Christen Press wants to close the clear gap between supply and demand for women’s sports.
The demand for content is there, but media outlets are not keeping up, Press said at the 2023 Fortune MPW conference this week. As an example, the Angel City FC forward spoke about the difficulty of finding her own club’s away games on TV and streaming services.
“I can’t find my own team play. I’m injured right now, and when the team is away it takes me 10 minutes trying to find the content for my own team,” she said. “And so it’s like, how many people does that deter? I think that’s where the investment comes in.
“And that’s where the belief that, this isn’t a charity — we’re far past the time that we want people to come in and say ‘Oh, I’m doing this for my daughter.’ We want people to come in because they see the business opportunity, because they see the potential that we have in women’s sports.”
She also called Angel City FC games – and the fans – unlike anything else she has ever played in front of, which she attributes to the community that has been created around the club.
“I think that’s because everybody that comes to a game comes for more than sport,” she said. “They come for the community, they come for the fight for equity and progress, and they come for the belief that women from all industries can rise. And when we do, we create a better world for everybody.”
Press, 34, also touched on her career overall, with the USWNT and in the NWSL, which she has spent for a better future for players that come after her. She pointed to 18-year-old USWNT and Angel City forward Alyssa Thompson, and how her entire experience as a professional is exactly that.
“The goal that we had for the whole fight for equal pay with the USWNT, and now with the NWSL following that, the goal is that the next generation doesn’t have to fight,” she said. “They don’t have to spend their entire careers doing two jobs.”
The fight for progress and equity continues. And it’s something that has reached other national federations. It’s something that Press wasn’t expecting when initially handed the torch, instead thinking her job was just to “pass it to the next generation” for the USWNT.
After the USWNT lost this year’s World Cup, though, she began to understand the magnitude of what another team winning could mean for the fight for equality.
“Both in England and in Spain, the two finalists, are having massive fights with their federations about basic rights,” she said. “And so, I think we hope as the USWNT that our fight was able to inspire the fight. I always think about walking towards equality with a torch in my hand. When I joined the USWNT, I was handed a torch because there was a whole other decade, a generation of players, that had already been fighting.
“I continue carry that torch as far and high as I can. In one way, I thought my job was to pass it to the next generation, but in a lot of ways over the last 10 years, we were able to light a little fire and let it spread out … and I think that’s a lot more powerful.”
Trinity Rodman is a rising star for the U.S. women’s national team, and she has had plenty of inspiration.
Speaking on Sunday, the 21-year-old pointed to a trio of forwards from the 2015 and 2019 World Cup-winning teams as role models for her own career journey: Megan Rapinoe, Christen Press and Tobin Heath.
“Megan Rapinoe has been a big one for me,” Rodman said. “Christen Press and Tobin Heath have been big ones for me.
“Obviously, playing with Pinoe, who’s amazing, to be there for her retirement was amazing. But she just works so hard, she’s changed the game of soccer and she brings her own personality and swag to the game. And I hope to do the same.”
While Rodman has played alongside Rapinoe in 2022 and 2023, her first and Rapinoe’s last years with the USWNT, she has not played with Press or Heath. Her first call-up came in January 2022, and neither Press nor Heath have played for the national team since 2021 as both have dealt with various injuries. Still, Rodman looks up to them, pointing in a different interview to Heath’s “creativity” as a particular inspiration.
Since the 2023 World Cup, Rodman has started to come into her own, both on the USWNT and in the NWSL with the Washington Spirit. At the World Cup, USWNT interim head coach Twila Kilgore saw a switch flick in Rodman, and since then the young forward has been on a tear.
Rodman scored in each of the team’s September friendlies against South Africa, and in her next NWSL match, a sign of what is to come for the forward as she continues to embrace her role.
Her Spirit teammate, 24-year-old defender Tara McKeown, also spoke about her role models, citing longtime USWNT captain Becky Sauerbrunn as a defensive paragon.
“Growing up I always looked up to Mia Hamm, and I used to be a nine so that kinda made more sense,” she said. “But now, switching to center-back, watching Becky Sauerbrunn has been a good role model for me and trying to learn from her game.”
Two-time World Cup champion Megan Rapinoe ends her career in the top 10 in U.S. women’s national team history in goals.
Alex Morgan and Christen Press also rank in the top 10. See where they sit on the all-time leaderboard.
10. Megan Rapinoe — 63
A member of the USWNT since 2006, Rapinoe has made an impact on and off the field. She became the only player to score an Olimpico in two Olympic Games when she added one in the USWNT’s bronze-medal win in Tokyo in 2021.
9. Christen Press — 64
While Press missed the 2023 World Cup due to a knee injury, her body of work speaks for itself. Her first two career goals came during a 2013 friendly against Scotland, and her 64th came in a 4-1 win over New Zealand during the Tokyo Olympics.
8. Cindy Parlow Cone — 75
Now the president of U.S. Soccer, Parlow Cone spent 11 years with the USWNT, spanning three Olympics and two World Cups. She scored her first two goals in her first appearance during a friendly against Russia in 1996. She also recorded seven career hat tricks for the USWNT, just one behind Mia Hamm for the most in team history.
7. Tiffeny Milbrett — 100
After joining the USWNT in 1991, Milbrett scored her first international goal in 1992 against Norway. She went on to lead the team to Olympic gold in 1996, scoring the game-winning goal against China. Her 100th and final goal came in a 2005 friendly against Ukraine in her hometown of Portland, Ore.
6. Michelle Akers — 107
A member of the USWNT from 1985 to 2000, Akers scored the first goal in the team’s history in its second-ever international game against Denmark.
She also led all scorers in the inaugural FIFA Women’s World Cup in 1991 with 10 goals, including five in one game. Akers led the USWNT to their first World Cup that year, scoring both goals in a 2-1 defeat of Norway in the championship match.
5. Alex Morgan — 121
One of two 2023 World Cup players on this list, Morgan has been a member of the USWNT since 2010. Morgan’s goal in the 123rd minute of the 2012 Olympic semifinals, which delivered her team a victory over Canada, still holds the record for the latest goal ever scored by a USWNT player.
4. Kristine Lilly — 130
A member of the USWNT for 23 years, Lilly is the most-capped player in the history of the sport. She has 12 goals across five World Cups and three Olympics.
3. Carli Lloyd — 134
With a five-goal performance to begin her farewell tour in 2021, Lloyd tied the USWNT’s single-game scoring record. The star forward also had a hat trick in the 2015 World Cup final — scoring all three goals in the span of 16 minutes.
2. Mia Hamm — 158
Hamm held the record for most international goals scored until Wambach surpassed her in 2013. She remains third on the all-time list behind Wambach and Canada’s Christine Sinclair (190).
A member of the USWNT’s inaugural World Cup and Olympic teams, Hamm played an astounding 17 years for the senior national team. Her 158th and final goal came during a 2004 friendly against Australia.
1. Abby Wambach — 184
Wambach tops the list after an illustrious 14-year career with the USWNT. A tour de force on the big stage, Wambach scored 14 times in World Cup tournaments and 24 times in the Olympics. Her final goal came during a 2015 friendly against Costa Rica.
Christen Press will not play this NWSL season. Instead, the U.S. women’s national team and Angel City FC forward is targeting a return in 2024.
Angel City interim head coach Becki Tweed shared Press’ expected timeline with The Sporting Tribune. The 34-year-old has not played since tearing her ACL in an NWSL match in June 2022, and she underwent a fourth knee surgery in mid-July.
Still, Press remains eager to get back to the pitch. As she told ESPN’s Holly Rowe on Sept. 4: “The comeback is on.”
“I am doing everything in my power to get back on the field as soon as possible,” Press said. “Looking forward to my return on the pitch.”
Tweed provided more context Tuesday. While Angel City sits in eighth place in the NWSL standings, two points out of playoff position with four matches left to play, they’ll make their push for the postseason without Press. Previously, Tweed had said the club was taking Press’ recovery “week by week.”
“I think her objective is coming back for next season,” Tweed said. “And I think that’s the space that she’s in, and obviously a player of her caliber, we’re excited for her return. But we’re excited for her return when it’s the right time for her.”
Press has been open about the emotional toll the injury has taken on her, sharing details of her “unique recovery journey” throughout the process. Upon revealing the need for a fourth surgery, she maintained that her days were “mostly good” and that she was working once again toward returning to play.
“Despite the fact that, on paper, this is an athlete’s recovery-nightmare, I feel in my heart that to climb the mountain — yes, even one more time — is the dream,” she wrote.
Angel City will support Press throughout her recovery process, Tweed said Tuesday.
“I think that’s obviously really important to bear in mind that we talk about injuries, but we talk about humans and people’s emotional state and what she’s been through in the last year and a half has not been easy,” she said. “So we’re so excited to have her back, and we can’t wait for it to be back on the field, and we know when that moment happens, it’s going to benefit the team.”
Angel City is taking it “week by week” when it comes to Christen Press’ recovery.
After tearing her ACL last June, the 34-year-old forward has undergone four knee surgeries, a situation she has described as “unfathomable.” The latest surgery came on July 18, and she is hoping for a better outcome than resulted from the previous procedures.
“I believe every single time that I’m going to have the best outcome to the point where like now I’m like, I think I might be naive. Like, it’s too optimistic,” she said on “The RE-CAP Show” podcast with Tobin Heath. “But that’s how I have to go into surgery to get through.”
Angel City interim head coach Becki Tweed spoke Friday about Press’ status.
“Obviously everybody’s recovery journey is different and we’re all aware of Christen’s journey and her multiple surgeries,” she said. “A player of her quality and caliber is obviously really highly missed. Again, everybody’s recovery journey and pathway to what they need to come back and return to the field is important.
“With her, we’re taking it week by week. It’s important that she returns when she’s ready, and there is no official timeline on that. But we’ll continue to offer support through the process. We’re excited for her return whenever that may be.”
Angel City got its first-ever win over OL Reign on Sunday in a 2-1 result. The club currently sits in ninth place in the NWSL standings with 21 points, three points out of playoff position.
Despite Luis Rubiales’ denial of wrongdoing for his unsolicited kiss of Jenni Hermoso, a wave of support is forming for Hermoso.
During Spain’s celebration of its World Cup win, Rubiales, president of the Spanish soccer federation (RFEF) kissed Hermoso on the lips. Rubiales has said it was consensual, which Hermoso denies.
Now several more in the soccer community are chiming in to offer support for Hermoso.
“Gotham FC stands with Jenni Hermoso and the Spanish Women’s National Team players. We celebrate their spectacular play and monumental achievement of winning the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup,” NJ/NY Gotham FC said in a statement. “Mr. Rubiales has tainted and overshadowed the Spanish Women’s National Team’s moment by his unacceptable conduct. We condemn him and the inaction of those in power who fail to hold him accountable. We join the global soccer community in using our voice to help end abuse in the women’s game.”
— NJ/NY Gotham FC (@GothamFC) August 26, 2023
Spain defeated England, 1-0, in the World Cup final. The English national team issued a statement condemning Hermoso.
“Unacceptable actions allowed to happen by a sexist and patriarchal organisation. Abuse is abuse and we have all seen the truth,” the statement read. “The behaviour of those who think they are invincible must not be tolerated and people shouldn’t need convincing to take action against any form of harassment. We stand with you, Jenni Hermoso and all players of the Spanish team.”
Christen Press, the USWNT veteran and Angel FC star, offered a terse, but impactful statement.
“Women should not have to win to have our voices heard,” Press wrote on X.
Alyssa Thompson’s first World Cup experience was far from glamorous.
The 18-year-old forward played just 17 minutes during the tournament, and when she wasn’t on the field, she worked through some difficult feelings.
“Throughout the tournament, there were some days when I was just sad,” Thompson said in an appearance on the RE-CAP Show. “I felt really lonely some days, too. I feel like it’s a lot, that tournament. Playing or not, there’s different things too.”
Thompson, picked No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NWSL Draft by Angel City FC, helped lead the Under-20 U.S. Women’s National Team to gold in the 2022 CONCACAF Women’s U-20 Championship.
She was called up to the senior team in April to replace an injured Mallory Swanson, and then was named to the World Cup squad.
“People were still trying to, I feel like, get me up to speed a little bit,” Thompson said of the World Cup. “I wasn’t playing that much, so, also having that. I was like happy for game day. I wasn’t as nervous as most people. I was more excited. I felt a lot like a fan watching the games.”
Christen Press, one of the co-hosts of the RE-CAP show along with Tobin Heath, empathized with Thompson. She recalled the her first World Cup, in 2015, when she was pulled from the starting lineup in the group stage. The USWNT went on to win the tournament.
“I don’t think I started the rest of the tournament,” Press said. “The team did not really perform well, and then I was no longer playing, and the team started winning. I was dealing with the tension of not meeting my own expectation, and then the team winning.
“I cried through most of that tournament.”
A number of U.S. women’s national team stars missed out on the 2023 World Cup due to injury, and the team felt their absence on the pitch.
What is the status for these injured players? And when could they return to the USWNT?
Becky Sauerbrunn
The 38-year-old defender missed what would have been her fourth World Cup due to a foot injury she suffered in April. After being left off the USWNT roster, she was upfront about the injury, noting that while a World Cup return would have been “possible,” doctors warned that it would be “aggressive” for her to get back in time.
Sauerbrunn has continued to rehab the injury and intends to return this season for the NWSL’s Portland Thorns. She also could rejoin the USWNT for its September friendlies against South Africa, although no updates have been given on her status.
Mallory Swanson
Swanson tore the patellar tendon in her left knee during an April friendly against Ireland, ruling her out for the World Cup. Her surgery went well, and Swanson even said that she felt as though she might defy the odds to make the summer tournament.
Ultimately, the 25-year-old forward wasn’t fit for the trip to Australia and New Zealand. But Swanson has been seen doing rehab recently, and even getting in a couple of touches in July. “Recovery has been good,” she told Just Women’s Sports.
Still, there is no update as to when Swanson could return, although the typical timeline for recovery from such an injury is six months.
Abby Dahlkemper
Dahlkemper underwent back surgery in December, and earlier this month the 30-year-old defender made her return to the pitch for the NWSL’s San Diego Wave.
“It felt great,” Dahlkemper said of her return. “I am just so happy to be back. I feel like it’s been a really long journey. I, throughout my career have fortunately been healthy up until last year. So I’ve never really experienced a long time out like I did. Just proud of myself, I’m happy. Excited to be back with the team.
“It was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life, physically and mentally. Having to have back surgery at my age is kind of uncommon, so to go in there and have it be not known how it’s going to do, how I’m going to heal, how I’m going to feel coming back was really scary. But I leaned in and trusted my gut. … Everyone helped me along the way and I really wouldn’t be back here today playing if it wasn’t for everyone helping me and the support.
“I tried to take it one day at a time. Definitely a lot of lows, but I celebrated the highs as well. Just happy and really proud of myself. I feel like when you go through adversity that’s when you learn the most about yourself.”
Dahlkemper has not played a full 90 since her return, but she played 45 minutes in the team’s Challenge Cup match on Aug. 6.
Sam Mewis
Mewis underwent arthroscopic surgery on her right knee in August 2021. While she initially was slated for an eight-week absence from the pitch, she just had a follow-up surgery in January, and she has not played for the USWNT in two years.
It is unknown when the 30-year-old midfielder could make her return, though she shared a video of her recovery process in July. In a video captioned “6 months today!” Mewis is seen doing weight-lifting exercises, including lower body exercises such as deadlifts and lunges. The midfielder appears to be regaining range of motion and strength in her right knee.
Still, there remains no timetable for Mewis’ return.
“Obviously, I haven’t played in a while,” she told Goal in July. “I’m just doing my rehab and taking it one day at a time, but I think my message is just in moments like that, in moments of difficulty, just try to find that new purpose, if you can, and apply yourself to that.”
Catarina Macario
Catarina Macario tore her ACL last June and had some setbacks in her recovery journey, which resulted in her missing out on the World Cup. She signed a three-year deal with Chelsea in June, though, and recently was seen at training with the Women’s Super League club as its preseason gets underway.
The WSL season is set to kick off in October, with Chelsea playing Tottenham on Oct. 1. The 23-year-old midfielder could make her return before that, however, if she gets a call-up from the USWNT for the September friendlies.
Tobin Heath
One of the more senior members of the USWNT, Heath has not suited up for the red, white and blue since October 2021. Throughout 2022, she struggled with injuries, including a hamstring injury that ended her season with Arsenal. She later joined OL Reign, appearing in five matches, before once again being sidelined with an injury.
She underwent season-ending knee surgery in September 2022 and has been seen doing limited training. In February, Andonovski said that Heath was “absolutely” still under consideration for World Cup selection. While the 35-year-old forward did not return for the World Cup, her playing days are “definitely not” over yet, she told UPROXX in August.
Christen Press
Press’ recovery journey has not been linear. In June, the 34-year-old forward returned to the practice field in cleats, but she remained on the season-ending injury list for Angel City FC. And then in July she announced she would have to undergo a fourth surgery to repair her knee.
Following the fourth surgery, Press has not shared a recovery timeline, although she has said she wants to return to professional soccer. It’s unlikely that will come during the 2023 NWSL season, so the soonest fans could see Press back in action may be 2024.
With the departure of Vlatko Andonovski, the U.S. women’s national team is on the hunt for its next head coach. And Andonovski’s successor has a big job ahead, with the 2027 World Cup on the horizon and the 2024 Olympics just around the corner.
For USWNT veterans Tobin Heath and Christen Press, who discussed the coaching search on the latest episode of “The RE-CAP Show,” that means finding a candidate with both short- and long-term vision.
“We want to win the Olympics, we need to put ourselves back on track, back in the category that we want to be in,” Heath said. “And then we have a long-term focus toward the next World Cup.”
In the short term, Heath said, player identification is key. The new coach must have a “keen eye and understanding” of what it means to play at an international level and what is required of those players.
The current U.S. player pool is very distinct in its American playing style, which doesn’t always translate to the international game. But that doesn’t mean players can’t or won’t fit at the international level.
“You need somebody, a leader, with a keen understanding of the system that is going to be played, how to implement the system, and which players are best for the system,” Heath said. “That doesn’t mean: Who are the best players? Who’s scoring the most goals? Who’s everyone talking about? It’s not that at all.”
Press agreed with Heath, noting: “I think the point you’re making is, it’s not always the best player, because it’s the right players. And that’s player identification as a key part of a short-term strategy to turn this team around.”
With the Olympics coming up, the next USWNT coach will need to identify the “super factors” that can lead the team to victory. The 2015 and 2019 World Cup-winning teams each had a clear identity and a clear understanding of what each player needed to do. Even today, Heath and Press could identify the key factors from their 2015 and 2019 title runs.
As a result, the duo wants to see a coach who can come in and identify those factors on the changed USWNT roster.
“You don’t want to take away the best pieces of what the U.S. women’s national team are,” Heath said. “So somebody with an understanding of what we talked about, the DNA of a national team player — it’s very clear DNA, you don’t want to just scrap the whole thing.”
Another important factor in the new coach is player buy-in, Heath and Press said.
“I want to see a coach that not only do these players believe in them, respect them, but they want to fight for them,” Heath said. “You can tell coaches that players want to play for.”
Heath pointed to England’s Sarina Wiegman as an example of a team leader who has achieved that with her players. She also identified Australia’s Tony Gustavsson, who served as a USWNT assistant in 2015 and 2019, as a strong leader and teacher.
“For this group of players, when I think of what’s important – because there are so many young players and so many players that have not been at this level and have not had this responsibility – I do think you need a teacher,” she said. “You need somebody that is not developing with the players. We cannot have somebody that is learning at the same time that the players are learning.
“And we need somebody that is a proven winner. You have the best team in the world, there is no excuse to not go out and get the best coach in the world.”
The USWNT features plenty of strong pieces for whoever takes the reins. But that coach will need to make sure those pieces are used correctly.
“Obviously there’s a lot of noise from the World Cup and from the USWNT’s performance,” Press said. “And I think one thing that we have talked about is, people are saying, I’ll be the savior, I can do it. But the truth is, we don’t need a savior. We need a strategy.”
Christen Press still has so much that she wants to do. The two-time World Cup champion with the U.S. women’s national team is on the road to recovery from an ACL injury that has sidelined her for over a year, but while working her way back to the pitch, she’s been anything but idle.
On Wednesday morning, the Angel City forward announced a new partnership with Degree as part of the company’s Change the Field program, which is “working to create safe and inclusive environments for girls of color on and off the field with the ‘Girls Can’ module series,” per a release. It’s a cause close to Press’ heart, she says, as a woman of color in a sport where girls of color are two times more likely to drop out of soccer than girls who are white and live in the suburbs.
“I grew up in an incredible place of privilege,” Press tells Just Women’s Sports, noting that her parents had the ability to fully support her soccer ambitions. “But I feel like I deeply understand the impact of racism and how that impacted myself and my family and being welcomed into spaces, including my own community that was predominantly white.”
Press played youth soccer in Orange County, which she describes as that kind of predominantly white environment that can be isolating for a girl of color playing the sport she loves.
“One thing that my parents taught me at a really young age, through their own action, was how to use that privilege to create change,” she says.
Press says her parents sponsored inner-city girls to join her club teams throughout her career, resulting in rosters that were more diverse and inclusive than the norm.
She now wants to help pass that experience onto the next generation, including the lesson that with privilege comes responsibility. Press notes that the common pay-to-play structure of elite youth soccer in the U.S. is prohibitive to a wide swath of talent, denying girls of color what she considers to be a vital outlet.
“I think when it comes to opportunity, it always boils down to me (as) hope,” she says. “And when you really have an environment, a structure and a society that is limiting to people based on their identity, based on their socioeconomic status, what you get taken is the hope. This idea that you can get out, that you can create change, that you are valuable, that gets taken by the infrastructure.”
That’s where the visibility of international athletes who reflect diversity and inclusion can be so important, as well as breaking down the socioeconomic barriers that exist between girls and their ability to participate in soccer at a high level. And it should surprise no one who is familiar with Press’ ambitions that she’s thinking even bigger.
“The second thing is reimagining the business of sport,” she says. “I think it’s essential that we look at putting women and people of color in leadership positions — that’s owning teams, that’s sitting on boards, that’s owning media divisions, being true decision-makers in women’s sports. And that’s how you’re going to see change.”
Press is leading the charge herself, recently taking the time away from active playing status to dive into women’s sports media through RE-INC, the company she founded alongside Tobin Heath, Megan Rapinoe and Meghan Klingenberg. She and Heath are both recovering from knee surgeries that have kept them off the field for the USWNT and their NWSL club teams for an extended period of time.
During the World Cup, they have been hosting “The RE-CAP Show” on YouTube, providing crucial insights both from a USWNT perspective and from years spent playing club soccer across the globe.
Press and Heath have welcomed guests from the NWSL and USWNT systems, as well as friends like Sweden’s Kosovare Asllani, The Netherlands’ Vivianne Miedema, and England’s Leah Williamson to offer a refreshing look inside international women’s soccer. Press describes the show as a labor of love, and credits her and Heath’s total creative control as the driving force behind her comfort level in front of the camera.
“I don’t think there has been any time where I felt like I had to be a certain way,” she says. “There’s like an ease in front of the camera that I would not have if I wasn’t, you know, producing the show.”
RE-INC would like to pivot the success of “The RE-CAP Show” into a media division of the larger company, with the hope of providing more voices with that same creative space where they can tell their own stories and not shy away from difficult conversations.
“There’s a missing element that we all collectively can fill through beautiful storytelling, and through honesty, and through authenticity,” says Press.
The USWNT’s disappointing World Cup campaign — their Round of 16 loss marked the earliest exit in team history — quickly transitioned into the loudest voices in the media space getting to dictate the conversation surrounding the team. Press and Heath sought to provide a compelling counter-narrative that came from earned experience.
“There’s just something that happens when you get filtered through someone else’s lens,” Press says. “Like a big broadcast agenda, (or) a partnership that doesn’t align with what you truly are.”
That gap also doesn’t always give real insight into what players are experiencing, and Press knows well that it does not fool the USWNT’s avid soccer fanbase.
“I swear anytime I hear something that is in the fan rumor mill, it’s always true, like the fans know what’s going on,” she says with a laugh. “And there is this, like, intimacy between our audience and us. And that has just been the way that it is because we’re accessible.”
Tobin and Christen react to USA losing to Sweden and have conversations with Dawn Scott and Kosovare Asllani ⚽️. This episode of The RE—CAP Show will get you right in the heart, find it anywhere you get your podcasts or watch at https://t.co/Qwtu12sHf8 pic.twitter.com/rgZAHrvZUA
— re—inc (@re__inc) August 7, 2023
“The RE-CAP Show” is about amplifying those connection points, as Press puts it.
“I think that through our show, we’re able to just put words to our why’s,” she continues. “Why we’re doing the things we’re doing, why it matters, and I think that’s just important for people to hear because it’s already felt, it’s already real. Like the community has been there and they’ve been asking for this, and they’ve been fighting for change alongside us.”
While she’s been participating in this year’s World Cup as a media voice rather than a participant, Press is still locked in on the bigger picture. She has hundreds of takeaways from what she’s seen on the international stage this year: Support at the federation level is inconsistent, but gains at the club level worldwide have ushered in a new level of global parity, and the next generation appears ready to pick up the reins.
“We’ve seen some super young talent be fantastic in this tournament,” she says. “We’ve seen a lot of first goals, first qualifications, first wins, and that’s so exciting. It’s been surprising. We saw world powers fall out far before any of us would have ever predicted, and yet in the semifinal you’ve got a lot of familiar faces and top-six teams and a host country.”
Whatever she does next, Press hopes that the legacy of her generation of players will not carry the same burdens, whether for equal pay or basic levels of professionalism and safety.
One of the topics Press has spoken freely about on “The RE-CAP Show” is the feeling of expendability she and her contemporaries struggled with in the NWSL and USWNT, with very little power to control their careers in toxic environments. Press played a key role in the eventual investigation into Rory Dames’ behavior while he was coach of the Chicago Red Stars, filing a formal complaint with U.S. Soccer in 2018. Dames was eventually pushed to resign in 2021 amid allegations of emotional and verbal abuse, and was officially banned from the NWSL in the wake of formal investigation findings in early 2023.
If Press has her way, the experiences she’s had as a player will never even cross the mind of the next generation of stars, like 18-year-old Alyssa Thompson, the youngest player on the USWNT’s World Cup roster.
“I hope that the next generation of player is unburdened,” she says. “I hope that the fight that we have had, that we are having is lesser, that it’s lighter, that it’s possible for a player to just be a professional player and they don’t have to be ‘and’ something else. They don’t have to, ‘and fight to get paid,’ ‘and be’ all these other things that were required of us.
“I think if that’s true for Alyssa Thompson, and she gets to grow up and be a pro and get paid and never have to worry about that, that would be a sign of huge success.”
Claire Watkins is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @ScoutRipley.