Rachel Blauner

“When I was cut from Boston, it literally felt like my world was falling apart. With a two minute phone call, my world turned upside down, with no warning, no way to fix it.” -Kylie Strom

For Kylie Strom, the journey to becoming a professional women’s soccer player has been a rollercoaster, winding and spinning in different directions, picking up speed and then propelling to the next turn, without knowing when the ride will end.

After finishing her decorated college career at Boston University, earning Scholar-All American honors, Strom went overseas to play semi-professionally in Germany with the hope of playing in the United States when she returned. Her chance came when the Boston Breakers asked her to be a practice player for the 2016 season. She was then called up to play with the full team in the spring of 2017, earning valuable minutes at the outside back position.

Three years of grit and the unrelenting pursuit to play finally got her to her childhood dream. She was a professional women’s soccer player.

“I wanted to play professional soccer ever since I was little. It was always such a big part of my life and gave me some of my greatest memories, so to picture my life without was, and to be honest still is, very difficult,” Strom said.

Strom was only given a $15,000 salary for the season with her new contract. Right around the national poverty line, Strom had to find another job coaching for a local soccer club in Massachusetts. Strom was saving for the offseason with the knowledge that her income from the Breakers would only cover her living expenses for the months the team was in season. However, in the cutthroat world of professional sports, everything can change in an instant.

“With a two minute phone call my world was turned upside down, with no warning, no way to fix it. When I was cut from Boston it literally felt like my world was falling apart,” Strom explained. “I was angry, embarrassed, confused. The next day I went into the locker room to grab my things and my locker was already cleaned out and prepared for the new player.”

Her path to playing professionally in the U.S. changed its course once again, leaving her with the decision to continue playing, or move on and leave the game.

For Strom, the answer was clear.

The New Jersey native is now playing professionally for Sparta Praha in the Czech First Division in Prague. After being released from the Boston Breakers, she knew immediately that she would have to find a team to play on abroad in order to play in their season that was starting in September. She applied for her visa, packed her belongings, and jumped on a plane heading to her new destination.

“I love it. All of the girls on the team are so welcoming and the city is absolutely beautiful,” Strom said. “It took me bit to adjust to everything: the language, the culture, the style of play. I’ve learned a lot about soccer, Prague, and even myself. You learn to be very independent.”

Strom is living an apartment with her teammates and is getting paid 16,000 Czech crowns a month, around the equivalent of $700 in the United States. This amount would be near to impossible to live on in the states, but Strom explains that she lives comfortably in Prague because the cost of living is much lower. Sparta Praha’s organization covers players’ housing and expenses. Most of Strom’s teammates work second jobs for spending money, but with her visa requirements, Strom is not allowed to for now. In the meantime, she is working on getting her Master’s Degree online in business.

Strom’s will and determination to chase her dream reflects other female athletes that have wanted to be a professional in their sport since they were a child. In the U.S.  where funding for female professional teams is hard to come by, the dream can diminish for many when their college careers come to an end, especially with limited roster spots and the inability to earn a livable salary.

In the 2016 National Women’s Soccer League draft, only 40 out of 145 players who entered got a call to a team, according to an article by Hero Sports.

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That number may make securing a spot seem attainable, but only 3-4 spots are open per team in the league at the start of the season. With past players returning from offseason and top players coming right from their college teams, the chances of making it and securing a roster spot are very slim, almost unachievable for most.

Strom is one of the exceptions that got a quick taste of playing professionally. She understands her career choice as a professional women’s soccer player lacks longevity, but she’s determined to stay in the game as long as her body and mental well-being allow.

“To get paid to do what you love is a dream. I’m so lucky to wake up everyday and go to “work” and run around a soccer field. Soccer has given me so many opportunities that I otherwise would never have,” Strom said. “The friends I’ve made, the life lessons I’ve learned, and the experiences I’ve had, I owe it all to soccer.”

While MLS players are able to live comfortably on their salaries even if they spend most of their time on the bench, NWSL players fight to keep their spots on the roster making barely minimum wage. The MLS base salary for it’s players is drastically higher than that of the NWSL, starting at $53,000. The NWSL base is nearly three times less than that at $15,000. This salary is difficult to live on for most players, leaving them without hope to continue playing.

According to an article from Time Magazine, The National Women’s Soccer League has a pay ceiling per player of $41,000. That’s compared to an average of more than $300,000 in the men’s professional soccer. 

Like Strom, University of Virginia standout Brittany Ratcliffe entered the NWSL draft after her senior season came to a close. Ratcliffe was a highly recruited draftee, getting picked up by the Boston Breakers in the second round of the 2016 NWSL Draft.

Ratcliffe’s path to becoming a professional athlete was smoother than most, accomplishing her lifelong goal right out of her college career.

“When I was little, my parents took me to a Philadelphia Charge game and from that moment on, I dreamed of wearing a professional jersey myself one day,” Ratcliffe said. “As I got older, I realized becoming a professional athlete wasn’t just about having the title, but it was the culmination of all the long hours and hard work you put into the sport you dedicated your entire life to.”

Ratcliffe, who lived with the same host family as Strom at the time in Boston, played in  15 games, making five starts for the Breakers, in their 2016 season, holding her own as an off-the-bench spark attacking player.

Just as Ratcliffe started to get comfortable in her new city, the Breakers waived her contract in February of 2017. Ratcliffe returned to her hometown in Williamstown, New Jersey, spending the winter months hoping that another team in the NWSL would pick her up.

“The hardest part of professional soccer, and really any professional sport, is the fact that you can never be comfortable with your current situation.  Players can get traded and cut at any moment and you have to constantly remind yourself this is a business environment,” Ratcliffe said. “It can be stressful at times but this competitiveness makes you want to be better than you were the day before.”

In the spring, her hopes became a reality. FC Kansas City signed Ratcliffe for the 2017 season.

Unfortunately, FC Kansas City folded in the last week of November of 2017, after struggling financially in past seasons, according to The Oregonian.

Real Salt Lake, a Major League Soccer team, is rumored to start a new team for 2018, taking Kansas City’s place. This team will become the fourth NWSL club owned by a Major Soccer League affiliate.

Amanda Duffy, the NWSL Director of Operations, told The Oregonian that the new team would be prosperous for the NWSL, stating “Real Salt Lake has demonstrated their unquestionable desire and commitment to bring the highest level of professional women's soccer to all fans of the game in Salt Lake City and Utah. Real Salt Lake will immediately be able to hit the ground running on the business side as well as provide the players with a top-notch training ground and one of the best game venues in the country."

What does this change mean for current Kansas City players, including national team players Sydney Leroux and Becky Sauerbrunn? They will find their new home in Salt Lake City. The league has yet to comment on the decision, but stated that the league would remain at 10 teams next season.

Ratcliffe explained that she wasn’t sure about her team’s future or where she would end up in 2018, but that she just wants to continue playing.

Her story is rare amongst most post-collegiate soccer players, but she knows that the dream can only last for so long before switching her professional aspirations.

“It is crazy to think in 5 years I will be 28 and unfortunately, I have no idea what I will be doing.  Some of my teammates who are 28 are still playing and others retired to start their work career,” Ratcliffe said. “If I am still playing that would be great, but if not I would hope to have figured out a career path and found a job in the working world.”

However, there is now real hope on the horizon as new partnerships with the MLS teams and a stronger NWSL business model bring professional careers for women athletes into sight for upcoming players.

For example, in a historic partnership, the NWSL and A+E networks joined together last April as part of a three year deal. Lifetime became an official sponsor of the league, with the ability to broadcast season games on television and stream them online.

From an article from Lifetime, NWSL Commissioner Jeff Plush, said, “This is a transformational partnership in the evolution of the league, and we are so appreciative of Nancy Dubuc and her team at A+E Networks as they take a leadership position in the growth of our league and create opportunities for young women. We are also extremely pleased to be able to present our fans with the most comprehensive national television and streaming packages in our history.”

Current players in the league, like Ratcliffe, see the changes that are being made, and are excited to see how the league grows each year. The biggest obstacle women’s professional teams face is funding.

“We recognize that female athletes do not bring in the same monetary revenue as bigger American professional leagues like the NFL (National Football League), so it is difficult for us to make similar salaries to these big name NFL players,” Ratcliffe said. “It can be tough at times, but we understand our league is still very new and we hope that as the NWSL continues to gain more viewership and sponsors, each year will be better than the next.  At the end of the day, the money doesn’t really matter because we love the game so much.”

The head women’s soccer coach at Holy Cross in Worcester, MA, agrees with Ratcliffe. Casey Brown was part of the Women’s Professional Soccer league draft in 2009 before the league eventually folded in 2012. As a standout center back at Boston University, Brown tried out a professional career after her senior season.

Brown believes that the current league has had success because of its current business model that is backed by the United States Soccer Federation.

“The NWSL has had a more sustainable model which has allowed it to have more long term success,” said Brown. “It has been great to see the league create a solid foundation over the past several years. With that type of foundation built, the league can definitely begin to grow whether it be more teams in the league, better salary and benefits for players, or higher level operating budgets.”

As the U. S. Women’s National Team continues to be the best in the world and youth programs blossom, the NWSL’s future has never looked as promising. For players like Strom and Ratcliffe, looking up to the players from their childhood is what motivates them to keep playing through the league’s ups-and-downs.

“I remember looking up to players like Mia Hamm and Brandi Chastain who paved the way for women’s soccer and made all of the opportunities I had possible,” said Strom. “We complain about the unequal treatment and pay today, but there were players in the league just a few years ago with ten times worse conditions.”

Strom plans on taking turns in the road one step at a time, accepting that what she is doing today is making things possible for the players that follow after her.

“Progress is being made and we’re all in this fight together. The women’s game is only continuing to grow worldwide, making it the best time to be a part of it.”

-Kylie Strom

“You think after graduating college that your life is over and the best athletic years of your life are behind you, but it's not true.”- Dakota Woodworth

After Dakota Woodworth closed out her college hockey career at Boston University she decided to continue playing the sport that had defined her for the past 15 years.

Woodworth was picked up by the Boston Blades in the Canadian Women’s Hockey league in the spring of 2016.  Woodworth’s dream had finally became a reality, playing the sport she loved at a professional level. There was one downside. She wasn’t getting paid to play.

Woodworth, like many other CWHL players at the time, was working a 9-5 job in Downtown Boston in her time away from hockey. Multiple nights a week, she would leave work, grab her equipment, and head to practice for the Boston Blades, walking back into her home after 11 p.m. She was living a double life, constantly time managing between working the job that was paying her bills and playing the game that she dedicated her life to.  

After her first season in the league, Woodworth was given a chance to embark on a different journey. For the 2017 season, she was traded to the Calgary Inferno in Canada.

“I've been out here for over a month now and was welcomed by the team and the staff right away which made everything so easy. Everyone made the transition super easy and really reminded me that I made the right choice coming here,” Woodworth explained. “I was lucky enough to have saved a bit of money from my last job in Boston to come here and the stipend helps too. For now I'm really just focused on hockey, but I'm hoping to find something so I can stay here long term in the future.”

In September, The Canadian Women’s Hockey League announced that they would be paying all players for the first time in league history. While these wages would not be full salaries, the players would receive stipends ranging from $2,000-$10,000. The teams have a $100,000 budget to give out to their rosters, which can hold up to 25 players, according to the CWHL. 

A stipend for players became possible after the league expanded, adding two teams in China, the Kunlun Red Stars and Vanke Rays. China agreed to the deal, hoping to build a contending Chinese hockey program in time for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, according to The New York Times.

Sarah Lefort, a winger on Canadiennes de Montreal and a youth Canadian National team player, embraced the addition of two more teams in China, understanding that the decision made paying players in the league possible. 

”The league expansion to China is obviously a tremendous step forward in growing the women’s game. Our move to China means that the CWHL in now being represented in more than one continent, which will only further exposure and prosperity of the league,” Lefort said. 

For the CWHL, starting to pay their players was always part of the business plan.

In an interview with The New York Times, the league’s commissioner Brenda Andress, said, “Whether China came into our league or not, the sponsors we were working with and the partnerships we were working with, we planned on paying the players. I think the China opportunity has given us more access, more opportunities out there.”

The league’s biggest competition, The National Women’s Hockey League, was the first women’s professional hockey league in the US to pay its players since it was founded in 2015, causing tension with the CWHL. The NWHL has been strong since it started three years ago. Dunkin Donuts is one of the league’s founding sponsors.

The NWHL found another way to expand its funding her teams, seeking out partnerships with nearby National Hockey League (NHL) teams. 

The New Jersey Devils, launched a partnership with the Metropolitan Riveters providing new uniforms and support on the business front, including marketing and sales, according to an article in the New York Times. The three-year partnership aims to develop girls’ and women’s hockey programs, broadcast Riveter’s games on The One Jersey Network (Devil’s network), and the Devil’s arena, practice facility, and training arenas, according to the league’s spokespeople.

Woodworth explains that the partnership is a huge step in growing the women’s game, only helping the future of the sport.

“Getting support from the NHL teams is one of the best ways to grow the women's side of things purely because of their massive audience. It's great that the Devils are doing things with the Riveters, and I hope the other teams can get some support as well,” Woodworth said.

If you look at the comparison between compensation for women’s professional hockey players to men’s, the difference is drastic. This season, NWHL players can make from $5,000 up to $7,000. CWHL players can make from $2,000 to $10,000. According to the Gazette Review, the average NHL player makes around $4 million. 

Marissa Ingemi, a sports journalist who has covered women’s hockey for outlets like The Boston Globe and ESPN, understands that the pay cannot be equal because the markets are different, but believes that women players should be able to live on what they make comfortably.

“They (NWHL and CWHL players) don’t have the same market as the NHL players, so I’m not saying they should be making $10 million dollars a year, but enough where it can be their full time job and if players continue to play and stay committed, it’s going to happen at some point,” Ingemi said. “The stability of the NWHL and CWHL is better than ever. The sky is the limit for these players now.”

Conversations have grown between owners of the NWHL and CWHL  to discuss a potential merger of the leagues that would be based out of the United States, according to The New York Times. This merger will allow salaries and fan attendance to grow with one league instead of two.

“The CWHL has been around about 12 to 13 years… the NWHL, this is their third year, so a lot of players jumped ship to the NWHL to get paid,” Ingemi said. “Now that the CWHL pays, it allows players in markets like Calgary, Montreal, places like that, the ability to stay home and play while making money off of it, giving the players the ability to commit to playing the sport. A merger between the two leagues would only enhance that.”

Players in the industry, including Woodworth, believe that if the owners can look past their own agendas, they could form one stronger league. 

“Honestly, for the future of the sport as a whole, I hope to see the leagues merge eventually. Two great leagues will never be as strong as one united league. The CWHL and the NWHL have the best players in the world, without a doubt, and it just doesn't make sense to have them split up,” said Woodworth. 

In the next year, players will push for league owners to bring the two leagues together, acknowledging that besides ownership differences, a merger is what’s best for the future of professional women’s hockey.

While negotiations happen and leagues change, Woodworth hopes that younger girls will be inspired to continue playing, one day finding the opportunity to play the sport as their career. 

“This is just the beginning of it all. Hopefully because of decisions we're making today, girls can grow up and just be professional hockey players.”- Dakota Woodworth