A FORCE ON AND OFF THE FIELD
When Alex Morgan was selected to her fourth World
Cup roster last month, the celebrity who announced her name was Taylor Swift.
That was fitting. Not only because the two stars — six months apart in age — are friendly, but because their careers have followed a similar trajectory.
Swift was underestimated in her early years. Few could have envisioned the teen idol becoming one of the most powerful forces in the entertainment world.
Morgan’s evolution has been almost as remarkable. In 2011, pink-ribboned, coltish and fresh out of Cal, she was the baby of the U.S. World Cup team. An immediate hit with little girls, who adopted her pink headband, she didn’t seem much older than her fans, deferring to her elders, answering questions sweetly but perfunctorily, with little depth.
Three World Cup cycles and a dozen years later, Morgan, 34, is an unquestioned force, team leader and captain, proudly raising a daughter and serving as a world-class goal scorer on the field and a powerful global advocate for women off it.
“I would like to be remembered for fighting for gender equality,” Morgan said when asked about her legacy. “For being relentless and wanting to be the best. For carving a path for the next generation of young girls.”
Alex Morgan et al. v. United States Soccer Federation, Inc.
changed the conversation in women’s sports. And the battle, with Morgan’s name listed as lead plaintiff, changed her legacy forever.
The case began as a wage discrimination claim filed in 2016 with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission by Morgan and fellow national team members Hope Solo, Megan Rapinoe, Carly Lloyd and Becky Sauerbrunn. It evolved into a lawsuit against U.S. Soccer on behalf of the entire team, filed in 2019, just three months before the team set out to defend its World Cup championship in France.
After many twists and turns — and resounding cries of “Equal Pay!” from the team’s fans — the case was settled in February 2022. The players will receive $24 million, mostly in back pay, and a guarantee of equal pay for the U.S. women’s and men’s teams going forward. Progress has also included equal travel arrangements, per diems, and staffs for training and coaching.
“Some of the players who are new on the team now are never going to experience inequalities as a professional athlete under U.S. Soccer,” Morgan said. “We just got our first settlement check in the mail a week ago. Naomi (Girma) was joking that she didn’t get one.
“I was like, be grateful you don’t. You just get equal.”
The six-year battle took a toll on Morgan and the other veterans. Who wants to sue an employer and then go try to win a championship for them? Who wants to sit in bargaining sessions and be torn down by their bosses, then don the uniform?
But the players leaned into it, Morgan in particular. She found her voice and power in the battle. Weeks before the 2019 World Cup, she said, “We have to do more in general. We have to be the athlete, we have to be the role model, we have to lead the way for the next generation. Are male athletes doing that? Are they thinking about anyone other than themselves? I don’t know. We do have more than one job within this role and are getting paid much less.”
Morgan had no problem taking stands. While her teammate Rapinoe made global headlines for her feud with then-President Donald Trump, Morgan was also outspoken against his policies and said she wouldn’t go to the White House if invited. After she caused a stir by pretending to sip tea after scoring a goal against England, she clapped back with, “You see men celebrating all around the world in big tournaments, grabbing their sacks or whatever it is. … I kind of laugh to see all the criticism.”
During the lengthy and awkward fight with her employer, Morgan played professionally in Orlando, won another World Cup, was bounced early in one Olympics and won bronze in another, racked up endorsements and millions of Instagram followers, played in France, played in England, moved back to the West Coast and — in 2020 — had a baby girl, Charlie, born three months into the pandemic.
That milestone has given Morgan even more insight into the battles female athletes have to fight.
“I have fought hard for female athletes to get the support and resources we need to be able to continue to stay on top of our game after having children,” she said. “We have three moms on the World Cup roster. I think that’s the most we’ve ever had. That’s a testament to the support that we’ve gotten.”
Morgan plays for NWSL’s
San Diego Wave, a move she requested so she could be closer to family and her hometown of
Diamond Bar (Los Angeles County). That was where she played a variety of sports as a child, following her older sisters’ lead. She didn’t begin to play club soccer until she was
14, ancient by some standards. But she was impressive enough to earn a scholarship to Cal.
There, despite regular absences due to youth national team commitments, she led the team in scoring and led the Bears to four straight NCAA tournaments. She got her degree in political economy a semester early, in December 2010, a month after her goal against Italy helped the U.S. team qualify for the 2011 World Cup.
Cal was where she met her husband Servando Carrasco when both were freshman soccer players. Carrasco had a nine-year career in MLS. After crisscrossing the country together chasing their professions, the couple have settled in Encinitas (San Diego County), where their daughter likes to beachcomb for seashells.
Last week, Morgan was named co-captain of the U.S. team with Lindsey Horan, a natural progression.
“My leadership on this team has changed based on my experience and my comfortability in the environment and in big moments,” Morgan said. “I’m just hoping to make the biggest impact for this team on and off the field. I want to be on the field as much as possible, but I also want to be able to show the younger players, who have not been in a major tournament, what to expect, where the pressure is going to come from.
Why we need to stick together.”
Over her career, Morgan has learned the value of sticking together and of speaking out. This World Cup will be historic, with the most teams, the best competition and projected to have the highest attendance and revenue.
“My time on the national team from 2010 to now, it’s a complete 180,” Morgan said.
A bit like her own presence: the evolution of Alex Morgan.