The Ohio Union Activities Board hosts soccer World Cup champions Abby Wambach and Megan Rapinoe in the Ohio Union at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, on Monday March 28, 2016. (Andrew Bruening/Ohio State University Office of Student Life)
On March 28, 2016, I went to a talk with two of my personal heroes and decorated athletes Abby Wambach and Megan Rapinoe. These two have won world cups and Olympic gold medals, and have inspired a generation of girls like me to play soccer, proving to us that we can be just as tough, if not tougher as the boys. They spoke about soccer, but also about gender equality in the game. The women’s team is paid significantly less than the men’s team, although the women’s team has a much better record. The men’s team is actually paid more for losing than the women’s team is for winning. Since these two players also happened to identify with the LGBTQ community, they also spoke about what it was like to be an ‘out’ athlete.
I loved this event because I played soccer for twelve years as a kid and followed the Women’s National Team religiously. If Abby Wambach scored a goal with her head, I would make my parents go in the backyard and kick me balls to practice heading into the goal. I wore their jerseys and wanted to be just like them some day. However, a few concussions later, I was off the soccer track. While I had always been a feminist, it was not until I came to school that I really accepted this identity and understood its meaning. Listening to Abby Wambach and Megan Rapine talk about the inequalities in soccer, I realized that they too were so much more than just athletes. They were not only fighting for female athletes, but for all women. Even though soccer is not as big of a part of my life anymore, I still look up to these women for using their pedestals to call for equal pay and show girls that it is important to be a feminist.