Here's to women's soccer's greatest - Albany Times Union

When Netflix announced in May it secured the rights to Jere Longman's book "The Girls of Summer: The U.S. Women's Soccer Team and How It Changed The World" my heart jumped.

That announcement meant one of my favorite sports books of all time — which I recommended in my first book club column in early April — would be made into a movie. "The Girls of Summer" is about the 1999 Women's World Cup victory by the United States that culminated with Brandi Chastain's iconic winning penalty kick in a shootout.

The U.S. Women's National Soccer Team won the World Cup 21 years ago on July 10. Will "The Girls of Summer" be the "Miracle" movie of women's sports? Will it be as iconic as "League of Their Own?"

I have high expectations. They need to do it right.

So many storylines emerged around the U.S. Women's National Soccer team before, during and after the moment Chastain scored and ripped off her jersey, securing the team's tournament championship win over China in front of 90,185 fans. It remains the most-attended women's sporting event in history. An estimated 40 million Americans watched the final live on television.

Here's hoping one key player gets the recognition she deserves in the screenplay. She's not as famous as Chastain, Julie Foudy or Mia Hamm. In fact, she was in the locker room getting treatment when the winning goal was kicked. Michelle Akers, often called the greatest women's soccer player of all time, deserves star billing.

Betsy Drambour, a premier high school, college and national soccer player and longtime Capital Region coach, was a teammate of Akers and a member of the 1986 U.S. Women's National Team, the first to represent the United States on the national stage.

"She was a great teammate, a great player who played a very long time. She had a tremendous impact on the game," Drambour told me.

Akers' Hall of Fame biography says: "Often called the greatest woman soccer player of all time, she was a key member of the United States teams that won the Women's World Cup in 1991 and 1999."

Drambour understands why people call Akers the GOAT.

"When you talk about the complete player, yes. She was unbelievable in the air. So committed and dedicated. A class act," Drambour said.

#womenworthwatching

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LPGA Tour players will tee it up July 31 at the Drive On Championship, the first of consecutive events in Toledo, Ohio. The tournaments will be televised on The Golf Channel.

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Drambour told me about a distinct memory she has of Akers.

"We were at a national camp in Minnesota for three weeks. After training, the bus was leaving and Michelle wasn't on the bus. She wanted to stay after with the goalkeepers and work on her shot and direct kicks," Drambour said. "As the bus pulled out I was watching her hit shot after shot after shot. About two hours later she came walking into the dorms. That is one of the first times I understood how special she was ... why she was as good as she was."

Akers became the greatest while overcoming chronic fatigue immune dysfunction syndrome. She had more than 30 surgeries on her right knee and more than eight on her shoulder she dislocated. She suffered from numerous concussions and debilitating migraines.

In the 1999 final, Akers dominated the Chinese, Longman wrote, even as "her internal fuel tank moved steadily toward empty." She persevered, but suffered a head injury late in the game that forced doctors to remove her from the game.

I've been rereading Longman's book, which also focuses on the importance of women's soccer players as role models to women and girls. It highlights the need for women athletes to get the attention and respect they deserve. It reveals the effort of women soccer players fighting for equal pay. Twenty-one years later, that fight continues.

Joyceb10bassett@gmail.com - @joyceb10bassett - https://ift.tt/2W7rJmn

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Here's to women's soccer's greatest - Albany Times Union
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