Carlos Cordeiro stepped down as US Soccer Federation President last week after statements in a document over a lawsuit brought by the US Women’s National Team. Cindy Parlow Cone takes over as interim president, a former player is now tasked with leading the USSSF during these tumultuous times. Cindy is the first woman to be president of the USSF.
Who is Cindy Parlow Cone?
Cindy Parlow Cone is a former USWNT player and was part of the 99ers, the team who put the USWNT on the map and made them a cultural icon. She played for eleven years on the National Team, having 158 caps and 75 goals.
Cindy’s collegiate career was at North Carolina from 1995-1998 when the Tarheels were a powerhouse in women’s soccer winning the NCAA tournament in 1996 and 1997.
She also played three season’s for the Atlanta Beat of the defunct WUSA (a precursor the the NWSL) and was a founding player. After her playing career, Cindy went into coaching with North Carolina Tarheels as an Assistant and was head coach of the Portland Thorns for the 2013 season, were Portland finished with a 10-6-6 record and were NWSL Champions.
Cindy was elected as vice-president of USSF on February 19, 2019 and now has taken over as interim president of USSF until elections are held in February 2021.
Can Cindy Parlow Cone change US Soccer?
One of Cindy’s first tasks as interim president of USSF is to conduct damage control in the fallout of US Soccer’s statements regarding the USWNT’s lawsuit. She will have about eleven months to make an impact, if any.
Many former players have taken to Twitter on Cindy Parlow Cone becoming the first woman at the head of USSF, what should be a celebration has become a debate. The main discussion, will the USSF grant equal pay and benefits stated in the USWNT lawsuit?
There many problems with US Soccer right now, starting at youth national teams with coaching vacancies at every level.
The men’s U-23 team has not qualified for the Olympics since 2008 and the senior team failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup after a lackluster hex and embarrassing loss to Trinidad and Tobago.
While the women’s senior team succeeded on the pitch, winning their fourth FIFA World Cup in 2019, it still fights for respect and equality. This has become US Soccer most glaring problem. While the women’s team attendance has outdrew the men and with better results, they continue the fight for equal pay. The women outdrew the men in attendance by eight percent and would be higher is you take out the men’s game versus Mexico.
We will have to wait and see what impact will Cindy Parlow Cone have on US Soccer in the next eleven months, this is unique time with sports being shutdown and limited work due to COVID-19 outbreak. The election for US Soccer is scheduled for February 2021, we may have to wait until after the elections to see if there will be a chance to the women’s team getting equal pay and other changes to US Soccer.
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