Abby Wambach Visits U.S. Women's National Team, Shares Inspiring Story

The U.S. women’s national team arrived at US Lacrosse headquarters Tuesday morning and was immediately ushered to the Crum Conference Room in anticipation for a guest speaker. But it was no ordinary guest.

On the day that the U.S. women’s national soccer team kicks off its FIFA Women’s World Cup against Thailand, one of its greatest alums — Abby Wambach, the two-time Olympics gold medalist and FIFA Women’s World Cup soccer star —was on hand to share her story with the U.S. women's national lacrosse team.

The themes? The national team experience plays a huge role in defining who you are, don’t be afraid to fight for what you want when it comes to inclusion and, most importantly, Wambach wants to see lacrosse in Los Angeles at the 2028 Olympics.

Wambach, who has been traveling the country to promote her New York Times bestselling book “Wolfpack,” is the second former women’s national team player to visit with coach Jenny Levy and her team. Brandi Chastain spoke with the team at January’s Spring Premiere at Stanford.

Levy and her team left both speeches with the same reaction — pumped to compete again and inspired to charge toward the 2028 Olympics.

“The main focus for me is helping the team understand, and the younger players going through this process, that it’s their vision,” Levy said. “As Abby said, it’s their actions. Although the coaches are here to guide, the powerful movement that women’s soccer experienced in the past and continues to experience is really from the players first. It’s their leadership, ultimately, that’s going to change the game.”

“Everyone is all juiced up and ready to go on the field,” Levy added. “By the end of today, they’ll be like ‘Oh my god, first session we killed it because our adrenaline is so high.’”

Wambach opened her speech talking about the 1996 Olympics — the first for women’s soccer. She was 16 and moving her way up the youth national team circuit, and she was inspired by one of the tipping points of women’s soccer, and women’s sports in general, worldwide.

“I want you guys to think about that for a hot second,” she told the women in the room. “Lacrosse is not in the Olympics right now. 1996 was the first time women’s soccer was in the Olympics. That was not that long ago. In order to get into the 2028 Olympics, you’ve got to do something. You’ve got to figure something out. Look at what can happen over 20 years. A lot.”

Wambach touched on her inspiration, Michelle Akers, as she dove into her experiences with Team USA. Eventually, Wambach competed with Team USA for 14 years, concluding her career with a gold medal in the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

That experience, she said, played a huge role in the person she eventually became.

“My national team experience was not only pivotal for me, but it shaped who I am,” Wambach said. “So too will this team. It will shape who you are and who you believe yourself to be. It will create this whole room of badassery.”

And that was the attitude Wambach and the U.S. women’s soccer team used as they fought for equality within the sport, a battle that continues today. She emphasized that it was the women in the room that ultimately played the biggest role in the advancement of the game.

The path to equality in soccer was not easy, and the same will be true to women’s lacrosse, Wambach said.

“It’s about building the structure,” she said. “That’s all you need to do right now. Build the foundation. … You guys have this beautiful chance to create what it is that you want. Find out what you believe to be true right now and draw lines to figuring out how you came to believe it. Then, collectively, untie and figure out exactly what you want, because sure as hell I want to see you in the 2028 Olympics.”

It was a speech that, as expected, struck a chord with many of the U.S. women’s national lacrosse team veterans. As soon as Wambach opened up for questions, Kristen Carr raised her hand for what turned out to be less of a question, but more of reflection on the inspiring speech.

“Listening to you speak has created such an energy in me, and I can feel it in all of my teammates,” Carr said to Wambach.

That was the prevailing feeling among the women at US Lacrosse headquarters. Excitement for the opportunity to play once again. Excitement for the potential of women’s lacrosse in 2028 and beyond. 

“Our teammates are really fired up to get out on the field and practice,” Carr said afterward. “But also just to do what we can do to change the tides and get lacrosse to a place that we know we can go.”