Other women's sports organizations have used the USWNT as a sounding board for their own fightsGetty Images
The USWNT has "emerged as a new kind of role model" in the wake of a "public fight for equal pay" that led to a new CBA, according to Andrew Das of the N.Y. TIMES. The squad's progress has "not been lost on other teams, which have used the soccer team as a sounding board for their own fights." Canada’s soccer team "asked for advice on how to get maternity coverage into contracts," while WNBA players "did the same when they had questions about how best to press their owners for leaguewide standards on issues like hotels, travel and trainers." Last fall, a player from the U.S. women’s hockey team also "reached out." USWNT MF Christen Press said, "Right now there’s really a women’s coming-together movement, and it’s happening in sport and outside of sport." ESPN's Julie Foudy added, "This really feels like a tipping point." Foudy also praised interim USWNTPA Exec Dir Becca Roux for "empowering" players to "do much of the hard work themselves, both as they negotiated an improved collective bargaining agreement and in the months since it was signed." Most members of the USWNT "serve on one union subcommittee or another, and they hold elections to pick representatives." Regular meetings are held with U.S. Soccer to "ensure promises are being kept" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/5).
