… and they continue to change the lives of women around the world. Sports are empowering in a way that nothing else is—teaching strength (physical and mental), resilience, determination, teamwork, camaraderie, and more.
Which is why I believe this is good for women, and sports:
Becky Sauerbrunn, Hope Solo and Carli Lloyd
Earlier today, five members of the US women’s national soccer team—the current Women’s World Cup and Olympics champions—filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over persistent wage discrimination by U.S. Soccer, the governing body for the sport in America. The five players named in the complaint—Carli Lloyd, Becky Sauerbrunn, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe and Hope Solo—are some of the most prominent and decorated female athletes in the world.
These women have won three World Cup championships and four Olympic championships, bringing tremendous prestige to US Soccer and igniting a passion for sports in young women across the country.
It is disgraceful that despite these tremendous successes these sports heroes are still paid less than half the pay of the US men’s team, which has never even won a single World Cup or a Olympic championship.
The 2015 Women’s World Cup champions netted only $2 million for their win, while the winners of the 2014 men’s World Cup netted $35 million. In contrast, the US men’s team was awarded $8 million after losing in the Round of 16 in the 2014 World Cup.
NY Times article on the complaint—with more astounding figures.
Image from yahoo sports here.