CHICAGO — U.S. women’s national team midfielder Megan Rapinoe said her off-field accomplishments will have a deeper impact “by a mile” than what she achieved on the field.
Rapinoe, 38, will play her final game for the USWNT on Sunday in a friendly against South Africa at Soldier Field. She will finish with 203 international appearances and at least 63 goals for the U.S. In that time, she has been part of two World Cup-winning teams — in 2015 and 2019 — as well as one that claimed the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics.But Rapinoe has also been a staunch advocate of LGBTQIA+ rights and racial equality. And she was at the forefront of the ultimately successful push to achieve equal pay with the team’s U.S. male counterparts at the international level.
“I think, yeah, by and a mile, what we’ve done off of the field, I think that has made such a lasting impact,” she said during her final prematch news conference for the USWNT on Saturday.
“I was actually talking to Becky [Sauerbrunn] on the bus today, and just to think of obviously where the program has grown and where the federation has grown and where we pushed the federation to grow the sport in general.”
She added: “I think we’ve been a big part of pushing, talking about whether it’s gay rights or racial justice or trans rights, more into every conversation around sports, in particular around women’s sports. We’ve been such a driver of that and have made that just as important as what we are doing on the field. I think we really believe it is just as important.”But Rapinoe has also been a staunch advocate of LGBTQIA+ rights and racial equality. And she was at the forefront of the ultimately successful push to achieve equal pay with the team’s U.S. male counterparts at the international level.
“I think, yeah, by and a mile, what we’ve done off of the field, I think that has made such a lasting impact,” she said during her final prematch news conference for the USWNT on Saturday.
“I was actually talking to Becky [Sauerbrunn] on the bus today, and just to think of obviously where the program has grown and where the federation has grown and where we pushed the federation to grow the sport in general.”
She added: “I think we’ve been a big part of pushing, talking about whether it’s gay rights or racial justice or trans rights, more into every conversation around sports, in particular around women’s sports. We’ve been such a driver of that and have made that just as important as what we are doing on the field. I think we really believe it is just as important.”Rapinoe grew emotional, shedding a few tears when the questions turned to the relationships with her teammates, especially U.S. and Portland Thorns defender Sauerbrunn, whom Rapinoe has known since they were 16.
“We spend more time here than we do with our family or our partners, our loved ones. So it is really special when you find people in this environment that you really do click with,” Rapinoe said.
The veteran added that expressing joy, both on and off the field, is part of her legacy, and could even be viewed as a form of resistance to the restrictions some segments of the public sought to place on her.
“I think a lot of times my joy, or expressions of joy, was absolutely an act of resistance or a big glaring sort of middle finger to everyone,” she said. “Like this is my life, and this is my career and I get to do with it what I want to do with it. And we get to express ourselves the way that we want to express ourselves. I think the team not only has a right to do that, but has earned that right to do that.
“And I think it’s something that has always been kind of a secret weapon for this team of showing up and being serious and being a certain way when we need to. But also just like this is a game, and we know we’re lucky to play it, and we’re going to get every single thing out of it that we can. We’re going to celebrate in moments that we feel like we deserve that celebration, whether we win just a game or we won the whole thing or moved on to the next round of a tournament.”I think you can’t go back and enjoy any of these moments. So [if] you don’t do it in the moment, it’s just gone. And I think that’s something that we’ve tried to, as older players, have tried to pass on to the younger players as well.”
As she prepares to depart, Rapinoe insisted there are brighter days ahead for the USWNT, even in the wake of the team’s round-of-16 exit from this year’s Women’s World Cup. No one knew who she was when the USWNT was the domain of Wambach and others, she said. And now that it’s her turn to move on, Rapinoe is confident the team is in similarly good hands.
“I’m so excited for them. This team has a crazy amount of talent and potential and just good kids,” she said. “Obviously going through the World Cup this year was not the results that we wanted, but I feel like what I saw in terms of character and work ethic and the growing culture of the team is really amazing. Everybody wants to be the best and everybody wants to be there and give what they can to the team.”
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