Tag: USSF

For The Future of Women’s Soccer

Posted on by RJ Allen

It’s been an eventful week in the fight for equal pay.

With just three months left until the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France, 28 members of the U.S. Women’s National Team filed a lawsuit on Friday against the U.S. Soccer Federation, alleging “institutionalized gender discrimination.” They argue this isn’t just because of vastly inequal pay, but also issues with travel and accommodations, medical treatment, coaching, and venues.

Every time equal pay comes up, there is a defensive reaction from many people who disagree with the lawsuit’s premise. They argue that the U.S. women should not be paid the same as the men because they do not bring in the same revenue. Sports is a business, and the women should pull their own weight if they want equal pay.

There are many, many flaws with that argument. It is not true that the men always bring in more revenue than the women. The men have received more investment than the women, giving them a better platform to succeed. There is historic discrimination against women in soccer, and in sports more generally, which denies us many of the benefits given to our male counterparts.

Bringing all of these points together is a critical point that often goes unnoticed.

The U.S. Soccer Federation is not a for-profit business. It is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, whose mission statement is to “make soccer, in all its forms, a preeminent sport in the United States and to continue the development of soccer at all recreational and competitive levels.” Quite simply, they are aiming to promote and grow soccer in the United States.

If your goal is to promote soccer in the United States, and presumably set an example, then why wouldn’t you treat your senior national teams the same? Shouldn’t your goal be to encourage all people, regardless of race, sex, or any other category, to join the sport and be treated with equal importance? Children learn from the example set on the national and international stage. The current model reinforces the message to all children that at the highest level of their sport, men are still worth more than women.

Serena Williams summarized this well.

“You know, we have had some incredible pioneers in our sport that stood up in the ’70s and said, ‘We’re going to get paid what the men get paid,’” Williams said. “They stood up way back then. I think, at some point, in every sport, you have to have those pioneers, and maybe it’s the time for soccer. I’m playing because someone else stood up, and so what they are doing right now is hopefully for the future of women’s soccer.”

Somewhere out there, the next Alex Morgan or Abby Wambach is watching. And she’s counting on this team to fight for her. She’s counting on her country’s federation to acknowledge her worth, so that she can be successful in her sport. But every day, U.S. Soccer reinforces the message that she is less-than simply because of her gender.

It’s not just American women and girls who are hopeful about this lawsuit. It’s the women playing around the world today, often in much less equitable situations, who are also watching. Some will argue that the U.S. women should be happy with what they have, because its a lot worse in other countries. American players do recognize that they have it better, and that’s part of the foundation of this lawsuit.

“This team, we’re kind of a visible team,” Becky Sauerbrunn said in an interview at the end of the SheBelieves Cup. “So, I think it’s important that we kind of take that on, and we show that we are empowered women and that we will fight for things we believe in, like pay equity. It’s a heavy responsibility, but it’s one we gladly take on.”

The U.S. Soccer Federation works under the goal of promoting soccer in the United States. Three World Cup titles will certainly do that, but even if the U.S. women didn’t have so much on-the-field success, an argument against equal pay still rings hollow. It relies on a ‘sports business’ mentality which ignores the fact that the U.S. Soccer Federation is not a traditional ‘sports business.’ It is a non-profit, and thus, should not approach soccer with the goal of making money. In fact, it should be investing all the money it brings in. The same should be said for FIFA, who currently sits on an estimated 2.7 billion USD.

If the goal of these two organizations is to grow the sport, they have an obligation to invest in areas that have traditionally been ignored and neglected. That includes, but is not limited to, women.

We should not feel guilty holding the U.S. Soccer Federation accountable to these standards. They might be idealistic, but this is our federation, designed to serve the growing soccer community in the United States. We won’t win every battle, but we need to show that we are willing to fight. Because there is too much at stake here. It is not simply the treatment of the women currently playing for the United States. With every victory, the U.S. opens doors for women and girls in the United States and around the world. Current players and future players alike benefit from their wins.

I think its worth putting up a fight.

No One Gets in Hope Solo’s Way Like Hope Solo

Posted on by RJ Allen

When Hope Solo announced that she would be running for USSF president, two thoughts crossed my mind:

1) If anyone can turn a conversation in the direction they want, it’s Solo.

2) This will either go a long way toward rehabilitating the public’s opinion of Solo, or it will be the final nail in the public coffin of the greatest goalkeeper to have played the game.

After a month of Candidate Solo, it’s starting to become clear that the only person able to get in Hope Solo’s way, with seemingly ruthless effect, is Hope Solo.

Over the past few years, no one else has had so much success at tarnishing the image of the longtime WNT goalkeeper as Solo herself. At every opportunity, she makes the worst possible choices, as if listening to pundits drown her long legacy in endless hot takes about her character instead of her record and stats was her goal all along. When faced with what seems to be a clear and sensible path of action, she inevitably takes a hard left and veers off toward self-annihilation. And in her case? Taking the road less traveled has made all the difference over the past few years, as the world has watched her suspended from play in 2015 and then terminated from the WNT in 2016. 

Now, in her campaign, Solo continues to wreak havoc on her own ambitions.

There’s the interview she gave on the “Why I’m Not” podcast, which did not help her candidacy. At all. This is an interview where Solo manages to move seamlessly between important points about the future of American football with personal attacks on a former teammate, overly boastful sentiments on a second former teammate who is still teammates with the first.

Instead of making a case for Hope Solo as USSF Pressident, she ends up making herself look petty in the process. Once again, Solo falls victim to her fatal flaw–saying the absolute wrong thing at the absolute wrong time.

The tone taken in this interview is more akin to someone trying to get their name back in the press after a retirement in order to sell a book or shirt or tickets to a speaking tour than it is fitting someone who is running for USSF President. And while this interview was recorded before Solo officially threw her hat in the ring, she had to know it would come out after she had. Whether she ran or not.

Even if the host of the podcast was less than optimal in his line of questions and his own tone, Solo had a chance here to speak about platform ideas and details about how she would go about fixing the mess she sees USSF to be. Even if this was taped before she declared herself for the job, she could have framed the issues for her audience and given some thoughts on how to correct them. That would have gone a long way to show she has been thinking about the issues in detail.

Every interview when you are running for elected office, even before you are officially on the ballot, is a chance to talk about your platform and to make your case for why you are the best person for the job. Why someone should vote for you to do the thankless work and shoulder the enormous responsibility.

And when this opportunity came to Solo’s door, she faltered. 

But the podcast is not Solo’s biggest problem. A bad interview where she sounds more like a ex-player with a bone to pick than a natural choice for president is one thing.

No, the biggest problem with Solo’s candidacy is that she is unprepared, maybe even simply unwilling, to reign in her lesser angels. She seems almost hellbent on not only tarnishing her own own legacy but quiet possibly hurting the causes that she has spent years trying to champion.

I had hoped when Solo declared she was running for USSF President that she would somehow figure out how to control the part of her brain that seems to really enjoy putting her foot in her mouth. I thought maybe she would use a little bit of the relentless drive to be the best on the pitch to tighten up and to run the kind of campaign that would be willing to talk about overlooked issues.

But the campaign she’s running feels half baked at the best of times and utterly underwhelming at others. The rhetoric has been more vintage Solo than someone trying to be the President of USSF.

While not the singular authority on a candidate, their website should give some clue to the issues they care about and some vague idea of how they want to attack the issues they have identified.

Solo’s is both effective in the opening story about how her parents didn’t have the money to allow her to play in the Olympic Development Program but sparse of any real information beyond that.

Her section on women’s soccer for example gives little to no details about her thought process and what she plans to do if elected:

Become The Global Leader in Equality and Women’s Issues 

  • Achieve Equal Pay for the USWNT and all women in the USSF workplace
  • Push for the inclusion of women at all levels of the USSF executive and organizational hierarchy
  • Eliminate sexism and discrimination

While the push for more women in USSF is something that everyone should be on board for the details are left to our collective imagination. She also leaves out the league she played in for four years.

If the disappointment in Solo as a candidate was limited to an interview given before she was officially running, that would be one matter. But Solo hasn’t been the force for changing the conversation toward women’s soccer among candidates. Nor she has yet to put out any real plans or details about what she would like to accomplish if elected. She did take the US Soccer Athletes Council survey and gave her thoughts on questions they submitted to all candidates. Though details still are scant there. 

The one issue she has beaten the drum for over the last half decade is the better treatment of women athletes and upgraded standards for them. And yet when she has the biggest platform she could, she gives us a platform of 33 words, no details of how to achieve any of them, and more reasons to think she doesn’t have the understanding of how others perceive her.

When Solo entered the race, I was excited. I thought she could bring attention to an area of the race for USSF president that felt like it was being overlooked and given platitudes over substantial debate. A month later and I feel all the air has gone out of the room in terms of that excitement. I’ve made no bones about my feelings of her place in soccer’s landscape I still believe she is a first ballot hall of famer, the greatest goalkeeper in women’s soccer history. I don’t know if believing that Solo would be a force for changing narratives when she entered the race was foolish or idealistic. But with about a month left before the votes are cast it looks like Solo hasn’t learned how to get out of her own way off the pitch in order to be the force of good she often looks like she is trying to be.

Hope Solo is the only person that can get in Hope Solo’s way. She looks to be showing us one more time she’s as good at that as she is at goalkeeping. 

Where do the USSF Presidential Candidates Stand on Women’s Soccer?

Posted on by RJ Allen

Note: After this piece was published the US Soccer Athlete Council posted surveys taken by each of the candidates. Some of the answers touch on women’s soccer more deeply than their campaign sites. Their answers can be found here.

The race for the next USSF president has been about men’s soccer. The fate of the USMNT has been at the front and center of the race since the team failed to qualify for the 2018 Men’s World Cup. 

But the USSF president is not president of men’s soccer in the US. They aren’t MLS’s commissioner able to change the league to a different time table nor able to bend the league to their will on the issue of pro/rel or pay. 

No, the role of the president of USSF is part public face, part chairperson of the board, and part handling of unique challenges that they face while in the role. Their duties, official or not, do not include directly overseeing any one league. And when they have tried in the past to meddle, usually the outcry is deafening. 

Of the current crop of candidates for USSF President – Paul Caligiuri, Kathy Carter, Carlos Cordeiro, Steve Gans, Kyle Martino, Hope Solo, Michael Winograd, and Eric Wynalda – there are clearly those who have thought deeply about the issues facing women’s soccer. The platforms and websites through which they are disseminated show a split in just how much stock each candidate puts in needing a strong women’s soccer platform. 

A few notes before I break down each platform. I could not find a campaign website for Paul Caligiuri. While I could find a website for Eric Wynalda there was no platform I could find listed, just some links to interviews and a large bio page. 

Paul Caligiuri – Former MNT player – No website found

I could not find a website or a full platform for Paul Caligiuri but I was able to find an open letter he wrote to USSF detailing his concern over the voting disparities between MLS and NWSL. He also brings up the lack of an NWSL commissioner at the end of the letter. 

The points brought up by Caligiuri are important ones. The lack of the NWSL commissioner has boggled the minds of most of the NWSL media for the better part of the time the league has been without one. Adding to that the voting disparity that he brings up solidifies a strong message of support for women’s soccer in the country.

Without a full platform to look at, it is hard to know what Caligiuri sees overall as a vision for USSF. But the points outlined here are some of the stronger views a candidate has come out with. 

Kathy Carter – President of Soccer United Marketing – Website Here

No one who votes for USSF President would be voting for Kathy Carter as a candidate to bring mass change to US Soccer. She is running as and is best viewed in the context of the “keep the ship steady, fix in small amounts what needs to be fixed, and let the system that is in place work as it has been” candidate.

What worries me most as I look at Carter’s platform and website is the shockingly sparse focus on women’s soccer. Going so far as to call the the 2026 FIFA World Cup “the most important event on the planet” along the way without mentioning the USWNT. She speaks to how important it would be to elect the first female president of USSF while doing shockingly little to show an understanding of any women’s soccer related issues.

The closest she gets is mentioning the USWNT at the start of her open letter.

And then again in 2011. The U.S. Women’s National Team – down 2-1 to Brazil, in the 122nd minute. Is it over? The call – “Rapinoe gets the cross in… Abby Wambach has saved the USA!!!”

Carlos Cordeiro – USSF Vice President – Website Here

After Caligiuri and Carter it is a refreshing change of pace to look at Cordeiro’s platform.

Not only does he have a platform that is comprehensive, he has a section titled “Develop World-Class National Teams” that focuses as much, maybe even a bit more, on the USWNT as it does on the USMNT.

Develop World-Class National Teams

The strength of our Women’s National Team and the new talent coming up the ranks of both the men’s and women’s programs show that U.S. Soccer can deliver excellence.  But disappointing results at several levels—including the heartbreaking failures of the Women’s National Team to win a medal in the Rio Olympics and the Men’s National Team to qualify for the 2018 World Cup—have revealed real problems that need to be addressed.

It’s time to Aim Higher. To make sure that our women can defend their World Cup championship in 2019, ensure that our men return to the World Cup in 2022 and that both our men’s and women’s teams achieve the highest level of excellence in 2026 and 2027 and beyond—Mission 26/27—we must align all levels of U.S. Soccer operations.  Specifically, we must:

  • Invest more resources in player development and world-class coaches, training facilities and infrastructure consistent with the highest competition, as well as provide additional support for all National Team athletes—male and female, Youth, Paralympians and Futsal, beach soccer, Power, deaf and amputee athletes;
  • Create a new Technical Department—run by new General Managers for our Men’s and Women’s programs and reporting to the CEO of U.S. Soccer—responsible for recruiting, selecting and managing all National Team coaches so that soccer experts run soccer operations;
  • Increase resources and investment in the women’s program—including working toward equal pay—so that our women have the best technical and training support, are no longer forced to play on artificial turf and have greater representation at all levels of Federation decision-making, because supporting our women’s teams is not charity; women deserve to be treated equally and investing in our women’s teams is one of the best ways to grow the sport; and,
  • Compete and excel on our home soil by winning our bids to co-host the Men’s World Cup with Canada and Mexico in 2026 and host the Women’s World Cup in 2027.

The section on investment reads like the answers to 100 pieces written about the inequalities the USWNT faces. Artificial turf has long been an issue that the USWNT has fought against playing on and has long been forced to keep playing on. By very clearly stating that the USWNT is “not charity,” he is going to win over some women’s soccer fans on the spot.

The only area Cordeiro doesn’t venture in to is the NWSL. While that is not so much a strike against him, he will need to have some thoughts on the young league if he is to become USSF President.

Steve Gans – Lawyer – Website Here

Gans lays out a laundry list of issues he has with the current USSF president, Sunil Gulati, including a shot about the bad PR created;

Mismanaging the Women’s National Team pay equity issue, creating much bad will, and U.S. Soccer wound-up on 60 Minutes in a bad light;

Gans goes on to, in his Reform section, call for an review of much of the USWNT structure, and a desire to “make even the working conditions” between the two national teams.

I will immediately make even the working conditions for Women’s National Team players. The WNT will thereafter play on artificial turf only as rarely as does the Men’s National Team, and will in all other ways enjoy equal working conditions. A task force made up of key personnel in the soccer community will be formed to address the disparities in the women’s game. This would include: WNT training and facility needs, compensation review and recommendations at the WNT level, Director of Coaching and other coaching opportunities at the national youth team level and competitive club level, issues specific to the girls (youth) and women’s game, and the funding of the NWSL and how U.S. Soccer can better support it. There will be specific NWSL focus on how we can increase the chance for girls to aspire to an actual career as a soccer player or coach.

Gans seems to say more or less the right things here, but he seems to leave out the NWSL and women’s soccer when talking earlier in his platform. 

A soccer nation cannot be great and fully successful if it does not have a robust professional league and professional landscape. I will throw great support behind our professional soccer leagues. I will meet individually with each of the pro leagues, including MLS, NASL, and USL, in an effort to find common ground, and areas of mutual cooperation. 

Leaving the NWSL out of this section says more, to me at least, than a section later under Reform. 

Kyle Martino – Former MNT player – Website Here

Details are sparse on this site. While I do commend Martino for setting the bar higher for the women than the men when coming to his personal bar as president,

As players, coaches, and fans, we deserve better than this, and I will stake my presidency on my ability to deliver. Our challenge is to maintain the Womens’ team’s tradition of success while turning around the Men’s team’s recent struggles.  If our Men’s National Team fails to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, I will do the right thing and step aside. (I will do the same if we miss the quarterfinals in 2026.) Likewise for the Women, but with a higher standard: the semifinal round in all international tournaments from 2023 on. 

I do not get a sense reading his platform, or the interviews he linked to, that his ideas on women’s soccer are fully baked yet. He speaks a lot, as do many candidates, without understanding the issues women’s soccer faces. To him, as many, it seems secondary at times.

To be fair he does state that his “Progress Plan” will come in the following weeks. When this plan comes out I will update with any women’s soccer detailing.

Hope Solo – Former USWNT player – Website Here

Hope Solo is an incredibly difficult candidate to talk about in terms of women’s soccer.

On one hand her disagreements with USSF have left more than just a bad taste in people’s mouths, not to mention her legal difficulties. On the other hand she is the only candidate I have any confidence could name 20 non USWNT-paid NWSL players.

Solo’s credentials in women’s soccer are written more in World Cup and Olympic medals, of being a pro women’s soccer player, than they are detailed on her website. She is the only candidate in the bunch to play as a USWNT player and a pro women’s soccer player. And yet her platform on her site is simple, if not maddeningly so.

Become The Global Leader in Equality and Women’s Issues

• Achieve Equal Pay for the USWNT and all women in the USSF workplace

• Push for the inclusion of women at all levels of the USSF executive and organizational hierarchy

• Eliminate sexism and discrimination

Before Solo was running for USSF president, back during her playing days in the NWSL, she penned a blog post about the ways the league needed to be fixed that fits in nicely with what candidate Solo has said. But we’ve yet to see details of how she might achieve any of her stated goals.

Michael Winograd – Former College Soccer Player, Lawyer – Website Here

Winograd’s statement on women’s soccer is strongly worded.

Equal Treatment for Women’s Soccer

Women’s soccer must be treated equally. Full stop. Forcing the US Women’s National Team to play on substandard fields, travel under sub-standard conditions, or accept lower pay is absolutely unacceptable. Arguments to the contrary based on revenue flow are not only factually misleading, but they ignore and contradict the mission and spirit of US Soccer. What’s more, the budgetary increase necessary to provide equality is only a fraction of the current total spend on our National Teams.

I have to give Winograd credit for slapping down a common trope used to discredit the women’s side, “Arguments to the contrary based on revenue flow are not only factually misleading, but they ignore and contradict the mission and spirit of US Soccer.” Here he does show an admirable willingness to target a commonly used argument from men’s soccer fans.

Winograd, like others, does ignore the NWSL but with only 3 points to his platform it is maybe more understandable.

Eric Wynalda – Former MNT Player – Website Here

Wynalda’s website is styled more about him personally than what he plans to do for USSF and those under its umbrella.

There is an “About Eric” tab at the top but no where on the site is even the barest platform for any soccer, let alone women’s.

He has a series of videos up, one of which he does talk about women’s soccer, that spends 1:50 on the subject.

After reading all of the candidates platforms and doing my best to get a sense of what each would do in terms of women’s soccer, I believe a few things are true.

1) The candidates for USSF President do more or less agree on the aspects of women’s soccer that need to be addressed, which I think most reasonable women’s soccer supporters would agree with as issues.

2) Nearly every candidate talks about soccer and then women’s soccer in a way that makes their rhetoric around equality a little less believable.

3) Ideas and simple statements are a lot easier to put up than details. Details mean others can hold those details over your head later on after all.

4) NWSL who? Nearly everyone has forgotten to at least mention the pro league.

5) It feels like they all got the same answer to a question asked by their sports science teacher and each changed the answer to it a little to make sure they didn’t get failed for turning in the same work.

With 8 people in the race for USSF president, some legit contenders and some fringe candidates there to try to shake up the system, it will be a very interesting few weeks until the election.

It seems that each candidate has a unique challenge when it comes to women’s soccer and the election.

Solo has the women’s soccer experience, but it’s unknown if she can get out of her own way enough to get elected, or if she would excel at the job if she were. Wynalda seems more interested in selling how good of an interview he is than running for the job.  Carter speaks about the power of electing a woman without speaking about the power of women’s soccer on top of the SUM connection.  Cordeiro’s platform is well done but he doesn’t tend to get spoken about in the same breath as some of the others.  Caligiuri, Gans, Martino, and Winograd all have gaps or rather short statements on women’s soccer in their platforms.

I hope each candidate will put out more details, or any in some cases, about their vision for the future of women’s soccer in the US. There is work to be done even with all the success that the women have had in the past.

While the USMNT not making the Men’s World Cup in Russia this summer is an issue that must be addressed, it can’t suck all the air out of the room less the whole house of cards comes down around our ears.

A Human Right’s Approach to U.S Soccer: Hope Solo’s Platform

Posted on by RJ Allen

Discussion around who will succeed Sunil Gulati as the next President of U.S Soccer has been intense, particularly since the current president announced that he would not be running for re-election. Ever since the United States failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, a few questions have been circulating: how did this happen? And how can we ensure it doesn’t happen again?

Hope Solo shook up the conversation even more when she declared her intentions to join the race.

The former U.S. goalkeeper has a checkered past with both U.S. Soccer and it’s supporters, but Solo’s entry into the race deserves more attention than just her name. When Solo announced her candidacy via Facebook, she laid out a platform fundamentally different than that of other candidates. Her message was clear: yes, she wants to win matches. But she also wants to bring U.S. Soccer in line with principles of human rights.

Solo starts her announcement by talking about her own childhood. She talks about her own experiences with what has been deemed the “pay to play” system. She had to overcome a lot to find success—too much for most young athletes. It was clear in Solo’s announcement that her experiences in the youth system shaped her as both a player and a person, and will be critical to her approach as a business executive.

Unsurprisingly, Solo’s first point in her announcement was about creating a “winning” culture in U.S. Soccer. On the surface, this might seem a bit obvious. But the language that she uses is crucially different from that of her opponents. Solo proposes a focus on diversity in youth soccer as a path to developing a “winning” culture. By talking about diversity in this section of her platform, Solo alludes to the idea that the strength of the U.S team will come through its diversity. In fact, you could say that by including this statement in the ‘Know How To Win’ section, Solo is suggesting that everyone benefits from diversity and that U.S. Soccer cannot succeed without it.

Solo’s second point is about equal pay and women’s rights. She expands the concepts of equal pay and equal opportunity to the U.S Women’s National Team and all USSF female staff members. She draws on principles of non-discrimination, made clear when Solo writes that one of her goals is to “eliminate sexism and discrimination.”

The third point of Solo’s platform focuses on the youth system. She states that she wants to “address the issue of ‘pay to play.’” She wants to make soccer financially accessible to all, and demands socioeconomic diversity. This is perhaps the most intriguing point on Solo’s platform. From a human rights perspective, these statements once again draw on principles of non-discrimination, but also on the concept of a “right to play.” The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child states that every child has a right “to engage in play and recreational activities.” In this point of her platform, Solo places the responsibility to fulfill this right on U.S Soccer.

But this point is flawed as well. It’s not clear how Solo plans on making soccer “financially accessible” to all. The vagueness of the term makes it difficult to imagine what achieving that goal might look like. Is her goal to make youth soccer free? If not, will U.S. Soccer be giving out scholarships for kids who cannot afford even a reduced price? How can we truly ensure that every child is given the opportunity to play soccer?

Solo’s final point in her platform states that she will make U.S. Soccer a “transparent” organization. The promotion of transparency implies that Americans who consume or partake in soccer have a right to participate in the decisions being made. This does more to bring people into the conversation and to forge a genuine connection between soccer consumers and the U.S. Soccer Federation.

Earlier in the announcement, Solo alludes to the idea that U.S Soccer has a corruption problem. She asks how a “profitable” non-profit with millions of dollars at its disposable had not made soccer accessible to all. She also points to many sources of revenue and says, “I certainly don’t know” where that money ended up. Corruption is a difficult problem for anyone to tackle, let alone someone who is new to this sort of leadership role. Her allusions should be concerning for everyone involved in U.S. Soccer, but one might raise the question of whether or not she’s ready to handle that sort of responsibility.

Solo’s platform prioritizes human dignity over capitalism. She seems to promote a rights-based approach to U.S. Soccer not only because she believes that it will help their teams win, but because she understands that respecting and promoting both equality and participation makes U.S. Soccer a stronger and better organization.

But Solo’s platform still leaves a lot of questions unanswered. Her statements are vague, and so far we have not seen a clear plan as to how she plans to achieve these objectives. Considering her lack of experience, those plans are even more critical for her to prove she can do the job.

In addition, one must mention Solo’s isolating history with U.S Soccer. She tells a genuine narrative about her childhood and her struggle to get to the senior national team. But the fact remains that some U.S. Soccer fans will not be able to look past the accumulation of incidents that led U.S Soccer to terminate her contract after the 2016 Olympics. Regardless of what you think of Solo, the question remains—will her agenda be overshadowed by her personality?

Should Solo succeed in her campaign, it could have radical effects on the sport, both nationally and globally. In her announcement, Solo speaks of “shedding a mentality that is no longer acceptable” and “the importance of sports in the world order.” We all know that corruption and discrimination exist in FIFA, but Solo’s election could be the shove the world needs to start making necessary changes.

Minimally, one hopes that even if Solo is unsuccessful, maybe she can start some important conversations surrounding U.S. Soccer. Regardless of the way the election goes, she has made her goal clear.

“Soccer is the World’s game,” she wrote on Facebook. “I want to share it with all of America.”

A Higher Standard: The Issue of Professionalism in Women’s Soccer

Posted on by RJ Allen

For a little over a month now women’s soccer within the United States has gone completely rogue.

It seems like every day I wake up and look at Twitter and some new major change has occurred with the NWSL, USSF, or the personnel that surround it. Major changes happen in sports all the time, but generally those changes are planned out, executed professionally within a timeline, and supported with assurances to the media, fans, and public as a whole.

None of that happened in the last month-or-so with regards to women’s soccer.

In fact, the exact opposite happened – it was chaos, and question marks, and overall lack of care or due diligence. Frankly, there was nothing professional about it. But still, the Harvey/USSF/Seattle/Andonovski/Kansas City/Salt Lake debauchery was widely accepted as something that could and should readily occur. And therein lies the problem.

Let’s go over the facts. On November 7th it was reported that Laura Harvey was leaving Seattle to take on an expanded role with the US Soccer Federation. Vlatko Andonovski, the former FC Kansas City coach (and personal suggestion from Harvey), would be replacing her. This shocked the Seattle soccer community because Harvey had been such a staple there for so long. But it looked to be a smart move. She was moving up to a national role – one that many were excited about. The issue is that the USSF never stated what Harvey’s expanded role would be. What was her job, exactly? What would she actually be doing? We weren’t told. And yet, for the most part it was accepted. Maybe the details would come later.

But flash-forward a week and suddenly everything changed again. The NWSL announced that Salt Lake would be a ‘new’ team in the 2018 season for the NWSL. The team didn’t have an official name yet, but at the press conference it was announced that it would be one of ten teams within the league. But as a ‘new’ team that would make 11 total clubs within the league. The NWSL didn’t expand on that point, but merely kept the audience in a bit of conundrum as to what the future held for some of the teams within the league.

Close followers of the news knew that FC Kansas City was in a bad way, and that this Salt Lake team was less a ‘new’ team and more a transfer of franchise from KC. Except that this wasn’t what was announced. At the time that Salt Lake declared themselves a new NWSL team, FC Kansas City was still in operation. In fact, the folding of FCKC and the movement of their contracts to Salt Lake wasn’t made until six days later on November 20.

Then, just to complicate the story more, Laura Harvey was signed as the new coach for Salt Lake on November 27. Even though she left Seattle to take a job on the national level. Adding to the complications, her new roster would be the former FCKC squad–the team that her replacement in Seattle had given up to take over that job.  But wait – it gets better. When commenting on it, Harvey stated, “In some ways it’s funny. It is the ultimate trade. We basically traded spots.” You know who isn’t laughing? Seattle fans. Kansas City fans. Anyone who was excited for her potential impact with the USWNT.

Then, finally, on December 1, eleven days after the announcement of the club, Salt Lake finally got a name, after finally settling legal issues that had delayed the process. 

To sum it up: one city lost a team, two rosters traded coaches, the NWSL made announcements before they were ready, and no one ever will know what was supposed to happen with Harvey’s USSF position. And the worst part of it all is that no one batted an eye at it. This was considered business as usual for women’s soccer in the United States. This was considered acceptable for the league and the federation. And that is what is wrong with women’s professional soccer.

The NWSL is trying so hard to be the premier women’s soccer league in the world. They pull from the largest talent pool of its kind. But yet they struggle financially. And when looking at the women’s side of the US Soccer, they aren’t fairing much better. They are the number one team in the world, but they aren’t paid their worth. And in all of this are the players who are struggling to make ends meet, striving for a future in the sport they love, and supporting the platform for future generations of strong female athletes to perform on.

It’s exhausting. But it means something. So they keep trying to build. They keep pushing forward, and keep screaming into the void for recognition and acknowledgment of their worth. They fight to be seen as professionals – to be equal among other professional leagues and athletes. But unfortunately, the NWSL and the USSF have not been acting professional. And because of that, it holds back every female player just a little bit more. It puts a little more drag on their already short line. And it holds themselves back as well – financially, publicly, and in the eyes of the sporting world.

In any other league or in any other sport the movement of a top coach to the national level would have had more publicity. It would have had more concrete details about the job and that coach’s potential new impact. In any other league the movement of a team from one city to another is done with months of planning and preparation. Even if that team is having financial difficulty or there is scandal surrounding it. Look at the Columbus Crew in the MLS – everyone is aware of the potential move and there are really strong feelings on both sides. But in the NWSL? Nothing but bush league transitions, the absence of due care, and a total lack of professionalism.

So the question becomes, ‘How can the professional sporting world take you seriously, when you refuse to act professional?’

The answer is that they don’t. And it isn’t hard to see why, when moves like this happen without any explanation. It feels ill-prepared at best, shady at worst. It’s bad enough that they didn’t have an active Commissioner all of last season, but this? This is just off-the-cuff work that was patched together and came out looking halfway decent.

Now, most likely these transactions weren’t undertaken with malice or bad motives. But that doesn’t mean that they were done correctly. There should be a standard of professionalism. Things need to get better if the league wants to be a serious player, make real money, and change the way women’s sports are treated.

This isn’t asking a lot. They should want to do better and hold themselves accountable. They should want more transparency, in order to show the world that they mean business. They should want to show pride in what they’re doing.

Don’t the women who play in the league deserve that? Don’t the fans? Doesn’t the entire women’s movement that this league – and women’s sports in general – plays a large role in?

Don’t they owe it to themselves?

It can’t be said as to how the next season will go for the NWSL. It can’t be said how USSF President elections will affect the women’s game. But it can be said that in order to be taken seriously, you have to take yourself seriously. That is what should be asked of the NWSL and women’s soccer in the US. Hold yourself to a higher standard. The highest standard. It’s hard – no one is denying that. But to get to where the league, the athletes, the fans, and the media want to go it is a necessity. A necessity that should not be taken so lightly in the future.

Raising the Game: Solo for President

Posted on by RJ Allen

In the early hours of Friday morning Hope Solo announced her candidacy for US Soccer Federation President.

She isn’t the right person for the job. In fact, she is the exact wrong person for the job. She is controversial, polarizing, and has an extreme lack of filter in rather inopportune moments. She should not be elected to the position.

But that does not mean that her candidacy is meaningless. It actually may be the most important and game-changing event that has happened in this race. And Solo running may create more influence on the future of the US Soccer than any other candidate ever has.

Why is that? Well, because she is Hope Solo.

Solo is loud. She is demanding. And she is captivating. Whether you love her or you hate her (because there is no in between) she forces you to sit up and listen when she speaks. And she is looking to speak as a candidate. And the issues that she wants to speak about with regards to US Soccer are pertinent. They are issues that other candidates don’t want to touch. They are issues that many candidates don’t have answers to. But they are issues that Solo will refuse to shy away from – ones that she has no problem bringing to the forefront.

Her candidacy looks to bring awareness to what is clearly being ignored. And her voice speaks for those that do not have a platform – the underprivileged, the minorities, the underdogs. Because Solo has had a very different upbringing than most of her US counterparts. She didn’t grow up with money. And that fact makes her realize better than anyone else how hard it is to develop your soccer skills in the US when you don’t come from an upper middle class family. She understands the struggle of young players who are good enough to play, but whose families don’t have extra thousands of dollars every year to allow them to do so. She has a stance on pay for play, and she recognizes the disparages between the classes and how that effects the talent pool for the sport. Other candidates cannot say the same.

She also gets to speak from first hand experience to the inequalities that women face in the soccer world. She has been a part of the major lawsuits. She has lived the life of a female athlete on the National level. And she knows exactly how differently she was treated in comparison to the men. No other candidate brings that. And for the most part, no other candidate really has any concrete ideas on how to improve the women’s side of US Soccer. But you best believe that Solo does.

The greatest thing that Solo brings to the table though is her ability to get the other candidates to talk and give their opinions. They have been good at dodging anything really concrete so far, but Solo will demand it of them. She can get answers from them – answers that we all want, but may not have been able to get without her. Because she will take a stance on the issues. They may not be the best stances, or the ones that US Soccer needs, but they will put the other candidates on notice to do the same. If they don’t…well, she’s Hope Solo – she’s never afraid to call anyone out.

And that is probably her biggest downfall as a candidate. It’s why she shouldn’t be the head of the US Soccer Federation. Tact isn’t always her strong suit. When her emotions run high she tends to say the wrong thing. She fails to have the ability to take a breath, compose herself, and think of the consequences before speaking. She just reacts. And she was the bad girl of the soccer world for a reason – she didn’t care who it was, if she had beef she would say something. Brandi Chastain. The Swedish National Team. And even the US Soccer Federation on a few occasions. Mirror that with her antics off the pitch and it becomes even more difficult to make a case to support her candidacy. It could create issues with other Federations and with the cohesiveness of ours. It could throw us into chaos in a worst-case scenario. It could set us back.

Yes, her election to USSF President could have momentous repercussions, but her candidacy could also usher in a new level of meaning to the position. One where the candidate must have thoughts, and take stances, and be able to communicate the steps to achieve their visions for the future of the Federation. It wouldn’t just be a popularity contest or a contest to see who has the biggest bank account. No, her candidacy helps ensure that this race means something. Her candidacy holds the rest of the candidates accountable.

And that was all done simply by her throwing her hat in the ring. Because she is Hope Solo. She has always demanded excellence of herself. So there is no doubt that she will demand excellence from her competition as well. The stakes were already high. But she just raised them.

A US Soccer Legend Gone: RIP Tony DiCicco

Posted on by RJ Allen

The Women’s Soccer world has lost one of its own. The news broke yesterday morning that Tony DiCicco, former USWNT coach, passed away Monday evening.

Tony DiCicco is a legend in the world of soccer. 

The coach led the women’s National Team from 1994 to 1999 and, to date, is the only one to have teams win both Olympic Gold medals (1996) and the World Cup trophy (1999). But the Olympics and World Cup victories are just the height of DiCicco’s far-reaching influence in American women’s soccer.

He began as the goalkeeping coach for the USWNT in 1991 before taking over as head coach in 1994. Under DiCicco, the WNT accumulated 103 wins, 8 draws, and 8 losses, making him the “winningest” coach in USSF history. Beyond the Senior WNT, DiCicco managed at the youth level and coached the US women’s team that won the U-20 World Cup in 2008, a team that included Alyssa Naeher, Meghan Klingenberg, Kiersten Dallstream, Elli Reed, Becky Edwards, Christine Nairn, Keelin Winters, Alyssa Mautz, Alex Morgan, and Sydney Leroux. All celebrated members of the NSWL and most current members of the USWNT. 

DiCicco has played a huge role in the establishment of domestic women’s soccer in the US. He acted as the founding commissioner for the WUSA (2000-2003), and then, after leaving international coaching, he managed the Boston Breakers from 2009 through 2011, the majority of their time in the WPS. Under DiCicco, the Breakers took 2nd place in the 2010 season, their highest finishing ever as a pro-level team. Throughout, he has served on the USSF’s Technical Advisory board, and dedicated time to improving the state of coaching in soccer for women and girls across the nation. 

 

In the final phase of his long career in women’s soccer, DiCicco worked as a broadcaster for Fox Sports and ESPN, offering commentary for international friendlies and tournaments, including the 2015 Women’s World Cup where he saw many of the women he’d coached previously win the most coveted title in the women’s soccer world. Men and women across the nation and world are familiar with his voice, interpreting the game for them as they watch their favorites play. 

DiCicco joined the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2012, having been elected to the honor in recognition of his work and success in the sport. But there can, perhaps, be no more fitting memorial and celebration of Tony DiCicco than the numerous testimonials and remembrances being shared across social media today, as former colleagues, players, and fans join together to mourn the loss of one of US Soccer’s biggest stars. 

RIP, Coach DiCicco. You will be missed. 

 

Around the World of WoSo: USSF Adds Policy, Plush Steps Down

Posted on by RJ Allen

Plush Steps Down:

Jeff Plush has announced he is formally steppeing down as the National Women’s Soccer League Commissioner. Plush has been in the role since January of 2015. In his tenure, he saw the league grown to 10 teams when the Orlando Pride entered in 2016. Plush also oversaw the sale of Western New York Flash and their re-brand to become the North Carolina Courage at the start of 2017.

Plush wasn’t as recognizable to many fans because he wasn’t in attendance as often as someone like myself might like. A few other commissioners around sports such as Adam Silver (NBA), and Lisa Borders (WNBA) are well-known for making a serious effort to not only attend playoffs and championship games, but regular season games as well.

Plush was in attendance at the 2016 NWSL Championship and helped complete the recent TV deal with Lifetime and A+E. This latest deal could be what many will remember him for, a historic TV partnership that will bring the NWSL into American homes every Saturday.

The search for a new commissioner has begun and I hope we find out soon who will lead the way for the NWSL’s fifth season – which begins April 15th.

 

USSF New Anthem Policy:

The United States Soccer Federation has introduced a new policy to that will apply to the National teams. This new policy states that:

“All persons representing a Federation national team shall stand respectfully during the playing of national anthems at any event in which the Federation is represented.”

In my personal opinion, this policy is completely unnecessary and undermines the player’s constitutional right to protest. This new policy seems to be a very dramatic and ridiculous reaction to USWNT midfielder Megan Rapinoe kneeling during the National anthem in a friendly September 15th of 2016. Rapinoe has said she did it to support Black Lives Matter, the movement that rose over the past few years to fight against racial inequality in America.

While U.S. Soccer made it clear that they didn’t agree with Rapinoe’s action when it happened, this addition to the bylaws seems to be sending a very strong statement to players thinking about wanting to protest in any slight way during the anthem. I do feel confused by this, because without protests how will the players, as citizens, express their desire for positive change and for the government to do the right thing by ALL citizens of this beautiful country?

ESPN The Magazine Senior writer Mina Kimes perhaps summed up my feelings perfectly when she tweeted out her opinions of the new policy:

Kimes, along with myself and many others, don’t agree with this new policy. Also, could this decision signal the end of Rapinoe’s national team career? Rapinoe has not been selected for National team duty since September 18th of last year. Time and future actions will certainly tell if the fate of Rapinoe with the USWNT is over for simply standing by what she believes in.

 

Rampone Honored:

One of the best players to ever grace the game of soccer in the history of the sport has officially retired from international play. 41-year-old USWNT legend Christie Rampone was honored Saturday before the game versus England in front of the crowd of 26,500 in Harrison, New Jersey at Red Bull Arena. In attendance to honor the trailblazer were familiar and former stars of the USWNT, Abby Wambach, Heather O’Reilly, and Nicole Barnhart.

To many women’s soccer fans–or soccer fans in general–Rampone is simply known as Captain America. The defender made her USWNT debut in 1997 and played her last minutes in 2015. And Rampone expressed the desire to make a bid for the 2016 Olympics had injury not hampered her fitness. The two-time World Cup Champion (1999, 2015) and three-time Olympic gold-medalist (2004, 2008, 2012) has certainly left her mark on the game. Rampone played in five FIFA World Cups, four Olympics, appeared 311 times for her country to become the second-most-capped player in US history, and managed to score four goals during her time.

I don’t think enough can be said about the last 99er. Rampone was composed, positive, regarded as a complete team leader and someone who embodied the national team spirit. She was one of the most incredible athletes I’ve ever seen compete at the highest level for that length of time. I’m absolutely honored to say I had the privilege of watching her play in person years ago and I will forever be proud to call her our Captain.

 

Lavelle Earns 1st Cap:

21-year-old Rose Lavelle has finally earned her first cap for the USWNT this past weekend in the #SheBelieves Cup. Starting against England, a team ranked fifth, Lavelle held her own. Even though the United States lost to England, she played well enough to also earn her first Player of the Match award.

The Cincinnati, Ohio native played all four years of college ball at the University of Wisconsin. She was selected number one overall in the 2017 NWSL College Draft by the Boston Breakers. Lavelle has shown plenty of promise and to see a small sample of what she is capable of on the National team is rewarding as a supporter.

 

Chastain and MacMillan HOF Confirmed:

Two more USWNT legends are being inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame on March 24th. The two women earning this honor are Brandi Chastain and Shannon MacMillan, who each spent 12 years on the National team.

Chastain made her debut in 1988 and concluded her career in 2004. She won two World Cups (1991, 1999) and two Olympic medals (1996, 2004), appearing in 192 games for the U.S. She is known for her left foot penalty shot that secured the USWNT’s second Women’s World Cup in 1999 and then taking off her shirt to celebrate. I witnessed that moment when I was eight and for me, it’s easily one of the most iconic moments in sports. Chastain now coaches at the University of Santa Clara.

MacMillan got her start in 1993 and ended her career in 2005 after appearing in 176 games and scoring 60 goals, good enough for ninth place in program history. MacMillan won the ’99 World Cup and Gold at the 1996 Olympic games. She was named U.S. Soccer’s Female Player of the Year in 2002. MacMillan is now in San Diego, where she is the director of club operations for the Del Mar Carmel Valley Sharks soccer club.

 

Sweden Women Aim To Inspire:

The Sweden Women’s National team is sporting a different look these days. The Swedish Football Association have initiated for the team to replace the names of players to instead have messages of empowerment. These messages are meant to be positive and to inspire all generation of women.

The Swedish players picked quotes from Swedish women, to show the power they hold, and to bring to light the National team at the same time. Some of the messages include: “To try is to be successful” (journalist Frida Soderlund); “Women want different things”(comedian Karin Adelskold); “I’m not bossy, I’m the boss” (author Nina Akestam); and “Never look down on someone unless it is to help her up” (politician Gudrun Schyman).

The latter message was chosen by Sweden’s captain Lotta Schelin, who expressed this in a statement recently: “It is great we can join forces with other strong women and together we can show that everything is possible.” She went on to say that “There is always a need to show young women it is possible to succeed, and that no one should feel limited in what they can achieve and particularly not because of their sex.”

I absolutely love this from the Swedish Federation and the team itself. I fully support this idea. I think everything Schelin mentioned is very important in a world where the glass ceiling does still exist. These kits have been worn during the Algarve Cup that takes place March 1st through March 8th.

What’s the difference between FIFA, CONCACAF, and USSF?

Posted on by RJ Allen

When we talk about soccer (or football, if you want to sound like the rest of the world), we often talk about how the governing federations influence the game and how it is run. If you’ve primarily followed women’s soccer, you may have heard of FIFA, CONCACAF, and the USSF (if you’re American) as the three main governing bodies that determine – and often mess up – how the women’s game is developed, funded, and marketed to the world.

However, hearing about them all the time doesn’t really give you a good picture of what the organizations actually do for the game as a whole, and how they work together to make sure the game of soccer is somewhat uniform around the world.

FIFA

Let’s start with FIFA. FIFA stands for Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Their headquarters are based in Zurich, Switzerland. They are the overarching governing body that sets the rules, regulations, and laws of the game for every level of soccer, from youth programs to international federations, for every country around the world.

Their current President is Gianni Infantino, who was recently elected to replace long-standing former president Sepp Blatter, infamous not only for multiple accusations of corruption but also for his comment on how the women’s game would be more popular if the women wore shorter shorts.

FIFA is an extremely complex organization with multiple levels of governing bodies and more committees than you can shake a stick at. The main thing you need to know about them is that they perform two very important functions for the game of soccer worldwide:

  1. They set the laws of the game, which dictate how the game is played and what the fields of play should look like.
  2. They distribute money to the regional bodies and countries of the world who have soccer federations for the development of national, professional league, and youth programs.

CONCACAF

Next level down from FIFA is not actually the USSF but CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football), which is the regional body that governs USA and its neighbors. CONCACAF runs tournaments at the international level (e.g. the Gold Cup) and at the league level (e.g. the Champions League, where clubs from different leagues in the region play each other).

They also provide the first hurdle for those teams vying for spots at World Cups and Olympics, organizing qualifying tournaments that are supposed to provide a testing ground for any team who wants to advance to a major international tournament. But just how well that the system works depends greatly on whether you are referring to the men’s game or the women’s game. In the men’s game, the CONCACAF international field is full of competitive teams that can (and often have) soundly beaten the USMNT.

On the women’s side, there is… slightly less of a challenge.

The major reason for this is that of the many federations who have women’s teams under CONCACAF’s jurisdiction, only two have consistently dedicated funds for the growth of the women’s game: the US and Canada. 

Basically every other country barely manages to scrape together a team to field, a task made difficult due to spotty youth development, rampant sexism in cultures that look down on women who want to play soccer professionally, and a general unwillingness to pay the players and often the coaches. Though this is not unique to CONCACAF, we do have some of the worst examples in the world.

This results in a lot of qualifying matches that end with the USWNT basically playing a scrimmage against a youth team, padding their goal and assist stats while the goalkeeper makes daisy chains at the top of the 18-yard box. One notable example of this was the Olympic Qualifying match in 2012, where the US beat the Dominican Republic 12-0, a game that saw multiple players record hat tricks.

USSF

Finally, we have the USSF, the United States Soccer Federation. Sunil Gulati is the name you will likely hear the most, as he is the president and the public face of the federation. The USSF is the organization in charge of the day-to-day running of the men’s and women’s National Team programs, facilitating professional leagues, and creating and running youth programs that keep our future bright.

The USSF is the organization which, as you may have heard, is in the process of “negotiating” a new CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) with the USWNT. It is also directly involved in the pay structure of the NWSL, subsidizing the league by paying the allocated national team players instead of having the teams control their individual salaries. While this is unusual, it was the only way to ensure that everyone would get paid at the start of the league. It was also a way  to “encourage” (read: ensure) National Team players would stay in the country and help build the league, with many players coming back from their European clubs only because USSF promised to match their salary. Additionally, USSF has exercised some control over the NWSL clubs to ensure that allocated players are always available to leave their clubs for NT camps and friendlies, something that European clubs have the right to refuse.

Whether or not this is still a valid set-up now four years into the league is a  topic for a different article. It’s safe to say that until a new CBA is negotiated with the USWNT, the federation’s relationship with the NWSL will remain as it is.

For the record, MLS had no such set-up when it was begun. A product the US winning the 1994 World Cup bid, MLS was set up as part of the agreement for countries to use some of the proceeds to establish a Division One league if one did not already exist. To do this, USSF created a second USSF (United States Soccer Foundation) which is technically a charitable organization that happened to give charitably to the MLS in the first years of its existence, and they were a sponsor for many years afterward. 

There is an allocation process for the MLS, but it is tied to the league, not directly to the USSF, although select USMNT players are on the allocation list, eligible for extra salary funds above the league maxiumum salary cap. Like the allocations in the NWSL, this money is given to them so they can get players who warrant a larger paycheck. For instance, Tim Howard, an allocated player for the Colorado Rapids.

The primary way that the USSF supports the MLS is through Soccer United Marketing (SUM), a marketing company that basically exists entirely to promote the USSF and MLS – though notably, not the NWSL. The connections between the USSF, SUM and the MLS are somewhat shady, and their exclusion of the NWSL from their deals warrants significant ire from many WoSo fans. It also makes it difficult to track how marketing dollars are allocated to the USMNT vs. the USWNT, a key issue in the Equal Play, Equal Pay discussion. 

So, What Can Be Done?

The common characteristic between all of these organizations is that they are still pretty clueless on how to treat the women’s side of the game equally to the men’s. FIFA runs the World Cup and the Women’s World Cup completely differently. FIFA allowed the 2015 tournament in Canada to be played entirely on turf fields, leading to general outrage from the players who understandably hate playing on turf, particularly in the middle of the summer when field temps can reach up to 120°F. The potential for injuries is also greater, and the turf also plays differently enough that many countries who had trained on grass had trouble adjusting. The argument was made that FIFA would never have considered such a set-up for men, a statement supported by history. 

Besides providing substandard playing surfaces, FIFA traditionally has not demanded that the money they give the federations be put to use in women’s programs, except in insignificant amounts. This accounts for part of the disparity in quality of play between the top five women’s teams and the rest of the world, though many countries are finally catching on and catching up. FIFA also puts much less money towards the marketing and the prize money attached to the Women’s World Cup.

Furthermore, until this last year when the leadership of FIFA was shaken up by a slew of corruption and embezzling lawsuits, there was no system in place for women to obtain any positions of power in FIFA. Since those shake-ups, they have taken steps to fix the problem. They are making an effort to appoint women to open positions in various levels of leadership. To their credit, they are attempting to build a base. However, it is still only 15% of the money sent to federations, which is a very small step. And as Julie Foudy pointed out (http://www.espn.com/espnw/news-commentary/2015worldcup/article/13224279/fifa-do-more-develop-women-game-globally), while their words are very encouraging, we need to have some receipts to see how their 10 Keys for developing Women’s football are being implemented and followed. 

This is especially important because many federations, particularly small CONCACAF federations, are still not spending this money fully on women’s soccer. We still have countries that are not paying their players, we still have countries that don’t even have a registration system for their female players, and we have countries to whom the idea of a professional league is up there with the idea of a unicorn. In these countries, FIFA needs to step in and mandate the changes it outlines in its development keys, and then make sure these mandates are being followed. FIFA has said that they’re committed to developing the women’s game, and they need to follow through. This is the essential job of an International governing body. 

The USSF is an interesting case when it comes to equality of treatment. On the one hand, we have probably the best-funded women’s program in the world, leading to our team being a consistent contender in top competitions since the first Women’s World Cup in 1991. We have a youth system that registers huge numbers of girls into their programs every year, youth national teams that compete in the top tournaments at their level, a college system that takes their women’s soccer very seriously, and a professional league in the NWSL that is incredibly competitive. The USA is often considered to be the world leader in all categories considered when it comes to developing the women’s game.

And yet, not everything is rosy in USSF-land when it comes to women’s soccer. The USSF also got caught up in the turf war post-World Cup, after it was revealed that the USWNT played over half their matches of the year on turf fields, including the match in Hawaii that was boycotted after a stadium walkthrough revealed unsafe playing conditions. After the team boycotted, USSF sued them for violating their contract. In contrast, the USMNT played none of their 2015 matches on turf fields, sometimes even requiring that stadiums lay down new sod to provide a grass field to play on. 

Furthermore, five (at the time) members of the USWNT filed a wage discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, claiming that they have brought in more money for the federation than the men have and have not been compensated accordingly. While that is still being investigated, they are also in talks with USSF about a new CBA after the old one expired in 2012 and was extended with a Memorandum of Understanding that expires in December of this year. Their main goal is to increase how they are paid to match the men, who have a completely different, much more lucrative, pay system. 

What this all boils down to is this: Leadership needs to improve at all levels to grow the women’s game. If FIFA says they’re going to be dedicated to supporting this growth, they need to act on that. They need to put their money there, and they need to make sure the money is being used for the right purposes. If USSF wants to continue to be the top women’s program in the world, they need to continue leading the way. They have coasted for so long on the coattails of being one of the only in the world to actually support the women’s team, even if it wasn’t equal to the men’s program. Now, they need to take it a step farther and show the world what actual equal treatment looks like. The world needs a model and USSF is perfectly poised to lead the charge.