With the SheBelieves Cup and Women’s History Month occurring at the same time, the USWNT took the opportunity to honour inspirational, powerful and iconic women by wearing their names on the backs of their jerseys during their game against England.
When the stars align as they have done with the SheBelieves Cup and Women’s History Month occurring at the same time, it provides the perfect opportunity for powerful gestures to be made, and the USWNT did not pass up the opportunity. In celebration of the SheBelieves spirit each player took the field at the Nissan Stadium in Nashville with the name of someone who has inspired them on the back of their jerseys during their SheBelieves Cup match against England.
Captain Alex Morgan picked Abby Wambach, the former USA international who won the World Cup and two Olympic gold medals during her illustrious career, while other players decided to go for icons outside of football. Mallory Pugh played in a Beyonce shirt, while Rose Lavelle picked Harry Potter author JK Rowling. They also picked women involved in other sports, with defender Crystal Dunn saying it was Serena Williams who inspired her to become an athlete.
Other names selected were that of Doris Burke, the first female full-time analyst on national NBA broadcasts, and San Francisco 49ers assistant coach Katie Sowers, who became the second woman to get a full-time coaching job in the NFL in 2017.
The initiative was met with widespread positivity as the #SheBelieves movement continues to build momentum. It originated in 2015 in the lead up to the FIFA Women’s World Cup, and it was created with the goal encouraging the female leaders of tomorrow to chase their dreams.
The game between USA and England ended 2-2, with Megan Rapine opening the scoring with a fantastic strike, followed by two equally quality goals from Steph Houghton and Nikita Parris. Tobin Heath levelled things up after a scrappy goal mouth scramble to leave the honours even.
You can read about the reason behind every player's choice here.
