This moment is about more than Korbin Albert

In the past few days, the social media activity and underlying beliefs of Korbin Albert - a 20-year-old midfielder for French Ligue 1 Femenin club Paris Saint-Germain who made five starts for the U.S. Women’s National Team at the recent CONCACAF W Gold Cup - have come under scrutiny.  To summarize:

• Albert publicly shared videos on TikTok of a sermon given in a Christian worship service that spoke to how being gay and feeling transgender is wrong.
• Over the Fourth of July weekend in 2023, Albert shared a video on TikTok in which she and her family take turns stating that their pronouns are “U.S.A.”
• Albert liked an Instagram post from a meme account that read “God taking time off performing miracles to make sure Megan Rapinoe sprains her ankle in her final ever game.”  Rapinoe, a U.S. Women’s National Team legend and an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, equal pay and racial justice, tore her Achilles tendon in her last professional match before retiring in November.

On Thursday, Rapinoe posted an Instagram story in response to Albert’s social media activity seeking to focus on the issues at hand and the implications the messages Albert shared have on the lives of others:

For people who want to hide behind “my beliefs” I would just ask one question, are you making any type of space safer, more inclusive, more whole, any semblance of better, bringing the best out of anyone? ….. because if you aren’t all you believe in is hate. And Kids are literally killing themselves because of this hate. Wake TF up! Yours Truly, #15.”

(Ironically, with Rapinoe retired Albert is now wearing #15 for the U.S. Women’s National Team.)

It would be easy to chalk this moment up as a young player (and person) - who from the looks of it has grown up in an evangelical, conservative environment - sharing her beliefs which then get caught in the public eye due to her rising prominence within the international soccer scene and dealing with the fallout of that including Rapinoe’s rebuke, issuing an apology via Instagram stories and facing the prospect of upset U.S. Women’s National Team fans and possibly teammates at next week’s SheBelieves Cup.

But to me, this moment goes beyond Albert, her individual beliefs and whatever the consequences - big or small … temporary or long-lasting - of her individual beliefs turns out to be.  Instead for me, this moment speaks to the question at the heart of Rapinoe’s response:

Are you making any type of space safer, more inclusive, more whole, any semblance of better, bringing out the best of anyone?

That’s a question for each of us not just in this moment, but every moment.

Our cultures, our religions and our economic systems can make it so easy to identify and label the “other” and from there to build walls that exclude.  This ultimately leads to hate and violence.  American history through our country’s present time provides example after example:

• The genocide of Indigenous peoples
• Slavery and the continued injustices facing African Americans
• The disempowerment, lesser pay and lack of bodily autonomy of women
• The discrimination of the LGBTQ+ community

Choosing this path of exclusion is the easy choice when you are a member of the “in” group.  It is much more difficult to open and hold space, and to include the “other” - first in your own heart and mind and then in your community.

Yes, this is the crossroads someone like Albert is standing at.  But it doesn’t stop with Albert.

The U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT) with a roster filled with young players and new leaders is standing at the same crossroads.  

The ’99 USWNT, who captured the country’s imagination in winning the Women’s World Cup, was known for their Mia Hamm girl-next-door vibes and “I will have two fillings” mindset of having your teammates’ backs.  The ’15 and ’19 USWNTs, who repeated as Women’s World Cup champions, extended this ethos beyond themselves to their fanbase and culture at large as several of those teams’ members spoke up for LQBTQ+ rights, equal pay and racial justice.

With those USWNT members now retired or at the tail end of their National Team careers, it’s time for the next generation of players to determine what the USWNT will now stand for and if it will continue to hold an inclusive mindset.

Then there is the U.S. Soccer Federation, the organization which oversees the U.S. Women’s National Team and governs soccer at the international, professional and amateur levels in the U.S.  

On April 8, U.S. Soccer will break ground on a new training center in Fayette County, Georgia.  The training center will be the home for the federation’s 27 national teams and will also serve as the organization’s headquarters, which are moving from Chicago to the Atlanta metro area.

While there are a number of positives in establishing a national training center, the decision to relocate its headquarters from Illinois to Georgia brings with it a reduction in rights for U.S. Soccer’s employees as the state of Georgia bans:

• The instruction of “divisive concepts” pertaining to race in the classroom
• Gender-affirming surgeries and hormone replacement therapies for transgender people younger than 18.
• Abortion after an embryonic heartbeat is detected, which usually occurs around 5-6 weeks of pregnancy.

The Georgia Senate also passed a bill on Tuesday that restricts transgender youth from locker rooms and from participating in sports that match their identity.  The bill now goes to the Georgia House.

U.S. Soccer’s announcement of Fayette County, Ga. as the location for its new National Training Center in December included the following:

In alignment with U.S. Soccer's vision to promote diversity, inclusion, equity and belonging and eliminate barriers both on and off the field, the Federation is committed to working with minority or women owned businesses.

While this is an admirable commitment, the funneling of dollars to minority or women owned businesses does not change the fact that the rights of U.S. Soccer employees will be curtailed in making this move.  Further, the implications of this relocation stand in contrast to U.S. Soccer’s vision to promote diversity, inclusion, equity and belonging and to eliminate barriers both on and off the field - another crossroads and something U.S. Soccer must now grapple with.

This question of whether to “other”, to exclude and to hate or to open space, to include and to love underlies individual, group, organizational, national and global decisions and issues.  It’s not just Albert or the USWNT or U.S. Soccer.

In some way, shape or form, we all stand at the crossroads.  Will we exclude or will we include?

Should Albert still come into the USWNT’s next camp for the SheBelieves Cup?

With Albert already called in for the USWNT training camp that opens early next week in preparation for the SheBelieves Cup, some fans are wondering if she should be removed from the roster in light of the above events.

My thoughts: No, she should not be removed.  Albert should still come into camp.

As Albert has apologized, it does no good to exclude her from the training camp.  It is better to include her and for her to participate in figuring out how she and the team move forward.  From there, it’s up to her, the coaching staff and U.S. Soccer to determine if and how much she pays in the SheBelieves Cup.  

The U.S. faces Japan in the SheBelieves Cup semifinals on Saturday, April 6 (12:30pm ET / 9:30am PT on TNT, Telemundo, Universo, Max & Peacock) and will take on either Brazil or Canada on Tuesday, April 9 (7pm ET / 4pm PT on TBS, Universo, Max & Peacock).

What to watch this weekend

NWSL

• Friday: San Diego Wave vs Seattle Reign FC, 10pm ET / 7pm PT on Prime Video.  It’s a re-match of last year’s semifinals which the Reign won to advance to the NWSL Championship Match.  The Wave are looking for their first ever victory over the Reign.
• Saturday: Bay FC vs Houston Dash, 10pm ET / 7pm PT on ION.  It’s been a big week for expansion side Bay FC.  The club announced this match, it’s inaugural home game, is a sellout of the 18,000 seat PayPal Park and also unveiled three new sponsors including Visa whose logo will be featured on the right sleeve of their jerseys.

Women’s March Madness

• Friday: 
  • NC State (#3) vs Stanford (#2), 7:30pm ET / 4:30pm PT on ESPN
  • Gonzaga (#4) vs Texas (#1), 10pm ET / 7pm PT on ESPN
• Saturday:
  • LSU (#3) vs UCLA (#2), 1pm ET / 10am PT on ABC
  • Colorado (#5) vs Iowa (#1), 3:30pm ET / 12:30pm PT on ABC
  • Baylor (#5) vs USC (#1), 5:30pm ET / 2:30pm PT on ESPN
  • Duke (#7) vs UCONN (#3), 8pm ET / 5pm PT on ESPN
• Sunday:
  • Elite Eight games will be played at 1pm ET / 10am PT and 3pm ET / 12pm PT with TV networks and matchups to be announced.
    • Oregon State (#3) has already clinched a spot in the Elite Eight with a 70-65 victory over Notre Dame (#2) and will face the winner of Indiana (#4) vs South Carolina (#1).
    • The winners of NC State (#3) vs Stanford (#2) and Gonzaga (#4) and Texas (#1) will also meet in the Elite Eight.