Addisyn Merrick was a breakout rookie for the NC Courage last year before she was recently selected first by Racing Louisville FC in the NWSL expansion draft. She recollects what it was like for her growing up as a black girl with aspirations of professional soccer. She remembers growing up watching pro women's soccer and seeing very few black women on the national stage.
Now that she's one of a growing population of black women on the American professional soccer stage, she says,
"It's my job to play and show girls we can do it too. Just being on the TV as a black girl is already such a big deal."
There is still a long way to go, and at all levels, there are real barriers that exist, particularly financially.
Olivia Hodison played four years of Division 1 soccer for the University of Missouri-Kansas City between 2014 and 2017. She remembers been the only person of color on her teams early on, especially as things became more competitive, which in the U.S. youth soccer culture often means more expensive.
"The prices to travel were more than an average family could afford. I think that is the main reason why there were fewer families of color on ECNL, MRL, etc., youth teams."
This financial barrier has kept minority communities out of more than just soccer for a long time, along with many other unjust obstacles that must be addressed.
Perhaps, what is most telling is that after a year like 2020 that exposed some of America's deepest racial scars, black athletes across all sports and countries stepped up to the challenge in using their voice and influence to advocate for change. One of those organizations is the Black Women's Player Collective.