“This is my charge to everyone: We have to be better. We have to love more, hate less. We gotta listen more and talk less. We gotta know that this is everybody’s responsibility. Every single person here. Every single person who’s not here. Every single person who doesn’t want to be here. Every single person who agrees and doesn’t agree. It’s our responsibility to make this world a better place. I think this team does an incredible job of taking that on our shoulders and understanding the position that we have and the platform that we have in this world. Yes, we play sports. Yes, we play soccer. Yes, we’re female athletes. But we’re so much more than that. You’re so much more than that! You’re more than a fan. You’re more than someone who just supports sports. You’re more than someone who tunes in every four years. You’re someone who walks these streets every single day. You interact with your community every single day. How do you make your community better? How do you make the people around you better? Your family, your closest friends, the 10 closest people to you, the 20 closest people to you, the 100 closest people to you. It’s every single person’s responsibility. We have to collaborate. It takes everybody. This is my charge to everybody: Do what you can. Do what you have to do. Step outside yourself. Be more, be better. Be bigger than you’ve ever been before. If this team is any representation of what you can be when you do that, please take this as an example. This group is incredible.”

— Megan Rapinoe