US Soccer officially launched the Kang Women's Institute on Tuesday, creating a new platform dedicated to "advancing health, performance, and development for women and girls across the sport" funded by $55 million from multi-team owner Michele Kang.
"For far too long, women and girls have trained under systems and standards built for men, and the Kang Women's Institute is an essential first step in changing that," US Soccer president Cindy Parlow Cone said in a federation statement. "By grounding our work in real research and evidence, we can finally give female players the support, care, and understanding they deserve.
"This is the beginning of a much larger effort, and Michele has helped us take a huge leap forward in reshaping the future of the women's game for generations to come."
After adding a $25 million investment last April to her original $30 million pledge to US Soccer in 2024, Kang is going all in on addressing the stark lack of sports medicine and exercise science research into women athletes — and female physiology at-large.
"This Institute will put female athletes at the center of US Soccer's scientific research and build the evidence, systems, and standards that will allow women and girls to reach their full potential," promised Kang.
The Institute also outlined its early initiatives in Tuesday's press release, with injury prevention and workload management, developmental best practices, and physical and mental player well-being headlining the projects.
"This is not just about closing a research gap," said Kang. "It's about creating a future where every player has the knowledge, care, and opportunity to thrive."
Janine Beckie is one of many players who won’t compete at the 2023 Women’s World Cup as the result of an ACL tear. The Olympic gold medalist for Canada tore her right ACL last month while playing in an NWSL preseason game for the Portland Thorns.
It isn’t news that women’s soccer players are more likely to tear an ACL than their male counterparts. Studies have found that women are up to six times more likely to sustain the injury. But Beckie doesn’t want that stat to become normalized.
“I think that a lot of people have boiled it down for so long to ‘Oh, it’s just more common in women, and a common injury in women’s soccer.’ but it seems like there’s been this massive jump in the amount that it’s happening now. I don’t know what the reason is but someone needs to figure it out,” Beckie told Reuters.
The 28-year-old forward called for more resources for the women as the number of games on the calendar increases.
“You’ve changed the schedule to mimic the men yet you’re not giving the female players the same level of resources,” she said. “Premier League players are playing 40-, 50-plus games a season and are able to maintain fitness levels because they’re treated like gold, which they should be. If you’re going ask an elite athlete to play 50 games a season, you’ve got provide them the top-of-the-line care.”
Beckie isn’t the only sidelined player calling for action.
“I think it’s way too common in the women’s game,” England national Beth Mead recently told FIFPro.
“I think if that had happened in the men’s game, a lot more would have been done sooner. It’s important for us to drive the different factors and aspects around why it’s happening so often.”