Tobin Heath and Christen Press have left a permanent mark on women's soccer through the life they established for themselves. Beginning as teammates before growing into lovers, then starting a podcast, Heath and Press have established themselves in their careers and beyond.
Tobin Heath and Christen Press were teammates on the United States Women’s National Team and were members of the teams that won the Women’s World Cup in 2015 and 2019. They co-founded RE–INC with teammates Meghan Klinenberg and Megan Rapinoe to make the world a more inclusive and equitable environment for everybody. Heath and Press did not compete in the 2023 Women's World Cup and chose to co-found a new branch of
RE-NC to create The RE–CAP Show to explore the world of women's soccer, the 2023 Women's World Cup, and the unexpected and thrilling challenges they experienced themselves on their path to success. Now, let's dive into a couple of the episodes uploaded by the show.
In the first episode of the RE–CAP show, they spoke with Jill Ellis, the previous USWNT head coach when Heath and Press played, about the 2023 Women's World Cup. The episode started with Ellis giving a behind-the-scenes look at her mindset and how she prepared for the 2015 and 2019 Women’s World Cups. Ellis noted that one of the keys to her success as head coach was that she used marginal gains to improve the team's performance by incrementally increasing the efficiency by 1% in any scenario.
Prior to the Women's World Cup in 2023, Ellis stated that teams must be adaptable and accommodate various playing styles during different game phases. Every member of her World Cup teams were a vital component and had a distinct personality, so she felt comfortable starting players off the bench. She claimed that this was a huge advantage and an easy process for her to manage during her time as head coach. Heath and Ellis discussed how the national squad was preparing for the 2023 World Cup, with each front-line player having a unique scoring style and none of them playing well together. Ellis provided some deep insight into the mindset and tactical ideas she successfully implemented during her time as head coach of the USWNT team, and this episode is highly intriguing and worth listening to if you are a coach or a fan.
After the first episode, Heath and Press started to bring on players to discuss certain games or moments that were defining moments in their career or tournament streak. For example, in Episode 5, they talked with Sweden Women’s National Team captain, Kosovare Asllani after they defeated the US Women’s Team in the Round of 16 in penalty kicks. Asllani stated that you can plan out all the tactics and have the right mindset, but at the end of the day the little details matter the most, which led to Sweden's win when the game got to penalty kicks and it was all or nothing.
In the same episode, they also brought on Dawn Scott, who was a tenured high performance coach for the USWNT before resigning in November 2019. When Scott was on the USWNT, she was referred to as the "secret" to the team's remarkable success. She talked about her level of intelligence and attention to detail needed for her position on the team, as well as how she made sure each player was as fit and well-equipped as possible every day to maximize their performance. The amount of work and dedication put forward by each and every player is extraordinary, even from those who were more involved behind the scenes.
Having already experienced so many highs and lows in their outstanding careers, the
RE–CAP show has transformed the way people see and understand the difficulties of competing in the World Cup, one of the world’s biggest sporting championships. Heath and Press are also having a long-term impact on how we gain insight into women’s perspectives on the game of soccer as well as using this platform to give their own input on the challenges and experiences they’ve had in their own careers. Press and Heath look to continue their professional careers as soccer players, but are currently not playing due to injury.
In coming years, we may see Heath and Press play for the last time, but their RE–CAP show will undoubtedly continue to expand and their legacy in women's soccer will carry on even when they are behind the screen rather than on the field.
Edited by: Emma Habel
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