The NWSL Champs! | Rose Lavelle, Emily Sonnett, Jaedyn Shaw, and Lilly Reale of Gotham FC

Summary

Podcast Summary: Casuals with Katie Nolan

Episode: The NWSL Champs! | Rose Lavelle, Emily Sonnett, Jaedyn Shaw, and Lilly Reale of Gotham FC
Date: March 19, 2026
Host: Katie Nolan
Guests: Rose Lavelle, Emily Sonnett, Jaedyn Shaw, and Lilly Reale (Gotham FC & USWNT)

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Episode Overview

This episode of "Casuals with Katie Nolan" celebrates the triumphs of Gotham FC, the reigning NWSL champions, and explores the team’s journey to the title. Katie is joined by Gotham players Rose Lavelle, Emily Sonnett, Jaedyn Shaw, and rookie sensation Lilly Reale, all of whom also play key roles for the US Women’s National Team. The conversation, recorded in front of a live SiriusXM studio audience, dives into last season’s rollercoaster campaign, the underdog narrative, personal highlights, the evolving women’s sports landscape, and Gotham FC’s ambitions for the new season. The show wraps with interactive games, audience Q&A, and personal reflections on both club and international soccer.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Mixed Feelings about the World Baseball Classic (WBC) Finale

• Reactions to USA’s loss: Katie and her team discuss the emotional rollercoaster following Team USA’s dramatic 3-2 loss to Venezuela in the WBC final. The celebration and joy from Venezuela's historic victory are contrasted with the militaristic messaging from the American team.
  • On Venezuela's win:
    "The excitement and genuine joy radiating out of that Venezuelan team was... pure. It meant a lot to them." (Katie Nolan, 04:05)
  • On Team USA’s tone:
    "It was just this weird cognitive dissonance that I felt like the WBC was asking of American baseball fans that other countries didn’t deal with." (Katie Nolan, 05:54)
• Team strategy & frustrations: Discussion on questionable roster decisions, the influence of MLB restrictions on player usage, and the lack of playtime for stars such as Ernie Clement and Mason Miller.
• WBC scheduling & player availability: Suggests moving the tournament to accommodate clubs’ interests and allow players to 'take it seriously'. Ends with a nod to changes in upcoming CBAs affecting scheduling for international events.

Timestamps

• WBC discussion: 04:00 – 18:00

2. Spotlight: Team USA Sled Hockey Paralympic Triumph

• Professional Grade Performance Award:
  Segment honoring Jack Wallace and the U.S. Paralympic sled hockey team for their gold medal at the Paralympics, noting their multi-sport achievements and day jobs outside of sport.
  • "Jack Wallace... by day, is a biomedical engineer." (Katie Nolan, 19:13)
• Attendance records and pride: Emphasis on breaking records and national pride in adaptive sports.

Timestamps

• Sled Hockey segment: 18:24 – 20:00

3. Main Event: Gotham FC – Champions’ Journey

Introduction and Major Announcement

• The players join the set with full energy, announcing Gotham FC’s NWSL championship rematch against Washington Spirit at Citi Field (July 15th), aiming for a city record in attendance for a women’s sporting event.
  • “…trying to set a New York City attendance record, right, for a women’s sporting event?” (Katie Nolan, 26:06)

Navigating Sports Fandom Identity

• Katie’s personal dilemma: Whether to stick with Gotham or switch allegiance to the new Boston NWSL team.
  • "I was a Gotham FC fan…I don't know what to do now." (Katie Nolan, 26:21)
  • Emily Sonnett's advice:
    "That was your team first. You're going to switch sides so quickly? Give it a year at least." (Emily Sonnett, 27:03)

Recapping Gotham FC’s 2025 Title Run

• Season turnaround: The team discusses their underdog run, the mindset reset entering playoffs, and the chemistry that developed at crunch time.
  • "Once you start playoffs... it’s like a whole new season... you get a fresh start." (Emily Sonnett, 28:00)
• Jaden Shaw’s impact: On joining late in the season and immediately being thrown “into the biggest fire” during a crucial road trip.
  • "I think that was a lot easier for me... just having to like go right away and play a game within the next week." (Jaden Shaw, 28:48)
• Team bonding and inclusivity: All players underscore Gotham’s welcoming and fun spirit, with everyone contributing to the team’s culture.

The “Underdog, My Ass” Moment

• A game-winning moment and rallying cry; the now-iconic phrase captured team confidence:
  • "Underdog, my ass. We are not an underdog." (Jaden Shaw, attributed by Katie Nolan, 30:31)
• T-shirts, viral quotes, and family responses.

Key Matches & Memorable Goals

• Overcoming Orlando in Semifinal:
  Jaden Shaw describes her 97th-minute free kick winner and teamwork behind pivotal moments:
  • “…the biggest moment of your life. The moment you trained all your life for…” (Jaden Shaw, 33:33)
• Rose Lavelle’s winner in the final:
  On the 80th-minute goal that clinched the title:
  • “That was my moment to execute. But we had so many of those moments throughout the game, and that’s what won us the game.” (Rose Lavelle, 36:07)

Staying Hungry for Next Season

• Focus on “consistency” as the team’s guiding word after an inconsistent regular season in 2025.
  • “We're really trying to emphasize consistency.” (Emily Sonnett, 37:13)
• Using adversity and depth from last season as fuel and strategy for 2026.

The Business of Women’s Soccer: Trades, Pay, and Parity

• On record trades, the high impact player rule, and Trinity Rodman’s landmark contract:
  • “I think paying someone what they are worth and deserve is the right thing to do.” (Rose Lavelle, 41:45)
• How increased investment is changing the league, but players cherish the competitive parity in NWSL.

Changes in Pro Environment for Women Players

• Rose and Emily reflect on the evolution from humble beginnings (minor facilities, small crowds) to sold-out stadiums and professional support teams (including masseuses!).
  • "Now they’re playing in front of… 30,000 people in Gillette." (Emily Sonnett, 42:15)
  • “We have masseuses, proper medical care… We’re getting to a place where the top of the line medical professionals want to be working in the NWSL.” (Rose Lavelle, 43:16)

USWNT Talk: Club-to-Country Transitions & the World Stage

• Discussing the benefits and challenges of balancing club and international duty, especially with compressed windows and tactical information overload.
• On SheBelieves Cup:
  • “We like winning. Each camp, we take a lot of learnings and we look to build on every performance.” (Rose Lavelle, 46:40)
• On global women’s soccer improvement:
  • “It’s a good thing [that other countries are catching up]. There’s more investment… we’re still going to continue to push to stay on top.” (Emily Sonnett, 49:09)
• World Cup lessons:
  Emphasis on set pieces, preparation, and blocking out media noise.
  • “…set pieces...that’s what’s gonna win us games.” (Emily Sonnett, 49:50)
  • “Protect your bubble...the older players had protected us from that [outside noise].” (Emily Sonnett, 52:47)
• Now being the veteran:
  • “You guys now… are the older players on the team who will have to shield your younger teammates from the noise.” (Katie Nolan, 53:20)

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4. Interactive Q&A and Team Superlatives Game

• Players participate in a fun, rapid-fire “who’s who” game, revealing team personalities, musical tastes, and Halloween costumes.
  • On championship celebrations: “She literally had just turned 21… I remember, I didn’t do anything crazy you guys.” (Jaden Shaw, 57:03)
  • Who talks the best smack? “There’s some one-liners… and that’s just the Boston that comes out of her.” (Rose Lavelle about Emily Sonnett, 60:27)
  • Most trustworthy with the aux cord: “Rose’s move is to grab the aux, cue all her songs and slide them up to the top of the queue.” (Emily Sonnett, 62:43)

Timestamps

• Gotham interview: 25:00 – 77:08

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5. Live Audience Q&A

Favorite Aspects of Gotham FC Culture

• Pre-game rituals, music, team meals, travel adventures, and a sense of belonging are highlighted as core to the club’s chemistry.

Lessons from an Up-and-Down Season

• Importance of mental resilience, learning from losses, using adversity to grind out results and keep a level mindset throughout the intense, competitive NWSL season.

Navigating Club & National Team Coaching Styles (Emma Hayes vs. Juan Carlos)

• Players stress that national camp is about information overload in a compressed time, while club life allows deeper connections and tactical consistency.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• The underdog rallying cry:
  "Underdog, my ass. We are not an underdog." — Jaden Shaw (30:31)
• On being paid what you’re worth:
  "Paying someone what they are worth and deserve is the right thing to do." — Rose Lavelle (41:45)
• On team culture:
  "I really enjoy the hour that we get before we play the game, and that involves like the music, the dancing, the trying to grab your Favorite Gatorade color..." — Rose Lavelle (68:49)
• On evolving women’s pro soccer:
  "It’s not a moment. This is… the new normal, and it’s just gonna keep getting bigger and better." — Emily Sonnett (42:15)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• WBC Discussion / Sports News: 04:00 – 20:00
• Professional Grade Performance: 18:24 – 20:00
• Gotham FC Interview Start: 25:00
• Citi Field Rematch Announcement: 26:05
• Team Culture & Underdog Narrative: 28:00 – 33:00
• Championship-winning Moments: 33:19 – 36:42
• Women’s Soccer Business & Growth: 40:45 – 44:40
• USWNT Reflections & World Cup Lessons: 45:19 – 53:20
• "Who's Who" Game: 55:44 – 67:54
• Live Audience Questions: 68:32 – 77:08

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Takeaways for the Sports-Curious & Sports-Obsessed

This episode welcomes listeners at every fandom level, demystifying the highs and lows of professional women's soccer with humor, candor, and insight. From game-winning moments and sports business realities to Halloween costumes and karaoke favorites, Gotham FC's stars and Katie Nolan turn sports talk into an engaging, accessible and genuinely uplifting celebration of teamwork and progress in women’s sports.

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Final Thoughts from Katie

"It was so good to see Rose and to see Emily and to get to meet Jaden and Lily. Love Gotham FC. I'll figure out what I'm doing with my fandom. Okay? We'll get to the bottom of it. But so cool to see them and to talk to them after their championship win. All so talented and so nice and so interesting and so fashionable." (Katie Nolan, 82:59)

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Go Bats!

Transcript

[Katie Nolan]

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[Katie Nolan]

Hey Isabella, did you hear that? It turns out Pokemon Go was just a giant data collection operational. Yeah, it's whatever. It's believable. Who could have seen this coming? What do you mean? They were using people that were willing to walk all over the earth and take pictures or whatever using the camera on their phone. Were actually just collecting data for the big data companies. Also where I was at the time didn't get any Pokemon. It was bullshit and I deleted it off my phone. Damn. But you did try it. I did try it, yeah. Was that during the pandemic or am I just misremembering? I think it was even earlier.

[Chris (Master Editor)]

Right before it was like 2016.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, it was like a while back we had to Pokemon go to the polls. Does anybody remember that? Turns out Niantic Spatial, the company behind Pokemon Go, built a giant geolocation model using over 30 billion. 30 billion images captured by Pokemon Go users and have just struck a deal to train over 1000 food delivery robots using the game's data. A thousand is not even a lot. That's 30 billion images to train a thousand robots.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Get your shit up.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

Robots.

[Katie Nolan]

You think they're maybe. Are they using it for something else and they're just not saying? Ew, I don't know. I don't want to talk about it actually. We'll start the podcast. This episode is presented by gmc. We are professional grade. Hello. Hi there and welcome to Casuals, the sports podcast that's just feeling it today. Okay. The sports podcast that's got weird energy. But it has a lot to talk to you about. I'm Katie Nolan. I'm your host. I'm here because I love sports and I think anybody can. So we try to talk to you no matter how much or how little you know. Joined here up at the top of this podcast today by my casualties. It's the production crew here at SiriusXM. We have Isabella, who is our sports newbie.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Hi.

[Katie Nolan]

We've got Chris, our master editor.

[Chris (Master Editor)]

Good day.

[Katie Nolan]

And then Brady.

[Brady (Production Crew)]

Hey, everybody.

[Katie Nolan]

Someday we'll get like, like rap air horns and various explosions, but that day is not today. If you want to reach out to us, our email is casualswith katie nolangmail.com Our voicemail is 646-801-0043. On IG and TikTok, we are at Casuals, the podcast. We have a lot to get to today, not the least of which being that the stars of Gotham fc, the NWSL champion of last season, are joining us. We have a lot to talk to them about and we will get to that in a little bit. That season has kicked off already, so we're getting you guys in the zone for nwsl. We'll get to all of that in a little bit. But first we wanted to react to the final for the wbc. The WBC has ended. It is over. We've got mixed feelings and like, not a lot of time to talk about it. But I would like to get some of those out and sort of go through our reaction to the game. Did of the casualties, who did we all watch at least some of the game or no? Yes.

[Chris (Master Editor)]

No, I watched the very end.

[Katie Nolan]

I watched some of the beginning.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Yeah, good.

[Katie Nolan]

That's good. Just so that we can inform our discussion. And then I was tuned in a little bit. Yeah, they tied. You know what happened, right? Which is that they, the United States lost to Venezuela. Three, two. Your final score. Ayo Hen Suarez, my boy Gino hit the go ahead RBI double in the top of the ninth to lead Venezuela to their win, its first ever World Baseball Classic championship. And boy, did that show. The excitement and genuine joy radiating out of that Venezuelan team was you couldn't miss it. It was unmistakable. It was pure. It was. It meant a lot to them. And I know we heard from a lot of United States players throughout this whole thing about it meaning a lot to them. And I know we had the Cal Raleigh taking it so seriously that he couldn't, you know, handshake his teammates and then wearing. Discussing that with a shirt that said forward towards enemy, which is like what you write on a mine which is just like another military reference. It was just very heavy handed militarily. Throughout the messaging for the Team usa, for the wbc, which like I know there's I, and I respect the military and I thank everybody who has served for their service. I think it's the bravest thing you can do. I think I'm way too big of a baby to ever be out there. And so I look, I, I, I bow to you. It's just when it's the only messaging we're getting from our baseball team at a time when we are at war. And a lot of us are trying to either like separate from that in terms of thought when we're watching a baseball game and or like if we're gonna talk about it, then let's really it because we were playing against Venezuela and they're not like uninvolved in this whole thing. It was just this weird cognitive dissonance that I felt like the WBC was asking of American baseball fans that other countries didn't deal with. They were, they were just there for loving the game and the pureness of it and the joy that it brings them and bringing them together as a country. So I, Venezuela deserved to win that game. They had an awesome run, they had an awesome roster. I had a lot of fun seeing Miguel Cabrera in that role of like perfectly between player and manager where he would like get in between Ronald Acuna in an ump that he was a little upset at for a call that he had made on a check swing. But he then would also join in and yell at the ump at certain times. It was like a beautiful. I really enjoyed watching them play baseball. Still on the fence about how I feel about this as a USA fan. And I don't know, Brady, you're also big into the baseball world, so I don't know if you feel differently, but between the management of this team by Mark DeRosa, a television personality who before this I had like his Q score with me was like very high. I liked him. I thought he was personable and had interesting opinions and I thought it would be cool to see a TV guy talk about the process of managing all of these stars and give us insight for the TV viewer. And instead of doing that every time he spoke, I wanted to muzzle him. I was like, shut this guy up. What are you talking about? All of the mishaps that he had. So between him and then the rosters that he put together, the, the lineups, a personal gripe I have is we didn't see enough Ernie Clement, a guy who just set a postseason record for hits. We don't see him in clutch moments. I got a root for Aaron Judge, who's striking out and is our captain, but can't give us a good speech. I, I have a lot of like, mixed feelings and frustrations and I'm curious to know how you felt about the team.

[Brady (Production Crew)]

I. Turns out that sometimes having a TV personality in a management position isn't like

[Katie Nolan]

the best thing I'd say most times, yeah.

[Brady (Production Crew)]

Most times it.

[Katie Nolan]

If you're not going to take that,

[Brady (Production Crew)]

if you want to take this thing seriously, if you want to try to win and the whole time they're saying we're taking this seriously, we're trying to win. Bring out like a Buck Showalter or somebody who, you know, has some free time and is not currently managing and actually knows how to manage a baseball game. Instead of Mark derosa telling us that, you know, he thought they had already clinched before they had actually clinched when they lost to Italy or last night. When we see Mason Miller does not make it into this baseball game. The hardest thrower in the majors. The guy who's going to dot one zero three on the corner of the plate and is unhittable. The guy who closed out the. The semi game or he's already closed out the last game. Instead we have Garrett Whitlock throwing in the ninth inning. Garrett Whitlock, he's on the team.

[Katie Nolan]

I love you very much as a Red Sox, but he's not Mason Miller. I know. And Mason Miller. Isabelle, I just want to remind Isabella, I showed her his picture the other day because Dan's reaction to seeing Mason Miller on the mound was like, when did we get a male model that just comes in and is like a. It just shut down. He's got like blue steel, that blue steel look. He does everything. He really does. And we didn't see. We did not see him. And it was. Look, we heard about this with the Venezuelan closer that they put it. They were like he was. They were told they could only use him in a save situation. And we know that the MLB teams had a lot of control over how guys were able to be used in the wbc, not just for the United States. Puerto Rico obviously had a huge issue with their roster coming in because of insurance.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

It's a.

[Katie Nolan]

A murky, muddy, boring business waters that this gets into. And the reason we mainly know this is because of Tarek Scubal was a conversation we had to have Tarek Scubal from the Tigers, one of the best pitchers. He won the Cy Young two years in a row. Correct. Brady.

[Brady (Production Crew)]

Last year.

[Katie Nolan]

And he. We. He was only able to pitch one game for us. It was Great Britain. It was, you know, not the game we wanted to see him in. He's why we saw Nolan McLean starting in the final, which didn't matter as much until we lost with Nolan McClain on the mound to Italy. And then it was putting that rookie in a tough situation. But Tarek Skubal, another guy that you're like, just say less then because. Did you guys see that interview of him? I forget where it was with. It was.

[Brady (Production Crew)]

I saw it online with foul territory.

[Katie Nolan]

Thank you. And he was talking about how he drove through the night and then he wouldn't. Can we just play the clip? This is Tarik School just being interviewed before one of the games.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Why did it matter so much for you to come back and support these guys?

[Katie Nolan]

I think I just can't miss an opportunity to share a dugout with these guys or a clubhouse with these guys. It's been a very short, brief time, but I feel like I've known these guys for months, maybe years, and it's been. It's been fun to be a part of, even in a smaller role. The tweet that it went out with was about the quote he said next, too. So it set it up as saying Tarek Skubal drove through the night in the rain and he wouldn't miss this for the world. And it's like, buddy, buddy, buddy. I. I get. I get it. I get that you want to be there with your team, you want to celebrate with your team, you want to wear the USA Hockey jersey that they all wore. They got to wear the game worn. If you're a USA Hockey fan, you're shit out of luck because they didn't think the United States was going to win. So Nike didn't make enough jerseys. And if you wanted one, it's on backorder. You could put in a pre order at the NHL shop. But. But he. But Tarek Skuba wants to be there and be a part of it and party with his guys. And I don't care unless you are playing. I don't tell me you drove through the rain to be on the bench. I don't. That doesn't actually mean anything to me. Clayton Kershaw getting a beer from the bullpen. I like that because he's done. He is done. There's no more for him. I want him to enjoy every Last second of this. But like Tarek School, I want you out there. And the only reason you aren't out there is because your team's not letting you be out there, which is the same excuse they used to with Mason Miller. And I just. There's a lot of conversation about, like, moving the WBC and putting it where, like, the All Star break usually is. Maybe that would allow teams to let their guys play and would allow the United States to take it seriously. I'm just coming away from the big international baseball party feeling like we were the least party about it. And it's supposed to be our national sport. Like, it's. We should take that really seriously. It should mean a lot to us to win that the way that it meant so much to Venezuela. Like, I just wanted it to mean a lot to us that way.

[Brady (Production Crew)]

It came down to semantics. It was like the Padres saying, you can pitch Mason Miller if it's a save situation, which Isabella. That means they said you can pitch Mason Miller if the team is winning, but only by three or fewer runs. So they are making up rules saying Mason Miller is healthy enough to pitch, but only if so. And so when, like, they wrote themselves out of the ability to put him in when it's tied in the ninth inning.

[Katie Nolan]

I know, I know.

[Brady (Production Crew)]

The most important part of the game,

[Katie Nolan]

they waited till the 8th inning to get a base runner and to score any runs. And then it's tied two, two. We go into the ninth, Garrett Whitlock, and then it's just off the rails. The energy in the stadium was awesome. I thought it was very cool watching Venezuela celebrate. I thought it was very funny that the United States all had to put on silver medals. I thought it was very, very funny that the commissioner of baseball, Rob Manfred, had to put little pieces of metal around these guys necks and. And that we had to watch. The camera angle was like Manfred pudding. And then giving a little, tiny, little speech to every single player. Like, they want to hear from Rob Manfred, a guy who they're about to square up with in like, CBA negotiations, as if they. The guy that called their trophy a hunk of metal. A piece of metal, whatever he called it. I don't want to hear from you and I don't want to put this metal around my neck. And I thought that was beautifully displayed. The metal's cute. Yeah, sure. It's better than the trophy, which is gigantic. I was gonna say it looks like it's like the top of the trophy.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

The symbol on the metal.

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

On the metal.

[Katie Nolan]

I talked about this on the radio. I really shouldn't have. But if you watched a lot of wbc, the animation they have looked like that spirally graphic they use, you know, was taking a baseball into its butthole and then pushing it out the other side without any LA making that up. I wish. It's not what it looked like, but every time it did, the, like, this broadcast is brought to you by. And the. And the graphic came over Dan and I would go like, I'm passing it through. I'm passing it through. It's taking off the laces. It's gross. It's graphic. Get it out of my face. And then you see that. That's how they designed the trophy. And you're like, oh, God, put a baseball in the hole. So anyway, Kyle Schwaber, once he got the silver medal, put on him, you see him walk away from the little presentation. By the way, they also shout out to whatever. Whatever woman's job that was who. You just see her hand holding up the line of professional baseball players who have lined up to receive medals from the commissioner. You just see one manicured hand going, wait. Okay. And now you go, wait. And now you go, wait. Like they couldn't figure out a line. So Kyle Schwerber walks away, and you just see him before he even gets down the stairs, takes the metal off of his head. And I get it. You don't want them to be happy with a silver medal. I just was annoyed by the, like, back and forth between, like, this is the military. We take this really seriously. And the like, hey, it's spring training. That was what Mark DeRosa said afterwards Spring training. A lot of these guys are ramping up. So we're not trying to get in the way of their. Get in the way. This was like a moment of national pride for a lot of countries. And, like, we just didn't really get to do that. And that's fine. Baseball's gonna start getting right into the baseball season. I will say my opinion of some people has changed. I'm not saying, like, I dislike Cal Raleigh now, but I'm looking at him a little different. Is that bad?

[Chris (Master Editor)]

No, it makes sense.

[Katie Nolan]

No, I'm just. I support the haterade. Go for it. And it's not even a haterade. Like, look, I was campaigning loudly for MVP for him last year. And look, I don't think the actual mvp, Aaron Judge, who won it over him, not happy with him. But I've never been happy with him. It's Aaron Judge plays for the Yankees. Him, you know, but Cal Raleigh was just like, I don't know if he was like, I'm willing to. I. Maybe I misunderstood him, but it just felt like, where was he? You know, where was he? Where was the fun? Where was the, like, spark? Where was the. Where was Ernie Clement? Where was Ernie Clement? That guy was gonna get it done for you. I think that covers everything, but maybe I left some stuff out. So send us emails and voicemails if there's stuff you wanted to talk about with the wbc. We put it to rest and we wait and see what happens with the CBA and if they're going to let them play in the Olympics, because then that's a whole nother discussion that we can get into when we get into it. The WNBA and the wnbpa. While we're talking CBA stuff, it's important to note we are getting reports overnight on Tuesday into Wednesday. The WNBA and WNBA reached a verbal agreement on a new cba. It's too many letters. Okay, I'm feeling like an episode of Sesame street, but you know what I'm saying. The league and the Players association have reached a verbal agreement on how the league will be able to proceed. We are not that far out from when the season would have started. It's May 8, so we were really coming down to the wire. There were a lot of dates in there where they were like, if they don't hit this date, it's curtains. And so for me, a person who tries to pay attention to a little bit of all of it, I was like, I'm just gonna assume it's curtains on the season. So this is really good news. And I don't think we do a good enough job of celebrating when good news comes in. So really good news. It's just verbal, so anything can. We all just saw what happened with Max Crosby, who also went on his podcast and addressed the whole thing. We don't today, but we will talk about it later. So let's talk about what they got. We don't have all the details yet. The they're still pending, finalized a written term sheet that will be in the coming days and then ratification by the players and the board of governors of the WNBA. But according to ESPN, the average salary is going to be around 600,000. That's up from 120,000 in 2025. You do have to give the context when you talk women's sports, because I feel like the numbers don't. You don't immediately go like, that is great progress. And then the average Revenue share across the length of the deal would be near 20, which is up from 9.3% now. It's not up as much as it I'll say should have been. It's my opinion. It's my show. It's not up as much as was wanted, but it is significant progress being made and it also means we're gonna probably hopefully have a season. So great news on that front and we will wait to hear from the players before we talk about it too deeply. Time now before we get to nwsl, Gotham fc, the women of Gotham fc Here it is. Time now for our new segment. Chris.

[Chris (Master Editor)]

Hey, hey.

[Katie Nolan]

That's right. It is of course a professional grade performance. Each week we will highlight a player who just rises above the rest with a performance that we here at Casuals deemed professional grade. Today's professional grade performance is brought to you by our friends at gmc. Introducing the next generation GMC terrain. What we choose to challenge, we challenge completely. This week we are spotlighting. Can we get a drum roll of some sort? I don't feel like we have a good one.

[Brady (Production Crew)]

Yeah, Chris, add it in post.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, that's good. That's a good idea. Jack Wallace and the U.S. paralympic sled hockey team. Ooh. This past weekend the United States beat Team Canada six to two in the gold medal game of Paralympics Sled hockey. Which means that we've become the first ever nation to sweep all Olympic and Paralympic hockey golds. Huge. It was an unprecedented fifth straight Paralympic gold for Team usa led by three goals and an assist in the final from defenseman Jack Wallace, who is not just an incredibly decorated hockey player. He also competes in Paracanoe and in the Summer Paralympic Games. We love that. We love a two sport athlete. Playing in both Olympic Games is like incredible to me. It's one of the things we do not celebrate enough when somebody can pull that off. And not only that, but by day. Jack Wallace is a biomedical engineer with a degree from the College of New Jersey. Chris, does anybody else on the roster have a fun day job?

[Chris (Master Editor)]

Oh, there's plenty of. So we've got Declan Farmer, who was named tournament MVP for Team usa. He was an intern at a tax consulting firm before he was able to turn Paralympics competition into a full time career following his third gold medal in 2022. And new Paralympian Brett Bolton is currently a full time finance and accounting student. And golly, Griffin Lamar is an accountant executive for a property management firm in Tennessee.

[Katie Nolan]

Wow. A lot of that in the money world and I feel like the time. Thank goodness they got out. Thank God Declan got out of that job because this is busy season for the taxes. I just heard the word accounting and I went, oh my God, I gotta sign my taxes. What a performance by Team usa. We're so proud of you. What an honor to have you representing our nation. Capping a huge month for American hockey and an even bigger month for the Paralympics. Sunday's final game set an attendance record for sled hockey at a major tournament with 10,795 fans filling the stands. So an awesome moment and certainly qualifies to be professional grade. That was this week's Professional Grade performance brought to you by gmc. With bold exterior styling and all wheel drive capability with hill descent control, the 2026 GMC Terrain is designed for professional grade performance so you can conquer confidently. Gmc, we are professional grade. Okay, coming up next, as promised, we've got the stars of Gotham fc. Rose Lavelle, Emily Sonnett, Jaden Shaw, and rookie of the year Lily Real. Right here on Casuals. We're gonna take a quick break and when we come back, I'll be joined by them. Okay, we'll be right back. It's Casuals. Have you ever wished you could make something happen just by thinking about it? Well, WIX may have just answered your prayers. Wix's new Harmony editor makes it so easy to create a website exactly how you imagined it that it's almost like you're just thinking out loud. Experience the new way to create websites. WIX Harmony is a hybrid website editor that offers the perfect blend of AI and precise drag and drop tools, introducing the world to the next generation of website creation. Switch back and forth between AI prompts and hands on editing to build the exact website you want, the way you want. WIX Harmony is packed with some of the coolest, most useful AI features and agents built specifically for small businesses. Including aria, an AI agent that helps you create your website and take care of business so you don't burn out and rest easy knowing that your WIX site is backed by 99.99% uptime and enterprise grade security. No add ons required. Check it [e-mail] Harmony let's be honest, a lot of bras and underwear, they're uncomfortable, they're unflattering, and they're impractical. You know when you've been wearing a bra all day and like the wires have been digging into your side or your like thong's been riding up on you all day and it just, you can see it under your cloth, but the Fits Everybody Collection from Skims will totally change your opinion on what bras and underwear can be. The Fits Everybody Collection from Skims molds onto your body so it feels like you're wearing nothing at all. The Fits Everybody thong basically melts into your skin. You're gonna forget that you're even wearing it. It's the type of comfort you have to experience for yourself to believe. If you've been hearing all the Skims hype but you haven't tried it yet for yourself, this is your sign. I hate to admit this to you, but I am currently at this very moment wearing the Fits Everybody thong and I really have forgotten that I'm wearing it. It's such light material. Shop Skims Fits everybody [e-mail] after you place your order, be sure to let them know that we sent you select podcast in the survey and be sure to select our Show Casuals in the drop down menu that follows. That's S k I m s.com this show is sponsored by Liquid IV. You know, when I was at Radio Row at the Big Game earlier this month, it was so much running around and talking to people, it's hard to stay hydrated in situations like that all day. Events like Big Game Days aren't just about the opening moments. They require superior hydration from start to finish. Liquid IVs hydration hydration multiplier Sugar Free is designed to help you stay hydrated through marathon days. Just one stick and 16 ounces of water hydrates better than water alone. It's powered by live hydro science, an optimized ratio of electrolytes, essential vitamins and clinically tested nutrients that turn ordinary water into extraordinary hydration. I like the flavors BlackBerry Lemonade and Strawberry Kiwi, but they have so many flavors to choose from. You can absolutely find one that you like. Show up start to finish with Hydration from Liquid IV Hydration Multiplier Sugar Free Tear Pour Live More go to Liquid IV.com and get 20% off your first order with code CASUITS at checkout. That's 20% off your first order with Code [e-mail] Everyone deserves to be connected.

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[Katie Nolan]

Okay. Welcome back to Casuals, guys. This week I had the absolute joy of sitting down with four members of Gotham fc. They are the NWSL team here in New York. They just won the championship. And we sat down in front of a live audience at the SiriusXM studios. They're, like I said, reigning NWSL champions. They also just won because they play for the national team, the 2026 she Believes cup with Team USA. And one of them is really mad that she had to miss Halloween last year. Let's welcome in from Gotham fc, Rose Lavelle, Emily Sonnett, Jayden Shaw and Lily Real. Tiny water. Tiny waters. Hey, gals. Hey, ladies. What do you want? What did you want, Sonnet?

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Oh, we like gals.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, gals.

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

Yeah. I like that.

[Katie Nolan]

Before we start by talking about the championship last year and the season that you guys had last year, you guys made a big announcement today. Gotham FC did that. They're going to be playing the NWSL championship rematch against Trinity Rodman and the Washington Spirit at Citi Field on July 15th.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Yay.

[Katie Nolan]

Yay. Yes. That's exciting. That's gonna be the week of the Men's World cup final, July 15th. And you guys are trying to set a New York City attendance record, right, for a women's sporting event?

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

Yep.

[Katie Nolan]

And we're all gonna help them do that. Right? And listen, I feel like we should just probably say this up top. I don't. I'm. I'm a. I was a Gotham FC fan. I don't know what to do now. You guys were my only New York team. We won the championship. Go us. And. But now Boston has a team. And so now I have to. I've never had to do this before. And I was hoping you guys could help me. I don't know. Like, I don't. Should I just. You can't choose being from Boston. I know you play for a New Yorker team. We can't choose a New York team to root for.

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

Yeah, but like, that was your team first. You're gonna switch sides so quickly. Give it a year at least he thinks.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Stick with us for a little.

[Katie Nolan]

You guys make a very compelling argument. And I didn't want to leave anyway. And then. Plus, you guys just played your first game of the season against Boston and you won. So I think I have. Do I just stay. I feel like I'm betraying my entire family. But I also would feel worse betraying this family.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Yeah, yeah.

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

Please, please stay.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay, so I stay. All right, now that we have that figured out, let's talk about. Listen, the last time I saw you two, we were doing Sam Mewis podcast. That was in August, I want to say, and we were talking about your season and you guys were like, yeah, it's not going amazing, but you know, we were honest. Yeah. And then look what happened. So it's like so much turned around. What changed from when I saw you last to when you won? You guys got it together.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

I mean, I think we said during the playoffs, it's like once you start playoffs, it's like a whole new season. So like, you put. You put the season behind you. Oops, sorry. You put the season behind you and I think you get a chance at like a fresh start. So I think with that, I think we really leaned into the talent and the group we had because I think we have a lot of confidence in each other. And yeah, I think that was like kind of our. Our thought going into playoffs. And it worked out nicely.

[Katie Nolan]

When you joined the team, Jaden, in was that September, and I think they had like six. You guys were in sixth place with seven games remaining. How do you like hit the ground running with a team like that? And did you notice when you got there that you were like, oh, this team's got all the pieces and now we can put it together and really make a run?

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

Yeah, I mean it helped that I was thrown into a three game week away. It was like a 12 day away trip at my home state or exhaust oh ex home stadium in San Diego. So I think I was kind of like thrown into the biggest fire I think possible. So I think that was like a lot easier for me to adjust just like having to like go right away and play a game within the next week. And yeah, I think coming in, I think this team is absolutely like amazing and the environment is amazing. And I think for me, it was really easy for me to come in and just be myself and mesh well with all the girls and yeah, just honestly have fun on and off the field.

[Katie Nolan]

Who was like the ambassador of the roster? Like when you first get there, when a new player comes in, like, who is the person that sort of like welcomes you in and made you feel most comfortable?

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

Honestly, everyone. I did get a few text messages from these girls.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

But yeah, I mean, I like knew that it was gonna be really great, like before I even had gotten in with the team. And it was exactly that when I got there.

[Katie Nolan]

Hell yeah. Of course. The drama of playoffs. Incredible drama. They called you all underdogs in that first game. And then. What was that? What would you have said? What was the. Didn't you say something about that? I've retired it. You guys wrap it up. It's a new season. Y' all have heard it way too many times. And if you haven't heard it, it's. I'm sorry, but, like, underdog, my ass. We are not an underdog.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

I wasn't. Sorry.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, sure.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

All right.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

First question, I guess. What's it feel like to have your slogan put on a T shirt and worn by everybody?

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

My mom loved it.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

At first, I was like, sorry, Mom. I custom on, like, online. And she was like, oh, no. Like, are they making shirts, though? And I was like, they are, girl.

[Katie Nolan]

Oh, no. But are they?

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

Can you get one?

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

And can I get those?

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

Get one first dibs.

[Katie Nolan]

I mean, it was a good rallying cry. It made sense because all we heard going into the game was how good your opponent was and how good and how you guys just snuck in. Just snuck in at the end of the playoffs. But then you. You beat them after you won that first game. Was that sort of like a. Here we go. We're gonna win the whole thing.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

I think you got to take it one game.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Rose and I was worried you were gonna say that you guys weren't scared at all going into that. That, like, it was all gonna be over. I mean, KC Put together such a season that, like, they were.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Didn't.

[Katie Nolan]

Wasn't it one of the earliest that anybody had clinched the. Yeah. And so I just feel like all season, it was the inevitability of Kansas City, and then here comes Gotham.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

I feel like what Ro said, we really needed that reset moment. It's kind of like, this is a new season. We finished eighth. How are we gonna put together one performance? But really, you can't look past KC because it's. They historically are the best team to clinch so early. I think I was really proud of how fast we kind of turned that page and had that reset moment, because if you don't get through K.C. you don't make it to the semis. So it's. We really focused on that one game because they were that good, and we want to give them that respect. Obviously. I think to be able to take that momentum into the next two games or that next game, we had to have that same mentality one game at a time. I mean, we. I mean, it sounds so cliche, but, man, we had to do that.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

No, I mean, it is. It's. It's not cliche because when you look at the teams that you had to do it, too. Cause then you had to play Orlando, which that's the defending champion. So now you've got another challenge in front of you. And so how do you guys. And they're all close games. You guys couldn't have won by a bunch of goals.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

No, no, we did not. There were not a bunch of goals at all. We wish there were bunches of goals.

[Katie Nolan]

It was really very stressful for the fans. I'm sure it was tough for you guys. It was really hard for your fans. Yeah.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

We didn't want to lose you, Katie.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. And you didn't.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Yeah. Thanks.

[Katie Nolan]

And technically you didn't yet. But you wouldn't be mad if I had to, right?

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

No, we don't have it.

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

We're not gonna beg you to stay. But we made it.

[Katie Nolan]

We already put it to rest. We put it to rest.

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

Come on.

[Katie Nolan]

Go Bats. Jaden, you scored the winner on a free kick in the 97th minute of that game against Orlando. What did that feel like?

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

Yeah, yeah, it was pretty crazy.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

I mean, truly, for a non athlete, can you explain what that feels like, to score a goal like that in a moment like that?

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

I mean, it's like it feels like the biggest moment of your life. The moment that you, like, trained all of your life for. And to be able to step up in that moment, I think is something that I, like, think about, honestly, all the time, and something that I'm really proud of. And I think also, like, as a group in that moment, I think everyone did their job in that moment. Like, it wasn't just where I put the ball. Like, someone had to run across to face a goal. Someone had to be blocking their marker so that she didn't get a head on it. Like, there was a lot of moments, like Rose winning the foul. There was a lot of moments that went into that big moment that made it so special and that made, you know, that result happen. So it's just. Yeah, a really proud moment that we can all be really happy about, obviously over time. And we did not have to. Oh, my goodness.

[Katie Nolan]

God, it was so close. I mean, it was so, so close.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

Exhausted.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Katie, we have something to add.

[Katie Nolan]

Yes.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

What it feels like as a defender in that moment, we were like, thank you. We don't want to run anymore. This has been really hard. A lot of the game was not going the way we wanted. But then you have Special players get a special foul with a special moment. But we were definitely very, very thankful for moments like that.

[Katie Nolan]

Jaden, why'd you choose the sport with so much running? It's so much running.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

I. I don't think, you know, you don't know that it's going to be that much.

[Katie Nolan]

It's so much all the time. Yeah, yeah.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Not when you're five. Not when you first start.

[Katie Nolan]

Then you've just got all that energy. It's got to go somewhere. But now it's just like a constant running.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

You guys just being physically uncomfortable.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But you guys are all really good at it, so really good job. Obviously what you get rewarded with then is you got to go to the final against the Washington Spirit against Trinity Rodman, who scored the game winner in that one? Rose did. It was Rose. It was Rose. I thought you'd go. It's me. Yes. See clapping. I love this 80th minute from the edge of the box. How'd it feel, Rose?

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

I'll say the same thing that Jaden said. I think, like, that was the end of a really good play. I think we had, like, you have Bruna, like going 1v1 and playing a great pass across the box. You have Sarah. I don't think we talk about the pass that she played to brew to like, relieve pressure enough. So I just think, like, honestly, throughout the whole game, it was like we had like, there were like little moments that turned out to be big moments. And I think everybody, like, executed perfectly what we were supposed to be doing. So I think it's kind of like that was my moment to execute. But I think we had like so many of those moments throughout the game and that's like, what won us the game.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, you guys all came together as a team and you got it done and you won the championship one game at a time, one goal at a time. Honestly, maybe could have done a couple more of those would have been fine. But I mean, congratulations, you won it all. It was amazing. And then, Lily, congratulations on winning rookie of the year.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Thank you,

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

Thank you, thank you.

[Katie Nolan]

As a non athlete who couldn't do that anyway, I just looked at that and was like the mental side of that is. Is. Is really remarkable and something you should be very proud of. All right, now, what you won, right? You won in 2023 then. You just won last year. How do you run that back? How do you maintain the same energy and keep the same focus through another season to ideally, hopefully win another championship?

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

I think, like a big thing for us this year, which we're really trying to emphasize just in the day to day, but which will help us throughout the season, is consistency. I think that that's like something we can be honest with each other about. Like last year, our season, we were very inconsistent. We'd have really good games. It felt like we had really high highs and like low lows. So I think just knowing what, like when we show up, we're giving 100% and we're having that, those like consistent actions and consistent effort in every single single thing we do, I think that's kind of our goal and hopefully that helps us have an even better season than we had last year.

[Katie Nolan]

I mean, how could you do that?

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

How could you possibly do that not finish eighth?

[Katie Nolan]

Yes. True. Okay. Yeah, actually really good point. What. What would you guys say was your low point from last year? What was like the low, universally agreed upon team low?

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

I think there's just like, there's a stretch of games. We just weren't putting it together. Whether that's the final product, whether that's letting in goals like it. I think I've been on a lot of successful teams and this might be the first time that we have so much talent. We're waiting for it to click, but to get out of the low and to start really trying to get, I'm not even say good performances, but get points to make sure that we're in playoffs and that kind of. We don't want to be there this year. But that survival mode, I think really successful teams in those moments can find ways to get points and win. And our backs were against the wall and we kind of had to do that. So for me to bring that to. For us to bring that into this next season of like we did that, we had to go through a really hard moment. We have not a lot of turnover. We added a lot of great pieces. But to be able to layer that in and know that we have that, I think is going to be really important. With not finishing 8th as well, I think that's probably a huge goal. Not we need to be finishing higher up, but knowing that we can get those points when it's very, very difficult moments.

[Katie Nolan]

We're off to a good start. One and oh.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

One and O. One and oh is a great start.

[Katie Nolan]

Undefeated.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Clean sheet.

[Katie Nolan]

Technically clean sheet. Undefeated. Your whole family, I assume, came to Gillette to see the and. And that was great because you guys won.

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

Yep.

[Katie Nolan]

So fantastic. Glad that Boston changed the name to Legacy. It was looking a little rough there

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

for a Second, do you like Legacy?

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Yes. But originally, wasn't it like, girl?

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Girl?

[Katie Nolan]

Like girl.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

I was gonna ask you.

[Katie Nolan]

You can pay it Boss Nation.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Right?

[Katie Nolan]

But then we were like, they're gonna make Girl Boss Nation merch for sure, which is gonna be pretty brutal. But they fixed it. But it doesn't matter to me because as I've already said, I'm a got.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Yes. Yes.

[Katie Nolan]

For what?

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

Your chest now.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay, now let's talk business for just a second because it set a record when you got. It was like an intra league trade record. Right. When you guys got Jaden, which makes me think money, which makes me think Trinity Rodman, and makes me think the high impact player rule. But there's so many directions to go with this. So I'm curious to know, as players, like, how it feels when you see somebody like Trinity Rodman getting a deal like that and sort of having these concessions made to sort of show people are trying to invest in and put more money into the talent in the league.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

I think there's a. There's a good way to go about it. I do think investing in players is really important in retaining talent. I think Trinity is someone who likes. We want to be in the nwcel. She's one of the best in the world. To have her stay one, it creates incredible game environments. I love playing against Trinity. I would hate to see her leave. So to be able to figure out something like that from my perspective, I think is huge. And I really only see hockey this kind of, like, going up. But again, there's always ins and outs of it. There's always the right way to do it to make sure that parity stays. That's something that we really like in the nwo. I love that the game. Every game's competitive, that I think a lot of us here can sit here and say, that's why we want to play here. You have to get up every weekend. You have to have the competitiveness. I think it kind of translates into our international careers that keeps us on top. But to keep a talent, obviously, like Trini Rahman in here. One, I like to play against top talent. But two, I think paying someone, I think what they are worth and deserved is the right thing to do.

[Katie Nolan]

Rose and Emily, I'm gonna ask you guys specifically to sort of be the elder statesman here for a second and talk about, like, what has changed the. In your experience about being a professional soccer player here over the last years of your career.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Oh, my gosh. Well, I felt like it was kind of crazy this Past weekend. Because obviously my. My professional career started in Boston. I got drafted to the breakers, and at the time we were operating out of harvest facilities. We were playing at their soccer field, which maybe held 4,000 on a good day. So it was kind of cool. Then going back to now Boston has a team again. And it's like, literally however long that was 2017. So almost 10 years later, it's like now they're playing in front of. How many. Was there? 30,000 people? Yeah, 30,000 people in Gillette. So, I mean, I think, like, that alone, like. Like, paints the picture. I think there's so much more investment, so much more excitement around the game. And I mean, I feel like I've been saying this for, like, years, but it's like, it's not a moment. This is like. It's not a moment. This is, like the new normal, and it's just gonna keep getting bigger and better. So, yeah, I think that was really cool for me to see just, like, the stark difference in, like, where I started and now where it's come. It was cool.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Yeah. Maybe I'm taking this in a different direction. I'm like, thinking my first year in the league and now it's like, we have masseuses, we have proper medical care. We have. We're getting to a place where the top of the line medical professionals want to be working in the nwsl, which I think is a huge deal to stay healthy, to be able to play all these games that are added. And we have Challenge cup, we have concacaf that they've been adding in when you qualify. I'm also thinking just visibility in general. I think I was trying to watch before I was drafted, I was trying to watch just any NWSL game. And it's like, if they. If it was on YouTube, you know, and, like, didn't even. If you Google, like, Gotham verse, whatever, you can't even get, like, a live score.

[Katie Nolan]

It would just give you, like, Batman.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Yeah.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Like, you couldn't, like. Yeah, you couldn't, like, get anything. So I just think, like, the way that that's grown, like, the social media presence has grown. People are dressing up in incredible fashion, and they can, like, do that. Right? Jaden, like, and, like. But I think that's an. You see, people have brain. I don't know. I think, like, from year one to now, it's just. It's crazy, the visibility. And I think kind of going off rose, like, that's only getting. That's this. This is here. This is the norm. And it's only Getting more and more. But I'm really happy with the massage situation. That's something that we mostly I just really want. I don't want to say that's the only thing we're fighting more. Not to be funny, but like it's necessary.

[Katie Nolan]

Sure.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

And we like to stay healthy and I think we can put a lot more care into our bodies to have longevity is what I'm trying to say. Kitty?

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Did you want to shout out any of your Macy by name?

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

We love Jess Vega.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

She works here at Gotham.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

She's in the Jersey City area. She is incredible. Do not look her up. First and last name. We can scratch that at all. But yeah, we love our masseuses. We love body care. But we have, I think bigger part is that there's a whole team behind the team and that's going from business side to again the masseuses but like body care. And I think that's where maybe we used to have like two or three people working front office and now we're having you know, like upwards to 20,

[Katie Nolan]

30 people working for your club and you deserve hundreds. So incredible job on you guys being such a huge part of like this formative time of. I don't know, I'm just really proud of you guys. I want to turn our attention now to the world stage. The US Women's National Team, of which all four of you are proud members. Coming off a huge win at the she Believes cup and looking ahead to the 2027 World cup in Brazil. Let's start with she Believes at this point the she is just you, right? Yes. Can we just make that a decisive. If it's not you, Emily Sonnett, who is she and what does she believe? She

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

is all of us and we believe that we can play incredible soccer. No, it's been great to be a part of all 11 she believes.

[Katie Nolan]

Turnout unreal.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Yeah. I mean you. If you stick around, you kind of find out. I guess that's what I've been saying.

[Katie Nolan]

So yeah, I keep thinking they're gonna tell us.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

It's honestly, it's an honor and I thank God I've been knock on wood. That's what I'm doing right now for the listeners that staying healthy during that time period, I think it's. Is probably what I think is most impressive. But I.

[Katie Nolan]

That's just what she believes.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

That's just what she believes. But I'm. I'm happy to be a part of all 11.

[Katie Nolan]

How was this tournament for you?

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

We got results. We won. So we're we like that we like winning? I think we, as always, I think every camp we go in and we take a lot of learnings and we look to build on every performance. I think each game, maybe we had a slow start or didn't like, you know, start on our front foot, like we would have liked, but I think we just, like, we take all of these as, like, such huge learning moments just for the type of competition we're gonna see, for the type of game that we're gonna see. And we like to, like, use that to be something that's gonna help prepare us in the future. I think. I think whenever you can face, like, adversity early on, you're going to be so much more prepared for that in, like, the really high pressure, big moment. So regardless of, like, if we feel like we could have had better performances, I think we still gained so much from being in a tournament setting, playing against good opponents, playing against opponents that are going to present something different. So, yeah, I think it was a good camp.

[Katie Nolan]

All in all, I feel like we're in, like, a moment of a lot of international competition. I don't know if you guys pay attention to baseball at all, but they're doing the World Baseball Classic. But the Olympics international competition, obviously, we got the men's World cup is coming here to the United States. Women's International, like, watching the U.S. women's National Team play has been really interesting because it feels like the growth of women's soccer around the world was kind of led by the U.S. but now that other countries are starting to catch up, the competition obviously is going to get more intense. So talk a bit about how that has felt, because on one half, like, as a fan, you're rooting for the women's game to grow across the world. And then on the other hand, you're like, but also, I'd like us to keep winning. And so have you, like, noticed the. Obviously the better international competition. And like, is it. Is it. Are you as conflicted as a fan who's like, I'm really rooting for this, but at the same time, like, I wish also we could just win everything all the time.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Right?

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Okay, I'll take this one.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

I was trying to muster up an answer.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

No. I mean, I think it's like, it's a good thing.

[Katie Nolan]

It's a good. Of course.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

And winning's always been hard. It's like, that's like nothing new. Of course we always want to still stay on top, and we're still going to continue to push to do that.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

But.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

But it's a good thing. It means that there's more investment, not just in the U.S. but across the world. So. Yeah, I think it's something to be like, excited about.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay. And I will be.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

If you could keep winning also would be pretty sick. 2019, that was your first World Cup.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Mine? Yeah. Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

And yours was 2019.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Yes.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

Right.

[Katie Nolan]

What would you guys say was your, like, biggest lesson and learn during that World Cup? Like, what was the. Cause I'm sure you go in with all these ideas of what it's going to be like and then you sort of get there. Did it, you know, what are. What were the things you learned the most from that run?

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Wow. I feel like this is going to. Hopefully we can talk about this. As a young player at a 2019 World Cup, I didn't play a lot, but we had so much emphasis on set pieces. And I was like, I'm from college, you know, I've played pro a couple. And I was just like, oh my God. I was like, I've got to learn these things, man. Like, because, I mean, I'm not playing a lot, but like, I'm playing against the players who are playing a lot and man, they're taking this really seriously. This is what's gonna win us games. And it ended up, you know, I'm there, I'm not playing a lot of the games I'm watching, I'm like, oh, my God. Like, we gotta. We're scoring versus France. Set piece. Where? Set piece. We're doing reserves off. Set piece. I was just kind of like, oh my God. Like, this is a side of the game that I didn't realize now we have cset piece coaches and everything. But that to take that so seriously, that little tiny. I mean, even down to the throw ins. Katie Nolan, you know, how do you know how many metrics that we talk about with throw ins?

[Katie Nolan]

You guys probably like how hard you throw it in.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Totally.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

No, not. Not at all. Katie Nolan. No, no.

[Katie Nolan]

Are you retaining them?

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Are you directly scoring a goal off them? It's just like I didn't as a young player, that was probably like the biggest thing that really. Soccer stuff.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

But that really seeped in. And I want you to start counting throw ins.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Okay.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

When you're watching the Gothams play.

[Katie Nolan]

I will be. I'll do that for you, Emily Sonnett. I'd be happy to do that for you.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

I'm trying to think what like, like team wise, like something that was like, like win at all costs. Like, it was like, I'm being serious. I feel like there was a lot of writing with.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

I do think we just, like. Like, we felt so prepared. Like, Like, I felt like anybody could move into the lineup, and it was very seamless. I think we knew all of our. Our roles on set pieces. We knew how to adjust defensively to switch formations in game, offensively, defensively. So I do think we, like, went in and we felt so prepared. I think off field, something. I just think that was really big was, like, just. I think that's where I learned, like, kind of like, protect your bubble. Obviously, there was, like, a lot of outside noise during that tournament around our team, I feel like. But I don't feel like it ever felt like it, like, penetrated the group. I think it very. Like we were still, like, one track mind, one goal, and I think that that was probably my big learning came

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

together as a group, and we're kind of like. Yeah, like, a lot of us are kind of deleting social media for a little bit. A lot of us aren't gonna, like, be interacting in terms of social media. Like, we have people going to a press conference. But I do think that was probably the first time or the. A lot of advice that I received from the older players. Like, you really do have to keep it tight because crazy things can be made up. Can, like, start tearing a team apart or like, this happened. But I think that was probably. That was probably the biggest learning that I took away. Yeah.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

I also think, like, now as. As, like, we've gotten older. As I've gotten older, I think I, like, realize and I appreciate so much how much the older players had, like, protected us from that while it was happening and kind of, like, took the. The brunt of the media, like, on their shoulders. I don't think it's something I, like, realized in the moment, but, like, now looking back, I think they, like, really, like, shouldered that responsibility and helped, like, shield the whole group from the noise. Yeah, exactly.

[Katie Nolan]

Isn't that wild that that's. You guys now you're the older players on the team who will have to shield your younger teammates from the noise. Are you prepared for that?

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

We. We will be.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

I think we had good people to learn from.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, I think so too.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

And will you be prepared to delete your social media? It's like a vacation.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

It's got a limit on it. Now we're preparing soft launching. Well, I guess, like, we're not launching. We're, like, taking over soft.

[Katie Nolan]

Opposite of launching. Soft landing.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Soft landing.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

There we go.

[Katie Nolan]

But that doesn't really make a lot of sense.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

But leaving it does now.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Soft. A soft exit. An Irish Goodbye. Happy St Patrick's Day. Can we talk to the men? Can you tell? What can we say to the men? Men's team, the U.S. men's team. Can you guys teach them sort of your ways? How can we help them is what I'm getting at is like, how do we get them to win, you know, win this World cup that's gonna be happening in the United States. Do you have any advice for the men's team?

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

Yeah, I have tons.

[Katie Nolan]

Let's hear it.

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

I've never been to a World cup, so I'm just.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

I think I'm excited for. For it to be in the U.S. i think I loved watching their prep games up until this point. We want us to do really well. I don't think they'd give me any advice. I don't think I would ever give them any advice. But if anyone hears this, it's like, I'm really rooting for them. I think potentially a lot of us are going to the game in la, their first game, which we're really pumped to support them. And then I think again, I think again, the final, obviously, being in New York and just having, like, that soccer buzz and then being a big year for soccer in the United States is going to be big.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Yeah. It's so fun to watch, I think, like, the US Team in a World Cup. Like, I just. I feel like so many of my memories watching the women's and men's team, like, in major tournaments, it's, like, so fun. So I think it'll be really exciting. And then I think the fact that it's, like, in the US it's just going to be so fun, and we're excited.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Yeah. I feel like I'm going to go to, like, watch parties, and I'm going to be like. Like, those are our guys. You know, Those are the boys, man. Like, come on.

[Katie Nolan]

All right, so we're gonna do. We're gonna play a game. Isabella, our lovely producer, is gonna hand you guys a stack of cards. You each get a stack of cards. Okay.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Is this rapid fire?

[Katie Nolan]

Kind of. It's kind of. Kind of not. We can go fast if you want. Emily.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Okay.

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

Depending on.

[Katie Nolan]

She should. It's got the name of everybody here, not the audience members. No offense, but of all of the players that we have here. But your stack will have, like, you as one of the options.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

I'm excited for this.

[Katie Nolan]

I think it's so hot.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Yeah, it's gonna be. This is good.

[Katie Nolan]

I don't know if I'm supposed to be waiting till Isabelle is done or just continuing to go. So I think we'll just keep going with the instructions. I'm gonna ask you guys a series of questions, and you'll just pick who without looking. I know you can see the people in front of you, but just. Emily, please. You can play by the rules without looking. You're gonna choose who the correct answer to the question is. Okay. And then we'll discuss. And then we will discuss. We'll start out really easy. Who here had the best time at last year's championship celebration? And then we just hold up our answers.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Oh, yeah, I don't.

[Katie Nolan]

We've got a Jaden.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

We've got a Rose.

[Katie Nolan]

We've got a Lily. What?

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Oh, you did have fun.

[Katie Nolan]

So technically, Jaden, you are. You got the most votes.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

She just turned. Jaden got the most votes.

[Katie Nolan]

She, like, literally had just turned 21.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

Yeah, like that weekend.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Well, yes, I forgot about that.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

They still think I. Yeah, Rose did have a big performance thing. That's why I put Rose.

[Katie Nolan]

I was gonna ask what. What you did that weekend in celebration, but I would probably have to ask you guys because I doubt you remember.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

Oh, I remember.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Yeah, I think you did.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

Yeah, I, like, didn't do anything crazy, you guys.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

It's just so funny.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

Have a great time with my dance

[Katie Nolan]

on a bar street.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

No, I was on the dance floor, though. I was there too, though, the whole night.

[Katie Nolan]

Did you say she made?

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

No, you didn't. You eat some of that street meat that the. Did you get order hot dogs? Is that not you?

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

I did.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

That was not me.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

You did okay. No, that was maybe Lily. We ended the night with some street meat, which I thought is a pretty good night.

[Katie Nolan]

You calling hot dogs street meat?

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

I'm not sure if. Yeah, I'm not sure. What was I like that. Were they sausages?

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, whatever. A lot of karaoke meat you found in the street.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Next.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay, who will have this year's best goal celebration? We got a Jaden. Another Jaden. Emily.

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

I think if Sonic.

[Katie Nolan]

Two Emily's and two Jadens. Sonic, we love you.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Yeah. I'll get ready.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

Go saucy.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

I'll get ready if I did. If I score, I'll get goal. Yeah, I will.

[Katie Nolan]

You could. I know.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

I definitely could. I definitely could not.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

One in the locker.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

What do you mean?

[Katie Nolan]

What does that mean?

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

I guess I, I, I.

[Katie Nolan]

What does that mean?

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

Yeah, what you did after the championship

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

what I did like this. I don't know if I do that.

[Katie Nolan]

Is it usually.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

I will say I will. I usually go for some water after we score, so I will. If I score. I will. I will. This is the opportunity for me to start planning. So thanks, you guys.

[Katie Nolan]

That's good. You have one in the locker that you can pull out when it's time. Okay, next one. Here we go. Who here wins a race? Goal to goal.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Goal to goal.

[Katie Nolan]

Honestly, we got a Rose, an Emily, another. Okay, it's all Rose. Honestly, it's all Rose. But Rose says Sonic beat us with

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

and without a ball at her foot, which is like a little like.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, you really.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

You're fast.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

So I call it like os speed.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

And what's that like?

[Katie Nolan]

Oh, okay.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

So like when you are always running like you're scared of something, you know, defender speed.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

It's kind of like, oh, that ball's back. It's kind of. You don't have a choice.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

You don't have a choice but to be fast and maybe. Yeah. So hers is like, like will and like she's just doing it. Ours is like, oops.

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

Yeah. Like something happened.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Yeah. We gotta not let it happen again.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay, who here would make the best soccer coach after her playing career ends? We got three Emilys. Yay. Our first.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

Me.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Someone hire me, you know?

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, you could teach me how to play. Good luck.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

Really good luck there.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Do a little segment.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay. Same. Who here talks? And then I'd bounce back from it and I'd get rookie of the year.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Yeah, you would.

[Katie Nolan]

Who here talks the best smack? It has to be, right? Yeah, it has to be.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Yeah.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Honestly, there's some one liners from. From this girl and that's just the Boston that comes out of her.

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

Well, that's just like if someone gives it to me.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

I'm never gonna provoke as a defender. Like, I don't need that.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

No, but you know how to dis for sure. Yeah, but I'll take, I'll take the. I'll take. I'll take it on that.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Do you. What's the craziest thing you've said to someone during a game?

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Like, I like, like, literally, like, no comment.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

No comment.

[Katie Nolan]

That's good. And that's her lawyer, Rose Lavelle. Okay. Who here is most afraid of sonnet when she's in game mode?

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

I would. I'm not saying myself. So if you. You guys put.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

I don't know.

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

That's a.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

That's A tough one coming right back to me.

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

I don't know.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

I mean, I put me.

[Katie Nolan]

I was going to say, I take.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Yeah, I'm afraid of myself a little bit.

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

I think it's my cards.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

It's okay, you guys.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Yeah. Everybody else is an attacker. She's like, really annoying to play against. Yeah, Just nip a nail in the alley.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Yeah.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

Yeah.

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

Usually I need it.

[Katie Nolan]

Who has made Juan Carlos laugh the hardest? Missed.

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

Ooh. Oh,

[Katie Nolan]

no. Yeah.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

Okay.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

I, I, I have my answer up and people are kind of agreeing with me.

[Katie Nolan]

Really?

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Can I see it?

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, we got two.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Oh, really?

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

What? I. What did I do?

[Katie Nolan]

Rose. Three roses. It's a whole bouquet. Just say me, babe.

[Chris (Master Editor)]

Come on.

[Katie Nolan]

Me.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Yeah, I think he la.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

He laughs a lot.

[Katie Nolan]

What I do.

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

I feel like you're just a jokester. Like you just. Just come in at the right time.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Joking around.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Joking around.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay, who here is most trustworthy with the ox cord?

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Honestly?

[Katie Nolan]

I'll give a shout out. Nice, Lily. Nice. And Jaden agrees with you. Yes.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

I was going to say. I was going to say you.

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

Yeah, you guys, they like each other's music.

[Katie Nolan]

Feels like that feels like an inside Rose is good for all. I like both of them.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Jaden takes control herself and puts her beats in when we're not doing too hot.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Honestly, being on the Ox is like, stressful. It's stressful.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. If you don't have the playlist already drawn up, and we never do.

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

Rose's move is to grab the ox, cue all her songs and slide them

[Katie Nolan]

up to the top of the queue.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

And they're mostly sing along.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

And we like.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

And they're great.

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

Yeah, they're all awesome.

[Katie Nolan]

All right, so literally none of you are trustworthy with the ox cord is what I'm learning.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

I feel like the one that is not here. Jaylen's are in charge.

[Katie Nolan]

You're like, dj.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Who here is most likely to hold up an airport security line? Just taking all the various things out of your bag, putting your laptop in a separate thing. Oh, I forgot to take my shoes off.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

What?

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

I feel like you just got, like, tons of shit in your bag and

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

they're like, what do you need to do, guys?

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

I don't know.

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

I just feel like I don't know where.

[Katie Nolan]

They're all over the place.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

It's like, where's my id?

[Katie Nolan]

Everyone's getting a vote.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Did I get a vote?

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. I don't know.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

That's a big hair clip. It takes a long time to take down. Maybe you'll forget your sunglasses are on top of your head. That's been big.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Oh, you know, we don't have a limit.

[Katie Nolan]

Who here will have the best March madness bracket It. Ooh.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Probably her damn rose.

[Katie Nolan]

You got it like that. Okay.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

I love college basketball. And I want to say me, but I always do really bad. Actually. I'll say I win. I win my women's bracket.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

Yeah.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

I win my women's bracket.

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

I won too.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

Did they.

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

Did you know I won my family's.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

They didn't make it. Sorry.

[Katie Nolan]

Who? Wait.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Oh, my team.

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

Xavier.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

Xavier.

[Katie Nolan]

Whatever. A lot of people say Xavier in the. It's fine.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

It's wrong.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

It's just savior.

[Katie Nolan]

I was trying to make her feel better.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

I don't know.

[Katie Nolan]

We can't, though.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Whatever.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay. You guys mentioned karaoke before. Who puts on the best performance? Karaoke night.

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

Rose goes all out.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

Yeah, that's the problem.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

She just knows every.

[Katie Nolan]

Don't sing.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

She can actually sing.

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

Yeah, she's good. Go ahead.

[Katie Nolan]

Rose

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

lyric.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

It's crazy.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

I'm like a core singer.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, you know, same. I get that.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

It's like I'm always gonna sing along to the lyrics.

[Katie Nolan]

What's your karaoke song? I didn't really.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

No, no, I do. I really like. Well, the one I sang in the championship with my dad. My way by Frank Sinatra.

[Katie Nolan]

Of course.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

I remember. So fun.

[Katie Nolan]

That was really cute. Actually, I forgot about that video till you just mentioned it. Really cute.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Yeah, he's really cute. Have you seen the video of Lily? Lily's grandpa when she wins rookie of the year?

[Katie Nolan]

No.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Oh, my God. Yeah, that's her grandpa.

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

It's just like, just looking, smiling, so proud.

[Katie Nolan]

It's really sweet. It's really cute. I'm gonna probably cry about it. Yeah. Who here goes the hardest for Halloween?

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

Oh, I don't think I've ever seen anyone.

[Katie Nolan]

Fair enough.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

It's not me.

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

I would love to, but I don't

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

think we were even in town.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

I feel like you wanted to go hard. Jaden. Yeah, Jaden had the opportunity. Jaden would have definitely. Like, what were you thinking? Like, what was your.

[Katie Nolan]

I can't.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

No, like joker.

[Katie Nolan]

You don't want to burn.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Like, give a hint.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

M was doing Harley Quinn and I wanted to do like the Joker version. Like the.

[Katie Nolan]

I knew it.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Yeah.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

Yeah. But we didn't make it work. Cuz we were not in town.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Yeah, I know, but so. Yeah, you would have.

[Katie Nolan]

So I would have. You still could.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Good job.

[Katie Nolan]

Next year.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

This year.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

This year and next year and next year.

[Katie Nolan]

The Next Halloween.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Okay, the next Halloween.

[Katie Nolan]

Jaden, what's your best Halloween costume that you've ever done?

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

I'm like, not really a big Halloween girl, so.

[Katie Nolan]

You got that wrong. So, Rose, that's points off for you. You got that wrong.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Can we all say our favorite?

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

Yeah, Pumpkin. Mine was like, one just the pictures are so.

[Katie Nolan]

Didn't require anything.

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

I was a big baby.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

I was a pizza. I was a. I was a pizza delivery man in college.

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

You were what?

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

And I had Papa John's.

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

Oh, that's good.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

I had Papa John's. Like, a collared shirt tucked into khakis, and I held a fake pizza box.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

This is your favorite costume of all time?

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Yeah. It was easy. No makeup. Like, it was just like. It was like, perfect.

[Katie Nolan]

Rose.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

I was Dorothy one year.

[Katie Nolan]

Cute, though. That's cute, right?

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

My fiance and I were the wet bandits from Home Alone. The bad guys from Home Alone.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Which one were you?

[Katie Nolan]

The short one.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Okay.

[Katie Nolan]

He was the tall one with an iron on his face. Yeah, it's pretty good, you guys. I'll pull up the pictures. You guys can take a look at those after if you want to. Okay. Last one of these. And it's got to be a good one. Katie, let's not end on a. On a bad one. Who here is most likely to attend the Oscars?

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

Yeah, she's got the fits for it.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

You're just so fashionable. Jaden. Lily. Jaden says Lily. Thanks, Jay.

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

Let's do.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Already happened. Just missed it for next year.

[Katie Nolan]

For next year.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Yeah, next year.

[Katie Nolan]

The Oscars did just have. But for next year, maybe we can get Lily to the Oscars. All right, that's that game. Yay. Good job, everybody. That means that we're at my favorite part of anything. We do like this as part of the SiriusXM front row event. As always, we include our live audience, most specifically the front row. These fans are huge, Gotham FC fans, and for that, we thank you for your support. We as Gotham fc, they each have a question for you guys today that they want to ask. I think our first question is coming from Samantha. Oh, perfect. Amazing.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

One of my favorite parts about being a Gotham fan is that the team looks like they're having so much fun, obviously, you guys, and that they're in a safe space.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

So what's your favorite part about being on Gotham fc?

[Katie Nolan]

I would say my favorite part of

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

being Gotham fc, I really enjoy the hour that we get before we play the game, and that involves, like, the music, the dancing, the trying to grab your Favorite Gatorade color. Like, I feel like that's where I feel like, really like myself and we're having a lot of fun. Does anyone else agree?

[Katie Nolan]

Yes, sure.

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

I'm kidding. Yeah, 100%. I also like just team meals. I think sometimes they can get a bit redundant. But I think with our team, you can really sit anywhere and just like, have a really good time. So I appreciate things like that where it's just like some soccer, some not soccer, and just like, yeah, really joking around, having fun. Crumble cookie game that we whip out where you try and guess all the crumble cookie flavors of the week. Rose leads that she gets on a big power trip. It's whatever.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

I'm the host.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

Host be the best.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

I'm the host.

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

But yeah, moments like those are really fun for me.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

Yeah, I would say a lot of the same. Like, I think for me, just being able to, like, hang out with everyone on away trips, especially, like, just being kind of in our own bubble and being able to spend time with each other, go to coffee shops, go to dinner when we have it on our own and things like that, I feel like is really fun. And I feel really connected to the team in those moments.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

I would agree with. I really like everyone a lot. I think we. I think it's like the, like, little moments I even think of, like, we, like, we have to get there at a certain time before our team meeting in the morning. And like, the time we spend during that is always, like, really fun. And it's like just a small half hour time slot where we're just like kind of goofing around. Goofing around, having fun.

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

Yeah, great question.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, good question. Good answers. Our next question comes from Melissa.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Hi, guys.

[Katie Nolan]

You guys talked about this a little bit earlier, but my question is, what is the most important thing that you learned from a very up and down season that did eventually end in a

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

championship but was a bit up and down?

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

I think kind of like what I said earlier, like, understanding, like we. To have that reset moment, but to. To. To really, like, dig in and understand that if we lose a game, like, the season's over. I think back against the wall, this team kind of found out that we can really grind out and get results and points to keep a season alive. To. Yeah, to end up having a good playoff push. So I think that would probably be the best answer I have for that.

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

Yeah, I think especially coming from college, like, there's only. I feel like there's top teams and then it kind of falls off a Little bit. I think in the end, we sell, as we've mentioned, every team's good and every team competes every game, so it can really go either way. I think learning, you know, to take the lessons from the losses and kind of carry that into the next game really quickly helps you move on. So I think that was something I was really trying to deal with and figure out throughout the season last year. Just because in college it's, you know, you can really not lose at all or drop a couple games. And I feel like here it's just so much more challenging to win each game. So, yeah, I think being able to really not dwell on the little things and also not get too high with the higher moments and stay consistent has, like, was really important last year.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

Yeah. And I think for me, kind of going off of what Lily said, not letting the highs get too high, not letting the lows get too low. And how do you find that kind of middle ground, that steadiness within a game, within a season? I think, I mean, obviously I wasn't with the team the whole season, but I think as an individual as well, like, you go through adversity throughout a year, a season. So I think for me, just figuring out what it actually means to be a consistent player, to be able to show up every day and give whatever 100% you have that day.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Nice. I'll, like, reiterate that too. I think consistency is going to be really big for us this season. And then I think also, like, I think we felt this last season like it's like a heavy schedule, but I think it'll be even more so for us this year. So I think being able to continue to, like, tap into our depth and have every single player feel very prepared to step into the lineup at any moment, because we're really going to need that. We have a lot more three game weeks and crazy travel schedule, and I think we dealt with that really well last year. We had a lot of injuries, a lot of games, people in and out of the lineup, and I think people were able to like, step up and get into the lineup pretty seamlessly and play their role. So I think we'll continue to tap into that.

[Katie Nolan]

Good job on the anchor rose. I feel like on all these questions, you've been that last leg and you've really brought the whole thing home. We have one more question from Susanna, I believe.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Hi.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

As U.S. women's National Team players and Gotham players, how do you compare the coaching styles of Emma Hayes and Juan Carlos Amoros around how they build Team culture or in other aspects. And are there things you take from

[Katie Nolan]

your national team experience that you're really

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

aware of bringing into Gotham?

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

I feel like the difference with international and club is that like with international you are together for like a limited amount of time. So you have to get and retain a lot of information in a short amount of time. So I think sometimes it's hard to compare because it's two completely different environments and I think it's two different types of like layering information that I think both of them do a good job of just in different environments. But I do think it's hard to compare because it is just a different, it's like a different way of having to coach and teach.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

I also think the second part of the question, being able to play on a team that has a lot of talent but a lot of us talent you get to work on. I get to work on right sided or left sided connections with Lily, Rose, Jaden, like anyone else who's been called in as of late. And I think that's so beneficial because like Ro said, you don't get a lot of time at national team. So it's like kind of like what, like nine, 10 day camps and you're really a lot of it. It's just information and not a lot of training. So to be able to have these connections full time essentially in our club market is really beneficial. One development. But just overall having these connections so you can take to the international stage as well. Nailed it.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

No, and I also think that there is, it's important to also have a level of consistency as well between you know, like things that we do need to work on in our club environments where we do get the day to day and a longer period of time to work on those things so that we can be better the next time that we enter the international stage. So I think a lot of that like I feel like a lot of credit can go to the coaching staff of both sides to like be consistent in that and like have that relationship between the two of them to make sure that we are prepared for those moments as well.

[Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC Player)]

Yeah, especially just with like club obviously you spend more time there. So being able to coordinate, you know, what the US staff is seeing and, and the club staff, obviously they have you for a little bit more time so being able to figure out what you need to work on. And then also they're just, you know, two different styles I think too. So being able to really just understand the tactics and like implement them in both environments. But I think both environments do a great job of helping you gain a better understanding just in general too. You know, be able to take things from camp to bring back into your club environment and vice versa.

[Katie Nolan]

All right, everybody. Rose, Emily, Jaden, Lily, thank you so much for being here. Congratulations on your championship, an incredible season, an incredible job answering all of these questions. Best of luck in this season in the NWSL and then next year in the next year's 2027, in the 2027 World cup and obviously in July when you guys are gonna smash that New York City record for attendance for women's sports. And a big thank you to Gotham FC and NWSL and all the staff and everybody who works there who helped us put this together. And to the SiriusXM events team, and especially to you, the fans, everyone who asked questions and everyone who's here today. Without you guys, there is no SiriusXM front row. So thank you for doing this. Thank you all again. One final round of applause for Rose Lavelle, Emily Sonnet, Lily Real and Jaden Shaw. Thank you. Go Bats.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Thank you, Katie Nolan.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

And thank you to our lifetime fan, Katie Nolan.

[Katie Nolan]

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[Katie Nolan]

Welcome back to Casual's Wow, what an episode. I will say I bumped into Emily in the hallway right before we did that and she said I thought we were just like doing your podcast in sweatpants and I was like I know, me too. But that was so awesome. It was so good to see them. I love them and I did not handle well if I'm rooting for them or Boston. I truly need us to figure this out on a later episode. I feel so torn and uncomfortable with how torn I am. But it's time now to check our mailbag as we always do at this time of the week and we don't have a ton of time so we're gonna keep it to one today. Chris what do we got for an email or a voicemail here we have

[Chris (Master Editor)]

an email from Joseph, and Joseph writes in saying, thanks, Katie. My mother is a hall of fame member for the South Dakota State Jackrabbits, something I'm very proud of. However, in the bracket selection episode, you said a jackrabbit makes you think of humping. Now, there is a transitive association between my mom and humping my four brothers and I thank you for that. Love you mean it.

[Katie Nolan]

Oh, Joseph, I'm so sorry. I. You know, listening back to that in the edit, I was like, is that. Are people gonna upset. But I could never in a million years have imagined that I would associate for your whole family your. Am I the only one making that leap with the jackrabbit?

[Chris (Master Editor)]

I thought it was, like, not anymore.

[Katie Nolan]

Like a jackrabbit. Isn't that how you describe a. My bad, Joseph. And to all of your siblings and mostly to your mom. Hall of fame member of that school. I don't need to diminish her to this at all. That's unfair of me. And I'm sure jackrabbits are known for a lot of other stuff.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

Stuff.

[Katie Nolan]

Right.

[Brady (Production Crew)]

Just don't know what that is, and

[Katie Nolan]

I don't know what that is. To me, it's humping. But who's.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

Who's.

[Katie Nolan]

My dog does a lot of humping. Humping can be an art.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

The art is humping.

[Katie Nolan]

Am I helping? I'm trying to help.

[Chris (Master Editor)]

You're making it worse.

[Katie Nolan]

You're making it worse. Your mom's the woman of the week. Woman of the week. We haven't done that in so long.

[Jaden Shaw (Gotham FC Player)]

I know.

[Katie Nolan]

Woman of the week. Times have been tough. Okay, let's wrap it up. That's a week of casuals. You guys, thank you so much for listening, watching, writing in, sending us voicemail. We are absolutely loving doing the show. It's an honor. It was so good to see Rose and to see Emily and to get to meet Jaden and Lily. Love Gotham fc. I'll figure out what I'm doing with my fandom. Okay? We'll get to the bottom of it. But so cool to see them and to talk to them after their championship win. All so talented and so nice and so interesting and so fashionable. We love you guys. We'll meet, we mean it, we love you and we mean it, and we'll see you back here next week. There's nothing else I have to say, right? There's nothing to tease for next week. It's gonna be awesome, but there's nothing to tease. Go Hofstra Roll pride. Will that have happened by the time this airs. No, it's Friday, right? Roll pride, baby. Take down Alabama no matter what.

[Isabella (Sports Newbie)]

Roll pride.

[Katie Nolan]

Roll pride. Love you mean it. Bye. This episode is presented by GMC we are Professional Grade Nowadays it feels like people just love to put you in a box, but I think confidence comes from choosing what actually works. The GMC Terrain is a premium compact SUV built for people who value capability, smart design and doing things their own way. That confidence shows up in the 2026 Terrain's bold exterior styling, including an available two tone roof with heated front seats and available all wheel drive with multiple drive modes. The Terrain is ready for whatever comes next. GMC we are professional grade day or night.

[Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC Player)]

VRBoCare is here 247 to help make every part of your stay seam. If anything comes up or you simply need a little guidance, support is ready whenever you reach out. From the moment you book to the moment you head home. We're here to help things run smoothly because a great trip starts with the right support. And hey, a good playlist doesn't hurt either.