Like, when you think back to the soccer, the soccer you grew up with, maybe as, as compared to the soccer now that we're living and experiencing particularly here in America, like, how would you compare and contrast the two?

Well, I think the opportunity now and the, the opportunity to play at a high level at a young age, um, is endless for girls, which is awesome.

Growing up for me, um, there wasn't as many teams around, but also I would say growing up, like, I didn't make the jump from rec soccer to club- youth club soccer until I was 13 years old.

People are flabbergasted by that because they're starting their kids at, like, seven years old now.

I will not be having my daughter in youth club soccer at seven years old.

I just don't think that you need to really suck the fun out of it and be training multiple times a week with games on the weekend every weekend, and traveling both in and out of the state at that age.

Um, so I think that there's definitely pros and cons to it, but my experience was a little bit different because I chose to play on my city rec AYSO soccer team for many years, and my parents were like, "When you are ready to make the jump, you're ready to make the jump," and I did, and propelled, um, after that getting on the youth national team and getting scouted for college, but I was definitely late to the game, um, s- back then, and now it would be unheard of.

Was there a ton of pressure? Was the pressure coming from coaches? Was the pressure coming from, like, your friends' family? Like, what were you feeling when you were one of the few maybe holdouts for as good as you were, one of the few holdouts that wasn't going the real competitive club route at that young age?

Ooh

... you know, fancy title, but also involves, as you can imagine, quite a lot of travel.

I really enjoyed that.

I'd been so into my career and, like, loved the travel aspect of it.

Really, really, really w- was always thinking about, like, what, what next? What opportunities could I look for? And really quite focused on climbing that ladder.

I loved working in a university.

Like, it's quite a cool place to work in...

Mm-hmm

But what were you doing before the academy and, and what led you to sign up for the academy? And, and I guess even more specifically, what, what made you decide Sargent was the place you wanted to, to give it a go, so to speak? And, uh, Alex, why don't we start with you?

Yeah.

So, uh, you know, I was...

I came, uh, straight out of high school, had a two-week lull there, and then started the academy.

Um, coming out of high school, I didn't really see myself going to college.

I didn't have, you know, a degree that was in the back of my mind that I wanted.

Um, so I, I probably would have ended up at, uh, you know, like a small town construction outfit around my neighborhood or whatever.

When, when did you know that was, or what was the moment that you, you decided you wanted to head in that path? And I'm kinda curious if there were any folks around you that had a positive influence on, on helping you in that direction.

I'm not sure if, if you realize this, 'cause I certainly didn't, that less than 5% of registered soccer coaches globally and only 16% of FIFA council members are women.

Yeah, I mean, uh, you said it perfectly.

That is, uh, something that I think we can both be doing from the top down from FIFA, but from the bottom up as well.

Um, there are a lack of female coaches.

There are a lack of female executives from the top down.

Um, and I think that it's important to recognize that, and, um, and to increase that.

And that has been very slow over the 15 years that I have played, um, on, uh, on the international stage, and it has been slower than we have wanted, for sure.

The, the implication of course is that, you know, with the lack of representation, some of the critical decisions that are being made about al- almost everything important to athletes like you, uh, and the other ladies on our national team and playing in the, in the professional league here in the US, is you just have less say regarding everything, salaries, broadcasting, uh, logistical decisions, decisions that are being made by people who have never experienced the game from a, a woman's perspective, certainly not a woman soccer, uh, player's perspective.

And honestly, if people who don't follow soccer probably did something like this case, maybe gaming and sports is part of the conversation about labor rights, sexism, media coverage, and the downside of basing something on athletics.

The lawsuit was filed by members of the United States Women's National Soccer Team.

Players like Alex Morgan, Megan McNeil-Ragnum, Charlie Lloyd, Becky Sovereign, and others against the United States Sovereign Federation, often referred to as the USS F.

The players also alleged unequal treatment in travel-arranged, fanciful telecom nations, meaning support staffing and financial

assistance.

One of the major issues actually involved artificial turf.

The women argued that they were often required to play on artificial turf, while the men were more frequently allowed to play on natural grass, which a lot of athletes believe was safer and more consistent.

And what is it more? Tell us more about what it is for you.

Yes, I've been completely unaware of this link between autism, ADHD and Ehlers-Danlos.

But having read about it, it's remarkable that the two things do seem to come together disproportionately.

So there is obviously there's something going on in our makeup.

And for me, that has explained so much about my difficulties.

And I think there's a huge amount of very high number of women who are undiagnosed autistics who are struggling to work out what their difficulties are to do with.

And I think the same is true of Ehlers-Danlos.

What do you what do you think what activated that in you?

[laughs]

Yeah.

But it's, it's a beautiful game.

It's a game that, you know, the culture around it is so, I think, inviting and exciting and, like, different, right? All these different countries bring a different element when they're cheering for their teams.

They got their different chants.

They have their different rituals, traditions, and it's just cool.

Like, I think that sports is one of the u- the most uniting things that we have.

Yeah.

How do you think the concept of safety looks different for you since learning about your autism?

Yeah.

It, it, it has really changed how I feel about that.

I'm not sure that the world has changed.

The world is still, to me, confusing.

Um, neurotypical people to me are baffling.

They're illogical, they're dishonest, they're mean[laughs] all sorts of things.

Looking back, how do you think autistic burnout has shown up in your life?

Mm-hmm.

Um, but yeah, after giving birth, you know, it was ...

It's tough.

You don't know how your body is going to respond, and, um-Now with all of the- the family support from the NWSL and the national team, it makes it a lot easier, um, to have kids and continue to play soccer.

But easier, but not easy.

(laughs) And the celebration too that I- I think you've talked about a little bit of the attention that it brought, right?

It did.

I never would have thought, you know, I- I stepped on the bus, um, to go to the game, um, from our hotel and I was drinking coffee.

How are you feeling?

I'm feeling really good.

Just very loved.

I feel like I just have given so much to this city and I just absolutely love living here, raising my kids here.

And so to have my number retired, um, this weekend is gonna be a really great moment for me and my family.

Mm-hmm.

"... be one of the best clubs in the world? How can I continue to advocate for the NWBL for women's sports, for women's soccer?" Um, it was always, like, top priority for me.

And, um, I feel grateful that I get to not only have, like, a lasting, um, like, job and connection with San Diego-

Do you feel like there was a point in your career where you had a shift in your confidence level? Like, I get the imposter syndrome is weird because it's like who would get used to millions of people tuning in in these huge moments in your career? But, like, did your confidence ever be like, okay, I'm feeling better about myself and my game and, like, who I am in this league?

Yeah.

I think in 2015, we won the World Cup and I felt like it was like that was the first time in a long time we had won the World Cup.

And we felt like, okay, we want to celebrate and we want to party, but we still have to be, like, buttoned up and we still have to be, like, girls.

We have to be nice women where we have to say the right thing.

You can't curse, you can't, like, you don't want to be seen, like, drinking, God forbid, smoking a cigar when you celebrate.

Like, no, that doesn't happen.

And for my listeners who may not be as familiar, can you talk about what led you and your teammates to sue the US Soccer Federation for equal pay?