USWNT’s Megan Rapinoe

Using her platform as a successful woman athlete to be heard and standing up for what she believes in, USWNT’s Forward Megan Rapinoe is the epitome of a role model.  

Megan Rapinoe Will Be Heard

Megan Rapinoe demands your attention. The veteran forward buzzes around the left side of the U.S. attack, constantly threatening to create scoring chances. Wherever her platinum-blonde hair flashes on the pitch, she is finding the ball, sucking in defenders, bending the play to her will. In the 35th minute of a friendly against New Zealand in mid-May, Rapinoe makes one of those plays the U.S. women’s national team will need in the World Cup: Spotting forward Tobin Heath near the far post, she whips a low cross through two Kiwis to her teammate, who taps it in for the goal, the first in a 5–0 win.

Heath leaps into Rapinoe’s arms, one of which is encircled by the blue captain’s armband, in front of a crowd of 35,761 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. On the ESPN broadcast, former team captain Julie Foudy praises the vision and footwork necessary to facilitate the play. “All of that,” she says, “is Megan Rapinoe.” The game is merely a tune-up for what’s to come this month in France. Still, Rapinoe does what she always has, through her 153 (and counting) national-team caps—she makes everything happen.

“Every team needs a Megan Rapinoe,” says superstar forward Alex Morgan, “both on and off the field.”

Rapinoe’s freewheeling style of play led to the World Cup moments, eight years ago, that introduced America to her. There was that time against Colombia when she scored and then grabbed an on-field microphone to belt out “Born in the U.S.A.,” and that perfect left-footed cross she launched 45 yards straight to Abby Wambach’s head to save the quarterfinal against Brazil and secure her place in American soccer history.

Since then, Rapinoe, 33, has continued to star for the U.S. while using her voice for more than karaoke. She is just as enamored of the game as she was when she and her fraternal twin, Rachael, would travel two hours one way from their hometown in Redding, Calif., to club practice in Sacramento. But now in her third and likely final World Cup, the games have taken on a new meaning: The renown her play earns her will help spotlight her activism.

She has been one of the team’s clearest voices in demanding gender equality, in March bringing suit against U.S. Soccer with 27 of her teammates, alleging gender discrimination. (The case is proceeding in federal court.) And nearly three years ago, she risked her spot on the national team to join Colin Kaepernick in peaceful protest of racial inequality by kneeling during the national anthem before games, which resulted in U.S. Soccer requiring players to stand.

Her boldness has brought some criticism from the broader public and skepticism from U.S. Soccer; not long ago, she wondered if her international career was fading out. But today she shares the team captaincy with Morgan and Carli Lloyd precisely because of her defiance of both age and convention. In challenging the established orders in her sport and her country, Rapinoe brought new challenges upon herself—and she raised not only her voice but her game.

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