Gosh for those of you who don't play, it doesn't matter. Today was a day of brilliance. A day of equality. A day that reminds us all that the best games won are together and never apart. That game of soccer is just pure brilliance. For someone who played and loved the game throughout childhood and middle school, I can honestly say there is no other game that demands team, demands brilliance, demands cooperation, demands love, demands respect more than the game of soccer. 

I have never felt more proud of our American team than how I felt this morning. And it didn't even have to do with the winning. It had to do with their celebration of eachother. It was obviously they clearly lifted each other up, rooted for each other, demanded the best from one another. In their remarks and their voices that they continue to use, they are what it means to be American. To always demand that gender equality is a real issue, to demand that the world listens and hears them speak when they congratulate one another on and off the field, to teacher girls everywhere that they can be strong and intelligent and wise and powerful with a beautiful spirit that soars over everything and everyone it comes in contact with. That girls are just as powerful as men and should be respected as men are respected. These are a group of girls who aren't out for themselves. I think one of my favorite comments of the interviews I watched was in response to Rose Lavelle's World Cup Goal. One of the veteran players commented and explained, "Listen. She isn't a champion in the making. She is an actual champion. It is unbelievable and humbling to see players get so good at such a young age. She's remarkable." You know really why this team worked? Why any team works? They want to mentor and make the person next to them better than who they are- teach them more than they know, assist them more than they were assisted, allow them to drive through pain more than they were ever able to drive through. You want to create depth? A team full of depth? Then you need to create an environment where you aren't always worried about bettering yourself but bettering the person next to you. That is how you create layers of soul and liveliness and passion, layer after layer, year after year. So Believe. Believe that We. Believe that We can. Believe that we can create depth too. And generations after us will continue to build these layers so that the minute we are challenged we will not be broken but lifted up and protected by the love and the positive change we created. As world-changers.