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Erin Mcleod Talks Motivation and Mindfulness

Goalkeeper Erin McLeod / JWS
Goalkeeper Erin McLeod (Rich Lam/Getty Images)

Erin McLeod is a goalkeeper for the Orlando Pride, who spent this fall playing on loan to Stjarnan, in Iceland. McLeod has recorded 118 caps in her career for the Canadian National Team, and at age 37, is still going strong as she competes for a shot at the Tokyo Olympics. JWS spoke with McLeod about her career persistence, the benefits of mindfulness, and the perspective she’s gained as a veteran player. 

I wanted to start with just chatting about your soccer career. You’ve obviously been around the game for a long time. Can you compare this past year soccer-wise to anything else in your career?

Oh gosh. I would have to say that, for obvious reasons, the pandemic has made this year more challenging and interesting and difficult in a lot of different ways. For me personally, I was really happy to be with Orlando, back on North American soil. And then obviously we weren’t able to go to the Challenge Cup with the team which was a bummer, so I just feel very fortunate that I was able to come to Iceland and to still play and to be healthy.

I think the other thing that has really come to the forefront this year with obviously Black Lives Matter and politics, is that it’s been really cool to stand up for things beyond just soccer. In some ways, it’s been really incredible, I think, as far as raising our self-awareness and understanding the topics around us.

You’ve played for a variety of teams in Europe over the last five years. What has kept you coming back?

Well, this year is kind of unique because of the pandemic. I’ve been wanting to be in the U.S. to be in a similar time zone to my family, but I really love the football in Europe, in the sense that it’s really helped me to evolve the tactical side of my game. And now you all these NWSL players here, and I think we all are becoming stronger tactically, stronger technically, stronger athletically. And the soccer culture in Europe is happy all the time, and everyone is crazy about it. I just love that. I think that it is also growing. That’s a huge draw for sure.

You signed with Orlando but, as you mentioned, the team couldn’t play in the Challenge Cup due to positive Covid tests. Can you talk about that situation and what that was like from your perspective?

It was hard just because we were so close to the tournament, and we had worked so hard, and we were feeling really connected as a group. It was such a hard thing to swallow, especially because we had been so careful and we were essentially in a training bubble.

Historically, Orlando hadn’t done well for years, and I was excited to be a newcomer to the team and realize how much it really means to them to play and get better. And then for that to happen, it was hard. And you see a lot of pride with people when things are really challenging. But I think the way that the team rallied and had a lot of new players coming into the mix, that really impressed me during the Fall Series.

How much longer do you hope to keep playing for?

That is a great question. I don’t know. The thing is right now, I feel really good and healthy and I love the game so much. I try not to put an end date on it when I would really love to plan out a year, you know, make it to the Olympics. I would love to be on that Olympics squad. And I know it’s a far stretch, but yes, in a dream world I would play another year and then, you know, hopefully be healthy and in a good place to evaluate whether to play another year or turn off. At my age, it’s kind of a day by day kind of thing, you know?

How do you think your motivation to keep playing has changed over the years? I could imagine it’s different now than say when you were like 25.

Oh, absolutely. I think when I was with Denver, I would say I was a lot more selfish, in the sense that what I was most concerned with was probably my own development, to be pretty honest. And I was obsessed with being the best and being number one, and I wanted to be the best in the world. It’s not that I don’t want those things now, it’s just the thing I get really excited about is now I’m playing on a team and I come back and some 16 year old is on my team and I see their parents pick them up who are my age, and I’m like, alright.

But I see these young, talented players, and I think you want to see them get the most out of themselves, and that for me is motivating. And playing on a team where I can play forever and give to the team — I really love that. And driving a standard and creating and focusing on the things I can control and also trying to have an impact in a positive way. It’s much more exciting now than it has been in the past.

You’ve lived a very active life off the field in terms of your art, your philanthropic works, and your clothing lines. Do you think having all these other passions has helped extend your soccer career by helping you keep perspective and have creative outlets? 

Oh yeah, absolutely. I think for me, there’ve been a few moments in my career where I was forced to step away from the game and I kind of lost my identity and who I was. And I think what’s important and what I really encourage young people to do is to find things that they love but to still find that balance. And it’s still something that I struggle with, because I want to do so many things.

I’ve really learned to make sure now I try to go for walks, meditation walks, just making time away from the field actually helps my game. So it’s important, not just for my game, but also for my mental health.

Can you give a quick intro on The Mindful Project and how mindfulness was introduced into your life?

So I met Dr. Rachel Lindvall, my partner, who has her doctorate in mindfulness, a number of years ago. Her and her husband worked in Europe to get inspiration for their university soccer in the US and long story short, they were in Jena in Germany when I was in the Bundesliga. And they said, Hey, we’re in town. You know, I didn’t speak a lick of German, and I was broke and they were like, do you want to go for dinner? And I was like, yes, please.

So we first started chatting about soccer and it naturally transitioned into mindfulness. And at that point I had already been using a lot of mindfulness for my soccer, but also off the field, so we started chatting. And then we also talked about mental habits and mindset and at what age we start developing these, how they can work against us, even at three and half, four years old.

That’s kind of where we started, discussing how can we just help young people develop positive habits and develop those mindsets. That’s how it started, and we created a sports program and an education program for kids eight to 12, 13 years old and we ended up getting into a lot of after-school programs.

And, and then we ended up trying the same program on a couple of Rachel’s classes and her university team, and the results were unbelievable. And it’s like the increase in quality of life was like 200%, and then the decrease in stress and anxiety was 194%, and we’re like, we can do something about this. Then we started talking about a way to create a high performance program and shipping it over.

For me personally, I had a moment in my career in 2008 at the Beijing Olympics where depression had become so much, that I remember actually wanting to get hurt, because I couldn’t handle the pressure anymore. I was afraid of playing. I was afraid of making mistakes. Long story short, I tore my ACL, and I just re-evaluated everything, how I was working so hard just to be miserable. I had to change. And for me, that was kind the moment where I started evaluating my mindset and then a few years later, we had this wonderful trainer who gave me all these breathing tricks and focus tricks and awareness tricks which d opened my vision to see the whole field. And I didn’t realize at the time that they were mindfulness tricks, and then I started reading more and more about it and it helped me obviously become more consistent, more in the present moment, which is key for athletes. And I just started enjoying it more.

And ever since then, Rachel and I have been committed to creating The Mindful Project, to help others when you’re on your own. It’s like, if I’m doubting now, this is my attempt to learn and see.

You’ve mentioned elsewhere that mindfulness could have changed your career and ended up being really useful for you. Is that your pitch to other athletes who may be considering it or is it something different?

I think the trend with a lot of athletes is that we’re hard on ourselves. What I’ve learned from the research side, because of Rachel and her research, is being hard on yourself doesn’t help them learn any faster. It actually slows your learning and it makes it less enjoyable. So for me, it’s becoming aware of my self-talk, where my self compassion was at, how I viewed mistakes, and how I dealt with failure.

I think for me, if I could talk with athletes, it would first just be about enjoying it more, being in the present moment more. Because that moment where you just trust yourself and you let the ongoing monologue inside your head go for a second, it’s so liberating. And if you’ve got a great breathing thing and it keeps you focused when you’re stressed out, it’s also going to work when you’re off the field. And for me, it’s about the life tools that will help you become a better person.

That’s so well said. I wanted to end with talking about the upcoming 2021 Olympics. What is your status there? 

Well, we’re down to the wire, because obviously, you know, the pandemic made it really challenging. There was supposed to be a camp in October, which I was invited to. And you know, I think it’s been over a year since I’ve been with the national team. So I was obviously really excited about that, but it just wasn’t going to work with health and safety protocols. So I’m still in the mix, and there’s four keepers for Canada. And I can’t really say much more than that, but I’m in the mix and I think for me, that’s the first step. I think it’s important for me to stay healthy and to be playing games. You know, obviously I hope that will be possible. And with the pandemic and everything, we’ll see.

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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