Carli Lloyd, like the rest of us, would prefer life would return to normal sooner rather than later. But the two-time Women’s World Cup winner, as she often does, is finding the positive aspects of being forced to shelter in place, with the NWSL season on hold and 2020 Olympics pushed back a year.
Speaking with Philadelphia-based KYW In-Depth this week, the Sky Blue FC midfielder talked about life in lockdown during the pandemic, how she’s been dealing with isolation and plans for the future.
Lloyd’s life, like those of most everyone else around the world, has been on hold as society tries to gain a foothold in the fight against COVID-19. With no NWSL, which on Friday extended its training moratorium to May 15, or USWNT duties, Lloyd said she’s never had so much free time.
“It’s a very different lifestyle,” Lloyd told KYW In-Depth. “I don’t think I ever recall having this much time in my life where I literally have nothing on my schedule.
“I’m trying to find the silver lining of it all. My life’s been really busy for my entire career. … I’m definitely embracing it, although it is very difficult, but I am enjoying it.”
Lloyd said she’s been fortunate to be able to train at least five days per week with her coach and mentor, James Galanis, who has his own facility. She’s doing far more to stay in shape than yours truly, who has just enough room in his apartment to do a few pushups if he shoves his cat out of the way.
“Believe it or not, I’m actually getting in probably the best training I’ve ever gotten in my career,” Lloyd said. “I’m actually getting in really good training.”
In March, after the 2020 Olympics were postponed to 2021, Lloyd announced she would add another year to her career in order to compete for a third Olympic gold medal, having previously suggested she’d call it quits after this year.
It turns out, the 37-year-old has even greater plans after that.
About halfway through the interview (around 6:37 in the above audio), Lloyd revealed she hopes to start a family with her husband, former pro golfer Brian Hollins, after the Tokyo Olympics.
“I have no doubt in my mind I’m going to be ready and firing on all cylinders,” Lloyd said of the Olympics. “It’s just going to give me individually another year to prepare and another year to get better, just give it everything I’ve got because that most likely will probably be it for me.
“I can’t comment on that now; I don’t know what’s to come. But I’m not sure that another cycle would be in it for myself, my husband. We want to start a family, so I would be shifting gears.”
You heard it folks, Carli Lloyd wants to follow Alex Morgan, Heather O’Reilly and Hope Solo in creating the newest crop of U.S. soccer stars.
But we’ve buried the lede here.
As exciting as a baby Carli Lloyd is, we’re sure you’re far more interested in what the 2015 FIFA World Player of the Year is watching on Netflix. Fortunately, the above interview got to just that point, albeit at the very end.
Aside from having her past Olympic and World Cup successes on her DVR to watch at some point, Lloyd and her husband have been watching plenty of Netflix lately. They, like just about everyone else, watched Tiger King, but her favorite show? The Jason Bateman drama Ozark.
Having watched all of the show on her own, Lloyd said she just binged all three seasons of Ozark again, this time with her husband.
“Now we need something new,” Lloyd said. “We’ll have plenty more time, unfortunately, to binge watch.”
