Rebecca Lowe’s SOS on Youth Sports: Abby & Julie to the Rescue

Summary

Podcast Summary: “Rebecca Lowe’s SOS on Youth Sports: Abby & Julie to the Rescue”

Welcome to the Party | Host: Treat Media
Date: September 23, 2025
Guests: Rebecca Lowe, Abby Wambach, Julie Foudy
Legendary Regular: Billie Jean King (not featured in this episode)

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Episode Overview

In this lively episode, soccer legends Abby Wambach and Julie Foudy welcome acclaimed NBC broadcaster and soccer mom Rebecca Lowe to navigate the confusing and high-pressure world of youth sports parenting. With Lowe’s son Teddy now in the throes of competitive youth soccer and cross country, she brings her honest questions and “mum” anxieties to the table. Abby and Julie—armed with their experience as elite athletes, sports parents, and teammates—share hard-won do’s and don’ts for keeping kids’ joy alive in youth sports.

The tone is frank, humorous, and supportive—offering both solidarity for overwhelmed parents and practical, actionable advice.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Kicking Off: Parenting Milestones & Transitions

[00:35–04:22]

• Abby and Julie commiserate about dropping their daughters at college, the emotional whiplash, and the bittersweetness of letting go.
  • Quote: “It was beautiful. And it was brutal. We call it brutiful.” — Abby Wambach [01:14]
  • Both acknowledge resisting the urge to cry in front of their kids, marking the complex emotions of moving children into adulthood.

2. Quick Hits: Women’s Sports Headlines

[07:07–15:17]

• WNBA playoffs updates (Phoenix Mercury’s upset, Indiana Fever’s surprise run, Kelsey Mitchell’s heroics).
• Asia Wilson wins her fourth WNBA MVP, also named Defensive Player of the Year.
• World Athletics: Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone breaks 48 seconds in the 400m.
• Italy wins back-to-back Billie Jean King Cups, U.S. falls short.
• Canada’s women’s rugby team crowdfunds their World Cup journey, defeats New Zealand.
• NWSL and WNBA cross-league solidarity on pay equity.
  • Quote: “This is the thing that makes me love women’s sports so much—it’s not just a singular sport. We are all fighting for each other.” — Abby Wambach [14:59]

3. Rebecca Lowe’s Youth Sports SOS

[16:44–18:05]

• Rebecca Lowe details her confusion and overwhelm as her nine-year-old son Teddy enters competitive sports in the U.S., very different from English youth sports culture.
  • Quote: “This is like… an SOS. We got you.” — Rebecca Lowe [22:45], [22:55]

4. Credentials Check: Abby & Julie’s Parenting Résumé

[18:05–22:45]

• Abby: Mother to children with varied sports motivations—one Division I soccer commit, another who found soccer too stressful.
  • Emphasis on letting each child find their own path, resisting parental expectation.
• Julie: Daughter now playing Division I soccer at Oregon; the emotional and logistical grind of recruitment; insists parents deserve a medal.

5. The Youth Sports Parent “Do’s and Don’ts”—The Big Whiteboard Session

[26:22–64:09]

Snacks, Emails, and the Onslaught of Logistics

[23:13–26:22]

• Rebecca’s initiation into American “snack culture,” sign-up apps, and snack expectations for parents.
  • Both encourage flexibility, humor, and “adding your own flair”—donuts, pirate booty, and all.

The Top “Do’s”

[26:28–55:00]

• 1. Multiple Sports Early
  • Abby: “Get them into multiple sports young. I never would’ve been as good at soccer without basketball.” [26:41]
  • Limitation: Recognizes structure of U.S. club sports can make multi-sport participation difficult.
• 2. Stop Talking/Silent Sidelines
  • Julie: “Stop talking… The screaming on the sides? It’s so bad.” [29:21]
  • Only positive cheering, no instructions, never direct orders to your own kid.
  • Quote: “Positive cheering only—no instruction.” — Abby Wambach [29:45]
• 3. Emphasize Joy and Special, Non-Outcome Wins
  • Abby: Focus on “special wins” not tied to the score—acts of leadership, effort, kindness. Ask questions like: “Did you pick up the cones? See someone help a teammate?” [35:21]
  • On car rides to/from games: “I love watching you play.” “Did you have fun?” [49:50]
  • Quote: “The North Star in why we’re doing this is joy.” — Julie Foudy [53:36]
• 4. Let Your Kid Lead
  • Abby: “It does not affect my life… You have your experience—this is yours.” [55:00]
  • Make the child responsible for getting ready, organizing kit, owning their experience.
  • Quote: “Let them lead, then be in communication.” — Abby Wambach [55:57]

Critical “Don’ts”

[56:44–62:22]

• Don’t attend every practice—free up time (except for parents with limited game access, e.g. Rebecca, some flexibility allowed).
• Don’t make the sport your whole family’s identity—vacations, breaks, and alternative activities matter.
• Don’t talk about outcomes; remove pressure around scores and results.
• Don’t talk badly about teammates or coaches; let kids navigate conflict themselves.
  • Quote: “One of the most important elements of playing sports is learning to navigate relationships… Don’t take away their power.” — Abby Wambach [63:01]
• Don’t let parent anxiety/guilt dominate; absenteeism at events is not parental failure.

On American Youth Sports Intensification

• Rebecca notes the U.S. parent culture is shockingly “all-in”: constant presence at every practice, competitive weekends, BBQs by a 45-minute game, high-tech chairs, and gadgetry (the “wagon gate” saga).
  • Quote: “They lined up their tents behind the people already watching. Waiting… Final whistle: troops, let’s go! And we’re moving them forward.” — Rebecca Lowe [66:04]

On Supporting Your Child’s Autonomy

• Encourage missed practices or games for rest, breaks, and “normal” family life.
  • Quote: “Make it more normal to miss games and practices… It’s not a lack of commitment.” — Rebecca Lowe [61:43]

6. Memorable and Uplifting Final Thoughts

• Stat Drop: “Almost 70% of kids quit playing sports by 13 years old… Number one reason? It stops being fun.” — Julie Foudy [69:05]
• Continual reminder: Keep “joy” as the guiding principle; kids’ happiness and desire to play must lead.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “It was beautiful and it was brutal… We call it brutiful.” — Abby Wambach [01:14]
• “This is an SOS… We got you.” — Rebecca Lowe [22:45]
• “Stop talking. That’s to you, parents. Stop talking.” — Julie Foudy [29:21]
• “Positive cheering only—no instruction.” — Abby Wambach [29:45]
• “I love watching you play.” — Abby Wambach [49:50]
• “The North Star in why we’re doing this is joy.” — Julie Foudy [53:36]
• “Let them lead… This is yours.” — Abby Wambach [55:57]
• “Don’t talk about outcomes. It’s not about winning and scoring.” — Julie Foudy [56:47]
• “Don’t talk badly about a teammate or a coach… You’re actually not helping your kid.” — Abby Wambach [62:07]
• “Make it more normal to miss games and practices.” — Rebecca Lowe [61:43]
• “Almost 70% of kids quit playing sports by 13 years old… Number one reason: it stops being fun.” — Julie Foudy [69:05]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |---------|-----------| | College drop-off emotions | 00:35–05:13 | | WNBA and sports headlines | 07:07–15:17 | | Youth sports parenting SOS intro | 16:44–18:05 | | Do’s & Don’ts deep dive (main segment) | 26:22–64:09 | | Snacks/signups logistics | 23:13–26:22 | | Letting kids lead | 54:36–55:57 | | Joy as “North Star” | 53:36–54:36 | | 70% quit rate stat | 69:05 |

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Episode Tone & Style

The episode is full of banter, warmth, and clever asides, but consistently circles back to practical, non-judgmental guidance for parents caught in the “youth sport industrial complex.” Julie and Abby’s decades in women’s sports inform their insistence on joy and child-driven motivation, while Rebecca’s earnest, funny confusion and British perspective anchor the realities for all overwhelmed parents.

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Takeaways for Youth Sports Parents

• Joy—not results—should be the North Star of youth sports.
• Silence is golden: Only positive cheers, no directives.
• Kids need autonomy and flexibility—not parental micromanagement.
• Missing games or practices, or refusing to let sports dominate family life, is healthy.
• Snacks, gadgets, logistics—take with a healthy sense of humor.
• Sports’ ultimate gift is not a scholarship, but life skills, friends, and fun.

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For More

• Find Do’s & Don’ts summarized on Julie’s “whiteboard” (video segment).
• Join the conversation on social: @welcometothepartyshow
• Submit your own party questions: [e-mail]

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Party Rule #1: Have a sh*t ton of fun!

Transcript

[Julie Foudy]

Izzy, you take that ball and you run. It just.

[Rebecca Lowe]

It came out.

[Julie Foudy]

I was like. And my husband looked at me and he goes, oh, my God. Paging crazy soccer mom. Attention.

[Abby Wambach]

The party is about to commence.

[Rebecca Lowe]

Welcome to the.

[Julie Foudy]

What'S up party people? I'm Julie Foudy.

[Abby Wambach]

And I am Glennon Doyle. Just kidding. I'm Abby Wambach.

[Julie Foudy]

You look just like Glennon Abby. Before we do anything, two things to check in on, because I know that you did this as well. I moved over the weekend, Izzy into her dorm. And you just moved Titian at Berkeley. But can we just, like, talk about that for two seconds? Because it was a lot. It was a lot, a lot. Like, overwhelming a lot. How was your experience?

[Abby Wambach]

Honestly, I. It was beautiful. And it was brutal. We call it brutiful. It was. It doesn't make sense. It doesn't make sense that, like, you have and raise these children and then you just drop them off somewhere and say, good luck. Hope you can do it. Hope I did well teaching you things like, what the hell?

[Julie Foudy]

I know. How many roommates does she have?

[Abby Wambach]

She has two roommates.

[Julie Foudy]

Okay, so there's three. There's three in her room. And how big is the room?

[Abby Wambach]

Three in her room? Because it's teeny. It's teeny. I don't understand. And it's probably totally, perfectly fine for them, but I'm just like. She has to walk down the hall. She's living in a co ed floor. So, like, when she goes to go brush her teeth in the morning and go to the bathroom, there are boys there. And that's great. But also it's like, oh, my gosh. I would. I feel like. I feel a little bit like, oh, my God.

[Julie Foudy]

I mean.

[Abby Wambach]

And Izzy. How many people are in Izzy's dorm?

[Julie Foudy]

Same. She has two roommates. And we walked in and she was like, oh, this isn't so bad. And I was thinking, oh, my God.

[Abby Wambach]

Yes.

[Julie Foudy]

I was like, way to be positive. I was thinking to myself, that's my girl. No, this isn't so bad. But they had just, like, piles and piles of stuff. And literally, she sent us home with a huge suitcase. Like a body bag. It was bigger than me. That was like, okay, I guess I don't need this. And I think that's the nice thing about dorm living is you realize, like, okay, you have to select. It's not gonna.

[Abby Wambach]

You do. And. And Tish. The way that. Like the way that her school does it is like, you have one hour, and then. And then the next hour. The next Roommate comes in and the next.

[Julie Foudy]

So we were like, stop it.

[Abby Wambach]

There were. Yeah, there were five of us in there. And we were like. We all were tasked with a different thing. And, like, she did so well. And I'm thinking, how is all of this stuff gonna fit in here times three? Because. And they were able to communicate prior to showing up to see, like, who's gonna bring what. So I thought that that was, like, really, really cool. But did you cry? That's the biggest question. Like, how did that.

[Julie Foudy]

I mean, I had already brought her up two months ago for soccer, so she's been there, living in an Airbnb for two months with nine other girls. So I think she was actually, like, sweet. This is actually. This is actually because it was a lot of people. Nine. Nine people together. So I did not cry, but I cried over the amount of stuff they had in the room and probably more than. I was like, okay, honey, good luck.

[Rebecca Lowe]

You got this.

[Abby Wambach]

You'll love this. Tish. Tish is her mother's daughter. And so about an hour prior to, like, the time we were moving her in, she said, okay, here's the deal. I don't want you to cry while we do our goodbyes in the next. Whenever that happens. But what I do want you to do is cry later and, like, send me a video of you crying, because I want to know that you care, but I don't want you to do it in front of me. Make it harder than it needs to be.

[Julie Foudy]

Right?

[Abby Wambach]

And I'm like, that is incredible. And so that's. That's what we all tried to do. It didn't work out completely for every one of us. And I won't name names, but I may or may not have been Ugly bawling while. While walking down the stairwell of her dorm, because I was holding it in. And then I just said, okay, bye. And I, like, hauled ass out, and I got into the stairwell, and I just was. I was, like, ugly crying on the way down, and I didn't want anybody to see me. People were passing me because only the people who were moving in for their hour slot. Yeah, I was just like, please, please, please.

[Julie Foudy]

It was sad, but beautiful, Ugly bald. When I dropped her the first time two months ago. Yeah, I did the same thing. I got back to the hotel room, and I was like.

[Abby Wambach]

It'S.

[Rebecca Lowe]

So.

[Abby Wambach]

It's a weird setup. It's a weird system.

[Julie Foudy]

It's hard. It's hard. They have to become adults quick. It's good. Let them fly. Get them out of that nest. Let it go. Okay. The other second thing I wanted to talk about is I wanted to give poll results for our debate from last week because we put that debate out there. The episode that ran on Thursday is being a professional athlete hard, yes or no? You said, hell, yes. Hella hard. I said, no. It was a gift. I felt like it was this amazing gift I got. Sure, it was demanding, but it wasn't hard. Do you want to know the final score for. For the party people?

[Abby Wambach]

Who could have possibly won this debate? Julie, who could have possibly won?

[Julie Foudy]

I knew it was gonna edge towards you. I did not think it would be a landslide. Team Abby, 78%. Team Julie, 22% said, come on.

[Abby Wambach]

Yes.

[Julie Foudy]

Oh, party people. We'll do another. We'll do another one. And I'm winning it, so 1 0.

[Abby Wambach]

I love this little debate. That was fun. We should do these polls way more often.

[Julie Foudy]

It was really fun. I still have people, like, texting me like, we're team Julie. I'm like, well, did you fill out the poll or did you just text me that?

[Rebecca Lowe]

Go to the poll.

[Abby Wambach]

Well, interestingly enough, I've been getting texts from some of my friends, former teammates who are listening to the episodes, and whenever we mention them, it's been, like, really fun for them. They're like, hey. And it's so cool because they're texting and I'm like, oh, my God. This is like another way to connect. I'm. I just. Yeah, I just feel. I feel grateful. All right, so it's time to get this party started. How do you. How do you feel about that, Jules?

[Julie Foudy]

It's ready.

[Abby Wambach]

We're going to start with the highlights and headlines. You'll want to celebrate this week in women's sports. Our party starter is brought to you by Ally the Bank.

[Julie Foudy]

That's your Ally. Okay, let's. Yeah. Let's start with WNBA playoffs. Let's give an update there because as you know, last week Phoenix Mercury were taking on the reigning champs, the New York Liberty. Right? And it took Phoenix. It was. It was a slog to get through the reigning champs. Three games lost in overtime in that first game. But they came back in the next two games, knocked out New York in that opening round. Only one day of rest. Abby had to take on the number one ranked team in Minnesota Lynx in that semifinal game on Sunday. And needless to say, the Lynx won that first game. But now it's not a three game series, it's a series of five games. So.

[Abby Wambach]

Okay, so explain to the party people what that means. What is series? Three series, best games. Three, five series games.

[Julie Foudy]

Right. Best of three was the quarterfinal, first round games. So if you obviously have to win two of the three to go through, this is a best of five. So you have to win three of the five to go through. So if you win your first three, you're done. If not, you go through five. Another great story. The Indiana Fever. Oh, my gosh. Okay, so with all of their injuries, as we know, Caitlin Clark out for the entire season. Sadly, she only played in, like, 13 games this. This season. Sidney Coulson is out with an acl. Sophie Cunningham is out with an mcl. They advanced out of the first round in three games over the Atlanta Dream. And we're like, okay, then in their semifinal matchup on Sunday versus Las Vegas Aces. Okay, we're going to talk about the Las Vegas Aces because they have the WNBA MVP and Asia Wilson in their semifinal matchup at Las Vegas. You know who's not injured? Kelsey Mitchell, 34 points for the Indiana Fever. 34 points, had an absolute heater. And they took game one in Vegas against the Aces, which is crazy. So fun to watch.

[Abby Wambach]

I mean, sometimes all you need is somebody to get injured to get your shot. And she's shooting it. It's amazing.

[Julie Foudy]

And she is balling boy. Ah, so fun to see. Okay, more huge WNBA news. As I alluded to, they have. The WNBA MVP was crowned on Sunday. Many thought it would be a close race between Nafisa Collier, Asia Wilson. Well, not so close. Asia Wilson took 51 first place votes versus Nafisa. She had 18 first place votes. And so on Sunday, Asia Wilson was named WNBA MVP. First player, by the way, to win the honor four times.

[Abby Wambach]

And four times. That's incredible.

[Julie Foudy]

Incredible. She led the NBA, as we know, with an average of 23.4 points, 2.3 blocks. No big deal. She was also named Defensive player of the year on Thursday for her third time in four seasons beyond being the mvp, sharing the award with Alana Smith of the Minnesota Leagues. Incredible.

[Abby Wambach]

We got to get Asia on here, man.

[Julie Foudy]

Asia Ballin.

[Abby Wambach]

All right, so I want to go to a different sport. World Athletics Championships. American sprinter Sydney McLaughlin Levron. She became the first woman in 40 years to break 48 seconds in the 400 meters. Okay, she. She won the 400 meters in a championship record of 47.78 seconds. And this season, which is, I think, very interesting. McLaughlin, LeBron. She stepped out of her comfort zone, focusing on the 400 meters instead of the hurdles. So, Jules, the way that I kind of think about that is like, if we were to be like, you know, playing our. Our sports, soccer, playing our position, and then just being like, you know what? I'm gonna go and goal, and I'm gonna see how this works. She just decided she was gonna change her whole thing and just run the 400 instead of doing the hurdles. And she is crushing. She.

[Julie Foudy]

She.

[Abby Wambach]

She's crushing, obviously. And. Yeah, so in the semifinals, I think.

[Julie Foudy]

Of it as all of a sudden you're like, oh, you know, I run a lot on the field, so let's go try lacrosse.

[Abby Wambach]

And then you just pick up a.

[Julie Foudy]

Whole different thing and you're like, I can do that.

[Abby Wambach]

You know when you used to watch.

[Julie Foudy]

TV and be like, oh, I could do that. Olympic sport, I could switch like that. I. I actually think, I wonder, why didn't you just start with the 400? It's much easier. The hurdles get in the way. It's a lot to get over. The hurdles are hard.

[Abby Wambach]

The hurdles are hard. And you gotta get, like. You gotta, like, get your steps down. You know, they only there. There's like, a specific amount of, like, steps they take in between each hurdle.

[Julie Foudy]

Yeah, exactly.

[Abby Wambach]

And, like, it's all dialed into, like, the millimeter. It's insane.

[Julie Foudy]

All right, so why didn't I do that earlier?

[Abby Wambach]

Get rid of those rules.

[Julie Foudy]

Okay, what's the next thing.

[Abby Wambach]

Next thing we want to talk about for this party starter. And you know, I. I am excited to announce that the Italians, they won back to back Billie Jean King cups.

[Julie Foudy]

But I'm sad because I know, I was going to say, are we that excited?

[Abby Wambach]

I'm excited for them, but I'm also sad for us because they won over the United States 2 to 0 in the final match on Sunday. The final was on the 21st and 2 just this last weekend. And the Italian team will split $2 million among. Among each member of the team, which is great for them.

[Julie Foudy]

Yeah.

[Abby Wambach]

Sad for us Americans. And I'm sure, you know, Billie is having the time of her life in China. It's been a lifelong dream of hers to go to China. So I'm happy that she's there, and I'm sure she's excited for the complete success of the whole tournament overall, just because it's incredible.

[Julie Foudy]

Yeah, I remember it was $7 million purse, one of the highest in women's sports. So 7 million. And the Italian team will split that 2 million among each. Each member. That's awesome. Okay. Staying on. World Cups. World Cups, air quotes, Women's rugby World cup as we know is happening. And we also know it's crushing attendance records in England right now over the weekend. Canada, who, by the way, this is so crazy. Had to crowdfund their trip to the World Cup. So it was like a million Canadian dollars, which is equivalent to like US$750,000. They had to crowdfund. They started it last year. They knocked off the reigning champion, New Zealand, who has won six of the nine World Cups. Okay. And they're on to the final where they will host the number one ranked team, England, who is also the host. Sorry. They will play the host in England, number one, on September 27th. It's showing on Paramount Plus. I hope it runs on CBS Sports as well, but for sure it's on Paramount plus streaming, so check that out. The US didn't make it out of their group stage, sadly. But it's been fun to see how well that is all going over there in England. And finally, I had to get this one in. NWSL players showing solidarity. I don't know if you saw this, abs. I'm sure you did with WNBA players. And do you remember the WNBA players wearing the pay us what you owe us shirts in the warmup of the All Star Game? NWSL players showing that solidarity said, pay them what the. What you owe them. Same type of shirt in their games as well, which was cool to see.

[Abby Wambach]

Yeah, nothing like this. Like, this is the thing that makes me love women's sports so much, is it's not just a singular sport. Like, we are all fighting for each other, supporting each other in every way. And this is just like, when I see these kinds of things, I get a little goosebumps, you know?

[Julie Foudy]

Agreed. Agreed. I love this.

[Abby Wambach]

All right, you guys. So that is your party starter. And a big thank you to Ally for sponsoring this segment. And as we know, Ally is more than a big bank. And their do it right approach helps customers unlock their economic potential and guides their efforts as a leading sponsor in women's sports. It's true. Just like us, Ally believes that when women in sports win, we all have a reason to parte. Ally Bank Member fdic. I need to get a better noisemaker.

[Julie Foudy]

Okay.

[Abby Wambach]

Do you travel with that? Because, Jules, I know you're traveling right now.

[Julie Foudy]

Yeah, like, here's my water. It's my water dispenser, too. It's a double. I drink it. It's a. It's a. It's actually a. Yeah, I drink out of it. All right, Abigail. To the partiest part of the party. We chatted with Our amazing friend and NBC rock star Rebecca Lowe recently about being a youth sport parent. And as Rebecca tries to navigate this confusing world. So settle in as Abby and I help a friend in need. What's up, party people? Welcome to the party. I'm Julie Foudy.

[Abby Wambach]

And I'm Abby Wambach.

[Julie Foudy]

So a few weeks ago, Abs and I were scrolling on Insta and and we saw a post or many posts from our pal Rebecca Lowe about the struggles, because they're real, of being a soccer mom. Teddy is nine years old now and, and all the challenges that brings. And Rebecca had a lot of questions. So we thought we should absolutely help a soccer mom out here and share our do's and don'ts of being a youth sports parent because it is very complicated. And for those of you who aren't huge soccer fans, how dare you, first of all. Or huge fans of the English Premier League. Rebecca Lowe is The host of NBC's coverage of the English Premier League and also a daytime host for like the last, I don't know, six Olympics. I could have that wrong, Rebecca. Six for NBC's incredible coverage of the Olympics. And besides being really, really good at broadcasting, Rebecca Bex is also one of my favorite humans. So Rebecca Lowe, welcome to the party.

[Rebecca Lowe]

Oh my God.

[Abby Wambach]

Rebecca.

[Rebecca Lowe]

The best entrance to any podcast I've ever flipping done. Thank you, girl. This is amazing. So fun to be here. And I do have a lot of questions. I need a lot of help.

[Abby Wambach]

Okay, well good. But before we get to your questions, Julie and I, we are going to actually share our youth sports parenting resume.

[Rebecca Lowe]

Okay.

[Julie Foudy]

Just to prove that, just to prove.

[Abby Wambach]

We'Re qualified, we know what we're talking about. And, and I'll start. So aside from, you know, playing football. Soccer. Football, as you say, soccer, as we say for 30 years, like that should just like automatically, uh, give the qualifier and credentials to be able to talk about this. I also have a lot of experience with raising young, young athletes and two young spot soccer players specifically. Now when I first got to my little family, they were 8, 10 and 13. The girls, they were playing rec league soccer, which was great. I just felt like maybe they should just level up a little bit and get them into travel soccer. They were pretty good. And, and they could do, they could handle it. So we got them into travel soccer. Chase, he was a cross country runner. And just as a little background, we've got, we had one kid who. How do I, how do I explain? Tish, she is a wonderful person, but she sat us down at a dinner table one day and said to Emma and I, our youngest, who also plays, she said, so you know, when you're out on the soccer field and you are terrified and, and it's the most stressful thing that's ever happened to you, and you're having the worst time ever, and you just can't wait until it's over. It is like this open ended question. And Emma and I look at each other, we're like, no, no, honey, that is not how I felt on the soccer field. And, and, and so at that point, we said, maybe we should find something else for you to do. So I think that that is an important thing to note in terms of us knowing when to say when with some children and, And. And maybe not others. Talking about Emma, our youngest, she just committed to play soccer at Santa Clara University, Division 1 program. Yeah, she's going into her senior year this year. She's super excited. And I guess, like, the point of me telling you this is that we have two very different soccer player kids that ended up taking different paths. And that is also okay. And especially because Glennon asked and. And has asked Emma 1 million times if she wants to quit and stop playing because she's worried that maybe we're. That. That Emma thinks that we should. We. We want her to play for some weird reason. Like, it's. It's something having to do with us. So that's my. That's my background credentials here. And what.

[Julie Foudy]

What does Amma say to that when she asked her a million times, does she want to play?

[Abby Wambach]

She looks at Glennon like she has 10 heads. She's like, what are you talking about, Mom? Like, shut up. You know, she would never say shut up. Yeah, she would never say shut up. She's thinking in it, though. I know she is.

[Julie Foudy]

Okay, so Bex, my izzy, who is 18, just started playing at the University of Oregon. She's playing there. And so I literally just dropped her, you know, recently, you know, a month ago. And, um, and it's crazy because recruiting. The whole recruiting process is not for the week. Oh, my God. Okay, abs, you just went through all of it. But, oh, my gosh, when she finally signed that letter of intent and she was going to Oregon and all of that, I was like, I turned to Declan, our younger son, and I said, you're gonna have to quit all of sports. It's. It's. I'm not doing this again. Like, we are done. He's a basketball football player. I was like, I can't. I can't do. I Cannot do it. And I mean, I know there's parents out here listening to that who know exactly what I'm talking about. And we deserve a damn medal, I feel like, for being a youth sports parent. And look, I get with the best of intentions. We want the best for our kids, and we've been stuck into this really complicated, messy system. But I also feel like we need to go over the do's and don'ts because we parents do actually do a really good job of sucking the joy out of it for our kids so that they don't love it anymore. I mean, there's already all this built in pressure, and so that's why we're like, we need to do a do's and don'ts with Rebecca to go over. Yeah.

[Rebecca Lowe]

And you need to start me early. Like, you guys are like ahead of me with this and you're in college that you situations. He's not. Teddy is nine. So I need some stuff now. Guys, this is like an S. We got you.

[Abby Wambach]

We got you. Don't worry. We got you.

[Julie Foudy]

All right.

[Rebecca Lowe]

We actually. Tell me when I can ask my first question, because I have. Some of them are minor, but they're major to me. But some of them are, like, small. Like, I do need to talk about snacks. Can we talk about snacks at some point?

[Abby Wambach]

We can, because I just.

[Rebecca Lowe]

I just went and got a lot of pirate booty today. Apparently.

[Julie Foudy]

You don't have to go healthy on snacks. I think that's. I. Yeah, I went.

[Rebecca Lowe]

The email said different.

[Julie Foudy]

Yeah, I don't try to go against the email, abs. My theory on snacks was I brought donut holes, so I was loved because they're small and bite sized, they're easily transportable, and they give you a little pop of energy.

[Rebecca Lowe]

Right.

[Julie Foudy]

Like, what's a good donut hole is good for you. I used to have big cinnamon rolls. Bigger than my. Before I played soccer, prior to games.

[Abby Wambach]

The women's national team, they would just have a table of food, Right. And you got your PB and J, which is like probably like the most nutritious and dense to get in before the game. And then candy. So just so you know, just having that, like, shot of sugar right before you go out is actually good for you. I mean, maybe not like the red dyes and all of that stuff. Like, I'm not ascribing to that, but I don't know.

[Rebecca Lowe]

Does the email say, like, by myself.

[Julie Foudy]

Does the email say it must be healthy?

[Rebecca Lowe]

It talks about. No, no, it doesn't say. It tells me So I need to buy. So hang on. So this is just. We're now. We're talking about cross country now? Because just to say, Teddy started cross country last week, so I am no longer just a soccer mom. I'm now cross country mum. And when I went across country this week to watch him train, an email afterwards saying, okay, we have four meets. Which, by the way, is that the shortest season of all time. 4. Like, literally.

[Julie Foudy]

I love that. Yeah, that's fantastic.

[Rebecca Lowe]

And please sign up on the sign up genius. Honestly, if I had a pound dollar for every sign up genius. Anyway, so on the sign up genius, I'm there trying to be the best of the apps. Oh, the apps. My playmetrics got sport. I mean, I could go down the whole list. Snap. Oh, my God. So I can't remember any of my passwords for play metrics. And then it's locking me out and now it doesn't recognize my face. Anyway, yeah, so I went. So the email comes about cross country and it says, for the meats, can you please sign up? So I'm signing up. I'm thinking I'll just bring anything. They're like, no, we need 10 packs of Pirate Beauty, 10 packs of pretzels, 10 packs of Capri Sun. Not quite sure that's particularly healthy, but who cares? This is a full meal. This is not a snack.

[Julie Foudy]

This is a five course meal.

[Rebecca Lowe]

And this is for. I think it's for the finish line, but I don't know. So I've gone to Costco. I've got literally everything off the shelves. But I. I did also see some, like, really cute little cookies, and I thought, am I allowed to do that? Are you allowed to go off email?

[Julie Foudy]

Yes.

[Abby Wambach]

Yeah, you're allowed. You're allowed. And also, I just.

[Julie Foudy]

You're Becca Low. You go off email.

[Abby Wambach]

Yeah. I just want to say, like, I kind of love the directness and the. The exactness of the snack approach here because I don't want to have to make a decision. I just want somebody kind of to tell me. And if I. If I want to throw some cookies in there, you get to go ahead and do that. That's how you throw your own flair.

[Rebecca Lowe]

Okay.

[Julie Foudy]

We like direct.

[Rebecca Lowe]

Put your own identity on it. Okay. So we want direction with a little bit of flexibility.

[Abby Wambach]

Exactly.

[Julie Foudy]

With our do's and don'ts, I figured that maybe we should whiteboard this.

[Abby Wambach]

Oh, my God.

[Rebecca Lowe]

Yes. Okay.

[Julie Foudy]

What do you got, Abs? What's your first do?

[Abby Wambach]

Number one. And I knew your kid was a little bit younger, Rebecca, so I really kind of try to think about what I would do if I were starting out or in your literal shoes or boots.

[Julie Foudy]

Okay.

[Abby Wambach]

My number one do is get them into multiple sports young. And so here you are. Cross country. Yes. In my experience, the only reason, and this is a true story, like, we can talk about all the research which, which points to multiple sports being really important for. For us as like, people and human beings long term. But for me, and in my personal experience, I never would have been as good as I was as a soccer player had I not played basketball growing up. Think about every time I have to go up and get a rebound. Every time I have to go up and grab a ball. That was helping me learn how to jump so that I could become the header that I became on the national team. So that is my first do. Get them into multiple sports young and do it now.

[Julie Foudy]

I like that.

[Rebecca Lowe]

Here's my question. Here's my question. The only way Teddy could do cross country is because training is before school. Because soccer, he's in comp soccer. We're basically talking like five days a week soccer. So if he turned around tomorrow and said, I want to do basketball, I don't think there's a literal time of the week. So that's part of this problem. I know it is to do multiple things, but it's hard to do multiple after school things things, isn't it?

[Julie Foudy]

Yes, yes, yes. And especially when you get into high school. I tried. Declan is in high school and he's still doing basketball and football both. But it's a lot. But there's less club involved in that with soccer. Izzy tried to do soccer and volleyball going in. And so you have your soccer club practices still going. You have your soccer practice at high school, you have your volleyball club practice and your volleyball practice at high school. So she has. She was like playing four sports at one time. I was like, can someone stop?

[Rebecca Lowe]

Stop what?

[Julie Foudy]

Someone needs to realize that this doesn't need to be year round. But the problem is, as we know, Bex, you have to keep charging the money to get them to keep playing and to pay your coaches and all that.

[Rebecca Lowe]

This is why I have so many questions. Because coming from England, where I would play field hockey once a week for an hour and nobody would be watching and no one will give two hoots what the hell I was doing. And then netball for half an hour on a Wednesday, that would be it. In terms of school sports, that doesn't exist in England. So I am school. I am like navigating this World from an English perspective where, like, no one cares about youth sports in a world now where this country is obsessed with their children, which I don't hate, but they obsessed with their children, and they're obsessed with school sport and. Sorry, youth sports. This is, like. This is a. This is a dangerous world for me. Right like, right now, like, entering it now as this little English person. Just. No idea what is going on. So this is. Honestly, this whiteboard is just giving me a lot of life. Okay?

[Abby Wambach]

So.

[Julie Foudy]

Okay, next one for me. My first. My first dues.

[Abby Wambach]

Yeah.

[Julie Foudy]

Stop talking. That's to you parents. Stop talking. Okay.

[Rebecca Lowe]

And now that's quite hard.

[Julie Foudy]

It's really hard. And I'm just saying.

[Rebecca Lowe]

You mean, like. Like, like, I agree. You mean, like the screaming on the sides?

[Julie Foudy]

Yes, the screaming on the sides. It's so bad. And can we do.

[Rebecca Lowe]

Okay, well, hang on. When you say, say stop talking, are we allowed to be like. Go on, Ted. Am I allowed to do that?

[Julie Foudy]

Yeah.

[Abby Wambach]

Okay. Yeah. This is what I think, because this is also in my don'ts column. The don't yell. Right? Don't yell. And it's also in my do column. Positive cheering only and no instruction. Just like, good job, way to go. Keep going.

[Julie Foudy]

Or. Or, like, team related.

[Rebecca Lowe]

Right? Yeah. Yeah.

[Julie Foudy]

Let's go, Green machine. Jane. Yeah, right.

[Rebecca Lowe]

I love butterflies. You're the best. You guys. I mean, honestly, this is why I love this.

[Julie Foudy]

But never do your kid. Do not. And I don't know if you've ever seen any of the videos with kids talking about, like, hey, what's the one thing you want to tell your parent about youth sports? And they're basically like, shut up. Stop talking, please. Yes, yes. All of them, stop talking.

[Abby Wambach]

All right, Jules, what do you miss the most about soccer?

[Julie Foudy]

Good question. Two things. The people. Always the people. My teammates like you. But also the other thing is seeing the world. I mean, think about all the cool places we got to go to. Even if my mom thought I was in Bolivia, I was actually in Bulgaria. But she never knew where I was. Cypress, Greece, Mom. Not Cyprus. Florida. But, like, that was. That was. The really cool thing is we got to travel everywhere.

[Abby Wambach]

It's true. And somebody paid us to do that. Like, it just blows my mind to have a job to be able to travel, to see the world, you know, we saw so many unexpected things, you know? Mm.

[Julie Foudy]

Favorite place.

[Abby Wambach]

I mean, Portugal. Algarve. Algarve. Samesies. Oh, really? Yes. Okay. Where? Where, where, like, why. Why. Why was the Algarve Cup.

[Julie Foudy]

Oh, my gosh. Because you ate crepes all day. You played golf all day. Maybe. Which is why we probably never won the Algarve Cup.

[Abby Wambach]

We stopped playing golf by the time my. My. My generation came out.

[Julie Foudy]

You were banned from it because we never won.

[Abby Wambach]

Yeah, we played soccer is what we did.

[Julie Foudy]

We did not. We were like, wait, are we here for soccer? What are we here for? Are we here for soccer? Did you do the pottery shopping all the time?

[Abby Wambach]

Yes. Pottery shopping.

[Julie Foudy]

I still have all these plates.

[Abby Wambach]

The Indian food was the best Indian food I've ever had.

[Julie Foudy]

To this day, the best in the crepes. Literally, I got obsessed with. I'm going to start a crepe store in America. I had a name for it, the Crepes of Wrath. That's good. That's so good. Right? I had a name for it. I was going down the whole road of like, why don't we have these crepe stores in America anyways? Portugal. But the thing you realize pretty quickly, and I don't know about you, but hotels. We stayed in a lot of hotels, and hotels as nice as they can seem, like you don't have a space where you can gather. And I love the idea. Which is where. What I love now is the idea of a house. Right. Where you're actually. And it's what I love about the homes on Airbnb, where you can have a place to gather, you can cook, you can. You don't have to spend $700 on breakfast. Right. You love it right there. So in. It's not just a place to crash. It's a gathering place, which is what I love about it.

[Abby Wambach]

I couldn't agree more. I think it's, like, so important, the space thing. You know, we traveled so much and we just had a room, you know, And. And when you're traveling and. And you're. You're. You're. You're finding these beautiful homes on Airbnb that have the space. And also, I snore a little bit. And so it's important for me to have a possible. Maybe another room to. To venture into during the night. Um, and while you can book a place with Airbnb, it's always going to be a little bit more unique. It's a little. You can decide it's going to be a little bit more of you, you know, that's why I love staying in Airbnbs now, especially. It's just like the home away from home vibes that we're searching for.

[Julie Foudy]

Well, and I like it. Cause we can stay with a lot of families. So we get big Airbnbs and it's a true big welcome to the party episode. But what's crazy is I think back to all those years we were traveling with the national team and I think back we could have cause our houses were sitting empty. We could have actually been hosting our homes on Airbnb while we were away and helped paying for that dream trip. Why did we not think like that?

[Abby Wambach]

Well, Airbnb wasn't existing back when we played. That's probably why. And I think that if like you're concerned about the extra work to manage those properties, just trust me, I get it. And that would be like the first hold up for me too. But Airbnb co host network, you can find a local co host to help you with all of the, all the details. They make it super easy. And when you go travel, you can make some money.

[Julie Foudy]

Yeah. And if you are worried about managing reservations or maybe even messaging guests, that's where the co host can give you that on site support. So you don't have to stress about all that stuff.

[Abby Wambach]

Which means you get to be out there traveling, playing my favorite, getting lost.

[Julie Foudy]

In a new city, buying pottery.

[Abby Wambach]

Yes. And your home is still working for you in the background.

[Julie Foudy]

It's kind of genius. You're making memories on the road while you're having peace of mind back home. So find a co [e-mail] host foreign.

[Abby Wambach]

I've broken this up into two parts actually because I think it's very important what we say to our children prior to dropping them off and then post in the, in the car ride home. Because these are the moments, especially when they're young and they're not driving in the pre. Pregame or pre practice car ride to practice. Right. It's good to start talking about and I think that this is really important because so much focus, especially in America is like did you win or did you lose? And for me and our family, we always focused on like what is a special win that you are hoping to, to look for during this practice or during this game?

[Rebecca Lowe]

Okay.

[Abby Wambach]

A lot of times it's mostly just during games because practice you don't really like that's their play time. Like you don't want to like set up any instructions. So when we would go to games, like hey, I'm, I'd be really curious that like what you might think somebody's special win is and this is something you have to prep them for and then eventually you can just ask them post game. So meaning like for an Example that has nothing to do with a win or a loss.

[Julie Foudy]

So it's not an outcome. It's like not an out, personal or team win.

[Abby Wambach]

Yeah, exactly. What did you see out there today that was like a special win that was important, that had nothing to do with the scoreline. Right? Like, so did you see your teammate cheering? Did you pick up the cones for your coach without being asked? Did you see somebody do something special that had nothing to do with the outcome? So it's like figuring out how to de. Emphasize the outcomes of winning and losing and, and overemphasize the. The acts of leadership that, that, that I think special wins are big.

[Rebecca Lowe]

Yeah. Put it on the whiteboard. Put it on the whiteboard. Jules, side question to that, Abby, you were just talking there, Abby, quickly. About dropping off and picking up. Can I just ask a question? Are we supposed to go to every practice?

[Abby Wambach]

No, that is. That is actually on my don'ts list.

[Julie Foudy]

Yeah.

[Abby Wambach]

Do not go to the practices and watch your children. This is their time. Ever, ever, ever.

[Rebecca Lowe]

But I would even add, don't.

[Julie Foudy]

You don't have to go to all the games, Mom.

[Rebecca Lowe]

No, I can't go to all the games, right? Because I'm at work. So I go to the practice. That's okay, because I go to the practices because I don't get to go to as many games as I would like. Like, I probably go to one in every four because I'm at work on the weekends. So I'm like, well, I'm a bad mum if I also don't go to practices. So I'm there with my little rocky chair. And then I'm in amongst all the parents and I'm looking around, I'm thinking, so they've gone to every practice and they've gone to the games. And then I'm like, okay, so, so should I not. Are you serious?

[Abby Wambach]

I shouldn't go to no practice because. Just think about this, okay?

[Rebecca Lowe]

Think about this time I'm going to get back in my life.

[Abby Wambach]

Think about this practice. What is the purpose of practice? It is not practice for. It's not for the kid to look over their shoulder and make sure that their mom or dad or. Or parent is sitting on the sideline watching them. Practice is for free. Free play for them. That there is nothing that's going to encumber them from trying something new. Making, making, Taking a risk, making a mistake, trying something, being successful. Because what we're then doing is we're externalizing all of our motivation. Like, oh, I'm only Going to do this because I, I am now looking over to the sidelines and I see my mom looking at me and being proud. And then it becomes this, this thing that, that becomes very difficult to actually curate in yourself, to have internal motivation. Because we want our kids to be self starters and internally motivated. So if you're at practice outsources that motivation, if that makes sense.

[Rebecca Lowe]

Which kind of tells me that not a lot of things 30 years were better than they are now. But that was better because literally I didn't have a single person ever watch me at a practice or even a game in terms of my parents. I never thought anything of it. Just it was my life. I just get on with it. And actually you're right. I had to find ways out of things on the field and off the field that I never even told them about. And so it was a. You're absolutely right. Self starter, self sufficient, get yourself out of suit situations. Yeah. Okay, so what do I do with my new 17 hours a week that I'm gonna have on my hands?

[Julie Foudy]

Is that like the. Not the most liberating thing? My parents, by the way, and games. You missing games, Rebecca, do not stress about that. My parents never came to a game and literally my husband at one point was like when I was traveling a lot, he'd be like, you're missing another game. And I'd be like, yeah. And it's okay, it's okay for them not to see us there. It's for them to Abby's point, like they need to be the ones. When my parents would come to games, people would be like, what are your parents doing here? I'm like, I don't know. I'm not sure.

[Rebecca Lowe]

Yeah, because I get, that's weird thing that when I, when I come to a game, I get the, oh, you're here. Oh, you're here this week. Like, like I'm this absent mum that doesn't pay any because everyone else goes to every single. And you know what we have.

[Julie Foudy]

It's too much.

[Rebecca Lowe]

We had the first tournament. Now the tournament situation is another word. We all have to go to Davis, California, right? We had a game. I mean, you guys have lived this. I mean, what am I saying? But 9am game and then flipping 4pm game. So we're all going for pizza right at lunchtime, going for pizza. There's a lot of hours here. There's a lot of socialization I do not have the mental capacity for. I mean, are we okay to miss the pizza between game one and game two?

[Julie Foudy]

Absolutely.

[Rebecca Lowe]

We have to go with you.

[Julie Foudy]

You set the parameters, Rebecca, you. You sister, set the parameters.

[Abby Wambach]

Okay, but here's the thing, actually, just real quick, just throw your kid. Throw Teddy in a car with somebody else and say you go. You go get pizza because it's for them. It's about them connecting with their teammates, right? Like, you just send them away and. And with somebody else to. To do that.

[Julie Foudy]

Okay. My number two.

[Rebecca Lowe]

I mean, whoever they are.

[Abby Wambach]

Yeah, yeah. Jules, what's your number two?

[Julie Foudy]

My number two. Do's Smile. This is for parents. Smile and take a breath. Right? It is important. This is for the coach as well. For you coaches listening, like, it's important for them to see that you're enjoying it, because what happens on the sidelines when you look around, Right. Sorry, I gotta flash my board. I don't know what's wrong with my setup today. If. If you're looking around and you look at the parents, they are intense. They're stressed. They're screaming like, then what is that saying to your kid? You too should be stressed and intense. And so we want to just take that pressure off. Just smile.

[Rebecca Lowe]

So this is making me think of another thing then, right?

[Julie Foudy]

Yeah.

[Rebecca Lowe]

So when I do get to go to a game, which, by the way, I'm not going to go to anymore, but when I do get to go. No, I am. But when I do get to go to a game, I get nervous. Is that crazy that I'm nervous? No, crazy, isn't it? Did you get nervous?

[Julie Foudy]

Yeah. Because you're feeling that way. And here's the thing. Like, a solution to the. Stop talking. Take us. You know, take a breath, smile, right? Like, for example, and I think this is brilliant. Glennon is so brilliant. Right? But Glennon's theory with Stop talking. Because it's so hard not to project that emotion and excitement of, like, I want my kid. It's for the best of intentions. I want my kid to do well. I want her to do well. I want him to do well. Is put a lollipop in your mouth and you'll. You'll stop, right? And that's Glennon's suggestion of just bring some lollies. Yeah, bring some lollies or hand out lollies, depending on lollies. Talking too much, right? Like, here's a lollipop.

[Rebecca Lowe]

Lollipop lady. Yeah, I'm gonna become the lollipop lady at soccer press. Amazing.

[Abby Wambach]

Well, here.

[Rebecca Lowe]

No. Great shout. Great shout.

[Abby Wambach]

Well, I. I just want to, like, really talk about this because this is, like, the biggest problem on the sidelines. Right. The. The.

[Julie Foudy]

I just laughed so hard, I got a cramp in my belly, actually. She said she was gonna become the lollipop lady.

[Abby Wambach]

The yelling and the taking the joy out of it and yelling at the referee and yelling at other players on other teams like parents are. They're bonkers.

[Rebecca Lowe]

Yes.

[Abby Wambach]

It's unbelievable. It is important to think about what the children on the field are experiencing because this helps me kind of get into myself when I'm. Because I'm. I'm a competitor. I'm like, I want. I want to win. I want our team to win, and I want my kid to do, you know, not do well. I don't even care if they do well. It's just like, I want them to think that they've done well.

[Rebecca Lowe]

Yes.

[Julie Foudy]

Right.

[Rebecca Lowe]

Yes.

[Abby Wambach]

Right. And so when. When you're on the sidelines and you are starting to experience some of this emotion that's coming out on the outside, the reason why it needs to be so positive rather than negative is because be in the shoes of your kid. Right. If you. If you are yelling, if you're yelling things to the ref or to your kid or to, God forbid, a different player that is not your child on your. On. On the same team as your kid or on a different team, God forbid you yell at those kids, what that is doing to your child is. It's confusing them more because they have coaches that are yelling instructions to them based on what they've been doing at practice. And if you haven't been at practice, which we are requir you and saying you should not go to, then you don't know what the coaches are saying. You don't know what they've been working on, which is good because it's your child's life and their experience. But it's. It's so confusing to have another person. And who do they want to. Who will they. Who've been. They've been groomed to listen to this one voice their whole life. This is a unique opportunity to give somebody else some authority in your child's life rather than it being or coming just from you. It is really important for us to. To give these kids an outlet or a place to have other mentors, other people that can guide them through. And if you're yelling, then you are taking it away from the coach. You're taking it away from the other teammates who are. Ideally, over time, they're going to be communicating with each other. And your kid has now got six different voices in their head. And then the Parent is yelling. It's confusing, so stop it.

[Rebecca Lowe]

So, yeah, absolutely. No, Abby, I'm stopping it. No, I haven't stomping it. Lollipop lady over here. No, no. I have to say, just gonna stick up for myself very briefly. I haven't done any of that because one of my pet hates is the telling them to pass. Like, oh, so and so is open pass to him. Leave your child alone. Because this is, again, the generational thing is that this generation of us, I feel like we have been told we have to do everything for our child. We literally have to do everything for them.

[Julie Foudy]

No, no, no, no.

[Rebecca Lowe]

Nobody did anything for me, and I'm absolutely fine. And if you're telling your child who to pass to on the field of play, leave them alone. No, you're absolutely right. No, I know. I. Why do you think you.

[Julie Foudy]

Were you tempted to pass? No. Never.

[Rebecca Lowe]

No. No, I'm never.

[Julie Foudy]

You're not. Okay.

[Rebecca Lowe]

I do the only thing I know. I promise you, Jules, the only thing.

[Julie Foudy]

I do because I was tempted.

[Rebecca Lowe]

Go on, Teddy. Go on, Ted. No, I've never. I've also never played the game, so I haven't got a clue. Wait. But I have never. Tell him who to pass to.

[Julie Foudy]

Yes, you do know the game. I hear you every week. My first game with Izzy, I was sitting on the sidelines, okay, with the best of intentions, trying to. I try and kind of move to the end of the sidelines to, like, stay away from the masses in terms of, like, just the energy, because that gets you into it too much, too. And it was like a little scrum, you know, she was playing for the Blue Lightnings. And I go. And the ball popped out, and it popped Izzy outside of the scrum, and I go, izzy, you take that ball and you run. It just. It came out, and my husband looked at me, and he goes, oh, my God. Paging crazy soccer mom.

[Rebecca Lowe]

What is that?

[Julie Foudy]

And I was like, oh, my God. I don't know what that came from. You take the ball and you run.

[Rebecca Lowe]

You are. I feel like you have had that moment in a. In a. In a game before where the ball's broken and you've had space. And you were probably just.

[Julie Foudy]

Because you were.

[Rebecca Lowe]

You. You were like, I'm gonna get the ball. I'm gonna run. And so you.

[Julie Foudy]

All.

[Rebecca Lowe]

You knew was to just tell her to do the same thing. I think that's totally fair there. I think that's.

[Julie Foudy]

I needed the lollipop lady in that moment.

[Abby Wambach]

Yeah, but, Jules, I give you. I give you a Little bit of a pass. You've learned from your mistake there. Because when we're on the field, we're instructing each other like that. We're like, go, let's go. Get the ball.

[Julie Foudy]

Let's go.

[Abby Wambach]

Right. Like, yeah, I'm.

[Julie Foudy]

You're telling me, like, go run.

[Abby Wambach]

Yeah, exactly. So I get it. But then it's so good that you have, you know, your. Your. Your husband sitting there holding you accountable. Like, this is another thing that I think is really important that, like, get a friend on the team.

[Julie Foudy]

Yeah.

[Abby Wambach]

Talk to your spouse. If you have a spouse, another parent on the team, that you guys can collaborate with each other rather than doing it externally. So it can be whoever you're sitting by, like, talk to each other under your breath where nobody else is hearing. It's just you and your person or you and your, you know, somebody else on the team that you can actually get a little of that out so that you're not doing it to the kids.

[Rebecca Lowe]

That's a great shout. And Abby, I. I'm lucky enough to be married to a former pro. So he. Beginning when Teddy first started playing, he did say to me, knowing the person I am, he did say to me, you're actually not allowed to talk at all. And I was like, no, no, that's actually not fair.

[Abby Wambach]

Yeah.

[Rebecca Lowe]

He's like, no, no, like, nothing. He said, let's start at nothing and let's see how we go. And I'm like, like, that is out of order. Okay. I'm like, I'm fine with that. And then, of course, after a couple of games, I was like, nice pass, Teddy. And he's like, well, I. Nothing. Like, actually. So over the last three years, I have crept from nothing to a little bit of encouragement, but I have literally the BDIS next to me of Mr. Paul Buckle, who will turn around to me and be like, what are you doing? Okay, sorry. So I'm. I'm. I've got that person. Everyone needs him. Everyone needs it. You're absolutely right. Keep accountable.

[Julie Foudy]

Yeah. Okay.

[Abby Wambach]

I have one more. Yeah, I have another. Do a post game do. It's. It's an important one because I really think that a lot of parents don't know what to say. Post game.

[Julie Foudy]

Yes.

[Rebecca Lowe]

Tell me what to say. Did you have fun? Is that okay?

[Julie Foudy]

Yes.

[Abby Wambach]

Yes. So I've got two. I've got two things that. That are musts, and. And I actually think that are kind of onlys. Like, the only things that you say. Write this down.

[Rebecca Lowe]

Yeah.

[Abby Wambach]

Number one.

[Julie Foudy]

Yeah, I got you. I Got you back.

[Abby Wambach]

I love watching you play.

[Julie Foudy]

Yeah.

[Rebecca Lowe]

Oh, that's a good one. Oh, that's a really nice one.

[Abby Wambach]

Number two, did you have fun? Was that fun for you out there? Right.

[Julie Foudy]

Yeah.

[Abby Wambach]

And as they get older, because we do, right? They. They get older, we get older. As. As parents, I think that you have to also know your kid. So in order for this to really become a thing, you gotta know the kind of kid you've got. In our family, we call this blame, shame, or claim. Because inevitably, after the game, on the ride home, there will have been something that happened during the game that your kids got a gripe over. Right. That they're upset about, that they've got a vent over. Let them vent, Right. Let them get it out. Over time, you will kind of see if your kid is the kind of kid who's going to blame, who's going to go into a shame spiral or who's going to claim some responsibility in it. Right.

[Rebecca Lowe]

Are there any kids that. I'm feeling like. There's not many kids that collect that claim.

[Abby Wambach]

Yeah, here's. Here's the thing about this exercise.

[Julie Foudy]

Teddy, at 9 years old, is not a claimer yet. Yeah, he ain't claiming.

[Rebecca Lowe]

He ain't claiming.

[Abby Wambach]

Not yet. But inevitably, inevitably, if they really start to. To honor and harness the idea of what it is to be on a team, the idea that the getting to the claim is like varsity level, Right. That is a kid who is probably going to maybe make it to those next levels, but they have to be taught this exercise. So we had a child that was oftentimes going into a big shame spiral. Right. And sometimes on the field, she would make a mistake, go into a shame spiral, and then start externally blaming her teammates. Yeah.

[Julie Foudy]

You start pointing.

[Abby Wambach]

And so I had to start. I had to have a conversation with her, like, hey, I just want to let you know what I'm noticing. I have no judgment here, but I'm just letting you know what I'm noticing. And one of these things, it's a vulnerability, right? So as you get older, on the soccer pitch, as a player and a veteran player, and then the national teams and maybe D1 college, when you make a mistake, what's the first thing you say? Jules.

[Julie Foudy]

Why did you F up?

[Abby Wambach]

No, when I make a mistake.

[Julie Foudy]

Kidding.

[Abby Wambach]

I'm kidding. Yes. So I've made an errant past. Like, my bad. You hold your hand all good.

[Julie Foudy]

My bad.

[Abby Wambach]

Yeah, My bad.

[Rebecca Lowe]

As opposed to saying, where were you?

[Abby Wambach]

Yeah, exactly. And it's a psychological shift that is, I think, very Important. So blame shame.

[Julie Foudy]

I like that. Yeah. Okay. My third dues.

[Abby Wambach]

Yeah.

[Julie Foudy]

Beck and Party People is one that I still talk about. This is going to be a common thread. You have to always bring up that the North Star in why we're doing this is joy. Because, again, the way the system is set up, I do feel like there's just so much pressure on these kids. The parents add to it unknowingly, unintentionally, with the best of intentions, we add to it. The coaches don't manage it well. And so you just have to constantly be reminding your kid, why are we doing this? We're doing this because it's fun. And if it's not fun, then do something else. I had that conversation all the time with Izzy and Declan of, like, let's just, like, step away for a second and, like, get some perspective. Let's remember, I do think being. Being.

[Rebecca Lowe]

Being children of you two and to a certain extent, children. A child of my husband, too, having been a pro, I do think that's quite difficult for the child. I mean, you're absolutely right, by the way. 100. Right. But I think if you're the son or daughter of a former professional soccer player and you're playing soccer, it's you, you. It's even more important, isn't it? Because you. Because Paul always says it's always like, he doesn't have to play soccer. He really doesn't have to. And we often like you. We often go the other way. We're like, you sure you want to go? He'll test him and be like, do you want to go practice today or do you want to stay home? You want to rest or you want to watch TV or you want to go to practice? Because he's so concerned that just because he was a player, just because you guys were players, your children don't have to be players. So I think that's even more important, isn't it, that we double check that they are happy? Because we don't want to feel like, under pressure to do what we did just because we did it.

[Julie Foudy]

Yep. Yeah. And we had. And abs, as you were saying, too. Like, we had conversation after conversation of, you don't have to play soccer. Right. You don't have to do this, but, like, find a sport, because sports are so good for you in life. Find a sport you love. There's a million different sports out there. It doesn't need to be soccer.

[Abby Wambach]

And this is like, one of. This is on one of my to do lists to do or just Dues. Let your kid lead, right? This is all. All about being in conversation with your kid. They're the ones who have to lead the ship. They're the ones. You know, I sat down with my kid, early days, and I was like, look, I have. This does not affect my life.

[Julie Foudy]

That's a good one.

[Abby Wambach]

Way, shape or form I have. I have my career. That's mine. You have your experience. This is yours. Right? So what we're going to sit down and do, I'm going to tell you what my roles and responsibilities are. I'm going to drive you to practice. I'm going to pay for you. I'm going to. I'm going to help you organize in the early years. But you're the one. This is. I'm not going to be the one that drives this because I don't want to be the one that. That you think is making you or forcing you to play this sport. I do not care. So what you need to be doing is before practice, you need to get your whole practice outfit ready. You need to get your cleats sorted out. You need to make sure your shin guards are in the right place. You need to get your water. I'm not going to be doing this stuff for you because I don't want to. I don't. This is. Do I want to take all of my time?

[Rebecca Lowe]

It would be a lot easier if you didn't play, to be quite frank. You know what I mean? So it's not. We're not. We're not doing it for us. Yeah, for sure.

[Abby Wambach]

Yeah. So I think you got to let them lead and then be in communication. That is one of the things that I don't think a lot of people do is to open up lines of communication forever around what their status is. How are they feeling like. Yeah, there's going to be days and weeks and sometimes months where it's hard. It's hard, sure. But is it the right kind of hard or the wrong kind of hard? And you let them lead. And if you let them lead, then when you're sitting on the sidelines, you have a detachment. So you're not as inclined to think, oh, this kid. This is now a symbol or emblematic or. Or a show of. Of. Of me in any way. Because it has nothing to do with you as a parent. It has everything to do with them.

[Julie Foudy]

Love it. Okay, Don'ts.

[Abby Wambach]

Yeah, don't.

[Julie Foudy]

Don't. Specs. Don'ts. Abby gave one of. Don't go to practices, which we already talked about. You don't have to go. You also. One of my don'ts which was hers is don't talk outcomes. Right. It's not about winning and scoring and all those things. It's about enjoying the process and the process and growth. Growth Mindset. Right. What did we learn? What was fun about today's practice instead of, you know, the first question a lot of parents want to go to is, you know, well we should be beating that team. We're better than that team. Or you know, how did we let in all these goals? Like obviously in the moment you want to maybe share that with a parent, a parent next to you, but not with your kid. Right. Like so taking away the outcome I think is huge.

[Rebecca Lowe]

I think parents have to make it less of a lesser part of their life.

[Julie Foudy]

Yes.

[Rebecca Lowe]

I mean the fact that you just said like the fact that you just said, oh maybe turn to your neighbor and say like how have we letting so many girls, they're nine, who cares how they let in so many goals.

[Julie Foudy]

Yes.

[Rebecca Lowe]

Why is that important? Important in your life? Like you, as, as 44 year old women like me, I've got a load of stuff going on. Right. I, I don't really care that they've conceded nine goals. I don't need to ask my neighbor like geez, like what happened to the defense today then? It's not Liverpool.

[Abby Wambach]

Who cares?

[Rebecca Lowe]

Do you know what I mean? So my, so I, so that goes back to being at every practice, being at every game, being at every single moment. Like I don't think we need to make it that big a part of our grown up lives. Like, like Abby said, it's theirs anyway. It's not, it's not ours, it's theirs.

[Julie Foudy]

Yeah.

[Rebecca Lowe]

Make it less, make it a smaller thing in our lives. Smaller.

[Abby Wambach]

Let's make 100% and a really easy way to do this. This is on my don't list. And there was a, an unofficial research project that was done at my college over the years of the soccer camps that they did during the summertimes. They surveyed all of the campers over like a 20 year period. And the question was, who would you prefer drive you home from a game? And unequivocally the answer was always my grandparents. And it's because the grandparents have a unique detachment from these outcomes that parents are so obsessed with. Right. Like that that it is somehow a reflection of me as a parent, of me and the athlete that maybe I used to be of how much I might have played with this kid in the backyard growing up like our children's. Experience on.

[Julie Foudy]

In.

[Abby Wambach]

In a sport, whatever smart sport it may be, has literally nothing to do with us. And if we can have that distance, then those car rides home can be, hey, you want to go get an ice cream cone? Hey, I love watching you play. Hey, that was so fun. Did you have a good time and that be.

[Julie Foudy]

And then.

[Abby Wambach]

And then let them lead the conversation.

[Julie Foudy]

Yes.

[Rebecca Lowe]

I love it. I love it. The problem is all my grandparents are in England, so I gotta find some of the grandparents if they can chip in with some of these standings.

[Julie Foudy]

Along those same lines is don't let a team or sport take over your life. I mean, it's the same thing. Like, we get so attached that we cancel all vacations. We cancel all trips. It's like, no, I got a showcase or I got a ID camper.

[Rebecca Lowe]

I've got a.

[Julie Foudy]

And I'm like, what are we doing? I was like, no, we are not subscribing to that.

[Rebecca Lowe]

Yeah, Jules, I heard somebody on a podcast the other day say they look back at their. And their kids are gone now they're at college, but they look back at their life and they realize how many things they missed because they were in a Best Western and flipping Fremont, California, Thanksgiving night.

[Julie Foudy]

Lancaster.

[Rebecca Lowe]

Yeah, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. And actually, we have so far, again, we're not. Absolutely not saying we're perfect, but luckily, as I say, married to somebody who is from your guys's world. So he's like you in this. We've pulled Teddy out of games because he also doesn't believe they should be playing as much as they're playing. So two games on a Saturday and one on a Sunday. What is going on? No, but they do that at Barcelona. No, they don't. Not the way Barcelona, but you know what I mean? So he's like, you're not playing both those games. Your little legs and you're growing and you're having growth and then your little legs, the little chicken legs running around. So you're not having that game. You're just going to play one game. And that's enough because guess what? Let's go swimming. Let's go and get ice cream. Let's go be bored. So I'm. Thank God I am at least kept in line by somebody who is just like you guys. And he's like, no, no, we are not letting football dictate the next 10 years of our life. We are going on vacations.

[Julie Foudy]

And it's hard. It is so hard to get to that point. And people will say, oh, well, that's because you guys did it at the level you did it and your kid's going to be fine. But no, you can take ownership of this. I'm telling you right now, party people, you can take ownership of. Of deciding this is important to my kid. Yes, Right. But also giving them some perspective.

[Rebecca Lowe]

It's.

[Julie Foudy]

They're not just soccer players or basketball players or volleyball players. Right. Like, there's so much more to life beyond just identifying as an athlete. And that's a healthy.

[Rebecca Lowe]

Make it more normal. Make it more normal to miss games and make it more normal to miss practices. We're not saying we're not committed. You've got to learn commitment. Yes, you can sign up for something, something, but it doesn't mean that you have to do every single second of every tournament in every far flung town and every single practice every week. Maybe you're tired, maybe you're done, maybe you're having a bad week. It's actually fine to do something.

[Abby Wambach]

Yes. Amen to this.

[Julie Foudy]

Yeah.

[Abby Wambach]

I have a. I have a don't. That I think is very important. And Jules, I don't know if you will agree to with this or not, but don't ever talk bad about a teammate or a coach.

[Julie Foudy]

Yes, I have had that conversation so.

[Abby Wambach]

Many times because it is going. It is going to come up in the conversations with your kids because inevitably there's going to be some sort of drama, right. With the coach or with the teammates or with so and so said something or other or did something or didn't pick me or whatever it might be. We want to protect our kids so much and that. That instinct is good. But what they are learning in terms of navigating the relationships with their teammates and their coach, by the way, is one of the most important elements of playing sports. That is one of the things that when they go off because every athlete retires at some point, and when they go off into their normal life and do. And do their life for forever, one of the most important things that sports gives us is the ability to learn how to navigate difficult conflicts or difficult relationships or just relationships in general. And what we do is when we step in and we call the coach and we call the coach and say, my kid isn't playing and he should or she should be playing, like you are now taking away that power from your kid and you're taking it yourself for whatever reason, for importance or for caretaking a way that you think that you're helping your kid, you are actually not helping your kid. You're making your kid more reliant on you over time. And what sports is such. Has such a beautiful job doing is that it makes your kids more independent and. And more able to actualize things that happen in their life for good or. Or bad. So don't talk about teammates or coaches ever. Just let them, let them vent.

[Julie Foudy]

Period. 100% slow clap for. At me for that. What? So good. So good. I love it.

[Rebecca Lowe]

I love it.

[Julie Foudy]

So good. I, I had, you know, one of my last ones was you don't feel the need to go to every single game. But we've already talked about that.

[Rebecca Lowe]

I just want to retouch on that. Can I just, just double check with you? This doesn't have to make me.

[Julie Foudy]

Yes.

[Rebecca Lowe]

Edit. But purely selfish question, right? Just from my perspective as a working mum that works weekends, I just want to double check. Like is that not a little bit? Like if I don't go to anything and, and except for one game every two months because that's all I can get to because of Premier League.

[Julie Foudy]

Like, yeah, that's hard.

[Rebecca Lowe]

Like I feel like in 2025, that's like I always might have a social services company round. Do you know what I mean? Like, I feel like that would be like, are you. What are you doing sitting at home just like having a cup of tea. Like what are you. Like, it's hard for me to get the guilt that if I don't go to. It's not like I'm working during the week. So I'm not going to this practice and I'm literally going to target like and then I go, I, I will do it. If you think I should really do like, like I really shouldn't go to anything. I, I just want you.

[Julie Foudy]

Your situation's different.

[Abby Wambach]

Different.

[Julie Foudy]

Rebecca. That if you're not able to go to any of the games. I think that yes, absolutely you can show practices.

[Abby Wambach]

Yeah, one, one practice.

[Julie Foudy]

I.

[Rebecca Lowe]

Can I raise you to two?

[Julie Foudy]

I'll give you a couple more. Cuz you never get to see him play and I get that.

[Rebecca Lowe]

So I'll try for a Tuesday only and we'll see how we get on. If I sneak a Thursday, I sneak a Thursday. But we'll try for a Tuesday only.

[Julie Foudy]

Okay.

[Rebecca Lowe]

God. Okay. Oh, I got a lot of free time.

[Julie Foudy]

Any other. Any other questions?

[Rebecca Lowe]

Yeah, I have a question. Gotta. We gotta talk about the paraphernalia. So if and when I do go to a game, right. I turned up the other day, I literally have one of those flipping. How heavy are those chairs? They need to be that heavy. The ones that open up when you've got a drink situation. Now I don't have the one with the roof, which people tell me I need a roof.

[Julie Foudy]

The roof.

[Rebecca Lowe]

Because I don't have a roof on the chair. Then I'm getting sunburned and there's not often a lot of shade in these places. So then I bought an umbrella. But of course Amazon have lost it somewhere in the distant part. I don't know where it is. So my umbrella's not arrived. I have a chair with no roof. So I gotta find shade. Or I could share the tent that I mean we're bringing tents. We are. You know what we're doing. And this is probably what you guys do. So I'm probably preaching to the converted. But we turned up at this tournament and it was like a military operation. Do you have. So they lined up there. We, our team lined up all of our tents behind the people who were already watching their kid. We're waiting. We're waiting. Final whistle. Okay, troops, let's go. We're now. And we're moving them forward, forward. And I'm like. And all I'm doing is just walking under like, oh. Elbows up guys. Good job, good job, good job. I'm not helping. I'm like, what? Which bit am I holding? I don't know. So I'm just walking through with my little thanks. Thanks so much. So I'm sitting anyway. So then we're bringing out a barbecue. We're now grilling burgers. The game is 45 minutes long. I don't need a burger. Why are we grilling a burger by the side of the field? So. And then there's all sorts of coolers with people like tons of drinks and snacks. Is that for me? My last a snack. I might have a drink. Cuz that's for the child. What's happening? So there's so much going on.

[Julie Foudy]

Like you're like looking in the cooler.

[Rebecca Lowe]

I'm 100. This looks nice. Is that for me? Is that for the parents? Is that for the children? And then you, of course the wagons. I think this is what Instagram, you know, the wagon situation. Wagon gate as I'm calling it. Everyone has a wagon and I'm like there with 10 things I'm carrying thinking, do I need a wagon? That is so un English.

[Julie Foudy]

A wagon.

[Rebecca Lowe]

Like we don't even have wagons. Like what? So I've got a wagon. I've got a wagon. My friends giving me. And not only have I got a wagon, it's flipping double layered by the way it's double flipping layered. I have got. I'm gonna be there in a couple of weeks. It's tiered, it's, it's. I'm gonna bring the cat. I'm curious.

[Abby Wambach]

Is it electric? The wagon?

[Rebecca Lowe]

I bloody hope so.

[Julie Foudy]

I mean it's like remote controlled.

[Abby Wambach]

They have them. I've seen them.

[Julie Foudy]

Shut up.

[Rebecca Lowe]

No, I've got a horrible feeling this one one is a pully one, you know, And I'm going to be pulling along. I gotta. I just feel like I got a long 10 years ahead of me and I'm a little bit envious of where you guys are, I gotta be honest. And if we could make this a regular check in on how I'm doing, I would really appreciate that.

[Julie Foudy]

Oh my God. This is. This is going to be a recurring episode for sure. Bex, you just got yourself into this. You are coming back to the party, Bex. You are going to be like, yes. No. Why did I say that? Julie picked up. I just want to review. I just want to review. I don't know if you can see it, but we'll put it up there. But we've got it. The do's, the don'ts.

[Abby Wambach]

You can see it, Jules.

[Julie Foudy]

Okay, good. And Beck, you're already light years ahead of everyone. So you're gonna be fine. You. You and Paul sound like Teddy sounds like he's very lucky.

[Rebecca Lowe]

So I hope so. I mean like Abby said right at the beginning, we're all just trying to do our best. But we just got to make sure that we listen to what the people who know what they're talking about. We've got to listen to the. Those people. Those you guys. That's what we got.

[Julie Foudy]

And I think keeping in mind 70%. Almost 70% of kids quit playing sports by 13 years old is the stat Aspen Institute project play. Look it up. 70% of almost 70% quit. And they say the number one reason it stops being fun. So if we can.

[Rebecca Lowe]

Sad. Yeah. Joy. Joy.

[Julie Foudy]

Yeah. Mark that. Mark that like that should be always your North Star. Let your kid lead it. Find out if they're loving it. There are so many things in life we can do that we love. Why stick with something you don't love?

[Abby Wambach]

Or so true.

[Julie Foudy]

Build another atmosphere. Find another team, go to another sport, right? Like if that club and you love soccer but that club's not working out for you, leave. There's other places you can go find something that fits you. So that. And hopefully we get to a place in this country where we have more Clubs, more coaches that understand the development piece of it, which is a whole nother episode, because that we do create a space where kids feel that it's joyful and fun, and they're loving it, because, as we know, like, sports are such a gift, so we want kids to continue to play.

[Rebecca Lowe]

I love it. Love it, guys. Thanks for having me.

[Abby Wambach]

Well, before you go, can we do a party pose? So at the end of every guest interview that we do, we're gonna do a little party pose, which is. It's gonna be like a freeze frame. It'll be really fun and cool, so you got to give us your best party pose.

[Rebecca Lowe]

Well, I have to just do what my kid does all the time, every sit. Well, hang on. What are yours? Are yours quite like.

[Julie Foudy]

Can I just. I just come up with it as, like, when we count it in, we're gonna count it in. Are you ready? 3, 2, 1. That was like the thinker.

[Abby Wambach]

Yeah, the thinking.

[Julie Foudy]

That was good.

[Abby Wambach]

That's good. Hello, everybody. Thank you so much for coming on.

[Julie Foudy]

You are always. Welcome to the party.

[Rebecca Lowe]

I love it. Good luck. Congrats on the pod. It's gonna be amazing.

[Julie Foudy]

Oh, I love to party with y'. All. It's so fun. How good is that?

[Abby Wambach]

So great. I love Rebecca so much. I'm so glad she. She came way longer than we. We asked her. So that I just wanted special thanks for.

[Julie Foudy]

Yeah, she's so dang funny, too, that woman. So good. All right, party people, don't forget to subscribe to welcome to the Party YouTube channel. And there's that little bell icon next to it that you can. If you click on it, it'll give you updates, it'll give you notifications so you know when we have new episodes coming live.

[Abby Wambach]

Yeah. And please, if you could take. Please, if you could just take one minute, it would mean so much to us, and I would appreciate it as we build out this community. Just rate, review, and subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast. And be sure to follow us on Tik Tok and Instagram at. Welcome to the party show where Julie, Billy, and I will be bringing the party straight to your feed. We absolutely want to hear from you as well, so on social or you can even email.

[Julie Foudy]

We got an email.

[Abby Wambach]

We got an email. Party people questions, gmail.com, just.

[Julie Foudy]

We're official.

[Abby Wambach]

We're official. We want to give the. The power to the Party People episodes each month. So send us those questions, and then we'll answer them live. We'll even say your name or your email address if you want us to include that.

[Julie Foudy]

Your phone number, your Social Security number, all of it.

[Abby Wambach]

Just let us know what you want us to to talk about, what you want us to discuss, questions that you might have for us. We'd love to help you build. You know, you are all helping us build this.

[Julie Foudy]

And so we love you so much. And really, like, whether it's your first party welcome or you've been to multiple parties, like, the whole idea behind this is that we build out this podcast where there is light. It's light and it's fun and it's celebration and inspiration and all those things we want in life and to realize how important it is that we have this community here. So party rule number one, which will always be party rule number one, though, is we have a shit ton of fun. Boom. Okay, until our next party. Let's do our cheer abs. Count us in.

[Abby Wambach]

Bring it in. Bring it in, party people. USA on three. One, two, three.

[Julie Foudy]

Usa.

[Rebecca Lowe]

Usa.

[Abby Wambach]

Usa. Welcome to the Party is an independent production brought to you by Treat Media. Treat Media makes art for humans who want to stay human. Foreverdog is our production partner and you can watch our full conversations on the welcome to the party YouTube channel and follow us at welcome to the Party show on Instagram and TikTok.