Think you know who Megan Rapinoe is? Think again.
Rapinoe — a two-time FIFA Women’s World Cup winner, Olympic gold medallist, Ballon d’Or winner and a captain of the United States women’s football team — feels she is still trying to figure out who she is.
Could have fooled me.
Standing only 168 centimetres tall, she is a giant both on and off the football pitch.
One of a cohort of women who took their sport to court and finally agreed to a $US24 million settlement for equal pay, Rapinoe is not afraid to take a stand. Or take a knee.
She was one of the first females to kneel during the US national anthem in support of NFL player Colin Kaepernick’s career-ending gesture against police brutality and racism in America.
Rapinoe said she was still conflicted about how that all turned. Unlike Kaepernick, she kept playing her sport of choice because she compromised, a position she is not entirely comfortable with.
In early April Rapinoe will join some of the biggest names in global sport at Melbourne’s SportNxt summit, which will look at the industry’s future in an era of challenges and disruptions.
Rapinoe is one of the disruptors. In years to come it could be that description that best paints a picture of her impact on the game and her world — more than all the trophies, medals and titles she has earned during her decorated career.
When asked to describe what her makes her tick, Rapinoe told The Ticket that above all else it was “just wanting fairness … and wanting what we deserve and what we’ve earned”.
Beyond that, Rapinoe said she was “still trying to figure that out”.
She is entitled to ask questions. The world is in such a state of flux that many are wondering what their place is in it.
Sport has much to consider as it emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic. The past two Olympic Games were contested without crowds. Ukrainian athletes are fighting a war with Russia, while Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials are banned from sport.
Elsewhere, other athletes are fighting to have transgender women banned from elite competition.
“Sports are right in the middle of all of it,” Rapinoe said.
“We’ve always been a cross-section of the world and of every different culture, every different race, every different background.
“Sport has always had an incredible ability to unite people and to rise above and be used for good.
“We are extremely lucky to be able to play a sport and have all eyes on us … especially on the world stage, if you’re talking about the World Cup or the Olympics.
“I always encourage athletes if they feel comfortable; to use their voice and to use that little piece of power in the world.
“You never know what is going to be the thing that is the tipping point, what’s going to be the messaging, or what’s going to be the protest or what’s going to be the thing that athletes band around that actually makes a difference.
“Because we are such a cross-section of the world, I think our power can be felt in a really strong way.”
Fighting injustice
There is safety in numbers but to lead from the front — as Rapinoe has repeatedly done — requires a different kind of strength and confidence.
It is hard to know how much of Rapinoe’s approach was learned through sport, or whether sport was just the platform that allowed an inner strength to flourish.
“I think it’s maybe a little bit of both, but I think sport cultivated to a whole new degree,” Rapinoe said.
“I think for women who are elite at whatever they do — whether it’s math or engineering or on the soccer pitch — they’re usually only one of very few.
“For me that is a life-changing thing.
“Not a lot of women get to have that … usually you’re one of very few, or you’re in an office, or you’re in a field that’s dominated by a lot of men and its difficult to speak up and its difficult to find your place in there while also doing the thing that you’re great at.”
Being great at your chosen profession is experienced by few. Fewer still use that platform to advocate, whether it be for equality, against discrimination or racism, or any form of injustice.
Kaepernick is evidence that doing so can cost you everything: job, career, even future prospects.
There is no formula for striking a balance between knowing when to speak up or when not to. The age of social media can have the crowd with you one day, but wanting to cancel you the next.
“The only balance I really strike is if I can sleep at night or not, and if my family is on board and the people that I love and trust,” Rapinoe said
“And I think, honestly, we’re seeing it’s not a bad business practice. Equality is actually a very good business practice.
“But that’s not really where it comes from for me. It hits very close to home as a gay woman, as a gay athlete.
“There are so many injustices that we face all the time so its personal to me but I think I can extend that beyond myself as well.
“I believe what Colin Kaepernick was saying all those years ago about the police brutality we have in our country and general racism all over the world, so I feel like in so far as I am asking people to stand up for me — and what I believe in, and who I am — I have to do the same for them as well.
“I think trying to connect them sort of allows you to do more and not be so singularly focused because a lot of these are intertwined issues that we have in society that I think need to be looked at holistically and from a 30,000-foot view if we really want to solve these issues.
“Sometimes we can lose the forest for the trees.
“Right after I kneeled for the first time with the national team the federation was not very happy, although they never had a conversation directly with me about it so that was a little bit odd.
“Colin is still out of a job … I made the choice to stand and not kneel anymore, which is one … I still feel conflicted about.
“I think if Colin wanted to stand or wanted to back down to the NFL then he might have had a job a little bit quicker.
“I think the NFL has some deeply entrenched racism and bias and it’s a multi-billion dollar industry that put that in front of actually listening to Colin and doing the work and being able to stand with him instead of standing against him.”
FIFA ‘lacking in the women’s game’
Rapinoe did not compromise on the fight for equal pay.
Those who witnessed the end of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France will never forget the sounds of the crowd joining with players chanting “equal pay, equal pay” as Team USA celebrated another global trophy.
FIFA doubled the prize money for women at the 2019 World Cup. The US took home $US4 million, compared to the $US2 million it won in 2015. The total prize pool increased to just over $US40 million.
At the last men’s FIFA World Cup in 2018, champions France pocketed $US51 million from a total prize pool of over half a billion dollars.
At the time, Professional Footballers Australia described the inequality as “an imbalance of proportions only FIFA could come up with a straight face”.
Fighting for equal pay — as players in numerous countries including Australia have now done — changes the landscape for those who come next.
“It’s hard to really wrap my head around how impactful I think it can be,” Rapinoe said.
“[There’s] the ability for players to make a great living on the field so they can have all of the resources, whether it’s training, or taking care of their bodies, or whatever they need to be the best soccer players they can.
“And then if they so choose and want to do stuff off the field — money-making opportunities, sponsorships, appearances and the like — then they can do that but they won’t feel forced to do that.
“It’s going to just propel the game immensely.”
There is a “but”, however, as Rapinoe said there was more to be done.
“Is FIFA doing enough of the right thing? No, of course not … they certainly are not,” she said.
“And it’s so frustrating … everybody saw the World Cup in France.
“It was spectacular from every single team. All of the games were incredible. An amazing show was put on by France and the French [football] federation and FIFA … but all the business metrics are there too. It’s there — the money is there, the opportunity is there.
“It’s fine if you want to judge us on that. Just give us the same investment you’ve given all the other men’s sports for all these years, which is in the billions of dollars.
“For FIFA, who has the money and has the mission of growing soccer for men and for women and using it to the best of their ability to change the world for good, I always think that they’re lacking in the women’s game.
“I always think they can do more and I think they have a responsibility to do more and its never too late to do that.
“So you can always up the investment and up the prize money and up the marketing and up all of it for the women’s game.
“I think we’ve well earned it by this point.”
Rapinoe backs Matildas to shine
When Rapinoe is on a roll, she is unstoppable.
It is the same force that saw her awarded the Golden Boot as the highest goal scorer at the last World Cup, as well as the Ballon D’Or.
She is eyeing a fourth World Cup campaign in 2023.
Rapinoe said the tournament — to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand — was “the most exciting time in Matildas’ history”.
“It should be a time of massive growth,” she said.
“It should also be a time that they can look back on and think, ‘OK, that propelled us into a really dominant period of women’s soccer with just so much attention, and money, and sponsorship’.
“You’ve got one of the best goal scorers in the world and any time you have a player that can put the ball in the back of the net all by herself in Sam Kerr, then you have a chance to win.
“I know I always hate playing against her, you just know she’s going to score.”
But that is way down the track for Rapinoe, who admitted to being an “in the moment” kind of person.
For now, she is focused on the upcoming US National Women’s Soccer League season with her Seattle-based team OL Reign, and of course using her voice to bring about change.
“It’s definitely a cliché but knowledge is power and I think perspective is power is well … we all have something very unique and impactful to add,” Rapinoe said.
“I don’t think about it too much, I just do it.
“I feel like it’s always the right time to do the right thing and to stand up for something, no matter how hard it is.”
Megan Rapinoe. A force to be reckoned with, on and off the pitch.
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