Gloria & Yael Averbuch: Chapter 4 - Enriching Your Life through Soccer

Being an athlete and entrepreneur, I find to be very similar. All the values that my parents really instilled in me as a young person was that you have this vision, one that you should dream big. You know, create a vision. If you see a professional athlete on tv, you can be that athlete. If you see somebody, a product that's not out there, that should be out there, create that product. So it's having the vision, but then it's also the dichotomy of the little stuff every day that goes into that vision. So I think certainly those same lessons apply to both athletics and entrepreneurship. It's the end vision, but then it's the little nitty gritty stuff that needs to be done every single day, day in and day out. And a lot of people get bored of it. But I find there's great joy in building those habits and building that consistency over.

You're listening to the Vision of a Champion Podcast with Anson Dorrance, eight time coach of the year, 22 time national champion coach of the 1991 Women's World Cup Team, hall of Famer, leader and mentor to so many in the soccer community. On this podcast, Anson brings on players and coaches to discuss what it means to be a champion. The drive, the passion, the desire, and yes, the the stories. Here's your host, Voice of the North Carolina Courage and North Carolina FC Dean Linke.

Hello again everyone, and welcome to another the Vision of a Champion podcast. I'm your host, Dean Linke, longtime soccer broadcaster and the longtime voice to the North Carolina Courage women's professional soccer team. For today's episode of the podcast, we will take a look at chapter four titled Enriching youg Life Through Soccer. This chapter goes into greater depth on how soccer can improve the life of those who play it. Anson Dorrance gives the reader a look behind the curtains to see how he connects soccer to character development for each of his players. This chapter is filled with great advice from Anson, former UNC players, and other accomplished athletes. Chapter four is a staple for what makes the Vision of a Champion such a great book. We are joined by two outstanding guests. First, we have Gloria Averbush, the co author of this great book, Vision of a Champion with Anson. She has a plethora of popular books about sports, health and fitness. Speaking of fitness, Gloria is an amazing long distance runner with numerous accomplishments. And as much as we should thank Gloria, we should also be thanking her daughter Yael for inadvertently giving her the inspiration to write this book. And it just so happens that Yael Averbush is our other guest for today's episode. She played at UNC from 2005 to 2008, winning two national championships in 06 and 08. One of her more remarkable collegiate achievements is that Yael holds the record for the fastest goal scored in NCAA history at 4 seconds. After completing her college career, Yael played professional soccer across the globe, but eventually landed in the NWSL where she is now the co executive director of the Players Association. Yael is also a business owner with the launch of her app, Techni Football. The app centers around individual training for aspiring soccer talent, a concept that seems more applicable today than ever before. Right. And we are ecstatic to have these two outstanding guests for today's episode. Two women who embodied the idea of enriching your life through sports. And of course, we have the other co author of the Vision of a Champion and the coach of Yael, the greatest college sports coach of all time. Any sport, any gender, full stop. Anson Dorrance. On top of his NCAA and World championships, many of Anson's players have credited him for turning soccer into more than just a sport. His revolutionary approach to coaching has helped him use soccer to improve the lives of not just his players, but but everyone who has had the pleasure to work with him or hear him speak. And that includes me. Welcome to all three of you and really excited to have all three of you here. So I start with you, Yael. At 10 years old, most young girls and boys want to sleep till 1pm and roll their eyes at their mom at every occasion. You, you wanted to be a champion at unc.

Yeah, well, first of all, I definitely still was rolling my eyes at my mom at every occasion. So I got that part down. But yeah, I think, you know, soccer has always been my singular focus and it's been something that's guided me throughout some really difficult times, including those teenage years when it's sometimes, you know, kids get pulled all different directions. So from a very early age, I had this mission and it was really informed by those Dynasty tapes and listening to my mom's rendition of kind of like what went on for me as a young player is that that was the beginning of literally what has shaped my entire life. And even today, I see so much of myself in that young girl and in those Dynasty tapes and everything I learned about the UNC system, having watched and read about it, but then actually experiencing it myself.

Gloria. Anson always talks about the difference good parents make in developing character, even before he gets to work with them. As much as you saw inspiration in Anson, Yael must have inspired you so much then and then during your time at UNC and even more today, as she not only is an uber successful businesswoman, but she is about to make you a very proud grandmother.

Let me just first say, Dean, that when we begin to discuss this, it reminds me all over again of the fullness of the experience. And I know you are going to get into this, but I am literally transported back to how rich of an experience it was to be involved with the UNC women's soccer program. The first thing I remember is when I went to drop Yael off, which is a, you know, a life changing moment for any parent. You're dropping your child off at college. And as she turned to walk away right after that, they did their first fitness session. And so the way I feel about my first moment through Yael is defined by the 120s, the intense fitness that everybody knows about at UNC. And she had worked all summer, and she aced those 120s without throwing up, which, if you talk to alumni, that's like a big accomplishment. So you have to understand that UNC is like a really frightening place to go for a woman soccer player. It's the reputation, it's the intensity, it's the expectations. You understand you're going to be very tested. But watching Yael with the grit and determination in those four years at unc, all the way along with the bravery and quiet strength that she developed and mostly all the other players and their relationships and how special they were, that was a huge inspiration to me. And she remains that until today. So it just keeps on going. Those roots that were created there that I lived with watching her and about.

Being a grandmother, oh, wow, I'm overwhelmed.

All I can think about is all the women who say how much easier it is when you know you can turn around and walk away and they don't snap at you. And watch Elle quaking in her boots as karma comes back since she's having a daughter and she fears those moments when the daughter does to her what she did to me. That's what she says anyway.

What a great sound bite.

Anson, there are too many amazing people you have influenced over your decades of unparalleled success. But when you think about this book and its inspiration and Yael as a 10 year old and Gloria as a mother who wanted nothing but Yael to achieve her dreams, what do these two people mean to you, Anson?

Well, they mean an extraordinary amount in all kinds of ways. We obviously. This book that Gloria and I collaborated on has Been wonderful. And when it was produced, you know, we didn't really know how Yael was going to develop as a player. I love the book. Looking through it now and reading through it now, I love it even more because so much of what we're doing right now at unc, you can see the seeds in this book, especially, by the way, this chapter, chapter four. So we're out there and we're scouting the youngel, and all of a sudden, one of the worst things you can do is to recruit the daughter of a friend. It's one of the absolute worst things you can do because then you're in between this rock and this hard place. Because what you're thinking, you know, oh my gosh, if the kid doesn't play much, it's going to separate your relationship with your friend. And so Chris and I are there on the sidelines, fully expecting us not to be recruiting Yael because we don't want to make the mistake of bringing in a kid that doesn't play. I mean, there's nothing worse for the parent. There's nothing worse for the kid. And all of a sudden we're looking at her and I can't remember if she was 14, 15, or 16, but we looked at each other and we shook our heads and we said, you know what, we've got a recruiter. She can really play. So then we went after her because, you know, obviously I'm recruiting Gloria's daughter. So gosh, could this destroy my relationship with her? Especially if you el comes in, doesn't get on the field, doesn't have a good experience. But Chris and I are looking at each other, shaking our heads because we came to the conclusion at the same moment, Yael was a quality soccer player and boy, did she have some great tools. And so from that moment on, we were thinking, yep, we got to get her. She can play. And sure enough, she was a four year starter her freshman year. She was the basically piano carrier for Lori Colupny, one of the all time UNC greats. And then in a year where I have never seen a player improve this much in one year, Yael went from one level to the stratosphere. The year after Cholupne graduated because she took a very average team to the national championship her sophomore year, winning every accolade along the way. A national player of the year. She was our leading scorer. She was scoring goal after goal after goal after goal. And she just had an incredible four years for us at North Carolina and history was made.

So with that Anson as we dive into chapter four of a vision of a champion titled Enriching youg Life Through Soccer, you start this chapter with a powerful quote from Jesse Diggins, the first American to ever win gold in cross country skiing at the Winter Olympics. And she says, quote, I'm nothing special. I'm nothing out of the ordinary, but the one thing I can do is just suffer and. And suffer well and embrace it and move through it. Now, Anson, her quote basically says that it's not about your skis or winning the gold. It's about what you can do to test yourself physically and mentally. And you quickly tie it to the question, how are soccer and life connected? So I got to ask you, Anson, to explain how soccer and life are connected.

I'm not one of these people that thinks that if you're a great sportsman, you're going to be a great individual. I don't think it has that sort of relationship. I think there's so many amazing athletes that are, frankly, jerks. So I don't think just because you're really good in a sport does it deliver character, but I think it reveals character. And the thing I love about the challenges that these kids face when they jump in with us at the University of North Carolina, by the end of their four years, we know absolutely everything about them, because in our game, that's a contact sport, there is physical risk, there is injury, there is disappointment, there is loss. But the other things we get to see on a consistent basis is grit, perseverance, you know, commitment to being the best. And what I love about having Yael on this show is watching her evolve as a wonderful player development coach of herself, because she took a friend of hers, Sterling Smith, and these two from, I guess, the end of Yael's freshman year to the following season, and their development and commitment to master the ball and get to their potential was extraordinary. So you are seeing character. You're seeing this extraordinarily strong woman and her friend decide, you know what, we're going to commit ourselves to this, and we're going to become a lot better. I think it really can expose who you are, and in this case, what was exposed was an extraordinary human being, and her character was there for everyone to see.

Gloria, in this chapter, and as you just heard him say, Anson believes that developing the soccer life connection is as difficult developing soccer skill itself. What is something that you did as a parent to help your children build that connection?

I think first we have to understand that like everything else UNC talks about, it's an Evolution, we don't know. While we're going through things and learning things about being a soccer player, and this includes being a soccer parent, we're a part of the UNC experience as well. But I'd say there's two things, and Anson talks about this as well. You can teach as a parent by example. That means that all the values and the requirements to succeed at UNC are universal. They're about discipline, commitment, focus, hard work, overcoming adversity. So whatever it is you're doing in your life, whether it's your job, your career, your hobby, cooking a meal, all of those things serve to teach your children. And I know this because Yael talks all the time about growing up. And the first thing she would see was rain or shine. Her parents would get up and do a workout, even if it meant there was snow outside and I was jumping rope. I never thought about this, but, like, children absorb everything. And I think the second thing parents can do, and you have to be careful with this one, but it's a constant communication with your child. You don't do it after UNC has just lost their first game in 50 games, and you know your kid's a goalkeeper and let the goal. You don't do it at times like that. But one of the things that's so beautiful about Techni football and Yael training on her own is when she goes and hits it against the wall and does her skill, she would often go with a parent, invite one of us. And those were the times these talks happened where as a parent, you can sort of begin the conversation that discusses the values by letting and interviewing your child and seeing how they feel about the different soccer experiences. And I think it's through those two sides of the coin that the player as a person grows and that you grow as a parent. And you've imparted really important values to your awesome Yael.

In many ways, even as you become a mom here shortly, soccer will always be your life. Right. Have you thought about how you will apply what you have learned from having the vision of a champion, from, in fact, being a champion to being a mom?

I mean, well, like we kind of pointed out, I had a wonderful role model. I messed with my mom a lot. She embarrassed the crap out of me over the years. But really what she said is very true, is that she embodied all of the qualities, literally from the time I can first remember that are necessary to be successful in anything you do in life, and especially as an athlete and her being an athlete herself. So when it comes to being a strong woman, resilient person, somebody who doesn't shy away from obstacles or difficulties and consistently works at their trade. I mean, I saw that literally every day of my life without even knowing it. So for me, if I can do any bit as good a job as that, it just being that example. I think I'm set up for success here. But really, I joke with my mom all the time. I said karma is going to get me because all the times I was embarrassed by her and mean to her and stuff, I know it's coming my.

Way too well, because she helped you not only as an athlete, but in your current role as an entrepreneur, right?

Absolutely. And I think, you know, being an athlete and entrepreneur, I find to be very similar. All the values that my parents really instilled in me as a young person was that you have this vision, one that you should dream big. You know, create a vision. If you see a professional athlete on tv, you can be that athlete. If you see somebody, a product that's not out there, that should be out there, create that product. So it's having the vision, but then it's also the dichotomy of the little stuff every day that goes into that vision. So I think certainly those same lessons apply to both athletics and entrepreneurship. It's the end vision, but then it's the little nitty gritty stuff that needs to be done every single day, day in and day out, and a lot of people get bored of it. But I find there's great joy in building those habits and building that consistency over time.

Hey everyone, we're going to take a quick break here to tell you about our sponsor, soccer.com. anson has been coaching for 44 years and it seems like soccer.com has been around nearly that long as well. It's pretty close as the soccer.com business has been family run and based in Hillsborough, North Carolina since 19 1984. If you're a player or a coach who needs soccer shoes, equipment, gear, whatever it may be, do what the pros do. Head on over to soccer.com this is Dean Linke. I hope you've been enjoying the podcast and I wanted to make you aware that Anson just released a new audiobook version of his hardcover book, the Vision of a Champion. Now you can listen to the book, narrated by Anson Dorrance, and switch back to the free podcast to hear the stars of the women's game discuss each chapter. The Vision of a Champion audiobook is available on Apple Books, Amazon's, Audible, Google Play, or wherever you get your audiobooks. To find it, simply search the vision of a champion audiobook. Now, let's get back to the show. Anson, obviously, we've had a front row seat to hear how the sport helped Yael and Gloria as women. Would you be able to summarize your beginnings with soccer and how the sport helped you grow as a young man?

Actually, for me, it wasn't really soccer. It was just sport in general. I was listening to Rachel Maddow the other night, and she was interviewing an expert, and it was really interesting the way she described the credentials for this expert. And then all of a sudden, the expert asked her something to the effect of, you know, well, what are you an expert at? And what came out of her mouth was really interesting. She said, I. I am an expert in reading comprehension. And I was thinking, what a wonderful answer, because I know what that means, because this woman, obviously is extraordinarily well read. She communicates absolutely beautifully. She explains complex issues to me, and I really admire her. So it caused me to reflect what I'm an expert at. And for me, it's not so much soccer, but I just love sports. And my area of expertise is competition. That's what I'm an expert at. I'm an expert at competing. And so the value I have in helping a player get to his or her potential is I can train them in competition. And I think what sets our environment apart is the cauldron, the fact that everything counts. And why is the cauldron, I guess, our specialty? Because I wanted to design a program I would want to play in. And for me, sports is all about competition. I guess what I've really learned from sport is this capacity to compete. And here's what's interesting about competition. Of course, you don't always win. You don't always win. And so what happens when you don't win? Well, there's this moment when obviously, there's a bit of a loss of confidence, and then obviously, you have to recover. And then there's this little seed germinating in you. That's this little debate that goes on in your head about quitting or rolling over, feeling sorry for yourself. And this debate goes on for a bit, and then all of a sudden, you've lasted a little longer. And then all of a sudden, you're saying, well, I think I want to get back into this. And then by the next day, of course, you fully recovered, and now you've committed yourself even more to the next level. And so, for me, this is what I love about Sport. We added this core value a couple years ago with our leadership council. And it's a core value about accountability. And here's what it says. This is the biggest challenge for the millennials. Now is the period to escape the protections of loving parents who don't want you to get hurt. And of course, when Gloria gave me Yael. Now, basically, we don't want Yael to get hurt, but here's the environment she was sent into. You have four years to get ready for the chaos of the universe. So this is my job now to help Yael get ready for the chaos of the universe. And here's what we stole to add to this accountability, basically, core value. I found this in a gazette at the University of North Carolina. They are honoring Mark Cohen. Mark Cohen is an award winning UNC assistant professor of English and Comparative literature. When asked who was the best teacher you ever had and why, said this the best teacher I've ever had is failure. Samuel Beckett said it best ever tried, ever failed. No matter. Try again, fail again, fail better. And here's the quote all the kids have to memorize. Some want to be exempt. They do not want to excel. They do not want to exert. They want to be considered excellent for desiring to be held exempt from all accountability. And what protects them from all accountability? Their own narrative that is not interested in exploring their potential, but is crafted to keep them comfortable while recruiting every possible excuse along the way. So how do we want to live? To paraphrase Alex Ferguson of Manufame, we want to take responsibility for our own actions, our own errors, our own performance level, and eventually for every result. And what I absolutely loved about coaching Yael was watching her obviously struggle one day in practice. And then you could see her commit herself to trying to get to another level in this or that or the other thing. And now we basically have Techni football in our champions Almanac in the summer for our kids. Why? Because I have so much admiration for what Yael has done in terms of her own improvement. So she is that expert on player development. And all of this comes with working and working and working. And trust me, a lot of that work you're failing, but then having the capacity to come back and grind again the next day.

It's why we have technique football. But it's that kind of eloquence and depth. It's also why we have the vision of a champion. So, Gloria Anson, I got to ask you, as you wrote, the vision of a champion, Anson actually told you that his philosophical approach to the Game would be considered bizarre by the standards of most other coaches. Gloria, did you think and feel that?

Wait a minute. First of all, I'm from California, which is like the capital of the world of navel gazing. There is no way that that could have meant anything to me. But more pertaining perhaps to more truth finding. As a lifelong athlete, I knew myself that as time went on that it was much deeper than just what I was doing. It was about my relationship with my own dad. It was about being a girl in a time when it was hard to be athletic. And then as I got older and got into other sports, not only did I write about them a lot, but I understood all the time about what it was creating for me physically, psychologically, the relationships with other people. So I never had a doubt. In fact, that was the way as a soccer parent, I enjoyed viewing what my children were doing with that added depth to it.

Anson, your follow up to those comments.

Well, I think Gloria articulated it perfectly. I mean, everyone's transition, they come from their own culture. We are trying to get the kids to transfer into our culture. When I recruit a kid like Yael, obviously I know what her skill set is. I know what her potential is. And now we're going to challenge her by basically having her lose in practice every day, and then to see what her reaction is. Is she going to roll over and collapse and feel sorry for herself? No. I mean, she went back to work. So I am completely with everything that Gloria said. And I think a part of what we're trying to do is we are. We're in the business of training these extraordinary human beings. And in my opinion, how do you help them get there? Not by pampering them or by, you know, protecting them, but from the chaos of the universe. No, by exposing them to it and seeing if they can stand up to it. And if they do get knocked down, can they recover and get back up? And so, for me, that's what I enjoy watching over the course of four years. But not just then. I mean, a part of what I'm enjoying right now is Yael's success. And not just as a player, but as a young businesswoman, that is filling a huge niche in our game. Because let's face it, right now in the United States, for us to continue to dominate on the women's side, but also get even more aggressive on the men's side, what has to be a part of our basically playing personality, Ball mastery. And there are few people in the world right now that are as good at teaching this as Yael is through her app.

Yael, we already said you were the inspiration for this book, so I've got to ask you, and I don't have to tell you to be honest, because you always are. What do you remember about Anson's philosophical approach? Did you consider it bizarre at all?

No, it was my bible. I mean, as a young girl with dreams and aspirations of playing at that level, that was the way to do it. So I literally, when my mom was talking about the Dynasty VHS tapes we had, I mean, I could repeat Anson's words and phrasing on there verbatim to you. I remember them almost by heart. And so for me, what Anson has always provided seemed to be the blueprint. I never thought of it as bizarre. And then having lived it and actually experienced it for my four years in college, I think it became even truer. And even more important to understand is that everything Anson says about teaching these players to first and foremost be strong, resilient, quality human beings is really the case. That was always the emphasis. There was something quite larger than what went on on the field. And I think that that was the part that I couldn't quite tell as a young girl learning about the philosophy and hearing Anson's voice on the tape recorder that my mom would bring back from her visits to Chapel Hill is that you hear about the competitive cauldron, you hear about, you know, the drills and you hear the words. But having then lived it, it becomes all the more real and, I think even more powerful. But, yeah, certainly I was immersed in this philosophy, and it seemed to me to be the guiding light. This was the way to do things if you wanted to be great at anything you do in life, not just on the soccer field.

So being immersed in it, Yael, as a follow up during your time at UNC and then even your time wearing the red, white, and blue, and even your time today, when people asked you, hey, what are you guys doing over there? How are you so successful? What's going on? What are you drinking? What are you eating? What is Anson saying? What was your answer?

Well, you know what's funny is I think Anson said this himself at one point, and it really struck me is that there are absolutely no secrets to anything Anson does, and no one else can still replicate it. And that's the way that the program is handled as a whole. There are no secrets. It's full transparency. You know, how good or how bad you are at something. You know, who's faster than you, who's slower than you, who shot the ball better than you out of 100 shots and who you did better than. And I think that's a very freeing thing. And it's a very freeing thing that literally, Anson has laid out in all of his books and all of his tapes and podcasts, everything he has told everybody, the quote, unquote secret, and still nobody seems to be able to quite replicate it. Because I think there is this intangible that has been built over years and years, and when you talk about building a culture, I think that's what it is. It's more than the X's and O's that literally are all out there. Like, I could have told you, our formation and everyone's roles and responsibilities before I even got there, because it's. It's all public. But there's an intangible that Anson brings and even his presence on the field. You know, I remember days when. A few days when I was there when Anson wasn't at training, and then how apparent it was, or he showed up a few minutes late or something. And when his. At the time, the black Acura you drove, Anson, when that car showed up in the parking lot, like, everything changed. So there's this aura surrounding the environment he creates. It's gritty. I think that's what it's about. It's about always, too, like, wanting to prove yourself and every single moment needing to reprove yourself. And so it's interesting because, yeah, all. There is absolutely no mystery to it. Anyone who wants to know about the success of the program, all the information is there yet to really feel it and to understand it, I think, truly, and the depth of the culture that's been built from following and executing that plan after year after year, you have to be there, and you have to watch it, and you have to take part in it because there's some magic sauce to it, in addition to everything that's laid out.

So much truth to that magic sauce. Yeah. Al Chapter four, A Vision of a Champion, draws some comparisons between men's and women's soccer. And one of the more prominent differences is how the women's game is much more honorable and fair. That is true. Why do you think diving and drawing cheap fouls is not a common tactic for women's soccer?

You know, this is a. I've gotten this question a number of times over the years, actually, and I find it difficult to really know an answer. I think that the women's game has developed with a different culture than the men's, and that's for sure. And one Thing I is that, well, first of all, a lot of the women that I've played with over the years have come through program and historically our national team has been full of players who have been coached by Anson. So maybe not single handedly, but pretty close. Anson has truly shaped the culture of women's soccer in this country at least. And that's a culture that appreciates honesty and integrity and winning, but not winning at all costs. And I think sometimes people misunderstand what UNC is all about when we about think, talk about the legacy and the dynasty because there's so much of a history of winning. But it's not winning at all costs. It's winning with integrity and doing it the right way. And I think that in general, the women's game appreciates that, appreciates a certain level of integrity. And the men's game certainly has a deeper history and maybe there's sometimes more on the line in terms of money and other things. But in the women's game still to this day, I think we have a lot of integrity and human beings who want to win, but I would say not at all costs. They want to win the right way.

Anson, former UNC player Tracy Bates Leone, who is in the picture behind me as part of that 91 team, writes a wonderful section in the chapter about attitude for young players that are pursuing the highest levels of soccer. What is the attitude you want them to hear?

Well, obviously she was an extraordinary example of that. And first of all, Yael, I really appreciated what you just shared because you're right. In practice, if one of my kids is grabbing the jersey of another player, I will stop practice and point it out and I will ban it. I don't believe that. I don't want you to cheat. And obviously what you hear the commentator saying in almost every men's game, well, they had to make that foul. That was a good tactical foul. And you can see all this stuff going on that in my opinion, just isn't worthy of the game that I would like to play. So Yael, what you shared I really appreciate, so thank you. And this is something Tracy did and I was on the phone with her the other night because of course I've just reread chapter four and rereading what she says in chapter four just went right to the middle of my heart. And so I called her up and we reminisced a bit. And I tell this story all the time. And for the first time now, I'm going to actually tell the truth about this story. And I Think she will appreciate it, and I know her mother will. We were in Riva del Garda, I think, and this is the first event where Tracy Bates went to the bench, and the girl that took her place in the field was Christine Lilly. And of course, this is traumatic because Tracy had been my starter at left midfield, and then all of a sudden, she's on the bench. And Gloria will love to hear this. I used to go out for a run every night when I was, you know, with the national team. And so it's late at night. There's only one phone in the hotel that can reach the United States from this place in Italy. And this, obviously, is pre cell phone era. I'm outside, stretching, about to run, and I can hear Tracy on the phone with her mother. And of course, I can only hear her side of the conversation. And this is what I hear. No, Anson's not mad at me. And then there's this pause as her mother's talking. And then I can hear Tracy go, no, I passed all my fitness tests. And then obviously, her mother's talking again. And then I can hear her start to choke up.

And.

And I hear her say, don't you understand, Mom? Christine is better than I am. Don't you understand? Christine is better. So my heart is just cracking in my chest as this extraordinary woman is protecting me from her mother that's trying to throw me under the bus, you know, oh, yeah, he plays for you. And then all of a sudden, you know, you work your rear end off and you win the start. And all of a sudden, this young kid shows up, and now you're on the bench. This is ridiculous. I mean, so basically, the mother was setting her up to basically desert me, and she didn't. Now, truth be told, it wasn't her mother on the phone. It was her boyfriend, Ray Leone. So the thing that's so cool about that section that Tracy writes is she lives it. Sure, you can be the sort of coach that says, yeah, team first, or, you know, always support the team and its mission before yourself, but how many of us have actually lived it? Tracy Bates lived it, and behind my back, because she didn't know that I could listen in. She is defending me. She is defending me. I mean, how many of us would defend, you know, the coach when we have got an ally that is trying to tell us, you should be starting, you are being cheated? Almost every one of us would jump into that trap, and she didn't. And then, of course, what was even cooler is we're out there competing for the World cup in 1991. And they're asking every girl in the World cup because they have a sort of a model profile of every player. And the question they asked every girl in that World cup is, who is your favorite soccer player? Back then, almost every girl said, pele, this is before there were any real female role models out there. And every girl said, play, play.

Not Tracy Bates. She said, christine Lilly, who is your favorite soccer player in the world? And she said it was the girl that put her on the bench. Are you kidding me?

Wow.

This is why she is an expert on attitude. She lives it. And I was so proud when her youth team won the U19 World Championship, because I'll tell you this, every one of those girls I know had an extraordinary attitude because you had to to play for Tracy. And right now, her daughter's about to graduate from high school. And I asked her, I said, tracy, you got to get back in the game. Please let me know and I'll help you get a job somewhere. Because we need that kind of role model. Not just the great player role model, but the great human being role model. So we need people like Tracy Bates Leone back in this game, coaching it at the highest level.

What a great breakdown of attitude and what a great story. However you tell it, Anson, it works for anyone that's going to hear it for sure. Gloria, you heard him talk about fitness. He plugged himself for running because you are one of the fittest people in the world. You've wrote a lot of books about nutrition for female soccer players, and you have often credited Anson for his promotion of female athletes, training and even bulking up. Talk a little bit about that.

I want to give. This is a huge point of credit to Anson because of his progressive thinking about an issue that hasn't in time with women's being more empowered, gotten better. I think it's just as bad today as it's always been. And that is the idea of girls or females wanting to get big or strong, such as they'll go into a weight room. And I just had this conversation with a course I was taking here in college for athletic trainers. And I pleaded with them, please understand, you're going to start doing resistance training. And those girls will say, oh, I do want to be stronger. I just don't want to get bigger. And the way I counter that argument with this, I always use this fabulous visual. The way Anson explains it, why is it that men want to get bigger, sit bigger, stand bigger, lift to get bigger, dominate a space, and want the power and women want to get smaller and in a less powerful position and take up less space. It's literally a metaphor that's physical, that you can understand. And this is a big battle. So I do give credit because I can still, in my mind's eye, see the players, the group of women players, when I watch those hundreds of games at unc, and I don't ever remember seeing someone who looked small in a stereotypical, fragile sense. Obviously, they all had different builds, but these were strong women who were trained and socialized at that UNC program to take up space. And this is such a big issue right now that if you took away only one thing, of all the wonderful human attributes that Carolina soccer emblemizes and promotes, this would be one of the most vital and important.

I love it. Yeah. I love your mom, and I know Anson loves your moms, too. That's why they collaborated on this book with your inspiration and before Yael, we learned about your training app and finished this great breakdown of chapter four. I mentioned earlier, that goal that you scored in four seconds, how in the world did you do it? I know it's on YouTube, but do your best to describe that amazing goal.

Yeah. So Anson's memory here may be different than mine, but this is. I'll see how accurate I am here. I do remember, actually, the game beforehand. I don't know who we were playing before we took the kickoff. You know, I was at the time attacking center mid. So I was involved in the kickoff, and Chris Dukar was yelling, like he was trying to signal to me, shoot, shoot. And I was kind of annoyed because I was thinking, like, I thought he meant during the run of play in the game. I said, I know we've talked about this. I know I'm supposed to take a lot of shots. Like, I kind of brushed him off because I was pretty irritated. And so I. You know, we did our normal kickoff where you touch it forward, you go back, whatever. Whatever the norm was. And then after the game, he talked to me. He said, no. I was saying, look up. The goalkeeper was off her line. You should shoot. So then, of course, the next game, I was reluctant to do this. I thought, okay, great. This could be real embarrassing. I know. Obviously, like, it's a good little message you could send a goalkeeper if they're off their line. But I don't know if I want to be the one to be that bold. So, of course, I look up the next game, and we were playing against Yale, and the goalkeeper was off her line. And so I kind of like Sheepishly glanced over, and I knew I had no choice, because, of course, if I didn't do it again, I was really going to be in trouble. And so, you know, I kind of half reluctantly just went up and struck the ball, and I was just hoping, honestly, that it reached anywhere near the goal. But, you know, the second it went off my foot, I kind of thought, like, oh, that wasn't half bad. And then, of course, like, never actually expected to score. You know, you expect the best case scenario is the goalkeeper gets the message and steps a couple steps back and tips it over the bar or something. But, yeah, so, I mean, it was at the time I remember laughing hysterically and almost. It was hard to focus on the rest of the game, but never actually imagined that this would be something that would follow me for years and years. And glad someone had a video camera there, because that was a time where not all the games were even being recorded. So it was lucky that it got caught on tape.

Anson, what's better than Yael versus Yale in four seconds?

Well, first of all, she's entirely accurate. The game that we wanted you to shoot off the kickoff before that was against SMU. So the SMU keeper was even higher than the Yale goalkeeper. The SMU keeper was, I think, about on the 12th. And we knew you could kick it over her head. That's why we were trying to get you to, you know, basically shoot the. Actually, the Yale goalkeeper was on the six, so the SMU keeper was on the 12. The Yale goalkeeper was on the six. And so, of course, I've seen this a thousand times. So here's what happens against Yale. When Yael hit it, the goalkeeper sort of takes a little jump. Like, did she actually shoot that? So she actually hesitated because she couldn't believe that Yael had shot it. And then all of a sudden, she realized that she had shot it. And by the time she recovered enough to see that the ball was about to go into the net, then she started to scramble back. By then, of course, it was too late.

Make no mistake, we could go all day with the three of you. You three are brilliant. I do want to get one. One more question in here for Yael. As both your mom and Anson have talked about it already, this soccer training app, technique, football, launched over three years ago, yet your focus on individual training is more applicable today than maybe you ever thought. In this pandemic, the only training a lot of young athletes can get is in their backyard or driveway. Could you tell us a little bit about this technique football and how it is being utilized to continue the training of thousands of athletes during this pandemic.

Yeah, so I think a really important thing for me over the years has always been the work I've done on my own. You know, it was, that was the time when I was always able to make the most improvement. I kind of, I would be with my team during the season, I would see where I need to improve, and then I would use the off season to absolutely grind and make as much improvement as I could. So for me, technique football is about one, providing players with a blueprint of the things you can do with a ball when you're on your own. So giving them the creative ideas, not just during this time when they're isolated and can't train with their team, but the things they should be doing all the time to truly become a master of the ball. And our technique as players is one thing that's totally in our control. So how do you become two footed? Well, you get to the wall and you do inside of the right, inside of the left laces of the right laces at the left. So there's the blueprint aspect of literally what do you do if you go out with your ball to get better. And then there's a tracking element too. That's largely based in what I learned at UNC has a leaderboard. So there's a competitive element and it's all out there. You literally can track how much time you spent training, the scores you've gotten on various drills and keep a training log in that way and compete with others. So really right now, you know, especially, I think players are getting in a really good habit of thinking about the things they can be doing on their own to kind of speed up their development and make sure they're covering all those bases. But those are habits and thought processes that we hope they'll take with them once they're back training with their team two, three, four times a week. Is that this is still the stuff you do, but it's the in between.

We opened up this show, the breakdown of chapter four, talking about the inspiration for the book, the vision of a champion. It was a 10 year old Yael Averbush. As we close, we'll start with you, Mrs. Averbush, mother of Yael. Here she goes now, inspiring future athletes exactly the way she inspired you to write this book. How in the world does that make you feel?

You know, today sort of gives it a rebirth to remember what my overriding feeling thought is about her, about Anson and about the program I think particularly now in this time in the world, which is a very difficult time, it gives you a deeper sense about appreciating the privilege of what the game represents. And that means physically, for health, for strength, emotionally, psychologically. And it's true for Yael, the player, coaches, parents, you, Dean, as a media person who lives from and enjoys the game. I think it's this huge sense of privilege and understanding what a gift all of this was. And then finally, bottom line, just as the vision of a champion says or preaches, this is about life. It really is about life and how big this makes the game and how grateful that I feel for my daughter and for all of the thousands and millions of people that she's continuing to deliver that message to. I feel a deep sense of pride and grat. So that's my bottom line.

I like that bottom line. Anson, as the patriarch of all these gifts from these amazing women, how does it make you feel?

Well, I was thinking while Gloria was chatting just then to us, the vision of a champion was me seeing Mia working on her own in a park, and so thought it was wonderfully appropriate for that. Mia Hamm, note the vision of a champion, of someone who was bent over, drenched in sweat at the point of exhaustion when no one's watching. That's what Yael has separated herself with as a player, but also now in what she's doing as a professional. And so obviously, a part of, you know, Gloria and I getting together was to try to inspire people to work on their own. And so for me, you know, to have both of these extraordinary women on our podcast is very appropriate, but also to sort of check the box about what that quote was all about. That quote is what you do on your own. And for me, watching Mia, I knew that was the final measure in her athletic greatness. I knew that was going to take her to the promised land. And honestly, as Yael knows and as Gloria knows and as any someone that understands elite performance knows, it is the stuff you do on your own that is the margin of victory, but it's also the critical athletic character piece that if you're missing it, you're not going to go anywhere. And what I love about what Yale's doing now is she's giving shortcuts for people to get there faster, because now she's got all these different ideas that can accelerate your growth. And now what you have to do is you have to find that wall on your own and get to work on a daily basis and to challenge yourself to see how much better you can get so publicly. I just want you, Elle and Gloria to know how much I respect you both and going through that book again. Gloria, holy cow. I'm so appreciative that you and I put this thing together because there's some great messages in that. So thank you Yael and Gloria and Dean, great job guiding us through chapter four.

It is indeed my pleasure as that was the great Anson Dorrance, Yael and Gloria Averbush. Gloria has a fantastic collection of books that provide useful information and advice for young athletes that all of you should check out. On top of reading one of Glorial's books, download Yael's app Technique Football to get a whole database of information, drills and advice to take your game to the next level. If you like this show, one way you can support our work is to subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen and leave us a rating and review as well. This show was edited and produced by Creative Allies. If you're looking for information on full circumstances service podcast production, head on over to creative allies.com I'm Dean Linke and we'll see you next time on the Vision of a Champion Podcast.

Hey everyone. I hope you liked this episode and I just want to thank all of the people involved in making this happen and all of our sponsors including out of.

In addition to Spotify, Apple Podcasts and all the usual podcast apps, you can listen to the show on addafootball.com which is a new women's soccer community that is helping elevate the sport through sharing some of the top women's matches, highlights and athletes from around the world. ADA is enabling women's football to shine its brightest now and for generations of young female footballers to come, so visit attafootball.com to learn more.

Hey fans, you can follow the Vision of a Champion Podcast chapter by chapter by either downloading the audiobook narrated by Anson Dorrance or by purchasing the hard paperback online. Simply go to ansondorrancesoccer.com Click on the audio Audiobook tab to download the digital file or to order the book. If you are ordering the book, use promo code Vision Champ. That's Vision Champ to get a 15% discount. And thank you for listening to the Vision of a Champion Podcast.