Last week, Aitana Bonmati won her third consecutive Ballon d’Or – essentially crowning her as the best player in the world for a third consecutive season. Understandably, that got the whole world talking about how we judge individual awards in soccer and what it means to be at the top of that list? The Full Time podcast included.

So, on this week's Full Time podcast, hosts Tamerra Griffin and Meg Linehan are joined by esteemed panel of guests, including Ballon d'Or voters Annie Peterson and Soph Downey, and The Guardian Top 100 Women's Footballers coordinator Rich Laverty, to try and figure out whether we can fix women's soccer awards voting.

What issues currently exist in the voting format? How are biases exposed in the voting and the awards themselves? Is is it even possible to be objective? And, what role does accessibility and national team performance in determining which players get their flowers?

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Referenced on the show

Ballon d’Or voting: Dembele’s dominance, how Bonmati won and other key takeaways

Aitana Bonmati’s third consecutive Ballon d’Or exposes voting flaws

How Ousmane Dembele and Aitana Bonmati won top 2025 Ballon d’Or awards at Paris ceremony

The Ballon d’Or and why football has become so obsessed with individual awards

What it’s like to vote for Ballon d’Or Feminin: The Athletic’s Steph Yang shares some insight

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HOSTS: Tamerra Griffin, Meg Linehan

GUESTS: Annie Peterson, Soph Downey, Rich Laverty

PRODUCER: Theo Lloyd-Hughes

VIDEO PRODUCER: Lia Griffin

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Emily Olsen

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Get in touch: ⁠⁠fulltime@theathletic.com⁠⁠

Follow on Instagram and TikTok: @tafulltime

Subscribe to the Full Time newsletter ⁠⁠here⁠⁠

Visit the Yahoo Women's Sports hub ⁠⁠here

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One month ago, NJ/NY Gotham FC was sitting eighth in the NWSL standings and questions were mounting about their playoff credentials and who would be scoring goals behind leading scorer Esther Gonzalez.

Now, Juan Carlos Amoros' team is up to third place with Rose Lavelle in the form of her NWSL career collaborating brilliantly with blockbuster new signing Jaedyn Shaw.

On this week's Full Time Review, Jillian Sakovits is joined by The Athletic's Melanie Anzidei to reflect on Gotham's 3-0 win over the Portland Thorns last weekend, and the burgeoning relationship on the pitch between Lavelle and Shaw. What makes Gotham so good in the second half of seasons? And, how do they matchup against the second place Washington Spirit?

Speaking of the Spirit, the East coast rivals are also playing their best soccer of the season. Jillian and Melanie also get into two teams' upcoming Concacaf W Champions Cup fixture and the record-breaking forward Gift Monday.

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Articles mentioned on the show:

Nigerian striker Gift Monday scores fastest NWSL hat trick, helping Spirit clinch playoff spot

USWNT’s Korbin Shrader hat trick, Lindsey Heaps’ goal help OL Lyonnes surge past PSG 6-1

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HOST: Jillian Sakovits

GUEST: Melanie Anzidei

PRODUCER: Theo Lloyd-Hughes

VIDEO PRODUCER: Lia Griffin

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Emily Olsen

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Get in touch: ⁠⁠fulltime@theathletic.com⁠⁠

Follow on Instagram and TikTok: @tafulltime

Subscribe to the Full Time newsletter ⁠⁠here⁠⁠

Visit the Yahoo Women's Sports hub ⁠⁠here

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bay FC invited The Athletic to join them on this road trip to Orlando, Florida, to get a closer look at the culture it is building. It was a whirlwind, an inside look on the unique operation that is elite professional sports. Hotels and high-performance.

On this week's episode of Full Time Focus, host Jillian Sakovits is joined by Tamerra Griffin, fresh her weekend as a member of Bay FC's traveling party, to talk about what it is like to spend 39 hours on the road with an NWSL team. From the tarmac of a chartered flight from San Jose on 8:20 a.m. on a Friday morning, to the that same spot 11:00 p.m. the next night, and everything in-between.

PLUS: Get focused with Full Time's 1-2-3 of what to watch this weekend from the a sneaky spicy revenge match in New Jersey, to a 'get right' game for two of the NWSL's recent strugglers, and a big opportunity for the Houston Dash at Audi Field.

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Referenced on the show:

Two cross-country flights and a game all inside 39 hours. What it’s like on a Bay FC road trip

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HOST: Jillian Sakovits

GUEST: Tamerra Griffin

PRODUCER: Theo Lloyd-Hughes

VIDEO PRODUCER: Lia Griffin

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Emily Olsen

_______________

Get in touch: ⁠fulltime@theathletic.com⁠

Follow on Instagram and TikTok: @tafulltime

Subscribe to the Full Time newsletter ⁠here⁠

Visit the Yahoo Women's Sports hub ⁠here

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.