Megan Rapinoe

When the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT) captivated the world during the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, Megan Rapinoe, the team’s co-captain, was front and center both on and off the pitch.

The Olympic gold medalist, two-time Olympian and two-time FIFA World Cup champion, is a driving force for change. It was during the lead up to the tournament, the spirited matches in France, the highly-debated goal celebrations, and the animated media scrums where Rapinoe cemented her legacy as one of the greatest soccer players to ever play for the USWNT and champion for equal rights.

Heading into the 2019 FIFA World Cup, all eyes were on the USWNT after the team filed a wage-discrimination lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation. The stakes were high. When the tournament kicked off, the athletes were motivated to win, and fans around the world were inspired.

Rapinoe and her teammates rose to the occasion, leaving their mark on the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. With six goals and three assists in seven games, Rapinoe was awarded the Golden Ball as the most outstanding player at the World Cup, while also earning the Golden Boot as the tournament’s top scorer. She scored the team’s only two goals against Spain in the round of 16 and went on to do the same against France in the quarterfinals.

While the World Cup may have provided the biggest stage for Rapinoe to shine, her performance in France followed an impressive season in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), during which she played for the Reign FC in Seattle. During the 2018 season, she scored seven goals with six assists, finishing fourth in the league for assists. She was also named the July NWSL Forward of the Month and announced as the 2018 NWSL Best XI. In addition, Rapinoe helped win the 2018 CONCACAF Women’sChampionship with the USA.

Rapinoe’s reach goes far beyond sport. From the “U-S-A! Equal pay!” chant that permeated the sold-out stadiums to the team’s on‐field statements and the all-out celebration of female athletes with a ticker tape parade through New York City, Rapinoe continues to be at the helm of the conversation.

The Players of the WNBA

For their bold courage and unity in the face of some of the most turbulent times in this country’s history, the Players of the WNBA have shown grace, poise and power in an unconventional 2020 season by dedicating themselves and their season to social justice and racial equality. For their strength, unity and bravery, the Players of the WNBA as a collective are this year’s Wilma Rudolph Courage Award recipient, to be awarded at the Women’s Sports Foundation annual Salute to Women in Sports livestream event on October 14. The Players of the WNBA are joining a long list of accomplished past honorees that includes Marta Vieira da Silva, Caster Semenya and Tatyana McFadden. The award will be presented during the live broadcast 2020 Annual Salute to Women in Sports on October 14 at 8 PM ET.

In early July, just a few weeks before the teams entered the ‘Wubble’ at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., for their shortened season, the league and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association announced The WNBA Justice Movement and the creation of the WNBA/WNBPA Social Justice Council, setting the stage for a bold, first-of-its-kind commitment from the players to advocating for social justice.

In a league that is comprised of 80% Black women, players utilizing their voices and platforms is nothing new. WNBA players have historically been at the forefront of issues they are passionate about and have been unapologetically themselves as they continue to speak out about issues facing the LGTBQ+ community, racial and gender equality and mass incarceration, among other causes.

Though the season is dedicated to the Black Lives Matter and Say Her Name campaigns, the mission of the Social Justice Council — led by players like WSF Ambassador Layshia Clarendon, Breanna Stewart, A’ja Wilson, Satou Sabally, Tierra Ruffin-Pratt and Sydney Colson — is to be a driving force of necessary and continuing conversations about race, voting rights, LGBTQ+ advocacy and gun violence, as well as other societal issues.

The players have taken the initiative and put it into action. “Black Lives Matter” shirts are worn during warm-ups at every game — Clarendon’s New York Liberty have also worn “Black Trans Lives Matter” shirts — and players’ jerseys display Breonna Taylor’s name to “seek justice for women and girls who have been the forgotten victims of police brutality and racial violence.” Also, a moment of silence and remembrance is held before each game to honor Black women who have been killed as a result of the systemic, race-based violence that is the center of the Black Lives Matter movement.

In addition to the league-wide initiatives, teams and individual players have begun their own movements. The Indiana Fever players led the #Rebounds4Change campaign as a fundraiser for fans to donate to social justice causes for each rebound this season. The Atlanta Dream, Phoenix Mercury and Chicago Sky wore “Vote Warnock” shirts to support the Senate campaign of Raphael Warnock in Georgia, who is running against Dream owner Kelly Loeffler, an outspoken opponent of the Black Lives Matter movement. Maya Moore, Natasha Cloud, Renee Montgomery and others have taken the bold step of opting out of the season, in effect pausing their WNBA careers, to fight for social justice off the court. Further, several players, including Candace Parker, Devereaux Peters, Jonquel Jones, Wilson and Clarendon have penned pieces in The Players’ Tribune about their experiences as Black women in this country, and others such as Katie Lou Samuelson, Elena Delle Donne and Natalie Achonwa have publicly spoken out about their struggles with health, both mental and physical.

In 2020, the Players of the WNBA have set the bar for other professional sports leagues — men’s and women’s — looking to add their voices to the momentum around combatting police brutality and race-based oppression.

Ursula Burns

After an influential career in which she demonstrated a commitment to diversity while breaking down barriers for the next generation of women leaders, Ursula Burns, retired Chairman and CEO of Xerox Corporation and VEON, Ltd., is the 2020 Billie Jean King Leadership Award recipient. The award will be presented at the Women’s Sports Foundation 2020 Salute to Women in Sport event on October 14.

Burns, the first Black woman to head a Fortune 500 company, has spent her extraordinary career breaking down barriers for the next generation of women leaders and advocating for gender and racial diversity in major companies.

Burns joined the Xerox Corporation as an intern in 1980 and spent most of her career with the company, rising to Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, roles in which she served from 2010-2017 and 2009-2016, respectively. She had held additional leadership roles in the company spanning corporate services, manufacturing and product development. As CEO, Burns led the company’s transformation from a global leader in document technology to the world’s most diversified business services company serving enterprises and governments of all sizes.

Since Burns retired from Xerox in 2016, there have been no other Black women and only four Black men Fortune 500 CEOs – a clear paucity of diversity at the highest echelons of corporate America, and the impetus for Burns’ continued advocacy for more women and Black voices at the table. She also helped launch The WomanMakers initiative, an outgrowth of The HistoryMakers, the nation’s largest African American video oral history collection.

Burns, who regularly appears on Fortune’s and Forbes’ list of the world’s most powerful women, is a board director of Exxon Mobil, Nestlé and Uber. U.S. President Barack Obama appointed her to help lead the White House national program on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) from 2009-2016, and she served as. Chair of the President’s Export Council from 2015-2016 after service as vice chair from 2010-2015. In 2008, Burns was also named to the U.S. Olympic Committee’s Board of Directors.

Applying her knowledge and expertise beyond the C-Suite, Burns also provides leadership counsel to several community, educational and nonprofit organizations including the Ford Foundation, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Corporation, Cornell Tech Board of Overseers, the New York City Ballet, and the Mayo Clinic, among others. She is a member of the National Academy of Engineers and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Burns is the 51^st recipient of the Billie Jean King Leadership Award, which recognizes an individual or group who demonstrates outstanding leadership and makes significant contributions to the advancement of women through achievements in sport and the workplace.

Bruce Arians

Under the leadership of head coach Bruce Arians, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers franchise has grown into one of the most inclusive and diverse organizations in the NFL. At its helm, Arians has fostered inclusion not just on the field — where he has assembled the most gender diverse coaching staff in the league — but also at the grassroots level, where he leads the organization in creating opportunities in football for girls in the Tampa Bay area and across the country.

Hired in January 2019 after serving as the Arizona Cardinals head coach from 2013-2017, Arians was quick to bring the same culture he had created in Arizona to Tampa Bay. While with the Cardinals, Arians made history by hiring Dr. Jen Welter, the first woman to coach in the NFL, as a training camp and preseason coaching intern.

With the Buccaneers, Arians has taken his commitment to progress even further. Under his team mentorship and the organization’s leadership, Tampa Bay became the first in NFL history to hire two female coaches in full-time assistant roles — Maral Javadifar and Lori Locust serve as assistant strength and conditioning and assistant defensive line coaches, respectively. Additionally, the Buccaneers recently hired Jacqueline Davidson as director of football research, further diversifying the team’s front office staff.

Throughout his career, Arians has held the belief that everyone deserves a seat at the table, and that it is well past time to dismantle the diversity problem in NFL coaching, which has historically been largely occupied by white men. Case in point, the Buccaneers are the only NFL franchise to have three coordinator positions, as well as the role of assistant head coach, filled by minority coaches.

Arians’ influence also extends to the grassroots level, where he is ensuring that the next generation of girls grow up in a world in which they are welcomed in the traditionally male-dominated sport of football. This year, the Buccaneers hosted the second annual Girls High School Flag Football Preseason Classic, the largest girls flag football competition in the country. The team has also implemented girls flag football curriculum into local communities, including establishing the Jr. Buc’s Girl’s Flag Football League to help grow the game at the youth level.

Arians’ coaching accolades speak for themselves. He is a two-time Associated Press NFL Coach of the Year, earning the award in 2012 (Indianapolis Colts) and in 2014 (Arizona Cardinals). He is the only coach in NFL history to earn the award multiple times in a three-year span with different teams, and is one of only 12 coaches in NFL history to win the award multiple times.

Arians joins John Burke, the president and CEO of Trek Bicycle Corporation, as the two recipients of the Women’s Sports Foundation Champion for Equality award, which began in 2019.

Claressa Shields, Boxing — USA

Claressa Shields continues to make history in 2019. At arguably the biggest women’s boxing bout of all time, the 24-year-old American emerged as the first undisputed women’s middleweight boxing world champion in the sport’s history, beating Germany’s Christina Hammer in Atlantic City, N.J., on April 13, 2019. Following her victory, she became one of the only seven boxers to simultaneously hold all four major world titles in boxing (IBF, WBA, WBO and WBC) in addition to claiming the inaugural Ring Magazine female middleweight title.

Shields’ professional career record is nine wins and no losses with two victories by knockout. In the last 12 months she not only notched three wins and remained undefeated, but also became world champion in her second weight division. She kept a remarkable professional winning streak as she entered 2019 after being named to the USA Boxing Alumni Association’s Hall of Fame in August 2018 and the Boxing Writers Association of America Female Fighter of the Year in December 2018.

These historic accomplishments have earned her the 2019 Sportswoman of the Year, becoming the first two-time recipient of the award since 1995. Shields was previously honored in 2016.

Shields became the first American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in boxing at the 2012 Olympic Games, where for the first time the 10 men’s boxing events were joined by three women’s events: flyweight, lightweight and middleweight. Four years later, Shields won a second gold medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. She is the only American — male or female — to win back-to-back gold medals in boxing. Shields is also a two-time World Championship gold medalist and a Pan American gold medalist.

Shields points out that she has had strong influences who helped guide her along the way, and she has never let circumstances dictate her actions. The first member of her family to graduate from high school, her story of overcoming adversity to become the greatest female boxer in the world fuels her advocacy work in her hometown of Flint, Mich., and her passion to inspire more girls to participate in sports.

At age 19, Team USA’s Lucy Deslauriers is making a name for herself as a world-class show jumper – with the help of Hester, her beloved 14-year-old Belgian gelding. Being an equestrian athlete is a longstanding family tradition. Her Quebec-born father Mario Deslauriers, 54, represented Canada at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics, and is still riding. If everything goes perfectly, these two could compete against each other at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

We caught up with Deslauriers just before she took part in the Longine FEI Jumping Nations Cup of Canada at Langley’s Thunderbird Show Park on June 2. Facing experienced riders from Canada, Ireland, Israel, and Mexico, this University of Pennsylvania student, who hails from New York City, helped the U.S. qualify for the Nations Cup final in Barcelona in October. Deslauriers will also serve as the traveling reserve to the U.S. team at the Pan American Games in Lima in August.

WSF: What are your personal career highlights so far?

LD: Last year, I was selected for a number of Nations Cups on the senior team. I travelled to Dublin with the U.S., as well as competing at the Spruce Meadows Masters. Also, I competed at the Nations Cup final in Barcelona last year too and had a pretty strong performance. So I think those were some of the things I’m most proud of.

WSF: If asked, why would you recommend show jumping to other young women?

LD: First of all, the bond with the horse. The fact that we get to compete alongside these amazing animals is something you can’t replicate in any other sport, especially at an Olympic level. Also, there’s a lot to be said for getting to compete against men at the same level, especially in today’s day and age. I think that’s really empowering and important for young girls. And there’s a huge age range. I’m probably the youngest at this horse show, but when you get out there, we all have the same job.

WSF: How does it feel to compete against your dad?

LD: It’s so much fun. I’m really lucky. He’s taught me almost everything I know in this sport. I grew up traveling with him and my mom Lisa, as they both competed at the Nations Cup level and various championships around the world. So I saw firsthand what it was like for them. To be able to do it against him now is definitely a dream come true. We’re both fierce competitors, but it adds to the fun when we get to do it against each other.

WSF: What do you do for health and fitness besides riding?

LD: I think more and more, you’re seeing the top equestrians really focusing on fitness and health. So I take different Pilates classes. I like to box. I have a trainer when I’m home in New York City, and we work on interval training. I do all sorts of workout classes. Sometimes I go for a run or do stuff in the gym by myself. I just make sure that I’m feeling fit and strong and eating well. I am a pescatarian, so I don’t eat any meat. It’s a very plant-based diet for strength and overall health.

WSF: What would it mean to you to compete in Tokyo next year?

LD: It’s a huge dream of mine. I’ve watched probably all the Olympics since I was born! It would mean everything. Obviously, it would be surreal to happen for me at this age. At the same time, we’re lucky that you can do this sport for a really long time. Even if it doesn’t happen, there are more dreams and there are more Olympics down the road.

Lucas Aykroyd is a member of the WSF Digital Contributor Team. His work has appeared in publications that include the New York Times.

On April 27, 2019, the Women’s Sports Foundation, ESPN Women’s Group and SOMOS volunteers combined forces to host a basketball clinic for 60 girls from our Sports 4 Life community program, Hispanic Coalition. WSF President and three-time Olympic medalist in bobsled Elana Meyers Taylor, WSF Athlete Ambassador and WNBA All-Star Layshia Clarendon, ESPN Reporter and Host Jen Lada and Waterbury Police Detective Andréa Saunders made up our stand-out panel prior to the clinic.

At age 24, Lee Stecklein has accomplished more than many people do in a lifetime. Playing defense for the U.S. national women’s ice hockey team, she won a gold medal in her second Winter Olympics last year in PyeongChang, South Korea. It was the first U.S. gold since the inaugural 1998 Olympic women’s hockey tournament. Stecklein’s average ice time of 22:27 per game led the team.

Captaining the Minnesota Whitecaps in the team’s first NWHL season, Stecklein also scored the overtime winner against the Buffalo Beauts in the 2019 Isobel Cup final. The Roseville, Minn. native has also won three NCAA championships with the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers and four straight IIHF Women’s World Championships. We chatted with her during the U.S.’s quest to five-peat at the Women’s Worlds in Espoo, Finland, in which she has helped the Americans qualify for the semifinal match after a 4-0 win over Japan earlier today.

WSF: What is the most important reward that Olympic gold medal gave you?

LS: Knowing we were growing women’s hockey overall was incredibly important to all of us. Being able to bring it back to our communities was really important, too. And accomplishing it with our special group – it was a long year of training together, so to have that pay off in the end was incredibly exciting.

WSF: How do you feel playing sports and being physically active has benefited you?

LS: Being physically active has been a huge part of my life. I’ve learned so much from sports in general. I think it’s really important that girls stay in sports. I saw a statistic from the Women’s Sports Foundation that girls are dropping out at twice the rate by the age of 14. And I just can’t imagine where I would be without hockey or soccer or any of those things in my life. I’ve learned a lot of lessons, and I have a lot of great friends through sports. It’s something I hope to keep in my life. I feel grateful to have had those opportunities.

WSF: During the NWHL All-Star Weekend in Nashville, Tenn., you spoke at the Play Like A Girl summit, along with other female athletes and executives, before girls aged 13 to 17. What was your message?

LS: Stay in sports for as long as you can. Learn as much as you can from them. The on-ice or on-court or whatever stuff you’re doing is important, but you’re learning so many other lessons. Just be open to those. Ask questions, and keep pushing yourself each and every day. It was really exciting to see the girls there. They had to sign up, and they were clearly engaged to listen to the panel.

WSF: Who are your heroes in hockey and in life?

LS: Someone who’s been a role model for me in both areas has been [two-time Women’s Worlds silver medalist and Whitecaps veteran] Winny Brodt. Growing up, she was someone I watched. She played at Roseville High School and for the Gophers, and then played with the U.S. national team. So as someone who had grown up right near me, who had a niece my age that I grew up playing with, Winny had a career that I always followed. She really gave back to the community. She’s still coaching and helping girls’ hockey in Minnesota today. Just to see how she used her career to help others is something I find inspiring.

WSF: Some people might see your hockey resume and say you’ve already done it all. What do you feel like you have left to accomplish?

LS: In this sport, I think we can always keep striving to make it better overall, to keep improving the level of women’s hockey. We’re doing amazing things, and I’d like us to continue to show that to the world. And then, to keep playing in gold medal games for as long as I can!

Lucas Aykroyd is a member of the WSF Digital Contributor Team. His work has appeared in publications that include the New York Times.

When Maddie Rooney headed to the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, she was a relatively unknown 20-year-old hockey goalie. By the time the Winter Games ended, the University of Minnesota-Duluth (UMD) Bulldogs star had become a household name.

Rooney made the iconic, deciding save in the gold-medal shootout versus four-time defending champion Canada. It came against 2010 Olympic MVP Meghan Agosta. It was the first Olympic women’s hockey gold medal for America since the inaugural 1998 tournament in Nagano, Japan.

This Andover, Minnesota native is just getting started. Rooney was honored as WSF’s Team Sportswoman of the Year at the 39th Annual Salute to Women in Sports awards gala  on October 17 in New York. We caught up with her at the 2018 Four Nations Cup in Saskatoon, Canada, where the U.S. earned its fourth straight title with a 5-2 win over the host Canadians on November 10.

WSF: What did it mean to receive the Team Sportswoman of the Year Award from the Women’s Sports Foundation?

Maddie: Just to be nominated for that meant so much to me. I was up against so many incredible athletes, and to go to the event was a super-humbling experience, with all those elite athletes coming together. We worked with young girls there the day before the event. To hear Billie Jean King speak both early in the day and at the event, it was so cool to be part of.

WSF: How has the Olympic gold medal changed your life?

Maddie: I guess I never really saw myself being on Jimmy Fallon or Ellen or all those crazy things we experienced! But again, it’s just been so humbling. Now, with the start of a new Olympic quadrennial, it’s about getting focused on the team again.

WSF: WSF strongly advocates for scholarships for female athletes. How has your UMD scholarship affected your ability to excel?

Maddie: Getting a scholarship has changed my life and given me the opportunity to play for Team USA. It’s given me so many life lessons, like time management and communication, that I can carry with me throughout my life, not just in the game of hockey, but outside as well.

WSF: What can you say about the importance of girls participating in sports for health, confidence, and leadership ability?

Maddie: When I was young, I participated in many different sports. That was huge for me to develop those skills and get involved with the community. I met some of my best friends. I think that’s just part of the development. It helps you be the best version of yourself.

WSF: Team USA has other top-notch goalies, including Alex Rigsby, who helped the U.S. win the 2015 and 2016 World Championship gold medal games, and Nicole Hensley, who won the 2017 World Championship final. What kind of relationship do you have with them?

Maddie: It’s all based on support of each other, and you’ve got to have fun with each other. You obviously compete too, but we’re all working for the same goal.

It’s given me so many life lessons, like time management and communication, that I can carry with me throughout my life, not just in the game of hockey, but outside as well.

WSF: In 2017, your national team famously announced it would boycott the Women’s Worlds in Plymouth, Michigan unless it received equitable treatment from USA Hockey. Ultimately, a deal was struck. What was that like?

Maddie: I was new to the team, and being told that we were looking at sitting out the tournament wasn’t ideal. But it was really powerful that we all stood together. I was proud to be part of that team. What we accomplished set a baseline for women’s hockey and women’s sports in general.

WSF: How optimistic are you that women’s hockey players will soon get the opportunity to earn a living in a unified top pro league?

Maddie: I think it’s really going to develop within the next two years, and I’m excited to see what opportunities I have once I graduate. It’s great to see how far it’s come.

Lucas Aykroyd is a member of the WSF Digital Contributor Team. His work has appeared in publications that include the New York Times.