Kickin' Back

Dr. Colleen Hacker, David Copeland-Smith and Ashlee Fontes-Comber join Jeff Kassouf on Podcast Row at the 2021 United Soccer Coaches Convention. Dr. Hacker discusses her decades of experience as a mental skills coach and performance psychologist at the highest levels of international sport. Then, Beast Mode Soccer and My Soccer Training app founder David Copeland-Smith sheds light on the rise of individual training, and United Soccer Coaches vice president Ashlee Fontes-Comber discusses investment in women's soccer.

With the chaos of 2020 behind her, NWSL commissioner Lisa Baird joins Kickin' Back to recap a successful but challenging year, and teases what’s ahead for the league, including expansion strategies, the relationship with U.S. Soccer, and a league rebrand ahead of the 10th-anniversary season.

You can thank Esmeralda Negron for the ability to watch live European women's soccer on TV each weekend in the United States. She co-founded Atalanta Media with Hannah Brown, together founding a company which is redefining the value of women's soccer media rights. Negron joins Kickin' Back to discuss jumping into a startup, the future valuation of women's soccer, and how her successful playing and coaching career led her to this role.

You know Heather O'Reilly as the fierce competitor who won Olympic gold medals and a World Cup title with the United States women's national team. Now, Heather is a mom, a coach at UNC, a TV broadcaster and an entrepreneur. 'HAO' joins the pod to talk about life after soccer, her new view on life as a mom, learning from her old coach in new ways, and even some crazy high school memories.

Vero Boquete is a pioneer in Spanish women's football. She outlines why she has no regrets over sacrificing her own international career to stand up for the next generation of players, and shares stories of being the only girl in her town who played soccer growing up. Now, there is a stadium named after her there, and she just signed with AC Milan, making Italy the eighth country she has played in professionally.

Kelly Simmons is the director of the women's professional game for the FA. She joins Kickin' Back to discuss the professionalization of women's club soccer in England, the rapid growth and internationalization which followed, and the ongoing balancing act which next year will see a homegrown player quota introduced.

Kristie Mewis is in the form of her life for the Houston Dash, which earned her a return to United States national team camp. Kristie shares her journey of falling out of favor with the U.S. -- her last cap was over six years ago -- to being traded multiple times in the NWSL and finding herself after her ACL injury in Houston. Her revival is among the best on-field stories in a weird 2020.

Lesle Gallimore is the commissioner of the newly formed Girls Academy, and elite youth league which was formed after U.S. Soccer dissolved the Development Academy. Gallimore is a longtime coach and has a vision for a unified approach to youth soccer and one which eventually incorporates support from the professional ranks. She shares her visionary plans on the latest Kickin' Back.

This week, Jess Fishlock joins Kickin' Back to discuss her experience at the NWSL Challenge Cup, the uncertainty of the future, and the circumstances that led to her current loan with the WSL club Reading.

Aly Wagner joins the Kickin' Back podcast to discuss her career broadcasting soccer, the big stories and tactical trends we saw at the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup, and the future evolution of women's soccer.

Shea Groom joins the Kickin' Back podcast to discuss her arrival at the Houston Dash at a time when she needed a fresh start. Shea discusses why she plays with a chip on her shoulder and how that influences her tough but creative style of play, plus why the entire new-look Dash team has embraced that identity.

Unexpected house guests, a Peloton bike, and exceptional cooking: these are the quarantine stories of roommates Sam Mewis and Lynn Williams, who are teammates on the North Carolina Courage and U.S. women's national team. Williams and Mewis are also player representatives on the NWSLPA and USWNTPA, respectively. They discuss their roles in making the NWSL Challenge Cup happen and in supporting the Black Lives Matter movement.

Former United States international goalkeeper and World Cup champion Saskia Webber joins Kickin' Back to talk about what the sport was like in the '90s, including her experiences as game-changer in 1999 and the mixed-emotions she had as an alternate at the 1996 Olympics. She also discusses the U.S.' ability to produce great goalkeepers, and women's soccer's ongoing fight for equality.

Nicole Hercules is the chair of the United Soccer Coaches Black Coaches Advocacy Group, the first woman to hold the role. Nicole and I discuss the need for more Black coaches across all levels of soccer, the need for those hiring to better educate themselves on diversity, and how her group is working toward change. Nicole also shares her experiences in bringing soccer training to Black communities.

Houston Dash forward Jamia Fields joins the Kickin' Back pod to discuss racism and being a Black player in the National Women's Soccer League.

Jamia and Dash teammates recently participated in a protest in downtown Houston, the hometown of George Floyd, the 46-year-old Black man who was killed by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Jamia shares that now, at age 26, she is just starting to have conversations about race outside of her family.

NWSL Players Association co-executive director Yael Averbuch West joins the podcast to discuss racial inequality in the world, and how NWSL players are using their platforms to speak out against racism. Yael and Jeff have a self-reflective conversation about their roles in combating racism.

Yael also speaks about the players' ability to secure guaranteed pay for the NWSL Challenge Cup during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the health challenges which made her step away from the pro game (but why she'll never use the word "retired").

Ali Riley is the captain of the New Zealand women's national soccer team and she is set to play in the U.S. again for the first time in nearly a decade after signing with the Orlando Pride. Ali discusses her career and lessons from Europe, playing for New Zealand after growing up in California and fighting for the next generation of women's players. She also shares some of her favorite vegan recipes, as well as her choice for the best of the many videos she created back in the day.

Is there a more versatile soccer player in the world than Crystal Dunn Soubrier? She is the starting fullback for the World Cup champions, the United States women's national team, and a starting central midfielder for the NWSL champions, the North Carolina Courage.

Versatility is nothing new to Crystal, but only recently did she begin to embrace that as a positive attribute. In this episode of Kickin' Back, we discuss her successful career to date, finding her superpower, silencing the doubters, and how she and her husband deal with working for rival teams.

Two-time World Cup champion Becky Sauerbrunn kicks it to discuss her rise from a young player lacking confidence to arguably the best center back in the world over the past decade. Her journey includes emergency duty in the 2011 World Cup semifinal, shenanigans and championships in the U.S. pro leagues, and finally coming home to Portland for the latter stage of her storied career to actually get some work/life balance.