U.S. women’s national team midfielder Sam Coffey said her team ‘needs to be better’ when it comes to speaking out on issues of social justice, but added that she and her teammates are doing the work as they find their collective voice.
The USWNT has a long history of activism, speaking out for years on topics both soccer-related and outside of sports.
The team famously spent years advocating for equal pay, representing U.S. Soccer on the pitch while battling with the federation off of it. USWNT players have also been vocal about a number of societal issues such as racial justice and LGBTQ+ topics.
But the current iteration of the team has not been as vocal in recent years. Part of that is likely due to a generational shift that has taken place, with outspoken stars like Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe and Becky Sauerbrunn, among others, retiring over the past few years.
Coffey has emerged as one of the leaders of the current team, playing a vital role as the team’s defensive midfield lynchpin under Emma Hayes.
The Manchester City midfielder is also emerging as one of the more outspoken players on the USWNT roster. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Feb. 26 as the team prepares for the SheBelieves Cup, Coffey said that the USWNT has to find its own voice with many of its longtime veteran leaders no longer in the picture.
“We no longer have the Beckys (Sauerbrunn), the Klings (Meghan Klingenberg), the Pinoes (Rapinoe), the Alex Morgans,’ Coffey said.
‘I think it was easy as a younger player to just look up to them and know that they always knew what to say or what to do. But now that responsibility is on us and responsibility is the exact word. I think we have a duty to this team and a standard to uphold.’
The USWNT played its first game of 2026 on Jan. 24, the same day that federal law enforcement agents killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. There was no acknowledgement of the events in Minnesota before or during the game.
Head coach Emma Hayes was asked about the incident in Minneapolis three days later, and admitted that she hadn’t discussed the issue with her squad — which was missing several experienced players including Coffey.
The match on Jan. 24 against Paraguay may have been an occasion in which previous iterations of the USWNT made some kind of a statement.
Coffey was blunt in expressing her belief that the team needs to do more, but also said that they are working behind the scenes to decide the best path forward.
“I think we do need to be better in the ways that we’re being vocal and standing up and speaking out about a myriad of topics,’ the 27-year-old said.
‘But I think we can rest assured that we are doing that work, and that we are going to figure it out and figure out what it looks like for us and what feels authentic to this team, because no team is the same.”
The USWNT will face Argentina on March 1 in Nashville, Tennessee, then take on Canada in Columbus, Ohio on March 4. Hayes’ side will close the SheBelieves Cup against Colombia on March 7 in Harrison, New Jersey.