In December, All For XI had the privilege to speak with NJ/NY Gotham FC star, Midge Purce
, who revealed that she had many projects in the works.One of the mysteries was revealed as she launched the Confessions of an Elite Athlete with Midge Purce podcast in April.
What can you expect?
What does it really take to be elite? Midge Purce is a champion on the field, but she’s also a Harvard graduate with a degree in psychology. In Confessions of an Elite Athlete, Midge sits down with the best athletes
in the world to explore their mindset and unseen battles on the path to greatness.
Purce stressed how important it is to her to explore non-soccer opportunities and different parts of her identity, instead of only being an athlete.
“I think that it’s really difficult to be a professional athlete in the sense where it can become just your entire identity value,” said Purce. “I think being able to explore things that allow me to be me is helpful—for me to focus on being me on the field, and then also be myself off of it.”
She also produced The Offseason, a television show she created that followed NWSL athletes living and training together over the offseason. The Offseason’s first season was filmed before the 2024 season and was released in fall 2024.
Purce said that for her, The Offseason was about changing the way women’s sports are marketed and consumed. Because women’s sports are different from men’s sports, they need to be approached with an entirely different lens in order to engage new, predominately female audiences.
“I’ve always felt that for a really long time, we’ve just taken what men’s sports does in media and marketing and just shrink it, pink it, and make it for girls,” said Purce. “And I think it’s been unsuccessful in targeting female audiences in the right way to be fans of sports and entertaining the male audiences that are already fans of sports.”
“So I think that there’s a gap, and we’re missing an audience of people who would really enjoy the personalities and storylines and interpersonal relationships of women in the sports world, just because we haven’t properly marketed to them yet,” said Purce.
