Gotham FC Influence on Equal Rights Movement for Women's Sports

Gotham FC has had a large influence on women's sports in the US. Through their inception and participation in the NWSL, they have given young girls a large group of role models to look up to. Moreover, they have created more opportunities for women to play at the highest level outside of their national team. In most cases, the national team only rosters 23-25 players. Therefore, the NWSL has created an abundance of opportunity for women to continue to play professional soccer if they are not awarded a spot on their country’s national team. Gotham FC was also a very active voice in the Equal Pay movement. Gotham FC’s very own Midge Purce was a large advocate and traveled to speak at the White House in 2021. She spoke about how women's soccer required more nurturement and attention to succeed. Her speech greatly contributed to the final decision to settle the equal pay lawsuit in 2022. 

This past year, they also launched a new soccer-based program focused on empowering young girls called “Keep Her in the Game.” This initiative was founded to combat the high rate of young girls that drop out of sports. According to their mission statement: “By age 14, girls drop out of sports at twice the rate of boys.” The purpose of this project is to train coaches and parents to enforce a growth and empowerment mindset for young female athletes. Their goal is to boost confidence and give girls more opportunities to excel in their chosen sport. They have partnered with 2 local teams in New Jersey and are encouraging coaches from around the world to sign up for their program.