For one of the most popular pastimes on the planet, the soccer world sure has their priorities messed up. Women soccer players around the globe continue to be paid a paltry sum when compared with their male counterparts. It is time to right this wrong and catch up with the times. Women deserve equal pay for the same job.
In a historic move for young soccer players everywhere, the U.S. Soccer Federation announced last week that both the U.S. Men’s National Team and the U.S. Women’s National Team would be paid equally. After years of disparate pay, this is welcome news for the female trailblazers in the sport, as well as the young women watching them. In the contract agreements ratified last week, payment and other revenue will now be equalized.
The importance of football in Great Britain is known around the globe. But what to many is a tradition written in stone is now being chiseled away, one team at a time, as foreign investors are becoming owners of storied teams in the English Premier League. Investors see this as a chance to make money, but football purists are worried that this mercenary notion of their beloved game will end up cheapening the game.
Simone Biles shocked the world this week by choosing her own mental and physical well-being over her pursuit of a gold medal. And in doing so, she reignited the conversation about mental health in our country. Though progress has been made in stamping out the negative stigma of mental health, the backlash Biles received shows the world that we still have a long way to go in understanding mental health needs and how to help people who struggle.
As the Olympic torch burns bright and the world stops to witness how nations come together in the pool, on the track, and in a gym, I am reminded about the important role sports have played in my own life, namely soccer (the most widely played sport in the world).