Brandi Chastain’s goal: Get girls involved in soccer. She assists with new initiative
Brandi Chastain is well known for scoring the game-winning penalty kick in 1999 to give the United States its second World Cup championship.
Chastain is shooting for a new goal: giving back and help to mentor girls and women’s soccer players.
In 2005, Chastain co-founded the Bay Area Women’s Sports Initiative that helps serves elementary school students throughout Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. She played for the Sacramento-based California Storm in 2010 and now serves on the team’s board of directors.
On Thursday morning in Oak Park, Street Soccer USA Sacramento, UC Davis Health and the California Storm teamed up for the Ladies First Initiative that has a goal to ensure voices in the Sacramento community, especially girls and minorities, are not just heard, but elevated. The program’s plan for the first year will be to engage more than 500 girls and young women between the ages of 6 and 24.
The initiative includes three key components: UC Davis Health-branded California Storm jerseys which were released at the press conference, a dynamic girls’ after-school program in Oak Park and a compelling mentorship program between the California Storm and Street Soccer USA.
“I’m impressed that during this time when there are so many things going on that people are worrying about, that people have taken a pause to say we need to still continue with programming like this for young people because we understand the health benefit,” Chastain said. “We understand the emotional benefit and community benefit. As a soccer person, I get the soccer benefit. It’s multi-layered. It’s not just about soccer and it’s not just about UC Davis. I think it’s encompassing everything that a community should stand for.
“As a proud Northern California resident, I think we do things well. I want this community to be an example to other communities and the things that they can do.”
Also speaking at a news conference Thursday were Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, City Councilmen Steve Hansen and Jay Schenirer, UC Davis Medical Center interim CEO Brad Simmons, SUSA Managing Director Lisa Wrightsman and board members Tiffany Frasier and Jamie Howard-Levoy.
“As both a Street Soccer Sacramento leader and a program alum, I can speak directly to the impact of our program and its ability to change lives,” Wrightsman said in a statement. “I am truly proud of the program we have built, with over 90 percent of our participants improving key social-emotional learning skills; skills that change lives and help young girls as athletes and students.”
Everyone who spoke Thursday delivered the same sentiment — this partnership is good for soccer and the future of women’s sports in Sacramento.
“Today’s announcement is a perfect example of how public/private partnerships are beneficial and essential in our communities. With partnerships like this, we can build not just soccer parks, but we can build communities,” Steinberg said in the release. “This program is a pipeline for the future success of girls in our neighborhoods. By using soccer as a tool, it provides role models for these girls so they can successfully continue their education and build their careers here in Sacramento.”
“Soccer is integral to the way we think about building community,” the mayor said at the conference. “There’s nothing more prominent for me than to see Lisa (Wrightsman) and Tiffany (Frasier) and your team, your passion and commitment to making sure this wonderful international sport is played by everyone who wants to in our community.”
Republic FC is also helping youth soccer
Last year, Republic FC launched a campaign called #Watchme. The campaign focuses on three pivotal aspects of women’s inclusion in sports – train, lead and inspire.
“Watch Me: Lead” and “Watch Me: Inspire” also supports leadership from women on and off the field by providing resources for women coaches to attain U.S. soccer coaching certifications. According to the Republic FC website, by the age of 17, nearly 51% of girls have quit playing sports because they don’t feel a sense of belonging or see how it fits into their future.
Steinberg brought up a similar statistic at the news conference.
“In youth sports, when it comes to the 6 to 8 years old range, 50% are girls and then when you get to 12 years old, only about 20% are girls,” he said. “That’s not right. Think about all the young women, the teenagers who are looking for mentorship and are looking for ways to participate to belong to build their self-confidence. Sports are such an important way to do that and we need to turn around that trend.”
New soccer park to open in September
In late January, it was announced O’Neil Park on Broadway was slated to become the hub of Street Soccer USA in Sacramento, thanks to a $190,000 grant from Union Pacific and a $34,000 grant from the city. The grants will be used at Union Pacific Street Soccer USA Park on two short fields for use by neighborhood children and people struggling with addictions and not for pay-to-play youth and adult leagues.
The field will be used by Street Soccer USA, which has a presence in the city that can be traced back for years. The city hosted the league’s annual National Cup for the past two years and profits from the event will go toward the new fields.
It’s likely the next generation of soccer players could be playing on those fields and Chastain has advice for them: Don’t let anyone tell you no and don’t be afraid to get out of your comfort zone.
“I grew up in a community where nobody was playing soccer,” Chastain said. “Soccer just happened to come to my community, for I have no idea what reason and my parents said, ‘Oh, we got an active girl, we’ll sign her up.’ They didn’t know anything about soccer. So I guess what I would say is that anything is possible because I’m living proof.
“Soccer was not in my journey until someone stepped in to say, ‘Hey, give this a try,’ ” She added. “I would say be open, fall down, get back up, be determined. Don’t let anybody tell you no and if they do, that can be your best ammunition for finding your resiliency and your resolve to find a yes because I’ve been told no a lot of times in my life. Every opportunity could open a door to something. Be willing to take on something that seems outside of your comfort zone and give it your all.”
This story was originally published August 14, 2020 at 4:00 AM with the headline "Brandi Chastain’s goal: Get girls involved in soccer. She assists with new initiative."