Soccer-U.S. Soccer announces landmark $30 million donation for women's programme
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By Amy Tennery
NEW YORK, Nov 19 (Reuters) -Women's soccer mogul Michele Kang will gift $30 million to U.S. Soccer, the sport's national governing body said on Tuesday, the largest donation ever directed for the organisation's girls and women's programmes.
The donation over the next five years will help grow competitive opportunities for girls and professional development for female players, as well as women in coaching and referee roles.
"Michele Kang's gift will transform soccer for women and girls in the United States," U.S. Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone said in a statement. "It will impact generations of women and girls in our game."
The donation comes just months after the United States collected their fifth Olympic gold, a return to form for one of the most dominant teams following their disappointing showing at the 2023 Women's World Cup.
Kang, whose Washington Spirit will compete in the NWSL championship title match against the Orlando Pride this weekend, has emerged as one of the most influential owners in the sport since becoming majority owner of the D.C.-based team in 2022.
Last year she founded the first multi-team women's football organisation that also encompasses French club Olympique Lyonnais Feminin and English side London City Lionesses.
Kang said the investment would offer a holistic approach to talent development, doubling the number of national team camps and developing a digital talent identification platform to ensure "no talented player is overlooked."
She said the U.S. cannot maintain dominance without major changes to their youth system, which she compared unfavourably to those in England and France, even as the sport surges in popularity in the states.
"(NWSL owners) all came in specifically to invest and grow this sport and we have been doing that. So the results are, I have to say, pretty spectacular in terms of just viewership growing, the attendance growing," she told reporters in New York.
"But this is not going to be permanent unless the entire sort of the pyramid structure and the ecosystem is there."
Her investment will also go towards developing more licensed female coaches, with the goal to double the number from 40,000 to 80,000 in the United States, and training more female referees.
"Women's sports have been undervalued and overlooked for far too long," Kang said.
"I am committed to raising the standard of excellence in women’s soccer -- both on and off the pitch -- by delivering the resources female athletes need to reach their full potential."
Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York
Editing by Christian Radnedge and Toby Davis
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