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‘Definition of insanity’: Megan Rapinoe, NWSL peers decry US gun laws

(Stephen Brashear/USA TODAY Sports)

To have to play a soccer game on Wednesday night while the country still reeled from the mass shooting at a Texas elementary school on Tuesday was a conflicting feeling for Kansas City Current midfielder Victoria Pickett.

“Although soccer is such a huge part of our lives, it seems a little bit insignificant when the lives of little kids and teachers are at stake, when really they should just be in a learning environment,” she said.

The Current and OL Reign held a moment of silence for the victims of the tragedy before their match Wednesday night, the only one on the NWSL calendar. After the Reign’s 1-0 win, their first of the season, players and coaches shared their thoughts on the tragedy at Robb Elementary, which left 19 children and two adults dead after an 18-year-old gunman opened fire inside a classroom.

“Honestly, at a loss of words,” Pickett said. “It’s very hard to understand when something like that is very preventable, but I guess people just need to start going to the governors and supporting more strict gun laws.”

“We’re living in an insane country when it comes to gun control and gun laws,” OL Reign forward Megan Rapinoe said. “I mean, there’s literally a mass shooting every day. It actually struck me when we went to do a moment of silence today because we just did one three f–king days ago for a different mass shooting in a different city. It’s literally the definition of insanity. The entire country is being completely held hostage in a hostile environment where you can go to church, you can go to the grocery store, you can go to school and end up dead.”

Kansas City acting head coach Lloyd Yaxley, stepping in for Matt Potter as COVID-19 protocols left him and four Current players sidelined, urged the players before the match to call their parents and tell them they love them, then go on the field and do their families proud.

In his opening statement after the game, Yaxley said that wearing the black armband and offering condolences to the families wasn’t enough. Echoing the pleas of the players and Reign coach Laura Harvey, he called on U.S. politicians to tighten gun legislation.

With a 7-year-old second-grader at home, Yaxley said he couldn’t imagine getting a phone call on the other side of the country to learn that his child had been shot.

“For me, it’s just wild that these incidents keep happening and no change happens,” he said. “If it was any other walk of life — if it was the car manufacturers and the wheel kept falling off — that legislation would happen and change would happen. But when it’s gun laws, and the power that the NRA has and some of the greed that some of the politicians have, it’s hard for me to really understand.”

“It’s mind-blowing to me that this continues to happen,” Harvey said. “I’ve got a 3-year-old nephew who I just thought about immediately when I saw the news, and I’m sure everyone does that. And to think that he may go to preschool and never go home is heartbreaking. To think of all the families that are being affected every day by this craziness. It needs to change, it needs to stop. There’s no excuse. And we want that to change immediately.”

In a statement on their Twitter account Wednesday, the Reign advised fans to reach out to their U.S. representatives and encourage them to support legislation requiring background checks on all gun sales.

Rapinoe added after the game: “I urge people to use their voice and vote or to call their representatives or to badger their representatives, or to vote them out if they don’t change this, because we’re quite literally being held hostage in this country for no reason whatsoever. The only reason that an AR-15 exists is to murder human beings. It’s not used for anything else. And it’s obviously very effective and it’s just heartbreaking.”

The Reign get a three-day break before their next game against the league-leading San Diego Wave on Sunday. The Current have four days off before hosting Racing Louisville on Monday night.

“It makes it seem pointless to come play, really,” Rapinoe said. “It’s difficult to do that. I know everybody’s doing their job and having to show up today and trying to just sort of fake their way through it, but it’s so heartbreaking.”

Pickett paused in the postgame press conference after telling reporters that she had nothing else to say.

“Sorry, one more thing,” she said. “Just better gun rules. It needs to tighten up. That’s all there is to it.”

Jessa Braun is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports covering the NWSL and USWNT. Follow her on Twitter @jessabraun.

Alex Morgan “week-to-week” with ankle injury

Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images

USWNT stalwart Alex Morgan will miss at least one week of NWSL action after suffering a left ankle knock in her last club appearance, Wave manager Casey Stoney said on Thursday.

Morgan was helped off the field after rolling her ankle in the later stages of the Wave’s 1-0 loss to the Orlando Pride last weekend, despite the San Diego side being out of available substitutes.

“She's got an ankle injury and she's out for this weekend, and then it'll be week by week from there,” Stoney said, confirming that Morgan’s been ruled out for Saturday’s showdown with NWSL newcomer Bay FC.

Depending on its severity, Morgan’s ankle issue might have larger ramifications than missing a few weeks of NSWL play. Morgan was added to the team's Gold Cup roster after an ACL injury sidelined young striker Mia Fishel, and she's since made a number of USWNT starts in the team's Gold Cup and SheBelieves wins. A long-term injury could potentially derail the center forward’s Olympic plans.

With her return timeline uncertain, it's possible the injury could also impact Morgan's ability to participate in new head coach Emma Hayes' first U.S. friendlies in June and July.

Morgan's injury concerns aren't uncommon in the U.S. player pool, but add a sense of urgency as Hayes eyes the NWSL for top-performing players in the upcoming weeks. Gotham's Tierna Davidson and Rose Lavelle have also been dealing with injuries: Lavelle has yet to appear for Gotham, while Davidson exited last weekend's match early with a hamstring injury.

Gotham has yet to issue an update concerning Davidson's status.

Brazil legend Marta to retire from international play after Olympics

ORLANDO, FL - FEBRUARY 16: Marta of Brazil during the 2023 SheBelieves Cup match between Japan and Brazil at Exploria Stadium on February 16, 2023 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by James Williamson - AMA/Getty Images)

This week, legendary Brazilian superstar Marta announced that she’ll retire from the national team at the end of 2024.

In an interview with CNN Esportes published Thursday, the iconic footballer confirmed that she would be hanging up her boots regardless of whether or not she ends up making Brazil's 18-player roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics. 

“If I go to the Olympics, I will enjoy every moment, because regardless of whether I go to the Olympics or not, this is my last year with the national team,” she said. “There is no longer Marta in the national team as an athlete from 2025 onwards.”

Marta will retire as a giant of the women's game, having appeared in five Olympics and multiple World Cups. When discussing her retirement, she stressed confidence in the rising generation of Brazilian players, noting that she was, “very calm about this, because I see with great optimism this development that we are having in relation to young athletes." 

The statement echoes back to a plea she made during the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup after Brazil lost to France 2-1 in the Round of 16. “It's wanting more. It's training more. It's taking care of yourself more. It's being ready to play 90 plus 30 minutes. This is what I ask of the girls,” she said then, addressing the young players following in her footsteps. 

In 2023, she signaled a farewell to World Cup competition with the same sentiment, telling media, “We ask the new generation to continue where we left off.”

If selected for the 2024 Olympic team, Marta has a shot at extending her own consecutive-scoring record with the ability to score in an unbelievable sixth-straight Olympic Games. She currently stands as Brazil’s top goalscorer, racking up 116 career goals in 175 matches, as well as the leading goalscorer in any World Cup, women’s or men’s, with 17 to her name. 

Marta will continue to play for the NWSL’s Orlando Pride through at least the end of 2024. The longtime forward and club captain has already contributed to multiple goals this season.

USWNT to face Costa Rica in final Olympic send-off

uswnt sophia smith and tierna davidson celebrate at shebeilves cup 2024
The USWNT will play their final pre-Olympic friendly against Costa Rica on July 16th. (Photo by Greg Bartram/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF)

U.S. Soccer announced Tuesday that the USWNT will play their last home game on July 16th in the lead-up to the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.

The 2024 Send-Off Match against Costa Rica will take place at Washington, DC’s Audi Field — home to both the Washington Spirit and DC United — at 7:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 16th. The friendly rounds out a four-game Olympic run-up campaign under incoming head coach Emma Hayes’ side, with the last two set to feature the finalized 2024 U.S. Olympic Women’s Soccer Team roster.

Hayes will appear on the USWNT sideline for the first time this June, helming the team as they embark on a two-game series against Korea Republic hosted by Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado on June 1st followed by Allianz Stadium in St. Paul, Minnesota on June 4th. 

The team is then scheduled to meet a talented Mexico squad on July 13th at Gotham FC’s Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, where the Olympic-bound lineup will attempt to rewrite February’s shocking 2-0 loss to El Tri Femenil in the group stages of this year’s Concacaf W Gold Cup. And while clear roster favorites have emerged from both of this year’s Gold Cup and SheBelives Cup rosters, a spate of recent and recurring injuries means making it to the Olympics is still largely anyone’s game.

Broadcast and streaming channels for the USWNT's final July 16th friendly at Audi Field include TNT, truTV, Universo, Max, and Peacock.

Caitlin Clark’s WNBA start to serve as 2024 Olympic tryout

Clark of the Indiana Fever poses for a photo with Lin Dunn and Christie Sides during her introductory press conference on April 17, 2024
The talented Fever rookie is still in the running for a ticket to this summer's Paris Olympics. (Photo by Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images)

The USA Basketball Women's National Team is still considering Caitlin Clark for a spot on the Paris Olympics squad, says selection committee chair Jennifer Rizzotti. 

On Monday, Rizzotti told the AP that the committee will be evaluating the college phenom’s Olympic prospects by keeping a close eye on her first few weeks of WNBA play with Indiana.

The move is somewhat unconventional. While Clark was invited to participate in the 14-player national team training camp held earlier this month — the last camp before Team USA’s roster drops — she was unable to attend due to it coinciding with Iowa’s trip to the NCAA Women’s Final Four.

Judging by the immense talent spread throughout the league in what might be their most hyped season to date, competition for a piece of the Olympic pie could be fiercer than ever before.

"You always want to introduce new players into the pool whether it's for now or the future," said Rizzotti. "We stick to our principles of talent, obviously, positional fit, loyalty and experience. It's got to be a combination of an entire body of work. It's still not going to be fair to some people."

Of course, Clark isn’t the first rookie the committee has made exceptions for. Coming off an exceptional college season that saw her averaging 19.4 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 4 assists per game for UConn, Breanna Stewart was tapped to represent the U.S. at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil less than two weeks after being drafted No. 1 overall by the Seattle Storm. Eight years prior, fellow No. 1 pick Candace Parker punched her ticket to the 2008 Games in Beijing just two weeks after making her first appearance for the L.A. Sparks.

In the lead-up to Paris’ Opening Ceremony on July 26th, USA Basketball Women’s National Team is scheduled to play a pair of exhibition games. They'll first go up against the WNBA's finest at the July 20th WNBA All-Star Game in Phoenix before facing Germany in London on July 23rd.

While an official roster announcement date hasn’t yet been issued, players won’t find out if they’ve made this year’s Olympic cut until at least June 1st.

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