Young Players And Their Coaches Watch Women's World Cup, Battle For Equal Pay

The U.S. women’s soccer team and the U.S. Soccer Federation have agreed to enter mediation over an equal pay lawsuit that the team filed earlier this year. The traditional pay gap between men and women players in professional soccer has been a long-standing issue — one even the youngest players understand.

WGBH News visited the Crimson Soccer School, a week-long camp for girls on Harvard University’s soccer field. Nine-year-old Clara Hamblin practiced her skills, running and dribbling the black-and-white ball until she kicked it into the goal.

“I love that it’s so fun and that you get to run around a lot and play with friends,” Hamblin said.

Hamblin wants to play in the Women’s World Cup one day. She was impressed watching the United States team in this year's international tournament in France.

“They have their own style of doing things,” Hamblin said. “It encourages me to do better in soccer.”

Since the tournament started in early June, Hamblin and her teammates have watched religiously.

There is plenty of excitement surrounding the games, but there’s also a more serious battle going on: the battle for equal pay.

This year, the women’s team is competing for $30 million in prize money. That’s just 7.5 percent of the prize money for the men’s World Cup.

“I feel like women work harder than men,” camp attendee Lainey Maldonado, also 9, explained. “Also, they don’t get paid as much, which is really unfair.”

For the camp's coaches, the World Cup matches mean better representation for women in sports, even amid the fight for equal wages.

“Honestly, it’s like an out of body experience,” coach Arin Smalls said. “I remember being young and watching and really idolizing the players that I was watching.”

Smalls, who is African-American, said it’s not just seeing women on the field — it is who they represent.

“I know growing up I was the only African-American girl on most of my teams,” Smalls said. “So seeing people on the USA team that are black that are excelling means everything to me, really.”

In June, players agreed to enter mediation over a lawsuit they filed in March seeking pay equal to what the men’s team receives.

The lawsuit is something coach Gaby Carreiro said is one way to try and make the playing field fair.

“We’ve struggled with this for many years, with equal pay for women, especially with soccer.” Carreiro told WGBH News. “If we can achieve the same thing that they are doing, why is it not the same?”