US Women’s Soccer
Unfortunately, the US women’s national soccer team were eliminated from the World Cup. Donald Trump was giddy. He couldn’t hold back his happiness. He lashed out at the women’s team.
Donald Trump’s reaction to our loss to Sweden should be no surprise. The US women’s national soccer team has been a force in women’s soccer, women’s sports, and women’s politics for almost two decades. The US women have dominated women’s soccer since the late 1990s. Title IX forced colleges to upgrade their soccer facilities for women. No other country had anything like this. Title IX meant that US women who played soccer were exposed to real coaching and real competition while in college. This is why the US women’s national team was so good.
They won, and they won a lot. They played a wonderful, exciting brand of soccer. They displayed athleticism. Because they were winning, they had the spotlight. They wanted equal pay, which they got. They fought against injury-inducing Astroturf and got it removed. They wanted an environment that was free of discrimination and sexual harassment, which I think they got. They were led by Megan Rapinoe for the last decade. She is thoughtful. She is outspoken. She is a brilliant soccer player. Megan is a once-in-a-generation type of player. She is mesmerizing. After the team won the World Cup in 2019, they refused to visit the White House because of Donald Trump and his policies. As you know, Donald Trump never forgets a slight.
The football clubs in Europe began to notice the US women’s soccer team. These clubs know how to locate and develop soccer talent. They have been doing it for the men for years. They can locate talented boys when they are 10 or 11 years old. These gifted boys are then shunted into teams and leagues that are competitive. They have the right instruction from the right coaches. Before you know it, by the time they’re 18 or 19, they are superstars. These football clubs have done exactly the same thing for women. They have been doing it for the last 15 years. Now, we are seeing the fruits of their labor. They have caught up to the US. This has nothing to do with wokeism. It has everything to do with finding talent and developing that talent at an early age. Although we are developing women once they reach college, by that time, we are behind. We need to develop Junior leagues, which are truly competitive throughout the country. We need to get better coaching into these Junior leagues. Then, we can work on dominating once again.
Over the last 20 years, we have really seen some great soccer from the US women’s team. We’ve seen some really great players, including Mia Hamm, Michelle Akers, Amy Wambach, Hope Solo, Alex Morgan, Julie Ertz, and Megan Rapinoe. Let me get back to Megan Rapinoe with her blue or, pink or stark white hair. Megan, like all of these women, deserves our admiration and gratitude. She went to the University of Portland for college. We should be passing the collection plate to build a statue in her honor. She is the best that we have to offer as a nation.
