Alyse LaHue is the general manager of Sky Blue FC of the NWSL. Below, she spoke with Just Women’s Sports about how she’s managing her front office in the midst of a pandemic, the potential for the NWSL to return this summer, and the impact of coronavirus on the world of women’s sports.

How did your front office react to the initial outbreak of the virus? 

From day one, we knew we were going to need to figure out how to make a community with our fans and engage them digitally. As the pandemic hit, we all learned how to use Zoom really quickly and how to interact as a staff. And I just told everyone, “From this day forward, you all have new jobs. Your job is now digital. So you have to see with new eyes, you’ve got to think with a new brain. If you were in sales before, we’re really not selling anything right now. Sponsorships are on hold. Now is about interacting with the community, trying to put a smile on people’s faces.”

How has your team adjusted to working in a virtual office?

We knew we had to figure out how to innovate in the digital space, and everybody was on board, which is all I can ask for my staff. This doesn’t work if I don’t have them. We use the term “nimble” a lot. We try to remain nimble at all times, in terms of pivoting and shifting quickly. And the staff is always willing to shift quickly with me when I ask, and I think their willingness to do so is the reason we’ve been successful.

I think one bright spot of this whole thing is when you get your back up against a wall, you have to innovate and you have to think in a different way, and that’s what I’ve challenged our staff to do during this time. What’s the thing that’s never been done before? What are the things other sports teams aren’t thinking of, and why not us? I don’t care about the history, I only care about where we’re at now and where we’re going, so why not us? Let us figure out the new way of doing things.

You mentioned community. Why is that a focus, and how are you building community in the midst of a lockdown? 

Going into this season, we knew we wanted to develop a sense of community around the team. That was one of our big key words, and we decided we weren’t going to let the pandemic change that. Right now, keeping that sense of community means finding as many ways as we can to interact online, whether with our season ticket members or with the greater women’s soccer community.

And we’ve taken an approach with our players that’s really person first, player second. Obviously we’re trying to do the best we can with training and online yoga sessions and watching film and all of that, but we’re also just having casual coffee chats, and we’ve had a weekly webinar with different folks who are experts in various topics. We’ve had a nutritionist, and last night we had a sports psychologist. Next week we have somebody from the Yale School of Management talking about entrepreneurship. So we’re trying to activate their brains as well during this time, and again, take a people-first approach to this, which I think is important. Because mental health is obviously something that must be weighing on everybody. I know it’s weighing on me.

I’ve seen the way it weighs on the players, and so I think the most important thing that we can do as a club at this time is to be a support system for them. It’s less about worrying about their fitness levels and more just caring for each other. Just having that empathy to know that this is a really difficult time.

I think that’s really important and I’m happy you’re making that commitment. What is your sense of the state of the league at the moment? 

I remain optimistic, which is hard to do sometimes during this — I’m not going to lie about that. Because we don’t know for certain what will become of the league. But as a league, I think we’ve gotten really creative in thinking through what the contingency plans could look like for the season. Obviously we want the players to stay fit, because a time could come when we can get back out to training and then hopefully get back to playing games again. But that’s a big unknown right now.

And I think that goes for all of society, there’s so many unknowns right now. So again, I remain optimistic about what our season could look like, but we don’t know the timing of when it’s going to happen. Our players will do the best they can to stay fit and we’ll provide them as many tools as we can. But at the end of the day, we’ve got to make sure everybody mentally is holding on during this time and that has to stay at the forefront of our minds.

It was reported today [April 30th] that the NWSL is looking to bring players in starting on May 16th. What can you say about this development? 

Yeah, I mean that’s been a roving target. It’s moved three or four times in terms of return to full training. We’re under indefinite shelter-at-home orders in New Jersey, so I don’t presume by May 16th that we’re just going to be able to return to outdoor activities in a large scale way.

Our league has relied on a medical task force to provide them the best advice during all this. These are experts from the medical community, so we’ve really relied on them to provide us insight into the best way to return to training. And there’s a lot of talk about phased-in training which you’ve seen in some places in Europe, where it’s not going to be the full team just hopping back on the field again, but maybe starting with small groups, individual groups spaced out within the field.

So there’s a lot of unique and innovative things on the table to try to get the players back out there. Again, I think it’s more for their own mental health to be back out there playing, but it’s got to be done in a safe way. And I appreciate that our league has not tried to rush this in any way because there’s so many factors at play here that you have to navigate.

Obviously the pandemic is bad for everyone and for all sports, but there’s also been a lot of talk around how it is particularly bad for women’s sports. What are your thoughts on the topic?  

I put out a weekly women’s sports business newsletter every Wednesday, and yesterday I was overwhelmed by the amount of content that was in there. I had people texting me like, “Holy cow! The newsletter is long this week.” And I was thinking as I was going through the news, the thing that sucks is so much of it was asking, how are women’s sports going to survive? And I actually contemplated, like, “Should I include this or not? I don’t want to read this.”

For somebody that works in women’s sports, I want to be optimistic and not have to think about those things. But it is a reality. And for women’s clubs that are tied into men’s clubs, it’s kind of the easy thing to chop off, right? You can just cut those expenses or cut the women’s team entirely. And I think there’s a lot of fear around the world right now of that happening.

But look, we’ve existed off of 4% of media attention for a very long time, so I don’t think that’s going to dramatically change with a pandemic. It’s not going to increase, and how can it dramatically decrease? We’re already in the media basement. There’s nowhere else to go. So from that standpoint, I think it’s much ado about nothing. I’m not worried about media coverage right now.

The thing that keeps me up at night is certainly thinking through the situation from a financial perspective. I do believe the fans will be back. They’re going to support us, and our season ticket members have been incredible through this time. But I worry about sponsorships. I do. That’s a really big financial piece of the puzzle for us, so that one keeps me up at night. But I do believe companies are going to be looking for unique and strategic ways, especially digitally, to interact with consumers, and I believe I’ve put my club in the best position possible to capitalize on that through all the connections we’ve made with the community during this time. So that’s really all I can do, is stay optimistic and do the best I can to set the stage for the future.

The National Women’s Soccer League is making plans to return to the field by mid-May, according to Steven Goff of the Washington Post.

While the specifics have yet to be determined, the league is projecting training camps to begin May 16 with the season starting without fans on June 27. As NWSL Players Association director Brooke Elby told Goff, “We have aspirations, but we won’t know until we get there. We can’t speculate because it could change in the next hour or the next day.”

With just nine teams, the NWSL may be poised to return earlier than other major sports leagues that have more players and coaches to account for.

One plan currently being considered by the NWSL is to keep all nine teams within the Washington D.C. area for the 2020 regular season – an idea that is exponentially more feasible with fewer moving parts.

The NWSL shares this advantage with the WNBA, a league with just 12 teams. The portability and cohesiveness of both leagues could help women’s sports return quicker than others – giving them unrestricted access to a sports-starved audience and, potentially, a larger fan base.

While no return plan has been finalized, the proactive nature of the NWSL is an encouraging sign for both women’s sports and sports fans everywhere.

In an interview with the New York Times, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the leading public health expert on President Trump’s coronavirus task force, discussed the possibility of sports in the US returning this year.

Leagues across the country are currently mulling plans for restarting play, ideally this summer.

Dr. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, said that a key variable will be whether the country is able to test large groups of people in a safe and expedient manner. Although the rate of confirmed cases of the virus is decreasing across the country, Fauci said there will likely be a second surge.

Here are the most important quotes from his interview:

On what needs to happen before sports return:
  • “What we need to do is get it, as a country and as individual locations, under control. That sometimes takes longer than you would like, and if we let our desire to prematurely get back to normal, we can only get ourselves right back in the same hole we were in a few weeks ago.”

  • “We’ve got to make sure that when we try to get back to normal, including being able to play baseball in the summer and football in the fall and basketball in the winter, that when we do come back to some form of normality, we do it gradually and carefully. And when cases do start to rebound — which they will, no doubt — that we have the capability of identifying, isolating and contact tracing.”

On playing without spectators:
  • “I’m not saying this is the way to go, but you want to at least consider having players, if they’re going to play, play in front of a TV camera without people in the audience. And then test all the players and make sure they’re negative and keep them in a place where they don’t have contact with anybody on the outside who you don’t know whether they’re positive or negative.”

On how many tests need to be performed:
  • “I don’t think you should put a number on it. I think it depends on the level of outbreak and how many people you’re going to have to contact trace. Then when you have things under control, then you can start doing surveillance studies and getting out there looking for antibodies.”

If it’s fair that sports leagues get first access to tests:
  • “I hope when we get to that point, when we’re going to try and get the sports figures tested, then we will have enough tests so that anybody who needs a test can get a test. I can’t give you a date, but I know that tests are rapidly scaling up in numbers over the next several weeks and months.”

And if some sports might simply have to skip a season:
  • “I don’t want to make this conversation sound like it’s going to be an easy thing. We may not be able to pull this off. We’re going to have to see: Is it doable? Do we have the capability of doing it safely? Because safety, for the players and for the fans, trumps everything. If you can’t guarantee safety, then unfortunately you’re going to have to bite the bullet and say, ‘We may have to go without this sport for this season.’”

On Wednesday, the NCAA Board of Governors announced its support for a new policy allowing student athletes to cash in on their talent.

The proposal would permit athletes to be paid for endorsements, social media contracts and more – so long as they abide by certain restrictions and limitations. These rule changes are expected to go into effect at the start of the 2021-22 academic year.

In recent years, the NCAA has faced increasing pressure to allow student athletes to profit from their talent. While the new recommendations include significant financial opportunities for athletes, they also maintain ways for the NCAA and schools to regulate and cap endorsement deals.

Among other constraints, athletes will not be able to be paid directly by their schools and endorsements cannot be used for recruiting or by boosters. These restrictions may prove difficult to enforce and the NCAA has begun asking Congress for help in creating a single overarching law that applies to all schools.

This new NCAA proposal attempts to reach a compromise between paying athletes for their work and maintaining the organization’s amateur status. As NCAA President Mark Emmert stated in January, “The existential crisis to me is: Can we respond in a way that makes sense for our students and supports the college sports model?”

With states already passing their own laws permitting student athlete compensation and rallying support from professional athletes like LeBron James, the new NCAA recommendations arrive just in time.

The Boston Pride shopped local on Tuesday, selecting Boston University forward Sammy Davis with the first pick in the NWHL draft.

The Pride had traded for the pick just hours before the draft, acquiring it from Toronto in exchange for a first-round pick this year as well as a first- and second- round selection in 2021. Boston also received Toronto’s fifth-round pick this year.

Toronto became the sixth franchise to join the NWHL last week. Its team name is still TBD.

The 23-year-old Davis had 17 goals and 24 assists for the BU Terriers this season.

“I’m really excited to be selected first overall by the Pride and to be able to play in my favorite city next season,” said Davis.

The Connecticut Whale took Clarkson forward Kayla Friesen with the second pick, while the Buffalo Beauts took Maine goalie Carly Jackson third.

Friesen notched 10 goals and 20 assists last year with Clarkson after transferring from St. Cloud. Jackson posted a 1.90 goals-against average while going 12-11-7 during her last season at Maine.

At No. 4, the Metropolitan Riveters took Yale defenseman Saroya Tiner. Minnesota Golden Gophers forward Alex Woken went fifth to the Minnesota Whitecaps, while Toronto’s selection of Robert Morris forward Jayce Gebhard with the sixth pick rounded out the first round. Gebhard now holds the distinction of being the franchise’s first-ever draft pick.

Full first and second round results below. A recap of rounds 3-5 can be found here.

Over the weekend, a few legends got together on IG Live to talk all things life and sports. Sue Bird, Megan Rapinoe, Diana Taurasi and Penny Taylor spent four hours discussing the 2020 draft, WNBA culture, playing abroad, and much, much more. And while the marathon chat featured plenty of highlights (as well as a healthy amount of drinking and swearing), it was Taurasi’s candidness that stole the show.

First off, she has big plans for the future:

  • “Everyone is like, ‘Do you want to be a coach? Do you want to be a GM?’ No… I want to f–king own [a team].”

None of them, however, involve suiting up for her hometown Sparks.

  • “Their organization is a s–tshow. It’s just a mess.”

Approximately how many MVPs has the WNBA’s all-time leading scorer won?

  • “Not enough.”

And what does she regret most about college?

  • “I should’ve dropped 30 against f–king Providence everytime.”

Regarding UConn’s all-time leader in assists:

  • “If it’s not me, it’s a tragedy.”  (It’s Moriah Jefferson.)

The spiciest moment of the chat, however, came when Sue, Diana and Penny gave their picks for who the best player from this year’s draft would be. Sue said Chennedy Carter, Penny picked Satou Sabally, while Diana, after much probing, landed on Sabrina Ionescu, to which Sue immediately replied, “I hate you right now. You’re being politically correct.

Rest assured, Taurasi quickly recovered her form:

  • “Every time you play rookies, you want to f–king kill them.”

And while the explicit banter was both hilarious and oddly endearing, Taurasi made a point to also express her disappointment in the lack of female investors in women’s sports:

  • “Where are the rich women? I’m so disappointed in the women that have a lot of money.”

Needless to say, quarantine officially has a new hot takes MVP.

The 2020 WNBA draft brought both a sense of closure and uncertainty to its 36 draftees. After having their final college seasons cut short, the draft officially brought their amateur careers to a close. And yet because it’s still unclear when or if the upcoming WNBA season will begin, these draftees’ dreams have been put on pause as they wait to suit up with the pros. Below, we spoke with six WNBA rookies about their draft day experience and how they’re handling the present situation.

Your NCAA senior season was cut short. How did you handle that emotionally? 

“It broke my heart because the year before that I broke my hand and I missed the tournament then too. I was so excited for this year. When I found out that we weren’t going to finish our tournament, it shut me down for a while. I thought that I needed the tournament to really push my name up in the draft. I was devastated, for sure.” – Kamiah Smalls, JMU, drafted 28th overall to Indiana Fever 

“I was pretty hurt about it. We didn’t even get to play in our Big 12 tournament. We worked so hard our senior year and in past years to get to that point, and then to not get to finish the season was pretty heartbreaking. I didn’t handle it too well. But then I had to realize that our health is more important than anything, so it’s an understandable situation.” – Sug Sutton, Texas, drafted 36th overall to Washington Mystics

“Our ACC championship happened before the cancelations, and we lost to NC State. We were so close to being the first in Florida State History to win an ACC Championship. It was a tough loss, but it helped me add a bit of fuel to my fire. I was excited for the NCAA Tournament and unfortunately it ended up that no teams got an opportunity to play in it. I still have that feeling where I want to just go hard and get excited and get back out on the court.” – Kiah Gillespie, FSU, drafted 32nd overall to Chicago Sky

“There were a lot of emotions. Our team was poised to make it into the tournament, and it would have been my first experience playing there. On the one hand, you understand there’s a pandemic going on, but on the other hand, it’s your senior year. Everything builds up to that season, and there was no just closure with the way it ended, which made it really sad. Unfortunately with college, you don’t get to retire when you want. You only have four years and then you’re done.” – Haley Gorecki, Duke, drafted 31st overall to Seattle Storm

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HALEY GORECKI (ICON SPORTSWIRE/GETTY IMAGES)

“We were supposed to play Texas in the Big 12 tournament. At first, there was a decision to continue with the tournament without an audience, so we were preparing for that. Then they just canceled it all together and that was it. We were in Kansas and had family members flying in to see us play so everyone had to cancel their flights and hotel reservations. It was kind of crazy and disappointing, but at the same time, it was a little relieving to know that it wasn’t just us. This was worldwide. So it is what it is. This is happening all around the world, and health is way more important than entertainment and sport.” – Tynice Martin, WVU, drafted 34th overall to LA Sparks

“We played in the Pac-12 tournament before any cancellations and ended up losing to Stanford. Losing in general always sucks. Not being able to go on to play against Oregon in the championship was tough, and I think that if we would’ve known that that was going to be our last game together, we would have maybe approached it a little differently and left it all out there. But it is what it is.” – Japreece Dean, UCLA, drafted 30th overall to Chicago Sky

What were your expectations entering the draft?

“None. I was just praying that I got drafted, just because of how the season went. I know I didn’t perform how I had wanted to. So I was questioning if I would even be drafted. Ahead of the draft, a lot of people doubted that my name would be called.” – Japreece Dean

“I was up and down with my expectations for the draft. because I didn’t have a really good senior season like I did my junior year. I struggled with an injury my senior season. I didn’t really know if I would get drafted or not. So I just left it in God’s hands, and luckily I got drafted.” – Sug Sutton

“Honestly, none. I wasn’t expecting my name to come up on ESPN. I wasn’t expecting the WNBA or anyone to owe me anything from a season cut short. I was just hoping that somebody saw the fight and will in me. Just because I played at a mid-major college, doesn’t mean I can’t hang with the big dogs. It wasn’t about the expectations for me. It was more about seeing who believed in me.” – Kamiah Smalls

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KAMIAH SMALLS (ICON SPORTSWIRE/GETTY IMAGES)

“Honestly, I felt like I should have been drafted second round at the latest, but I ended up going late third round, which is still a dream come true, but I was definitely confused about my draft level. Anyway, I’m just excited that I got the experience. A lot of players didn’t get drafted, so I’m grateful.” – Tynice Martin

“Prior to the draft I had received a lot of phone calls from coaches in the WNBA expressing their interest so that made me feel a lot better. I felt like I was being looked at as a real prospect, but I was definitely nervous because of the limited spots on rosters.” – Haley Gorecki

Draft day. You hear you name called. What is that moment like? 

“All me and my family did was scream because we were so excited. It felt like we had just hit the lottery. I wasn’t expecting it, so my reaction, my enthusiasm and my excitement were just through the roof! It had me thinking: Smalls, you did it, you brought your dreams to life. You might be helping another little girl right now feel like it’s possible to go big when you might be seen as small.” – Kamiah Smalls

“Oh, it was unreal. Just to see your name come across the screen after not knowing when it’ll happen. It was very nerve-wracking but it was exciting to have everybody around me be super happy and excited. I think that was the best part about it all, just how genuinely happy everybody was for me.” – Kiah Gillespie

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KIAH GILLESPIE (ICON SPORTSWIRE/GETTY IMAGES)

“I just couldn’t believe it. When my name came across the screen, I just jumped up and started running around and screaming. It took me a few days for it all to sink in.” – Sug Sutton

“When it got to the third round, my heart was beating and my toes were curled. They got to number 30 and my name wasn’t called yet. My heart started sinking into my chest. When I finally saw my name, I literally took a deep breath and was able to relax. Right after I was selected, my phone started blowing up with messages and calls.” – Tynice Martin

“As picks were being announced, it was very nerve-wracking because from talking to coaches, I wasn’t projected to go in the third round, it was always early in the second. Then I finally saw my name come across the TV and I just thought, thank God.” – Haley Gorecki

How are you prepping physically and mentally given the uncertainty surrounding the start of the season? 

“Chicago has two point guards on the roster already. I’ve already connected with Courtney Vandersloot, one of our guards, just to get to know her and to pick her brain. I am trying to learn as much as possible and soak in as much as I can. I think it gives me an advantage to already be attempting to figure out the Chicago system and playing style. Physically, I am trying to stay in shape and weight lift at least three times a week. And then mentally, I’m just staying confident. I have to go into this as humble as possible, but I’m also here for a reason.” – Japreece Dean

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JAPREECE DEAN (ICON SPORTSWIRE/GETTY IMAGES)

My mentality is still the same. I’ve been working hard my whole life. This pandemic isn’t going to slow me down. It’s not going to stop me. You find ways to stay in shape and to make sure you’re just up to par when it’s time. I’m going into this thing with an open mind. I’m a people’s person. I think my teammates are going to love me. I think I’m going to love them. I think my coaching staff is going to love me and I’m just going to give them my all.” – Kamiah Smalls

“I’m super competitive, so I am just ready to get to work. Playing for Seattle is an amazing opportunity for me to learn from some of the best players. Sue Bird, Breanna Stewart, and so many other legends are on the team. Once I get to training camp, I plan to just be a sponge, taking in everything I see, hear and learn. Physically I have been working with my trainer over zoom. I also try to get ball handling in and I do a lot of lifting, core and band work just to stay strong.” – Haley Gorecki 

“I’m just keeping myself ready. I’m staying in shape. I run miles every day and I do yoga. And my eating habits have gotten a lot better now that I’m transitioning to my professional career. And then on the mental side, I’ll watch a lot of basketball and film. I’ve been talking to Ariel Atkins. We overlapped at Texas and are now teammates again. I try to pick her brain because we are really close and she is an incredible player.” – Sug Sutton

“I am just trying to stay in shape. I know that I’ll be a rookie all over again. I am mentally preparing for that and trying to scout out the team to see what exactly they need. It’s all business now, and understanding that is the hardest part. Coming from college, especially at WVU where our team was very family-oriented, I have to eliminate that mindset and stick to strictly business. Now I will be playing against and with the big dogs. And they want your spot. This is the same talk that I had with myself freshman year, but like I said, money is on the line now, so it’s a lot more competitive, it’s a lot more cutthroat and I have to understand that going in.” – Tynice Martin

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TYNICE MARTIN (ICON SPORTSWIRE/GETTY IMAGES)

“I won’t really know where I stand until I am able to play with my new teammates and test it all out. But I still have the opportunity to stay in the best possible shape I can and to try everything I can to be at the level my coaches and teammates will need me to be at. In a sense, it’s all about staying ready so you don’t have to get ready when the time comes.” – Kiah Gillespie

Megan and Nicole McNamara are 22-year-old professional beach volleyball players from Vancouver, British Columbia. The identical twins played together at UCLA, where they won two NCAA Beach Volleyball Championships. After graduating last year, the twins are now members of Team Canada and are working to pursue their Olympic dreams. 

What inspired the two of you to first pick up the sport?

Megan: In sixth grade, we started passing the ball around during a beach vacation and we really loved it. And when we came home we joined our middle school indoor volleyball team because that was what was available at the time. And then a couple years later we found out that Vancouver had a beach volleyball camp, so we signed up. It all took off from there.

Have you two always been partners?

Nicole: Yes. Ever since we first started playing beach volleyball when we were 12, we have always played together, and that’s a big part of why we love it. I was injured at one point during our UCLA offseason, and Megan had to play with different partners. But in every competition, we have always played together.

Do you two spend most of your time together even outside of volleyball? 

Nicole: Yeah, we live together and we have a lot of the same friends, so we do spend a lot of time together. But as we’ve gotten older, we’ve tried to carve out time in our schedules that’s dedicated to being alone, because it can be a lot when you work together and train together. But we’re best friends and we love doing things together. We have a lot of the same hobbies, including travel, which is great because our sport brings us to beautiful places around the world, and we also love cooking. We started a website where we post tournament updates and share our favorite recipes. Just fun little things we like to do outside of sports.

Beach volleyball probably isn’t the first sport people think about when they think about Canada. Is it popular in Vancouver?

Megan: It’s growing a lot. When we first started, they had a lot of local tournaments. There was a big professional adult scene, but it was mostly just playing for fun on the side. But it’s really growing in the younger ages now, especially since it became an NCAA sport in 2015, which was also our first year in college. Before that it was just part of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA). Now, so many up and coming young girls want to get scholarships to play down in the States.

Was UCLA always a dream school for both of you? Did you know from the outset of the recruiting process that you both wanted to go to the same school and remain partners? 

Nicole: California was always the dream. It’s the biggest hub of beach volleyball in North America. As soon as we heard that there was beach volleyball in college, we knew that we wanted to be recruited together and use that as a stepping stone for our professional careers and Olympic dreams. It was important for our parents, too, for us to go to university and get degrees. We were recruited by a few other schools, but as soon as we stepped foot on the UCLA campus, we were both just wide-eyed. We fell in love right away, and we immediately knew that was where we wanted to go.

Megan: Heading into the recruiting process, we knew we wanted to stay as a pair. It was actually pretty hard for us to sell to coaches because we are an undersized pair. A lot of coaches wanted to split us up because of that, because a pair usually consists of a tall blocker who is six feet plus and a “smaller” defender who is under six feet. Megan and I are both around five-nine, so we fall on that smaller side. But our UCLA coach thought it was great that we wanted to stay partners, and she let us prove to her that we could play together in college.

What was the transition to college competition like for you? 

Megan: We started out as the number one pair on the team as freshmen, so we felt a lot of pressure. We were going up against all of the best pairs from every other school. So the transition was definitely hard at first, but we had such a supportive and awesome team surrounding us.

Nicole: Starting at the ones was a huge honor. Especially as sisters, we had a lot of media coverage and a lot of the eyes were on us. People wanted to know who these “freshman Canadian twins at the one pair” were. There was pressure, but it also allowed us to mature. We wanted to represent UCLA well, and as we got older, younger players started looking up to us as role models, which definitely forced us to take the role very seriously. We knew we always had to be focused at practice and looked for ways to succeed.

What do you think was the key to your success at UCLA?

Megan: I think the fact that we had just been playing together for so long. A lot of the partnerships in the NCAA were only formed that year, or maybe they had a couple years together, but we’d been playing together already for so many years before we arrived on campus. And being sisters we’re just so comfortable with each other. We can hold each other to a high standard and say the difficult things.

Nicole: I mean, we would pass the ball back and forth in our front yard for hours and hours growing up, so our ball control is one of our biggest assets. Being undersized, we needed that in order to win games. And we definitely had an underdog mentality just because we are smaller players. We went out every game playing our hearts out. Our coach called us “Team Fearless.”

When did you start to have Olympic aspirations? 

Nicole: When we first started playing the sport at 12 years old was when we knew we wanted to go as far as we could go. We loved it that much. And at around the age of 15, we started to play internationally for Team Canada in the Underage World Championship. That was when we realized that it could be realistic for us, too.

What has the last year been like after graduating college? 

Megan: Right after graduation in 2019, we moved to Toronto and started training with the Canadian national team. We’re the third-ranked Canadian team right now, so the 2020 Olympics would have been out of the picture for us because only the top two teams per country compete, and the other two pairs had already confirmed their spots. So our main focus is the 2024 Olympics. And this year we just really wanted to play in as many professional tournaments as we could to gain more experience and to get more comfortable playing at that level, because it’s definitely a big jump from the NCAA.

What does a typical professional beach volleyball season look like for you? 

Nicole: First, the FIVB posts all of the information about the tournaments that are happening for the upcoming year, ranging from one star to five stars with five stars being the highest level. In all these tournaments you get points that go towards Olympic ranking. So ahead of the season, Megan and I sit down with our personal coach and go over the schedule to see what tournaments make sense for us to compete in based on location, level, expenses, etc. For example, we already had our plan for what tournaments we were going to play in from March till August of this year, and all of those tournaments were three to five stars. But obviously that plan has been put on hold indefinitely.
Megan: We can pick which tournaments we want to attend, but it’s ultimately based on entry points. You get points based on your performance at a tournament, and then, a few weeks before a given tournament, they’ll tell you if you have enough points to play in that tournament. It’s pretty late notice, so even when we have a plan for the season, it sometimes changes.

The Coronavirus has obviously impacted your spring/summer season, with cancelations left and right. How has it impacted your training? 

Megan: We’re in Vancouver with our parents right now. We were actually at a tournament in Sydney, Australia when the virus began to get serious. This was mid-March, and the tournament was cancelled at the very last minute. So we were in Sydney for a total of 48 hours and then had to get on a plane to come back. We decided to go home to be with our parents in Vancouver rather than back to our apartment where we normally train and live, because there’s no training in Toronto right now.

We’ve been lucky to have pretty nice weather so we are able to go pass the ball around in our yard. This allows us to keep our skills sharp. But it’s definitely hard because we have no sand, no net, and no structured practices. It is hard to simulate the same type of training that you normally would do. But we’re just trying to stay in shape with at-home body workouts and yoga.

How much do you think time away from being in the sand will affect your game and your chemistry as a pair? 

Megan: It is definitely tough to maintain a peak. And we felt like we were nearing a peak for upcoming tournaments. We were training all the time, lifting really heavy, practicing five to six days a week. It’s hard to maintain that at home. But regardless, we’re just trying to keep the cardio up and stay in the best physical shape that we can, so if things do ramp up really fast, the skills might come back a little bit faster if we’re already in peak physical shape.

Nicole: And we know everyone else is in the same boat. So when we do get stressed about our limited training, we try to remind ourselves that everyone else is living it too. This is a global situation, so we’re trying to stay positive and control what we can control.

Well, that was fast.

Within minutes of Muffet McGraw’s retirement, Notre Dame had named her replacement: Niele Ivey is officially the new head coach of the Notre Dame women’s basketball team.

The name should ring a bell to fans of the Fighting Irish.

Ivey played for McGraw for five seasons, helping the Irish win their first ever National Championship in 2001. She was just the 17th player in school history to record over 1,000 career points when she graduated.

After college, Ivey enjoyed a successful five-year WNBA career. She was hired as an assistant coach at her alma mater in 2007, and in 2016, she was promoted to associate head coach. Ivey remained at Notre Dame until this past season, when she took a role as an assistant coach with the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA.

Ivey famously played a key role in the recruitment of then-high school phenom Skylar Diggins, whose arrival on campus helped propel Notre Dame’s resurgence as a basketball powerhouse. The school subsequently advanced to seven Final Fours in nine seasons after Diggins’ commitment.

The quick handoff from McGraw to Ivey was anything but accidental: reports are now out that McGraw began honing in on Ivey as her replacement more than two years ago. Following her retirement announcement, Notre Dame immediately posted a video outlining McGraw’s case for her successor:

Diggins herself took to twitter to voice her approval of Ivey’s hiring:

And earlier in March, Diggins posted a video showing Ivey in action during her time as a Notre Dame assistant in 2012:

Now, just days into her tenure as head coach, Ivey has already snagged another top recruit. Olivia Miles, the No. 2 ranked high school player in the country, announced on Friday that she would sign with Notre Dame. The Irish now have four of the nation’s top 50 recruits signed to their incoming freshman class.

After a down year this past season, Ivey has the Irish poised for a quick turnaround in her first season as a head coach.

Chelsea Gray plays point guard for the Los Angeles Sparks. The eleventh pick in the 2014 WNBA Draft out of Duke University, Gray is a 3x WNBA All-Star. In 2016, she helped lead the Sparks to their third WNBA championship in team history. Below, she talks with Just Women’s Sports about her draft day experience, why she think Sabrina Ionescu will be successful at the next level, and the difficulties of rebooting the WNBA season amidst the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The WNBA draft was a little over a week ago. It’s a huge transition for so many players, but a lot of them already made life-changing moves when they went to college. Looking back, what do you remember about your first year at Duke? 

I went to Duke in 2010, the summer after I graduated high school. That was a big adjustment for me to go to what felt like the other side of the world. I’m a Californian, born and raised, so being in North Carolina was a definite change. I wasn’t able to go downstairs to Mom’s home cooking. I had to figure out how to get my car to drive on snow. It took some time to get settled, but I loved being at Duke. It was a great experience and being on the east coast for a while helped me really understand that way of life, which is totally different than California.

Fast-forward a few years. What was the lead up to draft day like?

Leading up to the draft, I was a nervous wreck. I couldn’t sleep the night before. I was excited to be there, and I tried to just embrace it, but, unless you’re supposed to go in the top three, you don’t really know when your name is going to be called. I was jittery at the table, and every time the person walked up to the podium with the little draft card in their hand I was like, “Is it me? Oh my God, my name didn’t come up. Okay, breathe, drink some water.” I was too nervous to eat. But that’s all part of the experience, having those jittery feelings, and having the anxiety and nervousness. That all goes into the draft.

Even though there’s no guarantees, did you have some sense of where you might be taken? 

I had no clue when I was getting chosen, or if I was at all! I was just sitting there like “Oh my gosh, is it the time? Nope, not the time. Is this the time? Nope, not the time.” It’s exciting, it’s exhilarating, it’s one heck of an experience. I was on the edge of my seat. I didn’t think I would go top five, but I was hoping for the first round. It started getting to seven, eight, and I was like “Okay, this might be it.” Then I finally heard it, and there was just so much joy. I think I paused for a second. I was like, “This is real. Oh my gosh, this is really happening.”

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LANCE KING/GETTY IMAGES
Looking at this year’s draft class, how do you think Sabrina Ionescu’s game will translate to the WNBA?

I think she’s a great player. She’s done something very special at the University of Oregon. She’s lifted up every single athlete that she’s played with and made that university a household name. That’s something that you really appreciate.

I look at her game from a point guard’s perspective, and to achieve triple-doubles the way she does? That’s not an easy thing to do. That’s hard. You have to fight for rebounds and go take them from post players. That’s hard. And you have to rely on your teammates to make shots for you to get assists. You can control your points, but sometimes you have an off day. What she was able to do is so difficult, you really have to appreciate the way she plays the game.

When she gets to the WNBA, it’s a different level. There’s a lot more in depth scouting, so I think it’ll be an adjustment, but I think she’s capable of succeeding at the highest level.

What advice would you give her for handling the transition?

I don’t want her to put so much pressure on herself because she’s such a big name already. She’s still going to be a rookie. I hope and I think she’s going to be great, but I just want her to play as freely as she did at Oregon, because all of these fans, and the fame… it puts a lot of weight on people. I hope she doesn’t have that. I hope she’s able to play free, play the game, and get triple-doubles. I hope she achieves at the highest level until she plays the Sparks. Then she can have a bad day [laughs].

How would you describe your own transition from college to the next level?

I had a very difficult experience my rookie year. I was injured, I gained weight, I didn’t play as much as I thought I should. Only three to four hours a day were dedicated to the team, and I didn’t know what to do with the rest of my time. I didn’t have school anymore, I was in Connecticut, there wasn’t a lot to do. So I had to try to figure out what to do with that time, and that was difficult. On the court, players are just stronger, faster, smarter than they were in college. You have to rethink how you’re going to achieve at the highest level and play your best basketball.

Do you have any sense as to when or if the upcoming WNBA season will begin?

No idea, actually. We’re all waiting to see and hear back. I think a lot of things depend on the CDC, what they come up with, and what other sports, like NBA, decide to do as well. Their season has already started and it’s toward the later half of it. So how do we combine that with our season, when a lot of teams have NBA affiliates? What does that look like now? Trying to figure that out has been a little tough. And there’s no clarity on exactly when the season could start.

What are some of the logistics problems you see arising?

Well, we’re going to have to figure out a lot more than the NBA will in terms of travel, because they fly private, so they’re able to keep a tighter circle. Flying commercial, we won’t have the ability to keep different people from coming in and out of the plane, so we’re going to have to figure out how we manage our exposure to the public.