S3E4: EJ Proctor (Duke University, Utah Royals)

EJ Proctor was a three year starter with the blue devils, finishing in the fall of 2017. For a goalkeeper who’s a little undersized, she never wavered in playing the position correctly and I think that really showed as Duke made deep trips in the national tournament each year with her in net. She would proceed to get drafted by the Utah Royals in 2018 and was set to backup Nicole Barnhart until the dissolution of the Boston Breakers bumped her to a practice player. EJ recaps her time at Duke as well as her short stint with the Royals, including the highs and lows of the whole process. Towards the back part of the interview, EJ and I talk about an article her mother, Kathy, wrote. It’s a really wonderful and personal account of Kathy detailing her journey as a parent of a gay athlete and how she approached this new stage in her life. EJ discusses her reaction to reading it, all positive, of course, and to be honest, connecting with EJ over the idea of being proud of our parents was a real pleasant surprise for me.