Introduction to Elise Woodward

Speaker 1 0:00

Hi , I'm Shelly Maurer and I'm Cher Emrick . Welcome to Life .

Speaker 2 0:04

Lessons from Pickleball where we engage with pickleball players from around the world about life on and off the court .

Speaker 1 0:12

Thanks for joining us . Welcome everyone to Life . Lessons from Pickleball . So wonderful to have you with us today , and you are in for a treat . Our guest today is Elise Woodward . Elise , you had such a dynamic career in sports , from being a standout athlete yourself to becoming a respected voice in broadcasting .

Speaker 3 0:36

Absolutely . From earning all state honors in soccer , basketball and fast pitch softball at North Eugene High School to leading the Huskies to the NCAA Sweet 16 as a team captain , your athletic journey is truly inspiring .

Speaker 1 0:53

And then you transferred into broadcasting covering everything from Husky football at the University of Washington to the women's pro basketball team , the Seattle Storm yay , as well as broadcasting for multiple sports for Fox , fs1 , and the Big Ten Network . I'm telling you that is an amazing resume .

Speaker 3 1:14

So let's start with your decision to attend the University of Washington and your experience as a student athlete .

Speaker 4 1:21

Well , thanks , ladies . First of all , I haven't broadcast pickleball yet , so what's wrong with that we ?

Speaker 1 1:25

gotta make that happen . We're gonna make it happen . Girl , why can't we get pickleball I need ?

Speaker 4 1:31

it . I need it , but uh , no , I appreciate it . I my older brother , played football at oregon and I grew up in eugene and um just was went and watched sports and loved sports . My dad was an accountant and he used to get up earlier than me before school and and he'd read the sports section and then he'd leave the sports section open for me at my breakfast spot . So I grew up reading the sports pages and I just loved it and I actually wanted to get into coaching when I went to UW .

Speaker 4 1:58

Yes , I left Eugene and the shadow of the University of Oregon to come to UW and play basketball there . I love my teammates . I actually just had a big reunion with them last weekend . It was phenomenal . We're the best of friends still decades later , which is really cool . But yeah , I couldn't major in coaching , so I majored in broadcasting and got hired at the time it was Fox Sports Northwest and actually interned with my basketball coach at the time , june Doherty , who rest in peace for her . She's . She's passed on , which is sad , but I would transport the tapes from Heck Edmondson pavilion over to Bellevue back in the day when there was no digital and I earned a reputation as a worker , and so they hired me to like log tape when I got done at UW . And here we are I won't say how many years later , because that makes me look really , really old .

Speaker 1 2:50

But you don't look really really old .

Speaker 4 2:52

So thank you , see , you don't have to butter me up , I'm already on the podcast .

Speaker 1 2:59

We only tell the truth here , so okay , good , okay , good . So when you were playing , did you think I want to be a broadcaster ?

Speaker 4 3:08

Yeah , you know , um , because I couldn't major in coaching , I wanted to do a profession where I was going to be as close to sports as possible . I'm I'm just sports junkie . I uh my husband bless his heart we have five TVs in one room and we'll have all three of the NBA games up watching them . We'll have the WNBA over here , we got the Mariner game over here and I've just always loved it . I love competition and I love , I just I love everything about it . It's the one area in this goes for my profession . Everything else where you can be old , young , black , white , different languages , and you go to a game and everybody's cheering and having fun , and it's a universal language where people can get along together , cheer for a common thing , and that's what I've loved about sports . So I knew when I was done playing basketball that I wanted to stay in the sports scene as much as possible , and so I was like , well , I can talk a little bit , so why don't we try broadcasting , broadcasting , and I'll just study that . And then I thought it was going to get in .

From Basketball Captain to Broadcaster

Speaker 4 4:08

I really did think I was going to be a coach , but , um , and I coached my whole life . I actually coached a like a fifth grade team when I was a senior in high school and um , reft and did coaching my whole , like to make money in between in the summertime . But I just got hired and that's where my path led me , Um , and I'm I'm thrilled with my career choice . I was . Whenever I mentor kids , uh , one of the things is work-life balance and I've had an amazing work-life balance .

Speaker 4 4:35

I have two boys that , um , you know we're in college now , but I got to coach them when they were younger and I got to watch their events and help them with their homework and do those things . And so I was home , Um , I'd traveled some , but for that that was really important for me . So I've I've loved my career . I say the one thing about broadcasting as opposed to coaching is that I haven't affected lives Like I think coaches do , and that's the only part about it where I'm like oh man , I just know I'm not going to get invited to a bunch of weddings that I'm not going to have , like people say . But I do think there's something powerful about having women in broadcasting and having powerful voices in sport , knowledgeable voices and doing things the good way . But it's not , as directive , an impact , but I still I love my career choice .

Speaker 1 5:24

Yeah , it's that you don't see the impact like you would if it were one-on-one with your players and all . But I bet if you put the word out that you would go to people's weddings , I think you'd get a lot of invitations .

Speaker 4 5:36

I mean , you guys know the eras of when you're living Right now . We have not . We've been to like two weddings in the last decade . It was , you know , for a while it was like wedding , wedding , wedding Like gosh how do we have to go to another wedding ? And now it's like high school graduations and college graduations and , like you know , that's where we're at in my life . But I want to get back to the weddings you know Exactly , and the reunions yeah yeah , exactly , that's the truth , right there .

Speaker 3 6:02

So what were some of the challenges and highlights of your early broadcasting career ?

Speaker 4 6:11

You know , I still remember the first game I ever called . I was just , uh , I wanted to be a reporter , I wanted to be on air . But right when I got grad , when I graduated from the university of Washington and I was hired just as a production assistant and they were training me how to be a reporter . But I was 23 years old at maybe 22 . I think I was 22 years old .

Speaker 4 6:27

It was my first year out of UW and the woman who normally did the color analyst for the University of Washington women's basketball games when they were on television had moved on to take the head coaching job at the University of Idaho and so they needed somebody to do it and they asked me and I don't know if it was maybe a little hesitant I was like you bet I'm going to do this , like yes , I was so pumped , like it's a very small amount of opportunities to do this for a living professionally , and it was exactly what I wanted to do . The challenge of it was and I was just laughing with my teammate this weekend about it my best friend on the team had torn her ACL early in her career , so she had to sit out a year . So I had graduated in four years and she was a fifth year senior on the team and she is hilarious , she makes me laugh . We used to practice broadcasting together , like on the bus or just being dorks , because we're both really silly . And so I , after the game , I was going to interview her and I went up to her and I was like don't you dare make me laugh , like don't you dare make me laugh , like be serious right now and no shenanigans . And so she was good , she was good , but here I am trying to be professional and end up interviewing my old teammate who's a senior . But it was great and , uh , that's what I still love to do the most is , um , live games .

Speaker 4 7:44

I've done a bit of everything . I was a sports talk radio host , um uh , in the area for over a decade and that was great because I would be with my kids all day long . My husband would be at work , we'd eat dinner together and then I'd say , all right , I got to go and he would take a two-year-old and a newborn and do the bedtime routine Monday through Friday , and I would go to work and come home , and so it worked well . I didn't have to travel and do all that , you know , and I've worked for the Sonics , I've covered the Mariners and covered the Seahawks and I've done about a little bit of everything . But yeah , but going back to the one of the first things I ever did is still what I enjoy the most and that's live games .

Speaker 1 8:21

I'm just going to be with you all day long . I'm wearing energy .

Speaker 3 8:27

Yeah , I appreciate that You've heard me say this to you before I've said it to you I've been lucky enough to play pickleball with Elise a few times and I've told her on the court that she's my husband's favorite all-time player . And so I told him you know we were talking to you today and I said what question would you ask Elise Dave ? What was it ? What was it ? I can't wait . So I have a question for you , because he says that you ask the most insightful questions .

Speaker 3 8:55

Oh , that's great , Because he loves Husky football , so he sees you when you're on the . Husky sidelines interviewing the players , and he said it's so hard to think of questions , ask questions that don't just receive a yes or no answer to really come up with questions that require you know to get an insightful response . And so he said , does she ?

Speaker 4 9:21

do those just come out spontaneously or does she prep for that ? How does she do that ? That's really funny . Well , I know early in my career , if you deal with somebody who doesn't really want to be interviewed , yes or no questions make you look silly the interviewer , because they can say yes or no and they want to get out of there . So you do have to think about something that and you can't make a statement generally . So you do have to ask a question and I'll kind of have things in my mind of how to lead an interviewee into a spot that they want to talk about .

Speaker 4 9:54

I think a real key thing for Husky football that's helped me throughout the years is that I have relationships with those guys . I go to practices , I talk to them , you know now I talk to them like I'm their mom , because they're the same age as my kids . But I just try to build a relationship with them and make them feel comfortable and that's for if I know them or if I don't know them in any sport that I do . I want to make them feel comfortable and I always feel like you know what's the old saying ? You can catch more bees with honey . Yeah , the way that you lead into a question and just the tone of your voice I think is very important . And I think some lead into a question and just the tone of your voice I think is very important . And I think some , like some reporters , come off as really like they . They put the interview on their heels . I want to never do that . I want them to feel comfortable and and I do know as a former athlete , I've had to interview people after they've dropped the game winning catch or through the game losing interception .

Speaker 4 10:50

I've been there as an athlete , I have I I had many game winning shots .

Speaker 4 10:54

I also had moments that stick out even more , that will eat at me for the rest of my life , of failing and failing in front of other people and failing on TV and having to get back up and do that . And I know what those athletes . I've felt those same feelings and so I tried to be very cognizant and aware when I talked to them of what they are feeling in that moment where it's their whole world that they've worked their entire life to achieve , and sometimes you come up short and it hurts like nothing you've ever had , especially when they're that young . Um , so you know , I try to always remember that when I'm young , um , so you know , I try to always remember that when I'm interviewing them , that , um , you know , it's nobody's trying to fail , nobody wants to to not make the catch , or it's . So it's really difficult on them , but they have to talk about it and , um , you know , if I'm interviewing you it's because you're a fantastic athlete to have gotten to where you are and that's what I try to remind them .

Speaker 1 11:52

Good point your empathy gives them a safe place . So , yeah , it's easier to talk about what we're not proud about when we know that somebody is empathizing with us . Right ? Do you have some stories or insights from your experience , in particular with the Seattle Storm or the Huskies when you were ?

Speaker 4 12:12

broadcasting . There's been so many great events that I've gotten to cover in my life that , as I would pay a lot of money as a fan to go watch and I mean especially Husky football for me , because I am a Husky and it's my chance I didn't play Husky football , obviously , so I am truly a fan . I got the job when I was pregnant with my oldest and I just knew you get an inclination . I was like they're not going to hire me if they know I'm pregnant because my baby's due in the middle of the season and I just knew it and so I didn't tell anybody . I was pregnant for quite a long time and it's a good thing . I could hide it . Well , right , I'm tall but some baggy clothing . But I got that job when I was a puppy , in my 20s and pregnant with my first kid , and I still have it and I still love it .

Speaker 4 13:01

And every game , right before they're coming out of the tunnel , I just kind of , you know , say a prayer of gratitude of man I get to do this . They're paying me to be on the sideline right now . Talk about football . See the guys . I mean I got to go all the way to the national championship and the sugar bowl and and you know I mean some of the , the Pac-12 championship and I just I love it . I I think it's , you know , the best time in the world . And you know , I and I just keep thinking like at some point they're going to realize that , like , this is my hobby , you know , but they don't .

Speaker 4 13:30

I've been working , I've been milking it for quite a while now , so , and then you know , calling the WNBA , as a former basketball player , there was no WNBA when I was in college and I think about how my life would have been different if I would have had a focused goal of improving every single day to get to that and I still wouldn't have been good enough . I know that , like I wasn't a superstar player , I was a great role player and I believe that those are very important to team successes and I'm very proud of what I was able to do and was a captain and those things . But , um , I always wondered if you did have that goal for all of the girls and women my age , of how that would have changed things , because I see the growth of the girls and women . My age of how that would have changed things , because I see the growth of the women's game in the WNBA , not just in terms of fans and support and people just watching it and being entertained by it .

Speaker 4 14:18

And there was such a stigma for years about , oh , women's basketball it's not good enough and it was good , but it just has continued to get better and better and better . And these women are absolutely fabulous . I was at Storm Practice yesterday and their number two draft pick just went up easy and dunked like it was nothing and

Challenges of Early Broadcasting Career

Speaker 4 14:38

I mean it's just incredible what these women can do and so , yeah , there's all different kinds of things that I I'm just truly a fan in what I do and I love just being seeing people and doing what they do and what they love in sport .

Speaker 1 14:53

It's so cool that you've been a part of this for so long that you've really seen the trajectory and all the different in how sports has changed , even bringing money into the universities now for the athletes , and then seeing the WNBA . I'm thrilled that the WNBA is so popular . It's my favorite . I just think they're amazing .

Speaker 4 15:15

Yeah , I do have , and I've had some PTSD with it , because I was a part of the organization with the Seattle Reign years ago in the ABL and I was selling tickets my first year out of college and there was an ABL and the WNBA and so Seattle didn't have the WNBA . We , I was selling tickets my first year out of college and and there was an ABL and the WNBA and so the Seattle didn't have the WNBA . We had the ABL and I will . I was there the day that it folded and I remember seeing the tears of , uh , Shalonda Ennis , who was a fantastic player , who was a single mom , or maybe she was married , but she had a little , she had a little baby and I remember that she , she was crying because she just lost her job and lost the league . And so to see now , like from the first few years with the Seattle storm , it was like just hang on , just keep having people get through those turnstiles , buy tickets , support the game , Like this is , you can see what it could be , but it wasn't there yet and yeah , I was .

Speaker 4 16:06

I've been with the organization since year one and saw when Lauren Jackson was drafted and saw who's my all time favorite player and saw when Sue Bird was drafted and interviewed her . You know the first . I've been here probably longer than anybody in the organization , so it's , but it's been great and to see where it is right now is phenomenal . It's . It's so cool to see it is .

Speaker 4 16:39

It's really cool to see . What other sports do you cover ? You know I cover just about everything . I started my career as a color analyst , so that's . You know the play by play tells you what is happening , the color and it tells you why that's so . That's the difference . So your analyst is supposed to be your expert . So I was really easily like basketball expert right when I started . But I also knew and I'm so glad that , um , it's been probably 15 years ago I realized when somebody like Sue Bird retired , I wasn't a big name as a player and that's a lot of times what gets you hired . Tom Brady got hired in the NFL for one reason only because he was a great Super Bowl winning quarterback , right .

Speaker 4 17:20

So I was thinking and I'm a broadcaster , I do all these other things I said I need to switch over to do play-by-play . So I did that about 15 years ago and so now I've covered men's and women's soccer . I cover volleyball . In the fall . I've done play-by-play for football , radio and TV . Men's and women's basketball , softball . I cover baseball . I did my first Olympic games . I did the Paralympics , which was awesome , from Paris , which was very cool . That was a really big moment for me . I've done lacrosse , I did the gymnastics . This year for the first time I've got track and field coming up in the big 10 championships coming up in a couple of weeks . So uh , and I love those challenges of learning something and learning the new sports .

Speaker 2 18:02

So just about anything .

Speaker 4 18:03

I'm not the only one that I think I won't do and I love it , but I just I'm like there's too much , as hockey , hockey is so difficult , like it is so difficult , and John Forslund , for the Kraken , is absolutely phenomenal . He's so good . We are lucky to have that in the Seattle market . Um , but just with the names and the pace and the quickness and following the puck and I'm like no , it's the only one I think I'm scared to tackle . Other than that , I think I'll give it a whirl if somebody asks me to , and we want Pickleball to be added to that list .

Speaker 1 18:33

But how did you actually get introduced to Pickleball and when you know ?

Speaker 4 18:37

it's funny , my husband is super into it and he he played baseball at UW and so he's he's super competitive and , um , you know , like I said , we watch sports together and our kids you know , we've followed them . You know practices and games and he coached my kids for in baseball all the way up until , I mean , two years ago , I think we'll last year . My youngest is in college now , so he was busy , busy coaching , but he needed to get something in his life that was competitive and fun and a good workout , but just something that wasn't about baseball , because he was he's just laser focused . So he got into it , probably four or five years ago now , and I was like I don't have time . I didn't have time and so I picked it up last summer . My youngest graduated high school and I was like , okay , I'll give it a whirl and I just I love it . It's everything that I love , it's competitive .

Speaker 4 19:34

But I'm not going to lie . I put my Apple Watch on and I was like we'll see how much this pickleball burns calories , cause I , I like to work out . I was like what ? 800 calories ? Like I didn't even feel like I was working hard , like this is like secret sauce . So I mean , my husband lost like 30 pounds playing pickleball and it's not like he was . He just he's in great shape and it's helped him . But um , yeah , I mean I miss like sweating and , like you know , I was big into hiking and walking and I did many half marathons and a marathon and did all that . But you know , over the last few years it mainly just been walking Cause I don't have any cartilage left in my right knee and pickleball doesn't aggravate it at all . So

The Art of Insightful Interviewing

Speaker 4 20:46

no-transcript , it kind of takes you back of just being a kid and having fun playing a game .

Speaker 1 20:55

Absolutely , and Shelly can attest to what a good player you are , and you just started last year . For heaven's sakes , come on .

Speaker 4 21:02

No , I got a lot of work to do , but you know but I love that .

Speaker 4 21:05

I actually really love that because there's always something more that you can improve upon and it's like I feel like I've gotten better . But the cool thing about pickleball is that I can play against players in their seventies that kick my butt , yeah , and then , like young kids , are like super athletic . But you know , you can if , if , if you've got the soft game that you can play with them and make it competitive . So , like basketball , you're not going to compete against 20 year olds , You're just not . But in pickleball you you can stay in a game and have fun of all different age groups and I love that . So true .

Speaker 1 21:38

So how does one become a pickleball broadcaster ? You know it's a good question . I was hoping you were going to tell me that . Can we hook you up with ?

Speaker 4 21:49

somebody . Yeah , no , I actually did tell my agent . I was like , man , let's go , Like it would be so fun to be able to broadcast pickleball , but they have their whole pickleball channel and all of that , yeah . But yeah , I don't know . I mean to be fair , to be honest , I'm super busy , so it's not like I've really set out to like I'm going to do pickleball , this thing . But if they needed me to call a tournament , I would be like , all right , let's go .

Speaker 1 22:17

But yeah , it would be a blast . Well , we'll plant that seed and hope it all opens up so that you can do that . Would love to hear your voice . I would love it .

Speaker 1 22:24

Broadcasting for the pickleball . I would love it , it would be so fun . So , in all your experiences as an athlete , in all the various sports and broadcasting for all the various sports and then pickleball , what life lessons would you say ? Either you've learned in life that you use on the court or that you learned while you were on the court that you incorporated into your life ?

Speaker 4 22:49

Gosh , there's so many and that's why you know I'm such a proponent of women in sports and little girls given opportunities to play in sports , because I know older generations . They didn't have that opportunity and even there was a gal that I played with the other day who's a good , good pickleball player , and we were talking about , well , what sports did you play when you're growing up and what ? And because so many of them translate into pickleball , like the short hops and

Evolution of Women's Sports

Speaker 4 23:12

softball , when you're like a second baseman or shortstop . It's the soft game of like digging out stuff and , um , I played the other day I was over at UW and there was some beach volleyball players that were there and and I'm like , wow , these skills translate like you know , digging down a volleyball and keeping your platform really soft is just like digging , so it doesn't like fly off your paddle or you know , slamming it as a volleyball player is just like a . You know a spike , a hit , um . So , anyway , all of these other things um translate , which is great , um , for me I think there's a .

Speaker 4 23:45

There's a couple of things that have been really great about playing pickleball the . You know this is a funny analogy , but , uh , I don't gamble a lot , but when I go down to Vegas , the only game that I really care about is craps . And I'd love to play craps because it's a team , somebody's rolling and everybody's cheering for him , like , let's go , you got it , keep it going . And you don't get that , really , after you're done playing sport . And so for pickleball , it's awesome . You get to have a teammate and you're cheering them on and I like to . You know if somebody else is having a great shot that just hit it on me , I'm going to be like that was awesome , um , and so that camaraderie is awesome .

Speaker 4 24:20

And I also think that you know just being competitive . I mean it's you want to win , that's why you're there and I hate losing . But you also have to be mature enough at this point in my life that you have to . You know it . You just gotta , you gotta be cool , you know . And so all those things in in competing and um , you know leaving the court and shaking hands and saying you know good game at the end of you know and hitting paddles , like it's all fun . I mean it's all you know , competing , having fun , making friends , and you know , just staying healthy . Really I read a thing that pickleball and racquet sports keep you healthier than any other thing , because you've got to think , you've got to keep balance all the different components , and so I'm like , well , all right , it's great , it's my good excuse to get out there every day .

Speaker 4 25:12

That's it , that's it . Tell our loved ones , sorry , I'm just keeping it , it's , it's , it's , uh , it's not it's a pickleball a day to keep the doctor away .

Speaker 1 25:16

Right Did you ?

Speaker 4 25:17

just come up with that . I did , I did . It's not good enough , but you know that goes on a t-shirt ?

Speaker 1 25:24

Yeah .

Speaker 4 25:25

Right A couple hours of pickleball a day keeps the doctor away . That's true , though that's good .

Speaker 3 25:30

It is true .

Speaker 4 25:31

Yeah , you know and I will say with that , like the other thing about pickleball that I love is like it and I don't know about you guys , but so many things in my life it evolves around drinking . Like you go to a game and people are having beer and I and I love a cool beer , don't get me wrong . But like so many , like so many things we do , it requires , like people feel like pressure to drink or to whatever , and pickleball it's like no , you're just out there having fun and it's healthy and it's great for you and you can go and have a beer afterwards if you choose to . But it's not the whole point of getting together or there's not like dinner and drinks or happy hour or you know whatever . So this is part of it I really enjoy as well is that it's just it's healthy .

Speaker 1 26:16

It really is where the opposing team would celebrate a good hit . Or the way in pickleball , like you said , where we have an opponent . The opponent hits an awesome shot , passes right by me and I say , oh , that was terrific Right . Did that happen in other sports as well ?

Speaker 4 26:37

I don't think as much and I don't know if it's just because I didn't play tennis and I didn't play ping pong . I'm just trying to think of maybe in practice . But once you stepped over the lines into competing , you very rarely would say you didn't want to like give away any , you know , because you don't want somebody to do it again . She might have to say nice shot on the court .

Speaker 4 26:59

No so I mean , no , I don't I . And then there were . I remember that when I was playing I tell this story there was a girl that played in the WNBA for years . Her name was Vicki Johnson and UW was playing down at Louisiana tech and she was phenomenal and I I guarded her as good as I could have . I was so proud , like I cut off the baseline and I was there . I almost surprised myself .

Speaker 4 27:18

I was like I don't know how I did that and and I stopped and she went to shoot it and both my hands were up and I was in perfect position and she jumped so high over the top of me I was looking at her belly button , you know like , and she got the shot off and she scored it and I was like all right , well done . I mean , uh , nothing else I could have done on that one , but , um , no , and that was I rarely have you do that in other sports . Really , it's not , it's not like that . But you know , and sometimes in pickleball people don't there's some people that don't do that either , but I choose to do that . Um , you know , and I and I haven't played in a real tournament yet , so maybe it's different , like in a real tournament . I just I just play with friends or with open play and yeah , but in my first tournament , you know , the competitive juices may get flown a little bit , so I might not say good job , we'll see .

Speaker 1 28:08

TBD Shelly , do you and Shannon do that when you're in tournaments ?

Speaker 3 28:15

No , no , our first tournament we did and people we realized that's not the culture in tournaments you know , that's kind of what I would be doing that and they'd be like looking at us , like what are you , you know , and so yeah maybe then I can see that . Yeah .

Speaker 4 28:31

Oh , that's fun Once there's that metal on the line , things get serious . Yeah , that's right .

Speaker 3 28:35

That metal on the line , things get serious . Yeah , that's right .

Speaker 1 28:39

Oh , what fun . So , Elise , how can people follow you ? You ?

Speaker 4 28:43

know most of my work stuff I do on Twitter Elise M Woodward at Twitter . I just started doing more stuff on Instagram , although by more it's less is more . I do social media but it's a hard one for me because I'm more into the authenticity and and and real things . But I understand it in my job that I want to promote the , the people that I cover and the athletes that I cover . So Twitter's usually where I do that , but also Instagram . I think it's Elise Woodward sports on Instagram , but yeah , so it's a good to connect . I love talking to the fans and , shelly , we'll have to get together with your husband and we can talk Husky football there .

Speaker 3 29:23

you go Love it . Do you love it ? He's a hardcore fan . Yeah , I love it . I love those fans , though Like that's what that's .

Speaker 4 29:31

That's why I have a job . Is because of the hardcore fans . Is why the athletes are able to , you know , have the abilities that they do to play at a high level . Is because the fans .

Speaker 3 29:41

So you didn't miss a practice , an open practice . I love that . I love that .

Speaker 4 29:47

So great , so great . Yeah , well , hopefully they'll have a good year this year . It makes it . I've been there for the O and 12 and I've been there for the uh what ? 14 and one , whatever the national .

Speaker 3 29:59

I've been , I've been there for the 0 and 12

Discovering Pickleball's Unique Appeal

Speaker 3 30:01

and I've been there for the what ?

Speaker 4 30:02

14 and 1, . Whatever the hash is , I've been at all of them .

Speaker 3 30:04

So yeah , him and I probably can swap some stories .

Speaker 1 30:05

Oh yeah , you could . Highs and lows and everything in between , yep , exactly , exactly , insights , inspiration for maybe particularly women and girls who are wanting to move into sports or into broadcasting or anything else to raise .

Speaker 4 30:28

Yeah , you know , I just think I , I know this for a fact that , um , that sports , any sport , um , pickleball one of them . But learning how to be a good teammate , uh , learning how to compete and learning when you fail to get back up , are vital things to be successful , not just in the business world , but as a mom . I mean there's many times just , you know , as a wife , whatever . None of us are perfect , um , although my husband says that I claim to be , um , but like , sports just has so many lessons for you and , and I mean that's why I think it's so important , and I do think that's why we've made so many strides with women in the business world , and the vast majority of women's CEOs and those women in position of power played sports . Because you learn how to compete and you learn so many things that you know in past generations it was the boys go out to play and to solve problems and to compete and and and it's okay to compete , it's okay to want to get out there and win and don't be pushed back and just take the scraps , and so I think for women and for girls that find something it is that you're passionate about , that you can go compete in as a team . And I also think it's one thing , I never played an individual sport .

Speaker 4 31:44

When I was a kid I did track for a minute , but it was just to get in shape for other sports and , to be honest , I did not like track and cross country . Probably , you know just to , it just wasn't my thing . But I think as an individual

Sports Lessons That Translate to Life

Speaker 4 31:57

you learn . It's just you , nobody can pick you up and nobody can be the blame . It's all on your shoulders in an individual sport . So that also , I think , is very crucial .

Speaker 4 32:09

Um , in golf or tennis or um , you know fencing or whatever . It's an individual sport . It's a totally different mindset and those lessons also help you to later in life of what you can learn from sport and how you can apply it to everything in your life . Um , so you know , I would just say , for you know young girls and you know women , and that's why I love pickleballs , because women are coming out and learning how to play . I just started playing last year and it's been great and I love it . So you know , those are my things . Just get out and play , just in . You know you're going to meet new friends and and have fun . And , like I said , look at your Apple watch and you're like wait , did that just happen ? I just have a thousand calorie workout . I'm having fun Like what .

Speaker 2 32:53

It's a lot more fun than running a half marathon .

Speaker 4 32:56

I can tell you that because I've done them .

Speaker 3 32:59

Yeah for sure , yeah for sure .

Speaker 1 33:04

Oh , thank you for that . I really appreciate you sharing that . I think that's very inspiring and I think you're going to touch a lot of hearts and I love that you're doing what you're doing in your life and I can't wait till you're also doing it for pickleball Cause I'd love to hear your voice . But thank you very much . We know how fricking busy you are and you found time to talk with us today and we are really grateful .

Speaker 4 33:27

Oh no , it's , it's great . I appreciate you guys inviting me and , uh , you know , if it gets one little girl or one gal out there in her sixties to get out there and try it , let's do it Like it's great . We all love doing it and so hopefully , yeah , hopefully , somebody's inspired , right ? That's the whole point .

Speaker 1 33:44

No doubt about it .

Speaker 4 33:46

Thank you , thank you .

Speaker 1 33:47

Thank you , no problem .

Speaker 4 33:48

Now , Shelly , this means you can't be hammering it back at me anymore . You owe me a favor , you just keep those hammers sailing out of bounds and not on my feet All right , wait till .

Speaker 1 34:02

Monday . Oh well , thank you so much , no problem ladies . And thank you everybody . Thank you for tuning in . Oh yeah , get out there . Sports is the answer to so many things Learning about life and pickleball , we think , is the best . So thank you all for joining us and we look forward to a new conversation next week . Bye-bye .

Speaker 2 34:25

Bye . If you love our podcast , we'd be so grateful if you'd take a few seconds to follow or subscribe to Life Lessons from Pickleball . This ensures you'll never miss an episode and helps us continue these wonderful conversations .

Speaker 1 34:40

On Apple Podcasts , spotify or wherever you listen , go to the show page and tap the follow button in the top right corner , and on YouTube , click the subscribe button under any of the episodes .

Speaker 2 34:53

Thanks , so much Hope to see you on the court .