If You Quit Once, It Becomes a Habit with Kenza Dali

Sarah Spain (0:00)

Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're on a mission from God. Who's God, what God, is there a God? We're not sure, but maybe I found out yesterday when I spoke on a panel at Seton Hall for the Sport at the Service of Humanity conference put on by the Vatican. I told them the hot priest from Fleabag is my God, and they invited me anyway. Next week, I'll update you on all the secrets of the universe.

It's Thursday, November 5th, and on today's show, we're skipping the need to know and getting straight to my conversation with San Diego Wave midfielder, Kenza Dali. We caught up with her just before decision day to talk about the Wave's stellar season, the differences in European and American soccer cultures, the Michael Jordan quote that drives her, and what her French national team needs to do to find success at next year's World Cup. A few days after we spoke, her Wave squad sealed up the number two seed heading into the postseason. My convo with Kenza is coming up right after this.

Joining us now, she's a midfielder for the San Diego Wave and the French national team. She grew up in the suburbs of Lyon, has been playing football since she was six, joined Olympic Lyonnais at age 11, and signed her first pro contract at 16 After playing for several WSL teams across the pond, she joined the Wave last season and was a finalist for midfielder of the year, rocking a head-to-toe perfect replica of Michael Jordan's iconic 1993 finals look to the awards. She starred in a Calvin Klein ad, she's a sneaker addict, an MJ fanatic, and a book lover, it's Kenza Dali. Hi, Kenza.

Kenza Dali (1:28)

Wow. I never had an introduction like this. I love it.

Sarah Spain (1:33)

Well, I'm a massive Michael Jordan fan too, because I grew up here in Chicago during the 90s, Bulls, so I wonder how you became a fan, because you were super young back then.

Kenza Dali (1:42)

And super far from Chicago.

Now, my brothers were playing basketball and they were massive fan of the Bulls. And they supposed to stay everywhere in the room, and like all the culture about him and everything about him. Like I was just a little sister that tried to hang with them and never had the chance to, but I could hear everything. And yeah, that's how I become a fan.

Sarah Spain (2:06)

Well, I know that he was like a global superstar. So I went to France a couple of times when I was in high school and it was really cool to see people all over Paris and other spaces like loving him too.

And I'm glad your brother put you on the right track. I heard that at West Ham, you even had a quote above your locker room seat. I'm going to see if I could pull it off in the language it was in above your seat. So si tu abandonne une fois, cela peut devenir une habitude, n'abandonne jamais.

Kenza Dali (2:33)

Wow, I can't believe you found this. I can't believe you found this.

That's actually really impressive.

Sarah Spain (2:40)

In English, if you quit once, it becomes a habit, never quit. Why did that mean so much to you? I love that.

Kenza Dali (2:45)

Just because I went through so much in my life, in my personal life, in my football life, and I will definitely not be here if I will quit for everything that happened in my life. Yeah.

Sarah Spain (2:59)

It's not just never quit, which is something we hear all the time. It's the idea that if you do it once or get in the habit of it, the next time something comes up, it's easier to be like, I've quit before I'll do it again. If you just never give up, you have no excuses no matter what comes your way.

Kenza Dali (3:14)

Exactly. I feel like if you never take this option, then the option doesn't exist. So that's kind of like what I'm doing.

Sarah Spain (3:22)

I love that. You mentioned that you did have to sort of learn this through the trials of life. Your brother passed away when you were young, your mother battled breast cancer, and in 2016, you had two knee surgeries. You couldn't play for two years and the doctors even warned you that your career might be over.

How does going through all of that at such a young age sort of impact who you are and then how you approach both football but also just life?

Kenza Dali (3:44)

Well, it's really, really a decisive moment in your life. That was the two massive moments in my life, but it's also like where I come from, it wasn't easy.