I decided to take a little different approach in this episode of “The Journey of My Mother’s Son” podcast.

As many of my listeners know, I started my podcasting journey in 2012, with my very first episode officially being released on January 28, 2013. The show was called, “Stepping Up to the Plate.” It told the stories of Berkshire Baseball and BIG Vision Foundation, the nonprofit youth sports organization that I founded and ran for 30 years of my life before Sandy and I started this new chapter of traveling full-time in our RV.

The show ran for 267 episodes, with the final farewell episode airing on January 28, 2020. About a month later, on February 25, 2020, I released the premier episode of the “The Journey of My Mother’s Son” podcast.

During my Stepping Up to the Plate days, I was blessed with the opportunity to interview some amazing people. Some of our amazing alumni, staff and sponsors, but also some former MLB players, MVP’s, World Series champions, All-Stars as well as former Olympic softball gold medalists and a women’s world cup champion in soccer.

Today I want to focus on that one women’s world cup champion in soccer, who I was not only blessed to interview twice, but also work by her side organizing and running soccer camps for a short time. Ali Krieger recently retired from a long and storied career in women’s soccer. At the International level, she was an Olympian and two-time Women’s World Cup Champion, who earned 108 caps on USWNT. At the club level, she played in Germany and Sweden as well a in the United States in both the W-League and the NWSL. She played for the Washington Spirit, Orlando Pride and NJ/NY Gotham FC in the NWSL.

However, the Ali Krieger that I came to know was so much more than just an incredibly talented soccer player. She was one of the most humble and genuine human beings that I ever met. She has a strong desire to use her platform to be a positive role model and give back to the next generation.

So, with that being said, I wanted to share with the listeners of the Journey of My Mother’s Son, the two interviews that I had conducted with Ali during my Stepping Up to the Plate days with BIG Vision Foundation.

Whether you’re a soccer fan or not, I am sure that you are going to find great value and inspiration in my conversations with Ali.

I hope to have her as a true guest on this show someday soon now that her playing career has come to an end.

I wish Ali nothing but the best in her future endeavors.

To find out more about Ali, check out her website at https://www.alikrieger.com/.