The Beginning of Equity in Women’s Team Sports

It’s taken over 5 years in the courts but finally some good news for the U.S. Women’s soccer team. The U.S. Soccer Federation reached an agreement to pay their women’s soccer team equally to their men’s. Read more here.

When I first saw the headline, (as a women's and co-ed soccer player) I was elated!  Yes, I know they didn’t get everything they asked for but finally there is progress and it’s setting the stage for many (I won’t say all… yet) other women’s soccer team’s around the world. Women’s soccer players (like other sports) put in the same level of training and dedication that a man does and to be paid paid significantly less isn’t sustainable. It is also the reason why a lot of women opt out of making professional sports their long-term career (loving the game doesn’t pay the bills). 

In this case, it took a team lawsuit for the U.S. Soccer Federation to do the right thing… not the fact that the U.S. women’s soccer team has won multiple world cups meanwhile their men’s team didn’t qualify for the last one (not throwing any shade but the men’s team placed 3^rd back in the 1930’s world cup Vs their women’s team has won 4 World Cups in the last 28 years). It’s a similar situation in our workplaces; women doing the same work as their male counterparts and regardless of their results, they most often receive less pay. 

Congratulations to the U.S. Women’s soccer team and those who supported them while they fought in the courts while still playing on the soccer fields, to get equity in their bank accounts! From a BrandRewind^TM moment, I hope that the U.S. Soccer Federation is setting the standards and modelling for other countries to do the right thing and pay their athletes equally and support equity in sports!

Zoe Mitchell is the founder of Sharp Processes, a leadership consultancy focused on improving employee engagement using Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Psychological Safety and Process Improvement best practices with her 20 years of corporate senior leadership positions. She is also the author of Inclusive Leadership Now (available on Amazon).

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