Meet our new global women's soccer team: Welcome Asli Pelit and Tamerra Griffin
Meet our new global women's soccer team: Welcome Asli Pelit and Tamerra Griffin
People aren't just watching women's sports. They're talking about, playing and living them — and the reporting is starting to catch up too.
The NWSL championship averaged 967,900 viewers in primetime on CBS, up against college football. It marked the league's most-viewed match in history, an 18 percent increase from the 2023 title match and still six percent more than the 2022 edition and previous record holder. The one million milestone is in reach.
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Media coverage of women's sports has tripled since 2019 from five to 16 percent in 2022 after three decades of stagnation, according to research by sports agency Wasserman in partnership with ESPN Research. We are proud of our women's sports coverage at but we have room to grow, too.
We are trying to build something special here and we've made a few changes and additions to the team to accomplish this.
In January, I moved into the role of head of global women's soccer. It's a position created to ensure we continue to bring you the most in-depth coverage of women's soccer in the United States, Europe and around the world.
After years of dedication, Meg Linehan moved into a new role within the company, contributing invaluable insight into all things women's sports. You'll continue to hear her on the Full Time podcast and see her contributions to the newsletter each week, as well as weighing in on the biggest moments.
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Sign up here to receive 's weekly women's soccer newsletter, Full Time, directly in your inbox.
You can also expect coverage from writers across the soccer team including including Megan Feringa, Charlotte Harpur, Katie Whyatt, Jeff Rueter and Melanie Anzidei. I am also very excited to introduce two new writers to our crew.
Tamerra Griffin is no stranger to , providing her words and voice to various women's soccer stories since joining us on a freelance basis in for the 2023 World Cup. Asli Pelit, who has reported on soccer since 2013 for TRT Sport, USA Today Sports, VICE and Sportico, is also joining the team. Both journalists have a deep understanding of the game and a hunger to find the 'why' in our coverage.
Get ready to join us because we aren't standing still for long — and you can get to know our newest team members with a quick round of questions here…
We are known for a question around here, so let's start there. Why did you join The Athletic?
Asli Pelit: In 2010, while covering the devastating earthquake in Chile for CNN, I had a moment of clarity. Just before going live, I caught my reflection on my phone screen and realized I wasn't meant to spend my career simply reporting the 'what.' I was far more interested in the 'why,' the 'how,' and 'what comes next'.
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That's exactly what values — the kind of storytelling that first captivated me as a reader and later pushed me to become a better reporter. Now, as part of this incredibly talented team, I have the opportunity to do just that — dig deeper, challenge assumptions and write stories that go beyond the surface.
Tamerra Griffin: I joined because I want to be known as a writer whose stories help readers make sense of the world through the beautiful game, and who also helps them better appreciate the beautiful game through stories about the world that surrounds it. Simply put, I want to be the best, and that means joining a team that constantly strives for that, where pushing the envelope and collaborating are the norm, and where all facets of the game are explored and celebrated.
How were you introduced to soccer? What is your favorite memory around the game?
Pelit: My love for soccer started with my grandmother. She was a true sports fanatic, following everything from sailing to basketball, volleyball to Grand Slam tennis. But soccer had a special place in her heart. Watching her watch matches was an experience in itself — she was so passionate. I don't know if she ever attended a soccer match in person, but she never missed a Galatasaray game or the World Cup.
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That passion shaped me. It led me to attend Lycée Galatasaray in Istanbul, the birthplace of the club in 1905. Later, while living in Argentina, I created a soccer documentary series about South America — my way of staying connected to her, even from thousands of miles away. I wish she was still alive to see my byline at . She'd be so proud.
Griffin: I was introduced to soccer by one of my childhood best friends, Allie, when we were six years old. She came to school always talking about her practices and games, and at that age, is there any sweeter joy than joining your best friend in an extracurricular? We played for the Unicorns, and all it took was one practice spent sprinting down an open field for me to fall in love. As a player, one of my fondest memories was lifting a mud-covered trophy with my Northern California State team from the Olympic Development Program when I was 15 or 16 years old, a classic Cinderella story in a hard-fought tournament. As a journalist, the Australia vs France quarterfinal of the 2023 World Cup in Brisbane will be forever seared in my memory — for the passion, the white-knuckle string of penalties that felt like they'd never end, and the home victory for Australia in a historic tournament.
How would you describe this moment for women's soccer? What are you most excited about covering this year?
Pelit: I don't want to echo the usual, 'What an exciting time for women's soccer!' because while the growth is undeniable, so are the questions that come with it. At Sportico, I covered the skyrocketing team valuations, collective bargaining agreements that secured better pay and conditions and the surge of investment pouring into the league. But I can't help but wonder: how long will this rapid rise last, and what does it mean for the next generation of athletes?
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As Sam Mewis told me recently, 'We can't just prioritize the money; we have to prioritize player safety.' That's a story I'm eager to explore. I'm also excited to cover the influx of African and Brazilian players into the NWSL. As the daughter of an architect, I love a stadium story: the race to build the next purpose-built stadium, and what it all means for the wealthy owners betting on the women's game in terms of growing their real estate portfolios.
Griffin: Women's soccer right now feels like that moment at a party where the dance floor is jumping, sweat is flying off your face with every turn, and right when you think you've reached the peak of the night, the DJ transitions into a jam you didn't even know you needed and you ascend to new levels of euphoria. So many aspects of the game, from transfer fees and ownerships — let alone the competition and quality on the pitch — are treading new ground, and we have no choice but to go boldly into the night and see what we find. For me, that means examining the continued globalization of the women's game, and the impact that's having in Africa, Asia, and South America, as well as the impact players from those continents are having in North America and Europe.
What do you hope readers take away from your stories?
Pelit: I hope readers walk away with something new, insights and perspectives they haven't heard before. My goal is to amplify voices that haven't been heard and highlight the human moments that matter most.
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Griffin: I hope readers feel more connected to not only the sport but the world around them when they finish reading my stories. I also want them to have a better understanding of people, circumstances and places they might not have thought much about before reading my work. Above all, I hope they feel a sense of joy whenever possible — not because the nature of my stories will always be joyful, but because that's what soccer ultimately boils down to, even if that joy is an act of resistance.
And finally, the answer that I think is most revealing of a person, what is your go-to karaoke song?
Pelit: I'm not a great singer, and out of fear of getting booed, I've always avoided singing in front of a crowd. Seriously, you do not want to hear me sing! But a year ago, my husband (who has an excellent singing voice and loves karaoke) and I picked 'Islands in the Stream' as our go-to karaoke song. If I'm being honest, though, I think everyone prefers when he takes the mic alone.
Griffin: I do not have a go-to karaoke song. And I do believe that's a revealing fact about me because I am very much a 'vibe check' person. How am I feeling when I get on that karaoke stage, and what song best reflects that feeling or that moment? That said, if you shoved a microphone into my face right now and asked me to pick a song, it would be 'No Scrubs' by TLC.
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This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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