Long-form conversations for aspiring professional women soccer players and the parents deciding with them. No compression, no hedging. The whole argument, and the whole story.
The show
Each season opens with the Academy’s first trainee interviewing its founder — her father — about the pro-soccer pathway and what it actually entails. She skipped college and played in the UEFA Champions League. He built the road she took. Neither of them softens the difficult parts.
New episodes are announced here first. Audio and video versions will appear on the platforms below as each episode is released.
Season one
Sophie Castro interviews Rafael Castro — her father, and the founder of O.R.T.A.
Why the college season cannot produce a professional. The number every parent should check. Two six-month spells pulled out of ECNL at fifteen. Trials with Real Madrid, Atlético, Osasuna, Getafe and Levante at seventeen and eighteen. And the eight months, five weeks into a Levante pre-season, when her legs failed.
In productionSophie Castro interviews Rafael Castro.
Eighty-seven players placed in Europe before the Academy existed. Why a “direct pathway” needs a guarantee behind it. What metodología means and why no American academy uses the word. The ODP list with a blank space where a club should be. And whether her father was nervous when she trained at Real Madrid.
In productionTwo short videos on the decision and the economics behind it. Watch them before you speak to anybody — including us.
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