Women's National Soccer Team (USWNT)

The United States Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT) is a major asset for the United States. Competition for this team is one like no other. The team has competed in countless World Cups, CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football), and Olympic Matches, most recently in 2015, winning the Women’s World Cup, bringing the Gold back to the States. Over the span of a decade, the USWNT has gained considerable popularity among young women. Unlike the women’s players, the men’s soccer players (MNT) are compensated whether they win or not. The U.S women’s soccer team play mostly on artificial turf, as opposed to the USMNT. The U.S Women’s Soccer Team should be held to the same standard as the U.S Men’s National

Both USWNT and MNT get the fans support no doubt, but the women have been more in the spotlight on the world’s biggest stages. (DiCaro, The Cauldron.) The Women’s World Cup from June – July of 2015, reeled in more fandom. The 2015 Women’s World Cup Final, between the USWNT and Japan, a rematch from the previous World Cup in 2011, garnered a mere 25 million viewers on T.V, the most-watched in U.S Soccer History (Deitsch, SI.com). Carli Lloyd, Alex Morgan, Hope Solo, are just a few of the more recognizable names right now for the USWNT, giving young women an inspiring, and possible goal of becoming a championship soccer player. Without the popularity, women’s soccer in the States would not be what it is, certainly

Artificial turf is a synthetic layer made to look like a regular grass field. In December of 2015, much strife about the field conditions came out due to the hard surface and its sharp, painful pellets buried in the turf. (Macur, The New York Times) Now, keep in mind the USMNT in 2015 and two years prior, rarely played on artificial turf. This issue of fake grass, has caused dozens of injuries and is a big reason why the USWNT fought to be able to play on natural grass, which just last year called for lessening the turf field usage down. (McCann, Fivethirtyeight.com) Sexism and discrimination comes into play on the core side of dominance in the two teams, the field turf for women and natural grass for men. The focus should primarily be surrounded on how to protect the individual players, and not further