Filed under: FIFA, International Soccer, Uncategorized, US Soccer, Womens Soccer | Tags: #equalpay, #equalpaynow, Morgan, Rapinoe, sports, Women's Soccer, Women's World Cup, World Cup Final
This is my blurry photo of Rapinoe’s greatness. You won’t need crisp edges to feel that unbounded joy and accomplishment.
Could you feel it? At home, or in the bar? Could you feel it in the upper decks of the stadium? This USWNT was different, and I didn’t fully feel it until they were right there in front of me. The relentless force of a group of women who refused to stop, refused to listen, refused to behave. They would not stop celebrating and be less than they are because their critics were made uncomfortable by their unabashed awesomeness. They kept scoring goals, and they mocked those who said they celebrated too much and then went right on celebrating.
They were clinically well planned out, and well coached through the entire tournament. Every team they faced was met with their own special branded Kryptonite. It didn’t matter what the opponent’s style of play was, Jill’s got an attack for that, and a team that would steal soul after soul with devastatingly beautiful touch.
But what I loved most about this team was how intensely they played their game as themselves. That’s what we tell our kids, right? Be yourself, do your best, stand up for others. Go dye your hair purple and bring home an armload of trophies. Never make yourself smaller because someone else can’t dream as big as you can. Go wear your shorts a little goofy and who cares if you look nothing like a professional soccer player. You go teach THEM what a championship soccer player looks like and make them regret they ever told you no when you streak down the field and bury it in the back of the net.
I could run for weeks on the focus in Alex Morgan’s eyes every time she ran toward us with the ball on her foot. Her look was a thousand years of silencing “smile more” dudes. It was absolutely terrifying and ferocious, and I will remember it forever. There are lessons in this team that I will love forever, and I’m gratefully inspired to live my life more relentlessly, authentically, my bodacious self for the rest of my days, and I hope you felt it too.
PS EQUAL PAY NOW!
Filed under: Uncategorized
Tanya and Mr. Tanya in Frankfurt, en route to Lyon, France for the Women’s World Cup Final.
I make my best mistakes in France. At the 98 World Cup, we accidentally bought a first class rail pass thanks to my complete lack of French language skills. I was broke and out of work, so it was money we didn’t have to spend, but it got us on trains with all the press, which led to my first soccer press gig of being the Midwest stringer photographer for San Francisco Bay Soccer. It got me field press access to the Chicago games of the 1999 Women’s World Cup and field access to a couple USMNT matches, and more than paid for itself.
This year, we purchased conditional semifinal and final tickets for the USWNT in France, not knowing if we’d be able to swing the trip for our family of five. When we looked this Spring, flights were over $1000 per person, and after my concussion related work setbacks for the past 14 months, we decided it was not in the cards. BUT NO ONE BOTHERED TO CANCEL OUR CONDITIONAL TICKETS.
You’d think that would be the first thing we’d do, right? Nope. We’ve been juggling our well established roles as my husband has been heroic in picking up the slack left by my post concussive syndrome unpredictability. Plus, he had purchased the tickets, but he had done it via my account, so the responsibilities for the tickets were a bit up in the air. By the time we realized what we had done, it was way past the deadline to turn the tickets back, and only hours away from the deadline to transfer the tickets to a friend.
Thank goodness for our Sammers Supporters Club family, who stepped up to help claim and sell our semifinal tickets. As we scrambled to deal with our mistake, I proposed an idea: what if instead of going through this again for the final, we planned to GO TO FRANCE and use/deal with the tickets ourselves?
By this time, we realized that 2/3 of our children had expired passports (peak parent fail), but at least that meant that we could only worry about two flights to Europe. This is why Mr. Tanya and I are so well matched as a couple: I come up with the crazy ideas like a last minute trip to France, he does the analysis and research for travel deals that make my wild dreams possible without bankruptcy. The Dude found round trip flight to Europe for under $700 a piece, which is a decent deal for Summer flights even if we had planned and a total bargain for a last minute trip.
48 hours later, I’m sitting in a hotel room in Frankfurt, getting ready for the trek to Lyon for my second Women’s World Cup Final!! (I was in the nosebleeds in 1999). Eternal gratitude for family that can watch our kiddos and kids that can drive themselves to camp (we can discuss the miracle that our 3 kids ages 4, 11, and 16 are all going to or working at the same camp later). Life is crazy as ever, but I’m enjoying the ride 100%.
Filed under: Uncategorized
I was working my way through concussion recovery. I did a power lifting competition in April (took 2nd place!) and I’d been working on the houses I’m rehabbing, going to soccer games as I could tolerate them, when I got an email via my first book, Passionate Soccer Love’s, website: “[pleasantries] In reading that you possess incredible passion for US Soccer and have written extensively about the sport, I thought you could be a potential author for a new book…”
Wait. What?
I’m still at the stage where I’m pleasantly surprised when people find my work. Even better when they like what they read. But as I continued to read the email about how they were interested in an author for a book aimed at MY SON’S age group, I was pretty much over the moon by the time I got through the first of three delicious paragraphs in this opening email.
Several weeks of video interviews, writing submissions, torturous waiting, contract negotiations, and copious anxiety later, my contract is signed, my editor has been met and is another soccer parent who is equally excited about the project, and my Summer is officially devoted to writing!
I’d love to have your thoughts in the comments. Who are the soccer stars, mostly current, but also people who changed the game, who you want to share with kids 10-14? I’m focusing mostly on the Men’s side (with the hopes of a Women’s side edition later) and particularly interested in players with inspiring stories or learning experiences attached to them.
This book is going to move pretty fast, so watch this space for updates!
Soccer....Family Style 