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The 2019 World Cup-champion U.S. Women’s National Team was arguably the most dominant team ever fielded by the most dominant institution in soccer. But striker Jessica McDonald remembers that for many people, what that team represented off the field was more important than what it accomplished on it, as fans around the world rallied behind the players’ public battle for equal pay. Legends of the women's game — including Julie Foudy, Michelle Akers and Joy Fawcett — look back at the early days of the USWNT, and a gritty fight for equality that had been unfolding behind the scenes for decades. New episodes coming each Tuesday, through May 17. To continue supporting journalism like this, visit charlotteobserver.com/payback or newsobserver.com/payback .  The host of Payback is Alex Andrejev. It's produced by Kata Stevens, Casey Toth, Julia Wall, and executive producer Davin Coburn. The executive producer for iHeartRadio is Sean Titone. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A child of a broken home, McDonald finds her calling — and her refuge — on the playing field. She grows up competing against her brother, cousins and other boys in the neighborhood, and no matter what the sport — basketball, volleyball, football, track — as the child of two talented athletes, McDonald can do it all. But she now shares for the first time how deceiving appearances could be: McDonald’s early athletic prowess hides from the public a childhood of shattered dreams, the ravages of drug abuse, and the abandonment of her father’s imprisonment. New episodes coming each Tuesday, through May 17. To continue supporting journalism like this, visit charlotteobserver.com/payback or newsobserver.com/payback .  The host of Payback is Alex Andrejev. It's produced by Kata Stevens, Casey Toth, Julia Wall, and executive producer Davin Coburn. The executive producer for iHeartRadio is Sean Titone. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Throughout Jessica McDonald's tumultous childhood, there was one person she could always turn to: her grandmother Abbie, who becomes McDonald's biggest cheerleader. McDonald becomes a superstar for multiple Cactus High School sports teams, but the Sereno Soccer Club she plays for after school is where she truly stands out. And as McDonald leads Sereno to multiple state titles, she catches the eye of legendary University of North Carolina women’s soccer coach Anson Dorrance. Suddenly, soccer is more than a distraction; it becomes an escape from Phoenix entirely. New episodes coming each Tuesday, through May 17. To continue supporting journalism like this, visit charlotteobserver.com/payback or newsobserver.com/payback .  The host of Payback is Alex Andrejev. It's produced by Kata Stevens, Casey Toth, Julia Wall, and executive producer Davin Coburn. The executive producer for iHeartRadio is Sean Titone. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Following the fateful encounter with her mother, Jessica McDonald runs away from home. Soon, her grades flounder, leaving her ineligible for Division I athletics at all. McDonald's road to Chapel Hill detours through a nearby junior college in Phoenix, where she improves her GPA — and rewrites the juco record books as the most decorated female athlete in Phoenix College history. Then, upon becoming Division I eligible in 2008, Anson Dorrance comes calling once more. New episodes coming each Tuesday, through May 17. To continue supporting journalism like this, visit charlotteobserver.com/payback or newsobserver.com/payback .  The host of Payback is Alex Andrejev. It's produced by Kata Stevens, Casey Toth, Julia Wall, and executive producer Davin Coburn. The executive producer for iHeartRadio is Sean Titone. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 2010, Jessica McDonald is drafted by the Chicago Red Stars of WPS, the women’s professional soccer league. The WPS acts as a feeder system for the larger U.S. national team, and McDonald is poised to become the fresh blood the USWNT needs. But in her first pro start, McDonald tears the patellar tendon in her left knee. The best-case prognosis: an 18-month-long recovery. Worst-case? Her soccer career is over. Then, during rehabilitation, perhaps the biggest surprise of the 23-year-old McDonald's life: an unplanned pregnancy. New episodes coming each Tuesday, through May 17. To continue supporting journalism like this, visit charlotteobserver.com/payback or newsobserver.com/payback .  Payback is hosted by Alex Andrejev. It's produced by Kata Stevens, Casey Toth, Julia Wall, and executive producer Davin Coburn. The executive producer for iHeartRadio is Sean Titone. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Content warning: This episode contains adult language and adult themes, including sexual coercion and emotional abuse. If you or anyone you know is facing these issues, help is available through RAINN, the nation's largest anti-sexual violence organization. Visit RAINN.org, or call their hotline: 800-656-HOPE. In 2013, Jessica McDonald makes it to the National Women’s Soccer League, the most recent iteration of an American women’s pro league. The NWSL’s low pay is hard on players — particularly for single mothers like McDonald. However, when shocking allegations of abuse expose how misconduct runs rampant in a game perpetually struggling for legitimacy, uneven pay scales are revealed to be just one component of systemic gender inequality in soccer. Yet, as McDonald blocks out off-field issues by focusing on her game, the rest of the league can't help but notice her play. Updated April 25 with comment from Paul Riley, and additional thoughts from McDonald. New episodes coming each Tuesday, through May 17. To continue supporting journalism like this, visit charlotteobserver.com/payback or newsobserver.com/payback . Payback is hosted by Alex Andrejev. It's produced by Kata Stevens, Casey Toth, Julia Wall, and executive producer Davin Coburn. The executive producer for iHeartRadio is Sean Titone. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Content warning: This episode contains adult language and adult themes, including sexual coercion and emotional abuse. If you or anyone you know is facing these issues, help is available through RAINN, the nation's largest anti-sexual violence organization. Visit RAINN.org, or call their hotline: 800-656-HOPE. As listeners heard in Part 6 of Payback, the women’s sports world has been shaken in recent years by repeated allegations of sexual and emotional misconduct by men in positions of power. In this extended interview, Dr. Tanya Prewitt-White, a sport psychologist and author of Examining and Mitigating Sexual Misconduct in Sport, speaks with Alex Andrejev and Kata Stevens about the complex dynamics in the coach-athlete relationship, how athletes today are redefining their roles as advocates, and how to foster the transformative dialogues necessary for equity and progress in sport and society. New episodes coming each Tuesday, through May 17. To continue supporting journalism like this, visit charlotteobserver.com/payback or newsobserver.com/payback . Payback is hosted by Alex Andrejev. It's produced by Kata Stevens, Casey Toth, Julia Wall, and executive producer Davin Coburn. The executive producer for iHeartRadio is Sean Titone. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After her first minutes with the U.S. Women’s National Team, Jessica McDonald returns to the NWSL, and is once again on the move. This time, it’s her entire team, as the Western New York Flash become the North Carolina Courage. McDonald is only paid roughly $13,000 per season; but she flourishes back in the Triangle, where she’d once attended college, thanks to a chance encounter with a local family, which turns into a deep and lasting bond. And as McDonald and the Courage dominate the 2018 NWSL season, among the people who can’t stop watching: USWNT head coach Jill Ellis. New episodes coming each Tuesday, through May 17. To continue supporting journalism like this, visit charlotteobserver.com/payback or newsobserver.com/payback . Payback is hosted by Alex Andrejev. It's produced by Kata Stevens, Casey Toth, Julia Wall, and executive producer Davin Coburn. The executive producer for iHeartRadio is Sean Titone. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The unlikeliest of U.S. Women’s National Team journeys comes full circle in a doctor’s office. There, on a phone call during a routine checkup for her reconstructed knee, 31-year-old Jessica McDonald gets the call she’s waited for her entire life. But realizing her global soccer ambitions will mean once again contending with home life as a single mom. And here in his first interview, McDonald's son, Jeremiah Stuart, offers touching perspective on the search for personal and professional balance, and the sacrifices we make in pursuit of our dreams. New episodes coming each Tuesday, through May 17. To continue supporting journalism like this, visit charlotteobserver.com/payback or newsobserver.com/payback .  Payback is hosted by Alex Andrejev. It's produced by Kata Stevens, Casey Toth, Julia Wall, and executive producer Davin Coburn. The executive producer for iHeartRadio is Sean Titone.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In early 2019, heated internal negotiations explode into public view as 28 USWNT players, including Jessica McDonald, file a landmark lawsuit against U.S. Soccer for “institutionalized gender discrimination.” In that lawsuit, the players argue they play more games and win more often than the U.S. men’s team, yet still receive less pay from the federation; U.S. Soccer counters that the men’s games drives more revenue for the federation. And as McDonald and the national team advance to the finals of the 2019 World Cup, they know one more win on the field could signal something even greater off it—generations in the making. New episodes coming each Tuesday, through May 17. To continue supporting journalism like this, visit charlotteobserver.com/payback or newsobserver.com/payback . Payback is hosted by Alex Andrejev. It's produced by Kata Stevens, Casey Toth, Julia Wall, and executive producer Davin Coburn. The executive producer for iHeartRadio is Sean Titone. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As listeners heard in Part 9 of Payback, the role of athletes acting as advocates has never been more prevalent—or more polarizing. That’s particularly true for women athletes of color. In this extended interview, Alex Andrejev speaks with Dr. Leeja Carter, an associate professor of exercise psychology at Temple University, about the intersection of racism, sexism and classism in sport; historical and contemporary representations of Black women’s “strength;” and culturally sensitive health and physical activity approaches for women of color. New episodes coming each Tuesday, through May 17. To continue supporting journalism like this, visit charlotteobserver.com/payback or newsobserver.com/payback . Payback is hosted by Alex Andrejev. It's produced by Kata Stevens, Casey Toth, Julia Wall, and executive producer Davin Coburn. The executive producer for iHeartRadio is Sean Titone. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In late 2020, something unusual happens: Jessica McDonald and her USWNT teammates lose—this time in court, as the players’ lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation suffers a major setback. Yet, with a new president of U.S. Soccer on their side, the groundwork is laid for a breakthrough, including equal payments for the men's and women's teams. At the same time, the National Women’s Soccer League signs a collective bargaining agreement with its own players, as veterans like McDonald help set the league — and women’s soccer in America — on a path toward a more equitable, even more successful future. To continue supporting journalism like this, visit charlotteobserver.com/payback or newsobserver.com/payback . Payback is hosted by Alex Andrejev. It's produced by Kata Stevens, Casey Toth, Julia Wall, and executive producer Davin Coburn. The executive producer for iHeartRadio is Sean Titone. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.