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Carson Pickett Talks Orlando Curse, Personal Growth

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Carson Pickett is a defender for the Orlando Pride of the NWSL and the Brisbane Roar of the W-League. A graduate of Florida State, she helped lead the Seminoles to their first ever NCAA Championship in 2014. Below, she spoke to Just Women’s Sports about her life and career as a professional athlete who was born without a left forearm and hand, how her mindset has changed over the years, and what Orlando needs to do to rebound from its disappointing past season. 

I’ve read articles that label you as disabled, but I have played with you and against you, and disabled feels off. What is the terminology you prefer? 

I would say limb different because that’s what I advocate for. It’s not just arms, it’s legs and other body parts. I don’t like saying I’m advocating for disabilities in general because that can mean so many different things, and I don’t want people to think I’m advocating for something that I’m not.

You were born limb different and that limited some of the sports you could play as a child. How did you begin playing soccer and what was that experience like as a kid? 

My parents were both great athletes. My dad played college soccer and had the opportunity to play professionally. My mom played college basketball. I definitely grew up in a family of athletes. Many people talk about how athletes often challenge themselves more and push themselves more. I think that was true for my parents in that they’ve always pushed themselves. So, when they had a child who might have needed to be pushed a little harder because they weren’t sure if she was going to sink or swim, their mentality was, “We’re going to challenge her.”

Growing up, I played a lot of sports. My parents never wanted me to feel different compared to everyone else. I think nowadays, with so much social media, a lot of families want their kids to be surrounded by people who are different from them so that they can learn from them. It’s two ways of thinking and neither of them is right or wrong, or better or worse. For us, my parents chose to go with the idea that I’m not any different than anyone else, and I can do anything that anyone with two hands can do.

At a certain point, I realized that I liked team sports better than individual sports — I liked the camaraderie. I honestly chose soccer because my friend group was the strongest in that sport. And when you’re younger, that’s most important. I’m also super close with both of my parents, so being able to train with my dad was fun for me. I think training with him is what drew me closer to soccer — it bonded the two of us.

Did people treat you differently on the field then? And do you think it affects your play at all? 

When I was 12, I got called for an illegal throw-in and that mortified me. It wasn’t a club game and it’s not that serious at 12, but a referee said that it was an illegal throw-in. Ever since then, I’ve been mortified to pick up a ball and throw it in. Sydney Leroux has been begging me to do it. She says, “It could be such a big breakthrough. If they let you do it, then you’ve just done a throw-in. If they don’t, we will go to the ref and it will become a massive issue because you can still do it.” I’ve been waiting to do it, but I’m so nervous. I know that it could be a big breakthrough and even push people with limb differences to do things out of their comfort zone.

In terms of if I think it affects me: honestly, no. Even during certain drills in practice, I never think: “Oh, here we go. You have to be physical, so I’m going to struggle.” Naturally, we all have weaknesses. It’s not that my weakness is my arm, but pushing people off the ball when they’re going towards my left side is obviously a lot harder. I can’t wrap my hand around and hold people off as much. It’s something that I’m aware of, but it’s definitely not a weakness or a struggle that I’m nervous about.

For college, did you know you wanted to stay in Florida? 

No, actually. When I went on trips to different universities and colleges, I really fell in love with the University of Texas. I loved the team there and the coach was awesome. I never thought about it as being too far from home. But when I visited Florida State, I fell in love with the feeling of being on campus. That’s what I tell so many young girls now: “It’s hard to explain which college is right for you. Sometimes you just step on campus and feel at home.”

My family definitely had an influence on my final decision, though. My grandparents and parents have always supported me and they come to every one of my games. I’m an only child, so it was easier for them to see me at FSU. I knew that I didn’t want them to have to get on a plane to visit or only see me play twice a year. I wanted them there all the time.

How do you think your mindset has changed over the years in terms of how you process all of the attention your limb difference receives? 

In college, I remember when reporters would come to the ACC tournaments. Everyone wanted to be reported on because it showed that you were a good player. But I remember that every single time that a reporter would talk to me or interview me, it always had to do with my arm. I would complain to my parents all the time, saying, “I just want to be known as a good soccer player. I don’t want to be known as someone with one arm who’s also a soccer player.” The reporters weren’t doing anything wrong — they just didn’t realize that I wanted to be more than the Florida State player who has one arm.

Fast forward to the pros, and the picture of me and the two-year old fan comes out. Seeing how many people I could reach completely changed my mindset. When I was in college, I just wanted to be a soccer player. I remember being on campus in the summer, in the dead heat in Florida, and wearing a hoodie the first couple of weeks. I would make excuses to not show my arm. Those times were tough for me because I had to make a decision of do I want to stand out? Are people going to stare? Does it matter to me?

Now, I’m more mature and I realize that when people stare at me it may be because they’ve never seen something like it before. Now, I want them to ask me what happened because then I can educate more people about limb difference. It’s not that I want to stand out, but I want to help people who are like me. And I know I’m also reaching people who have both of their hands, but who may be struggling with other problems. Everyone has their own story, everyone is different, everyone has gone through struggles and has weaknesses. It’s how you use that story and those weaknesses and the struggle to best help people in the world. Now that I’m able to reach so many diverse groups, it’s really become more of a blessing.

Have you had to make adjustments in terms of workouts or lifting? 

I didn’t lift much in high school. It wasn’t until college that I learned lifting could actually help you. Since I had never lifted before, I would go into the gym with my strength coach at Florida State and he would say, “Show me a way you can squat” and I would just figure it out. I think him pushing me to get in there and figure out a way to lift was really helpful. He could have just excused me from lifting, but I think being put in uncomfortable situations and being pushed to figure it out was best for me.

You’re in your fifth NWSL season and your third year playing year-round. How has your experience been playing year-round with half of the year being in Australia? 

After my rookie year in Seattle, I decided I wanted to go home and train and be with my family. Being with my family was amazing, but I realized that it’s really hard to make yourself work out every single day, no matter how mentally strong you think you are. Especially, when you are training for a season that is four months away. It’s tough. Luckily, my agent asked me if I was interested in playing overseas and, after that first off-season, I was ready to go.

I wanted to go to Australia to be pushed out of my comfort zone and meet new people in a new environment. Obviously, I was nervous because I was going to another country and I did not know a single person. Usually, in soccer, you always know somebody. It was scary at first, but I could tell that I was growing as a person. Physically, there are times when I come back, after such a long NWSL season, and my body hurts. But I choose to do that and I know that sometimes it’s going to hurt. I am mentally happier training and playing on a team than being by myself. Obviously, it’s tough playing year-round, but I couldn’t do anything else at this point. I love it.

Do you have any plans for after you end your soccer career?

I have a few different things I want to do. Some days, I want to go get my master’s degree and maybe be a college coach. Other days I want to be an athletic advisor who helps freshmen with the transition to college. On top of that, my parents have pushed me to go into public speaking. I’m developing my story now. I have everything written down, but I just have to find the right words. I need to figure out what my storyline would be and what the point of my presentation would be. I’m working through that now and trying to talk to a lot of public speakers who have done this before.

There’s a lot of uncertainty surrounding the season, but regardless, I have to ask, how does Orlando break what’s become a kind of curse? What’s going on? 

Oh, man. I know. I just think last year, and the year before wasn’t good enough. We struggled with cohesiveness — with players in and out due to the World Cup and medical reasons — but it was no excuse, it just wasn’t clicking. And that’s not blaming any certain people. I just think that because we struggled early in the year and dug ourselves a hole, our mentality faltered later in the season, when it should have been every time we stepped on the field, “we’re winning this game and not losing again.” I’m not saying that we went out there and were like, “Oh, well, we’re going to lose today. Who cares?” It was never like that. We worked our butts off, even in training. We worked probably even harder, but it just wasn’t clicking.

Whatever the reason was, we have a second year coach and a chance to make it right this year. Everyone seems to have the right attitude about it. This year, hopefully, is the year. We have a lot of veterans coming back, a lot of people who played at a really high level, so I’m hoping that this is the year that Orlando is not at the bottom of the table and that we can even make the playoffs and things like that. Right now it’s hard to say just because we’ve haven’t trained together as a team. But neither has anyone else. It’s really hard to say how we’re going to look, but I’m hoping we’re going to look great and we’re going to be making the playoffs this year.

USC’s McKenzie Forbes: From Gap Year to the NCAA Tournament

As part of our 1-v-1 video series, USC’s India Otto sat down to interview her teammate McKenzie Forbes. 

Here are five things to know from our conversation with the graduate transfer from Folsom, California.

#1 Inspired by USC’s Head Coach, Lindsay Gottlieb, McKenzie wants to be a basketball coach or work in the front office in the future.

When weighing in on what makes a good coach, McKenzie said x’s and o’s are important but “Coaching is a lot of relationship managing and people managing. I think you have to be a good people person and be able to build those relationships, but also in that same breath, you can’t be afraid to have people dislike you in moments. I think that’s a big part of leadership.”

#2 McKenzie says the trajectory of her career changed when she made the decision to transfer from Cal to Harvard.

 In order to transfer, she was forced to take a gap year and spend a lot of time in the gym. “I completely transformed my body and, going into the Harvard season, felt like I was a completely different player. Going to Harvard and playing in a more mid-major conference, I had the ball in my hands a lot more than I might have if I transferred to another Power 5. It really developed other parts of my game.”

#3 How does McKenzie think USC will do in the Women’s College Basketball Tournament?

“I’m not going to give a typical interview answer. I want a Final Four. We have that potential and capability. Like why not? Why not us? I think we have all the pieces.”

#4 Her older brother, Marcus, was her biggest mentor growing up.

“He was basically my trainer from Elementary school on until he went to college.”

#5 Fun facts about Forbes:

She can juggle and she was the quarterback of her Pop Warner football team. “I was slow but I could throw it!”

Watch the full conversation on the Just Women’s Sports YouTube channel.

Christen Press back training with Angel City FC

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 15: Christen Press #23 of Angel City FC waves to fans following a game between the Portland Thorns and Angel City FC at BMO Stadium on October 15, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Katharine Lotze/Getty Images)

Christen Press continues to inch her way back to a return, having returned to training with her club team Angel City. 

Angel City FC coach Becki Tweed said on Wednesday that Press is back with the team full-time as she continues to make her way back from an ACL injury. While she’s still working on rehab, her being back with the team gives staff a better picture of her progress. 

"Christen [Press] is back with us full time which is amazing,” she said. “Having her in and around the team every day, continuing to work hard on rehab ... she's in a space where being in with the team is really important to her and her progression as well.”

The status update comes days after Press posted videos to social media that featured her doing lateral movement in cleats on grass. 

“Look out world she’s on the move !” Press captioned it. 

Press has been sidelined with an ACL injury since 2022, which caused her to miss the 2023 World Cup. She’s since had four separate surgeries to help repair her ACL.

Press told The Athletic a month ago that she’s been “relentless” in her optimism with her recovery despite it being a “slow process.”

“I have a bit of relentless optimism,” she told The Athletic. “I never, ever doubted that I would make it back on any of the timelines I’ve been on."

"Every single time I’ve heard, ‘You have to have surgery,’ I’m completely shocked,” she said. “When somebody asks me how it’s going, I’m like, ‘It’s going great. And it was going great every time. So I don’t know what to tell you anymore!’”

Sophia Smith re-signs with Portland on record deal

(Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports)

Sophia Smith is now the NWSL’s highest-paid player. 

The Portland Thorns announced on Wednesday that they have signed Smith to a new contract through the 2025 season, with an option for 2026. While the terms of the deal were not disclosed, the team did reveal that Smith is now the highest-paid player in the league on an annual basis.

It’s the latest in what has been a series of record-breaking contracts in the NWSL offseason. 

Chicago Red Stars forward Mallory Swanson, Bay FC forward Racheal Kundananji, and Orlando Pride forward Barbra Banda all signed multi-year deals worth between $2 million and $2.5 million in total. While Smith’s contract is shorter and not worth as much over the long-term, the annual worth is higher. 

“We are over the moon to have Soph commit again to the Thorns. She is a proven, world-class talent and one that we are excited to have contribute to the team’s continued success,” said head coach Mike Norris in a statement. “We look forward to working with her in a Thorns jersey as she continues to shine as one of the top strikers in the world.”

In just four seasons in the NWSL, Smith has led the Thorns to five trophies – including the 2022 NWSL championship – while winning league and championship MVP in 2022. In 61 appearances with Portland, she has 34 goals – including a brace to start this season against Kansas City. 

She’s also a member of the USWNT, having scored 16 goals in 44 international appearances.  Set to become a free agent at the end of this season, she told ESPN she “thought of all the options” but ultimately Portland felt like the right decision.

"There is no place like Portland," Smith said in a small roundtable interview that included ESPN. "I don't believe there's an environment like Portland to play in and it's a city that's so special to me and a city that I feel like I've grown up in almost and become who I am."

She also told ESPN that the team’s new ownership “changes everything.” The club is now led by the Bhathal family, who bought the club after Merritt Paulson was forced to sell it following his part in the NWSL’s abuse scandal. 

"Since I've been here there has been a lot of things going on with this club -- a lot of not-great things going on with this club -- and I have just been waiting for some stability and some reassurance that this club is headed in the right direction, and the Bhathal family coming in is doing exactly that, if not more,” Smith said. 

"Their vision for this club is so exciting, and you can just tell how passionate they are about making this what it should be and continuing to push the standard in women's soccer globally.”

Caitlin Clark offered $5 million to compete in Ice Cube’s league

IOWA CITY, IOWA- MARCH 25: Guard Caitlin Clark #22 of the Iowa Hawkeyes celebrates as time runs out in the second half against the West Virginia Mountaineers during their second round match-up in the 2024 NCAA Division 1 Women's Basketball Championship at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on March 25, 2024 in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)

Caitlin Clark has been offered $5 million to play in Ice Cube's Big3 league, he confirmed on social media Wednesday after the offer leaked.

"We intended the offer to remain private while Caitlin Clark plays for the championship," Ice Cube wrote on social media. "But I won't deny what's now already out there: BIG3 made a historic offer to Caitlin Clark. Why wouldn't we? Caitlin is a generational athlete who can achieve tremendous success in the BIG3."

While there has yet to be a women's player in the league, both Nancy Lieberman and Lisa Leslie have been part of the league as coaches and won championships.

"The skeptics laughed when we made Nancy Lieberman the first female coach of a men's pro team, and she won the championship in her first year," Ice Cube continued. "Then Lisa Leslie won it all in year two. With our offer, Caitlin Clark can make history and break down even more barriers for women athletes."

Ice Cube, whose name is O’Shea Jackson, says that the offer was made with the intention that Clark be able to compete in the WNBA “offseason.” Clark is largely expected to be the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft in April. But it’s unclear how the scheduling of the two leagues would work. 

The 2024 Big3 season is set to tip off on June 15, with 10 games spanning through mid-August. The WNBA regular season, meanwhile, begins on May 14 and ends on Sept. 19.

On “The Pat McAfee Show” on Wednesday, Jackson said that the league has yet to hear back from Clark. 

“We just need an answer, as soon as they are ready to give it to us,” he said. “It’s always 50-50 till we get a no. At the end of the day, it’s a generous offer.”

The offer – as well as the confusion on Jackson’s part about the timing of the WNBA season – caused some current WNBA players to react. 

"It's funny cause I be seeing his son at W games.. they don't talk?" wrote former No. 1 pick Rhyne Howard

"So no other women's basketball player has came to mind in the last 7 years?" wrote Lexie Brown, adding that she'd support if Ice Cube wanted to build a women's iteration of the league. She later discussed it on the Gils Arena Show, noting that his reasoning of wanting to “uplift and support WNBA players and women athletes” is a “cop out.”

Kalani Brown, meanwhile, told Clark to "take that money" and start a women's Big3.

WNBA salaries has been a talking point in recent months as more collegiate stars declare for the league. WNBA stars have often made more money playing abroad than they have in the WNBA. Clark is expected to be the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft on April 15, with a rookie salary of $76,535 for lottery draft picks (Nos. 1-4) that rises to $97,582 by her fourth season. But she also has an NIL valuation of almost $3.5 million.

Diana Taurasi famously skipped the 2015 WNBA season at the request of her Russian club, who paid her more to sit out than she would have made in the W. Her contract with the club was reportedly near $1.5 million per year.

Jackson also seemed to suggest that his league could be an alternative to going abroad

“America’s women athletes should not be forced to spend their off seasons playing in often dismal and dubious foreign countries just to make ends meet,” he wrote. Although it’s unclear whether or not the rapper intends to make offers to additional WNBA players. 

While the league does hold prioritization rules in its CBA, those typically apply only to players playing in overseas leagues. It’s unclear whether or not that would prevent Clark’s participation in the Big3 league.

WNBA players that don’t want to go overseas currently have the option of playing in Athletes Unlimited, which competes in the WNBA offseason.

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