Seattle Reign FC vs. North Carolina Courage Pre-Match Press Conference • Sunday, August 24, 2024
Head Coach Laura Harvey and Forward Veronica Latsko
Head Coach Laura Harvey
On overall feeling of the squad after integrating new players and getting ready to return to the regular season:
“Yeah, I think we’re excited to get back into it. It feels like a long time since we’ve been going into a regular season game. Yeah, a lot of new faces that we’ve been integrating in throughout the summer, but we’re excited to get back out in front of the fans at Lumen Field tomorrow, for hopefully, what we can make a really special day for multiple reasons.”
On how she will make sure the team is ready to go after what’s expected to be an exciting day of celebrations:
“Yeah, I think those of us that have been at the club for a long time have been with Pinoe (Megan Rapinoe) for a long time have been doing some stuff around the events that by the time we get ready to kick off for the game tomorrow, we’ll be really focused on that and the rest of the team honestly, have not really been impacted too much by all the events. We’re trying to keep it as much as possible about us doing our business. So, we want to give Pinoe the retirement jersey celebration she absolutely deserves, but I think one of the things that would really make it icing on the cake for the day would be to get the result that we want as well.”
On integrating the new signings and if they are all expected to be available for the game:
“Yeah, pretty much, everyone who’s new will be available. They’re all at different phases of how comfortable and how much they can play, honestly, so we’ll see what that looks like. I think, yeah, we don’t really have too much injury issues. I think we’re – Lu (Lauren Barnes) is pretty much day-to-day right now, which is a good sign. That’s a really good sign. So, we’ll probably be making a late decision about how much Lu can play, if at all.”
On this being one of the busiest transfer windows in NWSL history:
“Yeah, I just think that we’re living in a bit of a different world. There are a lot of things that are coming into the league through the CBA, which are great, but they changed the dynamic of how the league’s going to function. So, maybe that’s lent into more movement this summer before those things really kick in, I don’t know. But yeah, I think it feels like a pretty unique year with eight people getting into the playoffs, how tight it is between eight and 14 and five and two. It seems just quite unique to me. We always know there’s always shocks in this league – someone’s going to go on a run, someone might go on a run they don’t want to get on and we’re hoping that we can go on a run that can really give ourselves the chance to really push to get into the playoffs.”
On if she thinks the Courage has changed a lot since the club last faced them in April:
“I don’t think they’ve changed too much, no. I think they have a very clear way they want to play, which is a great way of playing, in my opinion. I think if Kerolin is here, which I don’t know, that changes the dynamic of what we would face. I think she’s obviously an exceptional talent, but outside of that, I think everything else would look pretty similar dependent on personalities and personnel, I feel like they’ve got similar characteristics in whoever could play there. I think Kerolin’s the sort of game-changer that could be really different if she is available, but I think just the way they play, their tactical approach, their structure, it’s very clear what they want to do and they don’t tend to change too much within that and why would they? It’s great.”
On welcoming Kids Club to training this week to interact with the team:
“Yeah, it was great. I think anytime we can get people out to training and interacting with the team is always a fun thing. Obviously, we had the training session on [Thursday]. We had Pinoe’s event last night with some of the season ticket holders at the Clubhouse down in Renton and that was amazing. So yeah, I think the more stuff we can do where we interact with our community, the better it is for us. We really enjoy that. We think it’s really important. And you know, seeing some of those kids come out and get autographs and photos and stuff, if we can spend 10 minutes of our time doing that and that can change these kids’ day in a positive light, that’s what we want to try and do.”
Forward Veronica Latsko
On the new CBA and how she is the team representative for the NWSLPA:
“Yeah, we’re all really excited. The amount of hours and days and weeks and months that we have put into negotiating a new CBA, it’s been a lot and to see it come to fruition is incredible. To see that we are the first professional league in the United States to achieve free agency for every player is amazing and the amount of people – like family and outside that asked me like, ‘What does that mean? The NFL doesn’t have free agency? What do you mean there’s no Draft?’ It’s incredible. It’s just like, we have so much more autonomy as players and with that autonomy comes more protections and a better league in general. I’m so excited about this new CBA.”
On the challenge going into this match with all the pre-match celebrations taking place before the game:
“So, I think the challenge for us is just making sure that everybody’s on the same page, making sure the new players understand our system and are able to incorporate the new players into our system and I think that these past couple of weeks of not having games has really helped us solidify that and get everybody on the same page. I’m excited. I think everybody is very excited to finally play a soccer game and to get the season back going. So yeah, I think everybody’s on the same page and everybody is just really ready to go for tomorrow.”
On if the team can lean on the club’s history to make a late-season push for the playoffs:
“I mean, I think it’s always comforting to have that in the back of your head that we have 10 games left and again, we’ve been historically very good in the back half of our season. But as a player, I’m very much just focused on one game at a time and the way that you have good later parts of the season is by having that mentality of, it’s one game at a time and it’s do or die each game.”
On if there is any pressure or additional enjoyment of putting on a performance in front of a bigger crowd:
“I think all of us are thinking about both. So again, you have that mindset of, when you’re on the field, we need to win this. You’re only thinking about soccer. But leading up to the game, you have that extra motivation of, this is bigger than just us. We’re here because of players like Pinoe and we are playing for Pinoe for this game. Yeah, I think it does give you that extra jump of motivation and that push to be like, yeah, we’re going to win this game. We’re going to beat this team because it’s bigger than just us.”
On the threats North Carolina could bring to this game:
“I think North Carolina has historically been a very, very good club and that hasn’t changed this year. I think that they want to play and they’re very good at playing and building up to really defensive or really offensive threats in behind. I think the way that we see it is, we just need to focus on us and be solid defensively and when we get the ball, go forward with our chances, make the most of our opportunities and yeah, again, just focus on us.”
On the Reign being a welcoming environment to new players and if she does anything to welcome new players to the team:
“I feel like it kind of happens naturally. Everybody is just so welcoming here. So whenever new people come in, everybody’s really excited. It’s almost like a new puppy. We’re like, ‘Oh, my gosh! We can’t wait to meet you and get to know more about you. Do you want to grab a cup of coffee? Do you want to just stay back after lunch and drink coffee here and just chat about your life?’ Everybody just wants to get to know you as a human and it makes you feel so valued and with that value, you’re so much more comfortable playing and you’re so much more comfortable being yourself on the field. That’s the special part of the Reign is, you get to see all the different unique aspects of a player because people feel comfortable showing themselves.”
On Pinoe’s legacy and what about it that stands out to her:
“I guess for me, it’s kind of twofold. So, on the field, she is brilliant and an incredible leader and I learned so much from her in just the few years that I got to play with her. In film sessions, it was so enlightening and I felt like I was back in college with the amount of knowledge that I learned. Off the field, she has really inspired me to become more of an advocate and to be more outspoken about gender discrimination and pay equality and to get more involved with our Players Association and be on the foreground for our Collective Bargaining Agreement. We don’t get this new CBA without people like Pinoe paving the way and we see that and we feel that and tomorrow we’ll be able to fully celebrate her and I think it will really hit how much of an impact she’s left on this game, on and off the field.”