Meghan Ward | Contributing Writer
The U.S. Women’s National Team has been making great strides for quite awhile now when it comes to having their efforts, abilities, and resolve recognized and appreciated. Many admirable women have led the USWNT on this incredible journey in the male-dominated world of soccer. They have overcome personal adversities and worked harder than many people could imagine for their dream of women’s soccer being respected. The heroes that come to my mind for leading this effort with charisma and character are people like Mia Hamm, Michelle Akers, Brianna Scurry, and Brandi Chastain. I have even had the privilege to meet all of them throughout my life and they truly are amazing people, but sadly many in the soccer world would not recognize most of these names today. However, the USWNT has now moved to a different focus. This focus is on their pay and the disparity seen between what they earn and what the men earn.
There is an undeniable disparity seen in the wages of the USWNT compared to the USMNT. These women have worked and continue to work just as hard as the men. Thus, it is completely understandable why they would feel slighted by this. Yet, in my personal opinion, they are picking the wrong issues to bring to light and fighting for something that I personally do not feel a need to support. Do not get too offended by this statement. I do think the disparity should be decreased, but not by paying the women extraordinarily higher amounts. Rather, I think their earnings should be slightly increased since they are finding success, and the men’s should be reduced, simply because they get paid too much for certain aspects that I feel should be expected. I also feel the men overall still make slightly more revenue, and this must be acknowledged. However, this is becoming more comparable and therefore the pay should be as well. Still, as I mentioned before, I do not think this financial battle is the most pressing issue in the soccer world and do not particularly support it as much as I would have supported others.
In recent years, I believe the current USWNT has become more selfish and self-serving. At some point they must do that to earn what they deserve, but I think they could have used the platform they have for issues that are more worldwide. The disparities between a USWNT player compared to a female national player anywhere else is as alarming, or even more so, than the disparity being publicized here. I have also had the privilege to play in many other countries and see the resistance to female footballers in so many of them. The USWNT could have reached out for a worldwide campaign encouraging women across the globe! Especially in light of the recent allegations and problems in FIFA, the main soccer organization, who is infamous for belittling female soccer players. I also believe this current USWNT has lost sight about how much of a privilege it is to play the sport you love for an income well above the average American’s.
An article about Mia Hamm from CNN entitled, “Soccer star raising goals in women’s sports,” discussed how she “graciously accepted her low salary for the world of sports” because she wanted the leagues to flourish and soccer to be the main focus. To me, that is an admirable person who sees the bigger picture and truly values the beautiful game. She was and is still someone to look up to from the world of women’s soccer. I am proud of the USWNT and how they have continued their fight for the respect they deserve, but I do not agree that a fight for higher wages was the most admirable or pressing matter to get behind. I understand their point, but I think they are not focusing on the bigger picture like the original heroes I mentioned above. Soccer is a beautiful game filled with so much life and passion that I am not quite sure America has grasped, and money is something that sadly takes away from this. I will be interested to see how this plays out, but it will not be earth shattering or something that keeps me up at night.
Photo courtesy of Buena Vista University Women’s Soccer
