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We are One Team

April 11^this #EqualPayDay, which symbolizes the date that when looked at as days in a year women have to work to be paid the same amount for the same work men were paid for in the previous calendar year.

It truly sucks that this is even a thing. April 11^thpeople!

Recently, our Harvard Women’s soccer alumni crew got together to cheer on the USWNT, and got a bonus surprise that inspired one of my favorite Soccer Sisters, Susie Petruccelli to share her latest and amazing project! Read on!

By Susie Petruccelli (@Sooozie)

Last month, the USWNT invited the gold medal-winning, equity pay-fighting US Women’s Ice Hockey Team to the SheBelieves Cup at Red Bull Stadium. Suddenly they were all around us! I’d never seen an Olympic gold medal in person before and was overwhelmed to be surrounded by them hanging around the necks of so many vibrant young female American athletes. They let the kids hold them, too!

I was struck by how much both these teams represent to me and so many girls and women like me. Of course, they are athletes. They are our players, our teams. But they have become so much more: they are our also our representatives and our voices. The women of both of these teams are activists demanding equality from their respective federations. They may play totally different sports, but on this front they are one team. And, I realized, so are we.

What’s also clear is that in taking on roles as activists, they are being judged on more than their sports performances. They are going to be both applauded and criticized in the socio-political arena. And we all know that can be a scary place!

My next thought was how can I support them? How can we all?

I can do a better job of watching more of their games.

I can do a better job of educating my children about the amazing things they’ve done in sports and for society.

I can definitely do a better job of supporting them on social media.

Can I do more?

Yes, I can. I decided to take it one step further. I have joined forces with amazing Kely Nascimento-Deluca, daughter of the one and only Pele, and soccer icon Julie Foudy to produce a documentary about women’s soccer and inequality around the world. It’s called the Warrior Women of Football. Check it out. Support it.

These young women have taken the reigns. But it’s time to let them know; we too, are on their team.

Brandi’s Response to the Bride

Play It Forward Project: Interview with Jessy Giordano

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I recently got to know an amazing coach and soccer trainer named Jessy Giordano @jgiotraining who works with some very special girls in Northern New Jersey. We are so excited to partner with Jessy and her girls, supporting the teams as they play this summer! Jessy introduced her girls the PlayItForwardProject and says it meshes perfectly with her philosophy of making better people, not just better players.

Soccer Sisters: How did the girls react when you told them about the PIFP?

Jessy Giordano: They loved the idea! Especially my youngers ones. They kept saying “I know what I can
do!” and coming up with different acts of kindness. They kept thinking about it and talking about all kinds of ideas. I think kids like pleasing other people. When we were making the video, they also wanted to take it home and think about it some more and talked to their parents about it and decided it was also something they were going to do at home. I think making and sharing the video is motivating. I’ve seen it even with my older girls. When they see my training videos they tell me it motivates them to do it at home. I think anyone seeing that video will think, “I just want to do something nice for someone today.”

SS: It looks like a lot of fun to make the video, was it?

JG: It was one of the most fun we’ve had making a video! I wanted to have strangers in it so we just approached people and asked if we could open the door, and even one girl helped an older lady with her groceries. I think they learned a lot and it makes them feel empowered to help and not feel weird about it.

SS: Your focus is on technical skills, but also on building players who have strong character. How does PIFP fit in with your philosophy?

JG: I honestly think they play so much better when they are having fun and feel more comfortable together and when they are supporting and motivating themselves and others. My girls come from all over the place, and many who don’t know each other and the only way they are going to play well is when they are having fun. I want to teach them to help each other, not just on the field, but to help even people they don’t know.

SS: What do you think is the best way to Play It Forward for teams, coaches or parents who want to encourage their kids to engage in acts of kindness?

JG: I think talk to your teams about it. I always pick two captains every week, and switch it up and try to get them to step it up. I want them to be good leaders, good teammates, role models, and mostly a good person.

Thanks Jessy!

Follow Jessy here:

www.JgioTraining.com

@JgioTraining

Lola and Indy: Cutest Soccer Sisters Ever

Cheering for the Girls: The Evolution of a Die-Hard Soccer Dad

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Image: Nick Gates and Diron Jebejian — Coaches Across Continents founder Nick Gates (left) and my husband Diron (right) in Armenia.

My husband grew up like most American boys in the 70’s and 80’s – playing basketball and watching football and baseball. Until he met me, he didn’t know anything about soccer at all. He also grew up in a very tight-knit Armenian community in California, and while no question the women were strong, the girls didn’t often participate in tough team sports like soccer. Soccer and soccer girls were new to him.

But over the last 15 years, I’ve proudly watched Diron’s evolving respect for the sport and the girls who play it – and even his attempts at playing himself (although it still pains me to watch him kick the ball with his toe!). If you look at his Facebook feed today, it is populated with nothing but pictures of girls playing soccer, whether it be of his daughter and wife, or pictures shared by the charity he and I help start in Armenia, the Girls of Armenia Leadership Soccer (GOALS). He even recently flew from New York to California to spend an entire weekend promoting GOALS to his friends in Glendale.

Diron loves “soccer chicks,” as he likes to call me and our 13-year-old daughter. The other day we were at one of her games and a player on her team took a ball straight to the face. A full-on drive with a hard ball right in the kisser. Whack! We all held our breath, but the girl just shook it off, said, “I’m fine,” and kept playing. I got a giant poke and all I could hear was – “LOOK AT THAT! LOOK HOW TOUGH SHE IS! WOW!”

A few weeks ago we were invited to an (Armenian) family party, where the men and boys were invited to play in the annual touch football game and the women and girls to cheer on the sidelines. I showed the invitation to our daughter, Lily, who immediately said, “I’m not going to watch, I’m going to play.” They welcomed her totally, and she loved it – only later did we find out she was the first girl ever to play in the game. Her father was so proud.

My daughter Lily (right, in blue) playing with the boys.

When we traveled to Armenia last summer to play for ten days with Coaches Across Continents, an amazing NGO started by a friend of mine from Harvard Soccer, Diron was all in. CAC uses soccer to educate and inspire social change outside the classroom – an interesting and challenging exercise given that it utilizes a sport girls are not encouraged to play to promote equality. Not an easy task. Our son and daughter and I were playing – all of us soccer players. My husband is not, but there he was, out on the field, playing the best he could. His presence, as a man playing with the girls, was vital for the men and women in Armenia to see. Sad as those toe kicks were, they were perfect.

I’ve spent a fair amount of time in Armenia telling girls that change is possible – that I’ve seen it and lived it here at home. By home, I am usually referencing Title IX and the evolution of girls’ sports in America. But I also mean here inside my home. As it turns out, our biggest fans might just be the partners sitting beside us at the dinner table.

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