Women Unscripted

This week’s episode is coming to you on the eve of Veteran’s Day 2020 and we are very honored to share the inspiring story of veteran-patriot-athlete-author-mother Melissa Stockwell. Melissa grew up with big dreams, she knew she wanted to serve her country from an early age and in 2002 she was commissioned into the United States Army as an officer in the Transportation Corps. In 2004, Melissa was deployed to Baghdad, Iraq with the 1st Cavalry Division. It was during this deployment on a routine convoy that her vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb. Melissa became the first women to lose a limb in active combat and was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart for her Service and Sacrifice.  For Melissa, losing a leg, going through her rehab and recovery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center gave her a lot of perspective, and she remembers feeling lucky that she only lost one limb. This mindset was a pillar of strength for her as she went on to represent the USA, in a different uniform, at two Paralympic Games.
Inspiring us and so many on her journey, Melissa didn’t skip a beat when she and her husband decided to start a family. They had a window of time that worked for Melissa’s racing schedule and in true Army fashion, she made it happen.  She has two children who have taught her that being an athlete and a mom is about progress, not perfection. 
What have you done today that has been progress towards a goal?  Even the smallest acts or decisions can still get you a step towards where you want to be. For more inspiration read Melissa’s new book, The Power of Choice: My Journey from Wounded Warrior to World Champion.
Melissa also co-founded Dare2Tri, an Illinois-based 501(c)3 non-for-profit organization with the mission to enhance the lives of individuals with physical disabilities and visual impairments by building confidence, community, health and wellness through swimming, biking, and running.
Podcast length: 49 mins
Hosts: Sarah Newberry Moore & Pamela Relph Jones
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1300+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at [email protected].

On this week's episode of Sound Bites, Functional Medicine Practitioner, Dr Kirstin Lauritzen, covers our next nutrient highlight: Iron. Unfortunately, many athletes discover how essential iron is the difficult way. Iron deficiency and the subsequent iron deficiency anemia can create a lot of havoc for an athlete. Women are far more susceptible because of menstruation, but men can still get this too. There are many reasons why an athlete can become deficient in iron, from dietary habits, to training requirements, to sweat loss and a lot more. Although many athletes have heard about this or potentially experienced this themselves, it’s worth learning more about it as the signs and symptoms of deficiency can be caught early and treated. In this episode Dr K discusses what coaches, athletes and practitioners need to be looking for when it comes to the tell tale signs of an iron deficiency. Dr K also covers a few treatment options as well as, of course, where you can find it in food! We hope you enjoy this episode of Sound Bites.
Duration: 21 mins
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1300+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at [email protected].

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/women-unscripted--4769409/support.

Host: Chris Stafford
Produced by Hollowell Studios
Website: https://hollowellstudios.com/podcasts
Instagram: @twomenunscriptedpodcasts
Email: [email protected]

On this week’s episode, Nicole talks to colleague Dr. Gyasmine George-Williams “Dr. G” who is an activist, socio-cultural higher education practitioner, and Assistant Professor at the University of La Verne. She earned her bachelor's in Psychology from California State University, Los Angeles, a Masters in College Counseling and Student Development and Masters in Educational Counseling, both from the University of La Verne, and a PhD in Higher Education from Azusa Pacific University. She serves on the Black Scholars Advisory Board, Black Faculty and Staff Association, and is a faculty partner to La Verne's Intercollegiate Athletics Committee. Her research and passion includes athlete and student activism, student-faculty interaction among students of color, women of color in leadership, and critical race theory in higher education. Dr. George-Williams is the founder of GGW Consulting and has created evidenced-based models to honor and center the experiences and leadership of activists of color and disenfranchised groups. Dr. G. was part of a scholarly panel for the Fall 2020 Tucker Center Distinguished Lecture Series where she talked about the Activism Growth Model (AGM). We explore the development and theoretical underpinning of the AGM and the Black Athlete Activist Leadership (BAAL) Model.
Host: Dr. Nicole LaVoi
Podcast length: 43 mins
A co-production with the Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sport.
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1300+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at [email protected].

On our weekly news magazine show Chris Stafford is joined by Nancy Gillen from Inside the Games who has the top stories from around the world of women’s sport. Despite the interruptions to sport this year we will have some year end awards from World Athletic. There’s a disappointing result for England Netball and as always women’s soccer is never short of stories. Here are the stories we covered this week:
Shayna Jack Doping Ban
Female World Athlete of the Year
Priestman Appointed Canada Soccer Manager
Female Volleyball Leaders
Rosario re-elected Puerto Rico Olympic Committee President
Women's FA Cup Paused
New Zealand Netball Whitewash
COSAFA Women's Championship
Podcast length: 33 mins
Hosts: Sarah Newberry Moore & Pamela Relph Jones
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1300+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at [email protected].

This week’s guest is a new mother, an American record holder and powerlifting national champion—Becci Holcomb is a force to be reckoned with. Shooting to the top of the field in just four years in the sport, Becci took to powerlifting very naturally. She was raised on a farm and has always been naturally strong and powerful. Her father was an Olympic wrestler.  After a friend suggested she try powerlifting, she took an introductory class and was just lifting a PVC plastic pipe. The next day despite her body being sore and tired, she was hooked.  Powerlifting is a sport where you might only compete three times a year, as it takes a long time to build up to a competition and to recover. Becci is the ultimate competitor, normally only hitting personal bests during a competition. 
Becci and her boyfriend Jay found out she was pregnant in October 2019 and two weeks later she told her coach, knowing she was due to compete in Dubai just a month later. Following the advice from her coach and the team around her, Becci felt safe to compete so she went ahead. 
Lifting weights through pregnancy is safe so long as you are able to stay within a safe range, no more than 80% of your 1rep max. Becci found she needed to take longer rests in-between sets to recover, needed extra snacks to help hold off the nausea, and critically take extra care not to aggravate old injuries. The hormone that prepares your body to hold a baby—and eventually push it out—is called relaxin and this can make you more susceptible to over-stretching. 
Her birth plan was always to try to do it as natural as possible, even knowing her baby was breech throughout the whole pregnancy. Becci found an obstetrician who would supervise a vaginal delivery of a breech birth, and tried External Cephalic Version (ECV) which involves gentle manipulation of the baby in utero to change its position.  Alas, it did not work. Just before her due date, Becci realized something was not right and following tests, she decided to undergo an emergency c-section. For someone who puts a lot of stress on their core muscles, this was naturally a a major concern for Becci.  Fortunately all went well and she gave birth to her daughter Xoë Grace.
We asked Becci for some top tips for moms-to-be when it came to continuing their weight training during pregnancy. 
Listen to your body
Be patient with yourself - everything feels different when you are pregnant and afterwards so don’t rush back.
Podcast length: 49 mins
Hosts: Sarah Newberry Moore & Pamela Relph Jones
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1300+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at [email protected].

This week’s guest is 2019 CWSA Honda Cup winner Rachel Garcia who fell in love with softball in 6th grade. As the Most Valued Player (MVP)  of the World Series with records for pitching and hitting, Rachel believes that pitching and hitting feed off each other and since she understands both sides of the plate she was wiling to put in the time and effort. Rachel encourages youth to take their time in the recruiting process for college and encourages everyone that there is a place for each of them.  Being the Honda softball winner in 2018 and then 2019 the Honda Cup winner as well proved to be a memorable experience for her, especially since it presented her with the opportunity to meet elite female athletes in several other sports. Rachel acknowledges her teammates for their support and appreciated her UCLA coaches who encouraged the Bruins in the World Series to play for something bigger than themselves and to stay with their routine to elevate each other. She also talks about being true to oneself and not take the game too seriously. Rachel speaks about the impact of the delay in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. She believes that sport will teach you to push beyond yourself and give you a mindset to succeed. Rachel also explains what she learned in training compared to collegiate softball. She returns for her last year with the Bruins, which will make her eligible for another Honda Cup.
Host: Chris Voelz, CWSA Executive Director
Podcast length: 33 mins.
A co-production with the CWSA.
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1300+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at [email protected].

Danielle Warby is a loud advocate for women in sport who has been working to promote women’s sport since 2006. Dan has been editor, social strategist and content creator for numerous websites for women’s sport, including The Womens’ Game, Sport For Women Australia, Women Onside, Zela (SBS’s short-lived website devoted to women in sport), and most recently, Siren Sport. Dan is a former board director of Womensport and Recreation NSW, and our very own Women Sport Australia. She is also a life member of the Flying Bats, the oldest and largest lesbian football club. Dan is currently undergoing a research masters on the intersection of gender and sexuality in leadership in sports.
Duration: 28 mins
Hosts: Ella Smith & Georgina Mallon.
A co-production with Women Sport Australia
For complete shows notes and more information, links and resources as well as other conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1300+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at [email protected].

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/women-unscripted--4769409/support.

Host: Chris Stafford
Produced by Hollowell Studios
Website: https://hollowellstudios.com/podcasts
Instagram: @twomenunscriptedpodcasts
Email: [email protected]

On our weekly news magazine show Chris Stafford is joined by Nancy Gillen from Inside the Games who has the top stories from around the world of women’s sport. This week’s guest is Lee Anna Osei, Founder of the Black Canadian Coaches Association. Lee explains what prompted her to establish the organization and helps us understand the needs of these women. She shares her goals and how the organization will be empowering and advocating for Black Canadians in their sport community as they plan to extend their network.
Top stories this week:
Katherine Grainger Bidding Process Olympic Cost
Eating disorder stories:
World Rowing gender equality rule
New Zealand/England netball
NZOC female leadership in sport
FIG Conference
Music: Barcelona by Paula van Hissenhoven
Duration: 57 mins
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1300+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million plays and downloads. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at [email protected].

On this week’s episode the hosts of WiSP Sports Mum’s the Word meet the host of Sound Bites, Dr Kirsten Lauritzen. The result is an insightful discussion about nutrition and functional medicine as it applies to pregnancy.  Kirstin practices in Oregon and helps us start to understand a little more about the role food can play in removing toxins from the body, as well as the difference in vitamin sources; pre-natal vs. dietary vitamins. 
Morning sickness can make it hard to get calories in or keep them down, so Kirstin recommends eating ginger as a natural anti-nausea and really… anything. If you can find anything that you can stomach and keep down, eat it.  The importance of folic acid in early pregnancy was covered as well as the history behind folic acid fortification in foods.  Fermented foods, pro-biotics, pre-biotics and gut health were explained as being essential to remain in good health, pregnant or not.  So get down to your local farmers market and find yourself a big pot of kimchi.  There is so much great information on this topic that we only managed to get from pre-pregnancy through to around the second trimester so Kirstin will be back for another episode to help us navigate through birth, recovery and the post-partum time.
Podcast length: 34 mins
Hosts: Sarah Newberry Moore & Pamela Relph Jones
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1300+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at [email protected].

On this new episode of Sound Bites, Functional Medicine Practitioner, Dr Kirstin Lauritzen, covers our next nutrient highlight: Vitamin B6. Vitamin B6 is essential for a healthy nervous system, immune system and it’s also extremely important when it comes to utilizing proteins, carbohydrates and fats. That’s pretty important. In this episode we talk about some of the most common symptoms or conditions associated with a deficiency in Vitamin B6, and we also discuss why it’s specifically important for athletes and active individuals. We even briefly discuss the role it plays in pregnancy and a few symptoms it may be able to help. And while we are discussing pregnancy, don’t forget to head over to WiSP Sports Mums the Word Podcast and check out the most recent episode where we talk all about nutrition and pregnancy. Make sure to subscribe and download that podcast on your favorite app. And there's more to come on pregnancy and nutrition! We hope you enjoy this episode of Sound Bites.
Host: Dr. Kirstin Lauritzen
Podcast length: 23 mins
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1300+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at [email protected].
 

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/women-unscripted--4769409/support.

Host: Chris Stafford
Produced by Hollowell Studios
Website: https://hollowellstudios.com/podcasts
Instagram: @twomenunscriptedpodcasts
Email: [email protected]