Last summer, on July 5 to be exact, myself and several thousand of my fellow St. Louis natives flocked to the expansive turf green in Busch Stadium’s ballpark village to watch, surprisingly, a game other than baseball. It was the evening of the 2015 Women’s World Cup finals and Team USA had experienced a momentum that you could practically feel through the giant screen that day in St. Louis. Throughout the entire game, the crowd cheered for, reveled in and bonded over the great love and pride we had for our players. And when the final buzzer sounded and Team USA came out on top, the entire mass of fans erupted in cheers, sharing in a moment of pure euphoria and national pride. The women’s soccer team had given that moment to us, which makes their need for their recent lawsuit all the more disappointing to me.

In late March 2016, five U.S. Women’s Soccer players, including team captain Becky Sauerbrunn, filed a wage-discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. This is the most recent development in a long running battle for equal pay and treatment for the U.S. Women's Soccer players. Players like Michelle Akers of the 1991 and 1999 championship teams have been standing up to their unfair pay for nearly 20 years now. A recent article for the Seattle Times, gave her opinion on the topic, saying, "It’s so frustrating, and it’s surprising. Now? Still? It’s been so many years and we’ve had so much success and there have been so many changes." And now, after officially filing their complaint, tension mounts in the Women's Soccer world as the Rio Summer Olympics grow near and fans wonder if there is a potential strike on the way.

Personally, I think a strike would be a shame, but a necessary one to call attention to this ridiculous, and frankly, embarrassing example of unequal treatment in a workplace. These women are the pride of American soccer fans, role models to thousands of young girls everywhere and not to mention world champions, and yet, they can't be paid the same as there less successful, male counterparts? It's a very sobering thing, seeing headlines about unequal pay for World Champs. But it's just another reminder that the fight for equal pay is progressing, but far from over. Hopefully, the U.S. Women's Soccer players will be able to look back on this suit triumphantly in time for equal pay week next year.