Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're bowing down to Asia Wilson once again doing something no one's ever done, first WNBA player with a thirty point twenty rebound game magic.

It's Tuesday, August twelfth, and on today's show, we'll be talking to niph Charles of Chelsea and the England national team.

We chat with her about the Lionesses winning Euros last month, how happy she is to have Naomi Germa on her club team, whyatt took her a minute to warm up to playing soccer, and why cardboard cutout Neve might be having even more fun than the real version.

Plus rebounding with a tumble, taking revenge on Canadians, and a WNBA scheduling conundrum that has us asking why it's all coming up Right after this welcome back slices, here's what you need to know today.

Let's start with gymnastics and the US Gymnastics Championships in New Orleans.

Louisi Hesley Rivera won the all around title, finishing eight tenths of a point ahead of two time Olympic alternate Leanne Wong, who plays second Rivera, who won team gold at last summer's Paris Olympics.

Was the only member of that US Olympic team to compete at Nationals this year.

With the win, the seventeen year old becomes the youngest US all around champion since Reagan Smith won in twenty seventeen.

Rivera also won apparatus titles on balance beam, floor, and uneven bars.

While the US team for October's World Championships won't be named until the fall, Rivera's performance at Nationals should earn her a roster spot, so long as she stays consistent and healthy between now and the team selection event.

Speaking of healthy, other highlights from the Gymnastics Championships include Sky Blakely, who was competing in her first elite meet in fourteen months, tying Rivera for the uneven bars title and finishing second on balance beam.

You remember, Blakely was initially considered a favorite to make last year's Olympic team, but tore her achilles two days ahead of Olympic trials and ended up spending the last year plus rehabbing the injury.

To lacrosse.

Team USA won gold at the World Games in China on Monday, defeating rival Canada sixteen to eight in the championship game.

It marked a bit of revenge for the US national team after they suffered a rare defeat to Canada in the gold medal game of the twenty twenty two World Games three years ago.

This competition featured a six's format that's the same format that'll be used when lacrosse makes its Olympic debut at the twenty twenty eight LA Games.

All told, the US outscored its opponents one hundred twenty nine to fifty across five games in China, with captain Marie McCool leading the way with twenty total goals to hoops.

There are two WNBA games tonight.

First up, the Dallas Wings traveled to the Indiana Fever for a seven to thirty start.

Wings are coming off a ninety one seventy eight loss to the Washington Mystics on Sunday that saw Rookie of the Year candidates Kiki eria Fen, Sonya Citron, and Paige Beckers all doing work at the same time.

Erie Fens scored a career high twenty three points and grabbed ten rebounds in that one.

Citron scored seventeen of her eighteen points in the second half, and Becker scored seventeen points, her twenty fifth game scoring in double digits to start a career that's tied for fourth place in WNBA history with Ruthy Bolton.

These rookies continue to impress.

Then, at ten PM tonight, the Los Angeles Sparks host the New York Liberty.

Sparks are coming off a thrilling ninety four to ninety one win over the Seattle Storm on Sunday that saw Deerica Hamby score seven of LA's final nine points, including the winning three point play with five point six seconds left.

Sparks have now won nine of their last eleven games.

As for the Liberty, you might recall it in Monday Show we told you about how the Minnesota Links are currently in the middle of three straight games against the Liberty, including Sunday's eighty three seventy one Links win.

Well, the Liberty do have those three games, plus a couple in between, including tonight's contest at the Sparks and another away game on Wednesday against the Las Vegas Aces.

So what's the deal with the Liberty and Links taking so long to play their first game?

Then the Link's playing them three times in a row.

And the Liberty having two extra games in the midst of those three.

With the links, well, we'll link to a great story by the athletic Sabrina Merchant that helps try to tease apart this whole scheduling debacle.

We got to take a quick break.

When we come back, We're chuffed to bits to have a cheeky chat with Brent Neve Charles.

We got up with their last week a bit of a chin wag, you know, talking bits and Bob's that's next joining us now.

She's a left back for the England national team and Chelsea of the Women's Super League.

She's a five time Women's Super League winner, four time FA Cup winner, two time League Cup winner and a Champions League runner up.

She helped England to a runner up finish to Spain in the twenty twenty three World Cup, and just last month her team avenged that World Cup loss as she buried her penalty shot to help them defeat the Spaniards and win the Euros.

It's Neve Charles, Hi, Neve, Wow, thank you Hi.

I want to start with the basics for our listeners who maybe aren't familiar with the leagues across the Pond.

So you're a Champions League runner up, move's in the Champions League.

So the Champions League is a selection of all the top teams from the European league.

So I think it changes each year, but I think in the English game we have three teams that have the chance to qualify and then go into the group stages and then all the top teams around Europe they all come together and now it's in a group stage format and any sort of yeah, compete to be named Champions of Europe.

And then you're a four time FA Cup winner.

What teams are eligible for that?

The FA Cup is like it's so traditional in the English game.

It's like any team whatever division in England can sort of start in the FA Cup.

Obviously the lower leagues they start earlier and it goes rounds and the higher leagues come in later.

But the beauty of the FA Cup is you could be in the lowest league and have an unbelievable FA Cup run and be playing one of the top teams and yeah, then your crowns sort of the FA Cup Champions oving England.

But it's it's a really traditional sort of competition and yeah, it's just some fairy tale stuff in England.

And then you're a five time WSL winners.

So which teams play in the WSL.

Changes each year with relegation and stuff, but there's, yeah, the top teams in the UK that you can think of, so Chelsea, Man City, Man United, Arsenal, Liverpool like all of the from the north to south.

And then there's relegation obviously, so some teams come up and down.

But yeah, there's eight to twelve teams.

I think the league's increasing, but yeah, we all play during the season and then yeah, thankfully I've won it a few times.

That's kind of England's and WSL.

Yeah for sure.

But I think the way we do it is it's definitely like you just get named the champions, whereas in America, I know, there's like the League the Shields.

Also, yeah, we have the final game.

Yeah, yeah, we're really into the one game to decide all kind of thing.

Yeah, a little bit more over here, okay, and the Euros and the champions are not the same because the Euros is for national teams and the Champions League is for clubs.

Yeah correct, Okay, all right, now that.

We got all that, and let's talk about the Euros.

You've got this incredible run with Team England.

We saw the huge numbers online, we saw some of the cool activations from AFAR, like the street lights changing in Basel, Switzerland, but you felt it.

So what was it like in person to play in what is now broken all the records for attendance and interest for this tournament?

Yeah, it was incredible.

I think year on year you do expect to get bigger and bigger, and that's credit to sort of the work that everyone's done with the women's game.

But I think to be out there in Switzerland for the whole tournament and to sort of see the appetite for it and the excitement no matter where we were in Switzerland, and to also see every other nations sort of home support, and sort of how that compared.

Like the game we played against Wales, which is a big rival.

Really the atmosphere there and obviously the Welsh verson of the English and the fans and it all traveled across and even before the game my family were telling me stories of the fan park and it was just the atmosphere semed electric and it was a full sort of day out, which I know the Americans do very well.

So your team came from behind on several occasions during the tournament, and I wonder if you think experience in previous tournaments prepared you to be able to fight back when you were trailing.

I think that's the spirit we have in the team.

And we sort of said before the final as well, we've done it so many times to the tournament that the opposition, no matter if we're losing, they always have that in the back of the mind now that we've done it time and time again, and I think we feel that within the team, but also we know the opposition feel that as well, that we're never down and out in a game, and that mental side sort of plays into it that, yeah, we're never done.

And I think we've shown that we have it in us multiple times to do it, and I think we really played on that and we're lucky enough to be able to do it a few times.

Yeah, you came on late in the final and major PK.

I want to know what's going on in that moment.

Do you repeat a mantra, do you focus on breathing, do you try to like look where you're not going to kick it?

I think in that moment, you like you can get so caught up in the emotions of it.

I knew my family were there, I knew a lot of people were watching.

Obviously your whole country's watching, and I think if you sort of spiral on that, it becomes so big.

And I think we'd really prepared for that moment as a team and as an individual that it was very much the mantra was sort of, just do your job.

It takes the emotion out of it.

Do your job, which is to walk up and to sort of bury it.

And I think that helped me to take the emotion out of it and really focus on my process of walking up there, where I placed the ball, what part of the ball, and then walking back referee whistle, and then it's not sort of it's sort of owning that moment, not going when the referee tells you to do.

It was definitely like I take a deep breath, go when I'm ready, And we'd sort of worked on that a lot in train and obviously you can never recreate it, but it definitely helped.

I hear that so much from elite athletes now, and I look back at my collegiate career and think, like I wish someone would have told me that to think of it as like, it's just the same thing you do every day.

I did the opposite.

I was like, this is the biggest moment of your life, like, and I now that that was like completely counterproductive and it was not how I should have done it.

So if anyone out there is listening, that's still playing, whereas kids who are playing, like, get that message across of you've done it a million times, it's the same as what you've always done.

I really could have used that.

After your team won, your teammate Lucy Brons revealed she'd been playing on a broken tibbia.

But of course she told the BBC after it's very painful, but I'm being a party, what a legend, Like, I assume all of you knew that behind the scenes what she was struggling with.

Yeah, we obviously knew that, but credit to Lucy's she's so good at making it about the team and keep going that you would never know unless you knew sort of things.

So, yeah, we knew that she'd been doing it for a while, and I think when people found out, they were like, if anyone could do it, Lucy could do it, And yeah, for her to play with that much pain and to be able to put in performances that she did.

If anyone could do it, it would be Lucy.

So I think it's just epitomizes who she is as a person.

It was a hell of a party too, It was worth her powering through.

You had doubled acker, buses, burn a boy.

There were throngs of people everywhere with the face pain and the flags and everything.

What was your favorite moment from that parade day.

I think there was a moment we all sort of came and we saw the buses and we saw the amount of people before we turned into the Male which is just in front of Booking and Palace, and I think we saw that crowd and thought, oh my god.

And then it just turning the corner and sort of seeing everyone.

It was so so special And I had a moment afterwards where I sort of said to someone I came down here with my family as a child and had a photo in front of this monument in front of Buckingham Palace, and now to be here doing that, yeah, with like it's sort of shut down for us.

It was a pinch me moment, and yeah, having enough family there as well, right in front of it was just fairy tale stuff.

It's funny too, because from over here in the States, I think of Buckingham Palace as like it's only for official royal business.

You know, you can't make the guards laugh.

I'm sure that's kind of like what foreigners think about.

When the US women's national team gets a ticker tape parade in downtown New York, You're like, wait, that's New York City that doesn't shut down for anything.

But that's how big these moments are, and that's how much you could feel a part of the city that you're in, in the country that you're from, when everybody rallies around you.

Back when the US women won the World Cup in twenty nineteen, we got some solid live streams from a couple players over the course of several days.

We saw them partying on bars at two am and pulling their bodies out of beds hung over to go do national TV shows and then go back and lay by the pool.

What was the length of party time for y'all?

How many days did we keep this celebration going?

I think we parted hard in Switzerland.

That was with like close friends and family in the hotel and then carried it on to the next day as well.

We had some sort of you got a lock in for some official business sort of thing, and then yeah, we had a really nice sort of moment just as players.

We went for dinner and went obviously went out, and that was a really nice moment to sort of let loose after a long time together, the feeling that you'd want and been able to celebrate, and then the parade again, and then by the end of that, I think we were all absolutely naked, like we really played hard and went hard, and that's exactly what you sort of arn't that moment.

I think it was just it was so nice to be able to share those memories and moments with the people that you'd sort of done that amazing thing with.

I want to go back to the beginning, because you got all the way to where you are beginning at the West Kirby wasps.

Tell us how you got started playing footy and tell me about that team.

Yeah, so I started.

Obviously, there weren't women's girls teams when I was growing up, so I went to a local boys team with my best friend.

And I don't remember this moment, but my family always tell me that my first coach was called Norman and I was pitchfied of and went down to the session, was crying, wouldn't let go of my dad's leg.

And now to think what I'm doing now at the moment, I said, you just didn't leave my leg for the whole session, but then once you went, I couldn't get you back.

And that's sort of the start of the sort of love affair of having football.

I guess it was.

It wasn't necessarily my family, It was just my pure love for the game that once I got over that first hurdle, I just was hooked and yeah, just couldn't couldn't get enough of it.

You mentioned playing on boys team, you know, I was fascinated to learn.

I don't know what it was five or six, seven years ago that women's pro football was banned in England for fifty years from the nineteen twenties until the seventies.

And I actually use that example all the time in the speeches and Ted Talk type things I do about women's sports, talking about how we need to understand that there was intention behind holding women back in order to understand the context of the recent growth that it required people being able to attend and play and grow up seeing it.

So you were obviously born decades after women's footy returned in the early nineteen seventies.

Did you hear much about the band growing up or was there an awareness of why women's footy was smaller than men's in the country.

I think growing up less so.

But I think before we went to the Olympics as a GB squad, we had a really nice moment where we had someone come in whose sort of job was to research that, and she should have shared all the personal stories of people from back then and how it sort of happened that women's football was banned because it was so successful.

The appetite was there even at that point, and that was sort of the reaction that was banned for fifty years.

But it was so inspired to hear that actually, all that time ago, it had such an appetite and it was yeah, everyone loved it, but also an understanding of Okay, this is why we are where we are, and we know that we can get there, but we are fifty years behind.

We have had a lot of barriers put in our way.

So I think it was inspiring to know the story and to know what we're sort of fighting for and where we can get to, and also an understanding of why we are behind and how much work we have to put in to sort of get it to where we know it can go.

And also a warning a bit the idea that it was thriving and popular.

There were so many people that wanted to play and wanted to watch and attend, and there was a desire to keep that from happening, and to understand that in this current moment where the growth feels like it's a rocket ship and the only way to go is up, to keep an eye out for the people who are wanting to hold it back, for the bad actors who want to prevent women from being empowered and in their bodies and participating.

You know, in December of last year, I saw you were on hand for this Neave Charles pitch opening at the Bidston Sports and Activity Center.

What did that mean to you?

And tell me how you came to get your own pitch.

That was such a full circle moment for me because I actually grew up playing at those pitches and it was sort of the hat out of my week and looking forward to training going down there, and that was at my World Cup final every week, so to go back there and to have a pitch that was named after me, and to know how much it gives priority to girls and women access to play football first and to know how much that would mean for the local community and hopefully how much that will help other people to get to where I am and further, I think it was really special for me and my family, and it was done because the government provided a grant for every Lion S's player amazing just sort of give back to their local community.

So all across the UK we all got pictures named after us, which is a massive thing for the women's game.

I think that's so cool.

Was the grant based on the Euros win or was it on the runner up finish?

I think it was based on the squad that was in the Euros and in the World Cup, so any player that was in that squad was eligible for the grant and sort of give back to their local community.

That's really cool.

So you played for Liverpool for several years before you signed with Chelsea in twenty twenty.

Emma Hayes was the manager of Chelsea at the time and switched your position.

What was your very first response, not the one after you're like, let me think this through and see if this will be good for me, or I trust Emma the very first response when she was like I'm going.

To move you denial.

I remember before she sort of had the conversation with me, some of the teammates were joking about it with me and they were like, they've been here for a while and they were like, it's going to happen.

Even I sort of denied it, but it sort of happened by chance with an injury we had it.

Sort of I got shoehorned into that.

So it probably delayed the response of actually your changing position.

It was more of a needs must for the team.

But I think, yeah, Emma was brilliant with me, gave me so much trust and guidance, and actually I think it really plays to ma strengths and she's a wise woman.

She she knows exactly what she's doing.

So yeah, I did trust her.

Yeah, life lesson too, maybe, speaking of Chelsea, how's our girl Naomi Germa?

We miss her over here?

You guys stole her.

Yeah, she's my sis, like she I'm so happy we signed her and I'm so happy she came.

I think she is an unbelievably talented player, not just in what she does with the football, but I think the leadership quality she brings and also just energy she has.

She's infectious as a person, and I think the US have got a really good I know, she's such a leader for them and such a sort of icon and leader from the back.

And I'm glad that from the domestic game she's on my team.

And yeah, when we play against her for the US, it'll be a battle for sure, But yeah, she is She's a top quality player and a person.

Yeah, gonna be tough playing the Americans because it feels like, based on social media, Katerina Marcario is one of your besties on the team too, another American.

I do joke with her that we've sort of sat like all of her best season now coming.

And but I think the Americans are one of the best teams in the world, and to have so many of them at Chelsea, it's only going to benefit us and hopefully help us when that Champions League that we're all going after.

Do you ever talk to them about the differences between the NWSL and WSL what stands out to you?

We do sort of compare stories, and I think we're also passionate about growing the women's game and how much it is growing and how the investment's evolving.

And I think it's nice to sort of compare the mindset between England and the mindset in America and how things are being done similarly indifferent to make sure that we're sort of pushing on all fronts and also that the players get the best service that they can.

And like we've seen investment, I know from Alexis'hanni and coming into the Chelsea game, which is amazing, sort of that crosspond from America, and I think it's exciting that players are sort of crossing over and sort of sharing that investment and hopefully that will increase the revenue in America and in England.

Yeah, I want to talk a little bit more about that because I feel like in the States we look over on your end and we're like, well, these teams get to be bullied by Premier League men's teams that have billions of dollars, right, so they have this incredible funding, a lot of good resources and things that stem from that.

But we also hear that here in the US because of Title nine and because of the success of the US women's national team that the NWSL is ahead in a lot of ways in comparison.

Where are the big differences.

Where do you think that you're ahead and where do you think that maybe you're still behind.

Having not experienced both, I would say the NWSL out is probably amazing that there're a lot of them are standalone teams sort of that can create their own sort of story, their own history.

But then I think there's something really special about the UK game where you can grow up and in the past you've just supported a men's team, but now there's very much a men's and a women's team, So for boys and girls, they can sort of look up and see people that they can relate to, they can be them, And I think there's strengths and weaknesses in both.

But I think what I'm really passionate about is making the women's game amazing on its own, that we have shown that we can attract the investment and the revenue, that it can become a powerhouse in its own right.

And I think in America you're probably seeing that with the attraction of the NWSL and how much investment's going on, which is also translating over here.

Hopefully off the back of the ears as well, that's only going to increase, which will contribute to better training facilities, better everything for the athletes.

So at the same time as the investment, we can create a better product on the pitch.

So hopefully year on year was sort of increasing at the same rate, whether it's the US or the UK.

Yeah, I have to admit, I'm just like a women's footy fan, and so I really got into the US women's national team and the NWSL.

I'm nadas into the teams across the pand so most of my view of what's going on over there is ted Lasso and Wreckham, which is like the most stereotypical, basic bit American view.

And of course the American players that I see go across the teams like Chelsea, and I kind of follow along with what they're doing.

Do you feel like the Americans who are getting into Premier League or maybe are more invested in watching the Euros women's team because of the team swaps the players that are coming over are kind of simple in their view and understanding of football.

Or are we getting better over here?

I've actually, funny enough, just started watching Ted last.

So I'm only on the first season, which I haven't done for life.

But it's film where I live, so's it's crazy way Yeah, so I've been to the pub where it's all filmed and.

Everything where you grew up or where you live now.

Where I live now, sorry, it's really near to.

So fun yeah, so cute little places.

It's such a quintessential English British pub book.

And to sort of see the American like crossover again, it's really really funny.

But I think what I love about the Americans is it's almost like you're just raised to win, your ways, to compete, your complete athletes, complete winners, and I think think like we can learn off them, they can probably learn off us.

And I think the combination of both is it's really really special and American sport is massive, So I think if we can take that and sort of apply that mindset in certain instances in the UK and the women's game, then it can be really really exciting.

I can only imagine the folks wandering around your town looking for the different spots that they've seen on the show.

It's probably both fun and annoying at times.

You made your debut for the Lioness's the England national team in twenty twenty one.

Who did you invite to that very first match and what were the nerves?

Like, well, it's crazy you asked that because it was in COVID, So I invited absolutely no one, no.

Yeah, So it was a really weird way to make my debut, but I like to splip it as like I made it with the girls.

It was so special.

But I also made it in a stadium really near to where my uncle, who was like a massive football inspiration for me, he lives, so it's kind of like it was going to be anywhere.

I could almost feel that they were there with me.

But it was also nice because then when they first got seen you play for England, it was like the second debut.

A little bit and maybe a little fewer nerves the second time.

So yeah, for sure excited about everyone being there for you.

Speaking of nerds, you're a big advocate for mental health and you've said it's really important to think about it every day, just like we think about our physical training or our technical training.

Was that a gradual journey for you to understand that or have you always had to make that a big part of your game in your life.

It has been a gradual journey, probably because I don't think it's maybe spoken about as much from when you're younger as it is physical.

So when I was coming through the academy, I really remember moments where I was fully focused on my physical strength, conditioning football.

So I was used to thinking like that, and I think it's only now that I start to think of the mental side, whereas I wish when I was younger it was spoken about in as much value as the physical part was and it became normal.

So my hope is now that young girls that are coming through they are it is equal weighted and look to say, look, your physical side of the game contributes massively, but also your mental side doesn't.

For me, it makes such a difference to my game.

But not only that, no matter what I'm doing, whether it's sports, whether it's a job, or just in my life, my mental health and for everyone, I think is something you take care of.

Yeah, I'm always talking about this book The Body Keeps the Score that I think is like this life changing understanding of how our heads and our intellects are not a separate body from the rest of us, but we kind of consider them as such, and then understanding the ways that what's going on in our brain and our feelings and our anxiety might actually be gucking up the rest of our body functioning as well as it could.

So that does deeply impact your play physically and your health physically, and a lot of people don't really make that connection.

I remember being a young athlete, we would sort of have those conversations like PMA positive mental attitude or like visualize the race.

Like we sort of talked about it in ways that were very clearly about mental health and sport, but we didn't name it.

And I think now being able to name it has allowed people to access it a lot more and to ask for what they need.

I know Nami Germa is part of this.

Create the space.

Is that something that y'all have worked together on or talk about how you want to be leaders about.

Yeah, it's really interesting because when she came over, obviously I'm also part of that created the space from the UK side, join common goal, but when we sort of came together, it was really really nice that sort of separately we're passionate about this and we have our own stories and reasons and motivations for it and then we came together and share a lot of similarities and sort of understanding about how important it is as a person and as an elite athlete.

And I think we've definitely spoken about it and how yeah, like you say, it can make a massive difference.

I know you just think, oh, it's just in my head, but it does connect to your body, and a lot of the time your body sort of shows you how you're feeling.

And I think we're both very aware of that and hopefully can normalize and increase that conversation and help a lot of people through that.

So I was trolling your social media and I have two important questions for you.

Number One, your family celebrated your twenty first birthday with a cardboard cut out of you and not you.

Everybody from your family together in a house partying without you the birthday.

Girl.

Can you please explain this.

I mean, I don't know whether to be so proud of my family that they still do that or so insulted, but yeah, it's actually happened a few times.

There was a lot of pictures on my family group chat today and I went through and I thought, all these family events and there's so many that I'm not in but yeah, for my twenty first that was a particular one.

My family liked to celebrate birthdays all together.

We all go away fine this house and sort of spend the weekend together and fin obviously it was planned and when I couldn't go, I would love to go back and think how long did they think about should we cancel it?

Should we not?

But I don't think they did.

They thought, well, perfect solution, will all just go And they didn't take just one.

I actually later found out it was five carboard cutouts, some of me as are put like in a nice dress, some of me and a football kit, and they just they all say to me, they think it's great.

We had the best time with your carboy cutouts, Like it was better than if you were there, Like it was just made the weekend.

So yeah, they had a great time.

Why here I assume I assume fo you got in the way.

Yeah, I don't know what particularly, but it was definitely football.

It's always that's the one of the biggest sacrifices you make.

And yeah, we all know is how performance athletes.

It's just it is a massive, massive sacrifice and it's just become normal to be honest.

I mean, at least one of those cardboard cutouts should have been saved and brought to all these other events that you also kept.

Make no, it actually has been.

And so my grandma's ninetieth birthday, they all obviously everyone was there apart from me, so the cardboard cut got well out again.

And it's actually my parents like shoved behind my parents' wardrobe at home, and like when I go in, it does like start me every single time.

There's just an arm and a leg out the side of the wardrobe, which like they obviously keep because again I'm going to miss something in the future.

Oh it can come back.

Like it, I like, and you're you're preserved at the age of you know, twenty years old.

Yeah, that's true when they took the photos, so you know, especially if they keep using in a family photo, was everyone will be like that Neve she never ages, Yeah, that's so true.

She also never changes her position or style.

How big is your family when they all get together?

I think with plus ones now where and also kids as well, were fifteen to twenty.

And it's wow, oh that's so fun.

Yeah, it's also at that age of the changing of the guard from the parents to Loo right, the cousins, and now we've got a new generation.

So it's really really fun and we have a great talent.

Together, and you seem to be enjoying anti life.

Yeah.

I'm actually going to see them this weekend.

I can't wait.

And I could not wait for someone in my family to have a little baby.

And I think, yeah, anytime I get to see them, and I can understand now why the first like grandchild or child in the family is so spoiled.

Oh yeah, I'm doing exactly that.

Yeah, and now I think, well, I wasn't the first one, so like I didn't get that treatment.

Yeah, me neither.

There's like the first five pages of my baby book are filled out and then it kind of trails off and has a whole lass thing of everything she did every month.

Am I it was a big when I walked to mom.

Yeah, okay.

My other follow up question about your socials is your teammate Maya calls you Steve and you call her worm.

Can you explain One day we were at Saint George's in prep for the Euros and yeah, I say Neve, just say Leeve, but it's Neve, And Mayo went to say ne but for some reason, she just goes Steve and it just it just caught on, and like now I really do respond to it, and the whole tournament.

You know when someone says that and you're like, they're not going to carry that on.

But two months later was still Steve.

And and then I was what can I do to say to Mayo?

And she'd done a few questionable things.

Oh, like what give us an example?

I think she'd done a few things to me, Like we were just before in training or something.

We were having a bit of a joke with Serena, and then she just like flipped her thing and like left me, hung me out to dry, and I was like, oh, that's a snaky thing, obviously.

Just yeah, but obviously I said to her, oh, you're a bit of snakes.

That's way too harsh.

And it was too harsh.

So she became one for the for the less.

Yeah, still has some work to do, to be honest, but Steve's really stuck.

Yeah for light hearted, light hearted snake moves, you get worm instead.

Yeah, all right, before I let you go, you have to play our game.

It's similar to start bench cut, but we don't cut anything.

It's good, gooder, gooddest.

Okay, so you have to rank from good to goodest.

Sam Kerr's celebratory backflips, Chloe Kelly's signature leg kick skip before a penalty, and Serena Wiegman's dance moves to burn a.

Boy that was iconic, that was really iconic.

I would say Chloe Kelly's kip is good classic, always delivers.

Sam's is gooder because the like that I associate with such good feelings of like she's just on something incredible.

But I think Serena's moves a burn boy and her reaction is just something iconic and like no one unexpected that was going to happen.

Yeah, so that's the goodness.

Like it's just it's just so mad.

I agree with you, except that I used to get the Sam Kurr backflips in my backyard when she was on the Chicago Red Stars, and that was like such a joy to me and I would just be always sharing the clips and be like, guys, this is like right here in Chicago, like we need to go see this team more.

It's Sam freaking cur doing backflips after she scores.

But the Burna Boys Serena connection that nobody knew was standing.

It was incredible.

It was so great to talk to you.

I fear that I like you too much, and then now I'll start wanting to watch you play, and I don't have time, Neave.

I don't have time to add a whole other league to my to my sports watching, but I will be tempted now, so you might have got me perfect.

Thank you.

Well, you know, the WSL is always there.

It's a great, great advertisement.

Fair but I will always still root for the US.

So thanks so much, Neve for taking the time.

We got to take another break.

When we come back, we redecorate in purple and pink.

Welcome back slices.

We love that you're listening, but we want you to get in the game every day too, So here's our good game play of the day.

Follow Neve on social media, maybe even dip a toe in the WSL footy waters season starts next month.

Be careful, though, because you got to make sure you have the time to fall in love with a whole nother league of badass footballers.

Not to mention, you got to make sure you have your early Saturday mornings free.

Those games are like at six am, And maybe just start by rooting for Neve.

We'll link to our instagram in the show notes to get you started.

We always love to hear from you.

Hit us up on email, good game at wondermedianetwork dot com, or leave us a voicemail at eight seven two two O four fifty seventy, and don't forget to subscribe, rate and review.

It's easy watch the PWHL's partnership with Mattel and Tim Horton's rating ten out of ten brand turnaround from Barbie the last few years.

Turns out it's far cooler to empower women than to provide them with an unrealistic ideal review.

The PWHL recently announced it's teamed up with Mattel and Tim Hortons to create two new Barbie dolls.

The dolls are inspired by PWHL players Sarah Nurse and friend of the show Marie Filippe Pulen, who were recognized as Barbie role models back in twenty twenty for being trailblazers on the ice and breaking down barriers for women in hockey.

Both the Barbie's are rocking a Tim Horton's PWHL hockey jersey hockey stick helmet and skates, and five Canadian dollars from every doll sold will be donated to Grindstone Award Foundation, which provides funding for young female hockey players who have the passion to play but face financial challenges.

To celebrate the launch of Tim Hortons in Toronto has been made over in Barbie Pink and p WHL purple.

All right, my maple bacon slice is up in Canada.

If you're near that, Tim Hortons, stop in today or tomorrow while the decorations are still up and send us a PA.

We'll link to where you can find out more about the school collab.

Now it's your turn rate and review.

Do it right now to scroll down five stars.

Tell us you'll love us.

Thanks for listening, y'all, see you tomorrow.

Good game, Neve, good game, Hesley.

You you England for banning women's football for so long.

Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.

You can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Production by Wonder Media Network, our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones.

Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder.

Our editors are Emily Rutter, Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch and Gianna Palmer.

Our associate producer is Lucy Jones.

Production assistance from Avery Loftist and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain