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Naked Sports: LOVB - The Next Major American Sports League with Haleigh Washington · The Breakfast Club

0:03
Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, Welcome to Naked Sports. I'm your host, Carrie Champion,
0:08
Speaker 1: and as I record this message, it has been it's
0:13
Speaker 1: been an interesting forty eight hours for me.
0:15
Speaker 2: We appreciate you.
0:16
Speaker 1: I always say this, We appreciate you for listening to
0:19
Speaker 1: the podcast and really supporting us this week, your girl
0:23
Speaker 1: and her team of amazing producers. We're able to be
0:27
Speaker 1: nominated for an Image Award, an NAACP Image Award for
0:32
Speaker 1: Outstanding Podcasts Art Sports Culture. We are up against Nightcap
0:38
Speaker 1: with Shannon Sharp and Chadow Joe Sinko. Do not, I repeat,
0:41
Speaker 1: vote for them, vote for us. We have to go
0:45
Speaker 1: and vote on NAACP Image Awards dot net.
0:48
Speaker 2: I'm posting it all on my feed. Please go vote
0:51
Speaker 2: for me.
0:52
Speaker 1: We're also up against another podcast called Two Mamas, Two
0:55
Speaker 1: Funny Mamas. That's Sherry Shepherd and Kim Whitley. I believe
0:59
Speaker 1: I'm saying that last name wrong, but please forgive me.
1:03
Speaker 1: Then there is who else is in the category, another
1:06
Speaker 1: fellow brand on the Black Effect Network, R and B Money.
1:10
Speaker 1: That's what tank, But it doesn't matter. I want you
1:12
Speaker 1: to go and vote for me. That's what I'm saying.
1:14
Speaker 1: In general, I'm just being real selfish because this is
1:17
Speaker 1: the first time and if I'm being honest with you,
1:19
Speaker 1: I've seen in a long time a woman in this
1:22
Speaker 1: in this space, in this sports space, be nominated for
1:25
Speaker 1: a podcast and an Image Award. I think my girl
1:30
Speaker 1: Jammel was nominated, but she wasn't living in a sports space.
1:33
Speaker 1: She won twice, she won two Image Awards for her
1:35
Speaker 1: podcast Unbothered, but that wasn't necessarily a sports space, and
1:39
Speaker 1: so we need to support because it really means a
1:42
Speaker 1: lot to me one of these few times where as
1:46
Speaker 1: a woman in this world, we're being recognized, a black woman,
1:49
Speaker 1: more specifically in this world of sports, you're being recognized
1:52
Speaker 1: for your work ethic, not necessarily for you know, what
1:56
Speaker 1: you look like. You know, all of that other stuff
1:58
Speaker 1: is great, but true, truly, it was an honor just
2:02
Speaker 1: to be put in this category with all these greats.
2:04
Speaker 1: It means that the culture sees you. They understand how
2:07
Speaker 1: hard we are trying to be representatives, at least on
2:12
Speaker 1: this podcast of the culture and speak to issues that matter,
2:16
Speaker 1: give a voice to the voiceless. And I think that
2:20
Speaker 1: it was really important for us this season to rebrand Naked,
2:23
Speaker 1: which is why it's Naked Sports. But I think the
2:25
Speaker 1: reason why I truly wanted to rebrand it because there
2:28
Speaker 1: were so many stories in the world of sports that
2:30
Speaker 1: weren't being told from a different lens, and that would
2:34
Speaker 1: be from a woman's lens, a black woman, more specifically,
2:37
Speaker 1: my lens. And I'm just grateful that the NAACP Image
2:43
Speaker 1: Awards took the time to acknowledge what we are doing here.
2:47
Speaker 2: It's one of those things where.
2:48
Speaker 1: You say, I'm just honored to be nominated, and I'm
2:51
Speaker 1: truly just honored to be nominated. But that doesn't mean
2:54
Speaker 1: I don't want you to go vote for me. Go
2:56
Speaker 1: vote for me, little enginet could everybody else got two
3:00
Speaker 1: in three nominations, so I mean you don't need to
3:03
Speaker 1: vote for Shanna Sharp here. He got three your phone nominations.
3:05
Speaker 1: He gonna win those other three of four. He don't
3:07
Speaker 1: need to win this one, y'all. But I am very grateful.
3:10
Speaker 1: So I got that news very funny on Monday, Monday morning,
3:15
Speaker 1: this text really early from Charlemagne at say Concrats, and
3:19
Speaker 1: we normally text each other back and forth about silly things,
3:22
Speaker 1: and I didn't know what he was talking about, but
3:24
Speaker 1: he was the first to tell me, and I was
3:26
Speaker 1: really truly just honored and blown away. Really it really
3:29
Speaker 1: was a good day. But later on that day, so
3:33
Speaker 1: as the world changes so quickly, later on that day,
3:38
Speaker 1: and I think we are all aware now that California
3:40
Speaker 1: is dealing with some crazy wildfires southern California, and I
3:46
Speaker 1: live in southern California, and I have a home in
3:50
Speaker 1: southern California in the hills. And I wasn't so much
3:55
Speaker 1: worried about my space because I didn't live in Pacific Palisades.
3:59
Speaker 1: But as I was watching from New York City, I
4:04
Speaker 1: was thinking, jeez, this looks extremely dangerous. And I have
4:11
Speaker 1: had my fair share of wildfires. I've been there for
4:14
Speaker 1: most because I'm born and raised, and I've seen what
4:16
Speaker 1: the Santa Ana winds do, and I see how they
4:18
Speaker 1: keep these fires in play, and I've seen the devastation.
4:21
Speaker 2: But this is different.
4:23
Speaker 1: These winds were and are currently even as we film
4:28
Speaker 1: this podcast, are historically damaging in the sense that they
4:32
Speaker 1: were ninety ninety five miles an hour, and you combine
4:36
Speaker 1: that with fire. There's just no way. It was a
4:39
Speaker 1: windstorm of fire, and I'm sure you all have seen
4:43
Speaker 1: those images. But then it got particularly scary when it
4:48
Speaker 1: started to for me get into neighborhoods with people that
4:52
Speaker 1: I know, really close friends that I know. And it's
4:57
Speaker 1: sad because I no. One of my best friends lost
5:04
Speaker 1: her house. This morning. She sent me a text and
5:07
Speaker 1: she was like, my house is gone. Last night, I
5:11
Speaker 1: was on the phone. I was on the phone with
5:13
Speaker 1: my other best friend and she was like, my cousin
5:17
Speaker 1: lost both of her homes. She evacuated with her family,
5:22
Speaker 1: and they didn't think that they were in danger. They
5:24
Speaker 1: just they were a part of the evacuation warning. And
5:28
Speaker 1: then their entire house burned down, their car, their belongings,
5:31
Speaker 1: They really didn't take much. And then she had a
5:33
Speaker 1: rental property that burned down as well. And so here
5:37
Speaker 1: we are, and so the story now feels very and
5:44
Speaker 1: I'm trying not to get emotional. The story now is
5:47
Speaker 1: more about are your family and your friends safe? And
5:52
Speaker 1: for me, I can't say that they are in my neighborhood.
5:59
Speaker 1: They have created this neighborhood watch, a new neighborhood watch,
6:02
Speaker 1: because we are in the warning zone.
6:06
Speaker 2: And don't I don't think.
6:07
Speaker 1: I would be I would be devastated, yes, if my
6:11
Speaker 1: house burned down, but I think The more devastating issue
6:15
Speaker 1: that I'm starting to deal with and even trying to comprehend,
6:18
Speaker 1: is that when these people lose their homes there, they're
6:21
Speaker 1: losing their American dream. They are losing something that they've built,
6:28
Speaker 1: you know, from the ground up. And I do hear
6:32
Speaker 1: the critics say, but these people have money. I don't
6:34
Speaker 1: want to hear about Hollywood people with money. I don't
6:36
Speaker 1: want to hear about a house on the beach burning down.
6:38
Speaker 1: It has nothing to do with that. It has everything
6:41
Speaker 1: to do with the place that you call home.
6:43
Speaker 2: You have a home. I have a home.
6:45
Speaker 1: There's a sense of stability there. There is a place
6:50
Speaker 1: where you relax. You do all of these things because
6:54
Speaker 1: it means everything to you in your home. And when
7:00
Speaker 1: when you don't have a home burn to the ground,
7:02
Speaker 1: ash is gone in an instant, you are displaced. Everything
7:08
Speaker 1: about your life feels off and displaced, and we're watching
7:12
Speaker 1: it in real time, you know.
7:16
Speaker 2: And to add to all of this.
7:20
Speaker 1: Personally, my ninety four year old grandmother is in the
7:25
Speaker 1: hospital and she is in one of these evacuation warning zones.
7:29
Speaker 1: That particular hospital is in one of these warning zones.
7:32
Speaker 1: So I'm thinking about the things that are going on
7:36
Speaker 1: in my mind, and I haven't even lost my home.
7:37
Speaker 1: I'm thinking, I hope they don't have to evacuate my grandmother.
7:40
Speaker 1: I hope that she can still get her surgery. I hope,
7:42
Speaker 1: I hope that that doesn't disturb her body.
7:46
Speaker 2: She's so delicate.
7:47
Speaker 1: I'm thinking of all the different things that are happening,
7:50
Speaker 1: and then I'm feeling in an incredible amount of sadness
7:53
Speaker 1: for the people who lost their homes in the neighborhoods
7:56
Speaker 1: that I used to visit and travel in and call
7:58
Speaker 1: my day to day that are no longer there. Restaurants,
8:01
Speaker 1: grocery stores, vendors that I would see all gone, and
8:08
Speaker 1: so it's scary. So the last few days, while I
8:12
Speaker 1: started in this jovial day of being excited about our
8:14
Speaker 1: nomination here for Naked Sports, you know, the last few
8:17
Speaker 1: days have been hard to focus, hard to really keep
8:25
Speaker 1: the main thing the main thing. But we still have
8:28
Speaker 1: to work. I still have to work. I still had
8:29
Speaker 1: to do my podcast, I still have to do the
8:31
Speaker 1: things that pay the bills for the house that I
8:35
Speaker 1: live in. But at the same time, you know, I'm
8:40
Speaker 1: consumed with the coverage. I'm on the phone with family
8:45
Speaker 1: members every five minutes, we're texting all the time, we
8:47
Speaker 1: are we don't see what's next. The feeling of uncertainty
8:54
Speaker 1: in these types of situations, it's horrific. And no one
8:59
Speaker 1: wants to wake up to a text that says I
9:02
Speaker 1: lost my home.
9:04
Speaker 2: No one does.
9:06
Speaker 1: And I think that there are a lot of lessons
9:11
Speaker 1: to be learned. If you're healthy, if you have your
9:16
Speaker 1: family and your friends and they are safe, that's great.
9:19
Speaker 1: Belongings can be replaced. But it is still incredibly difficult
9:24
Speaker 1: to process what's happening in southern California right now. A
9:31
Speaker 1: world that feels very familiar, or at least it did
9:35
Speaker 1: feel familiar, feels very very isolated and scary. Apocalyptic is
9:41
Speaker 1: the word that people have been using. These people leaving
9:45
Speaker 1: their cars in the middle of the road, leaving because
9:48
Speaker 1: they couldn't get out by car, they had to get
9:50
Speaker 1: out by foot. And then you just see the cars
9:53
Speaker 1: just sitting in the middle of the road being bulldozed
9:57
Speaker 1: or and or burned down. The entire stretch of Pacific
10:01
Speaker 1: Coast Highway just burnt. I mean, it really is devastating.
10:08
Speaker 1: And there are organizations that are helping, and there are
10:10
Speaker 1: people that are helping, and I know that you can
10:13
Speaker 1: go online and you can look and see. I know
10:15
Speaker 1: Airbnb is offering homes for people. I know two on
10:19
Speaker 1: one if you're in California, that number is in Los Angeles.
10:23
Speaker 1: More specifically is the number to help you. And I
10:25
Speaker 1: know right now firefighters are trying to contain some of
10:28
Speaker 1: these fires. Right now, they're about five or six and
10:31
Speaker 1: they're trying to be contained. And my hope is that
10:36
Speaker 1: we start to see some progress. I don't know who's
10:40
Speaker 1: to blame. We can blame anybody when it's all said
10:43
Speaker 1: and done, but right now people are trying to figure
10:46
Speaker 1: out what's next. So as I sit here and do
10:50
Speaker 1: this podcast, still grateful that it allows me to have
10:55
Speaker 1: a space of expression, and I hope that you enjoy
10:57
Speaker 1: our podcast today. But I had to take some time
11:00
Speaker 1: out to talk about something that's truly devastating. And I'm
11:04
Speaker 1: not gonna lie. I don't know if I also have
11:08
Speaker 1: my home by the time we air this, but I
11:15
Speaker 1: hope so. I think so we are in a warning zone,
11:24
Speaker 1: but it looks like it's okay. So I'm gonna stay positive.
11:29
Speaker 1: I'm gonna I'm going to adapt the same attitude that
11:33
Speaker 1: I've seen people on television adapt who have lost everything.
11:37
Speaker 1: If it is that is what it was supposed to be,
11:39
Speaker 1: supposed to be. If it doesn't happen, great, I'm grateful.
11:44
Speaker 1: I am sending grace, mercy and love to everyone who
11:48
Speaker 1: is dealing with this.
11:49
Speaker 2: Right now in real time. Be safe.
11:53
Speaker 1: I'm sending so much love to my city, and I
11:57
Speaker 1: think everyone who has called has reached out, who is
12:00
Speaker 1: checked on me with checked on family and friends. So
12:06
Speaker 1: with that being said, prayers up. Thank you all for
12:09
Speaker 1: listening to the podcast. Welcome to Naked Sports, the podcast
12:16
Speaker 1: where we live at the intersection of sports, politics, and culture.
12:20
Speaker 1: Our purpose reveal the common threads that bind them all.
12:24
Speaker 1: So what's happening in women's basketball right now is what
12:27
Speaker 1: we've been trying to.
12:28
Speaker 2: Get to for almost thirty years. From the stadiums where
12:32
Speaker 2: athletes break barriers and set records. Kaylanquark broke the all
12:36
Speaker 2: time single game assists record. This is crazy for rookies.
12:39
Speaker 3: To be doing.
12:40
Speaker 4: To the polls where history is written, and now we
12:43
Speaker 4: have Kamala Harrison. It feels more like women are sort
12:46
Speaker 4: of taken what they've always deserved, as opposed to waiting
12:50
Speaker 4: on somebody to give them what they deserve.
12:52
Speaker 1: Our discussions will uncover the vital connections between these realms
12:56
Speaker 1: and the community we create. In each episode, we'll sit
12:59
Speaker 1: down with athletes, political analysts, and culture critics because at
13:04
Speaker 1: the core of it all, how we see one issue
13:07
Speaker 1: shines a light on all others. Welcome to Naked Sports.
13:11
Speaker 1: I'm your host, Carrie Champion. Hey, family, So thank you
13:19
Speaker 1: all for letting me share what I was feeling about
13:22
Speaker 1: the California wild fires.
13:24
Speaker 2: This is a safe space.
13:26
Speaker 1: I appreciate you, and I know a lot of you
13:29
Speaker 1: have family and friends there who may have been affected
13:32
Speaker 1: as you listen to this podcast. And my quick update
13:36
Speaker 1: as I am recording this yet again, home is intact.
13:40
Speaker 1: Things seem to be well and we're just praying for
13:43
Speaker 1: those who lost their homes. But most importantly, everyone who
13:47
Speaker 1: is housing challenged at this moment, we want to make
13:50
Speaker 1: sure that they find some sort of resources. So please
13:54
Speaker 1: be a part of the community in which the world
13:55
Speaker 1: that we live in. Whatever you hear about fires, if
13:58
Speaker 1: it can help someone, if it can perhaps maybe give
14:03
Speaker 1: someone some hope, share that information and whatever way you
14:06
Speaker 1: can do your small part. Nothing little is considered little
14:10
Speaker 1: in times like these. Okay, now let's get to this
14:15
Speaker 1: week's podcast. I had the opportunity to travel to Atlanta
14:19
Speaker 1: for the first serve of the new professional Volleyball league
14:23
Speaker 1: indoor Professional Volleyball League League One Volleyball, or Love as
14:27
Speaker 1: it's called. And I'm really excited because I said, Hey, yes,
14:31
Speaker 1: I want to come down. I want to find a
14:33
Speaker 1: player to interview, and I want to talk about this
14:35
Speaker 1: new league women's sports is really at a beautiful intersection
14:40
Speaker 1: in which everyone is interested and wants to invest. So
14:44
Speaker 1: they set me down with one of the league's stars.
14:47
Speaker 1: Her name is Haley Washington. And I'm smiling already because
14:52
Speaker 1: Haley was extremely intelligent, funny and smart. And I was like,
14:56
Speaker 1: this is it. This is how you get people to
14:59
Speaker 1: pay attention to a new league. You bring someone along
15:03
Speaker 1: who is.
15:04
Speaker 2: How would I describe her?
15:05
Speaker 1: She has her own personality, She's very unapologetic. I asked
15:09
Speaker 1: her who she felt as if she was similar to
15:12
Speaker 1: in terms of another sport, personality, playing style, and she
15:16
Speaker 1: said Dennis Rodman. But listen, Dennis Rodman was arguably one
15:22
Speaker 1: of the best players. Even if he didn't score points,
15:25
Speaker 1: he was in the game. He was making plays, he
15:28
Speaker 1: was always very invaluable. It's the intangibles that had set
15:31
Speaker 1: him apart. And Haley Washington has so many intangibles, one
15:37
Speaker 1: of which is she is extremely funny. She made me
15:41
Speaker 1: laugh and I key keyd and I loled, and I
15:45
Speaker 1: invite you to do the same with us. Please enjoy
15:48
Speaker 1: this edition of Naked Sports. Haley, what is the biggest
15:52
Speaker 1: myth in volleyball?
15:53
Speaker 2: I'm so glad you asked. The biggest myth is that
15:56
Speaker 2: you hold your hands like you're praying.
15:58
Speaker 3: If there's one thing we can teach Americans about alley, weall,
16:01
Speaker 3: it's hands are held like this.
16:03
Speaker 2: Pancake, pancake, sausage, sausage, wrists kiss. That's how we want
16:08
Speaker 2: to hold our hands. Please break your fingers. Stop doing that.
16:11
Speaker 2: It makes you so angry.
16:13
Speaker 3: I just because I see people that are like I
16:15
Speaker 3: played volleyball in high school.
16:17
Speaker 2: And then they hang me with that, and I want
16:18
Speaker 2: to drop kick them in the teeth. I'm just like,
16:21
Speaker 2: just tell me, you don't play bolltall It's okay.
16:23
Speaker 3: Pancake, pancake, sausage, sausage, sausage, sausage.
16:27
Speaker 2: Risk. See, it's a game of lot. It's so beautiful.
16:30
Speaker 2: It's a game of love. It's a games thumbs are hugging,
16:32
Speaker 2: your wrists are kissing. It's beautiful.
16:35
Speaker 3: See, I got it. Okay, I guess I'm ready to
16:37
Speaker 3: play tonight. Do you get on favor?
16:39
Speaker 2: I know, right? Introduce yourself for us. Up Hi, I'm.
16:42
Speaker 3: Healy Washington, two time Olympic medalist, founding athlete for Love Bebe.
16:47
Speaker 2: It's actually just loved.
16:48
Speaker 3: They're gonna hate that I said Love Bbe founding athlete
16:51
Speaker 3: for Love, Penn State alumni and just a.
16:54
Speaker 2: Lover of the game. So today's an important day.
16:57
Speaker 1: And by that I mean this is the inaugural of
17:00
Speaker 1: Love Volleyball. And I really appreciate you taking the time
17:04
Speaker 1: just to be here to explain what this all is.
17:06
Speaker 1: But I think we need a backstory because this is
17:09
Speaker 1: the first of its kind. It is an original. It
17:11
Speaker 1: is a professional volleyball league, and as we know in
17:14
Speaker 1: women's sports, very few professional leagues get the attention that
17:17
Speaker 1: they deserve. But I think something is different in terms
17:20
Speaker 1: of how this will look. Talk to me about your
17:23
Speaker 1: journey to being a professional volleyball player. When'd you start playing?
17:26
Speaker 3: Yeah, I started playing volleyball kind of at a later age.
17:29
Speaker 2: For a lot of volleyball athletes. I started when I
17:31
Speaker 2: was twelve in middle school. A lot of volleyball players will.
17:34
Speaker 3: Get their start at six, seven, eight years old, and
17:38
Speaker 3: I was just a kid that was running out on
17:40
Speaker 3: the mountains.
17:41
Speaker 2: And so originally I started playing volleyball when I was twelve.
17:43
Speaker 3: So it's just something I wanted to do after school
17:45
Speaker 3: because middle school you.
17:46
Speaker 2: Could start doing extracurricular activities. And truth be told, I
17:50
Speaker 2: really wanted to play football.
17:51
Speaker 3: I was a tomboy growing up. I really wanted to
17:54
Speaker 3: be a football player. I was gonna be a great
17:56
Speaker 3: wide receiver. And my dad looked at all six foot
18:00
Speaker 3: three of me, seventy pounds wet, and it's like, you'll
18:03
Speaker 3: die you get hit by playing football.
18:05
Speaker 2: You can't do that.
18:06
Speaker 3: So my football career was dashed within seconds, and I
18:09
Speaker 3: ended up going.
18:10
Speaker 2: To play volleyball, and I just fell in love with
18:12
Speaker 2: it instantly. Why did you fall in love with it instantly?
18:15
Speaker 3: I wish I had like a moment that stood out
18:19
Speaker 3: that was why I fell in love with it, But
18:20
Speaker 3: it really just it just made sense to me, Like
18:23
Speaker 3: serving the ball over the net made sense to me,
18:25
Speaker 3: and the footwork made sense to me, and it was
18:27
Speaker 3: so easy for me to get the concept of the
18:30
Speaker 3: game and why you would get competitive, and the energy
18:32
Speaker 3: and the fire like it.
18:33
Speaker 2: Just from day one, I was in love with it.
18:36
Speaker 1: I'm curious because most people normally look at someone or
18:40
Speaker 1: see someone. They can see someone who does what they
18:43
Speaker 1: do or does something that they want to do, and
18:45
Speaker 1: they follow in that trajectory. There was not one player
18:48
Speaker 1: in your high school and your middle school on television
18:51
Speaker 1: that you saw and said, like, what she's doing.
18:53
Speaker 3: Well. I had a neighbor who Whitney do boys, and
18:56
Speaker 3: she played volleyball.
18:57
Speaker 2: Shout out to Whitney. Shout out to Whitney, Shout out Whitney.
19:00
Speaker 3: But I would always want to go and play at
19:01
Speaker 3: their house when I was like a little annoying ankle biter,
19:03
Speaker 3: and they'd be like, no, Whitney has a volleyball game.
19:05
Speaker 3: And I never had the concept of volleyball because I'd
19:08
Speaker 3: only ever seen a volleyball court outside of our old
19:10
Speaker 3: rec center and it was just an old sand pit
19:13
Speaker 3: with a saggy net because there was always winter when
19:15
Speaker 3: I was over there, and so I was like, volleyball
19:18
Speaker 3: is people running around in the sand and they can't
19:20
Speaker 3: touch the ball with their hands, so they play with
19:22
Speaker 3: their head like. That was my concept of volleyball. So yeah,
19:25
Speaker 3: I never really had a person that I followed. I
19:28
Speaker 3: never really watched the game, and it wasn't until I
19:30
Speaker 3: was at that tryout that I was like, Oh, this.
19:32
Speaker 2: Is what volleyball is.
19:33
Speaker 3: It's past set hit, it's doing this footwork, it's transitioning,
19:36
Speaker 3: it's constant movement.
19:37
Speaker 2: And really after that, my dad started to take me
19:40
Speaker 2: to volleyball games.
19:41
Speaker 3: We would watch the high schoolers play, and I started
19:43
Speaker 3: to play club and got introduced to kind of the
19:45
Speaker 3: more competitive side.
19:46
Speaker 2: But it was just it really was a love at
19:47
Speaker 2: first sight. Wow, literally love at first sight. That's special.
19:51
Speaker 1: I think that what's so interesting about where we are
19:54
Speaker 1: in this world today specifically is about women's sports, and
19:58
Speaker 1: we're amplifying it in so many different ways. I have
20:00
Speaker 1: met so many different athletes who have said they wish
20:04
Speaker 1: that they could play at home.
20:05
Speaker 2: They wish that they could.
20:06
Speaker 1: Play in front of their family outside of when you
20:07
Speaker 1: graduate from college that's it, or at the Olympics, for instance,
20:10
Speaker 1: that's your opportunity to really play for home if you will.
20:15
Speaker 1: Your journey started obviously early on, but when you got
20:19
Speaker 1: to Penn State.
20:20
Speaker 2: What was that experience?
20:21
Speaker 1: Like you knew that you were special, you knew you
20:23
Speaker 1: had something set apart obviously recruited full scholarship, congratulations, No.
20:30
Speaker 2: Debt, no debt, No, you have college debt. You don't
20:33
Speaker 2: have no college debt. You have to pay for a book.
20:35
Speaker 2: Well that was when I was. When I was growing up.
20:38
Speaker 3: Actually, I decided that if I was going to go
20:40
Speaker 3: to college, it was on a full right scholarship or
20:41
Speaker 3: not at all. And so I was twelve years old
20:44
Speaker 3: and having a little anxiety attack about my future, you know,
20:46
Speaker 3: like most twelve year olds kid, of course, and I
20:49
Speaker 3: made a list of everything I loved of like volleyball, basketball, track, choir, theater.
20:53
Speaker 3: I played the trombone, so all these things that I
20:56
Speaker 3: could potentially want to work towards getting a full right
20:58
Speaker 3: scholarship for. And I ended up falling on volleyball and
21:01
Speaker 3: worked my butt off to get a full right to
21:02
Speaker 3: go to Penn State.
21:03
Speaker 2: And the rest is kind of this history.
21:05
Speaker 1: The rest is history. Tell us about the history, because
21:07
Speaker 1: you did make history. Why you were there yeah.
21:10
Speaker 2: Once or twice?
21:11
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean Penn State was first of all, you said,
21:15
Speaker 3: like I had gone to Penn State a fluorth scholarship.
21:17
Speaker 2: I was special.
21:18
Speaker 3: Let's establish I was not special because Penny Kicksie and
21:21
Speaker 3: the teeth. Why do you think that it's a program
21:24
Speaker 3: that's not supposed to be about me. It's a program
21:26
Speaker 3: that's built around we. Like Russ was really big on
21:29
Speaker 3: we win as a team. You are who you need
21:33
Speaker 3: to be, and you can play great volleyball, and you
21:34
Speaker 3: can be great, but it's not about you. And you
21:38
Speaker 3: co go from being this kind of big fish in
21:40
Speaker 3: a medium sized pond, like a good volleyball player in
21:43
Speaker 3: Colorado to Penn State University that has this tradition of excellence,
21:47
Speaker 3: this legacy of winning. I mean, they're one of the
21:49
Speaker 3: few programs that has won four national championships back to
21:52
Speaker 3: back to back.
21:53
Speaker 2: They had just won in twenty thirteen. They had so.
21:56
Speaker 3: Many alumni that were Olympians, and like their program was
21:59
Speaker 3: just historic and iconic. And so you get there and
22:03
Speaker 3: you were humbled very quickly. And I didn't even go
22:05
Speaker 3: there thinking that I could be great. I was just like,
22:06
Speaker 3: you know, I'm just I'm glad I made it. I
22:08
Speaker 3: got a full right scholarship.
22:09
Speaker 2: School is paid for, and I'm just here to work
22:13
Speaker 2: hard and do the best that I can. But it
22:15
Speaker 2: was grueling. It was a grueling four years.
22:17
Speaker 3: Penn State volleyball was the hardest thing I've ever been
22:21
Speaker 3: a part of in my career, hands down, and not
22:23
Speaker 3: because it was.
22:25
Speaker 2: Like a negative part. It was just it.
22:29
Speaker 3: Russ Rose believed in forging you in the fire, and
22:31
Speaker 3: that was what we did. We were forged in the
22:33
Speaker 3: fire at Penn State, and it really I think made
22:35
Speaker 3: me a mentally strong player and a mentally strong athlete.
22:38
Speaker 2: Also helped you find your voice. Yeah, more or less,
22:41
Speaker 2: Yan because you have it.
22:42
Speaker 1: So when you get there and you realize that you
22:46
Speaker 1: are a smaller fish in a very big pond, how
22:49
Speaker 1: do you adjust? What does that feel like in that
22:51
Speaker 1: particular program?
22:52
Speaker 3: I mean, I think obviously you have to recognize the
22:56
Speaker 3: things that are outside of your control.
22:58
Speaker 2: I think for a freshman, I was still anidia. Let's stop,
23:00
Speaker 2: I'm still an idiot freshman coming to campus.
23:03
Speaker 3: I look at myself and try to see wisdom, but
23:05
Speaker 3: I really just see an idiot freshman.
23:07
Speaker 2: But you recognize the things that you can and can't control.
23:10
Speaker 3: And I was like, look, whether I get onto that
23:12
Speaker 3: starting spot or not, I can't control that. And I
23:14
Speaker 3: actually suffered a pretty devastating injury during pre season that
23:18
Speaker 3: cost me the first part of the season, and I
23:22
Speaker 3: just remember being like, well, there's nothing I can do.
23:23
Speaker 3: If all I can do is get in, get my
23:25
Speaker 3: rehab workout, try to be strong and work my butt off.
23:28
Speaker 3: And I remember when I could finally play again, I
23:30
Speaker 3: was playing on the B side, and I was like,
23:32
Speaker 3: I don't care that I'm on the B side.
23:34
Speaker 2: I'm gonna play my hardest. I'm gonna whoop A sides.
23:36
Speaker 1: But because so for those of us who don't know Volleywood, yes,
23:41
Speaker 1: and when I say us, I mean me.
23:43
Speaker 2: What's the B side? Okay? So you have A side
23:45
Speaker 2: and B side.
23:46
Speaker 3: So you have your starting six that are on the
23:48
Speaker 3: fourth that are going to play in the game, and
23:50
Speaker 3: then you have your B side, which are the people
23:52
Speaker 3: that are coming into be game changers. They tend to
23:54
Speaker 3: be on the bench and they'll sub in to serve,
23:56
Speaker 3: or they'll sub in if an athlete's injured, but they're
23:58
Speaker 3: typically your bench players.
24:00
Speaker 2: If your A side is your starting side, and your
24:02
Speaker 2: B side it's your backup bench players. Okay, so you're
24:04
Speaker 2: on the B.
24:05
Speaker 3: So I was on the B side because I had
24:06
Speaker 3: been injured and I needed to earn my starting spot,
24:09
Speaker 3: which I was absolutely necessary.
24:12
Speaker 2: But I was like, Okay, if I'm gonna be over here,
24:14
Speaker 2: they're gonna have.
24:15
Speaker 3: To fight tooth and nail to shut me down because
24:16
Speaker 3: I'm gonna whoop their butt because if they can beat me,
24:19
Speaker 3: then they can probably beat the other athletes that they're
24:21
Speaker 3: gonna face the competition. And I remember we had B
24:24
Speaker 3: side whooped, but because we had also two men's practice
24:27
Speaker 3: players and it was.
24:27
Speaker 2: Me and I was yelling and shirping and talking smack
24:31
Speaker 2: and what I shockgates.
24:35
Speaker 3: But I was, yeah, I was just shirping away. Happened
24:37
Speaker 3: to good all the time, and we actually ended up
24:38
Speaker 3: winning the drill. We won most of the drills that day,
24:41
Speaker 3: and Russ at the end of practice always talked to
24:44
Speaker 3: the team and he was like, you could have all
24:46
Speaker 3: the energy you want, but just remember this, you're still
24:48
Speaker 3: on B side. I was like, thank you, thank you
24:51
Speaker 3: for the slight so humble bye, thank you, thank you
24:53
Speaker 3: so much.
24:54
Speaker 2: But the following day I was on each side. Really okay,
24:59
Speaker 2: hold on, I just don't don't talk. Don't talk over.
25:01
Speaker 1: That hell, so you you're on the b side.
25:05
Speaker 2: It's one practice.
25:06
Speaker 3: It was one practice, yeah, and then I'm sure if
25:08
Speaker 3: you ask other girls are gonna be like it was
25:10
Speaker 3: like a week and a half of practice.
25:12
Speaker 2: Like but in my mind, in my memory, who's the
25:15
Speaker 2: following day? Damn? Yeah? What that say to you?
25:18
Speaker 3: So that I that energy goes a long way, because
25:21
Speaker 3: I don't think I'm like this stellar attacker, like I
25:25
Speaker 3: have one of the highest hitting percentages in Penn State history,
25:28
Speaker 3: and like I have like a good hitting like I
25:30
Speaker 3: was a great middle at the Tokyo Olympics and all
25:32
Speaker 3: this stuff.
25:33
Speaker 2: But like that doesn't matter. I think my personality is
25:37
Speaker 2: kind of what makes me a.
25:38
Speaker 3: Decent ish player because I'm loud and I'm obnoxious, and
25:42
Speaker 3: I'm in your face and I'm screaming and I'm cussing
25:44
Speaker 3: and I'm smacking butts and I'm talking about.
25:46
Speaker 2: You're right, the fans love. It's You're what the game needs.
25:49
Speaker 2: You are it.
25:50
Speaker 1: If you if you were to describe yourself folk for
25:53
Speaker 1: folks who aren't familiar with volleyball, who would be your equivalent?
25:56
Speaker 1: Someone would say you remind me Ofsessed and such in
25:58
Speaker 1: the AMBA or the wn B or in soccer, who
26:01
Speaker 1: would who would your personality remind people?
26:05
Speaker 3: Okay, personality not going off to Las Vegas for three days,
26:09
Speaker 3: but personality.
26:10
Speaker 2: I'm gonna say Denis Rodman.
26:11
Speaker 3: Uh huh that I want to be Rodman, so bat
26:14
Speaker 3: and I know maybe a little like don't worry, don't
26:18
Speaker 3: apologize about that, just say that on the court, Dennis Rodman,
26:23
Speaker 3: his flared hair, his obnoxious style, like his just kind
26:26
Speaker 3: of being loud and in your face, but also like
26:29
Speaker 3: just a good support player.
26:30
Speaker 2: Brodman would have games where you didn't score any points at all,
26:32
Speaker 2: but he was in everywhere.
26:34
Speaker 3: I'm saying that was my motto for this past everything
26:37
Speaker 3: was just do your job, Like you don't gotta be
26:39
Speaker 3: the star, you don't got to score twenty points. You
26:41
Speaker 3: gotta blah blah blah blah blah do your job. And
26:43
Speaker 3: I did it with high energy. And so I think
26:45
Speaker 3: Dennis Rodman, if I can say, that's a bold statement,
26:47
Speaker 3: but I'm gonna.
26:48
Speaker 1: Say it when we come back. Hayley shares more about
26:51
Speaker 1: her playing style and what made her realize she was
26:54
Speaker 1: built for this sport back in a moment, Hey, everybody,
27:02
Speaker 1: welcome back to naked sports. So Haley is in the
27:04
Speaker 1: middle of sharing a story and she talks about how
27:07
Speaker 1: she found out that she was really a special player
27:12
Speaker 1: without bragging. I use the word special one day during practice.
27:17
Speaker 2: When she was in college.
27:19
Speaker 1: One day of practice aside. The next day, you walk in,
27:23
Speaker 1: you're on a side, and what do you say to yourself?
27:25
Speaker 1: I say to myself, Okay, don't blow it, idiot.
27:28
Speaker 2: You know positive self talk. I'm a mentor, I'm a
27:30
Speaker 2: role model. Sorry, just touched my mics.
27:34
Speaker 3: Sorry, yeah, I have no I've pushed this mic around
27:36
Speaker 3: twenty times.
27:37
Speaker 2: Deal with it now. I'm kidding.
27:39
Speaker 3: But Noel, that aspect of a humility of like, okay,
27:42
Speaker 3: yes I earned it, but let's not like just assume
27:45
Speaker 3: that that's it.
27:45
Speaker 2: Like you still got to do your job.
27:47
Speaker 1: Do your job, idiot, and I wouldn't dare call you that.
27:50
Speaker 1: But yeah, yeah, okay. So then you get in there,
27:53
Speaker 1: you do your job.
27:54
Speaker 2: And I work my butt off.
27:56
Speaker 3: I get I think, defensive player of the year something,
27:58
Speaker 3: all big ten, oh, something like that.
28:01
Speaker 2: And I love the humble brag. I don't know, I
28:03
Speaker 2: just did. I'm not I don't know. I just say, yeah,
28:08
Speaker 2: I'm just kidding. I'm joking. Cut cut that out in
28:11
Speaker 2: stays in.
28:12
Speaker 3: Don't take it out for goodser Okay, so you you
28:15
Speaker 3: you literally show up and you show out and you
28:18
Speaker 3: do your job.
28:18
Speaker 2: How's that season end?
28:20
Speaker 3: We got a national fiship Actually okay, but truth be told,
28:24
Speaker 3: that was not a humble brag. Again, I just was
28:25
Speaker 3: saying a fact. We won a national championship that season.
28:28
Speaker 3: We had two starting freshmen, me and Ali Franti. And
28:32
Speaker 3: it sounds like this great accomplishment, but I played like trash.
28:36
Speaker 2: The NCAA tournament. Russ was even very kind enough to
28:39
Speaker 2: tell me that. At the end of the tournament.
28:41
Speaker 3: He was like, hey, you played like garbage a tournament.
28:43
Speaker 3: I said, thanks, Russ, appreciate you and I But the
28:48
Speaker 3: thing is I didn't need to play great. It was
28:50
Speaker 3: again because it's not about me, it's about leave. So
28:52
Speaker 3: I did my job well enough. It's right that the
28:54
Speaker 3: women around me could take care of business and they
28:56
Speaker 3: could get the W and that's what we did.
28:59
Speaker 2: I just did my job.
29:00
Speaker 1: The cydebar not even a cydebar, but actually, what I
29:03
Speaker 1: am noticing as I listen to you talk and I've
29:05
Speaker 1: said this about women in sports, obviously it builds your
29:08
Speaker 1: self esteem and your confidence.
29:09
Speaker 2: That's something that there's much.
29:11
Speaker 1: More positivity about women who play sports than there is
29:13
Speaker 1: about women who don't. And it's not a knock, it's
29:15
Speaker 1: just what it is. But there is this thing about
29:18
Speaker 1: women in general when we get into this world and
29:19
Speaker 1: we live in the world, it's hard for us to
29:21
Speaker 1: find our voice. It's hard for us to speak up
29:23
Speaker 1: and raise our hands. You don't have that problem. But
29:26
Speaker 1: what I love is that you have the humility mixed
29:28
Speaker 1: with that, and that is a special that's a yes
29:30
Speaker 1: and and it's an invaluable trait that you don't get
29:33
Speaker 1: to see so much of. And it takes it separates
29:35
Speaker 1: you from everyone else, it really does, and I think
29:38
Speaker 1: that helps. As Russ has pointed out, you know, I
29:41
Speaker 1: love your energy, but you do your job. But I'm
29:43
Speaker 1: going to do my job well, and I'm going to
29:45
Speaker 1: be everywhere, and I'm not trying to be the best,
29:46
Speaker 1: but I'm going to be everywhere and do my job. Now,
29:49
Speaker 1: when you have that same mentality, and I know in
29:51
Speaker 1: twenty seventeen, you also went to the semi finals, right
29:54
Speaker 1: you guys, guys A final semifinals, oh.
29:56
Speaker 3: Reverse by Nebraska in twenty seventeen, I don't want to
29:59
Speaker 3: talk about it. But Defense State just did that to
30:01
Speaker 3: them this year, so it's fine. I guess we can
30:02
Speaker 3: talk about it. It's fine we can't talk.
30:04
Speaker 1: We can talk about it the whole time that you're
30:05
Speaker 1: playing in college. Do you think that there is a
30:08
Speaker 1: life after in terms of playing professional volleyball?
30:11
Speaker 2: I love this question.
30:13
Speaker 3: I remember my sophomore year being in the locker room
30:15
Speaker 3: and being asked, Hey, will you go pro? And that
30:17
Speaker 3: was the first time it had ever been presented to me,
30:20
Speaker 3: this idea of going pro. And I remember jokingly being like, pro,
30:24
Speaker 3: my niece can barely handle college.
30:25
Speaker 2: There's no way I can handle pro.
30:27
Speaker 3: If I could go back and slap the sophomore year me,
30:29
Speaker 3: shut up, look how far we can go? I would,
30:33
Speaker 3: But I never really thought that I could play pro
30:35
Speaker 3: let alone do USA.
30:36
Speaker 2: I remember my senior.
30:37
Speaker 3: Year being asked will you try out with the USA
30:40
Speaker 3: gym and telling them I just don't really think I'm
30:43
Speaker 3: a good enough blocker, I'm not offensive enough in front
30:45
Speaker 3: of the ceter so I just I don't really think
30:47
Speaker 3: it's gonna be for me. And that was just kind
30:50
Speaker 3: of my mentality, was like I'm going to get through
30:52
Speaker 3: college and I remember my senior year well, because I
30:55
Speaker 3: really wanted to stay in academics, well, I wanted to
30:58
Speaker 3: get why not go for pro? Yeah, one, it was
31:01
Speaker 3: so far away, and like everybody that came back kind
31:04
Speaker 3: of told me these horror stories of being overseas, being
31:06
Speaker 3: isolated from your family.
31:08
Speaker 2: You're far away for a long period of time, we're
31:10
Speaker 2: not really making big money. So I was like, this
31:13
Speaker 2: doesn't sound fun. But I remember talking to Russ again,
31:16
Speaker 2: Russ Rose, This guy influenced my whole life.
31:20
Speaker 3: I remember talking to Russ about going overseas because I
31:23
Speaker 3: had this idea that, Okay, I'll go play pro for
31:24
Speaker 3: two years, save up enough money to pay for a
31:26
Speaker 3: little bit of my master's degree, and then I'll come
31:28
Speaker 3: back and get my master's in philosophy, and then I
31:31
Speaker 3: was going to be a critical race philosopher and then
31:33
Speaker 3: a libraryan and I work in the Library of Congress.
31:35
Speaker 2: That was the dream.
31:36
Speaker 3: Sounds exciting, Yeah, the volleyball's better so in the Library
31:41
Speaker 3: of Congress, but volleyball.
31:42
Speaker 2: Has been way more exciting. Yeah. But Russ actually pulled
31:46
Speaker 2: me aside and he's like, if you're gonna do this
31:47
Speaker 2: overseas thing, do it right.
31:49
Speaker 3: He's like, build yourself up, build a career, build a
31:51
Speaker 3: name for yourself. Don't just shut it out after two years.
31:54
Speaker 3: It's like, commit to it.
31:55
Speaker 2: And I was like this Russ guy, Hi, I'm telling you, man,
31:58
Speaker 2: he's a legend. He's a life coach. Don't let him
32:01
Speaker 2: fall back into the pages of history. Guys. He is
32:03
Speaker 2: a gangster and built the program.
32:05
Speaker 3: He coached Penn State forty three years, built volleyball at
32:08
Speaker 3: that school.
32:09
Speaker 2: They want Russ rose Man.
32:11
Speaker 1: All right, yeah, so he says, do it right, do right?
32:15
Speaker 1: You get those orders, then you think why not? I
32:18
Speaker 1: do want to say this, Hey, you were going to
32:22
Speaker 1: give up on a dream because it was far away.
32:25
Speaker 2: It wasn't a dream for you. Though it wasn't a dream.
32:28
Speaker 2: I wonder is it a dream for others.
32:29
Speaker 1: I you definitely think they don't want to do it
32:31
Speaker 1: because they don't want to go overseas.
32:33
Speaker 2: I that's a fear of mine.
32:35
Speaker 3: Is that?
32:35
Speaker 2: Or worse?
32:36
Speaker 3: People do follow their dream and they go overseas. And
32:39
Speaker 3: I'm telling you it's not a glamorous life. We're very
32:41
Speaker 3: spoiled in college sports here with our nice Some of
32:45
Speaker 3: us have charter flights and if we don't have charter flights.
32:47
Speaker 3: We at least why like domestic and it's comfortable, and
32:50
Speaker 3: we have these.
32:51
Speaker 2: Big, fancy locker rooms. And now there's underwater treadmills, a
32:54
Speaker 2: programs and dining halls with lots of fancy food, and
32:57
Speaker 2: we have ice bats and hot and we're.
33:01
Speaker 3: Spoiled in college sports. And then you go overseas and
33:05
Speaker 3: you're on a greyhound bus for six hours to go
33:09
Speaker 3: to your next game. You get to a hotel where
33:11
Speaker 3: you're sharing it, where you're sharing a room and they're
33:13
Speaker 3: two twin sized beds, and the locker room that you
33:17
Speaker 3: have is leaking, and you have to make sure that
33:20
Speaker 3: you have all your stuff and your equipment because nobody
33:22
Speaker 3: else is handling reefs like it's a culture shock, And
33:25
Speaker 3: so you follow the stream to go overseason to play
33:27
Speaker 3: pro and you're really fighting and fending for yourself and
33:31
Speaker 3: it's not always like that. There are some definite good
33:33
Speaker 3: teams that have great resources. So no Tino shade to
33:36
Speaker 3: any of the international leagues. I was blessed at Italy.
33:39
Speaker 3: I had some really great opportunities, some great resources.
33:42
Speaker 1: Yeah, they're the side note. She she's been playing overseas
33:44
Speaker 1: in Italy. Not a bad game, not a bad not
33:47
Speaker 1: a bad game.
33:47
Speaker 2: You like pasta? I do not like pasta too Corby,
33:50
Speaker 2: it's too car baby. I gain weight like crazy. I
33:53
Speaker 2: can't enjoy pasta. I can have the occasion is the pasta.
33:56
Speaker 2: They're bad and like I feel like I know it's.
33:58
Speaker 3: So it's so good, like you can't get the problem
34:00
Speaker 3: is you just you can't eat it all the time.
34:02
Speaker 3: I like wine, though, okay's gun.
34:05
Speaker 1: Let me tell you what I did learn overseas is
34:07
Speaker 1: the wine. So there are presumably, and this is why
34:13
Speaker 1: we are here today to talk about this professional league
34:15
Speaker 1: that is state side. But there are presumably, and I
34:18
Speaker 1: don't want to make up numbers, but there are many women,
34:20
Speaker 1: maybe hundreds, maybe thousands of women who who gave up
34:23
Speaker 1: the opportunity or perhaps thought about going overseas to play,
34:27
Speaker 1: but they just didn't want to do it because of
34:29
Speaker 1: what it required on them mentally and physically and personally.
34:32
Speaker 3: No holidays, no like no holidays with family, Thanksgiving, New Year?
34:37
Speaker 2: What's the seasons?
34:40
Speaker 3: So if you're a national team athlete, the season can
34:42
Speaker 3: be anywhere from October till May. But if you're not
34:45
Speaker 3: a national team athlete, if you're just coming out of
34:48
Speaker 3: college or if you're not doing national team, they usually
34:50
Speaker 3: ask for you around like August, so you'll be out
34:53
Speaker 3: there August, September, October, November, December. Ten years, it's like
34:58
Speaker 3: ten months. Wow, it's a little long season. And if
35:01
Speaker 3: you're in a higher to your team, you have usually
35:05
Speaker 3: Champions League and then you have Cup Italia and Super
35:08
Speaker 3: Colpas and regular season, so you're playing two three games
35:11
Speaker 3: a week.
35:12
Speaker 2: You're traveling constantly.
35:15
Speaker 3: Your off day is really your travel day, so you're
35:17
Speaker 3: also seeing everybody. You never get a chance to be
35:19
Speaker 3: by yourself. It's how much money do you make? It's decent,
35:23
Speaker 3: it's I think a crass am.
35:25
Speaker 2: I I'm gonna talk numbers. I in sports, don't.
35:28
Speaker 3: I hate that they don't talk noumb Yeah, my last
35:30
Speaker 3: season name is two hundred and thirty thousand, which is
35:32
Speaker 3: pretty high paying for a middle blocker. But I mean
35:35
Speaker 3: there are girls that are making I mean there are
35:37
Speaker 3: some pro girls that are making millions and like in endorsement, sponsorships,
35:41
Speaker 3: but I think on average you're trying to make a
35:43
Speaker 3: six figure contract. So League one was a downgrade from
35:46
Speaker 3: two hundred and thirty thousand, but still six figures. I
35:48
Speaker 3: think I'm making somewhere from like one twenty to one
35:50
Speaker 3: to fifty, but I have to look.
35:51
Speaker 2: At my contract, I know how much of me. But yeah,
35:54
Speaker 2: still six figures.
35:54
Speaker 3: And they offer decent money to most of the athletes,
35:58
Speaker 3: as far as I know, may not always six figures,
36:01
Speaker 3: especially for girls that are coming out of college or
36:03
Speaker 3: for girls that are have less experience overseas or in
36:06
Speaker 3: the pro world.
36:07
Speaker 2: But I mean it's decent. Pay the bills.
36:09
Speaker 1: So it's ten months overseas somewhere in the twos anywhere
36:13
Speaker 1: upwards to perhaps seven figures in the millions.
36:15
Speaker 3: That's for the oh one percent, okay of athletes.
36:19
Speaker 2: That's for like done average.
36:21
Speaker 3: Yeah, on a I would say on average, if you're going,
36:24
Speaker 3: if you're an American going overseas, on average, you're looking
36:26
Speaker 3: at one hundred and twenty. I think, like the Olympic
36:30
Speaker 3: American athletes like go overseas, we're in the six figures.
36:33
Speaker 3: But if you're just an average college girl, I mean,
36:36
Speaker 3: your starting salary is gonna be a twenty one.
36:38
Speaker 1: So Russ gives you this advice and he says, do
36:41
Speaker 1: it and do it right. How'd that work out for you.
36:45
Speaker 3: I think I went into overseas with a good mentality
36:47
Speaker 3: of like just say yes, Like whatever opportunities present yourself
36:50
Speaker 3: to them, say yes and work hard. And so it
36:52
Speaker 3: worked out well because I played on this really low
36:55
Speaker 3: level A two team my first season only.
36:58
Speaker 2: For a month and a half two months, because I
37:00
Speaker 2: came in for a half season. We didn't make playoffs.
37:02
Speaker 2: So I just kind of came in but made enough
37:04
Speaker 2: of a.
37:04
Speaker 3: Statement that I got on an A one team, the
37:07
Speaker 3: last place team in A one, which, if you don't
37:09
Speaker 3: know volleyball, most professional leagues overseas have like an A
37:12
Speaker 3: one team and an A two or an A one
37:14
Speaker 3: league in an A two league, okay.
37:15
Speaker 2: It's like our any like our NBA and the G League. Okay,
37:20
Speaker 2: perfect equivalent. Ye yeah. And so I was on the
37:23
Speaker 2: last place team in A one, but then I managed
37:26
Speaker 2: to work my way up.
37:27
Speaker 3: To the fourth place team in A one, and then
37:28
Speaker 3: I was in the top one or two teams for
37:31
Speaker 3: the rest of my career.
37:32
Speaker 2: So you did it right? Did it right? As Russ suggested?
37:35
Speaker 2: As Russ suggested, he's a very wise man, A wise man,
37:38
Speaker 2: wise man.
37:39
Speaker 1: When we return, what does the future of professional volleyball
37:43
Speaker 1: look like here in America, back in a moment, Welcome
37:58
Speaker 1: back to naked sports. So just for contexts, I want
38:01
Speaker 1: to remind you I am in Atlanta while doing this
38:05
Speaker 1: interview and we are just hours away from the beginning
38:10
Speaker 1: of making history and professional volleyball. Take a listen. I
38:15
Speaker 1: want you to talk to me about when you heard
38:17
Speaker 1: about this opportunity. There's been other professional volleyball league, so
38:19
Speaker 1: there's been obviously Peach volleyball that people have tried to do,
38:22
Speaker 1: and some of them have failed because there have been
38:25
Speaker 1: issues with finance. Money is always the issue. There's always
38:27
Speaker 1: the issue. Money is always the issue. And I want
38:30
Speaker 1: to make this a negative.
38:31
Speaker 2: But when you were approached by Love, what were you thinking?
38:37
Speaker 2: Is this real? Can I do this?
38:38
Speaker 1: And I know this has been in the works for
38:40
Speaker 1: some years now, but what were your initial thoughts?
38:43
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think my initial thoughts were excitement because I
38:46
Speaker 3: have been approached by a couple other leagues about how
38:49
Speaker 3: they wanted to kind of run American Volleyball. So I've
38:53
Speaker 3: been approached by AU which is another volleyball league that
38:56
Speaker 3: we have here in the States, and it's super fun.
38:58
Speaker 3: It looks like the girls that go and play and
38:59
Speaker 3: that have a really great time, and again it's a
39:01
Speaker 3: way to bring volleyball to America. So I love the
39:03
Speaker 3: AU as a thing, and I had been approached by them, and.
39:08
Speaker 2: I didn't love kind of.
39:09
Speaker 3: Their format though, like I just wanted to be a
39:11
Speaker 3: regular volleyball league and they rotate teams every week, and
39:14
Speaker 3: I was like, I'm not as excited about that. And
39:16
Speaker 3: then I had been approached about another potential league that
39:18
Speaker 3: was all all stars and it was only for a
39:20
Speaker 3: couple of weekends and it was just like all start
39:21
Speaker 3: showings and showcases, and.
39:22
Speaker 2: I was like, I don't love that either. And so
39:25
Speaker 2: when League one kind of came up to me, when
39:28
Speaker 2: Love approached me, They're like, hey, we have this idea
39:31
Speaker 2: for a league and it's just a regular old volleyball league,
39:34
Speaker 2: but it's a grassroots movement. It's oriented in the community.
39:37
Speaker 3: We want to get youth athletes involved, youth sports involved.
39:40
Speaker 3: I was like that I'm interested in because I think
39:43
Speaker 3: that there's an untapped.
39:44
Speaker 2: Market in youth sports here Stateside.
39:47
Speaker 3: I think that, like, youth sports are so big in America,
39:49
Speaker 3: and we do a really good job of developing our
39:51
Speaker 3: younger athletes, and so to tap into that market while
39:54
Speaker 3: also funneling that excitement into a pro league and to
39:58
Speaker 3: provide just a regular old pro league so exciting, and
40:01
Speaker 3: so I was I was.
40:02
Speaker 2: On board from the jump. As soon as they presented
40:04
Speaker 2: the idea. I was like, yes, I'm in Wow, And
40:06
Speaker 2: I think.
40:07
Speaker 3: It was just it was kind of that mentality of yes,
40:10
Speaker 3: and and then like what do I have to lose?
40:12
Speaker 3: Like if it fails, whatever, at least I try. You
40:16
Speaker 3: have the opportunity to still go play overseas. That's still
40:19
Speaker 3: an option for you.
40:20
Speaker 2: For sure. This is a win win absolutely, Like there
40:22
Speaker 2: was no.
40:24
Speaker 3: Like Italy wasn't just gonna disappear off the face of
40:26
Speaker 3: the earth because I did League One.
40:28
Speaker 2: And there are so many leagues in the world.
40:29
Speaker 3: There's France, there's Germany, there's Korea, there's Japan, there's turky like,
40:33
Speaker 3: so it was never gone.
40:34
Speaker 2: So I was like, why not take the time to
40:36
Speaker 2: invest in this.
40:37
Speaker 1: Do you look at the w NBA and you see
40:38
Speaker 1: what it? You know, it's inception right and where it
40:41
Speaker 1: is now? Do you see that being the same vision
40:44
Speaker 1: for love?
40:45
Speaker 2: I think yes, I think I okay, are to begin one.
40:53
Speaker 3: I don't love the comparison of are you gonna be
40:55
Speaker 3: like the WNBA or are you gonna be like the
40:57
Speaker 3: fair and WSL, because we're all different things, and I
41:00
Speaker 3: think like they're all going to have I think what
41:02
Speaker 3: makes volleyball funds the intimate environments. I think what makes
41:04
Speaker 3: the WNBA fund is their big atmospheres, and so they
41:08
Speaker 3: didn't always have a big atmosphere, and so.
41:10
Speaker 2: Like those are things that are like growing into.
41:12
Speaker 3: So I think women's volleyball is going to have its
41:15
Speaker 3: own kind of path, and I think the start of
41:17
Speaker 3: the intimate atmosphere is going to be.
41:19
Speaker 2: Kind of our What will set you up in pact
41:21
Speaker 2: well far is that.
41:22
Speaker 3: Intimate atmosphere can feel like a lot of fun, whereas
41:25
Speaker 3: sometimes in the WNBA that intimate atmosphere can feel a
41:28
Speaker 3: little bit almost.
41:29
Speaker 2: Energy sucking, at least in their inception.
41:31
Speaker 3: I don't want to overstep I am, I want to
41:33
Speaker 3: say anything rude, but I think that intimate atmosphere can.
41:36
Speaker 2: Really be great for You're Jenna sa Qua.
41:38
Speaker 1: Yeah, what we like about going to a Love volleyball game.
41:42
Speaker 1: So so as we record this podcast, Love's first serve
41:47
Speaker 1: will be on ESPN plus who It's huge, right, I
41:50
Speaker 1: think that's a huge start. I'm curious as to what
41:53
Speaker 1: you think will make this first game different. You said
41:58
Speaker 1: you want your own path, you don't want to be compared,
42:00
Speaker 1: and that's very fair. I think that the comparisons are
42:02
Speaker 1: also fair as well.
42:04
Speaker 2: Definitely, I'm sorry if that came across this room.
42:06
Speaker 3: No, no, no.
42:08
Speaker 1: No, but I think they're fair because people what I
42:10
Speaker 1: what I think when I say that is it started
42:13
Speaker 1: off with fan fair.
42:15
Speaker 2: People are excited. It might have some growing pains as all.
42:18
Speaker 1: All it's do is yeah, but then then there comes
42:21
Speaker 1: this moment where people understand it's its value and start
42:24
Speaker 1: to appreciate it.
42:25
Speaker 2: That's the truth that I think.
42:28
Speaker 3: Yes, I absolutely agree, and I'm sorry, no, no, no go.
42:33
Speaker 3: I think the WNBA has kicked but in kind of
42:36
Speaker 3: paving the way for women's sports also, and so I
42:39
Speaker 3: think like there's gonna be that growing pain time where's
42:41
Speaker 3: where there's less engagement or maybe not as many people
42:44
Speaker 3: are watching for sure, but the w NBA, just women's
42:47
Speaker 3: sports in twenty twenty four have really kind of put
42:50
Speaker 3: us on the map, have helped with getting more exposure.
42:53
Speaker 2: Like the WNBA really came up for nothing.
42:55
Speaker 3: There really weren't meant there wasn't much excitement for women's
42:58
Speaker 3: sports when it was in like when it had its
43:00
Speaker 3: inaugural season and when it was first starting off, and
43:03
Speaker 3: they really had to kind of like build from somewhat nothing.
43:07
Speaker 3: And so I think that they have done a great
43:09
Speaker 3: job kind of paving the way and getting people excited
43:11
Speaker 3: about women's sports, and so I think that's maybe what
43:14
Speaker 3: might make it easier for us to get people's attention,
43:17
Speaker 3: to get people well, yeah, because I can't remember a
43:20
Speaker 3: time where you get a professional women's league and they're like,
43:22
Speaker 3: let's just put it on ESPN in any capacity. Yeah,
43:25
Speaker 3: And you know, year to year, even the growth the
43:27
Speaker 3: NCAA Championships from my understanding where forty one percent.
43:31
Speaker 2: From year to year, and that's huge.
43:33
Speaker 1: To actually tune in and see people are paying attention.
43:36
Speaker 1: It's in the zeigeist if you will. I hate to
43:38
Speaker 1: use that word.
43:39
Speaker 4: It is.
43:39
Speaker 2: It is just out there.
43:41
Speaker 1: But I'm interested in what you think the ceiling is
43:47
Speaker 1: or is there no ceiling?
43:48
Speaker 2: What I think the ceiling is.
43:50
Speaker 1: What is the world that you could imagine in your
43:52
Speaker 1: wildest dreams, in the world that you think will actually be.
43:55
Speaker 2: In my wildest dreams.
43:57
Speaker 3: I imagine every game is like the NCAA Championship.
44:03
Speaker 2: I know that's that's a.
44:04
Speaker 3: Big dream, but I mean, if you can get fans
44:07
Speaker 3: that excited for one game out of the year, I
44:10
Speaker 3: don't see why you can't get them hyped for every game.
44:12
Speaker 2: Kind of like that.
44:14
Speaker 3: And I mean I just went, like, I went to
44:15
Speaker 3: a hockey game ABS played the Utah Hockey Club in
44:18
Speaker 3: Salt Lake City, and I was like, this is so cool,
44:21
Speaker 3: and it's so possible for women's, Like I think it's
44:24
Speaker 3: possible for women's volleyball to be in those big arenas,
44:27
Speaker 3: be in those spaces for people to be excited.
44:30
Speaker 2: We have to teach people how to be volleyball fans.
44:32
Speaker 3: We have to tell them it's okay to be loud,
44:34
Speaker 3: okay to make noises, You're not going to scarce away.
44:38
Speaker 3: That's so interesting that you say that, Well, it's just
44:39
Speaker 3: because volleyball is like tennis, so they assume it's like
44:42
Speaker 3: tennis or fighter and serve fighters.
44:44
Speaker 1: So interesting that you say you have to teach people
44:47
Speaker 1: how to be fans. You have to teach people how
44:48
Speaker 1: to understand the sport. You have to teach them, and
44:52
Speaker 1: that is the onus, honestly is on the people who
44:54
Speaker 1: know the sport and the people who play it.
44:56
Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely. I'm just bringing you in and be like, hey,
44:58
Speaker 2: come on, I don't know what we got to do.
45:00
Speaker 3: If it's I don't know, whatever it is, you're gonna
45:03
Speaker 3: get you guys excited about this game.
45:06
Speaker 1: I do want to ask you a question about being
45:08
Speaker 1: an Olympian and that's the ultimate goal. And I'll find
45:10
Speaker 1: a way to put this bick and I want to
45:12
Speaker 1: weave in the ultimate I think for mini athletes, no
45:14
Speaker 1: matter who you are, even if you play professionally, the
45:15
Speaker 1: goal is ultimately to represent your country. You have the
45:18
Speaker 1: opportunity to do that in a major way. You want
45:20
Speaker 1: a gold and you want a silver middle blocker. Talk
45:22
Speaker 1: to me about those those experiences for you. What does
45:26
Speaker 1: it feel like to actually take a sport. Because I
45:29
Speaker 1: believe during the Olympics that's when bollyball gets more in
45:32
Speaker 1: indefinitively and at the highest levels, and it's it's global
45:36
Speaker 1: so people can pay attention and they understand the sport
45:38
Speaker 1: in a different way. What does that feel like for you?
45:40
Speaker 1: For sport they get so little attention states, I mean.
45:44
Speaker 3: The Olympics, you always get hype over sports that you
45:46
Speaker 3: don't usually get to see because there's just less coverage
45:49
Speaker 3: of it. Like track and field is one of the
45:51
Speaker 3: most watched events, but outside of the Olympics, like unless
45:54
Speaker 3: you're following an athlete on Instagram, you're not really seeing.
45:56
Speaker 2: What they're doing during a quad.
45:59
Speaker 3: And so I think you kind of sport even gymnastics, gymnastics,
46:02
Speaker 3: track field, rugby, although rugby now is picking I think,
46:05
Speaker 3: so it's huge.
46:06
Speaker 2: Yeah, but I just need.
46:10
Speaker 3: To be at that stage, to be at the Olympics
46:13
Speaker 3: and like know that kind of the world is watching,
46:14
Speaker 3: especially with the background of playing overseas.
46:17
Speaker 2: Because internationally volleyball is big sport.
46:20
Speaker 3: Turkish fans, Brazilian fans, Italian fans.
46:23
Speaker 2: They're big.
46:24
Speaker 3: It's big over there, and so you kind of feel
46:27
Speaker 3: all eyes on you in that moment, which is on
46:31
Speaker 3: the one hand scary and intimidating, but on the other
46:33
Speaker 3: hand still just volleyball. For it's the same size and
46:36
Speaker 3: that's the same height. So all you have to do
46:38
Speaker 3: is what my motto is, do your job.
46:40
Speaker 2: Do you out there. I'm telling you, it's that's the
46:42
Speaker 2: game of this podcast. Do your job, heys.
46:45
Speaker 4: Do your job.
46:46
Speaker 2: It's so easy to does not be bad at life.
46:48
Speaker 2: Just do your job. Stop trying to be a start.
46:50
Speaker 2: Just do your job.
46:52
Speaker 1: But yeah, okay, so I'm going to say this, and
46:55
Speaker 1: this is just this is just my projection. I do
46:58
Speaker 1: believe that this sport will do well, but it needs
47:02
Speaker 1: it needs its characters, it needs it's it needs people
47:05
Speaker 1: to correct.
47:06
Speaker 2: And I was like, you are illuminary.
47:08
Speaker 1: And I think that if people can understand who you are,
47:11
Speaker 1: where you come from, and their personality is absolutely a one.
47:14
Speaker 1: So I think that if you have more stars, people
47:17
Speaker 1: can follow and be invested. I'm fully invested. I want
47:20
Speaker 1: to I really am like, I'm in love with her.
47:23
Speaker 1: I mean in a completely platonic way, but I'm like, I.
47:25
Speaker 2: Really want to know. I really like, I really don't
47:29
Speaker 2: know what else is happening. Your favorite food? My favorite
47:33
Speaker 2: food is rice. I know it sounds super boring, but
47:35
Speaker 2: you can do so much with rice.
47:36
Speaker 1: You won't eat pasta, but you just like rice. I
47:40
Speaker 1: love rice, jolo, ricela, rice, cilantro, lime rice. You just
47:44
Speaker 1: make rice farmers risotto?
47:47
Speaker 2: Are you kidding me? Do you put meat in there?
47:48
Speaker 2: Just rice? So if you were on an island, all
47:51
Speaker 2: you need is rice. You do so much with rice.
47:53
Speaker 2: You just find rice and spices. Rice is great. I
47:55
Speaker 2: love favorite song right now, uh Dodger Blue by Kendrick Lamar.
48:02
Speaker 3: Favorite artists right now, So some good artists right now
48:06
Speaker 3: The Beaches their Canadian band.
48:08
Speaker 2: Okay, threw me off with that one. I'm sorry. I
48:10
Speaker 2: appreciate that.
48:11
Speaker 4: All right.
48:11
Speaker 1: Favorite dance right now? What's your celebration dance? Oh see,
48:15
Speaker 1: I'm not like I just I.
48:16
Speaker 2: Can't do that on this. You don't have it. No,
48:22
Speaker 2: I don't know doing it. You can't do you like.
48:26
Speaker 2: I'm not doing pe tequila in me or you pay
48:27
Speaker 2: me for it. It's just not something favor drink ooh water,
48:32
Speaker 2: stay hydrated. Actually of Pablo Mouse. Lacroix is Mike. I
48:41
Speaker 2: love Lacroix, dude.
48:42
Speaker 3: But if we're speaking in the more like adult beverage beverage,
48:47
Speaker 3: I love tequila. I did a tequila tasting when I
48:50
Speaker 3: went to Disney World with my boyfriend and that was
48:52
Speaker 3: fire on yeho tequila.
48:55
Speaker 2: That's it. That's all we're doing. A big fan of tequila.
48:58
Speaker 2: Is your thing on your hell?
48:59
Speaker 3: Okay, I or a good mescal? Oh way, did I
49:02
Speaker 3: take it back? I'm gonna be that pretentious a hole.
49:05
Speaker 3: It's like a mexical. I love a smoky mescal.
49:11
Speaker 2: Any any mix you just mescal rot like a mescal.
49:15
Speaker 2: I'm just I don't love mixed drinks. I don't like
49:17
Speaker 2: the sugar, so like a mescal Sunrise, that's easy.
49:21
Speaker 1: It was like orange juice, all sugar, just mexic. That's
49:26
Speaker 1: real gangster favorite athlete.
49:30
Speaker 3: There's so many good ones to choose from.
49:33
Speaker 2: She Carrio Richardson some own biles. Katie thea Decy. I'm
49:37
Speaker 2: gonna do o Katy the Decky right now. Why she's
49:40
Speaker 2: a mermaid and I've always wanted to meet a mermaid.
49:44
Speaker 3: Dang yeah, okay, I'm gonna o Kay the Decky, and
49:47
Speaker 3: I'm sticking about the mermaid thing.
49:49
Speaker 2: But she's your on thin ice, Katie do something cool
49:51
Speaker 2: yet she wrote a book. She's just like he's so smart.
49:54
Speaker 2: She loves Lacroy like I love lacor mean you.
49:58
Speaker 3: She's a ra okay crush. At the moment out of
50:05
Speaker 3: the Driver, Oh yeah, I was like, uh h Adam
50:09
Speaker 3: driver's pressure drivers So daddy.
50:12
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, ay, your daddy.
50:14
Speaker 3: Why because he's uh, he's got that like Burley muscle,
50:18
Speaker 3: but also like dorky kind of look oh or Leandre Earl.
50:21
Speaker 3: She's one of the artists in the Beaches. Okay, all right,
50:24
Speaker 3: there you go.
50:25
Speaker 1: And then when we get ready to get our mind
50:28
Speaker 1: right before a game, what are we listening to?
50:29
Speaker 2: What's your What's your goal?
50:30
Speaker 3: Song? Either Sweet Transvestite from the Rocky Hord Picture Show
50:36
Speaker 3: or Plagues from the Prince of Egypt, both musicals.
50:41
Speaker 2: Those musicals get you hype to play and they get me.
50:44
Speaker 2: Have you heard Plagues? I know I have not a girl.
50:47
Speaker 2: I need to get to it. You gotta get on that. Okay,
50:49
Speaker 2: we'll play it in the podcast. Yeah, it's okay, play
50:55
Speaker 2: Swee Transvestite. That's not for this kind of podcast. But hey,
50:58
Speaker 2: but that's what that's that gets you right, Yeah, every
51:01
Speaker 2: time you go out. Yeah, I played that entire Olympics
51:04
Speaker 2: before every game. What yeah, in your mind locked in zone?
51:07
Speaker 3: Yeah, because it's like the slow build and there's this
51:10
Speaker 3: one part in the Plague song at least where it
51:12
Speaker 3: like really it just hits and you're, oh, we're.
51:14
Speaker 2: Going I can't sing, so I'm not singing for you.
51:18
Speaker 2: I was hoping. I'm like I'm quiet. I'm like, let
51:20
Speaker 2: you do it. Maybe we'll get say yes, get.
51:24
Speaker 1: We're having some mescal for the game. Your favorite saying,
51:28
Speaker 1: My favorite saying of one thing I.
51:29
Speaker 2: Am certain is that I know nothing.
51:34
Speaker 3: Pancake, pancake, sausage, sausage, risky.
51:38
Speaker 2: It's love. It's love, man, Hayley, I love you. Thank
51:42
Speaker 2: you for being here. This was so fun. It was great.
51:44
Speaker 2: It's great goodness.
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Speaker 1: I surely enjoyed that, young lady. We had a good time.
51:50
Speaker 1: So huge thank you, though. Let me get these out
51:51
Speaker 1: of the way. To Stephanie Martin of League one Volleyball
51:54
Speaker 1: and everyone who made this possible. The first game was
51:58
Speaker 1: a huge success. Follow along on their site, League one
52:02
Speaker 1: Volleyball as they play through their inaugural season. Remember, here's
52:07
Speaker 1: to everyone watching women's sports. I'll talk to you all
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Speaker 1: next week. Naked Sports written and executive produced by me
52:15
Speaker 1: Kerry Champion, produced by Jock Vice Thomas, Sound designed and
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Speaker 1: mastered by Dwayne Crawford. Associate producer Ola Busayl Shabby. Naked
52:23
Speaker 1: Sports is a part of the Black Effect podcast network
52:26
Speaker 1: in iHeartMedia