USWNT Connection
The exposure that the USWNT was experiencing during the 1990s after becoming World Cup champions in 1991 effected young women, female soccer players, and women's soccer programs across the nation.
Young women and female soccer players now had icons to connect with and to aspire to become one day. These icons came in the form of elite soccer athletes such as Mia Hamm and Brandi Chastain. These women are still recognized as USWNT legends today. They helped their USWNT become a powerhouse, much like how Zwick-Rinebarger and Anhold-Lew had helped TUWS become the juggernaut it is today.
TUWS head coach during the 1990s, Nick Cowell, wanted the team to be as competitive as possible and this sentiment was shared with USWNT team member Mia Hamm. According to Hamm (1999), "Coaches detected a competitive fire in me...each day I attempted to play up to their level and earn their respect, and I was improving faster than I had ever dreamed possible" (p. 4). The competitive environments they were constantly surrounded by built them into the players that eventually won a World Cup.
Both TUWS and USWNT fought a similar battle of fighting for women's soccer to receive the acknowledgement it deserved. The fame brought on by the 1991 World Cup championship win brought women's soccer more recognition that could be felt on every level of the game. Stated Chastain (2005), "We had all been fighting the battle for recognition for women's soccer for so long. Even before the World Cup, this team, and this game, deserved more attention, especially in the United States, where too often women and soccer are treated as second class" (p. 9).