Latest / The BIG LIFE / Upsets, Underdogs & Parents in the Pod; Lots to Be Grateful For!

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Upsets, Underdogs & Parents in the Pod; Lots to Be Grateful For! · The BIG LIFE

• 0:00
  Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the Big Life Podcast. I'm Leah Klinke.
• 0:04
  And I'm Kate Phillips. And we are so excited to be here today and can't wait
• 0:09
  for you guys to hear from some very special guests that we have.
• 0:12
  But before that, Leah, let's talk about the games from this past week and the
• 0:17
  teams that are headed to what? Is it Elite Eight?
• 0:21
  Mm-hmm. The Elite Eight, Yeah, so it's been a crazy like couple weeks of games,
• 0:27
  64 teams starting like just over a week ago and now there's, we're down to eight.
• 0:32
  So that's kind of insane. So we have FSU, Duke, Ohio State, Michigan State,
• 0:40
  Washington, TCU, Vanderbilt and Stanford.
• 0:45
  So first let's talk about like
• 0:48
  kind of what teams like surprise
• 0:51
  you that are still in and then what team let's like
• 0:55
  do some prediction what team do you think is going to win the whole thing
• 0:57
  so let's start off with first like teams is there
• 1:00
  any like team in there that like surprises you that they've made
• 1:03
  that far or I'm going to be honest I
• 1:06
  think the three three big
• 1:09
  10 teams have surprised me just because
• 1:12
  I feel like historically besides Penn State Big Ten teams Iowa's done well in
• 1:18
  the tournament but a lot of Big Ten teams don't always make it that far in the
• 1:23
  in the tournament and Ohio State who is an unranked seed coming in is killing it Michigan State,
• 1:32
  I don't know if they're an unranked team, killing it. And then Washington,
• 1:36
  I mean, they won the Big Ten, but they are also killing it.
• 1:40
  I mean, Ohio State and Michigan State both are, like, playing so well right now.
• 1:45
  Yeah. I mean, it's time to be playing well, but, like, it kind of surprised
• 1:50
  me a little bit. Yeah. How about you?
• 1:53
  And kind of going off that, like, the fact that you see, or it's just,
• 1:57
  like, a testament to, like, women's soccer and, like, how,
• 2:00
  like, you just have to take it one game at a time because anything can happen
• 2:03
  like there's so many one and two seeds like already knocked out like
• 2:06
  anything can happen on any given day like
• 2:09
  anyone can win so yeah and I kind of agree
• 2:11
  with you I feel like I mean like FSU and
• 2:14
  Stanford I'm in Duke like not surprised about TCU did good against University
• 2:20
  Vanderbilt there they had a good year and they've been doing well so yeah I
• 2:25
  mean I'd say Ohio State and Michigan State mainly too yeah those are both teams
• 2:29
  that we we've played Obviously, two good teams.
• 2:32
  So I'm kind of cheering for them, though, at the same time. I'm like, I hope they do well.
• 2:36
  But yeah, now let's go over who do you think is going to win the whole thing?
• 2:42
  I feel like we'll probably have the same answer. I'm going to say Stanford.
• 2:46
  I mean, they are just like, I haven't really watched their games. I've seen highlights.
• 2:51
  They are literally just pummeling teams. Like, they scored the past two games.
• 2:56
  I don't know how many goals they scored last game. Maybe six?
• 2:59
  They scored six? I think six, yeah. I think. It was like a lot.
• 3:03
  Goals. Yeah. The game before, they scored seven goals against Alabama.
• 3:08
  And it was like kind of back and forth against Alabama. And then they just went boom.
• 3:12
  Like they were like, no. Like we're just going to go score.
• 3:15
  Seven goals is insane.
• 3:18
  Yeah. And I mean, even against BYU, six goals, like.
• 3:22
  It's not like those are bad teams in any way. They just have such good forwards
• 3:27
  that just put the ball in the back.
• 3:30
  Like, just go back and forth, back and forth. Yeah.
• 3:33
  Yeah. And they have, like, it's not, like, one person that's scoring all their goals.
• 3:36
  Like, they have a few really good goals for us. But it's, like,
• 3:38
  also there's, like, six different people scoring, like, some of their games. So, definitely.
• 3:44
  I don't even know if she had been starting, like, when, like,
• 3:47
  you guys played her and or played Stanford and then, like, the other games.
• 3:51
  Hadn't really been starting I think and playing much and
• 3:54
  then comes in this BYU game and I saw had like
• 3:57
  two goals and two assists yeah coming off off
• 4:00
  from a freshman that they just started and then
• 4:03
  they obviously have all the a lot of star players their
• 4:06
  goalkeepers wait like yeah yeah from the
• 4:09
  back from everybody on their team it's like
• 4:11
  you can put anybody on the field and they're just gonna go
• 4:14
  and like dominate yeah yeah and they've been consistent throughout
• 4:18
  this entire season like they've had a great season not really
• 4:21
  a lot of hiccups I think they've maybe lost and tied
• 4:24
  one game somewhere back there but yeah no
• 4:26
  they've been and they've really put on put on the gas in this postseason and
• 4:30
  have been just killing everyone so I agree I think I think Stanford has the
• 4:35
  best shot but I mean I'm excited to watch these games just until the end yeah
• 4:41
  okay so we're looking at the bracket and Ohio State Florida State play each other.
• 4:47
  Who do you think at that game? I'm going to go with Florida State.
• 4:51
  Florida State, yeah. I think I would agree. And then Stanford, Michigan State.
• 4:55
  Stanford. Stanford. And then Stanford, Florida State. I feel like Stanford.
• 5:01
  Yeah. I think Stanford, too. That would be a really good game,
• 5:05
  though. I mean, FSU's got some really, really good forwards.
• 5:07
  Anything could happen, but mine would be on Stanford.
• 5:11
  I agree. I think also, defensively, Stanford is a better team.
• 5:16
  Game and organize them Florida State I think Florida
• 5:19
  State this year's had a little bit of trouble with your
• 5:22
  defensively I know goalkeepers they've
• 5:25
  been in and out of yeah yeah yeah and then on the other side it's TCU Vanderbilt
• 5:33
  that'll be a really good game that is gonna be a good game that'll be a great
• 5:38
  game I think Vanderbilt like when they were playing LSU which LSU's.
• 5:43
  Best player, their forward.
• 5:45
  She was hurt and trying to play, so...
• 5:49
  It wasn't, like, as great as the game as it had been, them already playing in
• 5:53
  the past, like, past games.
• 5:55
  But Vanderbilt is just, like, on top of teams. Like, they're just in their box the whole game.
• 6:01
  I don't know. I feel like Vanderbilt might come out on that.
• 6:03
  I haven't watched too much of TCU, though.
• 6:05
  Yeah, they have been yet. I'm going to say TCU just because I feel like TCU is pretty consistent.
• 6:11
  They're always, like, one of the top teams. Like, they have experience in NCAA
• 6:18
  tournaments a lot, and Vanderbilt has some too, but I don't know.
• 6:22
  I think TCU might pull that one off. Yeah.
• 6:26
  And then we have Duke and Washington. I think Duke's going to win.
• 6:31
  Washington's been doing great, though, so I don't know. They're all going to
• 6:34
  be such good games. It's so hard to decide. I know.
• 6:37
  I feel like Duke and that—I feel like it might end up being,
• 6:41
  like, Duke and Stanford in the finals.
• 6:43
  So that'll be fun to watch and see but now let's transition to the guests we
• 6:51
  have coming on our podcast so today we have some really exciting guests and
• 6:56
  we can't wait for all of you guys to hear from them yes we can't wait let's get them on,
• 7:02
  Today we're here with our parents as a special guest.
• 7:05
  We thought that with Thanksgiving coming up, we thought it would be good to
• 7:09
  bring our parents on the podcast because we are so grateful for them and all
• 7:13
  the support they have given us throughout our years.
• 7:16
  So first, let's start off with just introducing yourselves.
• 7:20
  I'm Erin Klinky. I'm Leah's mom. Greg Klinky, Leah's father.
• 7:24
  I'm Laura Phillips, Kate's mom. Chris Phillips, I think I'm Kate's dad.
• 7:30
  Okay, first question is, why did you guys decide to put us into soccer in the
• 7:35
  beginning when we were little?
• 7:37
  Probably just because it was something to do. Everybody else was kind of doing it.
• 7:41
  You were playing soccer and basketball and softball, I guess.
• 7:46
  So it was just kind of what we did, all the kids and what we're doing it.
• 7:49
  So we did it as well, I think.
• 7:51
  And then the club was really close. It's like 10 minutes from our house.
• 7:56
  So I guess she did start with like church league and then school league,
• 8:00
  but then quickly got into the rec league at the club and then quickly into the
• 8:04
  academy or whatever they call it. But it was the fields were super close to our house.
• 8:08
  And the cousins played soccer and we like soccer as a family.
• 8:14
  I came from St. Louis. It's a huge soccer town. That's what you did in St. Louis.
• 8:18
  There really wasn't football and as much in St. Louis was pretty much so a soccer town.
• 8:23
  Kate's great grandpa's in the Hall of Fame. game my brother
• 8:26
  played I played and Kate's sister played so it was just kind of the thing and
• 8:31
  her brothers followed baseball so I needed someone to play soccer and I wasn't
• 8:37
  going to go for a fifth kid so Kate got to play yeah and your fields were close
• 8:42
  too initially yeah so it was really easy,
• 8:45
  ultimately it became 45 minutes away but that's just
• 8:48
  that's just what happened you guys know this
• 8:51
  is something like i could pursue like later
• 8:54
  i guess in life it wasn't just
• 8:57
  like something fun to do i think it was when kate's mom played volleyball at
• 9:01
  missouri and was a division one volleyball player and was out of town and asked
• 9:04
  me to take kate to a volleyball tryout for one of the better teams and i took
• 9:10
  her and afterwards she called me in the car and said how'd she do And I said, she killed it.
• 9:14
  She'll probably make the team. And when Kate got in the car,
• 9:16
  she said, I'm never playing volleyball again.
• 9:20
  And I said, well, I think you just made the team. She's like,
• 9:23
  yeah, I want to play soccer. That's my thing.
• 9:26
  I'm like, you better call your mom and have that discussion. I'm not having that.
• 9:31
  Yeah, no, I didn't. I didn't pressure you to do it. But they're silly.
• 9:36
  So Kate is the youngest with three older brothers. And to know Kate is,
• 9:42
  you know, that you don't tell her she can't do something.
• 9:45
  So as soon as someone would push her like an older brother, no,
• 9:50
  she was going to be successful at whatever it is that she did.
• 9:53
  So I knew right away at that point that no matter what it was that she decided
• 9:58
  to do, it was she was going to be really good at it. And so soccer became her thing.
• 10:02
  And it was probably sixth grade when you decided no more volleyball.
• 10:07
  No more basketball even. and it was going to be all in soccer and I was fine
• 10:11
  because she was she was happy doing it.
• 10:14
  What about you guys? When did you guys know that I could pursue it later and
• 10:18
  like be successful at it?
• 10:20
  I guess. For me it was really her drive and determination.
• 10:23
  She would come home from every practice and hit the ball on the wall and the
• 10:28
  concrete on the brick wall that we have outside and she would go for extra runs
• 10:32
  and just even our neighbors were like when she went to college So,
• 10:36
  like, we missed that sound of the ball hitting the wall.
• 10:39
  Like, she just constantly would, she just loved it and would constantly,
• 10:43
  like, put in extra work. So...
• 10:46
  Yeah, I agree completely that that would be my answer to the question is coming
• 10:51
  home from, you know, a long, you know, hour and a half practice and she wouldn't come in the house.
• 10:56
  She'd just stay outside and continue getting, you know, a thousand more touches
• 11:00
  before coming in, slamming the ball against the wall, making me go out and throw
• 11:04
  the ball as hard as I could to her so she could work on trapping.
• 11:08
  But, you know, the fact that we had to convince her to come in to eat dinner,
• 11:11
  to do homework, get her, you know, stop playing soccer. That's kind of when
• 11:15
  we realized that she had this drive, you know, inside of her that,
• 11:19
  you know, she wanted to get better.
• 11:22
  We didn't have to. We had to tell her to slow down to stop.
• 11:24
  We never had to, you know, light a fire underneath her.
• 11:27
  And that's when you kind of knew that something was up that,
• 11:31
  you know, this is going to escalate.
• 11:34
  Did you guys, or when I was getting, like, recruited to college,
• 11:37
  was that stressful for you guys?
• 11:39
  Or how was that experience, like, from a parent's perspective?
• 11:41
  And like how do you recommend I guess parents to deal with that well it was
• 11:46
  before the rule change so she was super young in eighth grade so that was like
• 11:50
  kind of nerve-wracking because she,
• 11:52
  really hadn't even you were just starting your growth spurt I
• 11:55
  mean you were little and 14 years old I guess I mean really young so that was
• 12:01
  kind of nerve-wracking but I think it was spring break and you drove her all
• 12:05
  over the country I think yeah we did some of that yeah I mean I didn't it wasn't
• 12:10
  nerve wracking. I just couldn't believe it was happening.
• 12:12
  So just kind of rode with it. And she was probably too young to feel stress or have stress.
• 12:19
  So we just kind of, I, you know, again, I was kind of not believing it was happening
• 12:24
  and nothing, you know, that.
• 12:26
  A couple of years from now, this is when it's going to pick up,
• 12:29
  but it escalated as well pretty quickly.
• 12:33
  So, but it was fairly, I didn't get very stressed at it, you know,
• 12:38
  in looking back at it, the fact that you were so young is a little stressful.
• 12:43
  But I think that we had conversations on, you know, if you could handle it,
• 12:49
  you know, once we realized that it was actually for real, what we were doing
• 12:53
  and it wasn't just for fun.
• 12:55
  You know, we had conversations, but I mean, your age was the biggest worry, I think.
• 13:01
  Yeah. It's certainly better that the rules change now, though,
• 13:04
  because I was way too young to make a college decision, but it worked out.
• 13:08
  But your recruiting happened so early, so young, and it really happened quickly.
• 13:14
  Like it started and finished within six months, really.
• 13:18
  Yeah. So we didn't have much time to, that was kind of a good part of it. It got over quick.
• 13:26
  Yeah, I was fortunate that the rule had changed before I started getting recruited.
• 13:32
  So at least we weren't dealing with, yeah, eighth grade, at least that showcases
• 13:37
  like there are still coaches there in eighth grade and seventh grade,
• 13:40
  which is just crazy to me to think you don't know where you want to be then.
• 13:44
  You like the idea of a school and, oh, I think I want to do at this school just
• 13:50
  because you watch somebody on Instagram or TikTok and think you need to be there.
• 13:55
  But no, I think it was a benefit that everything had changed for you.
• 14:01
  Do you think it was stressful? I mean, you were the fourth to go through it.
• 14:05
  So we kind of had been through it.
• 14:06
  I thought the neatest part of the process was watching. I remember I was driving
• 14:11
  her to practice one day and a school had called and she was in the car and it
• 14:15
  was a pretty high level school and the conversation and when she got off she's
• 14:19
  like yeah that I can't go to that school,
• 14:21
  So I thought that process for Kate was different than her brother's where she
• 14:26
  was like, no, that one isn't right. Yes, this is what I want to do.
• 14:29
  And even your final decision, when we were at Missouri, you were sitting at
• 14:34
  the table and the coaches left and you said you were going there.
• 14:37
  I said, wait, you can get some scholarships here. You could do this.
• 14:41
  And you're like, no, this is where I'm going. We had been through it.
• 14:43
  Yeah, that was nice. Did you ever think that I'd be going to play,
• 14:47
  I guess, Division I sports? Yeah, I think we kind of knew.
• 14:51
  That you had been through with your brothers and it was not even a question.
• 14:56
  You were like, I'm going to go play.
• 14:57
  And you, you had seen it all happen. So for you, it was a little bit easier.
• 15:01
  I tell parents all the time, cause we obviously had four to play in college
• 15:05
  and they said any advice.
• 15:07
  And I said, I always say two things is one, when your kid starts telling you
• 15:11
  what they want, you know, cause a lot of it is, Hey, we're taking them to practice.
• 15:15
  No, I don't want to go or whatever. But at some point it flips where they start telling you.
• 15:19
  And that's when you know, they're ready and the second thing
• 15:23
  is i this did not happen with kate but with all three
• 15:26
  of the others where they had offers and they couldn't make
• 15:29
  a they couldn't make the final yes they would they'd
• 15:32
  go let me think about it and call back and i'm like well this is kind of where
• 15:35
  you fit and everything's working and that they i don't believe their brain at
• 15:40
  that age has developed enough to for most kids to just say yeah that's what
• 15:44
  i'm gonna do and that was the most interesting part going through with all the
• 15:48
  kids is the other three had to, when they got their offers.
• 15:52
  Think about it and were really nervous and couldn't make, say,
• 15:55
  yeah, I want to do it because they still were one to look around and things.
• 15:59
  So that, that was, I think, a little easier with Kate because her mom had went to Missouri from St.
• 16:04
  Louis. So it was a pretty easy, it was a lot easier decision for you.
• 16:07
  The journalism school was the key too.
• 16:10
  And, and making the right fit as far as,
• 16:13
  academic scope. It wasn't a shot. All the way back to your question,
• 16:18
  though, is no, there was never a question in my mind that you would be a Division
• 16:21
  I athlete, no matter what it was that you decided to do.
• 16:24
  I mean, I had been through it. I knew what it took.
• 16:28
  You've seen your brothers. You know what it takes.
• 16:31
  And no, there was never a question in my mind.
• 16:34
  But then what school you picked, that was more as far as trying to figure out
• 16:40
  where you were the right fit?
• 16:43
  I mean, for me, it was not, were you going to play Division I?
• 16:47
  It was which sport, either soccer or track.
• 16:50
  Leah had a really successful track career alongside soccer.
• 16:56
  So it was more of like, which sport is it going to be?
• 16:59
  When you were in sixth grade, I would have been like, oh, that would be awesome
• 17:03
  if she's a Division I athlete. And obviously it happened so quick by eighth
• 17:08
  grade. I'm like, I can't believe my daughter's going to be a division one athlete.
• 17:12
  You know, it's like jaw dropping. Yeah. So in the fact that,
• 17:16
  you know, as I said before, we, I'd like to take some credit for it,
• 17:20
  but she did all the work herself.
• 17:25
  Really? We drove. That's about it.
• 17:27
  And how does it feel for you guys both having graduated from Notre Dame and
• 17:31
  now for me to go there and be graduating in two weeks how's that I mean it's
• 17:37
  unbelievable I think I might cry but.
• 17:41
  Like amazing we always said Talia like don't pick the school because this is
• 17:46
  where we went to school and we were kind of like,
• 17:50
  almost the opposite. Like you, you probably shouldn't go here because this is where we went.
• 17:54
  But in the end, she was picked that and was most comfortable there.
• 17:58
  And it's been an unbelievable, an unbelievable experience.
• 18:01
  So I'm so proud of you. Yeah. The answer to that is best case scenario.
• 18:05
  Yeah. We would have been happy anywhere, but it's, it's awesome.
• 18:09
  We're your, your Notre Dame experience is so different than mom and I's,
• 18:15
  but it, you know, it, and so it's kind of weird looking through that lens.
• 18:20
  But man, it's so fun to just sit back in these last three and a half years.
• 18:25
  Been fun to visit campus so often and kind of relive our glory days.
• 18:31
  Studying in the library and performing on a quarter of a field.
• 18:36
  Yeah. I think it was really good that you guys,
• 18:40
  When I was being recruited and like even now, like in taking my next steps,
• 18:43
  like you guys leave it like so open to me and don't like influence me one way
• 18:47
  or another and just start like whatever's going to make you happy and just support me.
• 18:51
  So I feel like that's been like key and just like you're letting me make all
• 18:55
  the decisions without any like outside factors.
• 18:58
  So what is you guys' favorite part of watching me play or like my team, I guess, in college?
• 19:03
  Favorite part I think this year especially has been the culture of the team it's been,
• 19:10
  it's been an unbelievable like group of women
• 19:13
  and just how you guys have gotten along off the field has been incredible and
• 19:18
  like that's been I think for me like honestly the the favorite part you've been
• 19:24
  a lot a part of a lot of really excellent teams so this year was super special
• 19:28
  like the quality of soccer, quality of the game.
• 19:31
  I mean, it's, it's shocking how, how good, you know, the, the team is and how fun it is to watch.
• 19:38
  Cause I mean, it's the difference between, you know, a lot of your games against
• 19:43
  really good opponents is not all that different than when you see watching, you know.
• 19:48
  Professional soccer or even international soccer, you know, that you,
• 19:52
  you know, you're able to watch on TV.
• 19:54
  So, I mean, the level of soccer, it's just fun to watch and to see,
• 19:57
  you know, my daughter number four out there being a part of that was pretty dang cool.
• 20:03
  What's your idea? I just want to say it was really cool to get to know Leah through this,
• 20:07
  whole relationship and be able to watch Notre Dame and watch number four and go.
• 20:13
  They're incredible. And it was really, it was a fun run.
• 20:17
  And of course, nobody wanted it to finish the way you did, but it was really
• 20:22
  fun to watch you this year. Oh, thank you so much. Yeah.
• 20:26
  So for you, what's my favorite part of watching? Can I think about it and you go?
• 20:34
  This year was fun for us because we only had one kid in college sports yeah,
• 20:38
  so the last couple years we've been on the road every single weekend all
• 20:41
  year long so we're able to go to every game and
• 20:44
  at home and away and watch Kate so
• 20:47
  that was that was a great experience because we really got to know the girls personally
• 20:50
  and they know their personalities and things like that so
• 20:53
  that was really neat to watch it watch that piece of it this
• 20:56
  year yeah I I know now I
• 20:59
  so you're the way you the fun part
• 21:02
  has been watching you grow so watching you
• 21:05
  from your freshman year and the opportunities you had freshman year to today
• 21:10
  and the level of play that you have brought to it and the bravery and we talk
• 21:15
  about a lot the bravery that you play with that's what's been really fun to
• 21:20
  watch and I'm excited to see what next,
• 21:23
  What's next? Yeah. Yeah, it's been cool. Like, they've been able to come to,
• 21:28
  they came to every game. Yeah, every game this year.
• 21:31
  And it was always, like, so cool just being able to have somebody there at every game.
• 21:37
  I mean, you don't, like, we're not playing, like, close to home at all.
• 21:41
  I mean, same for you guys.
• 21:44
  It's so awesome having your parents there. I was going to say,
• 21:48
  I take my hats off to you guys. Just being parents of a keeper has to be significantly
• 21:55
  more difficult than hand-wringing.
• 21:58
  And I can't imagine what a game in the lives of a parent of a keeper would be.
• 22:06
  It would drive me. I don't know that I can do it.
• 22:10
  Well, two of her brothers are pitchers. So it's not like anyone picked a position
• 22:16
  that's good for a parent hearts.
• 22:20
  My mom, during my brother's, when they would go and pitch, you wouldn't even
• 22:25
  see her. She'd be standing off to the side, couldn't even watch.
• 22:28
  That's what's happening based on cheer. Like the cheering. I could tell, and if you could hear it.
• 22:35
  Yeah, like a PK, I can't watch. I just sit. I'm praying. That's what I'm doing.
• 22:43
  That's right. That's right. We're left. We're left.
• 22:47
  One thing as parents, I think it's with just having all the kids who played.
• 22:52
  We don't sit by the other parents. No. Not because we don't dislike them.
• 22:56
  It's just you hear them yelling at the refs. And I played soccer.
• 22:59
  My brother's five, four years older than me. He still plays.
• 23:03
  So we know quite a bit. When I was little, all we did is went to St.
• 23:06
  Louis steamer games and soccer games.
• 23:08
  But I can't sit with the other parents. And nothing wrong with them.
• 23:11
  They all have everybody yells and stuff but we have
• 23:14
  to sit by ourselves because I do I cannot sit with all the other parents during
• 23:19
  the game I guess what's been your favorite memory then watching like through
• 23:24
  the years you have a favorite memory I mean when Kirby Valley who was one of
• 23:28
  her coaches and she's over in Ohio run a club came to us and just was like.
• 23:35
  She's different Kate was different and she was
• 23:38
  talking about friends she's like soccer is not a outlet for her when she's on
• 23:44
  the field she is under severe pressure on herself so you guys are gonna have
• 23:49
  to find something for her to be her outlet other than soccer even though she
• 23:53
  wants soccer to be her outlet it'll never be an outlet for her,
• 23:56
  And that was a pretty neat lesson from a coach that really knew what she was talking about.
• 24:01
  So just watching Kate evolve with that, because in kind of work with her to,
• 24:06
  you know, some girls go hang out with their soccer friends and Kirby at a young
• 24:10
  age said, you're going to have to find other friends outside of soccer for her.
• 24:14
  Cause when they're talking soccer, she is 100% in game mode.
• 24:18
  And I was just watching that progress and cause most kids,
• 24:23
  there's an, there's an on button for an hour and then it's off
• 24:26
  well kate was never turned on even after
• 24:29
  the games when she gets back to her room she'll call me because we have a five
• 24:33
  and a half hour drive home and just what did you think here's what i saw so
• 24:37
  that piece of it just watching her process and progress has been great yeah
• 24:41
  favorite memory well there was a kirby one when she grabbed me and said she's being too nice.
• 24:49
  She can't be so nice on the field.
• 24:53
  She has to take charge. And you grasp that and went.
• 24:57
  But I really think that more of my memories are when we got to go on our trips
• 25:02
  and when you played at surf out in California and spent two weeks out in San
• 25:06
  Diego doing all that. That was fun. Yeah. I have one other one.
• 25:10
  I think it was last summer when she was here. I was looking.
• 25:13
  I was coming home trying to figure out who was going to be because we have a
• 25:16
  lot of people in this house.
• 25:17
  Dude was going to be here for dinner. And I was looking him up and Kate was
• 25:20
  at the public high school.
• 25:23
  And I'm like, so it's kind of by the house. I drove over there and she was on the field.
• 25:28
  She had climbed a fence because the gate was locked because I went over because
• 25:31
  I was going to go over and see if she was coming to dinner.
• 25:34
  And she was in the dark running by herself. She had to climb a fence of a high
• 25:39
  school and was out on the field in the middle of the dark running by herself
• 25:42
  sprints to get herself ready. So that was neat.
• 25:45
  How to do our summer packet run.
• 25:51
  For me, it's definitely when Leah was in the World Cup with the U-20s in Columbia.
• 25:58
  And it was pretty cool when she scored a PK over Journey, I think it was.
• 26:02
  Yeah, that was pretty sweet. And then I have a few others in college.
• 26:06
  She scored the game-winning goal against Duke. That was super exciting.
• 26:09
  That was your sophomore year?
• 26:11
  Yeah. I think. And then also her freshman year.
• 26:14
  Her first game she had a debut goal so those were like super cool those are
• 26:19
  super fun to it's just fun to be your parent and to be watching from the sideline
• 26:23
  you're like yeah I don't even remember that freshman year one oh yeah.
• 26:29
  It's a good one you just cleaned up a mess yeah a couple stick out in my mind
• 26:34
  obviously you being draped an American flag after the bronze medal game was pretty sweet.
• 26:41
  But I mean, starting the recruiting process, you moved up in age group and went
• 26:47
  to your first showcase ever in Phoenix.
• 26:50
  So you were with older girls and, you know, we, this was right when,
• 26:55
  you know, you would, first time you had sent emails out to coaches.
• 26:58
  So first time coaches had ever, college coaches, other than that locals had ever watched your play.
• 27:03
  And you knew you weren't going to be starting because you were just filling in,
• 27:06
  but you scored two goals in that
• 27:09
  first game playing out of position just
• 27:12
  where they needed you and then you scored a goal in the second game and that's
• 27:15
  kind of where the the recruiting just started enormous after that because you
• 27:20
  dominated as a youngster so that was pretty cool and then I remember I think
• 27:25
  it was your senior year in high school after a game or at the club level,
• 27:31
  we kind of have bleachers and then there's kind of a walk concrete walk and
• 27:35
  then the the field where you play, and I remember going to the bathroom, you were playing CE,
• 27:40
  and you were absolutely dominating the game, going up and down the sideline,
• 27:44
  throwing cross after cross after cross in.
• 27:47
  And I just remember walking in the bathroom and the CD parents were like,
• 27:51
  that's Leah. That's that Leah girl. She's gone to Notre Dame.
• 27:54
  You know, next parents were like, she's been doing that to us for years.
• 28:00
  You know, she ever going to get, you know, this coach going to take her out. She's killing us.
• 28:05
  I mean, it was just, and I'm just smiling. They have no idea who I'm like.
• 28:10
  You know what? Probably was one of the best games you've ever had.
• 28:13
  Cause it was dominating, you
• 28:16
  know, And you knew a bunch of the girls on that team, so I was smiling.
• 28:21
  That was pretty fun. Yeah, that's fun. Seems like I need to get back to scoring goals.
• 28:31
  Oh, my gosh. Okay, anyways.
• 28:35
  What do you guys think kind of pivoting has been the hardest part about being a soccer parent?
• 28:41
  I think just staying quiet, not offering any feedback.
• 28:45
  Or if I catch myself offering feedback, you're like, don't listen to that.
• 28:49
  I have no idea what I'm talking about. You better ask your coaches.
• 28:52
  Just supporting you always.
• 28:54
  And we just love watching the sport. It's so fun for us and so fun to watch
• 28:59
  you play, but just staying quiet.
• 29:01
  That's just super hard. We got good at that pretty early, though.
• 29:05
  Some of the other parents on your team took a while.
• 29:09
  And even in college, it's a little... but yeah I mean staying quiet I mean just
• 29:15
  trying to let you be you and you know,
• 29:20
  keep you at arm's length and realize that you, you know, it's hard.
• 29:25
  We go through this. You guys have been through this with your children that
• 29:28
  are older and we're doing that with your older brother and younger sister and
• 29:32
  you, you know, with, we have to let go.
• 29:34
  And that's always hard for parents and let you make decisions.
• 29:37
  But, you know, you've through soccer, you've grown up very early,
• 29:42
  you know, grown up early.
• 29:44
  You've, you know, gone all over the world by yourself and had to make all sorts
• 29:48
  of very difficult decisions, starting with recruiting and all sorts of things since then.
• 29:53
  And your world and your life right now is about to get a lot more difficult,
• 29:59
  but, you know, a lot of decisions are on the horizon for us.
• 30:02
  So, I mean, the hard part is just stepping back and, you know.
• 30:05
  Realizing that we're really...
• 30:08
  Not necessary like we were back when you were two and three years old.
• 30:14
  Letting you make the decisions and being there to be a sounding board if asked.
• 30:20
  I can piggyback on that one right there because it's not really even being a
• 30:25
  soccer parent, just being a parent.
• 30:26
  And just letting, just knowing that you're out in the world doing your very
• 30:34
  best and you don't need my feedback. I love that you call.
• 30:41
  It's on to you. But just that is just letting you be your grown up awesome self.
• 30:48
  No, I, very similar, is when she walks off the field, I may have comments,
• 30:52
  but I have learned my first one, I probably told them everything.
• 30:56
  That I saw, but with your last one, you tend to just to take it,
• 31:00
  especially as a goalie's parent, because it's either a good day or it's a bad day.
• 31:03
  There's no in between. You're like, yeah, you played well, but they scored three goals on you.
• 31:08
  And the other, I think the hardest thing is a goalie's parent is filter,
• 31:13
  letting everything go from other parents.
• 31:16
  Because if you lost a game, you know, the goalie played bad.
• 31:19
  And they may not have, but the uneducated, I would say, soccer minds will think that.
• 31:26
  So just smiling and learning how to smile.
• 31:29
  And then we always talk later. So, yeah.
• 31:32
  Now that it's Leah's like end of the season and she's done, what emotions,
• 31:37
  I guess, are you guys feeling that her senior year's done?
• 31:40
  I mean, it's kind of bittersweet. It's just super special because,
• 31:45
  you know, she's going to be an alumni from the same school as us.
• 31:49
  So So, we're definitely feeling like sentimental about that.
• 31:52
  So a little bit sad because we won't go back to a place that we love and is
• 31:56
  super special for our family.
• 31:58
  Like nearly as often, we'll still go back, but not as often.
• 32:03
  You know, it's kind of a little bit sad, but also exciting because she has lots more soccer to come.
• 32:09
  So that's like super exciting. And we're looking forward to like the next chapter in her journey.
• 32:15
  It's disbelief, you know, and it's so, so cliche that, you know, it goes so quick.
• 32:22
  But man, three and a half years is gone.
• 32:24
  Yeah, it's it's amazing.
• 32:26
  So disbelief is my quick answer. But just like Leah is, you know,
• 32:32
  we're turning the page and, you know, now we're, you know, going to have to
• 32:37
  buy some new clothing items, I guess.
• 32:42
  So, you know, I mean, there's.
• 32:45
  There's all sorts of stuff to look forward to now.
• 32:50
  And, you know, we have just amazing memories over the last three and a half
• 32:55
  years. That's a lot of great memories.
• 32:58
  So, and I mean, that's just the parents talking. I can't imagine what your three
• 33:03
  and a half years has been like that we, you know, what we haven't seen behind the scenes.
• 33:09
  So, we see how you interact with your teammates and your friends.
• 33:14
  So I'm sure that it's exponentially better what your three and a half years
• 33:20
  have been compared to your mother and I's. But man, it's been quite the run.
• 33:26
  But disbelief that it's over.
• 33:28
  Yeah, that's how I'm feeling. But also like unforgettable and just like I have
• 33:35
  so much gratitude for my three and a half years.
• 33:38
  Like that's all just like happiness. Even though it's over, like it was the
• 33:41
  best it could be. So that's what I'm feeling.
• 33:45
  Now for you guys, Kate still has one more year. So what are you guys most looking
• 33:50
  forward to for her final season?
• 33:52
  Well, I'm looking forward to the schedule coming out for next year.
• 33:55
  So I can see if maybe I get to get to some new SEC school.
• 34:00
  Because there's a few we haven't been to yet. So that'll be fun.
• 34:04
  No, I'm lucky to see, I'm excited to see Kate be successful.
• 34:09
  And I know that it'll be a phenomenal year. and fun to play with.
• 34:13
  You've got a great core group of kids that are there that it's going to be fun to watch you wrap up.
• 34:20
  I think for the season next year, it'll be fun to watch to see where they go
• 34:24
  because I think they have a great coach.
• 34:25
  They haven't probably performed like they need to.
• 34:30
  And I knew her coach when she was in high school because she played against
• 34:33
  my sister. So just watching this whole process and develop.
• 34:38
  And I do think they have a huge opportunity if the girls grasp it and run with
• 34:43
  it. So that'll be fun to watch.
• 34:45
  It's different because our boys, when they would, their final day,
• 34:48
  all the parents would be standing there crying.
• 34:50
  I'm like, well, now we got to,
• 34:51
  we got to go home for the week and then we'll run off to a soccer game.
• 34:54
  So it'll be weird when Kate ends. Cause I was never upset when the,
• 34:57
  when the boys final thing, cause I knew I had another one right behind him that
• 35:00
  I'd go watch and together at the house. But this one will be a little different.
• 35:05
  So we'll have to, the nephews will see us a lot more at their games.
• 35:10
  Oh, we can follow Leah. Yeah.
• 35:15
  Okay last question looking back would you guys do differently as soccer parents,
• 35:21
  Or, and if so, like, what would you do differently? But you guys are perfect, so maybe not.
• 35:29
  That was going to be my answer. I don't know. That's a tough question.
• 35:34
  This is a good question for you, actually. What could your parents have done better? Right.
• 35:42
  Okay. I feel like, I mean, you guys did a good job, but like I said earlier,
• 35:47
  like, just, like, letting me do my thing, I guess. and not putting outside opinions
• 35:52
  or perspectives, especially after games.
• 35:55
  I guess you guys didn't really tell me, oh, you should have done this better and this better.
• 36:00
  And if you did, I was upset, but you guys really didn't, so I feel like that
• 36:03
  was good. I don't have another answer.
• 36:07
  Probably should have bought bags more often and inserts for the sneakers so
• 36:11
  the car didn't smell so bad.
• 36:14
  Well, yeah. It could have been
• 36:16
  Jen and something like that. I know I could have been a better parent.
• 36:22
  Anything? Maybe he said, be a forward.
• 36:29
  When Kate was little, she was the goal scorer. She just kept putting him in
• 36:32
  and putting him in, so they stuck her in goal to hide her for a little bit.
• 36:36
  And then they're like, oh, maybe she should be a goalie.
• 36:38
  Yeah, I was too aggressive at playing forward. They were like, oh, put her in goal.
• 36:45
  You stayed there. they made me start showing up to goal keep the goalkeeping
• 36:49
  training sessions and I just guess I liked it I don't know,
• 36:53
  Yeah, you're a little crazy, so, yeah. She did have one play in middle school
• 37:00
  where you're playing boys and girls, and nobody knows what they're doing.
• 37:03
  And with a few seconds left, the goalie, Kate said, I'll play,
• 37:08
  but I'm not playing goalie. He kicked a bomb.
• 37:11
  Kate ran all the way down the corner and crossed it. Her friend,
• 37:13
  he went through the air and headed it in.
• 37:15
  But the ref decided it wasn't a goal. The buzzer went off after it went in the goal.
• 37:23
  And so she crossed it all the way across the goal and her friend hit it in.
• 37:26
  But then the ref turned it in.
• 37:29
  The principal of her school, who's the nicest man ever, chased the ref across the field.
• 37:35
  He's the one guy you would never expect. He was so mad. He was like the buzzer
• 37:39
  for a few minutes, a few seconds.
• 37:41
  But that was the final. And he was a forward. That was a great way to go out on that.
• 37:47
  I hadn't played forward in like years. And I was just playing for life.
• 37:51
  Screamed at the goalie kick it long and then he kicked it in the corner and
• 37:54
  she chased it down put a bomb and the kid hit it in with his head yeah that
• 37:57
  was about all he could do yeah.
• 38:02
  Yeah that would be all yeah not be a goalkeeper don't be a goalkeeper i think
• 38:09
  what i would do differently is take more pictures take more videos the time
• 38:14
  just goes so quick and like i don't have a lot of,
• 38:18
  pictures or video of you when you were itty bitty, like playing and stuff.
• 38:22
  And so I think it just, the whole soccer time goes so quick just to like document it better.
• 38:27
  Yeah. I think that's what I would do. That's a great one. Make sure you get the uniform.
• 38:32
  We're trying to track down three baseball uniforms right now.
• 38:34
  Yeah. Because we didn't get their uniform. Yeah.
• 38:38
  Yeah. And that's like the pictures. There was just an article done on Kate and
• 38:42
  they were asking for pictures of when she was little and I'm like, I can't find them.
• 38:47
  It was probably on a digital camera that I've never downloaded it out of.
• 38:52
  You've got to find that camera.
• 38:56
  That's true. Your formative years were before the cloud existed where we could store it. Yeah.
• 39:02
  That's all right. We have memories, though. Yeah.
• 39:07
  Okay, well, thank you so much for coming on the podcast today.
• 39:11
  And, I mean, for you guys, thanks for all you guys have done for me.
• 39:14
  And you guys are my number one supporters always.
• 39:17
  And so I'm so grateful for you guys. Thank you.
• 39:21
  I'm so proud of you. And thank you guys for coming on and everything you've
• 39:26
  done for me for my soccer career. It's been very special.
• 39:30
  Fun. Have one more year left. Maybe some more. I don't know. Maybe some more.
• 39:36
  We'll start the parrot podcast next week. That's right.
• 39:41
  Thanks to everyone who has joined us today on our final episode of the big life podcast,
• 39:46
  this has been such an amazing journey for us and we're so grateful to everyone
• 39:50
  who's been listening and supporting us along the way and we'll see you guys later bye.