U.S. Soccer Repeals Rule Requiring Players to Stand for National Anthem
Feb 28, 2021
United States forward Megan Rapinoe is interviewed after a SheBelieves Cup women's soccer match against Argentina, Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
The U.S. Soccer Federation's national council officially repealed a rule that required players to stand for the national anthem.
The vote took place at the annual national council meeting Saturday and received 71.3 percent of a weighted vote. Its passing was seen as something of a formality given the board of directors repealed the rule last June.
The council first put the rule in place in 2017 as a response to Megan Rapinoe, who knelt during the anthem in 2016 as an act of solidarity with then-49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. While kneeling during the anthem remains polarizing to some, the act of protest has more support in 2021 than it did five years ago—especially amid several acts of violence against Black people by police last year.
Kaepernick's anthem protest began as a way to protest police brutality and discrimination against Black Americans. He has not played in the NFL since the 2016 season, in large part because of the backlash his protest caused.
Rapinoe stopped kneeling during USWNT games once the USSF implemented its policy. However, she continued to speak out against racial injustice on numerous occasions and offer support to Kaepernick and other athletes.
"This is about the athletes' and our staff's right to peacefully protest racial inequalities and police brutality,"USSF President Cindy Parlow said in the meeting. "So I urge our membership to please support our staff and our athletes on this policy."
While the vote generated strong support, some were vocal in their displeasure in the repeal. Seth Jahn, a Paralympian and member of the U.S. Soccer Athlete Council, made comments that downplayed the impacts of slavery and police brutality on Black people.
U.S. Soccer released a statement Saturday calling Jahn's comments "offensive."
Sam Mewis' Hat Trick Propels US Women's National Team Past Colombia in Friendly
Jan 18, 2021
United States midfielder Samantha Mewis, left, celebrates after scoring a goal against Colombia with defender Kelly O'Hara, right, during the first half of an international friendly soccer match, Monday, Jan. 18, 2021, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Thanks to a hat trick by Sam Mewis, the United States women's national team cruised to a 4-0 victory over Colombia in a friendly at Exploria Stadium in Orlando, Florida, on Monday.
It was a family affair as Kristie Mewis tacked on a fourth goal in the 85th minute to put an exclamation point on a comprehensive win.
Mewis Family now Conmebol’s second-ranked women’s team.
The U.S. finished with 22 total shots and 11 shots on target. Colombia didn't register a single shot.
This was the USWNT's first match since beating the Netherlands 2-0 in November. The team hadn't hosted a fixture since the conclusion of the SheBelieves Cup last March.
The squad remains perfect under coach Vlatko Andonovski, winning all 12 matches after he succeeded Jill Ellis to improve upon what was already a team record for the 44-year-old.
While the USWNT players started to report for training camp on Jan. 9, a level of rust can be expected after going months without competitive action together. The U.S. wasn't lacking much sharpness to open Monday's match, though, as the first of Mewis' three goals came in the fourth minute.
Lindsey Horan found Megan Rapinoe down the left flank with a through ball, and Rapinoe's low cross allowed Mewis to measure up her left-footed shot past Sandra Sepulveda.
The 28-year-old used her head to double the United States' lead in the 33rd minute. Carli Lloyd knocked the ball across goal to set her teammate up with a straightforward finish.
Mewis completed the hat trick from the penalty spot in the first minute of the second half after Horan was fouled in the 18-yard box.
The Mewises will grab the headlines, but the match was also notable for serving as the debut for 21-year-old Catarina Macario.
A native of Brazil, Macario moved to San Diego in 2012 and was a star at Stanford prior to moving on to the pro ranks, signing with Lyon. Last week, FIFA gave her the final approval to represent the U.S. at the international level.
Almost immediately upon stepping onto the pitch to open the second half, Macario made her presence felt:
Catarina Macario is... I don’t wanna hype her too much. But she’s uhhhh worth the price of the ticket by herself type baller from everything EYE have seen
Andonovski is not only keeping an eye on the Summer Olympics this year but also the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. Longtime stalwarts Lloyd (38) and Rapinoe (35) probably won't be making the trip to Australia and New Zealand, while Alex Morgan, Tobin Heath and Christen Press will all be in their mid-30s.
Even though the USWNT isn't lacking in attacking talent, Macario figures to be a big part of the team in the years ahead.
What's Next?
The USWNT has one more tuneup friendly against Colombia on Friday before the SheBelieves Cup kicks off in February.
USWNT vs. Colombia: 2021 Friendly Start Time, Live Stream, TV Schedule and More
Jan 18, 2021
U.S. forward Carli Lloyd, center, celebrates her goal against the Costa Rica with Emily Sonnett, left, and Christen Press during the first half of an international friendly soccer match Sunday, Nov. 10, 2019, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
The United States women's national team will play their first matches of 2021 with two international friendlies against Colombia on Monday and Friday.
The Americans had a perfect nine wins in nine matches in 2020, taking their unbeaten streak to 48 games. Even in an exhibition, the team will want to keep this momentum going as it prepares for the SheBelieves Cup and the Tokyo Olympics.
Monday's matchup will also represent a homecoming for the players, especially for the stars playing in Europe. The USWNT have not played together on U.S. soil since March 11 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Colombia represents a tough challenge as the No. 26 team in the FIFA rankings, but Team USA is the world champion for a reason.
USA vs. Colombia Game 1
Date: Monday, Jan. 18, 2021
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Where: Exploria Stadium, Orlando, Fla.
TV: FS1
Live Stream: Fox Sports Go
USA vs. Colombia Game 2
Date: Friday, Jan. 22, 2021
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Where: Exploria Stadium, Orlando, Fla.
TV: ESPN
Live Stream: ESPN
Top Storylines
New Leadership
Becky Sauerbrunn has 178 caps and will go into her next match for the USWNT as the captain, which head coach Vlatko Andonovski announced Sunday:
The skill set and experience are a major reason for this honor, but she also has an incredible amount of respect from her peers.
"Becky's moral compass points north," teammate Sam Mewis said. "... I'd describe her as a selfless leader and she's always putting the team ahead of herself. ... She's the type of leader we all strive to be."
Sauerbrunn has won an Olympic gold medal and two World Cups, not to mention her success in the NWSL. The U.S. team should be in good hands with the 35-year-old wearing the armband.
Meanwhile, Andonovski is still relatively new in his role after taking over for Jill Ellis in 2019. He has won 11 straight matches to begin his tenure but could still use these friendlies to experiment with new lineups or formations.
Who's Scoring Goals?
Alex Morgan has been one of the best scorers in the world during her career and a focal point in the attack every time she suits up for the squad. Tobin Heath is also an elite threat offensively with her ability to create opportunities for herself and others.
Neither player will be available in these matches, though.
The Americans could play veterans Carli Lloyd and Megan Rapinoe further up in an effort to solidify the attack with 175 combined international goals in their career. Conversely, it might be better to see what other players can do with the opportunity.
Lynn Williams scored three goals during Olympic qualifying in 2020 and could work her way into a bigger role going forward, while the 20-year-old Sophia Smith could be given a chance to shine.
Mallory Pugh should also see plenty of looks around the net over the two friendlies.
Opportunity for Young Stars
Smith is going to get a lot of attention whenever she is on the pitch. The former Stanford star was the No. 1 pick of the 2020 NWSL draft and has as much upside as anyone on the roster.
However, she is one of eight players in the 27-woman squad with three or fewer caps.
Catarina Macario will make her national team debut shortly after leaving Stanford to sign with Lyon. Florida State's Jaelin Howell is the only amateur on the roster, but she has flashed her elite talent. Both players will try to provide some creativity in the midfield while showing they can be the future of this team.
Paris Saint-Germain defender Alana Cook should also get plenty of minutes going forward.
There are few starting spots up for grabs when all the stars are healthy, but there could be a lot of turnover in the next few years, so these games provide a chance for the younger players to prove they belong.
1999 USA Women's World Cup Team Tease Netflix Movie with Twitter Video
May 12, 2020
FILE - In this July 10, 1999, file photo, the United States' Brandi Chastain celebrates by taking off her jersey after kicking in the game-winning goal in a penalty shootout against China in the FIFA Women's World Cup Final at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. Social media is finding little to like about the likeness on a plaque honoring the retired soccer champion. The Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame in San Francisco unveiled the plaque on Monday, May 21, 2018. Chastain diplomatically said
Several members of the United States Women's Team that won the 1999 World Cup teased a new movie about the squad coming to Netflix.
What's the 1999 World Cup winning US Women's Soccer Team up to now?
According to Brian Welk of The Wrap, "Netflix scored the rights to Jere Longman's book, "The Girls of Summer: The U.S. Women's Soccer Team and How It Changed The World," in a competitive situation and has also nabbed the life rights of eight players from the team."
The 1999 World Cup was hosted in the United States and famously came down to the final of the United States vs. China. That went to penalty kicks, with Brandi Chastain converting the game-winning penalty.
That moment increased the visibility of the women's game in the United States and was the second of the country's four women's titles.
"Watching the USA team that summer made me forget I had no money and little more than a dream to feed me," said Netflix's vice president, Tendo Nagenda. "That team, that goal, and Brandi Chastain's unforgettable reaction—in which she ripped off her shirt and dropped to her knees in astonishment—made me believe I could do anything, and do it my way.'
U.S. Women's Soccer Team Files Appeal in Equal Pay Case, Seeks Trial Delay
May 9, 2020
FRISCO, TX - MARCH 11: Megan Rapinoe #15 of the United States celebrates during a game between Japan and USWNT at Toyota Stadium on March 11, 2020 in Frisco, Texas. (Photo by Brad Smith/ISI Photos/Getty Images)
The United States women's national soccer team filed a motion Friday to appeal last week's ruling that U.S. Soccer did not violate the Equal Pay Act with regard to the USWNT's pay compared to their male counterparts'.
According to ESPN's Graham Hays, the USWNT also filed a motion to postpone a trial scheduled to begin June 16. The trial is related to two Title VII claims made by the USWNT: that U.S. Soccer discriminated against the team in the areas of travel and accommodations as well as support staffing.
A U.S. Soccer spokesperson told ESPN the organization is open to holding settlement talks with the USWNT to avoid a trial, but the USWNT hasn't agreed to resume talks.
Judge R. Gary Klausner ruled last week that any imbalance in pay between the USWNT and USMNT was a result of their differing collective bargaining agreements rather than a conscious effort by U.S. Soccer to make it so.
Molly Levinson, who is a spokesperson for the USWNT players, said the following regarding the decision to appeal:
"The argument that women gave up a right to equal pay by accepting the best collective bargaining agreement possible in response to the federation's refusal to put equal pay on the table is not legit reason for continuing to discriminate against them. Today we are filing a motion to allow us to appeal immediately the district court's decision so that the Ninth Circuit will be able to review these claims.
"... Equal pay means paying women players the same rate for winning a game as men get paid. The argument that women are paid enough if they make close to the same amount as men while winning twice as often is not equal pay. The argument that maternity leave is some sort of substitute for paying players the same rate for winning as men is not valid, not fair, nor equal."
Haysreported last week that Klausner came to his decision since the USWNT players were unable to prove they earned more than their male counterparts from 2015-19 only because they played more matches.
Unless the appeal is expedited, Hays noted that it is likely to take at least a year, which means the issue could be ongoing through a couple of important events. The Summer Olympics are scheduled for July and August 2021, and the USWNT's CBA expires Dec. 31, 2021.
U.S. Women's Soccer Team's Equal Pay Lawsuit Dismissed; Appeal to Be Filed
May 1, 2020
FRISCO, TX - MARCH 11: Carli Lloyd #10 of the United States raises the trophy during a game between Japan and USWNT at Toyota Stadium on March 11, 2020 in Frisco, Texas. (Photo by Brad Smith/ISI Photos/Getty Images)
The United States women's national team's fight for equal pay suffered a major blow Friday evening with a federal judge tossing out the team's lawsuit against U.S. Soccer, according to the New York Times.
R. Gary Klausner of the United States District Court for the Central District of California delivered a summary judgment in which he ruled the team was not underpaid compared to the men's national team.
The players have already announced their intention to appeal.
While Klausner's 32-page decision dismissed the allegations of unequal pay, claims asserting violations of the Civil Rights Act will move forward to a June 16 trial in Los Angeles. The players are arguing the USWNT is discriminated against in travel, hotel accommodations, medical support and training services.
"We are shocked and disappointed with today's decision, but we will not give up our hard work for equal pay," Molly Levinson, a spokesperson for the players, wrote in a statement sent to the New York Times. "We are confident in our case and steadfast in our commitment to ensuring that girls and women who play this sport will not be valued as lesser just because of their gender.
"We have learned that there are tremendous obstacles to change; we know that it takes bravery and courage and perseverance to stand up to them. We will appeal and press on."
In seeking an appeal,Anne M. Peterson and Ronald Blumof the Associated Press noted the June 16 trial is subject to delay. An appeal could take anywhere between 12-20 months, per UCLA law professorSteven Bank. The players have already spent five years arguing for fair pay.
Klausner's decision in that regard calls into question the USWNT's collective bargaining tactics, writing in part: "Plaintiffs cannot now retroactively deem their CBA worse than the [men's national team] CBA by reference to what they would have made had they been paid under the MNT's pay-to-play terms structure when they themselves rejected such a structure."
The two-time defending FIFA World Cup champions were seeking more than $66 million in damages for what it asserts are violations of the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by the United States Soccer Federation.
US Soccer President Carlos Cordeiro Apologizes to USWNT for Language in Filing
Mar 12, 2020
PASADENA, CA - AUGUST 3: Mia Hamm has animated discussion with Carlos Cordiero prior to the the United States international friendly match against Ireland at the Rose Bowl on August 3, 2019 in Pasadena, California. The United States won the match 3-0 (Photo by Shaun Clark/Getty Images)
U.S. Soccer president Carlos Cordeiro is backing away from disparaging and sexist comments the federation made in a legal filing against the United States Women's National Team in its quest for equal pay.
After approving of language that called the reigning World Cup champions inferior to their male counterparts and noted an "indisputable science" on the matter, Cordiero has released a statement apologizing for the tactic:
"On behalf of U.S. Soccer, I sincerely apologize for the offense and pain caused by language in this week's court filing, which did not reflect the values of our Federation or our tremendous admiration of our Women's National Team. Our WNT players are incredibly talented and work tirelessly, as they have demonstrated time and again from their Olympic Gold medals to their World Cup titles.
"Even as we continue to defend the Federation in court, we are making immediate changes. I have asked the firm of Latham & Watkins to join and guide our legal strategy going forward. I have made it clear to our legal team that even as we debate facts and figures in the course of this case, we must do so with the utmost respect not only for our Women's National Team players but for all female athletes around the world. As we do, we will continue to work to resolve this suit in the best interest of everyone involved."
The apology may have been a few hours too late for the USWNT.
Ahead of clinching the 2020 SheBelieves Cup with a 3-1 victory over Japan, the Americans took the field with their warm-ups inside out, effectively covering up the U.S. Soccer logos.
"We've sort of felt that those are some of the undercurrent feelings that they've had for a long time," Megan Rapinoesaidon the televised broadcast after Wednesday's win. "But to see that as the argument, as sort of blatant misogyny and sexism, as the argument against us, is really disappointing.
"But I just want to say: It's all false. To every girl out there, to every boy out there who watches this team, who wants to be on this team or just wants to live their dream out, you are not lesser just because you're a girl. You are not better just because you're a boy. We are all created equal and should all have the equal opportunity to go out and pursue our dreams. And for us, that means playing on the soccer field."
U.S. Soccer directly tied its claims in the filing to its argument that paying women less did not violate the Equal Pay Act or Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
That was more than enough to catch the attention of the USWNT and supporters around the country who rallied to defend women in sports.
The suit is expected to head to trial on May 5.
Sam Mewis Scores Twice as USA Beats Mexico to Qualify for 2020 Tokyo Olympics
Feb 8, 2020
CARSON, CA - FEBRUARY 07: Samantha Mewis #3 of USA celebrates with her team mates after scoring her team's third goal during the semifinals game between Mexico and United States as part of the 2020 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying at Dignity Health Sports Park on February 7, 2020 in Carson, California. (Photo by Omar Vega/Getty Images)
The United States women's national soccer team qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo courtesy of a 4-0 win over Mexico in the CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Championship semifinals Friday in Carson, California.
Samantha Mewis led the way with two goals. Rose Lavelle and Christen Press added one apiece.
The USWNT got on the board with a fifth-minute goal by Lavelle, who unleashed a low left-footed strike that bounced in.
Julie Ertz and Megan Rapinoe deserve as much credit for setting up the goal, with Ertz causing a turnover in the Mexico half by heading an attempted clearance to Rapinoe. The captain then found Lavelle, who did the rest and unleashed her shot from outside the 18-yard box.
Nine minutes later, Rapinoe and Ertz set up a goal once again, this time on a set piece.
Rapinoe launched a corner kick to Ertz, who flicked the ball back to Mewis. The game's leading goal scorer then one-timed it into the top-right corner for a 2-0 lead.
A rough tackle just outside the penalty area led to a free kick, and Mewis delivered once again by sending a low laser past a mass of teammates and opponents for her second score in the 67th minute.
Press closed the scoring six minutes later by collecting the ball after her own blocked shot and lofting a chip from outside the six-yard box into the net.
Vlatko Andonovski moved to 6-0 as the USWNT head coach.
The United States will face Canada in the championship final at 6 p.m. ET Sunday in Carson, but that matchup will solely determine the tournament winner.
The two teams will be CONCACAF's representatives in the Olympic Games, which already feature Japan, Great Britain, Sweden, Netherlands, New Zealand and Brazil.
Team USA will go into the final having outscored its four opponents 22-0. Canada outscored its four opponents 23-0. It beat Costa Rica in the semifinals 1-0.
Four Olympic berths remain open: two from the Asian Football Confederation, one from the Confederation of of African Football and one featuring the winner of a playoff between South American Football Confederation runner-up Chile and the loser of the CAF championship featuring Cameroon and Zambia.
The Olympic draw will be held April 20. Group-stage play starts July 22, with the gold-medal match occurring Aug. 7.
The United States will be looking for its fifth gold medal in seven Olympics since the sport debuted at the Games in 1996.
Germany, which won the 2016 gold medal, did not qualify this year.
USA vs. Costa Rica Women's Soccer: Date, Time, Live Stream for 2019 Friendly
Nov 10, 2019
The United States women's national team will play their 24th and final match of 2019 on Sunday when they take on Costa Rica at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Florida.
The two sides will face off in new head coach Vlatko Andonovski's second game in charge.
Andonovski replaced Jill Ellis after she stepped down in October after five years. The world champions won his first game 3-2 when they took on Sweden on Thursday.
The USA started 2019 with a 3-1 defeat to France, but with their victory over Sweden last time out, they've been unbeaten in the 22 games since.
In their 23 matches in 2019, they've netted an incredible 73 goals, their tally bolstered by their record-breaking 13-0 demolition of Thailand at the FIFA Women's World Cup.
Against Sweden, Carli Lloyd scored twice either side of Christen Press' 50th international goal:
Julie Foudy, who earned 274 caps and won the World Cup twice with the USWNT, was impressed with Andonovski's management of the team against Sweden:
Loved that Vlatko Andonovski confident enough to not feel need to make big changes to stamp his new era. He knows this team is damn good & he can make even better. He will bring formation flexibility, fresh looks & a new voice. Team seems understandably energized by that. #USWNThttps://t.co/g217p6dVnF
They'll be looking to add some more goals against Costa Rica, against whom they've won all 14 of their past meetings.
The United States have bagged 24 goals and conceded just twice in their last four games against Las Ticas, the most recent of which was a 4-0 win in 2016.
Costa Rica come into the game on the back of 2020 Olympic qualifying victories over Nicaragua and El Salvador in October, in which they scored seven unanswered goals.
Breaching USWNT's defence will be much tougher, though, even if the Americans did concede two quick-fire goals to Sweden.
The Swedes finished third at the World Cup, while Costa Rica did not even qualify, so their chances of making life difficult for the USA should be slim.
Why Women's Soccer Players Are Worried About Their Brains
Sep 10, 2019
Four clear jars sit atop a wooden shelf, each containing a human brain. An actual human brain. A faded-yellow liquid, the color aging books turn, surrounds each brain, almost seeming to make them float. These brains are just for display, but nearby a hundred or so others are waiting to be examined for various neurodegenerative diseases on this morning in early August at Boston's VA-BU-CLF Brain Bank, tucked discreetly behind the Veterans Affairs Hospital.
There will be a brain dissection in a few hours. Most of the brains are housed in large freezers, set at minus 80 degrees Celsius. It's eerie, peering inside those freezers. Each is filled with dozens of small, square containers, which hold various portions of brains. The containers are stacked on top of one another, identified by seemingly indecipherable coding.
These are people. People who had dreams, athletic prowess. Families, memories. Shortcomings, talents. Joys, disappointments. People now reduced to letters and numbers.
Almost all were younger than age 32 when they died. About half took their own lives. Forty percent have been found to have CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease found in people with a history of repetitive brain trauma.
Most of the brains belonged to men. To football players.
Less than 5 percent belonged to women.
Yet, we know that female athletes have endured repetitive blows to the head, too. Girls soccer players, in particular, have been found to be about as likely to suffer concussions as boys football players—and three times more likely than boys soccer players. But very little is known about what that means for the future, because researchers are hardly studying the long-term consequences of repetitive hits over time in women.
"They're definitely still focused on football. They can't get past football," says neuropathologist Dr. Ann McKee, the director of the VA-BU-CLF Brain Bank, whose research has been integral to our expanding understanding of CTE. "Women aren't even on the radar."
That's a problem, McKee goes on, because while we don't have enough research to know how differently head trauma affects women than men over time, we do know that the effect does seem to be different. And more high school girls are playing soccer than ever—394,105 in 2018-19, up from 356,116 in 2009-10 and 17,970 in 1978-79, according to the NFHS. It's a trend that will likely only accelerate after the U.S. women's national team's gold medal-winning run at the World Cup this summer.
Over the past decade, women have played a major role in the narrative of men's football brain trauma. Mostly, they've been quoted in articles as advocates, as confidantes. The image has become increasingly familiar: the mothers, wives, girlfriends, sisters, daughters, cast in supporting, caregiving roles, mourning and questioning why this happened to the men close to them who have suffered playing a game they love.
But women are not only on the tragic periphery of CTE and head-trauma issues. They're at the heart of them. Though their place in it has mostly gone unexplored, untold, female athletes have their own stories to tell.
The only thing stopping Briana Scurry from taking her own life was thinking of the woman who gave her life. Robbie Scurry, her mother. I can't do that to her, Scurry would think. She didn't want anyone to have to tell her mother that she was gone.
But Scurry felt gone. Gone from the woman she used to be: the Hall of Fame goalkeeper, World Cup champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist.
Who am I? she'd ask herself.
A brutal concussion ended her career in 2010. Caused her to spiral down through three years of darkness, three years of "wilderness," as Scurry, now 48, calls them. She didn't recognize herself. Didn't know how to stop her head from pounding. How to stop suicidal thoughts from swarming her.
She was deeply depressed, rarely leaving her apartment because of light sensitivity and the intensity of her headaches and anxiety. She couldn't work and struggled to make money. She was receiving disability benefits. She'd forget where she put things. "I could barely function," she says. "I went from someone who could focus on the panel of a ball with 90,000 people watching on the biggest stage to save a penalty kick to someone who couldn't hold a thought in my head."
She saw doctor after doctor, none understanding what she was going through. They told her that she was past the point of recovery, that this was who she was going to be. "I wouldn't accept it," Scurry says. Finally, she had occipital nerve release surgery in 2013, which helped tremendously.
She is in a better state nowadays but has pledged her brain to be studied when she dies—one of many former national team players to do so, including Megan Rapinoe, Abby Wambach, Michelle Akers, Brandi Chastain and Cindy Parlow Cone.
Most of those players declined to be interviewed for this story. They've acknowledged the issue through their actions but don't seem to want to talk about it.
Out loud, at least.
Scurry thinks often of the teammates who suffered in secret, eventually drifting from the game.
"There's silence; that's the other problem," Scurry says. "Nobody talks about it. At the time, nobody was willing to discuss, 'OK, I left behind my beloved sport because my head hurt.'
"You think, 'I just don't want to play anymore,' but it's actually a symptom of your head injuries. It's part of the emotional changes, the mood changes and the very powerful ways a concussion can change you as a person."
Concussions are known to cause emotional distress and othersymptoms, such as depression, anger, paranoia and impaired judgment. In 2016, researchers found that concussions significantly increased the long-term risk of suicide among adults.
Scurry understands why brain injuries are hard to discuss out loud. She used to cry after sharing her story. For some, there can be shame and fear and confusion. Not wanting to be perceived as weak or vulnerable or "hysterical," labels that have long been unfairly attached to women. It's taken female athletes decades to be seen. To be respected as this powerful, talented, brilliant.
There is also fear that people won't fully understand the pain of a brain injury because they can't see its effects on the body. But that doesn't mean they're not there. Or won't be there, down the line.
"I'm a knower. I would rather know than not know," Scurry says.
But she has noticed that others don't want to know. That the unknown is uncomfortable.
"It's a dark pool," Scurry says, "and you don't know where the bottom is." She pledged her brain to inspire visibility. "It's basically myself and my teammates coming out of the dark," she says.
"This is like a little black box, and we're basically saying, 'Hey, here, open the box.'"
Several elderly men in wheelchairs wearing "Korean War Veteran" hats await doctor's appointments on the ground floor at the VA Hospital.
McKee, 66, is best known for her landmark 2017 American Medical Association study that found the incidence of CTE to be considerably higher in football players than in the general population—the one in which 110 of 111 players examined had CTE. She studies veterans too.
Today, she's sitting upstairs in one of her offices. It's small, cozy. A microscope hovers above her desk. An old magazine cover of Vince Lombardi is tacked onto one wall. Multicolored Post-its are scattered with reminders about brains, about phone calls, like the one she's scheduled to have in an hour with the mother of a deceased 26-year-old former college football player who had CTE.
McKee has spent the past 12 years making hundreds of calls like this, to women like this.
She opens a cardboard box filled with slides revealing tau, the protein found in high levels in the brains of people who have CTE, forming clumps throughout the organ and killing brain cells. "These are all guys' brains, of course," she says, laying a few flat on the table. A 30-year-old man. A 25-year-old man. Then 27-year-old Aaron Hernandez, the former New England Patriots tight end who took his life while in prison for murder. He had CTE. She puts his slide under the microscope, revealing two darkened lines, each about a half-inch long, indicating a tau deposit: "You can't believe that people aren't taking this seriously."
Take her seriously, too. She's been told her research is garbage. That she is trying to ruin football. Ruin men. Ruin American life. "The NFL treated me like a dizzy dame," she says.
She is hesitant to speak out about the kind of vitriol she faces. She feels physically and psychologically drained from people saying nasty things about her work. "It bleeds your energy," she says.
But she keeps going. She's committed to the work. She's still accustomed to being the only woman at conferences. She remembers one in the '90s, in Moscow, where men asked her if she was a "real" doctor. They also discussed whether women were less intelligent because their brains are smaller.
Few inroads have been made in studying female athletes' long-term brain health since those days. "It's a major unaddressed issue," McKee says. She is eager to study more women, but there's only so much one person can do. As a woman who has spent her life studying men, constantly told stay in your lane, she already occupies a tricky position: "I still feel marginalized as a woman."
"We've had such a hard time pushing the rock up the hill, focusing just on football and traditionally male sports," she says. And as much as she and others, such as Dr. Bennet Omalu, have discovered about CTE, there is still so much unknown about how the disease manifests, even in men. It's extraordinarily complicated. There's still no way to detect CTE in a live person.
And hardly anything is known about how CTE might manifest differently in women. Which again is a problem because, according to Dr. McKee, there's every reason to believe that an accumulation of hits—hits that may not result in immediate, post-concussive symptoms but nonetheless rattle the brain—may have a different and possibly great impact on women. As would differences in injury treatment and management in women's sports.
Biologically, women have thinner, weaker necks, and according to Chris Nowinski, Ph.D., co-founder and CEO of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, that's been found to make them more susceptible to concussions, though there has been almost no research focusing on the effects of heading exclusively in girls and women's soccer. Only one study has been published on the topic, according to the CLF. "We're further with women veterans than we are with women athletes," McKee says.
That's partially because female athletes, in this case soccer players, are just now reaching the ages of 40, 45, 50, the point at which long-term consequences from recurring hits typically would begin to be felt. Women have mostly only been full-time athletes since Title IX in 1972. The U.S. women's national team played its first match in '85. The first FIFA Women's World Cup occurred in '91.
"I wouldn't have expected to see much until now," says Dr. Robert Stern, Professor of Neurology at Boston University School of Medicine and Director of Clinical Research at B.U.'s CTE Center. "And if there is something, I would expect it to be a major growing problem over the next 10 to 20 years."
Up until 2016, when the U.S. Soccer Federation banned heading before the age of 10 (and limited heading for children aged 11 to 13 to 30 minutes per week), coaches weren't restricted from having girls (and boys) head the ball as often as they wanted, as young as they wanted. But we know that kids' brains are still developing at that age, and that trauma can impact that development.
Plenty of research has pointed out potential negative consequences of heading. But again, the bulk of that research has not focused on girls and women. A recent study led by Dr. Michael Lipton at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine found that heading can alter cognitive function, but 78 percent of the study's participants were male.
The question is: Do blows to the head affect girls and women differently? And what about in the future?
Akers, a member of the '91 and '99 Women's World Cup championship teams and one of only two women to score five goals in a single World Cup match, aims to spread awareness. She suffers from chronic migraines. "I've headed the ball a million times, so how has this possibly affected me?" Akers says. "What might have happened to my brain?"
"My point is," she adds, "why aren't we talking about this more?"
6 Dec 2000: A close up of Michelle Akers as they promote the new WUSA Soccer League at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida.Mandatory Credit: Andy Lyons /Allsport
Part of the reason has to be limited awareness of women's sports as a whole. In 2015, a study found that women's sports receive just 4 percent of all sports media coverage. Concussions and CTE have spread to public consciousness largely because of football and the newspapers, magazine stories, movies and documentaries that bring an abundance of awareness to those issues.
And death.
There are a number of high-profile football players who were found to have CTE: Junior Seau, Aaron Hernandez, Ken Stabler. Women's soccer doesn't have those examples. With less public awareness, most people still likely conflate brain trauma with football, with men's sports.
"It's the same reason why men get paid more than women, or why the U.S. women's national team is asking for equal conditions compared to the men's team," Akers says. "The priority isn't necessarily on how things can affect women. There's an inequality there that's cultural."
There are other reasons for lack of study: Sample size. The slow process of science. Securing funding for any topic is challenging, especially without compelling preliminary data.
There are some signs of progress, though. A nonprofit called Pink Concussions has devoted itself to improving "the pre-injury education and post-injury medical care for women and girls challenged by brain injury including concussion incurred from sport, violence, accidents or military service." And as a result of advocacy from players like Akers, and with funding by the Concussion Legacy Foundation and the National Institute on Aging, there will be a landmark study beginning in October led by Stern and Dr. Jesse Mez called SHINE (Soccer, Head Impacts and Neurological Effects). They'll examine 20 former women's soccer players over age 40 who have played at the game's highest levels and will compare their findings to those of other studies of neurodegenerative diseases involving both women and men.
It's a start, but it's still nowhere near gaining the momentum that is needed.
"You don't get that same sense of urgency," Nowinski says. "People aren't funding studies on long-term effects. They're not investing in it."
Emily Oliver didn't yet realize she had suffered a concussion during her high school game. But later that night, when her coach asked her to drop off a ball bag at her car, she found herself aimlessly walking around the parking lot. She had forgotten why she was there and where she needed to go.
The next day, she was diagnosed with the first of four concussions she'd suffer as her career continued. She'd later help Stanford win the 2011 national championship as starting goalkeeper and NCAA College Cup Defensive MVP. But few outside of the Cardinal program knew how hit after hit shattered her sense of stability. Made her question if she'd ever recover.
"You get to a point where you don't even remember what being normal feels like anymore," says Oliver, now 27.
The worst one came in a game against Santa Clara. A player undercut Oliver while she was jumping up to catch a free kick. She landed on the back of her head. A referee asked her if she felt OK, and she said yes and kept playing.
In the days that followed, she struggled to read, skipping paragraphs. Her eyes failed to track words. She couldn't go outside because it was too bright, so she'd stay in her room with the shades closed. She was depressed and emotionally irritable over the next five months.
"It was demoralizing. I felt hopeless," Oliver says. "Every day you wake up and you're not better. It was like, 'Am I ever going to get better? Is this my life?'"
When she was finally cleared to play, in the fall of her junior year, she was still dealing with heavy mood swings because of the medication she was taking. She battled migraines heading into the Final Four game against North Carolina. Her symptoms worsened that winter break and through the next semester. She started to feel better, though, by the fall and was elected a team captain.
Then three games into the season, against Portland, she was hit again. After the game, the athletic trainer asked her to name the months backward. She missed April twice. "We're diagnosing this as your fourth concussion," the athletic trainer told her. "The medical staff is recommending you go down the road of medical retirement."
Oliver was stunned. Devastated. But proud of the decision she then made to retire. She knew it was right, even if she would miss her senior season and miss out on a professional career. These days, she misses soccer most during August. The start of the season. She misses the urge to compete. She feels jealous of the women who can.
She feels much better than she did back then but doesn't necessarily want to think about possible future impacts of the hits she took.
"I don't know that I want to know what that means for me," she says.
Living through them was hard enough.
McKee spends most of her days in B.U.'s brain bank. Her team is about 100 brains behind. There are just that many to examine, and it's a slow, meticulous process. In efforts to work less, McKee says she isn't going to give any more talks. She finds that difficult. On stage, she isn't talking about a brain like some abstract object in a textbook. She's talking about someone's brain.
Someone's life that mattered beyond sports.
Someone's life that still matters to those he is survived by.
There are so many questions, and she doesn't have all the answers. No one really does.
It is difficult for McKee to give answers, in particular, about women, because much of this generation is still alive. It's also true, McKee surmises, that those alive might be hesitant to discuss brain donations or their symptoms in fear of being perceived as weak or vulnerable. "Especially for the military population, women with brain trauma," McKee says. "I think they are even less likely to come forward than a man because they don't want to be marginalized, because we already feel that." B.U.'s bank has yet to declare a woman with CTE.
CTE does exist in women, though, recorded in two instances: One, in 1991, of a 24-year-old woman with autism who banged her head often; the second, in '90, of a 76-year-old woman whose husband had physically abused her for decades.
There have been several men's soccer players who have been diagnosed with CTE, including Jeff Astle, Brazilian star Bellini, Patrick Grange and Curtis Baushke. But of course, there are simply more cases of men's soccer players to study, because of their game's longer history and the greater number of men who have played than women.
And because CTE can only be diagnosed posthumously, it's difficult to learn much about the disease for anyone. One question multiplies into so many more: Why do some people get it and others don't? How does a person's genetic history factor into the equation? What is the effect of other variables that might increase or decrease the resilience to showing manifestations of CTE? If bias in healthcare causes some doctors to take women's pain, and especially the pain of women of color, less seriously, how does that affect the data? Are researchers considering how transgender women and women who don't have XX chromosomes might be affected? Does CTE affect different parts of the brain in men and women?
Research is advancing, however, most notably with an April study in the New England Journal of Medicine. Stern, the lead author, used PET scans in attempting to detect tau buildup, and thus perhaps CTE, in a living person. The researchers tested 26 living former NFL players between the ages of 40 and 69 and found that "tau PET levels were significantly higher in the former NFL players than in the control group, and that the tau was in the same areas of the brain as in post-mortem cases of diagnosed CTE." It was an important step. But the study didn't include one woman.
It's not all about CTE either. There are other long-term problems stemming from repetitive head trauma. We just don't know how exactly that manifests in women yet, and more inclusive research could help. "If repetitive headers and the collisions that are caused by attempting headers are causing CTE or other neurogenerative diseases," Nowinski says, "if we can establish that today, we can save a bunch of women and girls a lot of trouble in the future by changing how we play the sport.
"Until we have these answers, we're still going to have 11-year-olds heading soccer balls."
The ball seemed bigger than Esther Lovett's body when she began playing soccer at three. Like a little bumblebee, buzzing up the field, she was energized, focused. She headed the ball many times before age 10—the year of her first concussion. Sometimes she felt a little dazed after a header, but she'd snap right back. That's soccer. That's playing year-round. That's dreaming of the pros.
She is 20 now, heading into her sophomore year of college. She struggles to answer the question How many concussions have you had? because there are ones she knows she's had and ones she doesn't know she's had, and a number doesn't convey what having pounding headaches every single day for the past six years feels like.
She chooses five. Five diagnosed concussions. "Definitely more than that," Lovett admits. The worst one came at age 13, back in April 2013. A girl took a shot on goal and hit her in the back of her head. Few noticed it happened because it was not a particularly obvious, gruesome hit. Her coaches didn't take her out. She really thought she was good. "I played the rest of the game," she says, "even though I could barely see. I didn't really know which side of the field I was on."
A horrible, nauseating headache throbbed the next day. She couldn't read the whiteboard at school a few days later. Pain continued for weeks, months. "It was terrifying," says Barbara Piette, her mother. Lovett can only wonder if she is still suffering because of years of hits that came before, like the time in middle school she was on defense, marking the goal post for a corner kick. A girl on offense ripped a shot on goal that hit her straight in the face. Her head smacked back against the post. Her nose was bleeding, and her coaches checked to see if it was broken. No one thought to also check for a concussion.
There are times she is frustrated, thinking about that moment, but she didn't have control. She was a child who just wanted to play the game she loved. A child who did not have the medical knowledge or wherewithal in the moment of trauma to understand what was happening. Because that medical knowledge didn't exist then and, in some ways, still doesn't now.
"It's a lot for a kid," she says. "The onus sort of falls on you to self-diagnose: Come out if you think you have a concussion. What does that mean?"
Her doctor told her she'd have to stop playing after the 2013 concussion. She did stop playing but was more susceptible to additional concussions and suffered three more that were diagnosed after that, non-sports concussions, including one in 2015 that led her to take a medical leave and defer junior year.
Leaving soccer was painful. Lonely. Especially when the ball had almost been a best friend. But she has morphed into an advocate, sharing her story so she can help other girls.
She stayed up all night before her 18th birthday to pledge her brain right after the clock struck midnight. She sent in the form at 12:01. She is the youngest person to ever pledge to the CLF.
Lovett still suffers daily headaches. Migraines occasionally. Some dizziness still, some nausea. "There are so many people silently suffering with this and soldiering on and thinking, as I did, that there isn't anybody else going through this," Lovett says. "You think something's crazy about your case. About you."
When B/R reached out to FIFA for comment about concussions and repetitive subconcussive hits in soccer, a FIFA spokesperson said protecting the health of players is a "top priority" and that it takes these issues "very seriously" but that: "To our very best knowledge, there is currently no true evidence of the negative effect of heading or other subconcussive blows. Results from studies on active and former professional football players in relation to brain function are inconclusive."
However, the idea that repetitive subconcussive injury can have neurological consequences is widely accepted by the medical community at large, as well as the Centers for Disease Control.
"This is a corporate response to a problem that they may be responsible for," Nowinski says, referring to FIFA's comments. "It's not that different from the NFL's original response to research on long-term effects, or the smoking industry's original response to research on the long-term effects of smoking."
The SHINE study will involve neurological examinations, motor examinations, cognitive assessments, MRI scans of the brain, blood tests, lumbar punctures and more. "If girls are more prone to concussion," Stern says, "they also may be more prone to subconcussive injuries that are so much more common and are associated with heading—that may possibly be a critical factor for later-life disease."
The hope is that with increased knowledge will come increased awareness and, in turn, increased attention paid to what can be done to make the game safe as it continues to grow in popularity.
"The imperative," Stern says, "is that we must study it.
"We don't want to wait until it's too late."
Mirin Fader is a staff writer for B/R Mag. She's written for the Orange County Register, espnW.com, SI.com and Slam. Her work has been honored by the Associated Press Sports Editors, the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, the Football Writers Association of America and the Los Angeles Press Club. Follow her on Twitter: @MirinFader.
