Soccer star Megan Rapinoe says patriotism
Soccer star Megan Rapinoe says patriotism means demanding better of ourselves
Rapinoe has been an outspoken advocate for LGBTQ rights, pay equity and the BLM movement. She recently announced that she will retire after the 2023 Women’s World Cup. Originally broadcast in 2020.TONYA MOSLEY, HOST:
This is FRESH AIR. I’m Tonya Mosley. The Women’s World Cup began this week, and it will be the final World Cup for one of women’s soccer’s most iconic stars – Megan Rapinoe. She announced recently that she’ll retire at the end of this season.
Rapinoe is an icon for being a champion and an activist.
Rapinoe is an icon for being a champion and an activist. In her 17 years with the U.S. Women’s National Soccer team, most recently as co-captain, she helped the team win two Women’s World Cups in 2015 and 2019 and a gold medal at the 2012 Olympics. For a while, she was the only openly gay player on the U.S. Women’s National Soccer team, which put her in the spotlight as an LGBTQ activist. She fought for equal pay in women’s soccer, and she was part of a lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation. In 2016, a week after Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem, Rapinoe also took a knee in support and faced the consequences.
Terry Gross spoke with Megan Rapinoe in 2020, and she had just written a memoir.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
TERRY GROSS: When you started playing soccer
TERRY GROSS: When you started playing soccer, when you were around 6, there wasn’t, like, a girls’ team for you to be part of. So you and your twin sister became members of the boys’ team. How did it feel for you as a girl to be on the boys’ team? Because, you know, another thing you say in your book is that you don’t think you ever dominated a team the way you dominated that boys’ team when you were a child.
MEGAN RAPINOE: (Laughter).
GROSS: And, you know, I’m also wondering, like, did the boys really appreciate that? Like, she’s really great, and she’s on our team? Or did they think it was weird or maybe even uncomfortable that a girl was, like, beating them? You know, you were on the same team, but you were better than they were.
RAPINOE: You know, I don’t think I ever really,
RAPINOE: You know, I don’t think I ever really, really thought about it probably until, you know, fifth or sixth grade. I think that’s when gender lines are drawn more clearly. Because, you know, all growing up, we played with each other. We played with boys. It was – you know, during recess, during, you know, intramural sports or whatever it may be, sort of our town sports. It was just kind of, like, what it was.
And I think from a very early age, my sister Rachel and I were always the best. Like, there was no question. So it wasn’t like, you know, we were coming up against these boys and kind of holding our own or kind of not. We were kind of kicking everyone’s butt. So I don’t think the boys even looked at us like, oh, these are girls, and we’re not supposed to lose to girls. It’s kind of like, well, yeah, those are the twins, and, like, they’re better than everyone. READ MORE