U.S. Soccer's cancelation of a Victory Tour stop in Honolulu last weekend for the women's national team came as a bit of an earthquake in the soccer world, but it was no surprise who led the outcry over poor field conditions at Aloha Stadium.
It was Alex Morgan.
The star striker called the turf "horrible" and then took a direct shot at the organization for whom she plays, telling Laura Vecsey of FOX Sports that "obviously we want to play in front of these fans and we want to train before the game, but injuries happen when you don't protect yourself and when you're not protected from those higher up from you."
There is no one in women's soccer who is "higher up" than Morgan, and that is especially so with Abby Wambach retiring. Morgan is one of most recognizable athletes in international sports and one of the richest in her sport. Yet she is taking it upon herself to lead, even if it means speaking out when others in her position might not.
Last August, she tweeted to the National Women's Soccer League (and her two million followers) that the hotel conditions during her team's Kansas City stop were unacceptable. She wrote "there's no other way to address continuing problems" and named the exact problem (bed bugs, mold) and the exact venue (the Adams Mark).
And back in May, Morgan made her feelings known to Time Magazine about FIFA president Sepp Blatter, saying, "I have experienced sexism multiple times, and I'm sure I will a lot more. I feel like I'm fighting for female athletes. At the FIFA World Player of the Year event, FIFA executives and FIFA president Sepp Blatter didn't know who I was. And I was being honored as top three in the world. That was pretty shocking."
That's three powerful statements in one year, and the most powerful statement might be yet to come. Morgan, 26, is now the face of an expansion NWSL franchise here in this rapidly growing soccer city in Florida, standing side-by-side with the star of the Major League Soccer team that just completed its first season, Kaka of Orlando City SC, and that happened because she wanted it to happen.
"I want to continue to grow the women's game," Morgan told Yahoo Sports. "For Portland I felt they had done a great job bringing soccer to the city and the community. I felt like it was my time to start with a new club that needed me more."
This has been a landmark year in women's sports, from Serena Williams to Lydia Ko to Carli Lloyd to Holly Holm and Ronda Rousey. Yet Morgan has contributed to that in her own significant way. She has won a World Cup, yes, but she has also taken important stands when necessary. She has not been loud or shrill about it. She has been thoughtful and clear.
"She's got that strength of character that if she has an opinion, to be able to express that opinion, and express it without any bias," new Orlando Pride coach Tom Sermanni said. "She has a view, she will express that view. For me, that's an asset."
It's especially an asset in the go-along-to-get-along culture of women's sports. Airing grievances on the men's side is almost expected. On the women's side? Not as much. Criticism of women is quicker and harsher, especially women who make a lot of money, as Morgan does.
"It's probably treated differently than guys making those statements," Sermanni said. "It's OK for guys to say these things, but women are saying that? I don't know if we've taken that step where we say if they have those concerns, they should say them. If the men's team were playing on a field that was substandard, they would make the same statements."
Morgan is unafraid to use her influence, and now she is doing so with more than just words.
It was easy to conclude Morgan's move from established Portland to expansion Orlando was a personal one, as her husband, Servando Carrasco, plays for Orlando City. That was part of it, to be sure, but not the only part of it.
"There were a couple of things that went into it," Morgan said. "With me and Portland, it wasn't moving anywhere. I wasn't given a bigger role as I played more and more with the club. I felt I could have been utilized in a bigger way."
Asked if she meant on the field or off the field, she said, "A little bit of both."
"I want to take on more of a leadership role," she said. "I want to be a captain and more of a leader on the team. My experience on the national team can help clubs continue to reach that next level."
Orlando is the perfect place for that. The city is a bit of a soccer supernova, averaging the second-highest attendance in MLS. Even those who were wildly bullish on the franchise after 62,000 people showed for the season opener last March expected the buzz to trail off. It didn't. One Orlando City employee in the ticket office sold 50,000 tickets in 2015 all by herself.
One of the major reasons for the success was the team's headliner, Kaka, the former AC Milan and Real Madrid star who was mobbed at the airport when he arrived to join the club in 2013. Now Morgan has been deliberately placed on equal footing with Kaka in marketing and promotion, which seems appropriate to all of her fans but is really kind of a statement.
She is the pride of the Pride (so named to mirror the Lions). It's Morgan's team and Morgan's town for the taking – not even the entire Pride roster and coaching staff has been filled out yet. Sermanni, who previously coached Morgan on the national team, wasn't contacted until October. Morgan said in her recollection: "Probably around September things started moving quickly."
There's even a thread of thought in the community that it was Morgan who cemented Orlando's chances of getting a franchise. Carrasco was traded to Orlando City two weeks after the U.S. won the Women's World Cup, and Morgan was mentioned in the team's online announcement of the deal. During this time, the NWSL was being bombarded by interest from possible ownership groups. The expansion team was announced on Oct. 20, and news of the Morgan trade broke the next day.
When asked about this confluence of events, Morgan answered this way: "When my husband got traded, I had no idea ownership was considering a women's team. When I came in and watched [Orlando City], they hinted at the possibility of bringing in a team. I was proactive in telling them I would love to be in the same city as my husband, and part of a club that wanted to continue to grow."
(A spokesman for the Pride said the Morgan talks and franchise deals proceeded "on parallel tracks.")
However the result came together, there is an inordinate amount of weight now on Morgan's shoulders. Wambach, international soccer's all-time leading scorer, is retiring, making Morgan the leader of the national team, along with Lloyd. She is also the leader of an expansion team moving into a new stadium in 2016. And she will be called upon to play a huge role in the Olympic quest for gold next summer in Brazil. Failure in any of these ventures will not only be a setback for her, but also for the NWSL itself.
She is playing in a state where pro soccer has failed multiple times before, and she is playing in a sport where pro leagues have failed multiple times before. And although she feels 100 percent healthy for the first time in a long time, last week's injury to teammate Megan Rapinoe in Hawaii is a reminder that nothing is guaranteed. The new stadium will feature grass, but the Citrus Bowl (where they will play in 2016) has turf and the club has no plans to lay down grass. There's always risk in soccer, but the Pride can't really afford to lose Morgan for any length of time.
Alex Morgan has been a sports icon for a while now, but this is a new level for her. In varying senses, she represents her country, her new city, her sport, her league and two teams. Many athletes would see that as a reason to stay quiet. Morgan, it's clear, is eager to be a lion.
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