00;00;00;22 - 00;00;23;11
Chris Judge
Hello and welcome to the Providence College podcast. I am this week's host, Chris Judge. As we celebrate Women's History Month and the start of March Madness, I am joined by Hannah Valente, class of 2020 Hannah just passed the certification exams to become the youngest woman to be a certified agent in the NBA. Currently in her second year of law school at Illinois University, Hannah was a very active student here at PC, including being a manager of the men's basketball team.

00;00;23;20 - 00;00;24;29
Chris Judge
Hannah, thanks for joining us.

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Hannah Valente
Hi, Chris. Thank you so much for having me on. I'm honored to be here. And women's History Month and hopefully we'll celebrate the rest of the month cheering on our fryers.

00;00;33;03 - 00;00;49;29
Chris Judge
And that's where I want to start. Will say that we're recording on Wednesday, hours before the Big East Tournament start. Coach Cooley was just named Big East Coach of the year. So let's start there. What was it like being a part of Coach Cooley staff and working alongside a lot of the guys who are making this run this season?

00;00;50;08 - 00;01;18;14
Hannah Valente
Being a manager for Providence all four years completely defined my Providence College experience. I reached out to Coach Cooley right upon my my early decision acceptance, my senior year of high school. At that time, I had just finishing up the season at my high school. I was managing the boys basketball team, so I reached out to Coach Cooley on a limb explaining how excited I was and how much I enjoyed managing my boys basketball team.

00;01;18;14 - 00;01;44;14
Hannah Valente
So I reached out. I interviewed with the graduate assistant Matt Garvey at the time, and that's what kind of started this whole process. But the relationship that I built with Coach Cooley, the players, especially Kalief and Alva, who were my in my grade and the managers and the entire coaching staff was honestly incredible to be able to be such a special part of the team that truly emphasizes family.

00;01;44;20 - 00;02;04;20
Hannah Valente
And I know that among the discussion of any college basketball team, you talk about culture and it's really hard to describe what how much of a family culture the Providence basketball team really is And I feel really fortunate to have formed a connection with Coach Cooley and the players. And you just play a small role in our success during my four years.

00;02;04;25 - 00;02;20;09
Chris Judge
Well, let's talk about what is it that a manager does on a daily basis with the team. A lot of people, they might see all the students who are working behind the team in their polo shirts. What is more than just handing out water at a game? Can you give us a sense of what it is on a daily basis, what you were doing?

00;02;20;13 - 00;02;42;02
Hannah Valente
Absolutely. So the managers like to say that were the first in the gym, last to leave, to turn the lights on and off. So on a typical game day, we're arriving at the dunk three to 4 hours beforehand. We're setting up the locker room where making Powerade we're doing everything that we can to be prepared for the team's arrival completely ahead of time.

00;02;42;02 - 00;03;09;22
Hannah Valente
And then the night before the game, we're setting up, we're doing late night drills before practice. We're getting to the gym an hour, an hour and a half before we're rebounding. We're constantly available for whatever the team needs. And the day to day responsibilities vary a little bit. Starting in your freshman year, you're doing tasks that are, I would say at the bottom of the totem pole, your assigned to disinfecting the locker room during flu season.

00;03;09;22 - 00;03;33;07
Hannah Valente
You're cleaning the balls, you're doing the players laundry, and then year by year, as I progress as a manager, I was given more and more responsibility. I was able to travel with the team on so many incredible Big East games and really that's when the relationships started to form as well. But basically, you're doing all of the behind the scenes tasks that nobody gets to see.

00;03;33;07 - 00;03;53;18
Hannah Valente
It's a selfless job it's a position that I would say obviously is essential to any successful Division One or any division basketball program. But you're doing the task that no one really wants to do, and you're doing it and you're doing it with a smile on your face because you truly see the fruits of your Labor Day in and day out, and you're rewarded greatly.

00;03;53;19 - 00;04;04;29
Hannah Valente
You're traveling with the team, you're celebrating with the team, you're on the court with the team. So the little day to day duties aren't exactly glamorous or fun, but the rewards they really are great.

00;04;05;00 - 00;04;06;27
Chris Judge
You miss the best part, which is the gear.

00;04;07;11 - 00;04;26;09
Hannah Valente
Oh, absolutely. I am. I am decked out in Providence, dear. My friends, actually, in law school and at home make fun of me because it's really all I wore throughout. For years I would show up to class and people would ask me, Oh, were you on the basketball team? I said, Oh, I'm actually with the men's program. But I mean, the gear the gear is a nice little bonus.

00;04;26;09 - 00;04;26;25
Hannah Valente
Definitely.

00;04;26;27 - 00;04;46;02
Chris Judge
I still wear the sweatpants that I had when I was a manager. I 20, almost 20 years ago now. To bed at night. They're starting to get holes, but, and I can't, I won't wear them out in public. But yes, they, it's still last with you for a long, long time. So did you have the privilege or the curse of driving a cargo van to the Dunkin Donuts Center?

00;04;46;10 - 00;05;07;18
Hannah Valente
Yes, I, I'm from right outside of New York City, so I'm really not. To be honest, the best driver, more comfortable driver. But one of my fondest memories, honestly, was just driving with the players and just the chaos that ensued, driving the vans around. Like I mentioned previously, a lot of the behind the scenes stuff that you're doing.

00;05;07;27 - 00;05;29;00
Hannah Valente
No one would know that. It would appear to everyone else that these things just happen. And that's kind of where the manager role fits. And you're doing all those things to to make it seem like those things just magically happen. But they're the little elves behind the scenes. Making sure that it appears that way. And you're basically making sure that the players and the coaching staff don't have to worry about these little things.

00;05;29;00 - 00;05;31;05
Hannah Valente
Like That's your job and that's your responsibility.

00;05;31;12 - 00;05;45;05
Chris Judge
Making sure the head coach has their drink ready at practice or have everything they need at practice. I remember that when I was with Tim Walsh's staff, you always made sure that everything was where it needed to be, so no one had to think during practice, just worry about the plays on the court.

00;05;45;11 - 00;05;55;01
Hannah Valente
Absolutely. One of my best honors I would say my freshman year was when I got tasked to get Coach Cooley's coffee, a dunk, and I heard the order. So I was like, Okay, I'm rising up the ladder here.

00;05;55;19 - 00;06;24;27
Chris Judge
The game versus Texas in 2004 that was on big Monday. It was my responsibility to get Sean McDonough, Bill Raftery and Jay Billy's coffees and I screwed up the sugar and Splenda and was given a nickname for that after that situation so. Ref Savi Oh no no and when you grew up in a house of people who only use Sweet and Low, you didn't realize what all the different color pouches were.

00;06;24;28 - 00;06;34;03
Chris Judge
So I yeah, that was a mistake. And I've learned, I learned from that quickly. You started as a manager in high school in New York City. How did you end up picking PC?

00;06;34;13 - 00;06;55;04
Hannah Valente
So I grew up going to the Big East tournament that really defined my childhood. My dad went to went to Seton Hall for his master's degree, and my aunt works at Seton Hall. She was worked in fundraising. So she actually traveled with the team a lot in their heyday. So I kind of grew up a Seton Hall basketball fan.

00;06;55;13 - 00;07;17;18
Hannah Valente
And part of my best memories with my family were attending was attending the Big East tournament at the Garden. And when I was in high school, I didn't go to class that Wednesday through through Friday because I was attending the Big East tournament. So when it came time to looking at colleges, I really only applied to schools within the Big East because I wanted to stay connected to the Big East.

00;07;17;18 - 00;07;33;13
Hannah Valente
I wanted to leave New Jersey. I didn't necessarily want to attend Seton Hall, but I wanted to I wanted to be in the Big East. I want to stick to the basketball tradition and the program. So when it came time to look at colleges, I actually visited Providence. I was visiting a friend of my high school, was a freshman at the time.

00;07;33;22 - 00;07;58;20
Hannah Valente
I visited totally by chance, the day the night that Providence College won the hockey championship. And it was during my junior year of high school. And the next day my family and I went to Saint Dominic's Chapel to celebrate Mass. And I said to my parents, I'm coming here. There wasn't a doubt in my mind that I, I just wanted to be part of this incredible community where athletics was such was such a big focus and it was celebrated.

00;07;58;25 - 00;08;06;07
Hannah Valente
So there was no doubt in my mind I decided to apply to Providence. I was fortunate enough to get in and really the rest is history.

00;08;06;23 - 00;08;11;24
Chris Judge
It's such a small world because my brother is the fundraiser in Seton Hall Athletics now.

00;08;12;23 - 00;08;13;08
Hannah Valente
Wow.

00;08;13;10 - 00;08;21;06
Chris Judge
And I'll be seeing him hopefully in a couple of days. Down at the Garden. As a junior, you went abroad. Where did you go and what was that experience like?

00;08;22;01 - 00;08;44;16
Hannah Valente
So I studied abroad, Providence College in Rome. I was a theology major so I saved a couple of my theology credits to study in Rome, and I was fortunate enough to live in the housing complex that was the closest you could possibly be to the Vatican. So I live steps away from the Vatican, and I would go there pretty often.

00;08;44;24 - 00;09;06;21
Hannah Valente
All my classes were site visits. I got to talk chapels and churches and cathedrals, and I was a frequent mass at the Vatican. I will also share this totally by chance. When I studied abroad, I went a little bit earlier than my then my semester started and it turned out the Providence basketball team also was planning a trip to Italy.

00;09;06;21 - 00;09;31;18
Hannah Valente
So we actually our plans connected and we were all in Rome at the same time. So I had the opportunity to watch the team play in Rome, share a couple of meals and just explore Italy with my friends at the time, with the basketball players and the coaches and with me and my dad. And we tagged along on the tail end of that trip, which was an incredible experience just to be with that team and share the experience.

00;09;31;22 - 00;09;35;22
Hannah Valente
It kind of goes back to just that family aspect. It really felt like a family vacation.

00;09;36;06 - 00;09;48;12
Chris Judge
And then before your senior year you were named the Smith Fellow. And for those who don't know, the fellowship is an international service trip at a Catholic and Dominican site that's all paid for by the college. What was that experience like?

00;09;49;00 - 00;10;05;28
Hannah Valente
It was an incredible experience. I chose to apply to the Smith Fellowship that I did, which was Saint Louis School for the Blind in Sydney, Australia, because I always felt a connection. I always want to be a lawyer, but I thought in the back of my mind that teaching was maybe something that I would eventually do or fall back on.

00;10;06;04 - 00;10;26;22
Hannah Valente
So I always had a desire to teach. So once I found out about this mythology program, I went to a seminar during my freshman year of a fellow who did this exact program, and I said, This is exactly what I want to do. So I applied for the Fellowship, got the fellowship and spent six weeks in Sydney teaching special needs children at Saint Lucy's.

00;10;27;01 - 00;10;48;15
Hannah Valente
And it was an incredible experience. I mean, I really learned so much. I grew tremendously in my, in my faith. I connected with a Dominican sister and who I'm still talk to this day, but I'm so grateful for that opportunity to explore that career. Who knows what the future, but I'm really fortunate to have that experience and to learn more about the Dominican culture.

00;10;48;15 - 00;11;00;02
Hannah Valente
I learned so much during my time there just learning. And I'm grateful just I love to travel and to have that opportunity to live in across the across the globe was a really incredible experience.

00;11;01;03 - 00;11;11;10
Chris Judge
You were also an admission, Ambassador, and a member of the Student Alumni Association. What is it about this place that you want to convince more people to come to or give back and support peace?

00;11;12;08 - 00;11;37;18
Hannah Valente
Absolutely. So I became an emissions ambassador then. My freshman year was an admission ambassador all four years. And then senior year I served as an admissions fellow and I interviewed prospective students during my whole fall semester. And I have been giving tours at my respective schools since the third grade. So I really just loved to be in the position to convince other prospective students why they should come to Providence.

00;11;37;27 - 00;12;04;13
Hannah Valente
It's evident that I obviously loved my time at Providence College, but it was so rewarding to share that experience and to also share the different opportunities that we had of Providence that I might necessarily take advantage of. But I could tell that a student was interested in, and that was such a rewarding feeling. When you interviewed a student or you met a student or shared your story at an admissions event, and students would reach out and come up to you and saying, You're the reason why I came to Providence.

00;12;04;13 - 00;12;30;11
Hannah Valente
And I've been fortunate to experience that feeling and that gratitude since such an early age that it's just something that I kept doing. I was the president of my admissions club in high school. I just really loved to be in the position to be the person to share information about the prospective school and then to see that face to walking around was just such a cool experience and something that I just have done all my life and recognize.

00;12;30;11 - 00;12;46;23
Hannah Valente
But Providence has given so much to me, and it's been such a rewarding experience that any chance that I had to give back while I was still at Providence, I wanted to make sure that I took complete advantage out, and I wanted to be on the Student Alumni Association because there's been so many incredible alumni that have helped me.

00;12;46;27 - 00;13;12;20
Hannah Valente
And in particular, Dave Lucier has been just such an incredible mentor and friend to me. And I just would encourage students to current students and alumni to reach out to your fellow friars because you have no idea who they know or who they can connect you with. It's also just really cool to have a friend who's graduated in 62, to have a friend who is so much older than me.

00;13;12;20 - 00;13;21;08
Hannah Valente
But every time we talk, we can share different stories about Providence basketball or Providence tradition, and it's just a really cool experience that I really haven't had before.

00;13;21;17 - 00;13;37;23
Chris Judge
And we mentioned it earlier, it's Women's History Month, but we're also celebrating the 50th Women Year of Women at Providence College. Are there any prior women that stick out in your mind that have influenced you as you've gone forth in the two years since you've left here?

00;13;38;16 - 00;14;06;10
Hannah Valente
Absolutely. I mean, most notably Doris Burke and Kaylie Griffin, two trailblazing women in the NBA on the analyst and announcing side, they've just hearing their stories and being able to connect with them in the brief capacity that I had. I mean, they're just such an inspiration and just it's been really incredible to have that fire connection because I feel comfortable reaching out and updating them on different social media just because I'm a fellow Providence alum.

00;14;06;29 - 00;14;36;12
Hannah Valente
And on that same breath, also, Kimmie Allie, who represented Saquon Barkley, she I had the opportunity to talk to her when she came to visit Providence, continued to update her different things. As I'm going to law school once I pass this exam, so those three women in particular who have made such a profound impact in the industry that I want to enter, I definitely am inspired by them and hope that they're their past can continue to inspire more women to enter this traditionally MALE-DOMINATED field.

00;14;37;01 - 00;14;46;21
Chris Judge
You always knew you wanted to be a lawyer but where does theology and health policy management lead to this career path?

00;14;47;18 - 00;15;07;02
Hannah Valente
Definitely so. It's a little strange the combination of the two. But I originally my whole life growing up, when people ask me, what did I want to be from as early as I can remember, I said, I wanted to be a lawyer and what kind of law I wanted to practice has changed dramatically since I was a little girl originally.

00;15;07;02 - 00;15;34;01
Hannah Valente
What was wanted to be an entertainment attorney And then I began to learn about Canon Law, and I wanted to be a canon, a canon lawyer, and I wanted to be again and lawyer up until my senior year of high school, when I learned about the role of a sports agent. So with when I applied to Providence early decision, I applied as a theology major with the intentions of studying theology and then going to law school and obtaining my law degree and my canon law degree.

00;15;34;13 - 00;15;58;02
Hannah Valente
I still was super interested in that field, so I didn't want to change the major I still wanted to study it and studied that my theology deeper. But I also took one on one my freshman year and absolutely fell in love with the course. My dad is super involved in public health, so I've always been exposed to what how much positive can come out of advocating for my dad.

00;15;58;02 - 00;16;20;04
Hannah Valente
Works Partnership for Drug-Free, New Jersey. So I've seen the true traumatic impact that he's had on New Jersey legislation. So I always in the back of my head about studying public health. But it wasn't until I took one or one that I decided I wanted to double major in the to and any chance that I got at Providence to find the intersection of the two, which isn't something that most people think about.

00;16;20;09 - 00;16;47;28
Hannah Valente
I fully took advantage of any time I could find any kind of intersection and kind of intermingle the two, I absolutely took advantage of. And I credit both degrees, honestly, for helping me get to this point because theology is all breathing and writing and health policy is trying to find solutions to difficult problems. And I think that, yes, they're not traditional past the law school, but they've definitely helped me become a better reader, a better writer, and a better a better critical thinker to really difficult questions.

00;16;48;14 - 00;16;55;09
Chris Judge
How does a Jersey girl who went to high school in New York City came to Providence College, end up going to school in North Carolina?

00;16;55;29 - 00;17;22;21
Hannah Valente
Excellent question. I asked myself that sometimes, too, but really shocked me, too. Ellen, it's a two and a half year program as opposed to a three year traditional program and going to law school right at undergrad. I graduated in May, started in Ellen in August. I was really, really attracted to the idea that I would be able to not only graduate and two and a half years but also take the bar six months earlier and begin to really enter the workforce earlier.

00;17;22;21 - 00;17;48;28
Hannah Valente
So that was really attractive to me. And Ellen also has a program that no other law school has, and it's called a residency program. So you are in the field working as a quote unquote resident, which would translate to a legal and external intern. And you're getting that legal experience. And I begin my residency in the spring trimester in about two weeks, and I will be working at the High Point University Athletic Compliance Office.

00;17;49;04 - 00;18;08;01
Hannah Valente
So I'm really, really excited to have that opportunity to be on the other side and work with the administration and the athletic director at high point, navigating these different compliance laws with an image and likeness and making sure that High Point is in compliance with all of the NCAA NCAA bylaws.

00;18;08;08 - 00;18;27;24
Chris Judge
And as we let off the episode I mentioned, you were the youngest female certified to be an agent. I know. Erika Nardini, CEO of Barstool, mentioned on her podcast, and you're younger than any of the previously published reports of anyone who's been certified as an agent. So first, tell me what that process consisted of and how you got there.

00;18;28;23 - 00;18;50;09
Hannah Valente
Definitely. So in the process of being an agent has been something that's been on my mind since sophomore year of college is when I really decided that this is the career path that I was going to enter. And a lot of people, professors and my my friends and even my parents really said, maybe you shouldn't be so laser focused, you should kind of expand.

00;18;50;10 - 00;19;12;17
Hannah Valente
And that's because I was so focused on this one thing I didn't want to think about anything else, but I think it's really paid off being so laser focused because I've been able to obtain this really important certification to me while also being in law school. But the way the process works is I started about October and I applied through the National Basketball Players Association website.

00;19;12;24 - 00;19;36;27
Hannah Valente
I went through a background check, and then during the first week or two of January, I got an email saying that I was eligible to sit for the test and the test is a 50 question Multiple-Choice three hour exam. And the test basically on the test is required so that agents know what they're talking about when they're dealing with NBA contracts.

00;19;37;04 - 00;20;00;20
Hannah Valente
And the content that's tested on the exam is the collective bargaining agreement with the NBA and the NBPA, which basically outlines all the rules and all the guidelines of how the NBA's operated. And I took a prep course on starting in November, which is run by another female agent. She was certified two years ago, and her name is Dominique Stapleton.

00;20;00;20 - 00;20;22;08
Hannah Valente
And I found Dominique's course basically by being so obsessed with this process and just looking forward to this process so greatly that I was able to define so many resources that really prepared me for the exam. And since I've been thinking about this process and knowing what the steps were for so long that when it came time to actually take the exam, I didn't feel nervous.

00;20;22;08 - 00;20;47;18
Hannah Valente
I didn't feel scared. I felt so prepared and was just so excited to finally be at this point, because I've been thinking about this process for a good part over five years. So this really was the culmination of everything that I've been thinking of and setting my sights on. And the reason why I took this exam this year as opposed to next year when I have my JD is because it coincides with the bar exam in February and I want to be able to take the two at the same time.

00;20;47;26 - 00;21;00;19
Hannah Valente
So I didn't intentionally take it to be the youngest or because I want to take it right away. I took it because logistically it wouldn't work out with the bar exam, which I'm planning on taking next year in New Jersey, next February.

00;21;01;04 - 00;21;21;23
Chris Judge
But it worked out. I mean, you're entering what is slowly changing, but it's still a male dominated field. And because of the timing by coincidence, or obviously you said it wasn't planned. What is that feel like to be part of this changing landscape and and be somewhat of a milestone being so young?

00;21;22;01 - 00;21;44;17
Hannah Valente
I think there's definitely I mean, I I'm very proud and honored to be able to continue to break these barriers that have stood for so long but I also it just motivates me more to help the next person in line. And so many females that I look up to in the sports industry and just in business in general are always talking about how they can pay it forward next.

00;21;44;18 - 00;22;02;25
Hannah Valente
So while I'm extremely excited and honored to be the youngest. My focus right now is, okay, now when am I going to sign a client? Like I'm already thinking about the next thing, already thinking ten steps ahead. I'm in the process of obtaining my fee of a certification. I have I have an email out to be certified for the WNBA.

00;22;02;26 - 00;22;20;26
Hannah Valente
Like this is just the beginning. And while I totally am trying to relish that, this is such a cool and historic milestone, I'm really looking forward to obtaining my law degree, taking the bar exam and jumping into practice and eventually hopefully signing my first client as soon as I can. Honestly.

00;22;21;08 - 00;22;32;01
Chris Judge
I mean, I know there was a guy who came back for a fifth year here at Providence College who might need some representation coming up. So you might want to get on the phone.

00;22;32;25 - 00;22;53;23
Hannah Valente
Definitely. I have I'm part of the reason why I'm obtaining my fee. A certification is because traditionally a lot of our players have played overseas, and it would be just an incredible honor to work with any Providence College player, obviously to be great to the ones I know. But I'm hopeful fully the ones I don't know and will continue to play at Providence and play for Coach Cooley.

00;22;54;10 - 00;22;59;09
Hannah Valente
I entrust anyone that Coach Cooley recruits. I totally would love to work with them.

00;22;59;27 - 00;23;03;22
Chris Judge
I mean, Andrew Fons definitely needs some help to get his name out there.

00;23;03;22 - 00;23;05;27
Hannah Valente
We've already talked about it on Instagram, actually.

00;23;06;23 - 00;23;19;20
Chris Judge
Perfect, perfect, perfect. So the NBA has had labor peace for the most part since 2011. Do you see anything really changing when it expires and in two more years?

00;23;20;05 - 00;23;47;27
Hannah Valente
I think that the NBPA does such an incredible job of advocacy and I think that among the other players associations, obviously with everything that's going on with baseball right now, I think on the complete opposite end, the NBPA does an incredible job of really advocating for their players and taking the players feedback. And I think the NBA players we've seen the past couple of years are really embracing their role as social advocates.

00;23;48;02 - 00;24;10;14
Hannah Valente
And I think that directly translates to the relationship that they have with the players association, with the league itself. So I really can't see it ever turning into a dispute that would be able to that wouldn't be able to be solved privately. I don't think they would ever want to publicly debate their CBA in the way that that Major League Baseball is currently doing right now.

00;24;10;26 - 00;24;26;18
Chris Judge
And it seems like Adam Silver as the commissioner of basketball, actually wants to talk to the Players Association and stays in contact rather than just waiting until the last minute and setting up deadlines that don't really mean anything to try and get talk. Yeah, that's absolutely true.

00;24;26;18 - 00;24;45;24
Hannah Valente
And I'm not just saying this because I'm certified by the NBPA, but I truly believe that the NBA model and the NBA's Kia model should be a model for the rest of professional sports because it's been around a long time and it's proven successful. And there really in recent history, like you said, hasn't really been any public disputes.

00;24;46;16 - 00;24;53;02
Hannah Valente
So it's definitely looking towards other professional sports teams should consider following this model more closely.

00;24;53;13 - 00;25;13;28
Chris Judge
Well, I think a little bit has to do with Adam Silver versus David Stern and the character of the two men and one who's probably more willing to keep things quiet and negotiate and quiet. And the other one who's just who rest in peace was very hardheaded and outspoken about what he wanted and how to get it.

00;25;14;09 - 00;25;21;07
Hannah Valente
I completely agree. I think that's absolutely true, especially in this industry. There's a lot of egos at every level, so that definitely plays a huge role.

00;25;22;04 - 00;25;39;25
Chris Judge
So if all that stuff wasn't enough, going to law school, getting your certification, you're also the news coordinator of a website called Conduct Detrimental. It's a website that analyzes the legal side of sports stories. How did that opportunity come about and give a little plug for what you and your team are doing over there?

00;25;39;25 - 00;26;05;22
Hannah Valente
Absolutely. So I accredit all of my work with conduct detrimental to attorney Dan Lost. He can be found on all social media, sports law laws. And I reached out to Dan on Twitter over the summer because I saw a tweet that and the NCAA moving forward decided that they would be using the branding March Madness for both the female tournament and the male tournament, obviously.

00;26;05;27 - 00;26;32;14
Hannah Valente
March Madness is a trademark term. It's well known. Everyone knows March Madness and it's synonymous with the men's tournament. No one even thinks about the women's tournament. Unfortunately, is secondary. And when you sit on a price shed light to the inequalities. Last year during the women's tournament, I began really following closely what was happening. And then the NCAA hired an outside legal counsel to investigate this.

00;26;32;19 - 00;26;50;22
Hannah Valente
So I've been following this story from March to August. And pretty closely, more than I guess the average person would. And they tweeted that they were moving forward. They were going to use the March Madness for both teams. So that was a big deal, especially for someone who's been following it, but just a big deal for basketball fans in general.

00;26;50;28 - 00;27;17;13
Hannah Valente
And it was really underreported. It wasn't it wasn't caught on by mainstream media and we'd have like a week or two to see if any big news outlets would write about it. And I just decided I'm going to write about it for this new website, this conduct detrimental website, previously Conduct Detrimental was a podcast, and they expanded over the summer to to have a website, to have a blog that law students and lawyers can write about these issues.

00;27;17;18 - 00;27;41;18
Hannah Valente
So I reached out to Dan, I said, no one's reporting this. This is a huge deal. This was about the middle end of August. And he said, I didn't even know about this. This is great seminar over the draft. So I started to write that article and I began to form a relationship with Dan and Dan and I began to talk about what I want to do for the future and how I could kind of fit in at conduct detrimental.

00;27;41;25 - 00;28;07;07
Hannah Valente
And we began to talk on the phone pretty regularly trying to figure out the best spot for me to fit in. And I naturally just gravitated toward writing more and more stories regarding female athletics solely for the fact that they weren't being like ESPN wasn't posting these articles. So I figured, let me report it for conduct and put my own little spin on what I think based on my experience what they what they're doing right and what they can improve on.

00;28;07;12 - 00;28;28;19
Hannah Valente
So that began a slew of articles regarding transgender athletes regarding women's soccer, regardless since so much that's been happening in for women's sports movement sports excuse me, that has been underreported in the media. Big, big, big deals that just aren't getting attention And Dan recognized that. And he said, we really don't highlight what's going on in women's sports.

00;28;28;23 - 00;29;01;07
Hannah Valente
We'd love to have a women's perspective. So these conversations that have been going on for the past six months culminated into me coming on the Conduct Detrimental team. And on the website, we have a breaking news channel. So every day for about an hour or two a day, I go through all the major news websites, tweets, and I compile a list of all the breaking news headlines for women's sports and men's sports with NFL, with sports betting, basically the whole array of what's going on in the sports law world.

00;29;01;16 - 00;29;22;21
Hannah Valente
And it's great for me because it's really caused me to know everything that's going on. And then I also get the opportunity to share with people who wouldn't necessarily be seeing these stories about female athletics with such a larger audience. And to me, that's a great win because obviously, being a woman in this industry, I want to make sure that female athletes are getting the attention that they deserve.

00;29;23;05 - 00;29;55;15
Chris Judge
We're seeing the fruits of that today. I was scrolling through Twitter and saw one of the first posters or signs at a women's site for March Madness. And so it took way too long and longer than I should of an A and a NCAA tournament in a bubble during a pandemic to shine a light on it. But but we are seeing it and but we also are seeing still the lack of equality in women's sports.

00;29;55;15 - 00;30;19;01
Chris Judge
And you wrote a story recently about the New Jersey, the Brooklyn Nets and the New York Liberty owner, Joe Tsai, but paid for charter flights for the Newark Liberty to get to their games last year. And he was just fined $500,000 by the WNBA. Can you talk us through the story and and what it's all about?

00;30;19;02 - 00;30;44;05
Hannah Valente
Absolutely. So what a lot of people don't know is that the WNBA is owned half by the NBA league and the other half is owned by different owners. So basically, what happened was Newark Liberty was obtaining charter flights that were paid for by their team owners. They used it to go to they use it over weekend trip and then also for the second half of their regular season.

00;30;44;13 - 00;31;16;08
Hannah Valente
And this is completely against what is agreed upon in the Women's National Players Association. And CBA. And violating the CBA is a huge deal. And players are expected to read the CBA, but especially team owners are required to know what's in the CBA, what they agree that their team will do. So all the teams agreed and the women's player association agreed that they would not be using charter flights by any means.

00;31;16;08 - 00;31;41;11
Hannah Valente
They would be flying commercial. And that's all that's in their CD that they're going to be flying commercial. There's nothing else. There's lots of obviously room for ambiguity there. But they the WNBA received reports that they were using these charter flights. And this basically just opens the conversation to the inequalities that men and women's sports face at all levels up to the professional level.

00;31;41;12 - 00;32;07;26
Hannah Valente
They are not treated the same as their male counterparts. They're not awarded charter flights. They're not awarded private jets. They have to fly just like me. And you would to go on a on a vacation or to go on a business trip. And then they're expected to play their basketball games and perform as professional athletes. So in my opinion, I personally think that there needs to be at all levels, especially on women's basketball, women's soccer.

00;32;08;01 - 00;32;39;22
Hannah Valente
There needs to be a conversation if the team owners can afford to provide chartered flights, there's no explanation or reason why the WNBA would not want their players to take charter flights to every game. If the league itself can afford it, which they definitely can, because the league put out that it's valued at $1 billion. So if this valuation is anywhere near accurate, the league can afford for all 12 of its teams to fly charter flights, especially for the playoffs and finals.

00;32;39;29 - 00;33;09;05
Hannah Valente
But I think regular season as well, because you have Division One men's programs at pretty prominent schools using charter flights for all their games and it's only right that this conversation is started because it leads to the bigger conversation of how much are the women getting paid, what are their benefits what is the maternity leave program. There's so many conversations that you have to have when you're dealing with female athletes that you don't have to have when you're dealing with male athletes.

00;33;09;11 - 00;33;31;02
Hannah Valente
And I think that it's great that while obviously the finest Hefti I agree. When you when you break the CBA, there should be a fine. But that should never have been a provision in their CBA to begin with. The women simply deserve better if we're going to keep them in the same regard as we as we have all male NBA players.

00;33;32;11 - 00;33;53;28
Chris Judge
I mean, you said you said it a second ago saying that travel like you and I travel. But we started taking charter flights as the Providence College basketball team when I was a manager. 17, 18 years ago. And so in NCAA Division one team has been chartering this long and teams had been doing it long before we started doing it here, Providence College.

00;33;54;07 - 00;34;13;28
Chris Judge
And and the owners of the Liberty were just trying to put their players in a better position to win basketball games. And that's what sports is all about. It's kind of crazy that we're in professional sports and you have people complaining about fairness and participation trophies in a way to make sure everyone has the same level playing field.

00;34;13;28 - 00;34;31;21
Hannah Valente
Absolutely. And I think that the rise of social media and the social media athlete has only just drawn more attention to the inequalities. And I think that that's great. And I think that it's opening the conversation more and more. People who would never have even cared about the inequalities or wouldn't be exposed to them. It's happening in real time.

00;34;31;21 - 00;34;56;21
Hannah Valente
And there is conversations from all women sports and all the male athletes are kind of appalled that this is the way that female athletes are treated. And onto your point about charter flights. I when I read this article a couple of weeks ago, I kind of laughed to myself because here I am as a manager. I was flying first class with a team getting cupcakes and hot towels, and I'm never touching the basketball court.

00;34;56;21 - 00;35;11;11
Hannah Valente
Like I'm just handing out water bottles. And here are professional athletes supposed to be the best women's league in the world and they're not being treated the same way that that doesn't sit right with me. And a lot of people obviously have the same opinion as well.

00;35;12;07 - 00;35;20;17
Chris Judge
You wrote an article on Spoon University RT.com about the best ice cream at the Jersey Shore. How did that come about?

00;35;20;18 - 00;35;41;14
Hannah Valente
So I if this isn't evidenced by our conversation, I love to write and I will write about anything and everything I grew up at the Jersey Shore and I got involved with Stone University's charter and they reached out and you don't know what Spoon University is. It's basically just a website for college students to post different websites and different restaurants and reviews.

00;35;41;21 - 00;36;03;15
Hannah Valente
So I got involved with SUNY University and it was during the summer. I really was bored so I basically was like, Let me just rank Jersey Shore ice cream around me. And it's really funny because people have read that and responded to me, reached out to me like, Oh, we try this place, this place. But if you're curious and want to go check it out, Lighthouse is the best ice cream.

00;36;04;01 - 00;36;15;22
Hannah Valente
It's located at the Jersey Shore. There's several locations, definitely highly recommend. Part of part of the best part of growing up and being at the Jersey Shore was the abundance of choices that I had for ice cream.

00;36;16;14 - 00;36;32;02
Chris Judge
Well, and that's a thing like I used to go down to the Jersey Shore once or twice a summer because my grandparents lived in Brick in Brick, New Jersey. Next Door to Point Pleasant. And so now when I go down to visit my aunt uncle, I'm going to have to try these three places that were on your list.

00;36;32;02 - 00;36;42;19
Chris Judge
And at first I will be putting this link in the show notes for anyone else who is curious about the three ice cream places that Hanna listed as the best ones on the Jersey Shore.

00;36;42;26 - 00;36;58;24
Hannah Valente
Being being from an Italian family Italian and Irish, mostly Italian. This comes from from New Jersey. Food is a culture. So any time part of the reason why, honestly, Italy. But so it's important. And I love to share any recommendations for any kind of food if people are curious.

00;36;59;13 - 00;37;13;03
Chris Judge
All right. Sounds good. So we'll we'll make sure people reach out to the media and to get their get the recommendations. So, Hannah, I want to thank you. This has been a really fun conversation. And thank you for joining us on the podcast today.

00;37;13;19 - 00;37;17;02
Hannah Valente
Thank you so much. For having me on. I had a lot of fun, too. And Go Friars.

00;37;17;10 - 00;37;34;15
Chris Judge
Thank you for listening to this episode of the Providence College podcast. Please rate and review the podcast wherever you listen to podcasts. Including iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and your smart speaker. Feedback is welcome at podcast at Providence. That edu. Again, thanks for listening and go friars.