September 9, 2024 • 44 mins
In Episode 21, Matt and Ash are joined by USWNT player and Olympic gold medalist, Casey Krueger! They discuss Casey's career journey, including her transition from college to the pros, her experience playing overseas in Norway, and her time with the US Women's National Team. They also discuss the progress of women's sports, the challenges of being a mother in the league, and the role of faith in her life and career. Casey shares her experience working through injury, disappointment, and how different people have helped her to be her best as a soccer player.
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As Ash and Matt announced, Season 1 of the Ditto Podcast is almost coming to a close! Stay tuned for more info on what's next!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
What role has faith, religion, spirituality played in your life throughout your career?
(00:04):
It's been everything. My lowest points, my highest points. It's that constant in my life.
When I hit rock bottom, when I was out for two years and just kind of lost myself,
I think that forced me to just kind of find that fire again for my faith and realize,
you know, my identity is in Christ. It's not in football. It's not in any of these little
(00:24):
worldly things, right? That was like the turning point and the biggest reminder and smack of the
face like, hey, here's some perspective. This is all that matters. Everything else can be going
wrong, but this is the constant. I feel like we have moments in our life where when we're in the
thick of it, it just feels like it lasts forever. And then you find yourself in a moment where you've
(00:45):
overcome it and you're past it and you look back and you're just like, wow, I've overcome that.
Hello everyone. Welcome to another episode of Ditto. I'm Ashley Hatch here with Dr. Matt Moore
and we have a very special guest today. We have Casey, Casey Krueger.
(01:08):
Casey, how are you doing today? I'm good. Excited to be on the podcast.
Yeah. You've been on my guest list, wish list for a while. Oh my gosh, I'm honored.
Yes. But you know, you just been so busy, you know, winning gold medals and stuff.
Trying to find the right time. And so I'm so glad that we were able to get you on in our first
(01:34):
season of Ditto, but I'm going to give our fans a little bit of background in case they
don't know who you are. I'm sure everyone knows who you are, but for our fans who don't,
Casey has a very impressive resume. So I'm just going to go through some highlights and then we'll
ask her some questions about it. But Casey is from Naperville, Illinois. She played her college
(01:59):
soccer career at FSU. And this is what I found that was really cool. I didn't know that you
majored in criminology and mastered in sports management. Is that correct? That is both correct.
Yes. Wow. We're going to have to ask you some questions about that.
Anyways, Casey finished her college career and got drafted in 2013 to the Boston Breakers.
(02:27):
Unfortunately suffered an injury in 2013, 2014, and then went overseas and played in Norway.
And had a successful career there and then came back and was acquired by Chicago where she played
lots of minutes, accumulated lots of best 11 awards, just amazing things. And now is with us
(02:50):
at the Spirit. Thank goodness. Casey's also had a very impressive career with the US National Team
with currently with 55 caps has a bronze medal from the 2021 Olympics and currently a gold medal
for the 2024 Olympics. Really impressive. And last but definitely not least, and I think the
(03:15):
coolest thing on here, Casey is a mother to Caleb who is now two, correct? He just turned two.
He does. Yes. Casey is a mother to Caleb, which we get to see a lot, which is pretty amazing. And
I'm really excited to dive more into that. But yes, that's that was a short spark notes version
(03:39):
of Casey's Casey's career. I think a really cool place to start this conversation, Casey, would be
your transition from college into pros and you going, you know, from having a good college career.
I also read in your bio somewhere that you were a 800 meter state championship state champion,
(04:01):
400 meters state champion. So like you're you're at the top, you're at the peak, you get drafted,
and then you suffer an injury. Not only do you suffer an injury, you come back and you suffer
another injury. Can you kind of talk us through what that challenge was like, especially in that
time of life where you're at the top of the world, you're so excited for your professional career,
(04:25):
and then you have a hurdle like these two injuries? Yeah, I think you summarize that perfectly saying
just kind of like feeling on top of the world at that point. I felt really good after my senior
redshirt senior season and was just excited to go for the next level. And then we had a I think it
(04:45):
was U-23 tournament overseas that I got called in for after the season. So that was just one more
thing that I was just on top of the world for, you know. And so unfortunately, though, and I think
one of our first games there, that's when I suffered an ACL, MCL on my other knee. And it kind of flipped
(05:05):
my world upside down at that point, because that was the last thing that was on my mind. I was just
like all in, like I want to be a pro soccer player. I want to do this. And yeah, that kind of forced me
to just kind of take a step back and work my way back and kind of reevaluate things. Yeah, yeah,
totally. I think that's, I was talking to Jeff the other day, and I feel like we have moments in our
(05:30):
life where we, when we're in the middle of it, it in the thick of it, it just feels like it lasts
forever. And then you find yourself in a moment where you've, you know, overcome it and you're
past it and you look back and you're just like, wow, like I've overcome that. And now I'm here.
And then we always have like the trials, I feel like always just come and we we deal with them as
(05:55):
we go. But so you had those injuries. At what point did you decide that going over to Norway
would be the best for you and your career? I think I didn't really have a lot of options,
to be honest, at that point. The league was so fresh, as you know, at that point. And so,
(06:15):
yeah, there wasn't a lot of like financial backing at that time. So I had to kind of figure out
what options I did have. So my agent reached out and said, hey, like there's this team in Norway,
they've got a really great coach, a lot of really talented players from a bunch of different national
teams. I think it could be an incredible opportunity. And it ended up being like in this tiny little
(06:40):
like rural farm town, like totally didn't expect it, you know. But it was the greatest place that
I could have ever ended up. Just some of the greatest people I met were there. And it was
just a really cool experience, just to experience Norwegian culture. Everyone is just so friendly,
just huge family values. And the soccer was incredible. It kind of made me fell in love,
(07:07):
fall in love with the game all over again, which was something that I needed, because
just going through, you know, the last two years, they were pretty difficult, but I kind of found
my love for the game again. Is it true that they're one of the happiest countries on Earth?
They are. They are in like the top five, aren't they? Yes, they do things right. Yes, they're so
(07:31):
happy. They're so nice. It's so friendly. They're doing things right. I think everybody's got to
spend some time there. Is it cold up there? I hear it's cold, but how cold did it get?
Yeah, it was pretty cold. We had some cold practices, but like I'm from Chicago, so I was
like, you know, pretty comfortable. So I was like, I'm fine. But it was cold. Hey, I have a question
(07:54):
for you. Backing up to your injuries, you know, coming into the field of sports psychology,
some of the best friends for mental performance coaches or sports psychologists, at least on a
club or in a club within a club or an athletic department, are the athletic trainers, mostly
because athletic trainers are helping these athletes rehab and overcome the injury and they
(08:19):
get back to play. And so inevitably, these athletic trainers, right, are having so many
conversations with these players. So for you, the mental components of going through, you,
correct me if I'm wrong, you did ACL, MCL one year and then the ACL the second time? Yeah,
(08:40):
I had to just get it revised. Yeah. Revised. Okay. Yeah. So physical toll obviously is
tremendous and very difficult to try to get back to play. What was it like mentally? What were you
experiencing? What did you do to get through the emotional psychological toll of getting through
(09:00):
to two of these injuries? Yeah, I mean, that was that was rock bottom for me. I had fought my way
back, recovered, you know, it was a year long. And then to have to go through it back to back was
the mental side was the most difficult part. But I ended up going back to Florida State actually to
to do all my rehab. And like you said, like the athletic trainers are just so critical to to the
(09:27):
rehab and to the mental component. And I could not have done it without them. And one of them
actually wrote me like a really, really sweet letter once I had gotten done and I still have it
like in my bag to this day. So it's like, yeah, it just they mean the world. And they were just so
big in my recovery to help me get back onto the field. Yeah. So not only a sense of community and
(09:51):
relationships, which is indirectly, at least in my opinion, helping with the psychological toll and
the emotional toll. But were you working with any psychologists or counselors or mental performance
coaches throughout that process? And maybe even now, like what does the mental kind of protocols
look like for you and staying on top of your game as well? At that time, I wasn't and I do wish I
(10:16):
was. If I could go back that I think it's just so important to performance. But now like with the
spirit, we have access to you know, really wonderful mental coach and I take full advantage now and
check in regularly with him. And I do feel like it's helped elevate my game, helps with that last,
(10:38):
you know, 10%. So yeah, I'm very thankful to have that resource now. But that's something
that's something I wish I would have taken advantage of going through that. Yeah, I feel like
I'm the same as you Casey, like I feel like in college or even just like early on my career,
we didn't have access to a lot of mental performance coaches and it wasn't as common as it is today.
(10:59):
But I think the spirit have been a great job of bringing David on board, especially full time.
I know last year he was part time this year he's full time and just having someone that you can
talk to that isn't in charge of you know, playing time. I think that's really, yeah, it's really,
really important. But okay, so now I want to transition the conversation into your USMS
(11:25):
national team experience. So you made the 2021 roster and you were able to, you know, win the
bronze. And we all know that the USMS national team is an honor. It's always an honor to play
for that team, but it comes with its challenges. It's really hard to go from your club environment
(11:48):
to the national team environment, where you may be asked to play different roles.
But can you talk us through a little bit about 2021 when you got the call to be an alternate
for that roster and kind of like what your thoughts and feelings were going into that Olympics?
Yeah, absolutely. I remember that call very well because I was ready to get the call saying,
(12:09):
sorry, you didn't make it. Yeah, that didn't happen. I think the last couple camps before
they were naming the roster, I didn't make it. So I thought, I'm out, you know, like time to move on
and, you know, put my focus back in club. But yeah, I found out I was going to be an alternate, which
kind of shocked me completely. I was like, Whoa, time to get ready to go to Tokyo. I got like a week
(12:34):
to get ready. But yeah, I didn't really think I would have like a very big role. And then they
changed the role and allowed the alternates to be part of the full roster so that we could actually
be rostered. So yeah, there was a lot of like different moving pieces and things like that.
Moving pieces and things were changing. So I was just trying to like catch up. And but I was super
(12:55):
excited to get that opportunity. Super thankful to be there. It was definitely a different Olympics
with COVID and not having fans kind of being on lockdown, except for training. So from that
perspective, it was a little bit different. But yeah, my role like game to game, I was just,
you know, hoping for the best and really know what to expect. Kind of a crazy start to that
(13:20):
tournament with the first game. So that one definitely tested us. But it was a really great
learning experience overall, I would say. Yeah, for sure. And like you said, the Tokyo Olympics was
very different than any other Olympics, as I'm sure that you've also experienced now a normal,
quote unquote, normal Olympics. You and Cody were married at that time, correct?
(13:46):
But Tokyo? Yeah, we were married. So I think it's really cool to also ask others who are married
and going through this whole soccer journey, as you know, Jeff and Cody and Jeff are friends,
how did that relationship help you? I know he probably wasn't able to be there physically,
but even just throughout your career, how has that relationship with Cody kind of been able to how
(14:11):
has he been able to help you emotionally throughout this career, as we know that has has its ups and
downs? Yeah, he's been he's been huge. He's been my rock. We actually met first met right after
I didn't make the 2019 World Cup team. So he was just kind of like thrown right in there.
But he he's been so huge and just giving me perspective and helping me to remember because
(14:36):
I sometimes forget, you know, I'm not just a footballer. I'm I'm a lot more than that.
Just being you know, leaning into our faith and just getting that reminder
from him has been huge and kind of helped me not ride the roller coaster ride. You know,
it's just staying steady rather than riding the ups and the downs. Yeah, I know in my experience,
(14:59):
in my experience, spouses, for the most part, not all spouses, spouses tend to be the best
mental performance coaches. If you're married to an athlete, I don't know how many conversations
I've had with behind the scenes. And they're so intimately connected to that their experience.
(15:22):
It's like, of course, they're going to have advice. Of course, they're going to have
conversations. Of course, they're going to have those experiences with them that, you know,
you obviously can lean on as the individual, but as staff as mental other mental performance coaches
can lean on as well. Holistically, I think that's so, so important. So again, I think we're seeing
(15:42):
this importance in at least in your life that I'm gaining of not doing this soccer thing alone.
You know, I think one of the greatest quotes I've ever heard was, you can't do life alone,
right? In any domain that we've that you might find yourself in. And so whether it's a spouse
or an athletic trainer or whomever, it's so important to have those people to lean on the
(16:05):
good times, the bad times, the all the in between. I want to switch gears. I have a question that
I've been kind of dying to ask the last 24 hours. Are you ready?
Oh, here we go. So kind of controversial. So if we need to edit this, we
(16:27):
I have no idea what Matt's about to say. So
the Hope solo documentary, just
I heard I haven't watched it yet.
I was watching my show last night. And of course, like the untold sports stories always comes up on
(16:48):
my ticker because that's like something I just love to watch. And I started it and I couldn't
stop watching it. It's so fascinating, especially from someone who doesn't know the in and outs of
that world, but is very interested, obviously, in it. So rather than ask you, are you a Hope
(17:08):
solo fan? Are you in the Hope solo fan vote? I'm not going to ask you that. Here's my question.
And maybe this is for both of you. You know, essentially, I know, here we go. Essentially,
the theme of this experience, or at least the documentary, was equal pay. And her drive,
whether you like her or not, to get women paid, especially in soccer. What has that been like?
(17:37):
What has that been like for maybe for both of you in trying to get equal pay and trying to get equal
respect and trying to whatever it might be in your mind, what does that look like? What is that
experience been for you? And it's similar to kind of kind of hope to hopes experience and
in driving this. You first case. Yeah, I didn't want to interrupt you. No, this is about you.
(18:03):
You go first. I feel like, you know, that group were like the pioneers for like the sport and
just pushing to get, you know, equal pay, equal recognition, all these things. And I don't feel
like I've done a whole lot. You know, I'm just here like, you know, I don't know how you feel,
(18:24):
Hatchie. But I just, I feel like they, they did incredible work. And I kind of came in,
and we came in to camp actually, like the same exact time, I believe. And so we had the same
first cap, didn't we? Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. Why didn't I put that in our bio? We did. Oh, my gosh.
And Sandy Utah, we'll have, we'll have to show a picture. Like I remember us sitting there with our
(18:48):
little one. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like we were like thrown right in, you know, shortly after that,
with all like the lawsuit and like all these things. But yeah, it was, it was, and I felt like I
just didn't know a lot about any of that stuff at the time. I mean, I think I'll add to what Casey's
(19:10):
saying. I think, Casey, you've done a lot more than I feel like you realize. And here's why.
I think the USMN's national team has done a great job with pushing equal pay. But there's also,
if you look at the NW cell and the way that it's transformed, like we wouldn't have been able to
transform the way that we have. It's players like you, players like me, players who have endured
(19:34):
going through injuries and not having all the resources and having to go back to college to get
the proper help to come through an injury or pushing through, playing in a league where you
don't have all the support, you don't have mental performance coaches, you don't even have enough
staff or athletic trainers at times. Sometimes you have to do your own laundry. Sometimes you
don't get meals. Sometimes you have to live with a host family. Like there's a lot of things that I
(19:58):
feel like we've endured. And I know we could probably talk for hours on these about these things,
especially within the NW cell to get to where we're at now. And if players like us haven't stayed
through it and kept playing, then I don't think we would have been able to push the league along.
I think the national team did a great job of setting the standard and the example. They're on a
(20:21):
completely, like at the time, completely different playing field in the NW cell because of the
attention that they do get on like the global scale, which I think is really helpful. And
obviously when you win a lot of things, that also really helps. But yeah, so I would say that
although we maybe didn't take part in the specific lawsuit for equal pay, I would say that we've made
(20:46):
an impact and influence in the game, especially with the NW cell, because the NW cell at the time
was very closely attached to the US national team. And so that's kind of my rant. That's my
answer. That's a good perspective. I like forgot half the things that you said. I was like,
you push it to the back of your brain. Yeah. You've been through a lot.
(21:11):
It's kind of a follow up. And this is what I've been thinking since the documentary.
Is the goal equal pay? I mean, do you want to get paid as much as Christian Pulisic or like,
what's the ultimate goal, especially for national team or club or, and, or both? Like where 10 years
from now, like what does it ideally look like for you both for women's soccer, whether it's pay or
(21:38):
respect or notoriety, whatever you want to put in there. I think equal exposure, I think, you know,
everything, respect pay, you know, obviously it's the first thing that people think of, but you know,
when, you know, when ESPN covers, you know, women's sports equally to men, I think we're,
you know, making some progress. So I think things like that, and then just, you know, truly being
(21:59):
professional, you know, with like trades and things, not having to worry about, you know, money,
to be quite frank. I think things like that in 10 years from now, I think that should be the goal.
Yeah, for sure. Everything that did out to what Casey said, I think, I mean,
(22:20):
the national team has done a great job. They, they are getting paid equally to the men. Like they've
done a great job of paving the way. I think the NWSL is making its way there and we're climbing
and we're in the right, like heading in the right direction. And like Casey said, when you,
we've seen that when you give women the right exposure that people are watching. So yeah,
(22:41):
I think that's, that's the goal. And I think we're all heading in the right direction and it's really
cool to be a part of it and be a part of the transformation. But I feel like this conversation,
unless you have any more comments, Matt, I feel like it segues into my next question perfectly.
Shoot, you shoot. Okay. Okay. You got to hide my pit.
Thanks for indulging my controversial topic here.
(23:07):
It's no, it's not controversial. There's only one right answer. Just kidding.
Yeah. Yeah.
Do you want to talk more about Hope Solo and what she's done?
Yeah, we can say that for another episode. No, but speaking about like paving the way
in the women's game, like progressing, I think you're definitely one of the pioneers when it
(23:28):
comes to being a mother in this league and a mother just like continuing to dominate,
not only just play, but dominate. Like you literally just won a gold medal and you have
a two year old son who is adorable, Caleb, who went with you. I would love to kind of talk a
(23:48):
little bit more about your decision to decide to have a child and keep playing. I think
speaking for myself, it has been hard playing in the league when money is a factor. You're not
getting paid great. You want to start your family, but that'll put your career on pause
(24:13):
for a long time. We don't get the support. We don't have the, I don't know, the reassurance
that we're going to have a roster spot. Were those some of your fears or was it just like,
this is my time. I want to start my family. And like you and Cody, we're like, this is what's
best for us. No, I definitely had all those fears at the time when we were trying to get pregnant.
(24:39):
The league was better, but it wasn't at the point where we are today where it's the support
for being a mother is incredible. So yeah, I did have those fears. I didn't really know
if I would still have a spot when I come back, if they even think I could play soccer. I didn't
even know if I wanted to play soccer after I had all those questions. I didn't know if I could be
(25:04):
the same player, you know, after giving birth, especially after having a C-section. That was
like another component because like we, like we chatted the other day, like I did all the planning.
I was like, all right, we're going to do this as naturally as possible. And then, you know,
the complete opposite happened. So I definitely had a whole lot of doubts and wasn't sure if I
(25:25):
wanted or could come back postpartum. What was that like? Like I obviously don't know what it's
like to have a child, but I have a spouse. I have two young children. I know from a spouse perspective
what toll that is on the human body. And then having to do it at a very high level, not just
(25:48):
get back to being a human being and going, being able to go to the grocery store, but
you have to go play professional soccer. Like what was that like physically,
mentally, emotionally to have to do that? It was pretty scary. The first few weeks after,
you know, C-section are pretty rough. You're not allowed to even like vacuum or, you know,
do any like basic things around the house, like lift more than five pounds or something crazy like
(26:12):
that. And at that point I was just like, oh my gosh, like, I don't know about this. Like I don't
know if my body can recover. I like a few weeks later, I like tried to, you know, hit a little
jog, even though I wasn't supposed to. And it was not a great feeling. To be perfectly honest, it
just, yeah, my abs felt loose. It was not great. But luckily I, you know, I had a pelvic floor
(26:39):
specialist before, during, and after, and she kind of steered the ship and she was just incredible
in leading the way and just knowing all the research and just the best path back. She kind
of pulled the reins back for a while and didn't let me, you know, jog for, I think it was 12 weeks,
(26:59):
which, you know, sounds like a long time. It's like an injury. It's crazy. But then from there
was able to get back into things pretty quickly and, you know, started to feel like myself more
and more as time went on and gained some more confidence. But there were some big doubts there
after, soon after, for sure. Oh yeah. I mean, I can only imagine and like, it's really cool to see,
(27:27):
especially being like one of your teammates, just your relationship with Caleb and all the
experiences that he gets to experience with you. And I think you do like such a great job
of just like taking care of him, but also like you guys are just like the coolest like family.
Like he just comes along, he gets to watch all your soccer games and like see you just like
(27:50):
dominate on the field. I think it's really admirable. And I think that you, along with some
other, I, Shannon Matthews was also one of my teammates. And so I was able to see her also go
through a pregnancy during a season and then like coming back. And I just feel like it takes just
like another level of like belief and just like mental fortitude. I don't know. It just, it just
(28:16):
seems like, like you said, like very challenging is what were some of like, what were some of the
things that you did as you're going through that process that kind of like helped you get back on
the field? Whether like, was it conversations with Cody? Was it just staying present and like
being a part of the whole process and then like worrying about soccer later? Because I can imagine
(28:37):
it would be hard to think about soccer as you're, you know, going through this pregnancy and
literally trying to create your family. Oh yeah, absolutely. I took a break from soccer. I did not
play any soccer at all once I found out I was pregnant. I just needed like a mental break.
But I do think I, so I ran and lifted throughout my whole pregnancy up until 38 weeks. And I think
(29:02):
that really set me up for postpartum and feeling great after. And that was part of the conversations
with my pelvic floor specialist. She said, you know, like if you, you know, maintain this
throughout your whole pregnancy, like after you're going to be fitter than you were, which I was like,
are you sure? But it's crazy because I, my body felt better and I felt, I felt even better than I
(29:25):
had before coming back. So, you know, I think there was something to that. She's right. So that was
pretty cool. That was pretty cool. Yeah, that's awesome. It's incredible that you women can
just do that. I'm just, yeah, full applause. With all of that in mind, I'm noticing
(29:45):
Casey, I'm looking at your Instagram page right now. I'm stalking you
and you have wonderful things on there. One thing that stands out to me, because this was
essentially Casey, my research as a doctoral student, spirituality, religion, and the
intersection of that sport you have on your Instagram. This is no surprise. Isaiah 40,
(30:08):
28 through 31, which is a Bible verse. So my question for you is what role has faith,
religion, spirituality, whatever you want to call it, played in your life throughout your career?
It's been everything. My lowest points, my highest points, it's, it's that constant in my life. And
(30:31):
you know, there's certainly been times where, you know, curveball, you know,
where, you know, curved on the path a little bit, you know what I mean? But wasn't as good
as I should have been. But, you know, still come back, you know. And I think when I hit rock bottom
when I was out for two years and just kind of lost myself, I think that forced me to,
(30:57):
to just kind of find that fire again for my faith and, and realize, you know, my identity is in
place. It's not in football. It's not in any of these little worldly things, right? Like,
and so I think that was like the turning point and just the biggest reminder and smack in the face,
like, hey, here's some perspective. This is all that matters. This is the constant.
(31:21):
Everything else can be going wrong, but this is the constant. Yeah, beautiful. I mean, as you know,
Ashley's a believer. I'm also a believer. And for me, it's so interesting, just religion and
spirituality in general, whether you're Christian or not, I think it's just fascinating to unpack
(31:43):
that role and how significant it is truly for professional athletes or college athletes. So I
interviewed a bunch of college athletes for my dissertation and all of them, seriously Casey,
were very, very similar, shared the same sentiment. I can do this. I can do two a days. I can do
practice. I can get through an ACL injury because my identity is in Christ, because I'm a child of
(32:08):
God, because I know that there's a God in heaven that loves me and it soccer is important. Football
is important, but it's not the most important thing. What does that look like for you? I mean,
are you church or you scripture or you prayer or you all the above? What is the practice kind of
the application look like for you, especially within soccer? Is it pregame prayer? Is it scripture?
(32:32):
Again, yeah. What does that look like? Yeah, it definitely, things are a little bit busier
with Caleb. So things definitely look a little bit different with pregame prayers and things like
that. But all the above, I would say, big into the worship music, starting my day with that,
getting that reminder. But yeah, pregame prayer, always. Scripture, for sure. I've got my daily
(32:56):
scripture book, you know, all those things. What was the scripture for today? I'm curious.
It's upstairs. It's right there in the bed. Yeah. Really putting her on the spot, man. Yeah,
I can go grab it. You just said Isaiah 40, 20 through 31. That's my everyday one.
Thanks for sharing that. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, that's awesome. I guess, so we went through
(33:27):
your Olympic journey in 2021. And now we have this most recent, most successful
Olympic journey that you were able to have Cody and Caleb with you, which I'm sure was a lot
more enjoyable than the first experience. With all the things that we've talked about with your
(33:48):
experience in 2021, how has that experience or just like life experience that you've experienced
from 2021 to 2024, how has that helped you in this most recent Olympics as you prepared to go for
gold and be a part of the team, not as an alternate, but as a rostered player? How has all these things
(34:13):
that we've talked about helped you in this most recent Olympics? I think just all of those life
experiences that we've talked about just continue to give me perspective on things and they help me
to play more freely, to be perfectly honest. I look back at what my thought process was when
(34:34):
I was younger and all these things. And now I'm just like, things just seem more clear, I guess.
And because of that, it allows me to play more freely. So I'd say that's the biggest thing.
Totally. I totally agree with you. I have a final question, but if you have any other questions,
Matt, I want you to be able to chime in before I ask my final question.
(34:57):
Here's like two funny questions. These are the ones I'm going serious. We're going to take it
up to the humor level. You ready? I think it's really interesting for us lay people that aren't
professional athletes to know, one, like, what do you do outside of soccer? Are you a Netflix person?
(35:18):
Are you hiking? What are you doing? And then two, what's the junk food choice? Like when you don't
have to be strict on yourself with nutrition, which I know is red, I know I can't. What do you
like really indulging? What's what's is it chocolate? Answer those questions for me.
(35:39):
Yeah, those are fun. Outside of soccer, I would say, yeah, we love to like do outdoorsy things.
We actually got e-bikes. So we've been using those lately and we like toke love in the back. So
that's been really fun. I need a picture of this. Yeah, I got to show you tomorrow. So that's what
we've been doing. Also big into Netflix. I love true crime. Any documentary like bonnet. Makes sense.
(36:05):
Yeah. Oh yeah. And then my junk food of choice ice cream. I am total sweet treat kind of gal.
What's your what's your flavor? What's your go to ice cream flavor?
I I really like cake batter from Cold Stone. And my topping of choice is sprinkles. Nice and basic.
(36:27):
Sounds like my father's ice cream. Yeah, I'm a child. That's yeah.
Before Ashley answers her last question, I have a I have a recommendation for you.
True crime. It's not like reality. It's drama. It's it's not real. Fictionalized. It's called
killing Eve on Netflix. Have you seen it? Killing Eve? I have not seen it. Highly recommend it.
(36:54):
Okay. Like this. It's this crime. I don't want to give too much away. Killing Eve. Give it a try.
Let me know if you like it. Got it. Noted. Thank you. Okay. So did you get any grudos today after
training? I did. I sure did. That was my first time having it. Well, oh, first time. So we had
yeah, an ice cream truck soft serve grudos. It's a pretty popular soft serve place in Leesburg.
(37:21):
Come to our training to welcome our Olympians back. So what was your grudos order? I got vanilla
and sprinkles. Super basic, but it was delicious. Consistent. You got to say true to you. Yeah,
that's awesome. Well, I didn't. I was I wasn't. I know. I know I should have, but I wasn't feeling
(37:49):
it today and it was like a busy day and so I didn't. But everyone kept walking by with these
like huge bowls of like soft serve and like I think Aubrey had like a bunch of brownies and a
whole scoop of cookie dough on top. And I was like, Oh my gosh. I was like, that's why I can't go get
it. That's way too much. I'm gonna have a stomach ache later. But yeah, it looked amazing. But
(38:13):
anyway, my last and final question for you, Casey, we've been through a lot. Thank you so much for
answering all of our questions and sharing so much about your journey with us. I think there's a lot
of really cool lessons that we've been able to pull from your story. So thanks for sharing.
Um, my last question for you is what advice would you give to any players? Um, who may be thinking
(38:38):
about starting their family and wanting to be a mother and continuing to play as they embark on
that journey? What advice would you give them? Uh, my advice is to absolutely go for it. Um,
you're gonna have doubts. You're gonna have, you know, the voices in your head saying you can't do
this, all this, but just believe in yourself and go for it. Like it's, it's doable. The support is
(39:02):
just incredible now. Um, yeah, I think no better time to do it. Um, and so many, so many women are
showing that it's possible to do it and to do it at the highest level. And I think it's the coolest
thing ever. And it's the most special thing to have, you know, your kid there for the journey,
um, along the way. These are the coolest memories and we're gonna look back on this and, and I
(39:26):
think we're gonna be able to do it again and just remember how incredible this experience was.
That's awesome. Thanks for sharing. Yeah. Thank you, Casey. Yeah. So much. Thanks for coming.
We appreciate it so much. Thanks for having me. I'm honored to be on. Yeah, of course. Yeah. I'm
so excited that we were able to make it work. And like I said, we really appreciate your time and
(39:51):
tomorrow. Yeah. We'll see you real soon. Yes. Awesome. Casey's episode was awesome. So excited
to have her so excited that we got to talk to her. I think my biggest takeaway and what I love the
most is what you said about this life isn't meant to be done alone. And I think it was really cool
(40:13):
that Casey shared about her support system, her husband, Caleb, her athletic trainers. And I think
throughout all these stages of life that we all experience, there's always key people who helped
us through hard times who are with us in the good times. And I think life's just all about people.
So I, I really liked that common theme among all of her stories. I know. Hi, Ditto. I, let me ask
(40:40):
you, is she an amazing teammate? Yes. Right? Like, it's pretty obvious. Yeah. Yeah. Like she just
feels like she would be really great to be around on a daily basis. She seems very humble. She seems
like a great partner, a great teammate, et cetera. I mean, I asked her about her mental performance
(41:03):
and hobbies and her injury, going through injury and all of these different experiences and you as
well. And there was always someone else that she mentioned within her stories. My husband,
my husband was this and my athletic trainer was this and teammates were this and my son. And like,
(41:23):
you can tell again that like connection and relatedness for her is so important. And it
reiterates that adage of we can't do this life thing alone. And she, I think illustrates that
beautifully and forming those connections and utilizing those connections for the betterment
(41:44):
of who she is as a human being, not only as a soccer player, but yeah, wife, mother, et cetera.
Yeah. Well, I mean, when you asked me that question, I remember it just like popped into
my head. I'm pretty sure it was like last week, but we were just both sitting on the bench,
like waiting for training to start. It was a really hot day and there was like a little bit
of shade when you're sitting right up against the wall. And so we were both just sitting there,
(42:07):
like tying our shoes, like getting ready for training. And she, in her like very, like, she
has a very like just soft, like calming and welcoming, like warm presence. Maybe it's because
she's a mother, I don't know. But she just turned to me, she's like, how are you doing? Like in that
voice that she has just very soothing and kind. And I was just like, I'm doing all right. Like
(42:32):
things have been kind of hard lately, but I'm good. And I was just, I just really appreciated it that
she turned to me and like took two seconds out of her day before we like got into training to like
genuinely ask how I was doing. And I told her that I was like, I really appreciate you asking,
like, thank you. And I could just feel her sincerity and her warmth and her love when she asked that.
(42:55):
And I even like came home or was talking to Jeff from my home and I was like, Casey asked me how
I was doing today. It was really kind of her. So yes, you're spot on with that. She's a great
teammate. And she's also a great soccer player. So she's, she has it all. Yeah. Yeah. And I'm sure
you're not the, I'm sure you're one of thousands that have said similar things about her. Like
(43:20):
she's so easy to be around and she's so authentic and she's very soft spoken and very nonjudgmental
and very loving. And she just seems that way. So it was a pleasure to say the least to have her on
as a guest. She, she set the bar really high. So now moving forward, we've got to find really
wonderful people. Yes. Yes. Looking forward to it. Next guest, no pressure at all. No pressure,
(43:47):
whoever you are. And to the past guests, it's not that you weren't equally as cool and important.
We're just saying how wonderful Casey is. Yes. Exactly. If any of the past guests are listening,
please don't take offense. Yes. That's not what we mean. Anyways, we wrapped this up.
Yes. Let's wrap this up. We are ending, we're creeping up to the end of our season one,
(44:11):
which we're, yes, which we have learned a lot and it's been lots of fun and it's been a great
journey. So we have a couple more episodes ahead of us. We're excited. Um, but just wanted to
keep everyone in the loop and thanks for listening. Like comment, love, subscribe, share,
share. Yes. All those things. Yep. Adios. Bye.
What role has faith, religion, spirituality played in your life throughout your career?
(00:04):
It's been everything. My lowest points, my highest points. It's that constant in my life.
When I hit rock bottom, when I was out for two years and just kind of lost myself,
I think that forced me to just kind of find that fire again for my faith and realize,
you know, my identity is in Christ. It's not in football. It's not in any of these little
(00:24):
worldly things, right? That was like the turning point and the biggest reminder and smack of the
face like, hey, here's some perspective. This is all that matters. Everything else can be going
wrong, but this is the constant. I feel like we have moments in our life where when we're in the
thick of it, it just feels like it lasts forever. And then you find yourself in a moment where you've
(00:45):
overcome it and you're past it and you look back and you're just like, wow, I've overcome that.
Hello everyone. Welcome to another episode of Ditto. I'm Ashley Hatch here with Dr. Matt Moore
and we have a very special guest today. We have Casey, Casey Krueger.
(01:08):
Casey, how are you doing today? I'm good. Excited to be on the podcast.
Yeah. You've been on my guest list, wish list for a while. Oh my gosh, I'm honored.
Yes. But you know, you just been so busy, you know, winning gold medals and stuff.
Trying to find the right time. And so I'm so glad that we were able to get you on in our first
(01:34):
season of Ditto, but I'm going to give our fans a little bit of background in case they
don't know who you are. I'm sure everyone knows who you are, but for our fans who don't,
Casey has a very impressive resume. So I'm just going to go through some highlights and then we'll
ask her some questions about it. But Casey is from Naperville, Illinois. She played her college
(01:59):
soccer career at FSU. And this is what I found that was really cool. I didn't know that you
majored in criminology and mastered in sports management. Is that correct? That is both correct.
Yes. Wow. We're going to have to ask you some questions about that.
Anyways, Casey finished her college career and got drafted in 2013 to the Boston Breakers.
(02:27):
Unfortunately suffered an injury in 2013, 2014, and then went overseas and played in Norway.
And had a successful career there and then came back and was acquired by Chicago where she played
lots of minutes, accumulated lots of best 11 awards, just amazing things. And now is with us
(02:50):
at the Spirit. Thank goodness. Casey's also had a very impressive career with the US National Team
with currently with 55 caps has a bronze medal from the 2021 Olympics and currently a gold medal
for the 2024 Olympics. Really impressive. And last but definitely not least, and I think the
(03:15):
coolest thing on here, Casey is a mother to Caleb who is now two, correct? He just turned two.
He does. Yes. Casey is a mother to Caleb, which we get to see a lot, which is pretty amazing. And
I'm really excited to dive more into that. But yes, that's that was a short spark notes version
(03:39):
of Casey's Casey's career. I think a really cool place to start this conversation, Casey, would be
your transition from college into pros and you going, you know, from having a good college career.
I also read in your bio somewhere that you were a 800 meter state championship state champion,
(04:01):
400 meters state champion. So like you're you're at the top, you're at the peak, you get drafted,
and then you suffer an injury. Not only do you suffer an injury, you come back and you suffer
another injury. Can you kind of talk us through what that challenge was like, especially in that
time of life where you're at the top of the world, you're so excited for your professional career,
(04:25):
and then you have a hurdle like these two injuries? Yeah, I think you summarize that perfectly saying
just kind of like feeling on top of the world at that point. I felt really good after my senior
redshirt senior season and was just excited to go for the next level. And then we had a I think it
(04:45):
was U-23 tournament overseas that I got called in for after the season. So that was just one more
thing that I was just on top of the world for, you know. And so unfortunately, though, and I think
one of our first games there, that's when I suffered an ACL, MCL on my other knee. And it kind of flipped
(05:05):
my world upside down at that point, because that was the last thing that was on my mind. I was just
like all in, like I want to be a pro soccer player. I want to do this. And yeah, that kind of forced me
to just kind of take a step back and work my way back and kind of reevaluate things. Yeah, yeah,
totally. I think that's, I was talking to Jeff the other day, and I feel like we have moments in our
(05:30):
life where we, when we're in the middle of it, it in the thick of it, it just feels like it lasts
forever. And then you find yourself in a moment where you've, you know, overcome it and you're
past it and you look back and you're just like, wow, like I've overcome that. And now I'm here.
And then we always have like the trials, I feel like always just come and we we deal with them as
(05:55):
we go. But so you had those injuries. At what point did you decide that going over to Norway
would be the best for you and your career? I think I didn't really have a lot of options,
to be honest, at that point. The league was so fresh, as you know, at that point. And so,
(06:15):
yeah, there wasn't a lot of like financial backing at that time. So I had to kind of figure out
what options I did have. So my agent reached out and said, hey, like there's this team in Norway,
they've got a really great coach, a lot of really talented players from a bunch of different national
teams. I think it could be an incredible opportunity. And it ended up being like in this tiny little
(06:40):
like rural farm town, like totally didn't expect it, you know. But it was the greatest place that
I could have ever ended up. Just some of the greatest people I met were there. And it was
just a really cool experience, just to experience Norwegian culture. Everyone is just so friendly,
just huge family values. And the soccer was incredible. It kind of made me fell in love,
(07:07):
fall in love with the game all over again, which was something that I needed, because
just going through, you know, the last two years, they were pretty difficult, but I kind of found
my love for the game again. Is it true that they're one of the happiest countries on Earth?
They are. They are in like the top five, aren't they? Yes, they do things right. Yes, they're so
(07:31):
happy. They're so nice. It's so friendly. They're doing things right. I think everybody's got to
spend some time there. Is it cold up there? I hear it's cold, but how cold did it get?
Yeah, it was pretty cold. We had some cold practices, but like I'm from Chicago, so I was
like, you know, pretty comfortable. So I was like, I'm fine. But it was cold. Hey, I have a question
(07:54):
for you. Backing up to your injuries, you know, coming into the field of sports psychology,
some of the best friends for mental performance coaches or sports psychologists, at least on a
club or in a club within a club or an athletic department, are the athletic trainers, mostly
because athletic trainers are helping these athletes rehab and overcome the injury and they
(08:19):
get back to play. And so inevitably, these athletic trainers, right, are having so many
conversations with these players. So for you, the mental components of going through, you,
correct me if I'm wrong, you did ACL, MCL one year and then the ACL the second time? Yeah,
(08:40):
I had to just get it revised. Yeah. Revised. Okay. Yeah. So physical toll obviously is
tremendous and very difficult to try to get back to play. What was it like mentally? What were you
experiencing? What did you do to get through the emotional psychological toll of getting through
(09:00):
to two of these injuries? Yeah, I mean, that was that was rock bottom for me. I had fought my way
back, recovered, you know, it was a year long. And then to have to go through it back to back was
the mental side was the most difficult part. But I ended up going back to Florida State actually to
to do all my rehab. And like you said, like the athletic trainers are just so critical to to the
(09:27):
rehab and to the mental component. And I could not have done it without them. And one of them
actually wrote me like a really, really sweet letter once I had gotten done and I still have it
like in my bag to this day. So it's like, yeah, it just they mean the world. And they were just so
big in my recovery to help me get back onto the field. Yeah. So not only a sense of community and
(09:51):
relationships, which is indirectly, at least in my opinion, helping with the psychological toll and
the emotional toll. But were you working with any psychologists or counselors or mental performance
coaches throughout that process? And maybe even now, like what does the mental kind of protocols
look like for you and staying on top of your game as well? At that time, I wasn't and I do wish I
(10:16):
was. If I could go back that I think it's just so important to performance. But now like with the
spirit, we have access to you know, really wonderful mental coach and I take full advantage now and
check in regularly with him. And I do feel like it's helped elevate my game, helps with that last,
(10:38):
you know, 10%. So yeah, I'm very thankful to have that resource now. But that's something
that's something I wish I would have taken advantage of going through that. Yeah, I feel like
I'm the same as you Casey, like I feel like in college or even just like early on my career,
we didn't have access to a lot of mental performance coaches and it wasn't as common as it is today.
(10:59):
But I think the spirit have been a great job of bringing David on board, especially full time.
I know last year he was part time this year he's full time and just having someone that you can
talk to that isn't in charge of you know, playing time. I think that's really, yeah, it's really,
really important. But okay, so now I want to transition the conversation into your USMS
(11:25):
national team experience. So you made the 2021 roster and you were able to, you know, win the
bronze. And we all know that the USMS national team is an honor. It's always an honor to play
for that team, but it comes with its challenges. It's really hard to go from your club environment
(11:48):
to the national team environment, where you may be asked to play different roles.
But can you talk us through a little bit about 2021 when you got the call to be an alternate
for that roster and kind of like what your thoughts and feelings were going into that Olympics?
Yeah, absolutely. I remember that call very well because I was ready to get the call saying,
(12:09):
sorry, you didn't make it. Yeah, that didn't happen. I think the last couple camps before
they were naming the roster, I didn't make it. So I thought, I'm out, you know, like time to move on
and, you know, put my focus back in club. But yeah, I found out I was going to be an alternate, which
kind of shocked me completely. I was like, Whoa, time to get ready to go to Tokyo. I got like a week
(12:34):
to get ready. But yeah, I didn't really think I would have like a very big role. And then they
changed the role and allowed the alternates to be part of the full roster so that we could actually
be rostered. So yeah, there was a lot of like different moving pieces and things like that.
Moving pieces and things were changing. So I was just trying to like catch up. And but I was super
(12:55):
excited to get that opportunity. Super thankful to be there. It was definitely a different Olympics
with COVID and not having fans kind of being on lockdown, except for training. So from that
perspective, it was a little bit different. But yeah, my role like game to game, I was just,
you know, hoping for the best and really know what to expect. Kind of a crazy start to that
(13:20):
tournament with the first game. So that one definitely tested us. But it was a really great
learning experience overall, I would say. Yeah, for sure. And like you said, the Tokyo Olympics was
very different than any other Olympics, as I'm sure that you've also experienced now a normal,
quote unquote, normal Olympics. You and Cody were married at that time, correct?
(13:46):
But Tokyo? Yeah, we were married. So I think it's really cool to also ask others who are married
and going through this whole soccer journey, as you know, Jeff and Cody and Jeff are friends,
how did that relationship help you? I know he probably wasn't able to be there physically,
but even just throughout your career, how has that relationship with Cody kind of been able to how
(14:11):
has he been able to help you emotionally throughout this career, as we know that has has its ups and
downs? Yeah, he's been he's been huge. He's been my rock. We actually met first met right after
I didn't make the 2019 World Cup team. So he was just kind of like thrown right in there.
But he he's been so huge and just giving me perspective and helping me to remember because
(14:36):
I sometimes forget, you know, I'm not just a footballer. I'm I'm a lot more than that.
Just being you know, leaning into our faith and just getting that reminder
from him has been huge and kind of helped me not ride the roller coaster ride. You know,
it's just staying steady rather than riding the ups and the downs. Yeah, I know in my experience,
(14:59):
in my experience, spouses, for the most part, not all spouses, spouses tend to be the best
mental performance coaches. If you're married to an athlete, I don't know how many conversations
I've had with behind the scenes. And they're so intimately connected to that their experience.
(15:22):
It's like, of course, they're going to have advice. Of course, they're going to have
conversations. Of course, they're going to have those experiences with them that, you know,
you obviously can lean on as the individual, but as staff as mental other mental performance coaches
can lean on as well. Holistically, I think that's so, so important. So again, I think we're seeing
(15:42):
this importance in at least in your life that I'm gaining of not doing this soccer thing alone.
You know, I think one of the greatest quotes I've ever heard was, you can't do life alone,
right? In any domain that we've that you might find yourself in. And so whether it's a spouse
or an athletic trainer or whomever, it's so important to have those people to lean on the
(16:05):
good times, the bad times, the all the in between. I want to switch gears. I have a question that
I've been kind of dying to ask the last 24 hours. Are you ready?
Oh, here we go. So kind of controversial. So if we need to edit this, we
(16:27):
I have no idea what Matt's about to say. So
the Hope solo documentary, just
I heard I haven't watched it yet.
I was watching my show last night. And of course, like the untold sports stories always comes up on
(16:48):
my ticker because that's like something I just love to watch. And I started it and I couldn't
stop watching it. It's so fascinating, especially from someone who doesn't know the in and outs of
that world, but is very interested, obviously, in it. So rather than ask you, are you a Hope
(17:08):
solo fan? Are you in the Hope solo fan vote? I'm not going to ask you that. Here's my question.
And maybe this is for both of you. You know, essentially, I know, here we go. Essentially,
the theme of this experience, or at least the documentary, was equal pay. And her drive,
whether you like her or not, to get women paid, especially in soccer. What has that been like?
(17:37):
What has that been like for maybe for both of you in trying to get equal pay and trying to get equal
respect and trying to whatever it might be in your mind, what does that look like? What is that
experience been for you? And it's similar to kind of kind of hope to hopes experience and
in driving this. You first case. Yeah, I didn't want to interrupt you. No, this is about you.
(18:03):
You go first. I feel like, you know, that group were like the pioneers for like the sport and
just pushing to get, you know, equal pay, equal recognition, all these things. And I don't feel
like I've done a whole lot. You know, I'm just here like, you know, I don't know how you feel,
(18:24):
Hatchie. But I just, I feel like they, they did incredible work. And I kind of came in,
and we came in to camp actually, like the same exact time, I believe. And so we had the same
first cap, didn't we? Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. Why didn't I put that in our bio? We did. Oh, my gosh.
And Sandy Utah, we'll have, we'll have to show a picture. Like I remember us sitting there with our
(18:48):
little one. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like we were like thrown right in, you know, shortly after that,
with all like the lawsuit and like all these things. But yeah, it was, it was, and I felt like I
just didn't know a lot about any of that stuff at the time. I mean, I think I'll add to what Casey's
(19:10):
saying. I think, Casey, you've done a lot more than I feel like you realize. And here's why.
I think the USMN's national team has done a great job with pushing equal pay. But there's also,
if you look at the NW cell and the way that it's transformed, like we wouldn't have been able to
transform the way that we have. It's players like you, players like me, players who have endured
(19:34):
going through injuries and not having all the resources and having to go back to college to get
the proper help to come through an injury or pushing through, playing in a league where you
don't have all the support, you don't have mental performance coaches, you don't even have enough
staff or athletic trainers at times. Sometimes you have to do your own laundry. Sometimes you
don't get meals. Sometimes you have to live with a host family. Like there's a lot of things that I
(19:58):
feel like we've endured. And I know we could probably talk for hours on these about these things,
especially within the NW cell to get to where we're at now. And if players like us haven't stayed
through it and kept playing, then I don't think we would have been able to push the league along.
I think the national team did a great job of setting the standard and the example. They're on a
(20:21):
completely, like at the time, completely different playing field in the NW cell because of the
attention that they do get on like the global scale, which I think is really helpful. And
obviously when you win a lot of things, that also really helps. But yeah, so I would say that
although we maybe didn't take part in the specific lawsuit for equal pay, I would say that we've made
(20:46):
an impact and influence in the game, especially with the NW cell, because the NW cell at the time
was very closely attached to the US national team. And so that's kind of my rant. That's my
answer. That's a good perspective. I like forgot half the things that you said. I was like,
you push it to the back of your brain. Yeah. You've been through a lot.
(21:11):
It's kind of a follow up. And this is what I've been thinking since the documentary.
Is the goal equal pay? I mean, do you want to get paid as much as Christian Pulisic or like,
what's the ultimate goal, especially for national team or club or, and, or both? Like where 10 years
from now, like what does it ideally look like for you both for women's soccer, whether it's pay or
(21:38):
respect or notoriety, whatever you want to put in there. I think equal exposure, I think, you know,
everything, respect pay, you know, obviously it's the first thing that people think of, but you know,
when, you know, when ESPN covers, you know, women's sports equally to men, I think we're,
you know, making some progress. So I think things like that, and then just, you know, truly being
(21:59):
professional, you know, with like trades and things, not having to worry about, you know, money,
to be quite frank. I think things like that in 10 years from now, I think that should be the goal.
Yeah, for sure. Everything that did out to what Casey said, I think, I mean,
(22:20):
the national team has done a great job. They, they are getting paid equally to the men. Like they've
done a great job of paving the way. I think the NWSL is making its way there and we're climbing
and we're in the right, like heading in the right direction. And like Casey said, when you,
we've seen that when you give women the right exposure that people are watching. So yeah,
(22:41):
I think that's, that's the goal. And I think we're all heading in the right direction and it's really
cool to be a part of it and be a part of the transformation. But I feel like this conversation,
unless you have any more comments, Matt, I feel like it segues into my next question perfectly.
Shoot, you shoot. Okay. Okay. You got to hide my pit.
Thanks for indulging my controversial topic here.
(23:07):
It's no, it's not controversial. There's only one right answer. Just kidding.
Yeah. Yeah.
Do you want to talk more about Hope Solo and what she's done?
Yeah, we can say that for another episode. No, but speaking about like paving the way
in the women's game, like progressing, I think you're definitely one of the pioneers when it
(23:28):
comes to being a mother in this league and a mother just like continuing to dominate,
not only just play, but dominate. Like you literally just won a gold medal and you have
a two year old son who is adorable, Caleb, who went with you. I would love to kind of talk a
(23:48):
little bit more about your decision to decide to have a child and keep playing. I think
speaking for myself, it has been hard playing in the league when money is a factor. You're not
getting paid great. You want to start your family, but that'll put your career on pause
(24:13):
for a long time. We don't get the support. We don't have the, I don't know, the reassurance
that we're going to have a roster spot. Were those some of your fears or was it just like,
this is my time. I want to start my family. And like you and Cody, we're like, this is what's
best for us. No, I definitely had all those fears at the time when we were trying to get pregnant.
(24:39):
The league was better, but it wasn't at the point where we are today where it's the support
for being a mother is incredible. So yeah, I did have those fears. I didn't really know
if I would still have a spot when I come back, if they even think I could play soccer. I didn't
even know if I wanted to play soccer after I had all those questions. I didn't know if I could be
(25:04):
the same player, you know, after giving birth, especially after having a C-section. That was
like another component because like we, like we chatted the other day, like I did all the planning.
I was like, all right, we're going to do this as naturally as possible. And then, you know,
the complete opposite happened. So I definitely had a whole lot of doubts and wasn't sure if I
(25:25):
wanted or could come back postpartum. What was that like? Like I obviously don't know what it's
like to have a child, but I have a spouse. I have two young children. I know from a spouse perspective
what toll that is on the human body. And then having to do it at a very high level, not just
(25:48):
get back to being a human being and going, being able to go to the grocery store, but
you have to go play professional soccer. Like what was that like physically,
mentally, emotionally to have to do that? It was pretty scary. The first few weeks after,
you know, C-section are pretty rough. You're not allowed to even like vacuum or, you know,
do any like basic things around the house, like lift more than five pounds or something crazy like
(26:12):
that. And at that point I was just like, oh my gosh, like, I don't know about this. Like I don't
know if my body can recover. I like a few weeks later, I like tried to, you know, hit a little
jog, even though I wasn't supposed to. And it was not a great feeling. To be perfectly honest, it
just, yeah, my abs felt loose. It was not great. But luckily I, you know, I had a pelvic floor
(26:39):
specialist before, during, and after, and she kind of steered the ship and she was just incredible
in leading the way and just knowing all the research and just the best path back. She kind
of pulled the reins back for a while and didn't let me, you know, jog for, I think it was 12 weeks,
(26:59):
which, you know, sounds like a long time. It's like an injury. It's crazy. But then from there
was able to get back into things pretty quickly and, you know, started to feel like myself more
and more as time went on and gained some more confidence. But there were some big doubts there
after, soon after, for sure. Oh yeah. I mean, I can only imagine and like, it's really cool to see,
(27:27):
especially being like one of your teammates, just your relationship with Caleb and all the
experiences that he gets to experience with you. And I think you do like such a great job
of just like taking care of him, but also like you guys are just like the coolest like family.
Like he just comes along, he gets to watch all your soccer games and like see you just like
(27:50):
dominate on the field. I think it's really admirable. And I think that you, along with some
other, I, Shannon Matthews was also one of my teammates. And so I was able to see her also go
through a pregnancy during a season and then like coming back. And I just feel like it takes just
like another level of like belief and just like mental fortitude. I don't know. It just, it just
(28:16):
seems like, like you said, like very challenging is what were some of like, what were some of the
things that you did as you're going through that process that kind of like helped you get back on
the field? Whether like, was it conversations with Cody? Was it just staying present and like
being a part of the whole process and then like worrying about soccer later? Because I can imagine
(28:37):
it would be hard to think about soccer as you're, you know, going through this pregnancy and
literally trying to create your family. Oh yeah, absolutely. I took a break from soccer. I did not
play any soccer at all once I found out I was pregnant. I just needed like a mental break.
But I do think I, so I ran and lifted throughout my whole pregnancy up until 38 weeks. And I think
(29:02):
that really set me up for postpartum and feeling great after. And that was part of the conversations
with my pelvic floor specialist. She said, you know, like if you, you know, maintain this
throughout your whole pregnancy, like after you're going to be fitter than you were, which I was like,
are you sure? But it's crazy because I, my body felt better and I felt, I felt even better than I
(29:25):
had before coming back. So, you know, I think there was something to that. She's right. So that was
pretty cool. That was pretty cool. Yeah, that's awesome. It's incredible that you women can
just do that. I'm just, yeah, full applause. With all of that in mind, I'm noticing
(29:45):
Casey, I'm looking at your Instagram page right now. I'm stalking you
and you have wonderful things on there. One thing that stands out to me, because this was
essentially Casey, my research as a doctoral student, spirituality, religion, and the
intersection of that sport you have on your Instagram. This is no surprise. Isaiah 40,
(30:08):
28 through 31, which is a Bible verse. So my question for you is what role has faith,
religion, spirituality, whatever you want to call it, played in your life throughout your career?
It's been everything. My lowest points, my highest points, it's, it's that constant in my life. And
(30:31):
you know, there's certainly been times where, you know, curveball, you know,
where, you know, curved on the path a little bit, you know what I mean? But wasn't as good
as I should have been. But, you know, still come back, you know. And I think when I hit rock bottom
when I was out for two years and just kind of lost myself, I think that forced me to,
(30:57):
to just kind of find that fire again for my faith and, and realize, you know, my identity is in
place. It's not in football. It's not in any of these little worldly things, right? Like,
and so I think that was like the turning point and just the biggest reminder and smack in the face,
like, hey, here's some perspective. This is all that matters. This is the constant.
(31:21):
Everything else can be going wrong, but this is the constant. Yeah, beautiful. I mean, as you know,
Ashley's a believer. I'm also a believer. And for me, it's so interesting, just religion and
spirituality in general, whether you're Christian or not, I think it's just fascinating to unpack
(31:43):
that role and how significant it is truly for professional athletes or college athletes. So I
interviewed a bunch of college athletes for my dissertation and all of them, seriously Casey,
were very, very similar, shared the same sentiment. I can do this. I can do two a days. I can do
practice. I can get through an ACL injury because my identity is in Christ, because I'm a child of
(32:08):
God, because I know that there's a God in heaven that loves me and it soccer is important. Football
is important, but it's not the most important thing. What does that look like for you? I mean,
are you church or you scripture or you prayer or you all the above? What is the practice kind of
the application look like for you, especially within soccer? Is it pregame prayer? Is it scripture?
(32:32):
Again, yeah. What does that look like? Yeah, it definitely, things are a little bit busier
with Caleb. So things definitely look a little bit different with pregame prayers and things like
that. But all the above, I would say, big into the worship music, starting my day with that,
getting that reminder. But yeah, pregame prayer, always. Scripture, for sure. I've got my daily
(32:56):
scripture book, you know, all those things. What was the scripture for today? I'm curious.
It's upstairs. It's right there in the bed. Yeah. Really putting her on the spot, man. Yeah,
I can go grab it. You just said Isaiah 40, 20 through 31. That's my everyday one.
Thanks for sharing that. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, that's awesome. I guess, so we went through
(33:27):
your Olympic journey in 2021. And now we have this most recent, most successful
Olympic journey that you were able to have Cody and Caleb with you, which I'm sure was a lot
more enjoyable than the first experience. With all the things that we've talked about with your
(33:48):
experience in 2021, how has that experience or just like life experience that you've experienced
from 2021 to 2024, how has that helped you in this most recent Olympics as you prepared to go for
gold and be a part of the team, not as an alternate, but as a rostered player? How has all these things
(34:13):
that we've talked about helped you in this most recent Olympics? I think just all of those life
experiences that we've talked about just continue to give me perspective on things and they help me
to play more freely, to be perfectly honest. I look back at what my thought process was when
(34:34):
I was younger and all these things. And now I'm just like, things just seem more clear, I guess.
And because of that, it allows me to play more freely. So I'd say that's the biggest thing.
Totally. I totally agree with you. I have a final question, but if you have any other questions,
Matt, I want you to be able to chime in before I ask my final question.
(34:57):
Here's like two funny questions. These are the ones I'm going serious. We're going to take it
up to the humor level. You ready? I think it's really interesting for us lay people that aren't
professional athletes to know, one, like, what do you do outside of soccer? Are you a Netflix person?
(35:18):
Are you hiking? What are you doing? And then two, what's the junk food choice? Like when you don't
have to be strict on yourself with nutrition, which I know is red, I know I can't. What do you
like really indulging? What's what's is it chocolate? Answer those questions for me.
(35:39):
Yeah, those are fun. Outside of soccer, I would say, yeah, we love to like do outdoorsy things.
We actually got e-bikes. So we've been using those lately and we like toke love in the back. So
that's been really fun. I need a picture of this. Yeah, I got to show you tomorrow. So that's what
we've been doing. Also big into Netflix. I love true crime. Any documentary like bonnet. Makes sense.
(36:05):
Yeah. Oh yeah. And then my junk food of choice ice cream. I am total sweet treat kind of gal.
What's your what's your flavor? What's your go to ice cream flavor?
I I really like cake batter from Cold Stone. And my topping of choice is sprinkles. Nice and basic.
(36:27):
Sounds like my father's ice cream. Yeah, I'm a child. That's yeah.
Before Ashley answers her last question, I have a I have a recommendation for you.
True crime. It's not like reality. It's drama. It's it's not real. Fictionalized. It's called
killing Eve on Netflix. Have you seen it? Killing Eve? I have not seen it. Highly recommend it.
(36:54):
Okay. Like this. It's this crime. I don't want to give too much away. Killing Eve. Give it a try.
Let me know if you like it. Got it. Noted. Thank you. Okay. So did you get any grudos today after
training? I did. I sure did. That was my first time having it. Well, oh, first time. So we had
yeah, an ice cream truck soft serve grudos. It's a pretty popular soft serve place in Leesburg.
(37:21):
Come to our training to welcome our Olympians back. So what was your grudos order? I got vanilla
and sprinkles. Super basic, but it was delicious. Consistent. You got to say true to you. Yeah,
that's awesome. Well, I didn't. I was I wasn't. I know. I know I should have, but I wasn't feeling
(37:49):
it today and it was like a busy day and so I didn't. But everyone kept walking by with these
like huge bowls of like soft serve and like I think Aubrey had like a bunch of brownies and a
whole scoop of cookie dough on top. And I was like, Oh my gosh. I was like, that's why I can't go get
it. That's way too much. I'm gonna have a stomach ache later. But yeah, it looked amazing. But
(38:13):
anyway, my last and final question for you, Casey, we've been through a lot. Thank you so much for
answering all of our questions and sharing so much about your journey with us. I think there's a lot
of really cool lessons that we've been able to pull from your story. So thanks for sharing.
Um, my last question for you is what advice would you give to any players? Um, who may be thinking
(38:38):
about starting their family and wanting to be a mother and continuing to play as they embark on
that journey? What advice would you give them? Uh, my advice is to absolutely go for it. Um,
you're gonna have doubts. You're gonna have, you know, the voices in your head saying you can't do
this, all this, but just believe in yourself and go for it. Like it's, it's doable. The support is
(39:02):
just incredible now. Um, yeah, I think no better time to do it. Um, and so many, so many women are
showing that it's possible to do it and to do it at the highest level. And I think it's the coolest
thing ever. And it's the most special thing to have, you know, your kid there for the journey,
um, along the way. These are the coolest memories and we're gonna look back on this and, and I
(39:26):
think we're gonna be able to do it again and just remember how incredible this experience was.
That's awesome. Thanks for sharing. Yeah. Thank you, Casey. Yeah. So much. Thanks for coming.
We appreciate it so much. Thanks for having me. I'm honored to be on. Yeah, of course. Yeah. I'm
so excited that we were able to make it work. And like I said, we really appreciate your time and
(39:51):
tomorrow. Yeah. We'll see you real soon. Yes. Awesome. Casey's episode was awesome. So excited
to have her so excited that we got to talk to her. I think my biggest takeaway and what I love the
most is what you said about this life isn't meant to be done alone. And I think it was really cool
(40:13):
that Casey shared about her support system, her husband, Caleb, her athletic trainers. And I think
throughout all these stages of life that we all experience, there's always key people who helped
us through hard times who are with us in the good times. And I think life's just all about people.
So I, I really liked that common theme among all of her stories. I know. Hi, Ditto. I, let me ask
(40:40):
you, is she an amazing teammate? Yes. Right? Like, it's pretty obvious. Yeah. Yeah. Like she just
feels like she would be really great to be around on a daily basis. She seems very humble. She seems
like a great partner, a great teammate, et cetera. I mean, I asked her about her mental performance
(41:03):
and hobbies and her injury, going through injury and all of these different experiences and you as
well. And there was always someone else that she mentioned within her stories. My husband,
my husband was this and my athletic trainer was this and teammates were this and my son. And like,
(41:23):
you can tell again that like connection and relatedness for her is so important. And it
reiterates that adage of we can't do this life thing alone. And she, I think illustrates that
beautifully and forming those connections and utilizing those connections for the betterment
(41:44):
of who she is as a human being, not only as a soccer player, but yeah, wife, mother, et cetera.
Yeah. Well, I mean, when you asked me that question, I remember it just like popped into
my head. I'm pretty sure it was like last week, but we were just both sitting on the bench,
like waiting for training to start. It was a really hot day and there was like a little bit
of shade when you're sitting right up against the wall. And so we were both just sitting there,
(42:07):
like tying our shoes, like getting ready for training. And she, in her like very, like, she
has a very like just soft, like calming and welcoming, like warm presence. Maybe it's because
she's a mother, I don't know. But she just turned to me, she's like, how are you doing? Like in that
voice that she has just very soothing and kind. And I was just like, I'm doing all right. Like
(42:32):
things have been kind of hard lately, but I'm good. And I was just, I just really appreciated it that
she turned to me and like took two seconds out of her day before we like got into training to like
genuinely ask how I was doing. And I told her that I was like, I really appreciate you asking,
like, thank you. And I could just feel her sincerity and her warmth and her love when she asked that.
(42:55):
And I even like came home or was talking to Jeff from my home and I was like, Casey asked me how
I was doing today. It was really kind of her. So yes, you're spot on with that. She's a great
teammate. And she's also a great soccer player. So she's, she has it all. Yeah. Yeah. And I'm sure
you're not the, I'm sure you're one of thousands that have said similar things about her. Like
(43:20):
she's so easy to be around and she's so authentic and she's very soft spoken and very nonjudgmental
and very loving. And she just seems that way. So it was a pleasure to say the least to have her on
as a guest. She, she set the bar really high. So now moving forward, we've got to find really
wonderful people. Yes. Yes. Looking forward to it. Next guest, no pressure at all. No pressure,
(43:47):
whoever you are. And to the past guests, it's not that you weren't equally as cool and important.
We're just saying how wonderful Casey is. Yes. Exactly. If any of the past guests are listening,
please don't take offense. Yes. That's not what we mean. Anyways, we wrapped this up.
Yes. Let's wrap this up. We are ending, we're creeping up to the end of our season one,
(44:11):
which we're, yes, which we have learned a lot and it's been lots of fun and it's been a great
journey. So we have a couple more episodes ahead of us. We're excited. Um, but just wanted to
keep everyone in the loop and thanks for listening. Like comment, love, subscribe, share,
share. Yes. All those things. Yep. Adios. Bye.
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