Soccer Panel Spotlights Women of Color Across the Industry
On June 6, 2024, the Jackie Robinson Museum hosted Women in Soccer, the second installment of its Leveling the Playing Field program series underwritten by the Sheila C. Johnson Foundation. Building on the success of Women in Baseball in January, this event paid tribute to Jackie Robinson’s barrier-breaking legacy by highlighting how women of color are breaking barriers and changing the landscape of the world’s game today. Our panel of players, coaches, journalists, and executives discussed the growing presence for women of color on the US Women’s National Team (USWNT) and in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) in recent years. In a special collaboration with hometown NWSL team Gotham FC, event attendees had the opportunity to get tickets to a subsequent home game.
Moderator Renee Washington, PHLY Sports host and ESPN and NWSL analyst, deftly led the Women in Soccer panel, weaving together each panelists’ experiences on and off the pitch. Featured speakers included Darian Jenkins, broadcast analyst, former NWSL player, and member of the Black Women’s Player Collective; Danita Johnson, President of Business Operations for D.C. United; Kia McNeill, Head Coach of Women’s Soccer for Brown University; and Bekah Salwasser, Executive Director, Red Sox Foundation and former professional soccer player for the Boston Breakers and a distinguished alumna of the Jackie Robinson Foundation scholarship program.
Key topics addressed by the panel were pay equity, representation in front offices and team ownership roles, and pathways for girls and young women as players and beyond.
Takeaways of the discussion included pronouncements that women’s sports—especially soccer—are gaining traction and women of color are playing critical roles in its evolution. Darian Jenkins asserted: “Women’s soccer has been a badass sport since forever. It’s just finally getting the visibility, the media rights, the…professionalism, the platform that it has needed for it to be taken seriously. On the business side…you’re missing out right now if you’re not investing in women’s sports.”
Danita Johnson, who is the first Black President of an MLS Club and only the third woman in this role, described the pressure and the opportunity that come with breaking into new sectors and shared her approach to overcoming doubts and developing confidence. Both Jenkins and Washington reflected on their responsibility as broadcasters and former players, as well as women of color, to break down stereotypes. Bekah Salwasser, who transitioned from professional soccer to executive leadership in basketball and then baseball, emphasized that investment in women’s soccer was long overdue, invoking a stark discrepancy between the resources she received as an athlete and those provided to male athletes in the 2000s.
Another theme from the conversation and audience questions was the ongoing work needed to expand representation of girls and women in the future. “ ’See it to be it’ is a real thing,” said Kia McNeill, who reflected on the importance of the few Black women on the USWNT when she was growing up who supporter her, just as she works to do so with women athletes today. Soccer remains a predominantly white sport across the U.S., but both the program panelists and the attendees provided hope for the future. Audience questions addressed attendees’ entrepreneurial efforts of youth programs, resources and skills required for more women to participate fully, and tips for training and recruiting coaches from diverse backgrounds.
The Women in Soccer panel captured the spirit of the Leveling the Playing Field series. It shined a light on individuals who are blazing trails and opening doors for others in sports. Join us to continue the conversation at the next program in the series, Women in Basketball, coming in the fall of 2024.
To learn more about this event and other exciting museum programming last spring, check out our spring programming recap.
