Longshot: Payback

Part 7: Smooth as Butter

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 <a href="https://omnystudio.com/listener">omnystudio.com/listener</a> for privacy information.

In 2019, U.S. women’s national soccer team striker Jessica McDonald capped a World Cup journey few could have imagined. A teen runaway who became a single mom, McDonald tells The Charlotte Observer and Raleigh News &amp; Observer for the first time how she rose from a broken home in Phoenix to the pinnacle of sports in Lyon, France — and how today, she’s using her voice to battle systemic inequalities in soccer, including as part of the U.S. women’s national team’s recent settlement in their landmark fight for equal pay. Hosted by Alex Andrejev.