Hochman: St. Louis’ Becky Sauerbrunn, soccer’s Captain America, fights for women’s and trans rights

There’s this woman I want you to know about. She’s a badass. Wait, can I even say that in the newspaper? Well, you know what, Becky Sauerbrunn is definitively a badass — that’s the best word for her — so let’s just run with it.

Sauerbrunn is a soccer player from St. Louis (since you’ll probably ask, she went to high school at Ladue). She has won Olympic gold for the United States. And with the U.S. Women’s National Team, she won the FIFA World Cup in 2015 and 2019. Oh, and she’s the captain.

Really, even if she just played her heart out for 90 minutes and then you never heard from her until the next game, her accomplishments would still be impressive and historic.

But she’s more than that. She’s Captain America. She’s constantly battling opponents, fighting the good fight. She stands up for what’s right — that being the rights of women and African Americans and the LGBTQ community. She believes in a world that is fair and equal and loving and kind. She knows that soccer can be a gateway to this. Alas, she also knows that sometimes soccer is a microcosm of society, marred by inequities.

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“I would love for there to be a day where the women on the national team only had to focus on soccer — we’re not there, we’re not even close,” Sauerbrunn told me during a recent sit-down interview in Kansas City, where she had a game with her pro team, Portland Thorns FC, of the National Women’s Soccer League. “And so, it is not an obligation — it’s more of a responsibility. And it is really an honor because we’ve been bestowed this platform because of all the work that’s been done before us. And it’s our duty to make sure that we get the most out of that platform.”

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On Tuesday, in a World Cup tuneup, the USWNT plays Ireland at St. Louis’ CityPark. Sauerbrunn will be back home and at home on defense, as she always is, seemingly forever is. She’s now 37. And by July, when the U.S. seeks to become the first country to win three consecutive World Cups, she’ll be 38.

“I think I got addicted to the challenge of soccer a really long time ago — solving problems both on and off the field,” Sauerbrunn said. “And the sense of accomplishment when you actually do that successfully. And there are just so many challenges both on the field and off the field, that there’s always something you’re analyzing and trying to figure out.”

Becky Sauerbrunn (middle row, far right) poses with her teammates from her Olivette first grade soccer team in 1991.

Photo courtesy of Cameron Biggs

USWNT fans from Portland to Port St. Lucie can thank a group of kids from Olivette’s Old Bonhomme Elementary — they got Sauerbrunn into soccer. She played with friends including Cameron Biggs, whose father, Doug, was their coach. Simply and sweetly, Sauerbrunn just liked playing with these folks — so she kept playing and playing.

“Soccer just kind of got its hooks in me really young because it was just so fun,” she said.

From the JB Marine Soccer Club to Ladue High to the University of Virginia, Sauerbrunn kept evolving as a soccer player — and a person. And by this point, she’s a legend. A U.S. soccer legend. One of the greatest defensive players ever. Oh, there’s even an everlasting image that captures her essence — blood streaming down her face following a collision in the 2019 World Cup Final. She was cut above the right eyebrow, quickly left the field for a bandage and was back out there, defending for her country.

“Just playing with that team, the things that I’ve seen on the field,” she said, “from Abby Wambach getting her face stapled up on the side, Sam Mewis breaking her nose and being completely fine and keep playing in the game — not to diminish safety, but it’s kind of what this team does. It takes knocks and it just keeps going. Especially in the Final of a World Cup, a sliced-up forehead isn’t going to stop somebody from playing. Any one of my teammates would have gotten right back out there.”

Sauerbrunn is the sum of the best of her teammates.

A young Becky Sauerbrunn holds a soccer trophy from the Olivette Athletic Association.

Photo courtesy of Cameron Biggs

For years, she has soaked up dedication and inspiration, integrity and grit.

Sauerbrunn is eternally moved and motivated by Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy and Carla Overbeck from the seminal 1999 team, all the way to current teammate Megan Rapinoe, of whom Sauerbrunn said: “There is no doubt in my mind that she has made me more brave. …

“And the generation of women before me that played on the national team, the effect that had on me, it’s like a passing of the baton— for us to do that for the next generation. For me, the plight of women right now in society is that we work so hard to do so much — and it’s really just so the next crop of women can stand on your shoulders and see a little bit higher.

“So to me, being a role model on this team, it’s almost like hereditary, like, you’re born into it. And you’re actually very honored that you get to be one of many women that basically will get climbed on — and hopefully, the fights are easier later on. You know, we luckily have pushed pay equity way further than I thought we were going to in my career — and that’s going to make the next generation set up so much better.”

Sauerbrunn was vital in the USWNT’s fight (and ultimate victory) for equal pay with the men’s team. And for years she has backed causes and spread awareness, along with her forward-thinking teammates. In 2020, the team wore a Black Lives Matter warmup jacket and Sauerbrunn made numerous social media posts, one saying: “Black Lives Matter is not an opinion, but a movement to help affirm humanity.”

Sauerbrunn helped inspire the U.S. Soccer federation to take public stances about preventing gun violence and supporting women’s rights following the reversal of Roe v. Wade.

And for people who don’t feel seen, the players on the USWNT make sure they’re seen recognizing those people.

“At the SheBelieves tournament that we were just in,” Sauerbrunn said, “we wore purple tape for pay equity for Canada, and on the other wrist, we wore white tape that said ‘Defend Trans Joy’ to make sure that trans youth, their families and their allies know they have people at the most elite level of that sport who are believing in them, supporting them and wanting the best for them.”

Sauerbrunn yearns for a welcoming world. It sounds like such a simple ask. But there are scary adversaries and rigid roadblocks along the journey.

Even within the women’s pro league, numerous coaches have been fired because of bad behavior, harassment and even sexual assault.

“It’s indescribable, it’s hard to wrap your mind around,” she said. “So right off the bat, my hope would be to create a safe environment. And that’s for women, but it’s also for women of color that are in our league. It could be transgendered women that are going to be in our league. Making it safe and inclusive is a huge step that I think should have already happened. But in the next decade, please, absolutely.”

Yes, America’s legendary defender defends trans joy.

In February of 2022, after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared that gender-confirming care is child abuse, Sauerbrunn tweeted: “To deny gender-affirming resources to trans kids and to threaten their parents and guardians with claims of child abuse is MONSTROUS.”

During our meeting in Kansas City, bills against trans athletes loomed from Jefferson City. Sauerbrunn was level-headed and logical. She sees childhood as precious. And childhood experiences as priceless.

“Particularly for transgender youth, there are so many benefits of being able to play sports early,” Sauerbrunn said. “The things that you get out of playing sports, especially at a young, formative age — you have a sense of belonging, you have a common goal, you’re creating relationships. These relationships that you foster, the teamwork that you learn, the problem solving, all these things. To deny all these amazing things that to transgender youth — who are already going through so many issues because of society — to me is just so entirely cruel.”

Numerous organizations, from U.S. Soccer to the NCAA and even the Missouri State High School Activities Association, already have detailed policies in place for allowing transgender athletes to participate. Yet lawmakers want to make their own rules and ban transgender kids from playing youth sports.

“It’s just a political tool that’s being used,” Sauerbrunn said. “… In doing so, it’s just cruelly debasing a whole population of people.”

Indeed, Sauerbrunn sees herself as captain of the United States team that represents every citizen of the United States.

Now, someday, she’ll retire (right?). She said she likely wants to work in soccer. She already does in many ways, considering she is on numerous committees and is the union representative for the USWNT players.

As for a future job, accounting for her intelligence, celebrity, passion and pride, I said to her: “What about U.S. president?”

She thought I meant president of the U.S. Soccer Federation.

“No,” I said, “I mean of the U.S.”

She laughed and said: “It’s too late; I feel like I would’ve had to have been in public office already.”

Then again, many famous politicians became politicians after first being famous.

Before I ended the interview, I made sure to ask Sauerbrunn this question for you, my daughter: If you could speak to young women, or girls playing soccer, what would you like to tell them?

“Make mistakes,” Sauerbrunn said. “Make lots of mistakes and learn from the mistakes. I think so much of our upbringing is that you have to be perfect at everything that you do — and that you’re a failure if you’re not perfect. And that’s just a load of (expletive). I would want people to feel free to be interested in something, dive into it, make mistakes, find out — OK, maybe you don’t really love it. Or, maybe, you do really love it. Don’t deny themselves all these avenues just because you’re scared to make that first jump.

“And within that, ask for what you need. If you need help, if you need investment, you’ve got to ask — and you’re going to hear ‘no’ a lot. But you’ve got to keep asking. And also, I would say that there is power in numbers. What I found with the Women’s National Team is that when you have a collective voice, it carries further. …

“(I’ve become) more brave. I think that’s true for a lot of the women that I’ve played with. You kind of come in a lot of the time, like I did, and you’re just unsure. You’re unsure of everything, unsure of yourself, unsure of where you stand in society — and is women’s soccer deserving of all these things that we’re asking for? And very quickly find out that, yeah, we are deserving of all that we are asking for.”

In today’s 10 a.m. video, columnist Ben Hochman discusses the exciting homecoming of Becky Sauerbrunn (Ladue High), who is now the captain of the USWNT, which is coming to St. Louis for a soccer game on April 11. And, as always, Hochman picks a random St. Louis Cards card from the hat!

Benjamin Hochman

Sports columnist Benjamin Hochman breaks down the latest in St. Louis sports and pop culture.