NWSL's Gotham FC produces book focused on keeping girls in sports

USA Today

2 days ago

Two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion Ali Krieger grew up playing three sports -- basketball, volleyball and, of course, soccer.
She said playing multiple sports not only helped build different skills, but kept her in the game.
"(Playing more than one sport) is so valuable because ... around age 14 or 15, a lot of athletes who are just playing one sport burn out," Krieger said. "They have had enough and they don't really enjoy the game anymore, or have the same love of the game, that they did at the very beginning, which is so unfortunate."
Burnout is among the reasons that by age 14, girls are dropping out of sports at two times the rate of boys, according to the Women's Sports Foundation. Gotham FC has been working in partnership with Dove on an initiative called "Keep Her In the Game."
The latest iteration of the partnership includes Rebel Girls Sports and a book called "Changing the Game: A Playbook for Champions in Training." Copies of the book will be handed out when Gotham FC hosts the Washington Spirit (noon ET, Saturday) at Sports Illustrated Stadium. A digital copy (linked above) will also be distributed in New York public schools, the Brooklyn Public Library and the Manhattan Children's museum.
"Our goal is to inspire young girls to keep them playing sports and become the best version of themselves," Rebel Girls CEO Jes Wolfe said. "We're hoping to reach more than a million girls and their grownups with this book.
"What's so cool about (the book) was every player was very open and honest about their journey and some of the roadblocks that came along the way."
NWSL MVP frontrunner Esther Gotham shared her struggles with shyness, Gotham FC teammate Midge Purce tore a knee ligament right before the 2024 Olympics and Rose Lavelle has struggled with a hamstring injury for years. Gotham FC general manager Yael Averbuch West, a former player, shares that her career was cut short by ulcerative colitis. She said her shift to the front office shows young women that you can succeed in sports off the field.
"We're going to persevere regardless of what obstacles come our way," Averbuch West said. "Success may look different for different people. And it's not always exactly as you expected it.
"Things come up, life happens, and there's a lot of different ways to be successful and to impact people."
More than 700 of the Keep Her in The Game program's 1,700 members have attended Gotham FC games since last August and 750 plan to attend Saturday's match vs. Washington. Krieger said the players work to make themselves available to the fans.
"You do that extra work behind the scenes, whether it's creating this book, creating a campaign, or how can I go over to fans and stay after the game for 30-plus minutes and sign however many autographs," Krieger said.
Gotham FC hopes the program and new book have a lasting impact.
"We do hope to continue to be able to influence and provide opportunities for girls to play the game, to watch the game, maybe to one day work at our club, to own a club," Averbuch West said. "You know, there's so many avenues. These young women, we're interacting with them as soccer players, but we are also interacting with them as fans, as future leaders of households and business -- decision makers.
"The hope is to inspire these girls to have a longstanding love and involvement in the game that goes far beyond the field."