Wise Women

There’s nothing like the thrill of the wind whipping at your face as you run down the field and see the focused faces of your teammates as you fly past them.
The anticipation of who’s going to win spreads around the stadium, the tension at an all-time high.
The ball glides into the goal like it’s the most natural thing in the world.
The crowd erupts as your team engulfs you in a lung-crushing hug.
There is no better thrill in life than this.
The US Women’s Soccer Team claimed their fifth Olympic gold medal at the Paris Olympics.
They have worked hard to be where they are today.
1985 is the starting place for the American US Women’s dominance.
“I didn’t understand because the culture in the US was so limited,” Professional American Soccer Player Michelle Akers told CNN, “I didn’t understand even what a national team was.”
Akers finally learned the gravity of being on the US team when Mike Ryan, who was the first coach for USWNT, told her that they shouldn’t take their rare opportunity for granted.
She later received a letter in 1985 asking her to do a three-day training camp for an opportunity to play for the USWNT.
“We weren’t covered, which is okay. We weren’t playing for glory or money or anything else. We were playing for the love of the sport and the love of each other. That’s a pretty good incentive,” Head Coach of USWT Anson Dorrance told CNN Sport.
Akers was one of only two players from the Mundialito tournament in Italy to make the first squad selected by Dorrance.
Five years later, the first Women’s World Cup was held in China but the public was wary about the success of the team.
They ended up winning every game, becoming world champions, but the only media coverage they got was from USA Today meaning not many people knew they won.
“US Soccer had said it would pay the women a bonus if they won gold, while the men were promised a bonus for a medal,” Journalist Caitlin Murray said.
The team went on to win gold before a sell-out crowd of 76,489 fans.
An equal pay deal was agreed upon in May 2022, ending six years of legal wrangling that started when a claim of wage discrimination was filed in 2016 by five of the team’s stars, before a gender discrimination lawsuit filed by the whole team in 2019.
“We’re still experiencing how females have to be twice as good and do twice as much to not receive equal. We still have a long way to go, but there is still so much to celebrate at the same time,” Akers said.
In 1972, the USWT celebrated that a federal law called Title IX was created a year after a ban on women’s soccer was lifted in England but it was still illegal for women to play soccer in Brazil. While the rest of the world was slowly changing its view towards women’s soccer, Title IX gave the US the leverage it needed.
“I don’t know if they were thinking this is a viable opportunity in terms of making a living. But they were certainly like, this is a pathway to get free education in terms of college, to get a scholarship,” American Soccer Commentator Lori Lindsey said to CNN.
Lindsey’s parents weren’t the first to think this about Title IX.
Title IX effectively meant colleges would have to offer female athletes scholarships if they were offered to male athletes too.
Soccer became a pathway to higher education, which increased participation in the game.
“The inexperience I think, at times, can just be a good thing. You can just go out and play, be who they are, and express themselves,” Retired US professional soccer player Megan Rapinoe tells CNN.
“Obviously just the talent at such a young age – they are so much better than we were at that age,” Rapinoe adds.
Fourteen players will be playing at a World Cup for the first time, which some might say is risky, but the USWNT remains the World No.1, a team that truly loves the game and loves to win.
In conclusion, The USWNT has endured many hardships and their hard work has paid off.
They won five gold medals at the 2024 2012, 2008, 2004, and 1996. Summer Games.
No other country has won more than once, which shows their perseverance through their fight for equality.
They continue to show their amazing efforts through their long journey and have proven to everyone how good they are.