and they grew up
to be this megastar on a world stage.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
So amazing.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
So we're gonna hear sound bites from the press conference.
I'm excited to share these with you. And like I
was saying before I went on, I think I veered
off on it. But in the room, even remotely as
I was like listening in on the press conference, you
can you can feel all the different emotions like excitement
for her, but also like the sense of like wow,
(07:16):
the end of an era, right, And I just like, oh,
like this kind of sadness, right, emotional, And I think
that Alex is going through those emotions right now as
we as we hear this, you know, this press conference.
So she goes from you know, somber kind of on
the brink of teers, to like elation and happiness and
then also to fierceness. Right, We've heard this Alex Morgan
(07:38):
voice before, where she's like she's fighting for the underdog,
she's fighting for the rights of people who want to
play this game, and she's also reveling in the fact
that there are young girls out there who can now say, hey, mom,
I want to be a professional soccer player when I
when I get older. And it's not just a pipe dream, right,
it's something real, and she's a big part of that.
(08:00):
I'm telling you, I'm like getting goosebumps, right, not talking
about it, because Alex Morgan hasn't been perfect, right. I mean,
she's been criticized by pundits all the time, naysayers, I guess,
throughout her career, but she's proven them wrong left and right,
including me at certain times. But at the end of
the day, I mean she's helped grow women's soccer in
(08:21):
this country and abroad. You cannot deny that because she
stands up, she uses her voice, she uses she uses
her platform, and it hasn't stopped and she continues, you know,
she continues to do that. But the other thing too,
is like Alex Morgan was the total package, right, she
had it all. I mean, she was talented, she was fast,
she had that left foot. Oh, just love that left foot, right.
(08:43):
I mean, there's so many highlights you can go through
and watch on Alex Morgan. And you know she was
you know, she was attractive, right, So she got endorsements.
You know, I think at one time she led like
women athletes in any sport with endorsements. She had the
most endorsements, and she had like, you know, Coca Cola, Google, Chipotle,
she had the water, right, I mean, just so many
(09:05):
and then plus I don't know, I've got a Alex
Morgan Barbie doll I'm not going to be too proud
to say that, and the Funko and the bobblehead of
her sip in the tea. Maybe I'll put that on
social media later. So it was fun, right, it was
fun watching them brand her and market her. And as
they did that, right, she helped grow the game. I
mean that was a byproduct of it, right. And the
(09:28):
thing that I'll miss the most I think about Alex Morgan,
I'll I mean, there's so many things I'll miss, but
as a as a reporter or as somebody who you know,
I don't call myself a reporter, but as someone who
covers the game in the media. I and this is
something that I would laugh with with my colleagues in
the press box all the time, or in the mix zone,
(09:50):
or when we're down in the field and there were
fans around. It's like you always knew where Alex was
because the fans would screen these blood curdling even bene
In fact, I have some audio recording. I don't know,
maybe I'll play that at on the social or something,
but it was like a Beatles concert. It was like
these blood curddling fans and they were all high pitch
because they were all girls, screaming Alex and uh just
(10:14):
you know, it's just so funny because we just look
at each other like, oh, there she is. We don't
even have to look for her, you know where she is,
just follow the massive fans and the stands like following
her every move. So and that's I president, right. I
don't ever remember were since seeing that. Seeing that kind
of excitement. Yeah, there's fans out there, you know, screaming
Sophia Smith and this and that, but not for Alex
(10:38):
is just another level. It's a decimal. I can imagine
that stadium. Oh my god, we have to bring earplugs
to that stadium on her last game. But let me
go through her bio a little bit before we hear
from her, and we'll play, you know. Like I said,
I'll just pull out some highlights, but it'll be it'll
be substantial.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
I believe me so.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Alex Morgan, like I said, she's thirty five years old.
She's had an amazing career, thirteen and a half year
career that saw her feature in the top divisions in
the United States and in Europe. Talking just club teams
right now, plus it coach the US national team. But
on the club level, she scored two hundred goals. She's
had eighty eight assists across three hundred and thirty seven
(11:20):
appearances with the San Diego Wave. Alex Morgan will close
out as the all time all time goals and assists
leader twenty eight goals and eleven assists with San Diego Wave. Internationally,
Alex Morgan ranks in the top ten in US women's
national team history for goals assists in multi goal games. Individually,
(11:42):
she's been named US Soccer Female Athlete of the Year twice.
That was in twenty twelve and twenty eighteen.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
She was the FIFA fIF.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
Pro Women's World eleven Section I don't know one, two, three, four,
five times, and concer CAF Player of the Year four times.
Alex Morgan alture at the NWSL Championship, NWSL Shield, NWSL
Challenge Cup and Champions League, among so many others. On
the international stage, of course, Alex Oregon starred for the
(12:11):
US women's national team since twenty ten. She finishes her
career with two hundred and twenty four caps for the
US wmen's national team. Scored one hundred and twenty three
goals across all competitions, the fifth most of any player
in the country's history. She appeared in matches at four
editions of the FIFA Women's World Cup, including capturing titles
(12:32):
in twenty fifteen and twenty nineteen, while also becoming a
gold medalist in twenty twelve and a bronze medalist in
twenty twenty on the Olympic stage. Following a twenty twelve
season that she finished with twenty eight goals and twenty
one assists, Alex Morgan joined Mia Hamm as the only
American woman to score twenty goals and provide twenty assists
(12:52):
in the same calendar year. In twenty nineteen, The two
time Women's World Cup champion, won the Silver Boot in
the twenty nineteen World Cup, scoring six goals and three assists.
When we look at her club career, of course, she
signed with San Diego Wave on July twenty fourth, twenty
twenty two. She's been huge for San Diego. She's been
(13:12):
huge for the Wave. I mean it's and she talks
about this in the press conference too, we'll hear that.
So far, she's had made fifty appearances, twenty three goals,
nine assists. She led the team in scoring in twenty
twenty two with sixteen goals, earning the NWSL Golden Boot.
In the club's inaugural season, The Wave captain led San
Diego to unprecedented success as the club became the first
(13:34):
expansion team in league history to make the playoffs in
its inaugural season. The club followed that by lifting their
first trophy, the twenty twenty three NWSEL Shield in San
Diego's second season of play, and she had a huge,
huge part of that right So, before joining the San
Diego Wave, of course, she was featured in the Orlando
Pride and during her time with Orlando, she scored twenty
(13:56):
three goals in sixty six appearances sixty four starts by
the I have to say. And in twenty seventeen she
briefly played for Olympic Leone, where she helped lead the
team to the YUEFA Women's Champions League and the French Cup.
Alex was one of the league's original allocated players. In
twenty thirteen, moving to the Portland Thorns, where she led
the team in scoring and helped the side secure the
(14:18):
inaugural and WSL Championship. There's a pattern here. She began
her professional career as the number one overall pick in
the twenty eleven WPS draft by the Western New York
Flash and she actually talks about this in the press
conference too, So such some great things. And then, of course,
beyond her playing career, like I said, her philanthropic efforts
(14:39):
include the launch of the Alex Morgan Foundation in twenty
twenty three, which focuses on supporting and empowering young girls
in sports. And the foundation's work is deeply rooted in
that Alex Morgan's long standing advocacy for gender equality, inspired
by her own experience as a professional athlete and as
a mother, so very personal to her and she's also
(14:59):
the co founder of of a media platform that amplifies
the stories of women in sports and beyond. Such a great,
great program she has there. So and you know, I
have to give kudos to the San Diego Wave too.
I mean, they've been nothing but great and in this time,
they're so supportive. They're really building this up. They're building
this last game up. They're accommodating the fans, and they're
(15:21):
accommodating the media, and they're just and the fans all
over the world right and they're just doing a great job.
So I just want to give kudos to San Diego Wave.
And they just keep celebrating her. And so not only
are they are they celebrating her in her last match
against the North Carolina Courage, which we're talked about, but
also on November third, it's a Sunday, it's the final
(15:44):
home game of San Diego Wave, they'll also be celebrating
Alex marks that have an Alex Morgan Day, I guess
at the San Diego Wave that's on November third at
Snap Dragging the stadium and you can go. You can
actually purchase those tickets now. Actually I will put a
link to that on our show notes. Too, So without
(16:04):
further ado, let's listen to the Woman of the Hour,
the Woman of the Decade. I guess Alex Morgan in
a press conference setting, and I'll just remind you that
since this is a press conference setting, reporters are asking questions,
Alex is answering them. Actually, there's a guest reporter that
comes on at the end, and we might be interested
in hearing from her. Keep that in, and for ease
(16:27):
of listening, I've just edited it out, so playing the highlights,
edit out some of the questions are kind of unnecessary.
And when I have left the questions in, I left
the whole question in so the reporter can identify themselves.
Not an exclusive interview by any means, So let's hear
from her. Here's Alex Morgan.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
It has been a long time.
Speaker 3 (16:51):
Of playing soccer, of dreaming to be a professional soccer
player when I was younger, to then be to mom
and seeing my daughter just be so inspired by my
teammates and just call them her teammates and her best friends.
It has just been an incredible ride. I'm really fortunate
(17:15):
I get one last game with this team here at Snapdragon.
I hope my legacy is that I pushed the game forward,
that I helped gain respect for the women's game, that
I increase of value in the investment in the women's game,
That I helped players in myself not only be respected
(17:41):
in the game, but have better resources have be protected.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
I have player safety be at the forefront.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
Have women's soccer players do just that play soccer not
have to fight for so much, so many other things
that we've had to continually fight for and have had
to even before I stepped on the field with the
national team or with my club teams, various club teams.
To be honest, I was not expecting to finish my
(18:12):
career mid season. This came unexpected and at the beginning
of twenty twenty four, I wanted to end this season,
you know, going to playoffs, winning and championship. You have
you have big hopes for your last year, and I
still have such high hopes for this team, but unfortunately
(18:35):
plans don't always go the way that you drop them up.
And I think that for me, it's just being a
forever supporter of this team, this organization, and just being
forever embedded into this community here.
Speaker 4 (18:49):
Alex, thank you for a great career and for coming
here to finish in San Diego. What are the possibilities
of Alex Morgan potentially considering the coaching area, you.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
Uh, I have not taken any coaching licenses.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
I'll just say that I don't think coaching is in
my future.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
I think that I've found my calling in just investing
in women's sports, doing as much as I can to
give as big of a platform to women's sports as possible.
I do that through my media company together, I'm doing
that through my foundation, the Alex Morgan Foundation that I
(19:32):
launched last year here in San Diego. Through other various
businesses and investments, personal investments that I've had, one being
unrivaled the new women's basketball league three v three league
that's coming out, So I see that that's where that's
where I will make the most impact. I have always
(19:54):
been an advocate of betting on yourself, of trying and
not giving up, and looking back to this year like
it's in no way what I imagined, through the Olympics, through.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
You know, the season that we're having here.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
But in no way would I ever regret playing one
more year because I've always told myself that, like, if
you don't try, you can't succeed. The only way to
succeed is through trying and giving everything.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
And that's all that I've tried to do.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
And as much as this year has been difficult mentally physically,
with injuries left off an important roster, it's all part
of the character that I've built to you know, respond
(20:53):
to things and to overcome adversity. And this isn't the
first time in my career that things like this have happened,
and I've always been able to overcome them. And I've
always leaned on teammates, on family, on those that I've
built my support system around to help. And I'm you know,
(21:14):
so grateful that I have such clarity in the decision
that I made at the start of this year to
retire at the end of the season. Yes it's cut short,
but it it was, you know, it was a year
that I am so grateful for, regardless of all the
(21:36):
ups and downs. And that's one thing that I will
always say is to always bet on yourself. If you
don't have it like in your heart, no one can
teach you that, no one can give you that. You
have to give yourself that and that's the first leg
up on anything. When it comes to my role after soccer.
(21:58):
You know, that's still it's still you know, to be
to be determined. I'm you know, I'm really happy supporting
this team. I really love this team so much. I
also love the national team. You know, It's it's a
bittersweet way to end, but I gave everything to that
(22:18):
team for fifteen years, and just to hear all of
my teammates, you know, calling, texting, writing to me, just
knowing that we really did grow up together on that team, it's, uh,
it's just more than Honestly, I said it yesterday. The
(22:40):
return is more than I could have ever hoped for,
because it's true, I I had a dream to play
professional soccer. I didn't know that I all of this,
all these extra opportunities and friendships and just love and
passion for so many different things would come out of
wanting to become rational soccer player and living out my dreams.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
So I'm just really grateful and I'm really happy.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
Where I am, and I'm looking forward to continue run
our family in the city and continuing on my various
businesses that I just talked about as well.
Speaker 5 (23:16):
I was wondering you could talk a little bit too,
what it means to have all your teammates here watching
you and you know, supporting you through this retirement. And
what was the conversation like when when you told them
that you were retiring.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
I am overwhelmed and just so grateful to have my
teammates here. I had no idea at all. So it's
just walking in this room, it's incredible to just see
the support that they're showing me today. Just funny enough,
(23:48):
I was driving in here, of course, like late, and
rushing in and the security at the loading dock was like, oh,
are you one of the players, And I was like,
I'm the player. I'm just the only player that's here,
and he was like, okay, yeah, park right there. And
then I walked in and I was like, oh, okay,
(24:09):
I am one of the players.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
Yes, it's not just me. But it just was.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
Incredible to see my teammates here. And I think just
like having a special team like this and players like that.
I look in the back of the room that are
sixteen years old, to players that are closer to my age.
Some players are closer in age to my daughter than
(24:35):
they are to me. But just having that relationship with them,
just getting to know them and you know, being able
to lean on them and vice versa. Knowing that we're
all peers and we can all learn from each other.
That's been the most special part of it all. I
may have had more time in the game, but I
(24:56):
definitely don't feel like I know or are owed more
than they are. And I think that these last couple
of years in San Diego, it's just been amazing to
have just so many different teammates from around the country,
around the world support each other. And uh and I'm yeah,
(25:20):
I'm just just.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
Grateful, Alex.
Speaker 6 (25:23):
I'm Bryce similar from the San Diego Union Tribune. How
old were you the last time you weren't playing soccer?
And well, what do you think that little girl would
think of the career you've had and the journey you've
been on.
Speaker 3 (25:39):
I honestly started playing soccer when I was five or so,
and before that, I was going to my sister's soccer
games and kicking the ball around, holding the ball, you know,
around the sidelines, watching my sisters play. That's a big
reason that I, you know, want to to grow our
(26:00):
family is I want Charlie to have siblings like that.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
I want siblings to look up to her.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
I want a big, chaotic family, like not too big,
but kaotok family like.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
I had growing up.
Speaker 3 (26:17):
My sisters meant everything to me, and they were the
inspiration behind why I wanted to play soccer in the
first place. Just when I look back to that little girl,
I just see someone just so competitive, so eager to
do everything, so eager to try everything, so confident and fearless.
(26:40):
I see that in my daughter now, and it makes
me proud that I've fostered that in a way that
my mom did for me and my sisters growing up.
I think just raising her around a Raising my daughter
Charlie around a group of women every day that are
(27:02):
so confident in what they do, that just have purpose,
have found their calling, and are so like willing and
open to share that with her is something that not
a lot of girls get at that age. And it
(27:23):
was important to me to bring her with me on
trips because I wanted her to experience that. I wanted
her to see just how incredible these women were, not
just in their passion of playing soccer, but everything else
they did. Every All of us as FEMA athletes do
more than just player sport. You know, we're building businesses,
(27:46):
we're creating our own charities were you know, helping our
families back home where you know, there's so many different
things that we're fighting for, you know, equality within the sport,
with sport equity, you know, doing different advocacy. So there's
(28:07):
always just something more to FEMA athletes, and I think
that's you know, so special and unique to.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
FEMA to women's sports.
Speaker 3 (28:16):
Being able to show my daughter that you know, is
something that as a mom is just it is honestly
the most amazing thing to be able to witness for
a young girl. There's no secret to success. It's all
about hard work. It's all about believing in yourself, betting
on yourself and having that confidence and building that support system.
(28:39):
If that's your parents, if that's your siblings, if that's
your teammates or your friends, building people in those building
blocks around you that believe in the same thing that
you do. And if that's to become a professional athlete,
if that's to make your high school soccer team, whatever
that is, you need someone around you to help be like, yes,
(29:03):
you can do this, because if you believe it in
your heart, you need someone to be able to to
validate that.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
Like I have not done anything in my career alone.
Speaker 3 (29:13):
Ever, like I've always stood on the shoulders of my family,
of my siblings, of my teammates at times, like we
have all worked together to create something special, and you know,
win metals have success, do all these incredible things, but
nothing is done alone. And so I just want young
(29:37):
girls to know that anything they set their minds to,
they can achieve.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
And I am trying to.
Speaker 3 (29:44):
Help create a pathway for every young girl to see
that and to know that you know, if you see it,
you can be it.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
And I think that's so important.
Speaker 3 (29:56):
Important when it comes to the investment in women's sports,
is you're seeing so much more women's sports on TV nowadays,
on streaming platforms anywhere and everywhere through my media company,
together with the stories that we're doing to uplift women
in sport. All of that didn't exist when I was
(30:17):
a kid. I was lucky to be able to play
on an all girls soccer team, sometimes a co ed
team at school, but an all girls soccer team, not
all women. My age we had a girl soccer team,
they had to play on a boy soccer team or
a boy sports team. So just to see the progress
that we've made in the last you know, twenty or
(30:38):
thirty years. It's incredible and just in the last five
years alone in the NWSL on the global stage, we're
seeing everything blow up in the way that we always
fought for and we always knew what happened. And so
I think it's just for that young girl, it's go
after anything and everything you could imagine, like do what
(31:01):
you think is impossible.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
We'll hear more from Alex Morgan after this short break.
Speaker 7 (31:21):
Hi, Alex, this is a more villa for the adio
as from Spain, and I want you to ask. You know,
San Diego make a lot of efforts to grow soccer
all over the years, but it seems that when Alex
Morrin signed for San Diego, everyone take a look on
the soccer here and start everything.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
Are you aware of that?
Speaker 3 (31:41):
Do you feel like that there has been a minor
spotlight on me in the last ten years fifteen years
that I have felt, But I have taken that very
seriously and when I chose to come to San Diego,
I did it because of the expectations that San Diego
is setting on themselves, the standard that this organization had
(32:06):
from the start, and it was important to me to
be able to not only share that vision, but to
be able to try to make San Diego one of
the best clubs in the world. I think that we
still have we still have a ways to go to
getting there. But the fact that you look in this
(32:27):
room and see all my teammates, these are some of
the best players in the world. You look out and
see the fans, These are some of the best fans
in the world. And I don't think that any other
team is pulling in numbers like this week in and
week out.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
You see what we've been.
Speaker 3 (32:41):
Able to build, the amount of trophies that we've been
able to accumulate, from the Challenge Cup this year, to
the Shield last year, to making playoffs in our first year.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
I don't know that a club in their.
Speaker 3 (32:53):
First three years, first two, yeah, two and a half years,
have been able to accomplish what this club has been
able to accomplish in such short period of time. I
think this game, I just want to soak it in.
I want to be wide eyed like I was when
I came into playing soccer, when I was playing on
(33:13):
the national team when I was nineteen years old. I
just want to soak everything in and this isn't just
like a celebration of me. This is a celebration of
everyone that has done something to help me be here.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
My family, who.
Speaker 3 (33:34):
You know, are going to be over eighty people in
the stands on Sunday. You know, so many friends who
have reached out, so many people that want to watch
that game. You know, although it's might only be a
few minutes or limited minutes, I just want to take
in every moment of the game on Sunday, from stepping
(33:58):
into the locker room, getting ready with my teammates, getting
my ankle taped for one last time, warming up one
last time, and you know, singing the national anthem on
the field with my daughter right there with me.
Speaker 2 (34:18):
She'll be there with me. So I'm very excited about that.
Speaker 3 (34:24):
Yeah, I've just watched so many incredible players. I went
to Mia Ham's retirement game in two thousand and four.
I don't even know how old I was. My mom
took me because she knew I wanted to become a
professional soccer player, and so that like just had a
profound impact on me. I couldn't tell you how many
minutes she played or what she even did on the field,
(34:45):
but the fact that I saw her for the last
time ever step on the field and step off.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
Just yeah, it like it changed me.
Speaker 3 (34:56):
So from that to Abby to you know, watch here
at Snapdragon last year, Megan or Pino play her last
game Ali Kraeger and now being able to do that,
it's going to be emotional, I'm sure.
Speaker 4 (35:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (35:15):
Players like Megan, Becky, Kelly we played on the national
team for.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
Fifteen years together.
Speaker 3 (35:27):
Like me and Kelly had our first caps together, you know,
Pino and Becky, we you know, we went to every
single major tournament together, Kelly included. And so just to
think about those players and how they shaped me and
who I am, I mean, it's it is so much.
(35:49):
I mean, from not only on the field, to having
those hard conversations off the field and what we want
to fight for, where we stand things, how we differ
in our opinions, and how that's okay.
Speaker 2 (36:08):
You know, I just have so much too.
Speaker 3 (36:13):
I've so much that I owe those players, those three
players that I played pretty much all of my career with.
Speaker 2 (36:22):
They're special people in my hearts.
Speaker 3 (36:25):
And I would not be where I am today without
them three not only did they have and still have
fantastic careers Becky still playing. But they are just incredible
people that open their hearts, that were vulnerable, and that
(36:48):
gave everything when they stepped on the field and when
they stepped off the field. And I learned so much
from at times sitting back and at times stepping up,
at times leaning in a little bit and at times
leaning out.
Speaker 2 (37:03):
Like there were times where I needed to step up.
Speaker 3 (37:08):
And I felt uncomfortable, and they gave me the confidence
and vice versa. So you know, those those three are
very special humans and they deserve just the world.
Speaker 2 (37:21):
I yeah, I adore those three.
Speaker 3 (37:24):
You know, looking back to my career and the start
of it, I look at, you know, overlapping with the
legends of you know, Abby Wambach, Shannon box Chrissy Rampone,
Lauren Holiday, so many, so many players that had such
(37:47):
a huge impact on women's soccer globally and here domestically.
And that's that's what I wanted. I wanted to you know,
they talked about passing the torch and I took that
and was I ready for that? I have no idea,
but I you know, I helped carry that for a
(38:11):
long time on the national team, and in doing so,
I felt like I had a responsibility, not only a
responsibility to fight for you know, equal pay, to fight
for sports equity, to do you know, different things in
the sport, to to uplift and protect players, but also
(38:31):
to make the game a avenue to be able to
play and make a living from from whatever age you
want to from, whether that's sixteen, eighteen, twenty twenty one.
I wanted players to have that avenue and feel like
they had the resources to be them best, to be
their best selves from that age. I felt like, I sorry,
(38:56):
I feel like I've done my part in a way
that I am although this year wasn't the year that
I had hoped to have. Like I'm so proud of
the US national team going to France and winning gold,
Like that's that to me is a proud moment because
I see some of those players playing in that game.
Speaker 2 (39:18):
You know, I see Trinity so nail me.
Speaker 3 (39:22):
You know, I see even Croy coming in and having
a big part within the team when it was a
little unexpected for some of these younger players who have
been able to just focus on themselves, focus on.
Speaker 2 (39:40):
Their teams, get better every day.
Speaker 3 (39:42):
Have a pathway to be able to do that, have
the resources to do that, Like that's what I've fought for,
and I haven't always and I've known that I wouldn't
always benefit from all the things that I fought for,
but in you know, fighting for equal pay and attaining
that finally with such a pivotal moment in the history
(40:04):
of women's soccer, it created this sort of butterfly effect
throughout throughout women's soccer globally that is irreversible and that
I only see continuing to grow. So you know it
as much as I want, you know, I wanted to
be there this year, and you know, I felt like.
Speaker 2 (40:27):
We're in good hands.
Speaker 3 (40:28):
Like the future of women's soccer, the now, the present,
in the future of women's soccer is in such an
amazing place where I have done everything that I've needed
to do. I have accomplished what everything that I have
come to do and achieved what I've needed to do.
And to see those players step on the field and
(40:52):
do work and be able to do it at such
a young age with such poise and such confidence, like
that's what this is all about. That's why, like I
am so I'm so happy being here saying yes, I'm retiring,
because we are.
Speaker 2 (41:08):
More than fine, we are great. I learned like that.
Speaker 3 (41:13):
I was drafted to Western New York Flash in twenty
eleven from our press officer when we landed in China
with the national team, because like Twitter wasn't really a
big thing, it definitely wasn't broadcasted. There's clearly no service
on planes back then.
Speaker 2 (41:33):
And so it's just to think that.
Speaker 3 (41:37):
We've come a long way where we actually won't have
a draft moving forward there. Yeah, women's soccer has come
an incredible way, But just coverage in general is I'm
I'm yeah, I'm floored by how how well covered this
sport is and all of the reporters and people that
(42:01):
dug in at little or no salary to be to
cover women's soccer for so long when they did it
for the passion, because that's what we did growing you know,
on the national team and early on with you know,
with the WPS and the NBSSEL. We played soccer because
(42:23):
we were passionate about playing. We didn't play for the money.
There was no money there, trust me none.
Speaker 2 (42:30):
So it has come.
Speaker 3 (42:33):
A long way and it is just so incredible to
see the new broadcasting rights deal, just the new CBA
taking place with NBSLP and NABISSEL in terms of a
new revenue share model that really has never.
Speaker 2 (42:54):
Been done before, is unprecedented.
Speaker 3 (42:56):
All of these things that women's soccer is just it's
not make market's building a new pathway that.
Speaker 2 (43:03):
Never existed before.
Speaker 3 (43:05):
And it makes me so just happy that we have
gone down a path that women's sports have accelerated in
such a fast way and progressed over the last five
or ten years.
Speaker 2 (43:21):
And I have been able to be out of.
Speaker 3 (43:24):
You know, I've had a front seat at it these
last ten years, and I hope to continue my part
in women's sports, but just to literally be at the
front seat and watch and be a part of this
all unfold is.
Speaker 2 (43:41):
Really amazing and Yeah, couldn't be happier.
Speaker 8 (43:45):
Naomi Granma, San Diego, Way, I have two questions. First one,
what is your favorite soccer memory or if you if
you can't pick one? And the second one is can
we still bring Charlie on a wage?
Speaker 2 (44:03):
Okay? Well, the Charlie thing, I don't know. I mean,
she has grown a liking to Hillary.
Speaker 8 (44:08):
It's out to Hilary.
Speaker 3 (44:13):
Somehow she jumped to first place in the last three weeks.
Speaker 2 (44:16):
I don't know. She really put in the effort. There.
Speaker 3 (44:20):
Favorite soccer memories, Oh goodness, I don't know. It's I
think one one really special moment is when we had
I think we had four or five moms on the
team at once, between myself, Casey, Julie, Crystal, and Ad
(44:45):
and growing up on the national team, I had seen
Christy Rampone have two kids and just make it seem
so easy, and looking back, I'm just like, wow, like
that must have been so hard, and she just was
literally the hardest defender to get around, but also just
wrangled two kids after training every day. So I think
(45:08):
like that was a really special moment to be able
to enjoy with some of my teammates, knowing how far
we'd come and the support that we now get as
moms and still as professional athletes. I also want to
say some of my best memories is when we won
the Olympics and the two World Championships, And it wasn't
(45:33):
the like winning.
Speaker 2 (45:35):
I mean, it was a winning, but it was just.
Speaker 3 (45:37):
The fact that we were so focused and I mean,
you can probably attest this from this summer, but it
was more the fact that you're so like driven and
focused and you're like it's like not robotic, but you're
just like in it and you're all like I don't know,
(45:58):
auto drive, like like you're just like so like you
have the blinders on and you're just like looking forward.
Speaker 2 (46:05):
And then when you win it, like.
Speaker 3 (46:08):
You get to celebrate, you're with your friends and family,
and you get to be like human again. You're not
just like an athlete. And I think that's the best part.
We're all humans, and we all have like emotions, and
we all have like vulnerabilities, and in sports, a lot
of times like you're so shut off from that, like
(46:29):
you're so disconnected from your emotions because you're so you're
like you're just like so driven. So winning those it
just you feel like you can be human and you
can like celebrate and you can actually just like enjoy
and be vulnerable and like smile.
Speaker 2 (46:48):
Like sometimes you don't smile for like weeks.
Speaker 3 (46:50):
At a time and you just don't realize it until
you finally get to that endpoint. And so I think
just like being able to do that and just go
down you know, what was it Broadway or you know
in New York and like celebrate with fans and actually
just like be like a human and not like the
(47:10):
athlete that everyone just is seen you as as like
this robotic thing, this like thing on this platform. Like
I'm just like a sister, I'm a daughter, I'm a friend.
I'm not just like a teammate and an athlete. And
I think the special moments was like when we won,
we got to just be more than just the athlete.
Speaker 1 (47:35):
I had to keep that one in Naomi Garmat. Then
I'm like, dang, I had a really good question and
they picked Gurma. How dare they? Like I said, it's
bittersweet happy for Alex Morgan. We knew this day was
gonna come, especially when she got left off of the
Olympic roster and that was kind of a big blow.
And you know, for whatever reason, they won gold. And
(47:58):
like she said, she's proud of that team and she
should be. You know she should because because the team
is what it is because of Alex Morgan. Right, I
was thinking about this earlier. If there was a mount
rushmore of women's soccer, Alex Morgan would be on it. Right.
We have like Michelle Akers and Mia hamm Abby Wambach,
Alex Morgan, Megan Rippino too. I'm just thinking, like what
(48:22):
they've done to help grow the game, and literally Alex
Morgan has done so much and I think history will
will reflect that, you know, a few years when we
look back, say, wow, Alex Morgan was a big reason
why the game grew within that period, within within her era,
within our generation right or her generation of players. So bittersweet,
(48:48):
but one that we have to celebrate because, like I said,
it's uh, it was one of a kind journey for
a lot of us. I'm sure we all have Alex
Morgan's stories. I'll be posting on TikTok and and Instagram
and this comes out, so make sure to leave your comments.
Let me know your Alex market story or memory and
I'd love to hear it. I really hope you enjoyed
episode two hundred and twenty nine at Women's World Football Show.
(49:09):
I would love to hear your thoughts on our soundbites
from Alex Morgan. Feel free to email me at Patti
at wwfshow dot com. I do read all the emails
and do my very best to reply in a timely manner.
If you did enjoy this episode, subscribe now on Apple podcast, Spotify,
iHeartRadio app tuned in castbox speakers, Stitcher, wwfshow dot com,
or wherever you're listening to this right now. And if
(49:30):
you really really enjoy listening to Women's World Football Show,
one of the best ways you can show your appreciation
is to give us a five star rating and leave
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to find the show. Also, another way to help grow
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is that tell your friends and family about Women's World
Football Show. If you're listening on a mobile device, swipe
(49:52):
over the cover art and you'll find the episode notes,
including some details you may have missed. For relative links
from this episode, visit our show notes on WWF.
Speaker 2 (50:00):
Show dot com.
Speaker 1 (50:01):
Connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok at WWF Show.
Women's World Football Show is hosted, written, edited, and produced
by Patti Labella.
Speaker 2 (50:10):
That's me.
Speaker 1 (50:11):
Additional systeance for this episode by the good people at
the San Diego Wave and of course Alex Morgan and
thank you especially you for joining me on this exciting
journey through women's football. Stay strong, stay mindful, keep loving
your heart. We'll see you next time.
Hey, everyone, Welcome to episode two twenty nine of Women's
World Football Show. I'm your host, Patty Lavella. How are
you doing. I hope you're doing well well. As you
probably know, I've been taking a little sabbatical from women's soccer,
not from watching it, because dang, like this summer has
been crazy with all the tournaments and just the Olympics
everything going on. So I've been kind of taking a
(00:31):
step back from the show and watching women's soccer as
a fan and really enjoying it and you know, just
kind of taking a break from from the work side
of it, and it's been good for me. Yeah. I
highly recommend it to people who are covering the sport,
whether they're doing a website or blog or podcast. It's
it's good to take a little sabbatical away from the
(00:52):
business of women's soccer and kind of just be up
be a fan because there's so much going on and
it's so enjoyable right now. It's so great to be
a women's soccer fan at this moment. But something happened
a few days ago that gave me no choice but
to dust off my old microphone and pop in for
an episode. Now I shouldn't say dust off my microphone
(01:13):
because I've actually have another podcast that I've been working
on and doing story for another time. But something that
got me like, I got to get back on Women's
World Football Show real quick and talk about this because
it's so important, and that of course, is the retirement
announcement of Alex Morgan. Not at the end of the season,
not at the end of the year, but like literally,
like right now, and she went on social media. This
(01:34):
is when social media, I think works really well, right,
is when people can just get on, especially someone of
the magnitude of Alex Morgan, who has been so important,
so influential to women's soccer over the past, over over
a decade, to just go on social media and just
turn on the iPhone and just talk directly to us
(01:57):
and spill it all out. And she did that and
go on her Instagram or her TikTok you can see
you know, her explaining why she's retiring at this moment.
And I'm actually recording this the day before her last match,
so just you know, in the in the matter of
a couple of days, we don't we hear the announcement.
(02:17):
She said on social media that she had planned to
retire at the end of the at the end of
the year she's got she expedited it because she's expecting
another baby, so that kind of pushed her into the
early retirement. But still nonetheless, I mean, it's huge news,
and it's such huge news that they just announced that
(02:39):
that CBS will be broadcasting that game, the San Diego
Way versus North Carolina Courage on Sunday night, September eighth.
This you'll probably listen to this after that game, but
it's the first time in history that a women's sporting
event has will be broadcast on multiple stations at the
same time. So it's going to be played on CBS
(03:01):
and WSL plus some ESPN. I mean, it's just it's big,
it's huge, and the world will be watching for sure.
I did have the privilege of sitting in on the
press conference by the San Diego Wave. Alex Morgan addressed
the media, and I want to play some sound bites
for you from that. You can actually go on the
San Diego Wave website and they have the full press
(03:23):
conference that you can watch. But you know, a lot
of times people don't have a whole hour to sit
through a press conference. I feel obligated for you guys
for ease of listening, to go in and edit take
out some of the highlights, some of the points that
I feel like Alex Morgan really wanted to make. And
of course that's a press conference setting, so there's reporters
asking questions, and sometimes we don't always need the questions.
(03:46):
We could just hear Alex Morgan. There are times when
we do need the questions, and of course I give
credit to those reporters who ask the questions. There were
a ton of people on that press conference, as expected,
so I didn't get it. I had my hand raised
as high as I could raise it, but they, yeah,
they ran out at time before they got to me.
Didn't take a lot of remote calls, but there was
quite a few people and reporters in the audience of
(04:10):
the press conferences, as well as the full team of
the San Diego Wave. How touching is that. I've never
seen that before, and I have to tell you just
I mean, even in a remote world like I'm logging
in from zoom on this press conference, you can feel
that there was a bevy of emotions, right, I mean,
you're excited for Alex Morgan, because she she's going to
do so much morming. She's only thirty five years old,
(04:32):
so she's going to go out in the world. She
has businesses already, she's already an influencer, you know, in
many different different areas, but especially in women's soccer. And
she's just been one of those soldiers, right if women's
soccer just fighting constantly, fighting for the for equal pay
and better conditions. And she was the only one that
really spoke out and in the early days of the
NWSL about the conditions that they were forced to live
(04:55):
with and you know, in guest housing and then you
know on the road when they were in hotel hills
and there were big roach infested cotels. I'll never forget
that that something that Alex Morgan came out and said,
and making sure that women's soccer was a safe place
for everybody. Everybody was safe in the world of women's soccer.
And I mean just there's just so much And I
(05:17):
have to tell you professionally, it's been a privilege to
cover Alex Morgan over the past I'm gonna say like
twelve thirteen years for me. I started covering the US
women's national team in twenty ten for a media outlet
called Examiner dot com. I was their sole US women's
national team reporter and that lasted up until like the
(05:41):
early days of the NWSL. I became the NWSL reporter
for Examiner dot com. There was another lady on the
East coast and I was on the West coast, and
you know, just just being able to follow her career
in the United States and then abroad as well, just
just a privilege. And then on a personal note, I
actually spent a lot of my childhood and growing up
in Diamond Bar, which of course Alex Morgan put Diamond Bar,
(06:04):
California on the map. And I didn't go to the
same schools she did. Of course I'm old enough to
be her mom, so we didn't go at the same
time obviously, but I was in like her rival, I
was at her rival schools. But it was so fun,
right just as a soccer fan, even in the you know,
watching her progress as a youngster and going through the
(06:26):
ranks of the US and his national team, and and
then you know, even here playing in you know, in
the youth youth teams around southern California, knowing she was
from Diamond Bar, was just I mean, you know, he's
a local kid, so you follow those those type of stories, right,
and so on a personal note, I mean, it's just
been an unbelievable experience, like well, once in a lifetime
experience where you have somebody from a little home, you know,
(06:47):
little town in California, southern California, and they grew up
to be this megastar on a world stage.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
So amazing.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
So we're gonna hear sound bites from the press conference.
I'm excited to share these with you. And like I
was saying before I went on, I think I veered
off on it. But in the room, even remotely as
I was like listening in on the press conference, you
can you can feel all the different emotions like excitement
for her, but also like the sense of like wow,
(07:16):
the end of an era, right, And I just like, oh,
like this kind of sadness, right, emotional, And I think
that Alex is going through those emotions right now as
we as we hear this, you know, this press conference.
So she goes from you know, somber kind of on
the brink of teers, to like elation and happiness and
then also to fierceness. Right, We've heard this Alex Morgan
(07:38):
voice before, where she's like she's fighting for the underdog,
she's fighting for the rights of people who want to
play this game, and she's also reveling in the fact
that there are young girls out there who can now say, hey, mom,
I want to be a professional soccer player when I
when I get older. And it's not just a pipe dream, right,
it's something real, and she's a big part of that.
(08:00):
I'm telling you, I'm like getting goosebumps, right, not talking
about it, because Alex Morgan hasn't been perfect, right. I mean,
she's been criticized by pundits all the time, naysayers, I guess,
throughout her career, but she's proven them wrong left and right,
including me at certain times. But at the end of
the day, I mean she's helped grow women's soccer in
(08:21):
this country and abroad. You cannot deny that because she
stands up, she uses her voice, she uses she uses
her platform, and it hasn't stopped and she continues, you know,
she continues to do that. But the other thing too,
is like Alex Morgan was the total package, right, she
had it all. I mean, she was talented, she was fast,
she had that left foot. Oh, just love that left foot, right.
(08:43):
I mean, there's so many highlights you can go through
and watch on Alex Morgan. And you know she was
you know, she was attractive, right, So she got endorsements.
You know, I think at one time she led like
women athletes in any sport with endorsements. She had the
most endorsements, and she had like, you know, Coca Cola, Google, Chipotle,
she had the water, right, I mean, just so many
(09:05):
and then plus I don't know, I've got a Alex
Morgan Barbie doll I'm not going to be too proud
to say that, and the Funko and the bobblehead of
her sip in the tea. Maybe I'll put that on
social media later. So it was fun, right, it was
fun watching them brand her and market her. And as
they did that, right, she helped grow the game. I
mean that was a byproduct of it, right. And the
(09:28):
thing that I'll miss the most I think about Alex Morgan,
I'll I mean, there's so many things I'll miss, but
as a as a reporter or as somebody who you know,
I don't call myself a reporter, but as someone who
covers the game in the media. I and this is
something that I would laugh with with my colleagues in
the press box all the time, or in the mix zone,
(09:50):
or when we're down in the field and there were
fans around. It's like you always knew where Alex was
because the fans would screen these blood curdling even bene
In fact, I have some audio recording. I don't know,
maybe I'll play that at on the social or something,
but it was like a Beatles concert. It was like
these blood curddling fans and they were all high pitch
because they were all girls, screaming Alex and uh just
(10:14):
you know, it's just so funny because we just look
at each other like, oh, there she is. We don't
even have to look for her, you know where she is,
just follow the massive fans and the stands like following
her every move. So and that's I president, right. I
don't ever remember were since seeing that. Seeing that kind
of excitement. Yeah, there's fans out there, you know, screaming
Sophia Smith and this and that, but not for Alex
(10:38):
is just another level. It's a decimal. I can imagine
that stadium. Oh my god, we have to bring earplugs
to that stadium on her last game. But let me
go through her bio a little bit before we hear
from her, and we'll play, you know. Like I said,
I'll just pull out some highlights, but it'll be it'll
be substantial.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
I believe me so.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Alex Morgan, like I said, she's thirty five years old.
She's had an amazing career, thirteen and a half year
career that saw her feature in the top divisions in
the United States and in Europe. Talking just club teams
right now, plus it coach the US national team. But
on the club level, she scored two hundred goals. She's
had eighty eight assists across three hundred and thirty seven
(11:20):
appearances with the San Diego Wave. Alex Morgan will close
out as the all time all time goals and assists
leader twenty eight goals and eleven assists with San Diego Wave. Internationally,
Alex Morgan ranks in the top ten in US women's
national team history for goals assists in multi goal games. Individually,
(11:42):
she's been named US Soccer Female Athlete of the Year twice.
That was in twenty twelve and twenty eighteen.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
She was the FIFA fIF.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
Pro Women's World eleven Section I don't know one, two, three, four,
five times, and concer CAF Player of the Year four times.
Alex Morgan alture at the NWSL Championship, NWSL Shield, NWSL
Challenge Cup and Champions League, among so many others. On
the international stage, of course, Alex Oregon starred for the
(12:11):
US women's national team since twenty ten. She finishes her
career with two hundred and twenty four caps for the
US wmen's national team. Scored one hundred and twenty three
goals across all competitions, the fifth most of any player
in the country's history. She appeared in matches at four
editions of the FIFA Women's World Cup, including capturing titles
(12:32):
in twenty fifteen and twenty nineteen, while also becoming a
gold medalist in twenty twelve and a bronze medalist in
twenty twenty on the Olympic stage. Following a twenty twelve
season that she finished with twenty eight goals and twenty
one assists, Alex Morgan joined Mia Hamm as the only
American woman to score twenty goals and provide twenty assists
(12:52):
in the same calendar year. In twenty nineteen, The two
time Women's World Cup champion, won the Silver Boot in
the twenty nineteen World Cup, scoring six goals and three assists.
When we look at her club career, of course, she
signed with San Diego Wave on July twenty fourth, twenty
twenty two. She's been huge for San Diego. She's been
(13:12):
huge for the Wave. I mean it's and she talks
about this in the press conference too, we'll hear that.
So far, she's had made fifty appearances, twenty three goals,
nine assists. She led the team in scoring in twenty
twenty two with sixteen goals, earning the NWSL Golden Boot.
In the club's inaugural season, The Wave captain led San
Diego to unprecedented success as the club became the first
(13:34):
expansion team in league history to make the playoffs in
its inaugural season. The club followed that by lifting their
first trophy, the twenty twenty three NWSEL Shield in San
Diego's second season of play, and she had a huge,
huge part of that right So, before joining the San
Diego Wave, of course, she was featured in the Orlando
Pride and during her time with Orlando, she scored twenty
(13:56):
three goals in sixty six appearances sixty four starts by
the I have to say. And in twenty seventeen she
briefly played for Olympic Leone, where she helped lead the
team to the YUEFA Women's Champions League and the French Cup.
Alex was one of the league's original allocated players. In
twenty thirteen, moving to the Portland Thorns, where she led
the team in scoring and helped the side secure the
(14:18):
inaugural and WSL Championship. There's a pattern here. She began
her professional career as the number one overall pick in
the twenty eleven WPS draft by the Western New York
Flash and she actually talks about this in the press
conference too, So such some great things. And then, of course,
beyond her playing career, like I said, her philanthropic efforts
(14:39):
include the launch of the Alex Morgan Foundation in twenty
twenty three, which focuses on supporting and empowering young girls
in sports. And the foundation's work is deeply rooted in
that Alex Morgan's long standing advocacy for gender equality, inspired
by her own experience as a professional athlete and as
a mother, so very personal to her and she's also
(14:59):
the co founder of of a media platform that amplifies
the stories of women in sports and beyond. Such a great,
great program she has there. So and you know, I
have to give kudos to the San Diego Wave too.
I mean, they've been nothing but great and in this time,
they're so supportive. They're really building this up. They're building
this last game up. They're accommodating the fans, and they're
(15:21):
accommodating the media, and they're just and the fans all
over the world right and they're just doing a great job.
So I just want to give kudos to San Diego Wave.
And they just keep celebrating her. And so not only
are they are they celebrating her in her last match
against the North Carolina Courage, which we're talked about, but
also on November third, it's a Sunday, it's the final
(15:44):
home game of San Diego Wave, they'll also be celebrating
Alex marks that have an Alex Morgan Day, I guess
at the San Diego Wave that's on November third at
Snap Dragging the stadium and you can go. You can
actually purchase those tickets now. Actually I will put a
link to that on our show notes. Too, So without
(16:04):
further ado, let's listen to the Woman of the Hour,
the Woman of the Decade. I guess Alex Morgan in
a press conference setting, and I'll just remind you that
since this is a press conference setting, reporters are asking questions,
Alex is answering them. Actually, there's a guest reporter that
comes on at the end, and we might be interested
in hearing from her. Keep that in, and for ease
(16:27):
of listening, I've just edited it out, so playing the highlights,
edit out some of the questions are kind of unnecessary.
And when I have left the questions in, I left
the whole question in so the reporter can identify themselves.
Not an exclusive interview by any means, So let's hear
from her. Here's Alex Morgan.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
It has been a long time.
Speaker 3 (16:51):
Of playing soccer, of dreaming to be a professional soccer
player when I was younger, to then be to mom
and seeing my daughter just be so inspired by my
teammates and just call them her teammates and her best friends.
It has just been an incredible ride. I'm really fortunate
(17:15):
I get one last game with this team here at Snapdragon.
I hope my legacy is that I pushed the game forward,
that I helped gain respect for the women's game, that
I increase of value in the investment in the women's game,
That I helped players in myself not only be respected
(17:41):
in the game, but have better resources have be protected.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
I have player safety be at the forefront.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
Have women's soccer players do just that play soccer not
have to fight for so much, so many other things
that we've had to continually fight for and have had
to even before I stepped on the field with the
national team or with my club teams, various club teams.
To be honest, I was not expecting to finish my
(18:12):
career mid season. This came unexpected and at the beginning
of twenty twenty four, I wanted to end this season,
you know, going to playoffs, winning and championship. You have
you have big hopes for your last year, and I
still have such high hopes for this team, but unfortunately
(18:35):
plans don't always go the way that you drop them up.
And I think that for me, it's just being a
forever supporter of this team, this organization, and just being
forever embedded into this community here.
Speaker 4 (18:49):
Alex, thank you for a great career and for coming
here to finish in San Diego. What are the possibilities
of Alex Morgan potentially considering the coaching area, you.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
Uh, I have not taken any coaching licenses.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
I'll just say that I don't think coaching is in
my future.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
I think that I've found my calling in just investing
in women's sports, doing as much as I can to
give as big of a platform to women's sports as possible.
I do that through my media company together, I'm doing
that through my foundation, the Alex Morgan Foundation that I
(19:32):
launched last year here in San Diego. Through other various
businesses and investments, personal investments that I've had, one being
unrivaled the new women's basketball league three v three league
that's coming out, So I see that that's where that's
where I will make the most impact. I have always
(19:54):
been an advocate of betting on yourself, of trying and
not giving up, and looking back to this year like
it's in no way what I imagined, through the Olympics, through.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
You know, the season that we're having here.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
But in no way would I ever regret playing one
more year because I've always told myself that, like, if
you don't try, you can't succeed. The only way to
succeed is through trying and giving everything.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
And that's all that I've tried to do.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
And as much as this year has been difficult mentally physically,
with injuries left off an important roster, it's all part
of the character that I've built to you know, respond
(20:53):
to things and to overcome adversity. And this isn't the
first time in my career that things like this have happened,
and I've always been able to overcome them. And I've
always leaned on teammates, on family, on those that I've
built my support system around to help. And I'm you know,
(21:14):
so grateful that I have such clarity in the decision
that I made at the start of this year to
retire at the end of the season. Yes it's cut short,
but it it was, you know, it was a year
that I am so grateful for, regardless of all the
(21:36):
ups and downs. And that's one thing that I will
always say is to always bet on yourself. If you
don't have it like in your heart, no one can
teach you that, no one can give you that. You
have to give yourself that and that's the first leg
up on anything. When it comes to my role after soccer.
(21:58):
You know, that's still it's still you know, to be
to be determined. I'm you know, I'm really happy supporting
this team. I really love this team so much. I
also love the national team. You know, It's it's a
bittersweet way to end, but I gave everything to that
(22:18):
team for fifteen years, and just to hear all of
my teammates, you know, calling, texting, writing to me, just
knowing that we really did grow up together on that team, it's, uh,
it's just more than Honestly, I said it yesterday. The
(22:40):
return is more than I could have ever hoped for,
because it's true, I I had a dream to play
professional soccer. I didn't know that I all of this,
all these extra opportunities and friendships and just love and
passion for so many different things would come out of
wanting to become rational soccer player and living out my dreams.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
So I'm just really grateful and I'm really happy.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
Where I am, and I'm looking forward to continue run
our family in the city and continuing on my various
businesses that I just talked about as well.
Speaker 5 (23:16):
I was wondering you could talk a little bit too,
what it means to have all your teammates here watching
you and you know, supporting you through this retirement. And
what was the conversation like when when you told them
that you were retiring.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
I am overwhelmed and just so grateful to have my
teammates here. I had no idea at all. So it's
just walking in this room, it's incredible to just see
the support that they're showing me today. Just funny enough,
(23:48):
I was driving in here, of course, like late, and
rushing in and the security at the loading dock was like, oh,
are you one of the players, And I was like,
I'm the player. I'm just the only player that's here,
and he was like, okay, yeah, park right there. And
then I walked in and I was like, oh, okay,
(24:09):
I am one of the players.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
Yes, it's not just me. But it just was.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
Incredible to see my teammates here. And I think just
like having a special team like this and players like that.
I look in the back of the room that are
sixteen years old, to players that are closer to my age.
Some players are closer in age to my daughter than
(24:35):
they are to me. But just having that relationship with them,
just getting to know them and you know, being able
to lean on them and vice versa. Knowing that we're
all peers and we can all learn from each other.
That's been the most special part of it all. I
may have had more time in the game, but I
(24:56):
definitely don't feel like I know or are owed more
than they are. And I think that these last couple
of years in San Diego, it's just been amazing to
have just so many different teammates from around the country,
around the world support each other. And uh and I'm yeah,
(25:20):
I'm just just.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
Grateful, Alex.
Speaker 6 (25:23):
I'm Bryce similar from the San Diego Union Tribune. How
old were you the last time you weren't playing soccer?
And well, what do you think that little girl would
think of the career you've had and the journey you've
been on.
Speaker 3 (25:39):
I honestly started playing soccer when I was five or so,
and before that, I was going to my sister's soccer
games and kicking the ball around, holding the ball, you know,
around the sidelines, watching my sisters play. That's a big
reason that I, you know, want to to grow our
(26:00):
family is I want Charlie to have siblings like that.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
I want siblings to look up to her.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
I want a big, chaotic family, like not too big,
but kaotok family like.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
I had growing up.
Speaker 3 (26:17):
My sisters meant everything to me, and they were the
inspiration behind why I wanted to play soccer in the
first place. Just when I look back to that little girl,
I just see someone just so competitive, so eager to
do everything, so eager to try everything, so confident and fearless.
(26:40):
I see that in my daughter now, and it makes
me proud that I've fostered that in a way that
my mom did for me and my sisters growing up.
I think just raising her around a Raising my daughter
Charlie around a group of women every day that are
(27:02):
so confident in what they do, that just have purpose,
have found their calling, and are so like willing and
open to share that with her is something that not
a lot of girls get at that age. And it
(27:23):
was important to me to bring her with me on
trips because I wanted her to experience that. I wanted
her to see just how incredible these women were, not
just in their passion of playing soccer, but everything else
they did. Every All of us as FEMA athletes do
more than just player sport. You know, we're building businesses,
(27:46):
we're creating our own charities were you know, helping our
families back home where you know, there's so many different
things that we're fighting for, you know, equality within the sport,
with sport equity, you know, doing different advocacy. So there's
(28:07):
always just something more to FEMA athletes, and I think
that's you know, so special and unique to.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
FEMA to women's sports.
Speaker 3 (28:16):
Being able to show my daughter that you know, is
something that as a mom is just it is honestly
the most amazing thing to be able to witness for
a young girl. There's no secret to success. It's all
about hard work. It's all about believing in yourself, betting
on yourself and having that confidence and building that support system.
(28:39):
If that's your parents, if that's your siblings, if that's
your teammates or your friends, building people in those building
blocks around you that believe in the same thing that
you do. And if that's to become a professional athlete,
if that's to make your high school soccer team, whatever
that is, you need someone around you to help be like, yes,
(29:03):
you can do this, because if you believe it in
your heart, you need someone to be able to to
validate that.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
Like I have not done anything in my career alone.
Speaker 3 (29:13):
Ever, like I've always stood on the shoulders of my family,
of my siblings, of my teammates at times, like we
have all worked together to create something special, and you know,
win metals have success, do all these incredible things, but
nothing is done alone. And so I just want young
(29:37):
girls to know that anything they set their minds to,
they can achieve.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
And I am trying to.
Speaker 3 (29:44):
Help create a pathway for every young girl to see
that and to know that you know, if you see it,
you can be it.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
And I think that's so important.
Speaker 3 (29:56):
Important when it comes to the investment in women's sports,
is you're seeing so much more women's sports on TV nowadays,
on streaming platforms anywhere and everywhere through my media company,
together with the stories that we're doing to uplift women
in sport. All of that didn't exist when I was
(30:17):
a kid. I was lucky to be able to play
on an all girls soccer team, sometimes a co ed
team at school, but an all girls soccer team, not
all women. My age we had a girl soccer team,
they had to play on a boy soccer team or
a boy sports team. So just to see the progress
that we've made in the last you know, twenty or
(30:38):
thirty years. It's incredible and just in the last five
years alone in the NWSL on the global stage, we're
seeing everything blow up in the way that we always
fought for and we always knew what happened. And so
I think it's just for that young girl, it's go
after anything and everything you could imagine, like do what
(31:01):
you think is impossible.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
We'll hear more from Alex Morgan after this short break.
Speaker 7 (31:21):
Hi, Alex, this is a more villa for the adio
as from Spain, and I want you to ask. You know,
San Diego make a lot of efforts to grow soccer
all over the years, but it seems that when Alex
Morrin signed for San Diego, everyone take a look on
the soccer here and start everything.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
Are you aware of that?
Speaker 3 (31:41):
Do you feel like that there has been a minor
spotlight on me in the last ten years fifteen years
that I have felt, But I have taken that very
seriously and when I chose to come to San Diego,
I did it because of the expectations that San Diego
is setting on themselves, the standard that this organization had
(32:06):
from the start, and it was important to me to
be able to not only share that vision, but to
be able to try to make San Diego one of
the best clubs in the world. I think that we
still have we still have a ways to go to
getting there. But the fact that you look in this
(32:27):
room and see all my teammates, these are some of
the best players in the world. You look out and
see the fans, These are some of the best fans
in the world. And I don't think that any other
team is pulling in numbers like this week in and
week out.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
You see what we've been.
Speaker 3 (32:41):
Able to build, the amount of trophies that we've been
able to accumulate, from the Challenge Cup this year, to
the Shield last year, to making playoffs in our first year.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
I don't know that a club in their.
Speaker 3 (32:53):
First three years, first two, yeah, two and a half years,
have been able to accomplish what this club has been
able to accomplish in such short period of time. I
think this game, I just want to soak it in.
I want to be wide eyed like I was when
I came into playing soccer, when I was playing on
(33:13):
the national team when I was nineteen years old. I
just want to soak everything in and this isn't just
like a celebration of me. This is a celebration of
everyone that has done something to help me be here.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
My family, who.
Speaker 3 (33:34):
You know, are going to be over eighty people in
the stands on Sunday. You know, so many friends who
have reached out, so many people that want to watch
that game. You know, although it's might only be a
few minutes or limited minutes, I just want to take
in every moment of the game on Sunday, from stepping
(33:58):
into the locker room, getting ready with my teammates, getting
my ankle taped for one last time, warming up one
last time, and you know, singing the national anthem on
the field with my daughter right there with me.
Speaker 2 (34:18):
She'll be there with me. So I'm very excited about that.
Speaker 3 (34:24):
Yeah, I've just watched so many incredible players. I went
to Mia Ham's retirement game in two thousand and four.
I don't even know how old I was. My mom
took me because she knew I wanted to become a
professional soccer player, and so that like just had a
profound impact on me. I couldn't tell you how many
minutes she played or what she even did on the field,
(34:45):
but the fact that I saw her for the last
time ever step on the field and step off.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
Just yeah, it like it changed me.
Speaker 3 (34:56):
So from that to Abby to you know, watch here
at Snapdragon last year, Megan or Pino play her last
game Ali Kraeger and now being able to do that,
it's going to be emotional, I'm sure.
Speaker 4 (35:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (35:15):
Players like Megan, Becky, Kelly we played on the national
team for.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
Fifteen years together.
Speaker 3 (35:27):
Like me and Kelly had our first caps together, you know,
Pino and Becky, we you know, we went to every
single major tournament together, Kelly included. And so just to
think about those players and how they shaped me and
who I am, I mean, it's it is so much.
(35:49):
I mean, from not only on the field, to having
those hard conversations off the field and what we want
to fight for, where we stand things, how we differ
in our opinions, and how that's okay.
Speaker 2 (36:08):
You know, I just have so much too.
Speaker 3 (36:13):
I've so much that I owe those players, those three
players that I played pretty much all of my career with.
Speaker 2 (36:22):
They're special people in my hearts.
Speaker 3 (36:25):
And I would not be where I am today without
them three not only did they have and still have
fantastic careers Becky still playing. But they are just incredible
people that open their hearts, that were vulnerable, and that
(36:48):
gave everything when they stepped on the field and when
they stepped off the field. And I learned so much
from at times sitting back and at times stepping up,
at times leaning in a little bit and at times
leaning out.
Speaker 2 (37:03):
Like there were times where I needed to step up.
Speaker 3 (37:08):
And I felt uncomfortable, and they gave me the confidence
and vice versa. So you know, those those three are
very special humans and they deserve just the world.
Speaker 2 (37:21):
I yeah, I adore those three.
Speaker 3 (37:24):
You know, looking back to my career and the start
of it, I look at, you know, overlapping with the
legends of you know, Abby Wambach, Shannon box Chrissy Rampone,
Lauren Holiday, so many, so many players that had such
(37:47):
a huge impact on women's soccer globally and here domestically.
And that's that's what I wanted. I wanted to you know,
they talked about passing the torch and I took that
and was I ready for that? I have no idea,
but I you know, I helped carry that for a
(38:11):
long time on the national team, and in doing so,
I felt like I had a responsibility, not only a
responsibility to fight for you know, equal pay, to fight
for sports equity, to do you know, different things in
the sport, to to uplift and protect players, but also
(38:31):
to make the game a avenue to be able to
play and make a living from from whatever age you
want to from, whether that's sixteen, eighteen, twenty twenty one.
I wanted players to have that avenue and feel like
they had the resources to be them best, to be
their best selves from that age. I felt like, I sorry,
(38:56):
I feel like I've done my part in a way
that I am although this year wasn't the year that
I had hoped to have. Like I'm so proud of
the US national team going to France and winning gold,
Like that's that to me is a proud moment because
I see some of those players playing in that game.
Speaker 2 (39:18):
You know, I see Trinity so nail me.
Speaker 3 (39:22):
You know, I see even Croy coming in and having
a big part within the team when it was a
little unexpected for some of these younger players who have
been able to just focus on themselves, focus on.
Speaker 2 (39:40):
Their teams, get better every day.
Speaker 3 (39:42):
Have a pathway to be able to do that, have
the resources to do that, Like that's what I've fought for,
and I haven't always and I've known that I wouldn't
always benefit from all the things that I fought for,
but in you know, fighting for equal pay and attaining
that finally with such a pivotal moment in the history
(40:04):
of women's soccer, it created this sort of butterfly effect
throughout throughout women's soccer globally that is irreversible and that
I only see continuing to grow. So you know it
as much as I want, you know, I wanted to
be there this year, and you know, I felt like.
Speaker 2 (40:27):
We're in good hands.
Speaker 3 (40:28):
Like the future of women's soccer, the now, the present,
in the future of women's soccer is in such an
amazing place where I have done everything that I've needed
to do. I have accomplished what everything that I have
come to do and achieved what I've needed to do.
And to see those players step on the field and
(40:52):
do work and be able to do it at such
a young age with such poise and such confidence, like
that's what this is all about. That's why, like I
am so I'm so happy being here saying yes, I'm retiring,
because we are.
Speaker 2 (41:08):
More than fine, we are great. I learned like that.
Speaker 3 (41:13):
I was drafted to Western New York Flash in twenty
eleven from our press officer when we landed in China
with the national team, because like Twitter wasn't really a
big thing, it definitely wasn't broadcasted. There's clearly no service
on planes back then.
Speaker 2 (41:33):
And so it's just to think that.
Speaker 3 (41:37):
We've come a long way where we actually won't have
a draft moving forward there. Yeah, women's soccer has come
an incredible way, But just coverage in general is I'm
I'm yeah, I'm floored by how how well covered this
sport is and all of the reporters and people that
(42:01):
dug in at little or no salary to be to
cover women's soccer for so long when they did it
for the passion, because that's what we did growing you know,
on the national team and early on with you know,
with the WPS and the NBSSEL. We played soccer because
(42:23):
we were passionate about playing. We didn't play for the money.
There was no money there, trust me none.
Speaker 2 (42:30):
So it has come.
Speaker 3 (42:33):
A long way and it is just so incredible to
see the new broadcasting rights deal, just the new CBA
taking place with NBSLP and NABISSEL in terms of a
new revenue share model that really has never.
Speaker 2 (42:54):
Been done before, is unprecedented.
Speaker 3 (42:56):
All of these things that women's soccer is just it's
not make market's building a new pathway that.
Speaker 2 (43:03):
Never existed before.
Speaker 3 (43:05):
And it makes me so just happy that we have
gone down a path that women's sports have accelerated in
such a fast way and progressed over the last five
or ten years.
Speaker 2 (43:21):
And I have been able to be out of.
Speaker 3 (43:24):
You know, I've had a front seat at it these
last ten years, and I hope to continue my part
in women's sports, but just to literally be at the
front seat and watch and be a part of this
all unfold is.
Speaker 2 (43:41):
Really amazing and Yeah, couldn't be happier.
Speaker 8 (43:45):
Naomi Granma, San Diego, Way, I have two questions. First one,
what is your favorite soccer memory or if you if
you can't pick one? And the second one is can
we still bring Charlie on a wage?
Speaker 2 (44:03):
Okay? Well, the Charlie thing, I don't know. I mean,
she has grown a liking to Hillary.
Speaker 8 (44:08):
It's out to Hilary.
Speaker 3 (44:13):
Somehow she jumped to first place in the last three weeks.
Speaker 2 (44:16):
I don't know. She really put in the effort. There.
Speaker 3 (44:20):
Favorite soccer memories, Oh goodness, I don't know. It's I
think one one really special moment is when we had
I think we had four or five moms on the
team at once, between myself, Casey, Julie, Crystal, and Ad
(44:45):
and growing up on the national team, I had seen
Christy Rampone have two kids and just make it seem
so easy, and looking back, I'm just like, wow, like
that must have been so hard, and she just was
literally the hardest defender to get around, but also just
wrangled two kids after training every day. So I think
(45:08):
like that was a really special moment to be able
to enjoy with some of my teammates, knowing how far
we'd come and the support that we now get as
moms and still as professional athletes. I also want to
say some of my best memories is when we won
the Olympics and the two World Championships, And it wasn't
(45:33):
the like winning.
Speaker 2 (45:35):
I mean, it was a winning, but it was just.
Speaker 3 (45:37):
The fact that we were so focused and I mean,
you can probably attest this from this summer, but it
was more the fact that you're so like driven and
focused and you're like it's like not robotic, but you're
just like in it and you're all like I don't know,
(45:58):
auto drive, like like you're just like so like you
have the blinders on and you're just like looking forward.
Speaker 2 (46:05):
And then when you win it, like.
Speaker 3 (46:08):
You get to celebrate, you're with your friends and family,
and you get to be like human again. You're not
just like an athlete. And I think that's the best part.
We're all humans, and we all have like emotions, and
we all have like vulnerabilities, and in sports, a lot
of times like you're so shut off from that, like
(46:29):
you're so disconnected from your emotions because you're so you're
like you're just like so driven. So winning those it
just you feel like you can be human and you
can like celebrate and you can actually just like enjoy
and be vulnerable and like smile.
Speaker 2 (46:48):
Like sometimes you don't smile for like weeks.
Speaker 3 (46:50):
At a time and you just don't realize it until
you finally get to that endpoint. And so I think
just like being able to do that and just go
down you know, what was it Broadway or you know
in New York and like celebrate with fans and actually
just like be like a human and not like the
(47:10):
athlete that everyone just is seen you as as like
this robotic thing, this like thing on this platform. Like
I'm just like a sister, I'm a daughter, I'm a friend.
I'm not just like a teammate and an athlete. And
I think the special moments was like when we won,
we got to just be more than just the athlete.
Speaker 1 (47:35):
I had to keep that one in Naomi Garmat. Then
I'm like, dang, I had a really good question and
they picked Gurma. How dare they? Like I said, it's
bittersweet happy for Alex Morgan. We knew this day was
gonna come, especially when she got left off of the
Olympic roster and that was kind of a big blow.
And you know, for whatever reason, they won gold. And
(47:58):
like she said, she's proud of that team and she
should be. You know she should because because the team
is what it is because of Alex Morgan. Right, I
was thinking about this earlier. If there was a mount
rushmore of women's soccer, Alex Morgan would be on it. Right.
We have like Michelle Akers and Mia hamm Abby Wambach,
Alex Morgan, Megan Rippino too. I'm just thinking, like what
(48:22):
they've done to help grow the game, and literally Alex
Morgan has done so much and I think history will
will reflect that, you know, a few years when we
look back, say, wow, Alex Morgan was a big reason
why the game grew within that period, within within her era,
within our generation right or her generation of players. So bittersweet,
(48:48):
but one that we have to celebrate because, like I said,
it's uh, it was one of a kind journey for
a lot of us. I'm sure we all have Alex
Morgan's stories. I'll be posting on TikTok and and Instagram
and this comes out, so make sure to leave your comments.
Let me know your Alex market story or memory and
I'd love to hear it. I really hope you enjoyed
episode two hundred and twenty nine at Women's World Football Show.
(49:09):
I would love to hear your thoughts on our soundbites
from Alex Morgan. Feel free to email me at Patti
at wwfshow dot com. I do read all the emails
and do my very best to reply in a timely manner.
If you did enjoy this episode, subscribe now on Apple podcast, Spotify,
iHeartRadio app tuned in castbox speakers, Stitcher, wwfshow dot com,
or wherever you're listening to this right now. And if
(49:30):
you really really enjoy listening to Women's World Football Show,
one of the best ways you can show your appreciation
is to give us a five star rating and leave
a review wherever you listen. I always love to know
your thoughts and reviews are the best ways for others
to find the show. Also, another way to help grow
the show and grow this beautiful game that we love
is that tell your friends and family about Women's World
Football Show. If you're listening on a mobile device, swipe
(49:52):
over the cover art and you'll find the episode notes,
including some details you may have missed. For relative links
from this episode, visit our show notes on WWF.
Speaker 2 (50:00):
Show dot com.
Speaker 1 (50:01):
Connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok at WWF Show.
Women's World Football Show is hosted, written, edited, and produced
by Patti Labella.
Speaker 2 (50:10):
That's me.
Speaker 1 (50:11):
Additional systeance for this episode by the good people at
the San Diego Wave and of course Alex Morgan and
thank you especially you for joining me on this exciting
journey through women's football. Stay strong, stay mindful, keep loving
your heart. We'll see you next time.
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