On Oct. 21, members of the DU community had the privilege of listening to an inspiring lecture from soccer legend Abby Wambach. The lecture was a part of the re-defining Mental Health Series presented by the Department of Psychology and one of Denver’s homecoming festivities.
Wambach is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and FIFA World Cup Champion. However, since her retirement, Wambach has focused her energy on activism. As a co-founder of Wolfpack Endeavor and a recent New York Times bestseller, Wambach is working to revolutionize leadership development for women through her “champion mindset, individualized coaching and team-bound focus.”
Although the event was originally planned to be an in-person lecture, the pandemic required a virtual setting instead. However, it was still highly anticipated and attracted over 1600 registrants, a number that would not have been possible without an online platform.
Early in her presentation, Wambach described the moment that catalyzed her activist endeavors. In 2016, she had the honor of receiving the ESPY Icon Award alongside superstars Kobe Bryant and Peyton Manning. While receiving this award, Wambach describes being filled with nothing but gratitude. However, after the ceremony, this emotion turned into rage. As she walked off-stage, Wambach realized that while she was concerned about finding a job to pay her mortgage, her counterparts had nothing to worry about except how they would spend their extensive income.
Wambach continued by emphasizing that being grateful in a situation like this “is the only emotion women are allowed.” After coming to this realization on the night of the ESPYs, Wambach promised herself no future female soccer player following in her footsteps would share that experience.
Wambach also discussed sports-related mental health issues, using personal and entertaining anecdotes to further explore these issues with concrete evidence for her encouragement. She emphasized the importance of recognizing failure, comparing it to “a muscle that you have to cultivate.” Even the top athletes in the world have to fail in order to improve.
To current college athletes going through such unprecedented times, Wambach highlighted the importance of dedication. Wambach stated that now, it is up to athletes to maintain the right mindset and continue to improve.
Wambach used her time on the U.S. Women’s National Team to demonstrate the importance of teamwork. As one of the top goal scorers in USWNT history, Wambach has plenty of experience putting the ball in the net. However, in her words, she “never scored a single goal without the help of the teammates.” Her time on the USWNT was spent competing with her other teammates, not against them.
Wambach stated that historically, women have been pitted against each other all their lives to keep patriarchal power structures in place. However, it is up to women in sports and beyond to stick beside each other and not to let the fear of others take over.
Wambach’s message of unifying teamwork relates directly to her activist organization called Wolfpack Endeavour. Its name comes from the idea that to overcome the challenges the world presents, women need to find their “pack.”
These ideals are coming to life in the new National Women’s Soccer League team, Angel City FC, who will begin play in 2022. The team was born when a couple of years ago, Natalie Portman called Wambach with a proposition for a new approach to professional team leadership. Wambach immediately hopped on board. Wambach and Natalie then worked together to create the new Angel City FC with this new form of leadership in mind. Angel City FC will have a majority female investor group and be owned by former USWNT players, putting women in leadership roles behind the scenes. This is a major step towards equality in female sports, as most of the people currently controlling women’s sports are male.
Wambach concluded her motivating lecture with an eye-opening comparison. She compared the world to a baseball stadium, where men start on third base and women start all the way outside in the ticket-line. The men are given millions of dollars to enter, while women are expected to catch up.
Wambach had an empowering message for Denver’s community. To all viewers, she stressed that gain requires discomfort, encouraging them to run head-on into their heartbreaks and refuse to back down in the face of hardship. It is only then, when everyone runs in together as a pack, that we can grow and bring change.
