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Alyse Lahue Talks Coronavirus, NWSL Return

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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.

US Tennis Stars Advance as Wimbledon Field Narrows

Italy's Jasmine Paolini celebrates her first-round win over Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships
World No. 4 Jasmine Paolini fell in the second round of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships on Wednesday. (Daniel Kopatsch/Getty Images)

The 2025 Wimbledon Championships wrapped its second round on Thursday, with the grass court Grand Slam seeing just 15 of the tournament's 32 seeded players advance to the Friday and Saturday's third round.

A full half of the WTA's Top 10 players did not survive the week, with 2024 Wimbledon finalist and world No. 5 Jasmine Paolini joining four first-round star exits by falling to unseeded Kamilla Rakhimova in a three-set, second-round battle on Wednesday.

At the same time, unseeded fan favorites like Japan's No. 53 Naomi Osaka and England's own No. 40 Emma Raducanu secured third-round spots at the London Slam, joining top surviving contenders like No. 4 Iga Świątek and defending Wimbledon champion No. 16 Barbora Krejčíková.

Notably, a full five US players managed to move ahead, tied for the largest national contingent still standing at the tournament.

Led by 2025 Australian Open champion No. 8 Madison Keys, the US group also includes No. 10 Emma Navarro and No. 12 Amanda Anisimova, as well as unseeded players No. 54 Danielle Collins and No. 55 Hailey Baptiste.

With matches against Świątek and No. 7 Mirra Andreeva, respectively, Collins and Baptiste have a tough third round ahead — though Navarro's battle against the 2024 champ Krejčíková arguably headlines Saturday's slate.

US tennis star Emma Navarro eyes a return during a 2025 Wimbledon match.
US star Emma Navarro will face 2024 champ Barbora Krejčíková in Wimbledon's Round of 32. (Rob Newell/CameraSport via Getty Images)

How to watch Wimbledon this weekend

While world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka is still holding strong in the dwindling field, this year's Wimbledon play is proving that the London Slam is anyone's to take, as the grass court humbles even the sport's top stars.

Expect the twists and turns to continue as tennis's best battle for spots in Sunday's Round of 16.

Round-of-32 Wimbledon play kicks off at 6 AM ET on Friday, with live continuous coverage of the tournament airing on ESPN.

Finland Opens Women’s Euro 2025 with Upset Upset Win Over Iceland

Finland's Katariina Kosola and Emma Koivisto celebrate a goal during their opening 2025 Euro match.
Finland earned a surprise 1-0 win over Iceland in their 2025 Euro opener on Wednesday. (Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)

The 2025 European Championship is officially underway, as Euro action kicked off with a group-stage upset on Wednesday.

Though the 2025 UEFA tournament's opener was a sweltering affair amid a European heat wave, world No. 26 Finland prevailed, earning a 1-0 upset win over No. 14 Iceland in Group A.

Finnish winger Katariina Kosola played hero, curling in the winning goal in the match's 70th minute — just 12 minutes after Iceland midfielder Hildur Antonsdóttir picked up the competition's first red card.

"The result is important for our confidence," Kosola said after Finland's first major tournament win since the 2009 Euro. "It was the kind of goal I have been practicing a lot."

"It's terrible to lose and we feel frustrated," said Iceland head coach Thorsteinn Halldórsson. "It is an even group and we knew Finland were good, but our first half wasn't good enough."

Elsewhere, No. 16 Norway closed out Wednesday's slate on top of Group A, taking three points by defeating host No. 23 Switzerland in day's second match.

Led by captain and 2018 Ballon d'Or winner Ada Hegerberg — who pulled the match even with a second-half strike — Norway battled to a 2-1 comeback win, despite the Swiss side outshooting and out-possessing the Norwegians.

Spain jersey hang in lockers ahead of the team's 2025 Euro opening match against Portugal.
Reigning World Cup champions Spain will open their 2025 Euro account against Portugal. (Aitor Alcalde - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

How to watch this week's 2025 Euro action

Group B steals the 2025 Euro spotlight on Thursday.

While No. 13 Italy snagged a 1-0 opening win over No. 20 Belgium to kick off the day, 2023 World Cup champions and tournament favorite No. 2 Spain will face No. 22 Portugal at 3 PM ET.

Friday's Group C slate will pit No. 12 Denmark against No. 6 Sweden at 12 PM ET, before No. 3 Germany contends with No. 27 Poland at 3 PM ET.

Closing out the first group-stage matches will be arguably the toughest draw of the 2025 Euro pool.

Saturday's Group D slate features major tournament debutants No. 30 Wales against the No. 11 Netherlands at 12 PM ET, with No. 10 France taking on defending champions No. 5 England to cap the day at 3 PM ET.

Live coverage of 2025 Euro matches will air across Fox Sports platforms.

USWNT Caps Summer Friendlies with 3-0 Canada Shutout

Yazmeen Ryan, Michelle Cooper, Claire Hutton, Mandy McGlynn, and Izzy Rodriguez and the rest of the USWNT huddle after their July 2025 friendly win over Canada.
The USWNT finished the summer international window with 11 goals, conceding none, across three matches. (Brad Smith/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images)

The world No. 1 USWNT ruled the pitch on Wednesday night, shutting out North American rivals No. 8 Canada 3-0 to finish the international window on a high note.

Catching the Canada backline sleeping, US midfielder Sam Coffey opened the scoring at the 17-minute mark before 19-year-old Claire Hutton claimed her first-ever USWNT goal by heading in a Rose Lavelle corner kick in the game's 36th minute.

Houston Dash forward Yazmeen Ryan then padded the US tally in the waning minutes of the match, finding the back of the net just eight minutes after subbing onto the field.

Despite fielding a young roster, the US overpowered a veteran-heavy Canada side in almost every category, topping their Northern neighbors in shots, shots on target, possession, and — most notably — set pieces.

Canada ultimately couldn't match the game's mental pace or physical battle, as the USWNT scored all three goals off dead ball situations — a free kick, a corner kick, and a throw-in.

"It's not about the opponent," US head coach Emma Hayes said after the match. "It's about what we do, and I felt that was extremely dominant."

With Wednesday's contributions, the USWNT finishes the summer window with 11 goals scored across the three friendlies — and zero goals conceded.

The US now enters an extended break before reconvening for another as-yet-unannounced friendly series in October — but players will be expected to perform in the meantime.

"I said to the players in the end in the huddle, if you want to compete to win the biggest things, it's not what you do here that matters," said Hayes. "It's what you do when you go back to your club."

Seattle Storm Looks to Climb the WNBA Standings in Weekend Gauntlet

Seattle Storm star Nneka Ogwumike high-fives teammates as she's introduced before a 2025 WNBA game.
The No. 5 Seattle Storm will face No. 4 Atlanta and No. 3 New York this weekend. (Soobum Im/NBAE via Getty Images)

The 2025 WNBA regular season returns on Thursday night, with teams at the top of the league standings looking to prove their mettle against close competition across the long holiday weekend.

The No. 5 Seattle Storm have arguably the toughest weekend assignments, taking on the No. 4 Atlanta Dream on Friday before tackling the No. 3 New York Liberty on Sunday.

Four middle-of-the-pack teams will look to close in on a double-digit season win tally while the league's frontrunners strive to maintain their advantage in this weekend's slate:

  • No. 7 Las Vegas Aces vs. No. 8 Indiana Fever, Thursday at 7 PM ET (Prime): Though still without star Caitlin Clark, the Fever hope to harness their 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup victory momentum against an Aces side tied with Indiana with an 8-8 season record.
  • No. 5 Seattle Storm vs. No. 4 Atlanta Dream, Thursday at 7:30 PM ET (WNBA League Pass): Seattle will look to make strides against a strong Atlanta side while putting last Sunday's stinging 84-57 loss to up-and-comer Golden State in their rearview.
  • No. 6 Golden State Valkyries vs. No. 1 Minnesota Lynx, Saturday at 8 PM ET (WNBA League Pass): The rising Valkyries must face a Lynx side hunting redemption, as the league-leaders look to bounce back from their stifling Tuesday Commissioner's Cup upset loss.
  • No. 5 Seattle Storm vs. No. 3 New York Liberty, Sunday at 1 PM ET (CBS): With injured Liberty center Jonquel Jones still sidelined, the Seattle Storm will have a chance to steal a weekend game against the reigning champs, as New York struggles to re-find their footing.

With the 2025 WNBA All-Star break looming, early top performers must keep standards high if they want to hold the line when the season crosses the midway point.

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