Abby Wambach at National Press Club Luncheon, October 28, 2015
EXCERPT:
"Well, I think that we all know my stance on turf. I'm not a huge fan of it at all. Our World Cup was played on turf this last summer and I personally believe that there were many goals not scored because of the turf. Not only is it not as fun to play on, and not as pretty to watch, but it’s also a gender equality issue. FIFA never would have made the men play on turf and for their full World Cup. And for that, and not just that reason, I was upset and clearly you could see throughout the tournament that the turf definitely played a role in some ways, and for some teams, positive. And in others, not so positive. And people can argue, “You won the World Cup,” and I'll be the first one to say, “It was not because of the turf. It was because of the players and the athletes on the field that were able to adapt.” And there are some serious health concerns. It’s not just about injury, either. What's in those little rubber pellets? I don't know. And I don’t want my kids to be the ones that suffer because they're the guinea pigs of some of these big turf companies wanting to make a ton of money. I think it’s not okay. I think it’s irresponsible, actually. So, that's also something I'm going to get into, get rid of turf everywhere."