Seattle Reign FC Press Conference: 8/24: Veronica Latsko

we have Veronica lco here we'll take questions on Zoom so if you have a question please raise your hand and Susie you can go ahead good morning Veronica morning I wanted to first ask before talking about the game um you were part of the bargaining committee for the CBA and just wondering if you can just reflect a little bit on the moment and what you all have achieved yeah um we're all really excited um the amount of hour hours and days and weeks and months that we have put into negotiating a new CBA it's been a lot um and to see it come to fruition is incredible uh to see that we are the first League 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 ask me like what does that mean the NFL doesn't have free agency see what do you mean there's no draft it's incredible it's just like you we have so much more autonomy as players and with that autonomy comes more protections and a better league in general and I'm I'm so excited about this new CVA thanks Susie Jeff go ahead Veronica uh as a club you've had uh a little bit of a break from matches but training uh there's been some Personnel turnover it's a big event match um athletes very often to talk about were teams what's the challenges that you're going to have going into a match like this with all of the stuff going around it but also excited to get back on the pitch playing against the regular yeah so I think the challenge for us is just making sure that everybody's on the same page um making sure the new players understand our system and are able to incorp at the new players into our system and I think that these past couple weeks of not having games has really helped us solidify that and get everybody on the same page and I'm excited I think everybody is very excited to finally play a soccer game um and to get the season back going so yeah I think everybody's on the same page and everybody is just really raring to go for tomorrow uh the other part to follow up on that is uh even though your March of prayer is particularly high with the runin the last couple years the club has had very successful end of season stretches is that something as a player and a locker room that you can lean on having experience that or is that just one game at a time yeah 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 player I'm very much just focused on one game at a time and the way that you have good SE good later pars of the season is by having that mentality of it's one game at a time and it's do or die each game thanks Jeff thank you Steve go ahead Veronica wanted to follow up with a little long Jeff's question um expecting over 15,000 fans in the stadium tomorrow Pino obviously there other legends from the team and from women's soccer um I wonder if you talk about kind of the pressure the the enjoyment of being able to put on a performance for them if that feels like something extra that you guys need to have in the back of your mind or if you're just really focused on this is a game we need to win I think all of us are thinking about both so again you're 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 are we're here because of players like Pino and we are playing for Pino for this game and yeah I think it does give you that extra jump of motivation and that push to be like yeah no we're going to win this game we're we're going to beat this team because it's bigger than just us thank you Steve Susie I wanted to ask um you're facing the North Carolina courage on Sunday and um haven't looked face them for a while and just wondering what kind of um threats that you'll be prepared to address like what do they bring that's a challenge 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 are very good at playing and building up to really defensive or really offensive threats in behind and 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 kind of yeah again just focus on us thanks suy any other questions Charles go ahead sorry about coming in in the last moment there hi Veronica good morning I just wanted to ask I know on multiple occasions you've talked about how you love the environment of this club how it's been so welcoming for you I'm just wondering obviously you know in the Ford Department you've got inelia and Anam Maria coming in and obviously Jaylen via trade is there anything that you might do to try and welcome newer players or is it just you know with so many veterans and ogs in this club it just kind of that environment kind of seeks these players out and it happens naturally um I feel like it kind of happens naturally uh 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 like we can't wait to meet you and get to know more about you and do you want to grab a cup of coffee or do you want to just stay back after lunch and drink coffee here and just chat about your life like 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 and 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 thanks TR thank you and then Cameron yeah thank you thanks for taking the time Veronica uh just you mentioned how kind of players like you know uh paved the way what is it for you about P's Legacy that really stands out um you know was able to make you make those comments 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 um off the field she has really inspired me to become more of an 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 the foreground for our collective bargaining agreement and that we don't get this new CBA without people like penino Paving away and we see that and we feel that and tomorrow will be able to fully celebrate her and I think it'll really hit how much of an impct actions left on this game on and off the field thanks Cameron yeah thank you any other questions look like we're good all right thank you everyone thanks Veronica love Laura here soon