It’s been a little over three months since the U.S. took home the win at the 2019 Fifa Women’s World Cup Final. Collectively, as a nation, we came together to cheer on our team during their most exciting moment as we do every four years when the World Cup rolls around.
It seems like the entirety of the world came together to watch these extraordinary women take over this year’s World Cup.
We all got to witness Alex Morgan setting a world cup record (five goals in a match), Megan Rapinoe leaving the World Cup with the honor of both the golden boot and the golden ball and, of course, the team winning it all and ending the tournament with the World Cup trophy itself.
Of course it’s exciting to watch our girls dominate time after time on the world stage, but they deserve more than just to be paid attention every four years. They also deserve to get paid equal, if not more than their male counterparts (who have never won a World Cup). How can we change this? How can we continue to have inspiring, hard working women in the forefront of our media? How can we help their fight for equal pay?
The best way for us to help these women get the pay and attention they deserve is to watch their games (and no, not just their world cup games). Fresh off their 2019 World cup win, the USWNT headed home to start their victory tour and their well-deserved celebration. If you missed their Philly game, it’s no problem because these women don’t exclusively play on just the national team! The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) has nine teams around the country in Chicago, Houston, Portland, Orlando, Tacoma, Washington D.C., Utah, North Carolina and New Jersey. Talk about a lot of ways to show support.
And lucky for us, the New Jersey games are only a short 45 minutes away at Rider University.
Not only will you be seeing the national team players, but you’ll be introduced to all the insanely talented women on the team that never receive the recognition that they deserve. By going to their games and supporting the players, not just the national team, it shows that you care about their games even if it’s not on the world stage. Not to mention all the ticket sales go to the fully deserving players and to expand the NWSL.
You can also watch any NWSL game on ESPN and they’re available on Yahoo! Sports. Another great way to show your support is by following the players and the team on social media to stay in the loop of what their doing.
It’s important that we give these women not only the pay they so much deserve, but also the attention. The amount of work these athletes put in every day to be the best in the world at their sport should be celebrated more than just every four years. By watching games, supporting the NWSL or even just buying some merch, we can create a country where resilient, unapologetic, talented and deserving women are always at the forefront of our media.