Episode 14: Lift Together's Elizabeth Yarde

Josh Rohr: All right, welcome back to the USA Powerlifting podcast. We are here with the brainchild and founder of the USA Powerlifting Lift Together program, Elizabeth Yarde. Elizabeth, how are you? Elizabeth Yarde: I'm doing well. It's a pleasure to meet you all. pleasure to be talking with you today, Josh. Thank you for inviting me on the podcast. I'm very excited. Josh Rohr: Me too. So I have questions for you. And I think the first question is who are you? And what is your background? Let's just start there. Let people know who you are a little bit. Elizabeth Yarde: Okay, that's a deep question. Who am I? Josh Rohr: Yeah, no. Elizabeth Yarde: Okay. so my name is Elizabeth Yarde. I grew up in New York and I moved to Boston, Massachusetts to go to Northeastern University, which is where I found powerlifting. I started powerlifting in 2022 when I was a sophomore. And from there I definitely did not have an easy journey with powerlifting. I started actually with a hip injury. I injured my hip flexor for so for about eight months I really wasn't able to start gaining strength. And then, you know, after like summer of 2023, you know, my lift started to gain some more momentum. And by the first year of me competing, I pulled my first American record in the A 2.5 kilo female collegiate class, which was really cool. And from there I ended up just falling in love with the sport. I ended up just, you know, really falling in love with the feeling of getting stronger, you know, the feeling of building discipline and so forth. And really just the community. I really just fell in love with just I don't think there's anything more magical than a powerlifting meme. I think just seeing somebody months of worth of work, you know, come to fruition on the platform, seeing the highs, seeing the lows, you know, it's a very emotional experience, but it's also a very, I think, incredible experience. And, you know, I think that's just an experience I wanted to give to more lifters, which, you know, ended up with me creating the Lift Together program. I'm twenty three years old and I guess ethnicity background, I'm Caribbean. but yeah, that's just a little bit about me. And I graduated from Northeastern with my bachelor's in political science and business. Josh Rohr: Okay. So I guess the thing that I wanted to highlight, and maybe that's not the right thing to highlight, is you were not high up in leadership or anything like that when you came up with this idea. And I guess well let's let's start there. Where did you come up with this idea and how did you get it going, I guess, as an official program in USAPL? Elizabeth Yarde: Well, I ended up handling at a Meet the Mirage Meet. It's at the Oasis Ship in Massachusetts. And I ended up just stepping up as a handler for one of the coaches in the area who need a handler for their athlete. And honestly I forgot what an amazing experience it is to just handle someone, you know, and the overall difference that just having someone there that, you know, gives you that guidance, you know, someone who's there to load your weights, you know, give you that reassurance, you know, just overall support you. And I can tell that, you know, just being there definitely made, you know, a night and day like difference in their experience. And they ended up, you know, being really excited. He was like, you know, I'm already ready to sign up for my next me. He hit all of his goals. And it was a really great, you know, feeling to have and to also like see another lifter have. But also in the same breath, I saw lifters bomb out, you know, from not having any kind of support. They didn't have a handler, didn't didn't have anyone, you know, kind of reminding them of those cues in the back in the warm-up room. Remember your commands, you know, make sure your knees are, you know, maybe, you know, fully locked or so forth. Now it's just like, wow, it's this there's nothing more disheartening than seeing someone bomb out. I've bombed out on a national platform, I've bombed out locally. It's not a good feeling. It's honestly one of the most gut-wrenching feelings like ever. I literally remember the day I bombed out, Collegiate National in I think twenty twenty four. And I I remember I went back to the hotel room like bawling my eyes out. Like I couldn't stop just like picturing the month's worth of training and sacrifice in my bloody eyes because I was an equipped lifter at the time. So you also lift equips so you know you really put your body through extra damage through through equips. So not getting a little bit of fruit for the labor. Didn't get Josh Rohr: And and to date to date myself, I I also bombed out of Collegiate Nationals two thousand five. Elizabeth Yarde: my gosh. Wow. Well this is our support group now. Josh Rohr: Yeah. Elizabeth Yarde: And yeah, it was equipped, right? Josh Rohr: Yep. Elizabeth Yarde: Was it for Bench? Josh Rohr: No, it was squat. Elizabeth Yarde: Squat's definitely a hard one. Josh Rohr: Somebody s so somebody thought they could squat high in training and it would be there on meet day. It doesn't work that way. Turn turns out. Elizabeth Yarde: You know it happens to the best of us. It happens to the best Josh Rohr: Yeah. Anyway, yeah. Elizabeth Yarde: of us. You know, it's and that's the beauty of the sport. It's really just like a overall learning experience, you know. But if you're watching, please do not squat high in training and think it'll be their meat date. It there's a good chance it will it's let's not find out. then they're done that too. But yeah, it was just a very overall disheartening feeling. I was just like, you know, how can we prevent this? There are are so many you know, lifters in the community that I know are willing to give that extra support, you know, be there for a lifter that they don't even know. I've seen plenty of times in the warm up room, you know, people just kind of randomly adopt a lifter. They're like, you know, you see someone kind of like walking around lost. You're like, you know, let me help you. Like, you know, d like so I know the help is there. I I've seen it many times. I've done it myself. Even recently at Raw Nationals, I've adopted, you know, many lifters that weren't even like signed up with the Lift Together program. even with the mentors, they said that they had to essentially run an entire like flight of masters lifters because, you know, they didn't really have they didn't have a coach with them, they didn't have a handler with them. And, you know, this is a very niche sport and it's a sport that requires, you know, a good amount of knowledge. So it's hard to really find people that, you know, will give you that kind of support. Josh Rohr: what is the Lift Together program for for those that don't know? just so as we're talking, people have more context to what you're what you're explaining. Elizabeth Yarde: Okay, so the Lift Together program is a program that I essentially thought of on last year in June of yeah, 2025. And essentially it is a program that matches you. with a lift together mentor in your state. So if you need meet day support, you are matched with a lift together mentor and the only fee is just any fee that's required for them to get into the warmth room. So for example, let's say I'm an athlete in Massachusetts, I need support because I'm gonna be competing at Massachusetts States. So you're gonna go ahead and you're gonna search up USAPL Lift Together program. And when you search that up it should take you to I believe on the coaching website. Josh Rohr: I can walk you through how to get there. Just so you go to USA Elizabeth Yarde: yeah. Josh Rohr: Powerlifting.com, go all the way down to the bottom of the page, and there's a link for committees. Click that, and then you can click the coaching committee, and it'll then it'll have the menu for lift together. there's a whole list of menus there under the coaching. You can find certified coaches, you can find certified coaches that are available for specific meets to to handle you as well. And then they have the lift together program. and I guess the I guess that's one thing I wanna touch on too before we get back to that is like the distinction. So the the certified coaches, they are for hire, so like they will charge a fee most likely. The Lift Together program, it's a volunteer basis, so like you can get support without breaking the bank. Elizabeth Yarde: Definitely. And that's Josh Rohr: Okay, continue. Elizabeth Yarde: and that's overall the goal of Lift Together, you know, just to remove that financial barrier because you know I know how expensive powerlifting can be. And I just know that not everybody has those, you know, resources and so forth. And it's just hard to find people that know what powerlifting is and know how to properly support you at a meet. you go ahead and click request a mentor, you sign up, you fill out the sheet. the sheet also, you know, you you're able to dictate what kind of support you need. Whether it's, you know, you need help loading weights, you need help with, you know, emotional support, you need help with, you know, entering attempts and so forth. however, it is not a coaching service. So you are responsible for having your own, you know, warm-up plans, you're responsible for having your own openers and attempts. You know, please don't expect a mentor to be able to know how to warm you up. Like they're they're not your coach, so they're not gonna be able to know. But, you know, you have all those things ready and so forth. Mentors are also not allowed to, you know, override your coach's decision. And yeah, you're able to also request do you prefer to be hyped? Do you prefer, you know, a little bit more, you know, quiet? just overall what kind of preference you want in terms of support. So, and also if you prefer a female handler, male handler, and so forth. so yeah, you could go ahead and search that up, and then once I receive the request, I go ahead and send it into a Slack channel of mentors in your state. I go ahead and wait for and one of the mentors to message me, hey, I'm available, I can help support this athlete. I'm like, cool. I go ahead and send you an email, like, hey, you've been matched with this mentor. Here are their pronouns. This is their contact. And I also CC them so they know that you know they've been acknowledged and so forth. And then I go ahead and I email the mentor a copy of the Google form intake so they know what kind of support that you need. also small things like what's your favorite kind of snack, and you know, just giving you that personalized support on meeting. And from there I give them that information, you guys connect, and then they're able to support you properly on meet day. Mentors are also required to have training as well. you know, walk them through the process of what it's like to handle. mentors are also required to have a year of competitive powerlifting experience. So they are well versed on, you know, how come how competing works, what are the commands and so forth, especially within USAPL, Josh Rohr: I think we are interested in getting more mentors as well. Is that accurate? So basically Elizabeth Yarde: Yes, we had nothing mentors. Josh Rohr: basically anybody that's competed for a year could be a mentor. And again, it's not like you said, it's not a coaching service. It's literally just offering almost almost like volunteering for a meet. Like you know, spotting and loading. or or work in the score table, you can volunteer to help handle lifters at at an Ameat to make it a good experience, correct? Elizabeth Yarde: Yes, correct. And we are definitely in need of, you know, continue to grow our mentor network. We've honestly grown it a lot because we launched this program in, I believe, late February. Our first successful mentor athlete match was in March at the Arnold Sports Festival with a master's athlete and an adaptive athlete, which I thought was a really cool experience. The masters athlete also had an American record. And we're currently nearing almost 200 mentors already. Representing over forty-five plus states. And honestly, it's been a really amazing experience to just see how many people are just so ready to step up. The amount of emails I received, like, hey, like I, you know, I think this program is really cool. How can I help? How can I support? And I've I think that we're nearing helping at least over 75 to 100 athletes already. So, you know, I really am proud of just how incredible this community is and I really think that this program just proves it really isn't a matter of we don't have support, it's just a matter of where is it? How can people access it? How can we improve that accessibility? And I think that's overall what I want to continue to do in the Federation. And you know, I'm saying this now, but I don't want LIft Together to only be a mentorship program. You know, I think that there are, you know, avenues I want to continue to grow the program. I want to actually start to move towards gear drives. Lift Together wants to start partnering with local gyms and different states, kind of becoming a gear hub. You know, people are able to come and, you know, donate their gear and other athletes are able to know, like, hey, like if I need a singlet for me, knee sleeves, any kind of gear so forth, you know, I can have access to it without having to always break the bank. You know, I think it's not fair that we possibly may have may be losing out on some really talented lifters simply because they feel like they don't have the financial means to be as competitive as possible. And, you know, through that process, you know, we're looking to have, you know, Lift Together mentors, kind of help support the gear drive process, you know, set up a table, have a cleaning process, you know, of course have protocols to keep the gear clean and, you know, safe as possible for the lifters. So that's something that we definitely want to work towards. And also, just putting this out there now, but you know, I definitely in the future want to even have more youth initiatives. I want for Lift Together to grow into where we you know, bring more youth lifters or and more, you know, teen lifters into, you know, being more involved in the community, you know, training teen lifters in high school, you know, going to high schools, teaching more lifters, how to become official USAPL teams, you know, how to spot and load. And that way, you know, even meet directors in the area, they can reach out to us. Hey, I need spotters and loaders. I need someone at the scoring table. I need someone to do this. You know, we could connect with local high schools, like, you know, hey, this meet director needs, you know, this kind of support, you know, and we're able to, you know, just overall create more community, just more support for everybody and, you know, more involvement. Cause even with the positive athlete nominations, I think this is another way to keep encouraging, you know, younger lifters to become more involved in their community. Even creating a pipeline where, you know, teen lifters were able to, you know, encourage them to become referees when they turn 18. And from there maybe even encourage them to, you know, That could be a pipeline to scholarships and so forth. So I have a lot of ideas for the program. And there's definitely a lot of things that I want to continue to kind of just bridge that gap of accessibility, bridge that gap of, you know, making powerlifting not so unknown. I think that really we need to integrate ourselves more into communities and less just in our gyms and like, you know, our niche spaces. I think more people need to see that, you know, I know people are like, you know, you're not a powerlifter unless you compete, but I really think that This sport is more than competing. I think that the sport changes people's lives. I think that, you know, the sport saves people. And, you know, I think that we really just need to make the world know what we do and how much we really help people become the best version of themselves. Josh Rohr: Yeah, I like that. So I have a couple follow-up questions kind of around like how you got this thing rolling. my pet peeve is people that like, USA powerlifting should do this, USA powerlifting should do that, blah blah blah blah blah. And a lot of them are good ideas, but at some point somebody has to Do the work, right? And I know a lot of people already in the, you know, the EC, like state chairs are already doing a lot of work. So adding some of these initiatives is pretty, pretty tough. And I guess that's where I want to give you props a little bit, is you so okay. when this came up, my very first thought was this is this sounds Elizabeth Yarde: Okay, thank you. Josh Rohr: really cool. I really don't see how it's going to work because nobody's going to do the work for this. Like, this is a lot. Elizabeth Yarde: That's fair. That's a fair concern. It is a lot of work. Josh Rohr: But yeah, and so so I guess that's my my nod to you. Like you you've done the work to make this thing happen and now I think it's to the point where it's established like I wasn't ex I didn't think we would have this many and I'm not trying to be a negative Nancy here. I just didn't think it would I didn't Elizabeth Yarde: you're being honest. I appreciate the honesty. Josh Rohr: I I wanted it to succeed. I did not think it would succeed this broad this fast. And I think that's a direct tribute to the amount of detail and work that you've put in. So I guess on behalf of everybody, I would like to say thank you for that. Elizabeth Yarde: I really appreciate it and I love to prove people wrong, you know, that gives me motivation. But you know, I understand it definitely was not easy really establishing and creating this program. It's still not easy every day, you know. I wake up, the first thing I think about is lift together. You know, I work a full-time job already on the side and I'm on the way to work, sending out emails, you know, coordinating meetings and so forth. I'm at work and the little bit of t downtime I have, I'm trying to send out, you know, athlete match confirmations. I'm always brainstorming how can we grow this? How can we make this bigger? how can I help this athlete? And, you know, even sometimes it's hard for me to focus on my training. Sometimes I'm hitting deadlifts. I'm like, dang, like, did I match that athlete in Colorado with this and you know, it you're not wrong. And I think that's fair. Honestly, I'm even surprised about how successful in how much this program has grown. I've actually already have established an executive committee for lift together as well. we'll actually be having a post announcing the people who are on the committee. But we currently have, you know, two co-directors, the directors of communications, the directors of operations, we have our outreach coordinators, we have a social media and content director, which have been making our posts, which have been honestly really growing the page really successfully. And we have our operations assistant that's been helping me, you know, send out those athlete match confirmations. And so we've really, we've really been building out the team. We've been meeting consistently and just like talking, how can we grow this? How can we make this bigger? Talking about the gear drive and so forth. So and you know, I did not expect like close to 200 people to sign up already. Like it's the year's not even over already. And we've already had a present presence in states at nationals. We supported over twenty athletes, three of them becoming national champions. Someone pulling an American record, multiple podium finishes, and overall, you know, helping new new new athletes coming to nationals, returning champions. It was a really cool experience. And now we're having this big presence at regionals. I think we've helped around over like 40 athletes across all different like regional competitions all over the country. So it's really exciting. We're also going to be having a table at Northeast Regionals. So, you know, come and visit LIft Together to learn more about. how to become a mentor and how to support athletes in your state. But you know, I it's it wasn't easy. It was not. But I really think that nothing has made me feel this fulfilled. And I think that this is probably the highlight of my lifting career. I've won national titles, I've pulled American records, but I don't think anything has made me feel as whole as just making a difference in somebody's meet day. And really just seeing the beauty and human connection. seeing the beauty in community and just seeing the beauty and people being willing to sacrifice their time to just help make someone's dream come true. And it's just a great feeling. And seeing our athletes that we helped the nationals go to worlds, it's yeah, it's it was hard and but it was it was damn worth it. So Josh Rohr: Yeah. So here's a question that I I've heard a little bit. So who who can use this program, I guess? Is it only for new lifters or is it can it be used at any level or I guess kind of what are other are there restrictions on it? Elizabeth Yarde: There are no restrictions. The only restriction currently is it is limited to raw lifters, but I do want to eventually grow lift together to include an equip section. I just know that equip may become more tailored and I just want to make sure that I go about it properly. So, you know, wanted to first start with raw lifting and see how the program's going. And so far, since I'm understanding the logistics more, I definitely do want to move to create an equipped section in the future because I was an equipped lifter. I will not abandon my community. You know, equipped lifting has taught me a lot of mental fortitude and how to endure a lot of pain. So, you know, I really appreciate what it's done for me and I definitely want to continue to give back to that community too. Josh Rohr: So are there so let's say people want to get involved as mentors, are you looking for people to get involved in other ways currently or not? Elizabeth Yarde: We are currently looking for another social media person, another graphics design person. So we are going to be putting out a post soon, just you know, asking for people to sign up, who's ever is interested. That's currently the only position we are looking for. But once we do start to, you know, start our other branches out of the program, like the gear drive or the youth outreach. We will be needing more volunteers for that. And that's another way the mentors can get involved. So when that does start, we will be, you know, sending out that post and sending out that information to the mentors as well. And the only guidelines is you just have to be 16 years or older and just have one year of competitive USAPL powerlifting experience, specifically in the Federation. Josh Rohr: And I guess do you have any suggestions or recommendations for I guess anybody else that might have an idea that they want to bring to life and how to kind of get the ball rolling? 'Cause I know that's getting started's probably, you know, one of the hardest things 'cause you don't know who to talk to, you don't know how to actually go about it. what was the process for you with Lip Together and you know, I guess maybe some advice you might have for somebody that might have a big idea that they wanna do the work on but just need the avenue t and the green light to do it, Elizabeth Yarde: So I essentially created a proposal and I sent the proposal to my state chair and my state chair had forwarded it to the executive director. We met and we talked about it, and Heather sent the proposal to the executive committee. I waited for the approval, and they essentially, when they approved the program, just started moving forward, and you know that's when we partnered and when lift together, became under the coaching committee. But The advice I would give is just just just do it. Don't think too hard about Josh Rohr: Just do it. Elizabeth Yarde: it. Just do it. Like I really think that so many people halt on such great ideas because they're afraid of failure. You can't do this sport and be afraid of failure. Every time you step onto that platform, every time you go into the gym, like you're there's always a possibility of failing. And that's honestly just anything in life in general. But I think it's scary to, you know, miss out on your potential. I think it's scary to not see how things can turn out. I think it's scary to avoid the possibility of success because you're so scared of failure. You know, I think this sport is constantly looking for more leaders. I think we're constantly looking for, more younger leaders to get involved. You know, we are the future of this federation and you know, I think a lot of people have great ideas and you know, they may not feel confident enough or they may not feel like, you know, maybe I'm not old enough or maybe I'm not in a high enough position. But if it's a great idea and you think that's gonna better the community, why is it not worth trying? And, you know. I think the worst feeling is just not trying something and never knowing how it could turn out. And if I never tried this, I can't even imagine. I think honestly this program has saved my relationship with powerlifting too. I think honestly during that time I was no longer a collegiate lifter and just staying within the powerlifting world was just so hard for me. I felt like I was kind of losing my identity. And I feel like this way I found community again and I found the real love of powerlifting, which is community. So yeah, just do it. Why not? Josh Rohr: I guess I semi relate, but not quite because like so when I came out of college decades ago, like I kind of moved right into coaching. So I stayed involved. I was still competing, you know, in the open and whatever. But like a lot of lifters do when they they transition out, like they start jobs, like life real life starts, right? So Elizabeth Yarde: Like hits Josh Rohr: so a lot of times it it's easy to get kind of pulled away. And I think, yeah, what you just said, like finding that spark again, you know, something that kind of keeps you pulled in is pretty cool. So I like it. Elizabeth Yarde: A hundred percent, especially when you start working full time. my goodness, like some days it really just feels like just dragging myself to the gym just after like work and then, you know, program stuff. But once again, I feel like just once you find that spark and once you just find that reason again and keep showing up, it just becomes easier and I feel like I'm finally finding my flow again. And it's just like if I never started this program I just think of all the athletes that may have had, you know, a worse competition experience, like all the friendships that have been created within the program. may have not even happened. You know, I think I think of all the things that the community would have missed out on if I didn't have the courage to just try. So if you have an idea, don't let the community miss out on the potential of really continuing to grow and continue to have another amazing leader just because, you know, you may be afraid to try. Josh Rohr: That's a good point too. Like at the end of the day, if it doesn't take off and people don't rally kind of behind it, I mean, what was really the the harm? But on the flip side, in this case, as an example, what happens if it does take off? And Elizabeth Yarde: Exactly. Josh Rohr: you have all these lifters that are benefiting from the mentorship, but you're also like the the really cool part is all the mentors that are signing up. Elizabeth Yarde: Yeah. Josh Rohr: Because they also like feel the same way. They want to give back as well. And and you know, without a way to connect lifters and mentors, like you might have this whole group of people over here that wanna help, but they don't know where how or whatever, and you have this whole another group over here that needs help. it's a pretty cool program, to to kind of connect everybody. So I I'm I'm very proud of of the work you've been doing and and the whole program as a whole and I think powerlifting is better for it. Elizabeth Yarde: Thank you so much. And I really appreciate that. Thank you so much. Josh Rohr: no, thank you. so where can people follow? Like you mentioned social media. How can people follow the program on social media? Elizabeth Yarde: So you can follow Lift Together at USAPL underscore lift together on Instagram. We currently do not have Facebook, but we will definitely work on that. that's currently our only social media page, but once again we are in the process of still growing that out. And you can also follow me at Oof, I I think at lethal dot Liz underscore. on Instagram as well. I could always post, you know, any updates with the program. and you know, you should definitely follow the Instagram page because we also do outreach for competitions where we may not have any mentors available. So we'll post, you know, on our Instagram, hey, we need volunteers, you know, in this in this region at this competition. Is anyone available? And even if you're not signed up with Lift Together, which you should. But if even if you're not signed up with Lift Together, we could still connect you with that athlete if you are willing to help. So if you still want to get involved, but you know, you don't want to commit to being a mentor, you can always still follow our Instagram and we do post those kind of updates and so forth. Josh Rohr: Cool. All right. You have two minutes to make your closing arguments on why more people should sign up, both as mentors and lifters. Elizabeth Yarde: Okay. I think that more people should sign up for Lift Together as a lifter because many lifters have just reached out to me with so many heartwarming testimonies about how Lift Together has really just changed their overall competition experience. I saw for one of our lifters at, you know, Nationals, they had just recently lost their partner. And, you know, that was their partner that was usually their handlers at Nationals and you know they were going to withdraw and They signed up with Lift Together and they got matched with a mentor and they not only competed, but they also qualified for nationals as well, which was a huge goal of theirs. And they also became really great friends. So, you know, in that experience, not only, you know, achieving your goals, but you know, creating a new connection. I think that those are really the kind of testimonies that just show why Lift Together is really so important. It really can make such a big difference in somebody's day. And you know, we are also very inclusive. we support adaptive athletes as well. One of our first athletes we supported was an adaptive athlete at the Arnold. And also I supported an adaptive athlete, teen athlete who actually won their category. Like, she is insane. Like, wow, she is hearing impaired. And, you know, I think that was also a really cool experience, you know, just getting to learn how to support. you actually have I asked, I was like, you know, how do you get the bench command there? Like, you know. you have to ask the chief ref to, you know, tap their shoulder you know, when they start and press and rack and so forth. But, you know, they let me know that they weren't sure that they would be able to even find a handler that would, you know, be willing to work with someone who's hearing impaired, working with someone, you know, who only knows sign language. But I personally took the time to learn more sign language, you know, before the competition. Was it the best? No, it was not, but I gave it a fair shot. so yeah, overall I think that this program has just really changed a lot of lifters' overall perspective in powerlifting. And I think a lot of lifters realize powerlifting is not just about competing, but it's also about community and seeing those pictures and just seeing like how everyone's just so happy just being in the community, being together. And why you should become a mentor, like I just said, like it's just so fulfilling, you know. Part of the application asks, you know, why do you want to sign up for the lif for lift together? And, you know, the mentors, their reasons. I wanna give back. This sport has saved my life. You know, I wanna be able to just give someone a better competition experience. And I think, you know, a lot of the mentors, I always s you know, say thank you so much, I really appreciate you. But they always say like, I really appreciate just having this experience, like, and they appreciate having a way to get involved in powerlifting that isn't, you know, some people are intimidated. with you know becoming a referee or you know other people are not comfortable to become coaches. So I think a lot of people just appreciate a way to give back to the community that has given them so much. And this community doesn't run without volunteers. This community doesn't run without having passionate people that are willing to sacrifice their time to make these competitions happen, to you know, make these things move, whether it's the meet directors, the spotters and loaders or the people at the scoring table, like the referees, like the sport doesn't move without just having people who are dedicated and do this for the love of the game. So if you want to continue to make a difference to the community and you wanna continue to make it a place where we all feel included, I think you should become a mentor today. Josh Rohr: Sold. Yeah, Good good closing arguments. All right. Elizabeth Yarde: Yay. Thank you, thank you. Josh Rohr: thank you so much, not just for creating the program, but for being on here and talking about it and doing the work behind the scenes. And one thing I noticed, like you are not one to toot your own horn. so this whole conversation has been about everybody else and I want to take a minute to like acknowledge you as the the one that that really made this thing happen. So thank you for that and your continued work on it. I think it's it's an amazing thing and and you're doing a great job. Elizabeth Yarde: Thank you so much, Josh. I really appreciate that. And I just wanted to quickly, you know, shout out my executive team. Chris, Shreya, Robert, Katie, Callie. I really appreciate all of you. And, you know, I'm really just excited to continue to, you know, build our team and continue to grow this program and we'll be dropping that post, introducing the team soon on Instagram. And thank you so much again, Josh, for, you know, supporting the vision and, you know, being there in the beginning stages and, you know, helping helping me to just, you know, and giving you this platform to continue to grow the program. I really appreciate you and all the work that you do as well. And I just I know I I just talked so much about the community, but you know, it's Yeah, I'm doing the work behind the program, but the program doesn't move without the community. So I'm very just grateful to everybody. Josh Rohr: Awesome. I love it. Well, I think we will call it quits there. But again, thank you so much, Liz, for being on. And if you are listening to the podcast, please do subscribe, like, all those things. That does help us out. Elizabeth Yarde: All those good things. Josh Rohr: yep. And until next time, we will catch you all later.