The Girls You Don't Know Yet — Welcome to Time Out

There's a girl in a gym in Shreveport right now who's better than you think she is. There are hundreds of her, thousands of her — spread across high school gyms and AAU circuits and small-town tournaments nobody's covering. This is the show that's going to find them.

In this first episode of Time Out, Ashley J. Antoine introduces the podcast, the beat, and the perspective she's bringing to women's basketball coverage — as a former Division I player, a twenty-year educator, an independent journalist, and the current sports parent of an elite EYBL hooper. She covers:

→ Who Time Out is for and what to expect every week → Why the modern women's game deserves better coverage than it's getting → What's coming in the first few episodes → How to get involved in the Black Sports Parents League

If you're a sports parent in the trenches, a player trying to build a brand and a future at the same time, or a fan who's tired of surface-level coverage of the women's game — this is your room. Press play.

Connect With Ashley & Time Out: → Subscribe to the free BSPL newsletter: [Flodesk link] → Read longform reporting at Legacy Lines on Substack: [Substack link] → Follow on Instagram: @ashleyjantoine

If this episode resonated, do three things for me:

1. Hit follow on Time Out so new episodes show up automatically.
2. Leave a quick rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify — it's the biggest thing that helps the show find new listeners.
3. Send this episode to one sports parent who needs it.

— Ashley

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

There's a girl in Shreeport right now who's better than you think she is. Probably better than her own coach thinks she is, and definitely better than the recruiting services have ranked her. She's putting up 24-night against a defense that's been game planning her since October. I mean, she's a complete player, okay? And the only people who really know what they're watching are her parents, her trainer, and maybe, if she's lucky, one assistant coach from a mid-major who showed up to a Tuesday game in February because somebody whispered her name in the right ear. There are hundreds of her, thousands, and almost nobody is telling their stories. That's what this show is about. Hey y'all, I'm Ashley J. Antoine, and welcome to Time Out. Let me tell you who's in your ears right now, because if you're going to let me in your commute every week, you should know who I am and why I'm doing this. Okay. Before any of this, I was a Division I basketball player myself, mid-major, straight up grinder, student of the game. I've been the kid on the floor. After that, I spent about 20 years in education, started off as a parent, became a teacher, ended as a school principal. 20 years watching young people grow up from the inside of buildings. Most sports reporters have never set foot in. I've been there, right? And now today I'm the parent of a class of 2027 elite EYBL Hooper, which means I'm in the gym every day, every weekend, on a plane, every other weekend. I'm actually in Iowa now and on the phone with other sports parents every single night. I've been the mom in the stands at 8 a.m. on a Saturday in a city I can't pronounce. Straight up player, educator, parent. I've lived this from every seat there is, and I kept noticing the same thing from every one of them. Nobody is telling the stories the way they deserve to be told. So Time Out is a weekly podcast about modern women's basketball, not just the pros, not just the top 10 recruits. Everybody's already writing about or talking about the whole pipeline. High school, AAU, college, and pro with a special eye on the players, parents, and coaches, the big outlets missed. Every week I'm sitting down with somebody who's actually living it, a player chasing visibility, a parent navigating the recruiting maze, a coach building something real, a brand expert helping athletes own their story. The conversations are unscripted. They're specific, they're honest, no PR voice, just the version of the conversation that needed more than five minutes and didn't get it anywhere else. If you're a sports parent trying to figure out NIL, recruiting, mental health, and this brand new landscape of elite athletics, this is your room. If you are a player trying to build a brand and a future at the same time, this is your room. And if you love women's basketball, because who doesn't, and you're tired of coverage that treats women's game like a side dish, I see you. This is your room too. So here's the thing: the women's game is in a golden era. The WNBA just had its biggest year ever. Women's college basketball is outdrawing the men in some markets. The high school and AAU pipeline is the deepest it's ever been, and most of the coverage still hasn't caught up. That's the gap I'm working in. Every week, one more conversation, one more episode, one more story told the way it should have been told the first time. And I didn't wait for somebody to give me a microphone. I saw the gap and I just picked one up, and I'm going to keep picking it up every week until this beat looks the way it's supposed to look. Now, over the next few weeks, you're going to hear my first two interviews. Both of them were sports parents who had something real to say. I'm not going to spoil them, but I'll tell you this. One of those conversations got me thinking differently about something I thought I already understood. And the other one made me want to hug both Cass and Kai a little tighter the next time I saw them. After that, we're into the rhythm. New episodes every week. Sports parents, players, coaches, journalists, brand people, you name it. And once a month, I'll do a solo episode called The Watch List. Okay. Five underrated girls who should be known. Pull straight from my five name feature on Substat. Stay tuned. That's the show. If any of this sounds like something you need in your life, do three things for me. Okay. One, follow the timeout on Apple and Spotify. Stay tuned for the drop date. Follow the show so new episodes show up automatically. Two, send this episode to one sports parent who needs it. That's the whole growth plan. One parent at a time or person to person, the way real communities are built. Three, come find your girl. Subscribe to the free Black Sports Parents League newsletter. The link is in my bio on Instagram. And then I want you to read Legacy Lines on Substack, also linked in my IG. And of course, follow me on Instagram at Ashley J Antoine. I'm building this whole thing in the open, and I want you in the room while I build it. This has been Time Out. See y'all next time.