Alysa Auriemma is probably best known as the daughter of long time UConn Women’s Basketball head coach Geno Auriemma, he of the 11 national championships and a tendency to say whatever’s on his mind both on the sideline and at the post-game presser. While Alysa inherited her father’s habit of being honest and unfiltered, as well as a love of sports, she has also broken away from his outsized reputation and forged her own path.
She has a BFA in Drama, a passion for musicals (both performing in them and taking them in in her spare time), and a serious crush on dashing Captain America actor Sebastian Stan.
In the below UPROXX interview, Auriemma doesn’t hesitate to share her thoughts on the current treatment of women’s sports, the importance of self care, and the best cosplay outfit she’s ever worn.
You grew up around quite a number of successful female athletes of course, how do you think that most shaped your outlook on the world of sports?
I think exposure and visibility are the two biggest factors for understanding and respecting anything. For example, I have no idea why cricket is so popular, but if I grew up with it as a major sport in the U.S., I would probably be much more into it. The same applies to women in sports, or developing an appreciation for female athletes. Because I’ve been around women in sports for literally my entire life, I haven’t known anything different. I prefer watching women’s sports as a result. I can’t stand watching the NBA or men’s basketball in general most of the time because it just feels like a rugby scrum. It also opened my eyes to how the vast majority of people would appreciate women’s sports if they were exposed to it as often as they are to men’s sports. Visibility is everything.
Also, it shaped my point of view as a feminist, because I grew up surrounded, day in and day out, with women of all colors, ethnicities, economic backgrounds, and sexual preference. Their common thread was that they were great people who knew how to ball. The relationship changed as I got older – now all of the players are a good 12-14 years younger than me, so I think of them as my baby sisters – but back in the day they were like a bunch of cool aunts.
That said, what do you think fans can take away from higher-profile women’s sports like college basketball or soccer that isn’t present in more standard fare like the Big 4 U.S. sports?
An understanding for the minutiae of the game. With the exception of some players like Breanna Stewart and Brittney Griner, dunking doesn’t happen that much in women’s basketball, so everything has to happen below the rim. Therefore there’s much more of a focus on the details that get you points, such as running tight plays and executing smart defense. My dad grew up watching UCLA and obviously idolized John Wooden, so it’s not a surprise that he tries to emphasize a lot of the same things Coach Wooden did in Westwood. When that brand of basketball played well, it’s absolutely gorgeous. Additionally, I got such pleasure watching the 2015 Women’s World Cup Championship Game because of how amazing the USWNT played. Carli Lloyd is a beast.
In your opinion, has recognition for women’s sports drastically changed at all in the last 10-15 years or is this plateau something that seems permanent?
I think, with everything to do with feminism and equality and liberation, we’ve taken enormous strides forward in the past 10 or 15 years but we’ve also taken some steps backward. I would love to say that we’re done, and we can all just wash our hands and go home, but that wouldn’t be accurate. The dangerous thing is when people start to assume that just because we’ve done the baseline amount of effort in providing visibility for women in sports, that they can backslide into reductive behaviors and language.
What do you think networks, outlets, and individual anchors can or should do to continue building an audience for women’s sports?
Last year when Duke won their fifth national championship, the commentator said Coach K was the winningest active coach in college basketball. I watched that sitting next to my dad, who was on the verge of winning his tenth national title, and felt angry. It’s not like they were deliberately excluding my dad from the narrative… they just didn’t even think about putting him in the conversation. That’s what needs to change now. They just need to think about what they say a little bit more, and think about how they can be more inclusive.
The problem is that there are more male hosts than female ones, so that perspective sometimes doesn’t even get considered because of inherent male bias. I’m hopeful that this will change in the coming years, especially with more female color commentators on men’s games or things like the transition to an all-female commentary team for the women’s championship this year with Beth Mowins and Doris Burke.
Of course, there are also people who slam us because they just have absolutely no idea what they’re talking about, but that’s not something I prefer to waste my energy on. Other people can talk about that in a way that’s much more elegant and less filled with expletives.
Is there a person or network you already admire for making an effort in this area?
They’re making Jemele Hill an anchor on the primetime SportsCenter slot, which I am *so* excited about because I think she’s brilliant. I love Kate Fagan’s writing on ESPNW; she writes incredible pieces about women in sports. She wrote one a few months ago about a college runner who committed suicide that I wish every single person in America would read because it encapsulates so much about what it feels like to be a young woman struggling with depression and not knowing how to articulate it or truly ask for help.
When it comes to male allies or advocates, I am a huge fan of Kevin Neghandi, who does a lot of the ESPN studio work during the NCAA championship season for the women’s side along with Kara Lawson and Rebecca Lobo. Obviously I love Rebecca, and Kara’s fantastic, but I think Kevin does such a great job with really asking specific questions, getting enthusiastic about every single game, and trying to learn and understand more about the game from a woman’s perspective. He’s also great at letting Kara and Rebecca take over and explain things without stepping into their space. I’ve been really impressed with him.
Jay Bilas also did a PSA video this year about how we shouldn’t be disparaging greatness; he’s a huge champion of Dad’s team and of women’s sports in general, and I’ve always liked how he works. And I think the work of male athletes to highlight women in sports is always incredibly welcome, such as when Lebron talks about [UConn] or women’s sports in general.
How do you respond when disparaging comments towards women’s sports come from high profile people, such as Charles Barkley’s recent claim that he doesn’t like watching the Warriors play “girly” basketball?
Well, the Warriors lost the championship this year after being up 3-1 in the series, and UConn won their fourth national championship in a row, so – I don’t know. “Girly” basketball sounds pretty good to me. Maybe they should’ve been playing more girly basketball in June!
Joking aside, I think it’s a result of that toxic masculinity that we all grow up with and we think it’s completely normal. When I was a kid, the biggest insult a boy could hear was that they played like a “girl.” (Remember that scene in The Sandlot? That insult was even worse than “You bob for apples in the toilet, and you like it.”) If you aren’t constantly exposed to awesome female athletes, you just assume you can say crap like that and it’s totally fine. It’s not that you’re saying it to be malicious. That’s the thing that’s so dangerous. These people have no idea they’re being malicious. The best we can do is expose the younger generation to it earlier and more often so it’s not something we take for granted, and we don’t normalize toxicity.
Look at the gay community — over the past 15, 16 years, we’ve had a veritable explosion of queer-themed television, literature, and film, and it isn’t a coincidence that we also have more acceptance and understanding of LGBTQ people in our culture as a whole. So visibility works! But I’d rather live at this particular point of time than any other. The ability to go outside without a corset is nice.
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Outside of sports, what are the issues you most care about?
Feminism is obviously at the top of my list — I might as well walk around wearing a sandwich board with a list of library recommendations. But other than that, I care heavily about the LGBTQ community, mental illness stigma, immigration, and abortion rights. I’ve donated so much money to Planned Parenthood and the ACLU over the past few weeks.
Why are these causes so important to you specifically?
I grew up surrounded by amazing women, and I went to a single sex school that was really focused on making sure we all knew that we could change the world. Literally, one of our school mottos was “We believe our graduates can Shape a Changing World.” I’ve never been told I couldn’t do something just because I’m a woman, and it stunned me when I got into the real world and realized that so many women aren’t afforded that same privilege. I want everyone to enjoy the same freedoms I do, as a white cisgendered woman.
I have friends who’ve gotten abortions not because they wanted to murder a baby, but because things happen, people get pregnant, and they were not in the right space financially or emotionally to go through the pregnancy. I have friends who have gotten raped and their attacker was never prosecuted because they fall into the 90 percent of rape cases in this country that go unsolved.
As far as immigration, I’m the daughter of someone who is literally off the boat from another country, who came here in clothes his mother made for him, and who was basically told to learn English or he’d get left behind. He worked in steel mills. My mom grew up above a drugstore with a single mom who was incredibly progressive for her time; she was also involved in theatre, which probably explains that liberal point of view. I’d be a jackass if I didn’t take that history, and the platform I have, and extend it into the future of this planet and the people who inhabit it.
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When there are so many depressing developments in the news on a daily basis, what do you turn to for positivity and self-care?
This year I really made a choice to dive into self-care in a way I hadn’t before, and I’m really thankful I made that choice. I finally got on medication for my OCD and anxiety, which has made a world of difference. I go to therapy once a week so my brain can just sort through the detritus of my life and my overall emotional landscape. I practice yoga regularly as well, which has saved my ass on a variety of occasions.
As far as getting my brain in a positive place, I fully believe in escapism. Usually this means something involving a movie or TV show with actors or actresses I enjoy. I have an enormous crush on Sebastian Stan. Obviously he’s gorgeous — I’m a sucker for European guys — but he’s also a brilliant, very subtle actor, and he seems like a really decent individual on top of that. Plus, I mean, there’s very little better than a man in a good suit.
And of course, musical theatre. I participate in tons of community theatre and it makes me incredibly happy. And cosplay! I love cosplay, like, a lot.
What’s the best thing you’ve ever cosplayed as? Do you get to many of the major cons to enjoy that community on a large scale?
It’s a tie between Arwen from Lord of the Rings and Katniss Everdeen. For Arwen I managed to get a pretty decent replica of one of her dresses off eBay, for a surprisingly affordable price. It made me feel really great and beautiful. Then for Katniss I got an awesome replica of her official Mockingjay suit and wore it to the final film premiere. There’s something about that armor that makes me feel like a badass.
I haven’t been to a major con yet because of scheduling, but my goal is to go to Philly Wizard World 2017 and cosplay as Black Widow. I’m hoping to get into one of the Marvel panels. Although I don’t think I’m going to line up and ask the guys any questions, or do the photo ops. Despite how I come across on social media, I’m actually quite shy. (Especially around celebrities, or guys I think are hot. I have no game.)
What is it about theatre that originally attracted you as a fan and eventual participant in plays and musicals?
When I was very little my mom got the Funny Girl movie soundtrack on cassette tape, and without even really thinking about it, I started singing along to it. Like, every day. I would just scream those songs, and those songs are difficult to sing! It was an outlet for all of my energy. Then, when I was five, my mom took me to a children’s theatre to see if I liked it. And that was all she wrote. I ended up getting my BFA in theatre from UConn, and I still work at local community theatres as a participant and a member of the artistic board. It’s the escapism and transformation into someone else that does it for me. I think of it as a way to really let go of my day and channel emotions in a way that’s healthy.
As a Broadway fan myself, I know how tough a question this might be, but what’s your favorite Broadway show? Any upcoming projects that you’re dying to see?
That is a very difficult question. Funny Girl? Maybe? That has a very special place in my heart. I also have a soft spot for Frank Wildhorn because his music is so melodramatic and poppy. And you can’t go wrong with Boublil and Schonberg, so I’m really looking forward to the revival of Miss Saigon. The two projects I really want to see are In Transit, the first a cappella Broadway musical, and the revival of Sweeney Todd because they’re making the entire theatre into a working pie shop. I love immersive theatre; it’s the classically trained snob in me. And Dear Evan Hansen! I love Pasek and Paul.
Some of the themes found in Dear Evan Hansen are relevant to a lot of what you brought up as far as mental health and wellness. How important do you think it is for there to be a musical that centers on these issues as early as high school?
So important. I wish a show like Next to Normal had been around when I was in high school – that show is what made me realize I had something beyond just being anxious or bummed out in alternate measure. It also showed me you can function and survive with mental health issues. Dear Evan Hansen takes this all the way into high school and really forces the audience to confront how we treat each other, how people process pain, and how sometimes there aren’t easy answers to why people do the things they do. I was very misunderstood as a kid because of my mental issues – I have anxiety disorder, panic disorder, OCD, and ADD – and if I had had more entertainment sources telling me it was all going to be okay, I would’ve suffered a lot less.
To end on a more uplifting and fun note, do you have any predictions for NCAA champions this year? On both sides.
Oh god. I haven’t really been paying attention to the men. I couldn’t even tell you who’s ranked in the top five. I love Jay Wright, so I’ll just predict Nova repeats. [Laughs.]
I think on the women’s side the bracket is much more competitive than it’s ever been. My guess is Notre Dame, Baylor, South Carolina, and UConn will make it to Dallas. But South Carolina just got shocked by Duke, so maybe there will be some upstarts. And hey, last year we had Oregon State and Syracuse in the final four so anything can happen. There’s so much parity now in the women’s game.
