When I put on our U.S. kit, I do it for my family and for my country. But I understand now that I also do it for every single American girl out there who wants to see someone who looks like them - someone whose story reminds them of their own - when they watch their women's national team.
Crystal Dunn
I went to high school in Rockville Center on Long Island. It's this small, soccer-loving town that my parents moved to, from Queens, before my brother and I were born.
For me, it's about controlling what I can control. I can't control where I'm going to be put on the pitch. I can only control my effort and my ability to embrace anything thrown at me.
My first hero was Serena Williams. No contest.
I think I'm always learning, I'm always trying to be at my best.
Being a player that plays multiple positions, that's my mindset every single day because I don't have the luxury of just being really good at one thing.
In the early stages, when I realized I was going to be probably the shortest player on the teams I was on, it was hard. I felt like girls were getting recruited over me strictly because of their height, and it made me self-conscious.
It's a stereotype that black players are just really fast, but at the end of day I want to be skilled, I want to be technical, I want to have vision and that's what I've always tried to promote in my game: not relying on one thing but just being able to outwork players in so many different ways.
If I didn't have quads and hamstrings, soccer would be a lot different for me than it is now. I would be pushed all over the field. My lower body is something that has made me the player I am today, and it makes me feel strong.
The World Cup is a really long tournament, so you have to prepare for whatever.
You always have to prove yourself. I always thought I had to go beyond things to get great grades. When I was applying for college, even though I knew I was going to play soccer, I always knew I had to do something above and beyond and not give anyone a reason not to overlook me.
I feel like I am definitely an attacking player. I don't really know where specifically that is, whether it's centrally or out wide. I do feel like I just naturally have a mindset to go to goal or create goals or things like that.
Especially going from an attacking player to a defensive player, your whole mindset has to change. You have to work on one-v-one defending versus one-v-one attacking.
As a black woman I always felt growing up I had to do above and beyond stuff to be noticed, to feel like I could hang with everybody else.
As a player you need to make whatever decision you think is best for your career.
People are so surprised about how small I am compared to other players.
I remember when I was young, before we started lifting and working out, I looked like I was bench-pressing other humans. I looked different than other girls. I had to be OK with the fact that I had a strong physique, no matter if people looked at me in an accepting way or not.
I like to be on the pitch, I like to perform and impact the game.
It's a lot for me, as well, to feel like I'm at my best, because if I am playing multiple positions, I can't develop. I personally feel like I don't ever achieve what I want to achieve being thrown around.
If I focus on the short-term goals, then the long-term goals are going to be in my favor.
In training when I'm receiving the ball I always know where I want to go. At the end of the day it's just soccer.
I played on many a team where I was the only black girl.
It's kind of interesting on a team sport because you have young players, you have older players, you have veterans. But ultimately, when you step in between those lines, you're just a player.
It's Megan Rapinoe, If there's no drama, there's no fun.
The thing that made it so hard to get that call from Jill Ellis in 2015, letting me know I wouldn't be at the World Cup, was that I felt like I'd lost what I love most about putting on the U.S. kit: representation.
I remember when I was in college, my junior year NWSL was not a thing and my senior year, it started up and I had a place to play now. It's really great that it's been able to be stable for these last seven years and we can always continue to push for more growth.
