In December 2019, Time Magazine announced the athlete of the year to be the entire US Women’s National Soccer team. Just five months before, the 23 female athletes took home their fourth World Cup since 1991. The article in Time pinpointed some key players, including veterans Megan Rapinoe, Carli Lloyd, Alex Morgan, and Becky Sauerbrunn, but also mentioned rising stars like 24-year-old Rose Lavelle, 25-year-old Lindsay Horan, and 27-year-old Samanth Mewis. The point of the article was that the US Women’s National Team’s (USWNT) road to success was not the efforts of one player alone, but 23 inspiring women who came together to make something great.
In 2019, over 14.3 million people watched the World Cup final on TV, not including an estimated 6 million that used other streaming sources. As Fox Sports estimates, these numbers show a 22% viewership boost compared to 11.4 million US citizens who tuned into the Men’s World Cup final in 2018. This goes to show that in the summer of 2019, the USWNT made a splash that not only created history for a dominating soccer program, but also blew open doors for women across the world.
In Burington, Vermont, a girl’s high school soccer team paired with a non-profit to make #equalpay shirts that they wore under their jerseys. The team’s campaign exploded and gathered attention from large news platforms like NBC, and when 4 girls were penalized for removing their jerseys to reveal their #equalpay shirts in celebration after a goal, even USWNT players chimed in. This movement went viral, and has shown girls across the country that they are able to make a difference and that their voices will be heard.
The World Cup and its aftermath was a bang heard around the world, but moving forward, the USWNT faces a new challenge—the 2020 Olympics. While the 2019 World Cup team seemed unbeatable, the new head coach, Vlatko Andonovski, has made some changes to his January roster. Star striker Alex Morgan is gone on maternity leave, which leads us to ask a big question: who will be her replacement? Will it be veteran Carli Lloyd, or newcomer Lynn Williams who recently helped the North Carolina Courage win back to back National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) titles? Also missing from the January roster are returners Mallory Pugh, Tierna Davidson, Allie Long, and Morgan Brian while 24-year-old Andi Sullivan, Stanford University alumna, has recently been added. These changes leave Andonovski with a 20 player roster that still has to be narrowed down to 18 before the opening of the Tokyo Olympics
The USWNT made a huge impact for women’s sports and women across the world this past summer, but with their success comes a target painted on their back. As they prepare for the qualifying games, they turn their back on their past success and look towards the future. The 23 women who won the Time Magazine Athlete of the Year award may not be the same team that we will see in the next World Cup or Olympics, but the program they have created continues to pave a path for young girls and gives us hope for a brighter, more equal tomorrow.