The first goal of the 2023 Women’s World Cup was scored by a Tennessee Volunteer on a cross from a Colorado College Tiger. But Hannah Wilkinson, the scorer, and Jacqui Hand, the playmaker, are not Americans representing the United States Women’s National Team. They are Kiwis, and two of 13 New Zealand players with time spent developing in American college soccer programs.
Women’s college soccer in the U.S. is the most elite developmental league in the world. Without it, Jamaica (with 20 players with NCAA experience), the Philippines (17), and Canada (22), for example, would have had a much harder time sharpening the skills necessary to qualify for the World Cup. At the ongoing tournament, slightly more than 20 percent of all players (151 athletes) have played, currently play, or have committed to play American college soccer. Twenty-two of the 32 national teams have at least one collegiate player. And there’s exactly one reason this has happened: Title IX. While many Americans recognize the significance of Title IX (the U.S. civil rights law that mandates equal educational opportunity on the basis of gender) in creating and expanding sporting opportunities in schools, its global reach has an underappreciated legacy—and this year’s World Cup is perhaps the clearest manifestation of its influence.