Hello and welcome to Lacrosse All Stars newest podcast: Outside the Eight. We are excited to launch this podcast because it will be primarily focusing on interviews and conversations about women’s lacrosse. All in an effort to grow the game, know the game, and share stories that go beyond the field.
My name is Cassie Brunelle, and I will be hosting this adventure as we dive into the culture of women’s lacrosse and uncover stories that deserve to be shared. I think we can all agree that the women’s game is not spoken about enough!
The goals of this women’s lacrosse podcast:
So, there are a few goals with this podcast…
Number 1: Make it FUN! At it’s core I want interviews to be conversational and connect with guests because we actually probably have a lot in common besides lacrosse. We’ll talk to current and former college athletes D1-WCLA, coaches from different levels, players in the WPLL, those running organizations that promote lacrosse, international players, and beyond!
Number 2: Make it versatile. With lacrosse being the crux of what brings us together, each episode will be a little different and there will not be ton of structure and will range from talking about difficult, real life subjects to lots of heartfelt laughter.
Number 3: I want to make it clear that this podcast is for EVERYONE. Just because we are focusing on the women’s game doesn’t mean you have to play women’s lacrosse to listen or provide feedback or ask questions. You could be a current player, former athlete, coach, parent, teen looking to play lacrosse in college, fan, fam, friend, human, anyone! We suggest you give it a shot, and feel free to let me know what you think.
Episode 1: The Gaels
So a brief bit about me. I went to Saint Mary’s College of California, home of the Gaels, and formerly home to a DI program that was part of the MPSF years ago (we talk about the reclassification in the episode). Being from Idaho originally, NOT a hot bed for lacrosse. I went to college excited and nervous to play with women who I was sure were much better than me. I learned a lot while being a student athlete and met some of my greatest friends including the two that jumped into this with me and recorded Episode 1. Being five (omg!) years post grad and a few lacrosse related chapters behind me, I still love the game, coach when I can, and have met many wonderful people because of lacrosse. You’ll learn more about me as we go, so I won’t belabor the sentiments. This first episode is far from perfect, but definitely a good launching point for this project.
My two former teammates that join me are:
Anna Maria Carabini, an Orange County native who went to Saint Mary’s following in the footsteps of her big sister. Post college she coached at Chapman University and at Saint Margaret’s Episcopal School while training to join the Italian Women’s National Team, she competed in the 2017 World Games in Surrey, England and was a leader for Team Italy on and off the field. She’s everyone’s loudest cheerleader and has a heart of gold.
Charlotte Huguenor, a San Diego native who fell in love with the game in middle school and made the trek up to Orange County most of high school to play with X-Team OC which led her to Saint Mary’s. Post college she found a passion for coaching youth lacrosse in San Diego growing club teams from Carlsbad down to Tijuana, and growing her personal brand as Coach GnarChar. She’s been readjusting to the desert heat since a move to Arizona and quickly became involved in the growing lacrosse scene in Scottsdale. She’s passionate and creative and one of the most loving people I know.
Ok, let’s dive in! We talk about our college experience, what lacrosse has taught us, the importance of growing the game on the west coast, a firework interruption, what we want to see from the podcast, and other fun stuff so go ahead click the button below. RATE, REVIEW, and SUBSCRIBE (you can do this on Soundcloud or the podcast app on your phone). We’ll be adding episodes weekly!
NOTE: When we recorded this episode we had not decided on a name. I ask for input in this episode, which you are welcome to give, but we are pretty set on the name at this point. The explanation for Outside the Eight comes in episode 2, an interview with Maddy Morrissey (Duke 2014), so be sure to listen to that one to get the full scoop. Enjoy this pilot episode!