There’s an ongoing problem with the U.S. Women’s Soccer team’s pay

Since growing up in Kearny, NJ – also known as Soccertown, USA, I directly experienced the unity of what this sport can do. My fondest high school memories were during these games; it was here that everyone’s pride in our small town grew 10 times as both our teams would win continuously win their County games.

My hometown’s High School Soccer County Champs at the Red Bull Stadium

However, a recent report says that the U.S. Women Soccer team is not equally paid as the Men’s. A federal judge in Chicago ruled that the U.S. Women’s Soccer team could not go on strike in protest of the gender gap pay before the Olympics in Brazil.

According to CNN, the women’s team earned the U.S. their best rating in any soccer game – for both men’s and women’s soccer. It was said that they even had the most viewers from any other men’s sporting events such as the World Series and NBA finals.

The United States Soccer Federation argued in a response to U.S. Women’s complaint that they “earned more money from U.S. Soccer last year than every single member of the Men’s National Team.”

Yahoo Finance reported that they are not including the bonuses that the men also receive from the World Cup in their response.

In addition, the Women’s team is only paid for their first 20 exhibition games they play each year, and do not receive pay for any other games beyond that, according to CNN.

The Men’s team gets paid for each of their games, despite the number of exhibition games they play.

“The numbers speak for themselves,” said two-time Olympic gold medalist Hope Solo, “We are the best in the world… the USMNT get paid more just to show up than we get paid to win major championships.”

But how is the gender wage gap affecting young women who play soccer?

Taylor Munro, a club soccer player from Rutgers-New Brunswick, explains how she feels about the gender discrimination against the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team.

“Hearing about the issue obviously stirs up confusion and anger because the women on the national team sacrifice and work just as hard as the men, but do not get rewarded the same amount, which is something that should not even be a question,” Taylor said.

“When I was younger, my goal was to be a professional soccer player – cliche, I know – but many other young girls have this goal and some are lucky enough to achieve it.

“With knowing that the women do not get paid the same amount as men for doing the same work, I think this will definitely decrease the amount of young girls who want to pursue the sport on a more serious level, such as the college level and professional level. It puts a damper on any goals a young girl may have.”

Amanda Eustice, a Montclair State University soccer player, believes that despite the fact the Women’s team are paid less, the money is not everything.

“We play soccer because we love it…Money would just be a bonus!” she said.

“The men claim that they are stronger than women in soccer, but when you watch a men’s game, they fall on the floor and pretend to be hurt,” Amanda said “The women’s games are brutal to watch sometimes especially when each team is each others rivals.”

The U.S. Women’s Soccer team have been playing for years on fake grass, according to the New York Times. This has resulted in scrapes and rug burns and the rock-hard surfaces that come from playing on this grass – the Men’s National team do not have to play in these conditions.

Both teams work hard and bring pride to our country by representing us on the field. Therefore, why should one team be paid more than the other, if they are playing the same sport?

Until then, we must wait and see if our Women’s World Cup Champs, will receive the treatment that they deserve.

@gailvivarx3