Reflections on being inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame - and an ask
Tomorrow, I have the honor of being inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2025. As that day approaches, I’ve been reflecting on how being a part of those formative years of the US Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT) shaped the journey my career has taken – and why.
I played in the 1991 FIFA Women’s World Cup 34 years ago. It was a very different game back then. Imagine being selected for a World Cup, playing in a World Cup, and even winning a World Cup - and really no one knowing about it.
The games weren’t televised. Women’s sports were viewed as being of lesser value. We wore the men’s uniforms and were even asked to return them after the World Cup (no one did, of course). For our participation, we received a per-diem of ten dollars per day. For winning the World Cup, we each received a bonus of $1,800 from US Soccer.
In those days, there was never the option of making a living playing, so you just retired and went to work. Or back to school and then back to work. But how had playing on that team changed us? For me, it ignited a powerful inner commitment that whatever I did in my life thereafter would need to contribute in some way, to be of some value and purpose to a greater good.
During the time I was part of the USWNT, we were forming the culture of the team. Laying down its DNA if you will. And along with grit, resilience and commitment to physical preparation, there was a strong sense of shared purpose to improving our working conditions. Even back then, it was always more than just playing the game we loved. It was about leaving things better than where you found them, so that those who came after us wouldn’t have to go through the same challenges we did.
Since then, we’ve seen that same sense of purpose, with every generation of USWNT players, with each generation moving the ball further down the field. What started with basic asks back then, such as child care support for players with very young children, led to a player’s union that negotiated a collective bargaining agreement that achieved equal pay.
So in life after sport, when I went back to work in corporate roles, I realized I was missing that sense of why what I was doing mattered. It eventually led me to leading nonprofits where sport was at the service of social purpose. In 2019, I finally found my true calling – leading an international organization with a mission that so clearly resonated with my experience in sport as a USWNT athlete, in that it looked at how sport could be a better, more equitable version of itself. That organization is the Centre for Sport and Human Rights.
We often hear that sport can change the world, and that the power of sport can change lives. I believe it can. But sport isn’t a panacea. I saw in my own life and career how sport can indeed deliver on its social license and be a positive force in human empowerment. I’m among the often-cited Ernst & Young statistic that 94% of female C-Suite executives played sport. But the fact that I had that positive experience is also luck. Why?
Because I never experienced harm during my time as a competitive athlete. Injuries, yes - lots of those - but never harm. I never faced someone who took advantage of the vulnerability and power imbalance that athletes are often on the wrong side of when they participate in sport at multiple levels. For sport to deliver on its promise for all of us, it must be free from such harms. As someone who didn’t experience harassment, discrimination or other forms of abuse, I feel a strong sense of duty to work on behalf of those who did, and in doing so, help sport become a better version of itself.
The Centre for Sport and Human Rights is an organization dedicated to helping sport bodies and sporting event hosts understand the range of possible harms to athletes, workers, fans, children and many others whose activities they touch. Our mission is to work with organizations to help them prevent harm from happening, and in doing so, enable sport to authentically deliver on its social promise of contributing to cultural diversity, to education and good physical health, and many other public goods. We call this responsible sport.
The Centre engages with all the actors making up the ecosystem of sport, including governments, UN agencies and intergovernmental organizations, sport bodies and major event hosts, sponsors, broadcasters and civil society. We provide a common platform for all these stakeholders to engage in constructive dialogue, capacity building and joint actions that can help ensure that sport doesn’t cause harm to those it impacts, but also helps advance human rights around the world.
Our recent report Going the Distance summarizes our work in 100 examples of impact over the past three years. For example, our Roadmap to Remedy project was born out of a realization that those most affected by abuse – victims, survivors, and whistle-blowers – all shared concerns about inadequate, unsafe and ineffective investigation and resolution mechanisms. So we researched and consulted widely with those with lived experience on how sports can improve their responses to reports of abuse. In our tool on Meaningful Stakeholder Engagement, we provide a guide for sport bodies and organizers of sporting events with a guide to meaningfully engage with those impacted by their activities, to understand how to prevent harms from occurring in the first place and integrate that into decision-making. And we helped the organizers of the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games train over 150,000 volunteers and staff on preventing and reporting various forms of discrimination during the games themselves.
We live today in an incredibly challenging environment for non-profits, particularly those working to advance rights. On the occasion of my induction into the National Soccer Hall of Fame, I would ask that those who find the Centre’s mission and our work meaningful consider supporting us by making a contribution to the Friends of the Centre for Sport and Human Rights via our donation link.
Sport is one of society’s great social inventions and has so much to offer to us all. Certainly, it has left an indelible, positive impact on my life and led me to a career path dedicated to impact and purpose that I never expected. I want everyone to have an incredible, empowering experience in sport, be it as athletes, fans, coaches, or those impacted by sport in other ways. Together, let’s all play our part to help sport and its events become the best version of themselves.
