Heidi Smith is the author of the new book Play On: from Adversity to Advantage Through 140 Years of Women’s Soccer, published by Sunheart Productions.
Smith is a writer, former high school and community college teacher, magazine editor, and soccer coach.
The format of the book is interesting. Heidi writes about women’s soccer, historically and contemporarily, in chapters titled after elements of the game, such as Dangerous Play, Own Goals, Delay of Game, and Unsporting Conduct.
In this conversation we talk the book, its content, the process of writing and publishing it, and the women’s soccer game in general.
Recorded December 17, 2025
THE SHOW:
American soccer’s frontline storytellers are interviewed by Emmy Award-winning John Shrader.
Insight from the editors of Soccer America, the nation’s longest-running soccer publication, founded in 1971. New episodes released weekly.
Subscribe to SoccerAmericaDaily, Soccer on TV, SA Confidential: https://www.socceramerica.com/join/
Free World Cup Watch Weekly Newsletter signup:https://mailchi.mp/socceramerica.com/world...
John Shrader's 30 years of TV and radio sports broadcasting included MLS, NBA, NFL and NHL. He is professor of Broadcasting and Sports Media & Communication at the University of Nebraska.
https://shradermedia.com/
JOHN STRONG has been doing soccer on Fox since 2012. From his days as a very young man announcing the Portland Timbers games to doing every World Cup since 2015 it has been quite a ride for the Lake Oswego, Oregon native. He and his mates at Fox are preparing for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Who knows what’s after that, FIFA has not yet awarded television rights to the 2030 tournament in Spain, Portugal and Morocco.
In this conversation we look ahead at the World Cup, Fox’sphilosophy about presenting the games, Major League Soccer, and the different kinds of ways to present soccer on television around the world, particularly the UK and the US.
Recorded December 11, 2025
THE SHOW:
American soccer’s frontline storytellers interviewed by Emmy Award-winning John Shrader. Insight from the editors of Soccer America, the nation’s longest-running soccer publication, founded in 1971.
New episodes released weekly.
Subscribe to SoccerAmericaDaily, Soccer on TV, SA Confidential: https://www.socceramerica.com/join/
Free World Cup Watch Weekly Newsletter signup:
https://mailchi.mp/socceramerica.com/worldcupwatch
John Shrader's 30 years of TV and radio sports broadcasting in the San Francisco Bay Area included MLS, NBA, NFL and NHL. He is a professor of Broadcasting and Sports Media & Communication at the University of Nebraska.
https://shradermedia.com/
This time around a conversation from the Soccer Media bookshelf.
Dr. Joe Machnik – coach, administrator, referee, manager ofofficials, television rules analyst, and more – has written a book about his life in soccer, From the Sandlots to the World Cup: Inside Seven Decades in American Soccer.
Machnik was a high school and college goalkeeper, and hasgone on in the last 60-plus years to work in nearly aspects of the game. In this conversation we talk about his life in the game, but also about the grassroots of American soccer, the emergence of MLS and the World Cup in North America in 2026.
Recorded December 1, 2025
THE SHOW:
American soccer’s frontlinestorytellers interviewed by Emmy Award-winning John Shrader. Insight from the editors of Soccer America, the nation’s longest-running soccer publication, founded in 1971. New episodes released weekly.
Subscribe to SoccerAmericaDaily, Soccer on TV, SA Confidential: https://www.socceramerica.com/join/
Free World Cup Watch WeeklyNewsletter signup: https://mailchi.mp/socceramerica.com/world...
John Shrader's 30 years of TV and radio sports broadcasting included MLS, NBA, NFL and NHL. He is professor of Broadcasting and Sports Media & Communication at the University of Nebraska.
https://shradermedia.com/
MICHAEL LEWIS has covered soccer for more than 50 years. He is the editor of Front Row Soccer (frontrowsoccer.com) and writes View from the Front Row on Substack. Michael has worked over the years for many outlets, including 22 years for the New York Daily News. He covered the big doubleheader of activities this weekend for Forbes.
He was at both the FIFA World Cup at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. on December 5 and the MLS Cup Final in Fort Lauderdale on December 6. It was the 29th MLS Cup he has covered of the 30 that have been played. He missed only the final during Covid. We chat here about the big weekend in soccer, Messi, the evolution of soccer in America, the World Cup and much more.
Recorded December 5, 2025
THE SHOW:
American soccer’s frontline storytellers interviewed by Emmy Award-winning John Shrader.
Insight from the editors of Soccer America, the nation’s longest-running soccer publication, founded in 1971.
New episodes released weekly.
Subscribe to SoccerAmericaDaily, Soccer on TV, SA Confidential: https://www.socceramerica.com/join/
Free World Cup Watch Weekly Newsletter signup:https://mailchi.mp/socceramerica.com/world...
John Shrader's 30 years of TV and radio sports broadcasting included MLS, NBA, NFL and NHL. He is professor of Broadcasting and Sports Media & Communication at the University of Nebraska.
https://shradermedia.com/
JAKE ZIVIN, who will call the MLS Cup Final Saturday on Apple TV, Inter Miami vs Vancouver, joins to look ahead at the matchup. It's Messi vs Muller and more.
MIKE WOITALLA, Soccer America Executive Editor, in D.C. for Friday's FIFA World Cup draw. He looks ahead at that event, with interest around the world.
Recorded December 3, 2025
THE SHOW:
American soccer’s frontline storytellers interviewed by Emmy Award-winning John Shrader. Insight from the editors of Soccer America, the nation’s longest-running soccer publication, founded in 1971. New episodes released weekly. Subscribe to SoccerAmericaDaily, Soccer on TV, SA Confidential: https://www.socceramerica.com/join/
Free World Cup Watch Weekly Newsletter signup: https://mailchi.mp/socceramerica.com/....
John Shrader's 30 years of TV and radio sports broadcasting included MLS, NBA, NFL and NHL.
He is professor of Broadcasting and Sports Media & Communication at the University of Nebraska. https://shradermedia.com/
DESCRIPTION
Jay Neuhaus, Senior VP Event Consulting for Play Fly Sports, has been in the middle of big soccer eventsaround the world for more than two decades. He worked for EUFA, FIFA and IMG. He spent several years in Rio de Janeiro working for FIFA in the buildup to the 2014 World Cup. He now helps cities and organizing committees get the best out of their opportunities in the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the US, Mexico and Canada.It is quite a challenge putting on a tournament with 48teams, 104 games, and millions of tickets to sell.
Recorded November 21, 2025
THE SHOW
American soccer’s frontline storytellers interviewed by Emmy Award-winning John Shrader. Insight from the editors of Soccer America, the nation’s longest-running soccer publication, founded in 1971. New episodes released weekly.
Subscribe toSoccerAmericaDaily, Soccer on TV, SA Confidential: https://www.socceramerica.com/join/
Free World Cup Watch WeeklyNewsletter signup: https://mailchi.mp/socceramerica.com/world...
John Shrader's 30 years of TV and radio sports broadcasting included MLS, NBA, NFL and NHL. He is professor of Broadcasting and Sports Media & Communication at the University of Nebraska.
https://shradermedia.com/
At the end of his 17-year playing career Herculez Gomez turned to the broadcasting business. He started withFox Sports while still playing, and since 2017 he has been with ESPN, where he hosts a daily show Ahora o Nunca (Now or Never) on ESPN Deportes and ESPN+. He also appears on ESPNFC and you can find his work on YouTube.
A Mexican American who chose to play for the US national team, Herculez says he is equally comfortable in either country and broadcasting in both languages. The man they call “Herc” played professionally in both Mexico and the US, where he won an MLS Cup with Seattle in 2016.
Recorded November 17, 2025
THE SHOW:
American soccer’s frontlin storytellers interviewed by Emmy Award-winning John Shrader. Insight from the editors of Soccer America, the nation’s longest-running soccer publication, founded in 1971. New episodes released weekly.
Subscribe to SoccerAmericaDaily, Soccer on TV, SA Confidential: https://www.socceramerica.com/join/
Free World Cup Watch Weekly Newsletter signup: https://mailchi.mp/socceramerica.com/world...
John Shrader's 30 years of TV and radio sports broadcasting included MLS, NBA, NFL and NHL. He is professor of Broadcasting and Sports Media & Communication at the University of Nebraska.
https://shradermedia.com/
Steven Goff has been covering soccer full time for about 35 years, during a 40-year career with the Washington Post. He left the Post in 2025 and is now covering the US Men’s team and more for Yahoo Sports, a job he signed up for through the2026 World Cup. There’s not much he hasn’t seen in his days chronicling the rise of soccer in America. He talks about the men’s team, the state of journalism and looks ahead to the FIFA World Cup.
THE SHOW:
American soccer’s frontline storytellers interviewed by Emmy Award-winning John Shrader. Insight from the editors of Soccer America, the nation’s longest-running soccer publication, founded in 1971. New episodes released weekly.
Subscribe to SoccerAmericaDaily, Soccer on TV, SA Confidential: https://www.socceramerica.com/join/
Free World Cup Watch Weekly Newsletter signup: https://mailchi.mp/socceramerica.com/world...
John Shrader's 30 years of TV and radio sports broadcasting included MLS, NBA, NFL and NHL. He is professor of Broadcasting and Sports Media & Communication at the University of Nebraska.
https://shradermedia.com/
Jen Cooper is the stats manager and historian for the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) and my any measure has been the person most responsible for researching women’ssoccer. More than that, though, she works World Cups for Fox Soccer and the Olympics for NBC. She creates an almanac on women’s soccer each year.
American soccer’s frontline storytellers interviewed by Emmy Award-winning John Shrader. Insight from the editors of Soccer America, the nation’s longest-running soccer publication, founded in 1971. New episodes released weekly.
Subscribe to SoccerAmericaDaily, Soccer on TV, SA Confidential: https://www.socceramerica.com/join/
Free World Cup Watch Weekly Newsletter signup: https://mailchi.mp/socceramerica.com/world...
John Shrader's 30 years of TV and radio sports broadcasting included MLS, NBA, NFL and NHL. He is professor of Broadcasting and Sports Media & Communication at the University of Nebraska.
https://shradermedia.com/
JP Dellacamera has broadcast thousands of soccer matcheson radio and television in his long career. He has worked 17 of the last 18 FIFA World Cups, both men and women, since his first appearance in 1986.
He was on the call for what he describes as the billion-dollar goal by Paul Caligiuri and the Brandi Chastain Cup-winning penalty kick. And, he will work the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America, which will certainly be the grandest sports event in history.
THE SOCCER MEDIA PODCAST
American soccer’s frontline storytellers interviewed by Emmy Award-winning John Shrader. Insight from the editors of Soccer America, the nation’s longest-running soccer publication, founded in 1971. New episodes released weekly.
Subscribe toSoccerAmericaDaily, Soccer on TV, SA Confidential: https://www.socceramerica.com/join/
Free World Cup Watch WeeklyNewsletter signup: https://mailchi.mp/socceramerica.com/world...
John Shrader's 30 years of TV and radio sports broadcasting included MLS, NBA, NFL and NHL. He is professor of Broadcasting and Sports Media & Communication at the University of Nebraska.
https://shradermedia.com/
American soccer Hall of Famer Marcelo Balboa joins John this week to talk about his broadcast work in both English and Spanish; the American soccer team; his Argentine-American heritage and the World Cup champions.
Soccer America's Mike Woitalla with a first-hand report on Lionel Messi's golden boot performance on the final weekend of the MLS season, and talks about the Americans run to the quarterfinals of the Under-20 World Cup.
American soccer’s frontline storytellers interviewed by Emmy Award-winning John Shrader. Insight from the editors of Soccer America, the nation’s longest-running soccer publication, founded in 1971. New episodes released weekly.
Subscribe to SoccerAmericaDaily, Soccer on TV, SA Confidential: https://www.socceramerica.com/join/
Free World Cup Watch Weekly
Newsletter signup: https://mailchi.mp/socceramerica.com/world...
John Shrader's 30 years of TV and radio sports broadcasting included MLS, NBA, NFL and NHL. He is professor of Broadcasting and Sports Media at the University of Nebraska.
https://shradermedia.com/
Episode Description:
The Sunday Night Soccer host hails the impact of MLS on Apple TV in a conversation with John Shrader that delves into the art of broadcasting. The former MLS scoring star Taylor Twellman reflects on his transition from the field to the studio, his player-safety advocacy, and not shying away from on-air criticism of former teammates and friends.
SOCCER MEDIA PODCAST:
American soccer’s frontline storytellers interviewed by EmmyAward-winning John Shrader. Insight from the editors of Soccer America, the nation’s longest-running soccer publication, founded in 1971.
New episodes released weekly.
Subscribe to SoccerAmericaDaily, Soccer on TV, SAConfidential:
https://www.socceramerica.com/join/ Free World Cup WatchWeekly Newsletter signup:
https://mailchi.mp/socceramerica.com/worldcupwatch
John Shrader's 30 years of TV and radio sports broadcastingincluded MLS, NBA, NFL and NHL. He is Broadcasting Sports Media &Communication associate professor at the University of Nebraska.
https://shradermedia.com/
The legendary Andres Cantor is with us in this, the debut episode. His life, his career, his heritage are all on the table with the man who made it big at the 1994 World Cup and his star has been rising since.
American soccer’s frontline storytellers interviewed by Emmy Award-winning John Shrader. Insight from the editors of Soccer America, the nation’s longest-running soccer publication, founded in 1971.
New episodes released weekly.
Subscribe to SoccerAmericaDaily, Soccer on TV, SA Confidential:
https://www.socceramerica.com/join/
Free World Cup Watch Weekly Newsletter signup: https://mailchi.mp/socceramerica.com/worldcupwatch
John Shrader's 30 years of TV and radio sports broadcasting included MLS, NBA, NFL and NHL. He is Broadcasting Sports Media & Communication associate professor at the University of Nebraska.https://shradermedia.com/