Hear Her Sports

Deena Blacking and Christine O’Connell talk to host Elizabeth Emery about The Cyclists’ Alliance Go Fund Me, sponsorship, the growth of women’s cycling, worries about the development pathway to the top level of the sport, media coverage, TCA’s role is in the world of women’s cycling, sponsorship, and how to be a superfan. Christine spent over 20 years working in strategy and corporate development, including senior roles at Thomson Reuters and in strategy consulting. She now focuses on her cycling based charity campaign, One More City, a global charity initiative built around long distance cycling challenges, raising funds for research into secondary, or metastatic, breast cancer. Christine has been living with secondary breast cancer since 2018, and cycling is an important part of how she manages the disease and continues to live a full life.  Christine is Vice President of The Cyclists’ Alliance, the organization representing female professional cyclists, and Vice Chairman of the Queen’s Institute of Com

Teresa Mullen, now 75 years old, is a long time athlete with a passion for playing, coaching, officiating, and watching women’s sports. Teresa started playing softball with her cousins at a very young age in a farm field with a wooden bat and 12 inch mush ball. When she was growing up there were very few opportunities for females to participate in any sports. For example, at her small high school only basketball and track were offered for girls. After going to a two-year college, she played on a competitive, company softball league and later played in volleyball leagues. Soon she knew she also wanted to coach in order to pass on all her technical and training knowledge to young ladies eager to learn. She began by coaching softball, then added basketball and volleyball. Next Teresa passed her officiating exams for basketball, softball, and volleyball at the high school level.  Teresa still coaches, officiates, and still plays softball and volleyball in the National Senior Games held every two years. She fin

Helena Gilbert-Snyder is a former professional cyclist and founder of Monarch Racing: an elite women's road team & a junior girls' development road team. Her experiences and perspectives on sports, gender, and society are reflected in the goal of her team, which stretches far beyond cycling, towards a mission of creating powerful, kind, and confident individuals who will become leaders in their communities and the world. Helena & host Elizabeth Emery discuss confidence, body image, nutrition, eating disorders, privilege, speaking up, team dynamics, being perfect and never enough, aggression, and being mean.  Sign up for Hear Her Sports newsletter at https://bit.ly/HHSnewsletter Get involved and support the show directly at https://bit.ly/givetoHHSpodcast Find all episodes http://www.hearhersports.com/ Find Helena Gilbert-Snyder’s website at https://www.helenagilbertsnyder.com/Learn more about Monarch Racing at https://www.monarch-racing.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joyce Scoglietti played slow pitch softball for most of her life. She started at 2nd base in a church league when she was 8 years old and now plays with the Northcoast Vintage Players, a league for 45+.  Joyce was born in 1957, so most of her young athletic career happened before Title IX passed. There were no school sports programs available to her until the 10th grade when she joined competitive volleyball, basketball, and softball teams. She speaks of finally having a uniform, coaches, and referees! Joyce was the recipient of the first award for athlete of the year from Billie Jean King.  Joyce also refereed high school volleyball for 36 years and was the president of the Cleveland Volleyball Officials Association for 15 of those years. During that time she witnessed the level of play rise exceptionally. She tells us what that looked like and how it impacted the reffing.   Joyce and Hear Her Sports host Elizabeth Emery also talk about playing with the boys until puberty, weird gym suits, feeling at hom

Wanda Ford is a basketball standout. She is the first woman in NCAA history to amass 1500 basketball rebounds and she set the NCAA career record with 1,887 rebounds. She had 102 career double-doubles. Wanda was also one of the leading scorers in the game. She set the NCAA single-season scoring record with 919 points in 1986 (now eighth all time). Her average of 30.6 points per game in 1986 was the second highest at that time (now fifth all time). She also scored 54 points in a February 22, 1986 game against Missouri State, which was the second highest single-game scoring total up to that time (now tied for seventh all time). In this episode Wanda tells stories of her basketball in the early days of girls sports, what drew her to Drake University, her education there, traveling and living all over the place through basketball, and her late-night (until 2am!) basketball program. Wanda was a Women’s Sports Foundation Player of the Year, a Kodak All-American, a three time Women’s Basketball Yearbook All-America

Lindsay Glavan played Division I NCAA Women’s Ice Hockey at Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pa. She graduated in 2005 having scored 63 points in 139 games as a Mercyhurst Laker and led the team as assistant captain in her junior and senior years. The Lakers were conference champions each year and made their NCAA Tournament debut in March 2005. With support from others in October of 2023, Lindsay started an all-girls team, Garfield Heights Bulldogs, in Garfield Heights, Ohio. They compete against both all-girls and co-ed teams, with a majority of games played locally. Players from the Bulldogs Girls Ice Hockey Team have gone on to join competitive teams in the Cleveland Suburban Hockey League, represent their high school teams in the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA), and play for the Gilmour Gladiators Tier II girls program. In addition to coaching, Lindsay advocates for girls hockey. She understands the power of all girls teams to positively shape a girl’s hockey experience, confidence and leade

With biathlete Deedra Irwin, host Elizabeth Emery talks about how hard it is to perform perfectly on a specific day, how she thinks about balance in a bunch of scenarios, and how she found financial and mental security for greater performance. Deedra has fascinating insight into being a returning Olympian and everything that goes into making an Olympic team.  Deedra grew up running competitively in Northeast Wisconsin. She started skiing at 16 years old to help stay in shape for running during the winter. She decided to be a 3 sport athlete at Michigan Tech and while there competed in 2 Nordic Skiing NCAA championships and U23 Worlds for Team USA in 2015. She then skied professional with the Sun Valley Ski Education Gold Team for 2 seasons after college. In 2017 she attended a US Biathlon Talent ID camp and decided to take a chance on Biathlon. Short after she made the X-team and joined the Vermont National Guard in 2019. Deedra qualified for her first Olympics in 2022. In her debut race at the 2022 Beijing

Marta Colosio is an Italian postdoctoral fellow at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her research focuses on neuromuscular function and performance fatigability in young and older adults, as well as in individuals with metabolic disease. She studies how exercise, training interventions, and nutritional supplementation influence muscle health, and how sex differences shape these responses. We talk about what is the best behavior to improve the way that we live in old age.  Sign up for Hear Her Sports newsletter at https://bit.ly/HHSnewsletter Get involved and support the show directly at https://bit.ly/givetoHHSpodcast Find all episodes http://www.hearhersports.com/ Follow Lidia on Insagram at https://www.instagram.com/carta_molosio/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lidia Cusack is an emerging professional cyclist who has made her mark in both road racing and cyclocross. She began racing at a young age on her local club team in Chevy Chase, Maryland, and quickly moved into the national and international scene. After graduating high school, Lidia took the bold step to move to Europe to pursue her cycling dreams.  Her dedication paid off with impressive results in UCI events, World Cup races, and World Championships. Notable achievements during her junior years include victory at the prestigious Druivenkoers - Overijse road race and a commanding cyclocross World Cup win in Dublin.  Her 5th place finish at the 2024 Cyclocross World Championship further solidified her status as a rising star in the sport.   As a U23 rider, Lidia is staying patient while challenging herself among elite competitors - knowing that results will come with experience. In her future Lidia dreams of having a long and healthy career, winning a monument on the road, and winning an elite cyclocross w

Betty Kellenberger and her five sisters grew up in a farming family. She attended Central Michigan University and then taught for 40+ years in Carson City, Michigan. Her summer breaks were filled with traveling, often by bicycle. She pedaled across every state in the US and every province in Canada. Betty has also ridden in China, New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom. She’s been on a couple of archeological digs, studied at numerous universities, lead a Boy Scout troop to earn their cycling badge, served four terms in public office before the desire to travel demanded her attention.  In September of 2025, at 80 years old, Betty became the oldest woman to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail. She tells us all about her AT hike, shares words of wisdom and personal philosophy, plus much more.  Get involved and support the show directly at https://bit.ly/givetoHHSpodcast Find all episodes http://www.hearhersports.com/ Sign up for Hear Her Sports newsletter at https://bit.ly/HHSnewsletter Follow Betty on

Vanessa Bonebrake was born in France and started swimming on a team when she was six years old. When she was ten, her family moved to Costa Rica, where she joined one of the country’s top swim teams and competed at the national level until she was 18.  After taking a short break to focus on school, she rediscovered her love for swimming while earning a master’s degree. That’s when her lifelong connection to the water truly came back to life. Not long after that Vanessa found open water swimming and it completely changed her path. She’s completed several endurance swim races, including the True Width of Lake Tahoe, Swim Around Key West, and Escape from Alcatraz, among many  others. Vanessa is also a proud Sea Dreamers Ambassador, where she helps inspire more women to dive into open water swimming and raise awareness for ocean conservation. Get involved and support the show directly at https://bit.ly/givetoHHSpodcast Find all episodes http://www.hearhersports.com/ Sign up for Hear Her Sports newsletter at h

Hendrika de Vries is a retired family therapist, a teacher, and a writer, chronicling her life experiences with oppression and resistance in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, migration, competitive swimming, and misogyny in 1950s Australia. A fierce feminist and activist, de Vries infuses her writing with historical depth and personal perspective on challenges facing women and anyone deemed other. She is the author of When a Toy Dog Became a Wolf and the Moon Broke Curfew, award-winning memoir of her WWII childhood. and OPEN TURNS: From Dutch Girl to New Australian, which tells the story of her coming-of-age experience as an immigrant and a champion swimmer in 1950s Australia. Her writing has also appeared in The New York Times and the LA Times. She lives in Santa Barbara, CA. Find out more about her at www.agirlfromamsterdam.com. Get involved and support the show directly at https://bit.ly/givetoHHSpodcast Find all episodes http://www.hearhersports.com/ Sign up for Hear Her Sports newsletter at https://bit.ly/HHS

Grace Brown OAM is Australia’s most successful female road cyclist. She recently retired from the sport as Olympic and World Champion in the Individual time trial. In 2024, she reached the pinnacle of her career, winning Olympic gold in Paris, becoming World Champion in the Individual Time Trial, and claiming victory in the prestigious Liège–Bastogne–Liège. Brown is now part of the SBS commentary and podcast team, and president of the board of The Cyclists' Alliance. Get involved and support the show directly at https://bit.ly/givetoHHSpodcast Find all episodes http://www.hearhersports.com/ Sign up for Hear Her Sports newsletter at https://bit.ly/HHSnewsletter Follow Grace on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/_g_brown/ Find out more about The Cyclists’ Alliance at https://cyclistsalliance.org/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Emalee Nelson Stone and host Elizabeth Emery discuss the Wayland Baptist Flying Queens' 131-game winning streak during the 1950s and how that impacted women’s basketball today.  Dr. Emalee Nelson Stone is an Assistant Professor of Instruction in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education at The University of Texas at Austin. Her research and teaching interests lie at the intersection of sport, history, society, and culture. Specifically, her research examines the sporting experiences of American women. She has presented her work at numerous national and international academic conferences. Her writing can be found in various academic journals, including The International Journal of Sport History, Sport History Review, the Journal of Sport History, and The Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics. Recently, she served as a speaker and facilitator at the U.S. Soccer Federation's SheChampions Summit during the 2024 SheBelieves Cup. Currently, she is engaged in two book projects through Texas Te

Georgia Hall won the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes in 2018, just five years after triumphing in the R&A Women’s Amateur Championship. Georgia’s victory wasn’t just special because it was her first major, but also because her dad Wayne caddied for her that week. A superb final round of five-under-par featured numerous highlights, and Georgia was the first British winner of the event since Catriona Matthew clinched the title at the same venue in 2009. Georgia, who began playing golf aged seven after her dad took her to a driving range near their Bournemouth home, doubled her LPGA win tally when she triumphed in the Cambio Portland Classic in 2020. The three-time European Solheim Cup player is a two-time Ladies European Tour order of merit winner, in 2017 and 2018. Georgia lost to Celine Boutier on the first extra hole of a play-off in the LPGA Drive On Championship in March 2023. Get involved and support the show directly at https://bit.ly/givetoHHSpodcast Find all episodes http://www.hearhers

Alexa Brabec grew up in Steamboat Springs, CO where she trained with the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club. In 2020, she qualified for the US National Team for the first time. After graduating high school, Alexa moved to Lillehammer, Norway to train with the Norwegian Team as a part of a partnership between the US and Norwegian Teams. She competed in the first women's Nordic Combined World Cup in 2020 in Ramsau, Austria, the first Youth Olympic Games for women's Nordic Combined in 2020 in Laussane, Switzerland, and the first World Championships for women's Nordic Combined in 2021 in Oberstdorf, Germany.  Some highlights of her career are winning two silver medals at the 2024 Junior World Championships in the Individual and Women's Team Event, which were the first US women's Nordic Combined medals at Junior Worlds, a 4th place finish in the 2025 Seefeld Triple World Cup, a 4th place finish at the 2025 World Championships in Trondheim, Norway, which is also the best US women's Nordic Combined finish at Worl

In the episode host Elizabeth Emery speaks with Staci Mannella about ski racing legally blind with a guide, training for effective communication, why working with a counselor as an athlete is great idea, and why and how sport has been so important in her life, plus where it is leading her now.  Staci Mannella is a third year Ball State University PhD. student in counseling psychology with a focus on sport and performance. She is a mental health therapist and mental performance consultant in training at SKADI Sport Psychology. Drawing from her journey as a visually impaired Paralympic skier at the Sochi 2014 and PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Games, Staci brings a unique blend of firsthand experience and academic rigor to her clinical work and research. Staci's academic journey, including a Bachelor of Arts at Dartmouth College, a Master's of Science from the School of Kinesiology at the University of British Columbia, and a Masters of Arts in Counseling from Ball State University, underscores her commitment to

In 2017, Megan Jastrab was an early guest on Hear Her Sports. She was 15 years old then and just, barely just, imagining her future cycling career. She is now a pro racer with Team Picnic PostNL. She’s also an Olympic medalist and three time Junior World Champion. !!! In this episode, host Elizabeth catches up with Megan and hears about her recent experiences at La Vuelta Femenina, one of the three women’s stage races called grand tours. Megan shares her thoughts about if La Vuelta should be called a grand tour, growth of women’s cycling since she started, living in Europe, and her love of bike racing despite the rain and crashes. Megan began riding bikes with her brother Ryan at the age of eleven in her hometown of California. Two years later she competed in her first race, and by the age of seventeen, Megan was Junior World Champion in not only the road race but both the madison and omnium on the track. Hungry for more, Megan joined the national track team and came away from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with a

This week host Elizabeth Emery is talking to Karen Heintz, a starting point guard, with the Houston Angels of the Women’s Basketball League (WBL), which was founded in 1978. In that inaugural year of the league, the Angels won the Championship over the Iowa Cornets.  Before playing with the Angels, Karen walked onto Texas A&M in 1974, then transferred to Baylor as a sophomore. She is still in the record books at both schools in rebounding and scoring. Karen is also one of the early female athletes to receive an athletic college scholarship.  In the episode, Karen tells all those stories and we’ll hear what it was like to play in the WBL, Karen’s memories from those days, what she was paid, plus her thoughts on the current momentum in women’s sports. We also talk about coaching because Karen has been teaching and coaching for 47 years. She was a head coach for 34 years, winning 797 games, multiple Regional Finals, and District Championships.  Karen still plays basketball competitively with the Connecticut C

Francesca Clapcich was born in Trieste, Italy and now lives in Park City, Utah with her wife (former Olympic and round-the-world sailor, Sally Barkow) and daughter, Harriet.  In our conversation, Francesca explains sailing, what it’s like to be out on the ocean with dolphins and other wildlife. Then tells tales of the physical and mental preparations for the 2028 Vendee Globe, kid sports in Italy, building a diverse team, belief in yourself, belonging, and being a mom athlete. Our conversation couldn’t have been more full and wonderful.  Francesca has twice represented Italy at the Olympic Games, is a World Champion, European Champion, Italian Sailor of the Year. In 2023, competing with 11th Hour Racing Team, she became the first Italian to win The Ocean Race, the world’s longest and toughest team sporting event. Francesca is also the first female Italian to compete in the notoriously challenging Solitaire du Figaro, a solo multi-stage sprint around the coastline of France,. There she was presented with the