ROS Presents: Counterattack

Greatly told story that needs to be heard

I’m not even a sports fan and I loved this series. Great expose on women’s soccer (sports). A story that needed to be investigated along time ago. The actual victims speaking and investigated made the series so believable and valuable. Great production and team!

Title 9 didn’t pass until I was in college so I grew up with sports being male dominated. I went to a brand new high school which had labeled (on the building exteriors) a Girls’ Gym (contained a stage and used for concerts and plays, along with basketball backstops) and a Boys’ Gym (ordinary basketball gym with bleachers, etc). This school was built in Northern California in 1967. My girls’ basketball team was delegated to the outside blacktop because the 4 boys’ teams (Frosh, Sophomore, JV & Varsity) got the use of the 2 gyms. I didn’t experience any harm as a college female athlete in the early 1970’s but I also found it difficult to break into any male dominated sports (like cross country and cycling). I didn’t get an opportunity to run cross country until I went to a junior college outside of the USA in 1971-1972. Also, females didn’t have many rights in the 1970s, including obtaining a credit card in one’s own name. As recounted in this Counterattack podcast, I wonder how many of my teammates were harassed by males. At that time, if there was harassment, it was ALL the fault of the female—never the fault of the male. Have times really changed, even when depicted in current day films/movies?

Season 4 is incredibly high quality reporting and storytelling, plus excellent narration by USWNT phenom alum Bri Scurry. I was moved to tears at season’s end. I will be listening to every episode a second time just to admire how the pod team wove together story layers so carefully, and to fully appreciate the team’s ability to build trust and safety with sources around hard subjects. This story isn’t just for soccer fans and players (though it should be required listening for anyone who follows any soccer league, youth to the national team) - the podcast will captivate any human who thinks at all about sports, equity, agency, power, mental health, mentorship, and more. We owe it to Sinead, Mana and so many others to listen to their stories, and to examine our organizations and ourselves toward re-shaping better, brighter paths in sports and elsewhere. Big gratitude to the players and pod team from this NC Courage fan.