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In Max We Truzz
Real‑life things for real‑life people—no filters, no fluff. Hosted by Max Paul, In Max We Truzz dives head‑first into the stories that shape us: from the highs and lows of life after sports to the messy realities of mental health, relationships, business, and hustle culture. Each 60‑minute episode pairs Max’s energetic, humorous style with candid conversations from athletes, industry experts, creators, and entrepreneurs you know (and some you should know).
Expect raw language, unvarnished truths, and the occasional hot take—because authenticity isn’t always PG‑13. Weekly drops include:
- “The Real” – unfiltered dialogue with headline‑making guests
- Audience Q&A – Max answers your toughest life, career, and relationship questions
- Closing Monologue – rapid‑fire wisdom bombs from every guest
Whether you’re navigating a post‑athlete identity, scaling a startup, or just craving a straight‑shooting pep talk, this show hands you practical insight—and a laugh—every single week.
New episodes every Thursday. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or your favorite app, and join the conversation with #InMaxWeTruzz.
Warning: Explicit language & brutally honest perspectives ahead. Listener discretion—and an open mind—advised.
In Max We Truzz
Leah Rapuano Soccer Dreams & Overcoming Obstacles
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Ever wonder what it takes to go from a child playing backyard soccer to scoring on the international stage? In this revealing conversation, professional soccer player Leah Rapuano takes us through her remarkable journey that began at just three years old when her father, a former pro player in Italy, started teaching her headers in their living room.
Leah's raw honesty shines as she shares the devastating choice she made at 17 to decline Division I scholarship offers from powerhouse programs like Oregon, Michigan, and Auburn for a relationship she now calls "stupid." The conversation takes an unexpectedly emotional turn when she reveals how soccer became her sanctuary during tumultuous teenage years—living independently from 14 while her parents divorced, and later facing inappropriate sexual advances from a high school coach who was nearly twice her age.
What makes this story extraordinary isn't just the obstacles Leah overcame, but the triumphant moment when she finally achieved her childhood dream, scoring in her very first international match with the USVI Women's National Team. The pride in her voice is palpable as she recalls her father's note: "You're the first Rapuano in history to score on the national stage."
Beyond her personal accomplishments, Leah speaks passionately about advocating for equal pay in women's soccer and the responsibility female athletes have as role models. Her advice for healing from trauma before entering relationships offers wisdom that transcends sports. Whether you're an aspiring athlete, a coach, or someone who appreciates stories of perseverance against the odds, Leah's journey reminds us that sometimes our path to success includes detours we never anticipated.
Listen now to discover how a girl who started with "baby soccer balls" grew into a powerful voice for women athletes everywhere, and learn why knowing your worth both on and off the field is the ultimate game-changer.
Early Soccer Beginnings
Speaker 1Welcome to In Max we Trust. Today we have Ms Leah on the show, who is a professional soccer player. All right now, Ms Leah, how did you get started in professional soccer?
Speaker 2So my dad played pro soccer in Italy and he started me and my brother young. So I started when I was three, so like out the gate.
Speaker 1Just went from walking to soccer, got it.
Speaker 2Yeah, pretty much. I mean, I remember being little and I would be in the living room and he'd have me practicing headers at like three years old At three.
Speaker 1Yeah, Okay, so we're not worried about baby concussions. Okay cool, Go for it Well they're like little tiny baby soccer balls. Oh, they're baby soccer balls. You had three and you're like yeah no, but so, um, yeah.
Speaker 2So he started me, my brother young, and I, just because of my dad's uh dedication to it. Soccer was his whole life, so I felt like it had to be me or my brother. My dad would honestly always say, like you're either born with it or you're taught, and he would say I had to teach your brother, but you were born with it oh so no offense, luigi so we're saying leah's the better athlete in the family absolutely yeah, I think my whole family would agree I need him on the show.
Speaker 1Yeah, I need him on the show because he would be great. I'm just saying I think he's got a different perspective.
Speaker 2He's okay, he's an athlete, don't get me wrong. But when it comes to soccer, it You're hurt you, just like that.
Speaker 1Okay, you can say that you can toot your own horn. It's okay, go ahead and toot toot that time.
Speaker 2So yeah, so started young. My dad had me in club right away, which club for soccer would be the equivalent of like how you get showcased for football, whether that's, I think you said seven on seven and uh, high school, high school, soccer doesn't matter, so you want to make sure you're in a premier club from a young age my dad knew all the premier clubs, all the premier coaches, so grew up in Connecticut, was there till I was 12 um played club up there and then when I moved here I started playing for the Clearwater Chargers okay and they were the best club at the time okay
Speaker 2so, um yeah, when you turn 14, you start getting showcased. So you have a bunch of showcase tournaments. You also have your league. You want to make sure like you're winning in your league as well, because it draws attention to the team, draws in more scouts, draws in more coaches, but you're winning in your league as well, because it draws attention to the team, draws in more scouts, draws in more coaches, but you're getting showcased from the time you're 14 at the age of 14.
Speaker 2I was the best player for my age group in the state of Florida oh yeah oh yeah okay, we'll continue so to, to that horn go ahead, but this has been my life's work to this point, you know. So it's important to me. Yeah, so then you know, you play through. I graduated at 17. So I played through until I was 17. I had a bunch of offers D1, d2. I decided that I was in a relationship with this boy at the time, go on. I was stupid.
Speaker 2There it is yeah, no, for sure I was, because I was like I don't want to leave him. I don't want to go to the big house in Michigan. That's all the way in Michigan.
Speaker 1He's here.
Speaker 2And he would kind of hold it against me. He'd be like oh, you're just gonna leave and you're gonna become famous, you're gonna forget all about me. And we didn't have a healthy relationship yes, for all college athletes. Yes yes, go ahead and leave.
Speaker 1Yes, go ahead and leave chase your dreams, they'll be okay they will be okay you're not even with him now. No, absolutely okay. See, mazel To, you should have been chasing your dream, so yeah.
Speaker 2So I took a year off, even with all those D1 offers. I took a whole year off, didn't go to college for a year. I did, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1Jesus.
Speaker 2But I also, to be fair, to cut myself some slack here Go ahead, you were young.
Speaker 1But I also to be fair to cut myself some slack here. Go ahead. You were young, you were 17.
Speaker 2I was 17 when I graduated. I had gone through a lot in high school just like home, life-wise.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 2So it was pretty tumultuous and I was also in this tumultuous relationship and there were a lot of things going on. I mean, I was living on my own, starting at 14 as well.
Speaker 1So soccer sounds like it was one of the things that just kept you grounded like that absolutely like that was your. That was the one piece, that was the one constant. Everything else is chaos, but soccer is.
Speaker 2I could control that that and it was a place that I could go, not only to like, where I could control that, but I could release any frustration, any angst, any it. I got to shine and suck yeah, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1That was about me, I got it that was my stage yeah you know, so nothing else mattered.
Speaker 2I don't know if you experienced this, uh, with football, but yeah and games. It's almost like you. I don't hear the fans nothing I don't hear what's going on outside.
Speaker 1I'm'm locked in. Locked in Dialing. I'm in the zone you know what I mean.
Speaker 2Like I'm just in the game so everything else fades away, so it became a place I could release.
Speaker 1That's that 48 minutes or hour or whatever. I'm free, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2Yeah, because my parents started going through a divorce when I was 14. And that got really nasty. Mind you, we wanted them to get divorced because they had a volatile relationship, so we'd be like Somebody gotta go.
Speaker 1I don't care who does it, but somebody may gotta make a choice.
Speaker 2So they started going through a divorce and my mom was really hurt and she got kind of toxic, if you will. So my dad got scared because she would threaten him with things that were not real. So he left the state and my mom spiraled downward. So that's how I got to be on my own from the age of 14, really.
Speaker 1So age of 14, you're on your own, graduated at 17, picking dumb relationship choices at 17. Did you ever pick it back up and go to college with soccer? Where'd you go?
Choosing Love Over Soccer Dreams
Speaker 2So not many athletes get this, but I think because of how much I produced, like for the Clearwater Chargers team, I was on we were number one in the state every single year that I was on that team.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2And I was producing 90% of the goals every year.
Speaker 3Okay.
Speaker 2So I had a decent repertoire of accolades.
Speaker 1I'm the goat over here.
Speaker 2And I wasn't banking on that when I took a year off but, I figured I could get in somewhere, so I took a year off. Yeah, so I took a year off. I actually signed to Nova Southeastern University because, it was in the state, and then I was like no, I'm not going to go, so we're just turning colleges down for fun. I mean Auburn, michigan, oregon.
Speaker 1You turned down Oregon. Yeah, that's wild.
Speaker 2I look back on it now and I'm like Oregon has a premier soccer program. Oh, I know, I know, fsu man. So many colleges, so many D1 colleges that were just like.
Speaker 1Like here just take this money, we'll pay for you to get education. Just come play soccer.
Speaker 2Absolutely. And I was just like no, I don't want to leave him, I don't want to. It was. It was dumb. In hindsight I'm like god damn, you were stupid, like you know. Um, but so after that year off, I had a coach. The coach that wanted to sign me for nova southeastern. He started coaching at a different college in mi.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 2And he was like I need you to come play.
Speaker 3Yeah.
Speaker 2So you're going to get another full ride from me? We're just handing out yeah.
Speaker 1Boy, I couldn't buy a full ride.
Speaker 2Yeah, he's like you're going to get another full ride if you come to play. And I said okay, because by that time I had never been out of soccer. That was the longest. I had ever gone, and I mean I was still playing like pickup and indoor.
Speaker 1Doing your training. But it's not the same.
Speaker 2It's like team environment and training two a days and so I was like, yeah, I'm going to go. So I went, I went and I played there for two years and I won accolades there. I won national honors for grades and I won an award for national athletics like NCAA award.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 2Because of what I was producing.
Speaker 1So it's like the soccer version of an All-American.
Speaker 2Yes.
Speaker 1Okay, cool, absolutely.
Speaker 2So I was supposed to go straight out the gate from there to the Puerto Rican women's national team.
Speaker 3Oh.
Speaker 2Irma hit in 2018. Jesus, puerto Rico got devastated. Oh yeah, absolutely devastated, ruined Puerto Rico got devastated. Oh yeah.
Speaker 1Absolutely devastated, ruined, ruined my vacation.
Speaker 2It was like three weeks before I was supposed to fly out and start being showcased with the Puerto Rican women's national team. Irma hit and everything was messed up for like a year and a half two years.
Speaker 1Dang.
Speaker 2So after I played college, I stopped for like four years again.
Speaker 1Yeah, because like, just as you're getting traction, you're getting all these things, and now just life, just ain't life in life. It was tough.
Speaker 2It was tough because I mean, I had had, I had had. Uh, like I said, I had a tumultuous time, especially in high school, but there was a little bit of needing to prove myself in soccer because with high school soccer, even though it doesn't matter. I had a scenario happen to me where the assistant coach was messaging me it's a grown up, he's a grown man, oh it's about to get dark.
Speaker 1I's a grown up.
Speaker 2He's a grown man.
Speaker 1Oh, it's about to get dark. I'm ready. This could get canceled, let's do it.
Speaker 2He was messaging me my junior year.
Speaker 1Inappropriately, I'm assuming.
Speaker 2At the time, at first.
Speaker 1As a kid. You don't see it.
Speaker 2At first. No, he'd be like, hey, how are you doing? What's up, superstar? And I'd be at school. I'd be like, oh, I'm good, like I'm excited for practice whatever um, and then it started getting weird where he'd be, like oh, I'm in the shower right now. Can you guess where my hands are? And I'm a 16 year old girl. This really happened like. This is a real. This is a real, fucking thing.
Speaker 2So okay, and he's, he's 27 at the time, at the time, and you're 16, 16 okay he's about to get married as well oh okay, yeah, plot twist so, um, yeah, and I, I had always been the number one scorer for any team I played on. So even for high school I was still, you're still that, you're still.
Speaker 3Yeah, absolutely, even though it doesn't matter.
Speaker 2Yeah, so he was messaging me and because it started getting inappropriate, I went to the school.
Speaker 1As you should.
Speaker 2I went to the school I was like, listen exactly. Here are the messages.
Speaker 1I don't I don't feel comfortable.
Speaker 2Right, I don't feel comfortable. I'm definitely not condoning this or inviting this behavior because at first, like you, could be kind of closer with him because he was younger, yeah, than the head coach. But then when it started to become, now it's getting weird.
Speaker 1yeah, it's getting weird. Yeah, now it's getting weird.
Speaker 2Sexual in nature.
Speaker 1Yeah, then I was like Was he sending illicit photos to you?
Speaker 2Like shower pics, yeah, and asking for photos back.
Speaker 1Of a 16-year-old.
Speaker 2Of a 16-year-old.
Speaker 1Ah, child porn charges and he would call me Kitty porn charges. Immediately he would call me jailbait. He's calling you jailbait. Yes, oh, that's premeditated. That's Diddy status. That's Diddy status. My man knows what he's doing, he's ready to go to jail.
Speaker 2So because I went to the school, he obviously got fired and then the school like not the school itself but the staffing on the high school soccer team blamed me. Then one of his good friends came in to be assistant coach and they stopped playing me.
Speaker 2Oh, that's wild not as much until they needed me, until we were losing a game, and they were like, yeah, hey, yeah, we don't, we're gonna ice you out, but we're still gonna win right and then and then senior year was much of the same because the assistant coach was close with him and he, you know, like the head coach was kind of a talking head, loved soccer but wasn't like the best coach was kind of a talking head, loved soccer but, wasn't like the best coach and the assistant coach had coached at clubs and so he was more of he.
Speaker 2He had more of the say-so or kind of like if the head coach was the head, then he was the neck, so he could turn the head whatever way that's how he needed to yeah, so. So I, uh, I was like constantly needing to prove myself because of that situation because, I was shamed for that.
Speaker 1For some of you, there's victim shaming at this point.
Speaker 2Yes, that's crazy, yeah, I was shamed for that and we went to. So we went to um, not States. It was just before States.
Speaker 1That'd be what Regionals, regionals, yeah.
Speaker 2And we ended up losing the game. And they had only played me the last 17 minutes of the game in which I scored, but we were already down 2-1. Or 2-0.
Speaker 32-0 to you, so I made it 2-1.
Speaker 1Okay.
Finding Freedom Through Soccer
Speaker 2And then he decided to take me out in the last three minutes the assistant coach and put a different player in and I remember I had just had it, I was cussing up and down the coaching staff and high school soccer doesn't matter, but I loved the game so much.
Speaker 1Yeah, you're a competitor, absolutely I want to win?
Speaker 2Yeah, absolutely, if I can help us win, let's win Right. So because of that I felt the need to prove myself so fast forward again to out of college. I was heartbroken because I was like I'm about to go play for a national team.
Speaker 3Right.
Speaker 2And I can't, because in soccer, the most prestigious level you can play for is a national team. Because it's countries versus country. That's what you see in the World.
Speaker 1Cup, yeah, world Cup.
Speaker 2So I remember being a little girl in my room and I would visualize being on a national team being on the world stage and I would visualize it over and over again and what it would sound like in the stadium and how I would play and how I would move.
Speaker 3Yeah.
Speaker 2And it was like it was ripped away from me and I was like, all right, well, now I got to figure something out Now. I got to do life, so didn't play for four years and I got a call.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 2I got a call from a coach. He had seen me play before. He had known I had ties to the Virgin Islands.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 2Because there are specific rules when it comes to competing on a national team. Oh, really, yeah, absolutely specific rules when it comes to competing on a national team. Oh really, yeah, absolutely. I can't just go play for portugal because I'm not portuguese. Oh, I could play for the us because I'm a us citizen yeah, I could play for puerto rico because I'm puerto rican descent I could play for italy because I'm italian descent okay or I could play for the usvi because my family has residency oh, so okay because a lot of pu Puerto Ricans will move to the.
Speaker 1Virgin Islands. The Virgin Islands, because it's right there yeah.
Speaker 2Yeah, so he was like. You know, I've seen you play. We're putting together a women's national team that's going to start competing on the world stage in the. Women's World Cups. They'd never competed in that before.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 2And he's like would you be interested in playing At first?
Speaker 3No, you didn't.
Speaker 2I said I'm going to think about it because I hadn't played for four years.
Speaker 1I don't care if they call me for the Olympic team tomorrow. I'm telling them yes, I don't care.
Speaker 2I was nervous and I was kind of like scarred by like what if it doesn't work out again? You know, like the fear was talking. The fear of, of, like scarred by, like what if it doesn't work out again? You know, like the fear was the fear like, yeah, life has been lifing, I get, I get close to something I want take it away, so okay, I'm with you. And then, uh, about two weeks later I called coach back and I said absolutely, I'm in okay, I'm in.
Speaker 2So that's how I started playing for a women's national team my first international cap with the usbi. So, like your first cap is your first international game okay um my first cap I scored.
Speaker 1That's not a stat that people have I was gonna say international scoring is fairly low from what I see yeah, I mean soccer.
Speaker 2People say that about soccer like oh it's slow, there's a low score what have you. It's a lot of running Y'all better than me, you're on the world stage and I don't know many pro international players that are on that level that have that stat their first game out. They're scoring a goal.
Speaker 1Was it early in the game or in the second half?
Speaker 2So it was. We were down 0-0. We were in the second half, it was going down to crunch time, and so I I've always had this sense of urgency especially when we're losing, gotta get it. And so it almost like automatically amps up and uh yep, I drew a foul. I drew a foul it was. It was a yellow card red card no, it was in the box, so I got a penalty oh, your penalty yep, it's on my Instagram. You can check it Ooh.
Speaker 1Is that the picture where you got that full-blown kick?
Speaker 2No, no, that was during a game against Guatemala, oh okay, because your leg is legging in there.
Speaker 1You got a strong leg for that one. I don't know if she scored, but I know that bitch was coming.
Speaker 2So yeah, so that was like I remember when I scored during my first national team game and I got emotional after, but we still had the game to play, so I was like you better shut that down right now.
Speaker 1What does that feel like? Like looking I don't mean in the moment, Because in the moment you're still competing, Right, but I'm talking about like once you know I'm assuming you won that game.
Speaker 2I'm assuming y'all won that game. We we ended up tying.
Speaker 1I believe we tied one one okay, so there's no overtime for soccer, nothing like that because it wasn't in a competition, it was a friendly so friendly is like an exhibition game? Yeah, like a preseason, right okay? So that was a friendly going into our prep for the women's world cup okay, got it so, so that they're like all right, cool, he's gonna tie ball game, call it a day, but still like after the game, like knowing that.
Speaker 2I remember sitting there and we're stretching out because after the game you do a cool down you stretch out because you don't want the lactic acid to build up as much, and I remember it was like me thinking back to that little girl that that's all she wanted.
Speaker 1That's all you wanted. That's all you wanted.
Speaker 2I was like you. You did that shit did it like you did that and that was emotional for me. I was like trying not to show that I was crying because in team setting you're an athlete, you're not gonna cry in front of the team.
Speaker 1Right right, unless it's a championship sitting on the table, I'm not crying in front of you so my dad, because of his um, because of his coaching prowess, he's, he's big in soccer.
Speaker 2And so he was actually the goalkeeping coach for the USBI Women's National Team. He got invited to be the goalkeeping coach, so I remember he just came up. Good job, you know, business as usual. And the next day he gave me a card and he said you're the first rapuano in history to score on the national stage on the national stage that's crazy, and I. I'm getting choked up now because it was like fuck yeah yeah, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1Like that, nobody ever take that from you.
Speaker 2No, can't, nobody take that from you so that's how I became a pro athlete and you could always hang that over your brother's head. Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1First one baby. Now who's older, you or your brother?
Speaker 2I'm the youngest of four. So now, oh, I know you're the best athlete, but you're also the baby yeah. As the baby. You have the advantage, though, because you get to watch the older siblings and the mistakes that they made and the things that they do. Well, you get to take it all in and you know you can kind of fudge.
Speaker 1And didn't none of these four other motherfuckers didn't tell you you were dumb for staying in high school?
Speaker 2Oh no, they all did oh and you didn't listen.
Speaker 1No Perks of being a baby, because you can get away with stupid shit like that. Oh no, my dad was pull my friends aside and be like can you talk to her please? She's eating everything in the house. They'll feed her. I promise don't feed her. They'll give you food.
Speaker 2They'll let you do what you want for the most part yeah, I was dumb for sure, but he would literally like elicit my friends to talk to me. That's why I'd be like, can you, can you go and talk to me?
College Career and National Recognition
Speaker 1That's all right, but we gotta take a quick break. We'll be right back. We are now back with the second half of Ms Leah's interview, now off camera. Off camera. We was asking because you know, somebody got some World Cup qualifiers coming up, yeah. And I asked if you were and you said the team had a bone to pick with you.
Speaker 2It's not the team.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 3It's the staffing of the association Okay.
Speaker 1Which team are we talking about? Just so they know the national team.
Speaker 2They have a bone to pick with me.
Speaker 1Which national team.
Speaker 2The USVI Women's National.
Speaker 1Team. Okay cool, I just want to make sure everybody's on the same page.
Speaker 2So just so everyone knows it's the USVI Women's national team has a bone to pick with me, but I'm going to tell you why Ready? So when I got signed, I got signed on a retainer contract, okay, so I was getting a stipend.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 2So you get paid every month so that when they need you hey, we have a camp coming up, you go.
Speaker 1Say no more.
Speaker 2Right, because I'm getting paid every, every month, even if we have nothing going on that's how a retainer works so, um, yeah, so I was getting paid every month, um, and it started being like the checks would come two months late three months late four months late and I would constantly have to be like, hey, where's my check? Hey, you know, I didn't receive my stipend what's going on, and that wasn't in the head coach's control that's within the association, that's, that's.
Speaker 2That's right back at house yes, so it was always the runaround um, but eventually I got it and I don't think they liked that I started asking questions no, no, organization likes when you start asking about money.
Speaker 1Okay, right.
Speaker 2But I'm a pro athlete.
Speaker 1And you should. It's a check Right?
Speaker 2Absolutely so, because once I accepted the status of pro athlete, I can't.
Speaker 1Run me my money.
Speaker 2I can't go play for any organization that's not pro Yep, so it was kind of funky with money. Not all the girls are getting paid. Oh not all the girls are getting paid. I became an advocate for payment and it's my opinion that we were not getting paid what the men were getting paid.
Speaker 1Oh.
Speaker 2Oh right right, we're about to get into some so fifa will allot national teams x amount of money. Yeah, with what we were seeing, we weren't getting new jerseys at the time. We weren't getting like lavish, you know trip they would pay for food and travel absolutely okay as they should.
Speaker 2Yeah, um, but we weren't getting anything new. We were gonna hand me downs from the boys and, um, then there started being whispers about the president of the association at the time he's no longer there that he was going on trips and spending money that fifa allotted to the national team, and like there may have been some whispers of embezzlement.
Speaker 1Oh, yeah, okay.
Speaker 2So and I had always been an advocate for the women Like no, they need to get paid, because the women who weren't on stipend, they would only get paid.
Speaker 1If something's happening.
Speaker 2Right, I think it was like $ 50 to 75 dollars a day or a game oh, that's crazy right right so but if you're training twice a day, 50 and 50 for those training sessions oh okay, it's 100 a day type deal kind of yeah but it depends, so it was dependent on what we had going on okay so I became like a loud advocate for us to be paid and compensated equally. Yeah, um, yeah. And they didn't like that and then fifa started doing an investigation into the uh.
Speaker 2President of the association and the managers of the team and um lo and behold, he's no longer there so we're not gonna say it's for sure he was embezzling but it looks but a hit dog gonna holler yeah, a hit, dog will holler. Yeah, yeah, where there's smoke, there's fire so um, yeah, so a new coach is in there now I've been communicating with him throughout the year um about camps and what's coming up for us.
Speaker 3And.
Speaker 2I still think that, because the way the VI is it's a little it's all about who you know.
Speaker 1Absolutely.
Speaker 2It can be a little.
Speaker 1Clicky.
Speaker 2A little. I don't want to say corrupt. Corrupt is not the word I'm looking for, but it can be a little touch and go. Okay, if you're not with the in.
Speaker 1The in crowd. Okay, yeah.
Speaker 2So I think there are still people that knew the former president in the association.
Speaker 1And there's a little bit of loyalty left to that. Yeah, okay.
Speaker 2Yeah, Because at first they made me stop playing. Then I was like absolutely.
Speaker 1Duh you need me.
Speaker 2But I think there's hesitation. They made me go through giving them water bills from our residency in the VI. I have to submit an ID card from the VI.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 2They're making me jump through these hoops to prove.
Speaker 1To prove that you, yeah, okay, yeah.
Speaker 2So, yeah, I think there's still some loyalty to the old president and old management.
Speaker 1The old regime.
Speaker 2And they look at me like, oh, she can be a problem because she uses her voice.
Speaker 1She knows her worth.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1She's not like these other people where we just give them pennies and they'll be happy about it.
Speaker 2Exactly, but that's not a struggle just in the VI. I want to be clear about that. Jamaica Jamaican women's national team has had that issue the US women's national team had to fight for fair compensation.
Speaker 1They had to fight recently. They had a big old thing about theirs, even was it the WNBA girls, they threatened a lockout. They're like we're not going to play.
Speaker 2Yeah, well, play yeah well, jamaica did that oh jamaica did that, yeah, a lot of the players on the jamaican women's national team because they really weren't getting paid. They're like we're not we're not playing, I'm not, we're not gonna pay me, yeah especially when you see the men and men have new gear and they have new equipment and they're constantly, uh, getting together and having camps and they're making sure they're staying fresh and the team chemistry is there and, and they're doing anything and everything to make sure that that team succeeds and we're getting like the scraps yeah, oh, we've got a little bit of field time left for you guys, right?
Speaker 2yeah, so it's. It's more so that, uh, that it's not just the vi, but a lot of um, a lot of nations that don't have a great infrastructure in the nation in general, there's room for a little bit of corruption okay to happen, okay, so now with women's sports in general.
Speaker 1I know conversation is a big thing, coverage is a big thing. Yeah, I know wmba, their coverage is getting better so that obviously their competition is on the way. Yeah, especially Especially with the emergence of like a Caitlin Clark, angel Reese and all these girls. Because, I think about it, when the Olympics came on, people watched. I think what did they say? The viewership was higher for the women's games than it was for the men's.
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1You know what I mean. So, like with women's sports coming up, what do you hope to see for women's soccer?
Speaker 2So, and that's one of the reasons why it wasn't just about I want more money. I'm trying to be greedy, but I remember being a little girl going to the US women's national team games and getting my jersey signed by Mia Hamm talking to Mia Hamm on the phone because my dad had the connection like that okay and she'd be like are you being a good girl, are you getting good grades in school?
Speaker 2Make sure you do that if you want to be a pro soccer player, and I remember the precedence she set as a role model.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Joining USVI Women's National Team
Speaker 2And I think what needs to happen is that women need to be steadfast in their worth as athletes, specifically because it hasn't always been the case where women were fairly compensated. Because you are a role model for that younger generation. You have so many little girls looking up to you when you become a pro athlete, no matter what sport, whether it's basketball, tennis, soccer, volleyball, even you know you have so many young girls looking up to you.
Speaker 2And if you can be a role model that is steadfast in their worth but is always just in that, no greediness. You know you always want to be professional, you always want to be kind.
Speaker 1I would love to see that moving forward, not just the fair compensation, but just the recognition from women that they are the role models for the future generations, because you don't know what lives you could change if you instill just that little bit of belief, that little bit of hope in some kid will go a long way, right yeah, because they'll think back to that moment.
Speaker 2Right, yeah, because they'll think back to that moment. I remember when I was in high school, I used to have little girls that saw me play in club. Yeah, come up in my high school games and be like leah. Can I get an?
Speaker 1autograph. Can I get a hug?
Speaker 2so you've been a celebrity forever and not even no no, no, not even that, but it's like, because they were like little girls yeah, oh like little five and six. Yeah, five, six seven and and they would just come to support. And it was just that in itself, you know, because they look at you really like a role model. I want to play like you. I want to be like you. I want to be that good, because they need the belief in themselves. That's where it comes from.
Speaker 1That's what you want to see moving forward.
Speaker 2Yeah, all right yeah.
Speaker 1I love that for you. Thanks, I love that for you. Well, folks, this is the part of the show she was nervous about.
Speaker 2Is it?
Speaker 1Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2Why.
Speaker 1We have a lovely Q&A session coming up.
Speaker 2Okay.
Speaker 1Oh, great yeah.
Speaker 2All week I've been asking on.
Speaker 3Instagram TikTok et cetera.
Speaker 1Tiktok. You went to the top, I went straight to TikTok. With this, I jump into people's lives, start asking questions. Okay, all right. First question Do you want the edited version of this question or the regular version?
Speaker 2of this question, no, just regular Go ahead.
Speaker 1Okay. Has any celebrities ever slid in your DMs?
Speaker 2Absolutely.
Speaker 1Well, who was it Do you want me to say Say it, I will Say it, I'm ready.
Speaker 2Okay, so I have a friend, Lisa. We would always get into some stuff together. She played on the pro indoor team with me the Tampa. Bay Strikers yeah. And she would do a lot of work with Valley Sports for the Yankees yeah, a lot of work with Valley Sports for the Yankees, yeah.
Speaker 2And so there was one day we went to like preseason Yankees in Tampa and one of the pitchers had invited us to dinner and I don't believe he's a pitcher for the Yankees anymore, but yeah, he invited us to dinner and so it was his management team, me, lisa. We had like a closed-off room in the market oh okay.
Speaker 2And he decided to try, and he didn't even slide in my DMs. He slid in my WhatsApp Valid. He got in my WhatsApp Valid and he would constantly try to get me to hang out with him and then started offering me money to hang out with him. Mind you, this is another man who was engaged to be married soon and uh, yeah, yeah all right when it comes to this whole engaged yo yo, what was his name?
Speaker 1oh, there it is. What's the name?
Speaker 2drop a I want to say it starts with an R. Can you look up really quick. I'll tell you exactly who it is.
Speaker 1Ready which one.
Speaker 2Look up 2023. Yeah, go ahead.
Speaker 1Uh-oh, we're ready.
Speaker 2Yeah, go ahead, go ahead, Go ahead. 2023 Yankees pitcher. No, do 2024, then no 2022. I'm sorry I still have him on. Oh shit, right right here, go right here there you go, there he's from.
Speaker 1so he's from Miami, that's what we allow these motherfuckers?
Speaker 2No, you know what? Let me look.
Speaker 3Because I saw you check that WhatsApp and put them all blast right now.
Speaker 1I bet you won't, I bet you won't, I bet you won't. We got time today.
Speaker 2Let's see. I'm just looking up different Yankees pitchers now. But here's my better question Was it?
Speaker 1Yeah, once you get to a certain financial status.
Speaker 2I still wasn't interested.
Speaker 1No, no, no. That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying is it expected for men to cheat once you hit a certain financial status?
Speaker 2I don't believe that. I don't believe that Because there's a lot of men that are super faithful to their woman. You know, it's not just about like oh, that one's fine, I would love to hit that.
Speaker 1No. But I'm saying like here's my belief Any man who makes 50K or less, that guy is faithful. That guy is faithful. He might think about it. He's not going to do it. Why Ready? No, I'm going to break it down. Okay, 100k or less, he's got options to do it, but he's not going to do it because he's got enough to lose Half a mil. That guy's cheating. He's going to be discreet about it, but he's cheating Anybody who's making 1.5 and up. He's cheating. So good, his mistress and his wife are friends.
Speaker 2Are friends.
Speaker 1Yes, Because they're both getting a check.
Speaker 2No, I don't know For me. I can't, I couldn't. I'm not good at sharing I can't share. You can't share? Absolutely not.
Speaker 1Fuck, no, nope. Like what, if you don't got to see it? Like you know what I mean. Like he, no, okay, hear me out. You're playing for the women's team, right, playing in another country. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2No.
Speaker 1Oopsies, uh-uh. You know what I mean. It's just a one and done. No, you're not letting a one and done slide no.
Speaker 3Ugh.
Speaker 1I mean, I'm not saying we can't work through it.
Speaker 3Kobe's wife let it slide after she got that big old ring.
Speaker 1Big old ring. Yeah, you know what I'm saying. So if he come bag and a new ring, we're not going to go. Ah no, you still cutting it off, I'm not materialistic though, so it's like what if he brings home championships?
Speaker 2No, I just can't like. I'm not a person who can share. You know, I don't care if you flirt. I don't care if, like I can understand a man appreciating a beautiful woman every time I can like I appreciate beautiful women I'll be like, wow, look at her, she's gorgeous I'm a lesbian um, but I feel like it's.
Speaker 2If it's not something that both parties are okay with, then I don't know it would have to be. It would definitely have to be like I reached that point in our relationship where I was like this is a discussion and I'm comfortable with this since we're talking about comfortability and third parties. What.
Speaker 1Would you ever be comfortable with a third party situation? You your man in a third party.
Speaker 2Not at this moment in time.
Speaker 1Not at this point in your life. No, you know what would make you feel comfortable enough to do these type of events.
Speaker 2I don't know. I feel like I would have to get bored, and I'm not bored.
Speaker 1Valid, valid. Shout out to that guy. I don't know that guy's name. I don't know that guy's name, but good one Love that. Okay, what is the one area of your game that you believe needs improvement?
Speaker 2First, I believe there's always room for improvement. Okay room for improvement. Okay, so I will never go on the field and be like I'm perfect, I can believe in myself and be like, yeah, I'm gonna be the best. I can aim to be the best player on the field, but there's always room for improvement, like, oh man, you know what my movement off the ball wasn't good this game? Or you know what my touch was off this game?
Speaker 2I have to go back and work on my touch okay so I think it depends on what presents itself, okay, but I think there's always room for improvement, always. So I would say currently fitness.
Speaker 1Because you ain't got no wind right now.
Speaker 2I'm working on it, I know. But, it's not where it needs to be. I know it ain't. It's not where it needs to be.
Fighting for Equal Pay in Women's Soccer
Speaker 1I know I've seen you in the field 20 minutes later.
Speaker 2When, after I was doing 20 minutes of sprints, that's not my fault. That's still 20 minutes of consecutive sprints.
Speaker 1I'm with you. We are in different sports, sweetheart. Okay, I'm not doing 20 sprints, I know you can't. I can do it. Let's be clear how far are your sprints? How far are you running for these sprints?
Speaker 2Full field.
Speaker 1So 100 yards? Yeah Well, the field's at Skyway, full field and back, that's 120. 10 in the end zone on one side, 10 in the end. So you can talk about full sprint, no break, just sprint, turn around and go, turn back 20 straight.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1I'm giving you five. I'll give you five Right now. I'll give you five right now.
Speaker 2I could probably do. I'm going to say 12. I'm going to say 12.
Speaker 1I'm saying I know I'm getting five.
Speaker 2I could do probably 12 right now.
Speaker 1Five, five and I'm done. Five and I'm cooked. Yeah, five and I'm cooked.
Speaker 2Yeah, it's tough, but it's mental.
Speaker 1No, it's the sport we play. There's no point in time in football where I'm going to be sprinting straight that long. No, I know your sport Y'all got.
Speaker 2I condition myself to sprint the whole game. Not a lot of soccer players are conditioned to be sprinting the whole game. Yeah, you jog and move off the ball, but for me, if there's a free ball and it's me versus the other player and she's winded by the end of the game, but because of my conditioning, I'm not. I'm sprinting. That means I win possession.
Speaker 1Valid. Mr Ivan asks if you were a man no, what the fuck wait? Wait, bro, bro, I'm reading them in the order that they came. Okay, if you were a man, how would you, how would you approach a woman? Right, bro, I'm telling you, like, what would be your pickup line. Here we go, like we go to hooters right now, and you're a dude, how are you hitting on the waitress? Ready, yep, ready, ready.
Speaker 2I'm not ready. I got to think for a second. Okay, so because I've never thought from the perspective of a man, if I was, I'm trying to think of like you don't know that struggle. No.
Speaker 1To try to pull a conversation out of thin air. No thin air, no, no. I think I would try to find common ground, but if I'm just going straight with a straight pickup lines, she's a baddie and you need that in your life.
Speaker 2Okay, so all right let me. Let me ask you this you like camping, okay, so if you went camping, okay and you woke up the next day, pants around your ankles, your ass hurt. Would you tell anybody?
Speaker 1First off, I don't like this question.
Speaker 2Would you tell anybody yes or no? Yeah, who was I with?
Speaker 1Nobody, would you tell anybody yes or no. No, I'm not telling anybody nothing. You want to go camping? Oh Bro, that would have got me, because these guys are simple. That would have got me Because, see guys are simple, that would have got me. I'd have slid a number like we're never going camping, but here we can talk about it.
Speaker 3That's pretty fucking good God almighty.
Speaker 1One girl in the gym hit me with one the other day. She goes you look really strong, Really strong. You have some great lips. Come on, she's one of those girls that's been. She comes around the same time I go during the day and I'm having a beast leg day. She goes yeah, she's like good lift, You're looking really strong. She walked, just sat in passing, walked away. I go back over and now I'm doing sled pushes so she hops on itiki Ha with it. I'm not going to be no bitch, so I keep pushing on. She goes I'm really strong. Okay, you look strong enough to pick me up tonight.
Speaker 3Oh.
Speaker 1Sir, ooh, that's a good one. Hey, gym girlies, that every time.
Speaker 2See, I feel like Every time, but I feel like it's easier for a woman to pick up a man. Yeah, easier for a woman to pick up a man.
Speaker 1Yeah, because we're suckers.
Speaker 2Than it is for a man to pick up a woman. I don't know how I would approach that situation as a man. I don't know. You guys have work cut out for you what?
Speaker 1Absolutely Every time I have to be funny and not be creepy.
Speaker 2Yep.
Speaker 1And then I got to deal with whatever trauma triggers you got.
Speaker 2See and that's my thing, though, with relationships right, because you hear a lot of women talk about like I'm not going to take no bullshit I deserve to be treated as a queen, I deserve this, I deserve that, and you know what, absolutely know your boundaries, know your worth, but you're going to keep attracting shit men until you heal through those traumas and those triggers. Why does that trigger you?
Speaker 3I wonder why she looked at me when she said that I was trying to look at the camera you look like.
Speaker 1You look like somebody who hurt her in the past. You know what it is. You look like a high school coach. That's what it is.
Speaker 2That's what it is I fucking knew it no, no, but what I was gonna say is like, if you want to be treated like a queen, then be a queen accountability.
Speaker 1What exactly? What is the queen accountable?
Speaker 2she's just she's kind. She's able to own up to her mistakes. She provides a safe space for her man where he feels comfortable. She's not his, she's not his stress, she's his peace. I want my man to be able to come to me and be like babe I had a really hard day. This is what I want my man to be able to come to me and be like babe I had a really hard day. This is what's going on today and just be able to offer him support. I don't want to be like, yeah, motherfucker, and you forgot to do this.
Speaker 1You forgot to do the dishes yeah, fucking dishes why.
Speaker 2Why? I don't understand that. Because if you're, providing that space for your man, they're going to be more inclined to treat you with love and respect.
Speaker 1Absolutely.
Speaker 2It goes both ways, that's true. It's not just like cater to me hand and foot and I get to treat you like shit. I also have to come into the relationship, healed from my traumas, so that I can identify. Okay, why is that a trigger for me? Why did it trigger me when he?
Speaker 3did this.
Speaker 2If I work through my healing, I'm going to stop attracting unhealed men.
Speaker 1If I work through my healing.
Speaker 2I'm going to stop attracting unhealed men.
Speaker 1Talk to them now. I'm just saying Do you currently attract unhealed men? No, all the men you have in your life are very at peace. All the men, all the men in your life.
Speaker 2I have one man in my life.
Speaker 1That's a lie. You've met me, I'm here, I'm not going anywhere, I'm healed, so it doesn't count.
Speaker 2Okay, so you're saying like outside of romantic relationship? Okay, okay, I mean, but does that equate to like familial? Does that equate to yeah?
Speaker 1however you slice it.
Speaker 2I would say the men in my life are currently working through healing. Valid valid I would say that I wouldn't say they're all like unhealed.
Q&A: Celebrity DMs and Personal Stories
Speaker 1Okay, that's valid. We got to take one more quick break and we'll be right back. All right, we are back for the last bit of this Q&A. We got a couple more questions for you, all right. What is the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened during your? How do I put this delicately for the viewers behind closed, you know, in the bedroom for you what's the most?
Speaker 2this is definitely a question from a man I'm assuming I'm assuming absolutely what is the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to you.
Speaker 1If you don't want to answer, you can sit the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to me.
Speaker 2I've definitely farted during the deed, but take a sip for that one just because I exposed myself. I definitely farted during the deed, but take a sip for that one just because I exposed myself.
Speaker 1But like, what do you do in that scenario? Do you just keep rolling? You got to roll with it, right, you just got to keep the motion going.
Speaker 2You know what I mean. I can't help it because there was some space made for air to be trapped in there.
Speaker 3Hey, hey, you do what you got to do. Well, the real question was it a fart or a queef?
Speaker 2Ooh yeah, no, I feel like queefs aren't that bad yeah queefs are good enough.
Speaker 3You know what I mean.
Speaker 1Queefs, I can live with.
Speaker 3You know what I mean, but they sound the same.
Speaker 1Nah, but they don't smell the same. I never said they smelled the same.
Speaker 3I yeah, it was definitely.
Speaker 2I tooted, I was like, ooh sorry, While he was down there. No, oh my God, no, oh my God.
Speaker 1Bruh. Like what are you doing no, no, no, no, could you imagine, could you imagine like he's down there handling work and I was like brr, like yo.
Speaker 2I feel like most men, though, once they're in that scenario, they're like fuck it, I'm going to just go with it.
Speaker 1Pause, pause. No, absolutely not. If I'm down there, you Excuse me, I'm going to keep going. I'm not done, I can't.
Speaker 2What if it's silent but not deadly? What if there's no stink?
Speaker 1If it's silent, it's always deadly. You can't tell me otherwise. I don't care. Y'all not going to lie to me. I'm grown. If it's silent, it's deadly. That's the worst one, okay? And all y'all girls fart in your sleep. I don't care what nobody says. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2I don't know, I'm asleep, that's 100% true man. It is.
Speaker 3Yeah, because like my wife she's like what the fuck is that?
Speaker 2You know what? My man has said that to me, where he's like oh, your little farts in your sleep, and I'm like I don't know, because I'm asleep. You know what I mean you know what I mean.
Speaker 1This last question is actually from what looks like to be a girl's girl.
Speaker 3Okay.
Speaker 1Okay, Okay. She said what advice would you give a single girl and dating today?
Speaker 2Okay.
Speaker 1Girl's girl. She's looking for help, so sincerely.
Speaker 2Sincerely advice.
Speaker 1Sincere advice.
Speaker 2I would like to consider myself a girl's girl. God, no, there's a lot of things that I feel like modern day women do, that I just don't want to be associated with. But I still, if somebody's looking for help, I'm going to tell them Talk to them.
Speaker 2So in today's world one I'm going to go back to what I said to Max earlier you want to look at what unhealed wounds do you have, whether that's childhood, past relationships. What trauma do you have? Look at your triggers. Why do those trigger you? And you have to be brave enough to face those, to heal through them.
Speaker 2Number one, number two it's okay to have boundaries. Um, it's okay to be like. You know what that was a turn off and I'm gonna cut it here instead of getting into a year relationship with you and then I don't know what to do, because we're in a toxic relationship or I ignored the few red flags because that means he's got healing. He needs to do as well. And I'm not saying people are going to go into a relationship completely perfect, but what I am saying is that you can do enough work on yourself and set enough boundaries within yourself to know what you're looking for, like you can sit down and make a list and say these are the qualities that I want in a partner. I want him to be patient, I want him to be funny. I want him to. If. If making money is a qualifying factor for you, I want him to at least make this amount because some women are like that I'm not, listen, I'm not. This is not a referendum on you, Max.
Speaker 1I'm just saying Whoever asked this question.
Speaker 2But you can sit down and make a list and say this is what I want in a partner and then make a list of what you want to be able to provide in a relationship, because it's going to help you sift through the bullshit. I don't know anybody who's dating in my circle that's just dating for bullshit, because the ultimate goal is to find someone.
Speaker 1She's not in my circle I know, but that's it my bad, it just no, it's okay.
Speaker 2I'm just saying like that was my trigger yeah, she played with you, it's okay she's currently playing with somebody else, so it's okay, yeah, but I would say that, like I would make a list of what you want to bring into the relationship. And you know it's hard because I think that women just can become complacent or stuck in this mindset even that, oh well, we're supposed to be treated like this, and we're supposed to get this from a partner, and we're supposed to be treated like this and we're supposed to get this from a partner, and we're supposed to have this type of relationship, and the man's supposed to do this and it's you also have to be understanding of where everybody is at. So I would say, in today's dating world, if you're not dating just to fuck around, then sit down, make a list and also identify your boundaries and start to face things that you need to heal through, so you can bring the best version possible of yourself into that relationship.
Speaker 1I don't think you get no better than that. I think we got to end on that. That was real life. I want to ask one question. Go for it.
Speaker 3Manny Motherfucker.
Speaker 1That's his brother. I knew it would piss him off.
Speaker 3Why did you choose to go USVI instead of USA?
Speaker 2So because the offer was on the table from the USVI first.
Speaker 3Right but. I mean you could try out for USW Once you no once you. You committed Once you commit.
Speaker 2I can't play for another national team.
Speaker 3Oh, I didn't know that I did not know that either.
Speaker 1Yeah, nope I thought it'd be like basketball Once you represent a nation you can't, but let's say so.
Speaker 2look at Lionel Messi.
Speaker 3Yeah.
Dating Advice and Final Thoughts
Speaker 2Or Mbappe. You can go from clubs like Barcelona to PSG.
Speaker 3Yeah, I'm talking about national, yeah, national team once you commit to a country you can't play for it. No, no, no, that national club is club. Okay, I got to ask one last question, which I'm surprised you didn't ask, being a soccer fan. Who's your GOAT?
Speaker 2Messi.
Speaker 3Messi, no question.
Speaker 1Okay, we can end it there. Thanks for coming out. Are you a Cristiano?
Speaker 3fan. Fuck, yeah, fuck that.
Speaker 2They play. And one thing I like to say to people