Why do I do what I do? To Inspire To EmpowerI am a professional athlete. The first thing that comes to most people minds when you think of a professional athlete is selfish, greedy and superficial. Unlike most professional athletes I use my recognition as a soccer player to inspire and empower young girls across the country to believe they too have the ability to compete and be as great as men are in the world of athletes. It wasn’t until I started playing soccer at UCLA that I realized how influential my soccer could be on young girls lives. Since then, at every game, I would try my best to never skip a fans autograph or go and speak to fans because I knew each girl I talked to I could potentially be encouraging her to play soccer or whatever that she desired. Once my soccer career at UCLA was over I was drafted in the new Women’s Professional Soccer league (WPS) and it was there where a few teammates and I started to become more involved in the community especially towards young women. My team plays at the University of Santa Clara but we travel throughout the bay area speaking and organizing soccer clinics for young kids. One of my favorite things I have done while playing was helped coach a U17 girl’s soccer team. Even though I spent a short amount of time with these girls, I felt like my involvement in their lives helped them become stronger women. Being a professional athlete, especially a woman athlete can be difficult because of all the criticism we encounter. But I hope with the success of the new soccer league and with the help of women athletes such as myself, that we can inspire and empower young girls to excel in all aspects of their lives.
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