Women Talk Sports Podcasts

Cat Whitehill, 29, is a defender for the Atlanta Beat that is also working her way into the sports broadcasting world. She is a veteran of the US National Team, playing in the 2003 and 2007 World Cups and on the 2004 Olympic gold medal-winning team. She will be on ESPN's broadcast team for this summer's World Cup, alongside other national team veterans Brandi Chastain, Julie Foudy and Briana Scurry, as well as former national team head coach Tony DiCicco.

This morning, Whitehill surprised high school midfielder Morgan Brown at an assembly honoring their team for winning the Georgia state championship and presented her with the Gatorade National Player of the Year Award. This award is awarded not only to an outstanding player but also a student who excels academically and as a community leader. Certainly Morgan Brown fits the bill: she co-founded the Many Hearts One Goal Foundation, which benefited the Under-17 Haitian Women's Team, which was displaced by the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

In this podcast, Whitehill talks about surprising Brown with the announcement, why it is important for athletes to be well-rounded people and leaders, her future career aspirations and more. Check it out!

Sanya Richards-Ross is one of the most dominant track athletes of all time. She has run more sub-50 second 400m races than any other female (39 and counting) and holds the American Record in the event (48.70), which she set in 2006. The elusive individual World Championship gold medal was finally hers in 2009 after battling Behcet's disease as well as her former agent in the years prior. In this interview, Richards-Ross talks about the struggles she faced and how she overcame them and offers insight for other athletes facing similar issues. She also talks about overcoming her first real bout with injuries last year and setting big goals for 2011; specifically, she has her eye on the 200m/400m double at the World Championships in Daegu. So does fellow American Allyson Felix, also a contender for most dominant track athlete. The best part? We all get to see them compete head-to-head, and I don't just mean at the World Championships. The two women will face off in both events at the Rome Diamond League meet on May 26. As Richards-Ross says, "That's something the sport is missing sometimes, that head-to-head competition." Richards-Ross and Felix have always been respectful but fierce competitors who aren't afraid to race each other...lucky for us! Be sure to check out Richards-Ross's revamped website, incorporating the new addition to her last name: http://www.sanyarichardsross.com/. She and NY Giants cornerback Aaron Ross were wed February 26, 2010, on Sanya's 25th birthday.

Cheri Kempf was named the commissioner of the National Pro Fastpitch League (NPF) in 2007 after a successful career as a softball player, coach and analyst. Today, Kempf and I discussed the decision the current players were forced to make this year between playing for USA Softball and playing for the NPF. They were forced to make the choice after USA Softball told them they would not be allowed to play for Team USA if they continued to play for NPF. After consulting with each other and Billie Jean King herself, the players from the 2008 Olympic Silver Medalist Team unanimously decided to stick with the pro league and focus on helping it grow so that the next generation, as player and leader Jessica Mendoza puts it, "can say, 'I wanna play softball when I grow up,' and be able to do that!" Listen in for more background on this situation as well as how the league plans to market itself and grow, and when and where you can watch their 2011 Draft.

The FIS Nordic Ski World Championships start Wednesday in Oslo. For only the second time, women’s ski jumping will be included in the program - as an individual event only. This is currently the largest stage for female ski jumpers to compete on, as they have yet to be added to the Olympic program, despite their ever-increasing participation numbers across the world and the increase in skill level. The IOC executive committee said in October that they are “looking favorably” on adding women’s ski jumping to the 2014 Olympics in Sochi and that the outcome of the World Championships will play a big part in the final decision, which will be made by President Jacques Rogge in April.

The US has sent 5 athletes to the World Championships, including the 2009 world champion Lindsey Van and 7-time national champ Jessica Jerome, who I spoke with today about the atmosphere in Oslo, dreaming about being an Olympic ski jumper at a young age, the type of training involved, how competition has gotten better in the past decade and more.

The women's ski jumpers compete on Friday at 3pm Olso time (9am ET). You can catch it live at fromsport.com.

Sara Vaughn (Ensrud) had plenty of reasons to quit.

A standout runner for the University of Colorado, she first discovered she was pregnant in 2006 at the end of her sophomore season. As news spread that she was expecting, pressure built to have an abortion – a common expectation for female student-athletes. Without a school or NCAA policy in place at the time to guide her, Sara risked losing her scholarship because of her decision to parent the child with her boyfriend turned husband, Brent. Throughout her pregnancy, Sara stayed the course. On September 23, 2006, she gave birth to a baby girl, Ciara Grace.

Sara embraced her role as a parent while staying focused on her course work. Just one year after the arrival of Ciara, Sara’s hard work earned her Academic All-American status. One of the first from her family to graduate college, she completed her degree with a 3.9 GPA.

On the track, Sara poured her heart out while transforming her body and mind back into Division I shape. Months after giving birth, she lowered her fastest 1500 meter time by 15 seconds and broke the school record in the mile. Sara finished her collegiate career as a Cross Country All-American while earning All-Big 12 and All-Region honors on the track.

Listen in as my co-host, Ann Gaffigan, and I talk to Sara about what it was like to stand tall in her running shoes as a pregnant student-athlete. Not only does Sara shed light on overcoming negative feedback during her NCAA days, she also opens up about being pregnant while trying to balance her career as a professional runner. Her second child, Calia Evelyn, was born on June 26, 2011.

Get inspired by following Sara on twitter @MomVaughn and through her blog at RunnerTimes.com.

“My family is my base, my launching pad. The bigger, more robust, more love-filled my launching pad, the higher I can fly.” - Sara Vaughn

Today, Aisling Cuffe got the surprise of her lifetime. Olympic and World Championships gold medalist Allyson Felix surprised Cuffe at her home in New York, along with 20 to 30 of Cuffe's friends and family members after she returned from her run. The occasion? Cuffe has been named the 2010-2011 Gatorade National Girls Cross-Country Runner of the Year.

I talked with Felix about pulling off the surprise as well as how participating in sports impacted her as a young girl, who her role models were, and how she makes an effort to connect with youth now that she is the role model.

Happy Girls and Women in Sports Day 2011!

This is an interview with world-renowned swimmer and gold medalist Natalie Coughlin - the most decorated female athlete of both the 2008 Beijing and 2004 Athens Games. Looking to add to her medal collection at the 2012 London Games, Natalie has begun her rigorous training schedule and shares advice on healthy eating, including tips incorporating her fave dried fruit, California Plums, for which she is a national spokesperson.

Read more about Natalie, including a recipe for one of her favorite meals at http://www.prettytough.com

Magdalena Lewy-Boulet placed 2nd at the 2008 Olympic Trials Marathon and competed for the United States at the 2008 Beijing Games. The 37-year-old mother of one (son, Owen, age 5) helped found the Bay Area Track Club and now has gotten involved with the Women's Sports Foundation. Just weeks after placing 7th (2nd American) at the Chicago Marathon, she ran the New York Marathon last weekend in order to raise money for initiatives such as GoGirlGo! that the Women's Sports Foundation supports. Listen to "Magda" talk about why she thinks it's important to give back to the community and her plans to run until she dies!

Ann Gaffigan from WomenTalkSports.com interviews Jon Little, Attorney at Law, who represents multiple female athletes who have been victims of sexual molestation by their swimming coaches. Little explains how USA Swimming is trying to pass off the blame and deter victims from coming forward with their claims. A difficult but must-listen for parents of young athletes!

Rebecca Donaghue should put on a clinic about mental toughness. An unsung hero of sorts, she has quietly made her way up the ranks of U.S. distance runners. She ran and raced in pain and often limped from high school until 2005 - 10 years - until she finally found a trainer who helped her correct her biomechanics that were causing her problems. When she ran pain-free for 60 seconds on the treadmill for the first time, she almost broke down in tears. Since then, Donaghue has gotten better and better, qualifying for the US Olympic Trials in 2008, placing 2nd in the US 5K Road Championships in 2009, and crossing the finish line as the 1st American at the prestigious Freihofer's Run earlier this month.

Donaghue says she is, "sometimes overlooked a bit, which is a huge motivator." She may seem quiet and unassuming off the track but on the track, she is fierce and strongly believes in her own ability and toughness.

Get some coffee and a snack and listen to this almost 50 minute interview with Rebecca Donaghue. You'll learn a thing or two about mental toughness and be inspired in the process.

Good luck to Rebecca next week at the USA Track & Field Championships!

Okiima Pickett is an Ethical Hacker by day, Running Back by night and Mommy 24/7! What does it mean to "have it all"? Check out my interview with her to find out. This woman plays professional football, well enough to make other teams boycott her (seriously), majored in Computer Science and works as a security specialist, and is getting her Masters! Oh yeah and she is raising her 11-year-old son at the same time. Beat that.

Pickett and the rest of Team USA will be traveling to Stockholm Sweden next week, each woman traveling on her own dime, to compete in the first-ever Women's World Football Championships. Team USA is the #1 seed and is being called the Dream Team. They need YOUR support to bring home the gold!

Check out Okiima on twitter at http://twitter.com/kiima7

And her website at okiimapickett.blogspot.com, where you can donate to her travel fund for the World Championships.

As a two-time Gatorade State Girls Soccer Player of the Year, WPS Washington Freedom Defender and member of the US National team, Cat Reddick Whitehill got the opportunity to surprise this year's Gatorade National Player of the Year. The winner was Mollie Pathman, a high school senior soccer player from North Carolina. The 5-foot-3 senior forward and midfielder led the Cavaliers (12-4-1) to the North Carolina Independent Schools Class 3A state quarterfinals this season, recording 29 goals and 10 assists despite missing four games due to U.S. Soccer Federation Women’s National Team commitments and injury. A two-time Gatorade North Carolina Girls Soccer Player of the Year, Mollie is a member of the U.S. Soccer Federation Under-18 Women’s National Team, with whom she competed for at the Ten Nations Tournament in Spain this past winter.

I talked with Cat today, after she surprised Mollie, about the surprise itself, women's soccer and what it's like to win such a huge award from Gatorade, one of the biggest names in the sports world.

I interviewed Andrea Parker today, one of the elite entrants in the field for the New Balance Women's Steeplechase at the New Balance Boston Twilight meet on June 5th at Bentley University.

Andrea decided after getting her Masters in Secondary Education (with a focus on English and History) at the University of Michigan that she would put a "regular" career on hold and pursue her track and field dreams. After training under her former college coach, Mark McGuire, at the University of Michigan, Parker made a big change this year and moved down to Arizona to train under Wynn Gmitroski with his other steeplechase study and former American Record holder, Lisa Galaviz.

Andrea had some great things to say about the female athletes she admires, including fellow Michigan alums Katie McGregor, Anna (Willard) Pierce and Lindsay Gallo as well as her new training partner Lisa Galaviz.

When talking about her own goals, specifically for the steeple on June 5th, she said, "If I see someone in front of me...well, they shouldn't be there."

Life is good as Jayne Appel lately. Sure her senior season ended with her pushing through the pain of an injured ankle, and her team losing in the National Championship game... but, she was the fifth overall pick in the WNBA Draft, her ankle is continually getting better, her first WNBA season started today and her birthday was Friday! I had the chance to talk with Jayne about the end of her college career and her transition into her professional career in the WNBA with the San Antonio Silver Stars. Plus, a little about her life in a sorority and her hot pink fingernails!
As an All-American, a member of Team USA basketball, and both Stanford and the Pac-10's all-time leading rebounder, Jayne certainly has a promising future in the WNBA. After listening to the interview below, check out her Facebook page and follow her on Twitter, @jayneappel!

Helen Darling not only plays in the WNBA, authored seven childrens books and serves her community, but she is also the mother of triplets! I talked with her about how she balances it all and how being a mother has changed her life. Check out my interview with the San Antonio Silver Star and mother of three! She truly is an inspiration to mothers everywhere.

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