USWNTPA x Visa x CashApp

AUCKLAND, New Zealand — It’s really, really hard for players to get to the World Cup. Visa is making it easier for their families.

Visa partnered with the U.S. women’s national team’s Players Association on the Visa Players’ Supporters Club, a program that gives money to each of the 23 players to help defray their loved ones’ costs of coming to the tournament in Australia and New Zealand. The money was loaded on a Cash App card so the players’ families can use it however they need.

“When it’s so far away and not everybody’s retired or can take this amount of time off, to have that burden not be put on them and be put on Visa, it’s a weight off our shoulders, the weight off our families’ shoulders,” Lynn Williams told USA TODAY Sports.

“It allows us to focus on the one thing we need to focus on, which is soccer,” she added. “No matter how much we say it, even if we’re like, ‘OK, our families are fine, they’ll be fine,’ as players, as daughters, we worry about them. So to not have that burden is incredible.”

Financial specifics weren’t given, but the deal is believed to be worth at least six figures.

The landmark collective bargaining agreement that ensured the USWNT equal pay also allowed the players to do their own commercial deals. Visa is a partner of both FIFA and U.S. Soccer, and has a long history of supporting women’s athletes, so a deal like this was a no-brainer, said Mary Ann Reilly, the company’s senior vice president and head of North American marketing.

Especially after hearing players say how tough it was mentally not to have their friends and families at the Tokyo Olympics because of COVID restrictions.

“They talked about how not having that support really affected them,” Reilly said. “Just seeing the conversations they’re having with their families and the excitement … that’s a really big trip. So it means a lot.”

U.S. Soccer does a “Friends and Family” program at major tournaments, arranging hotels and transportation at discounted rates. But there’s no way the federation could pick up the tab for 23 players’ families, and the circumstances are different for every player.

Some players could afford to have one or two people travel, but have more who want to come. Some could swing a game or two, but not a tournament that could last five weeks.

And some simply couldn’t afford it at all, even if it is the culmination of a lifetime’s worth of work for their child. Or sibling. Or spouse.

“It won’t cover 100% of expenses, but it will help,” said Becca Roux, the executive director of the USWNTPA. “We constantly try to think of clever ways to bring value to our membership. Visa was willing to be creative.”

That means the world to the players and their families.

Williams’ career has been a roller coaster of serious injuries and coming up just short of World Cup and Olympic teams. After initially making the Tokyo squad as an alternate, she was thrilled when rosters were expanded.

Devastated, too. She was finally on a USWNT roster for a major international tournament, and her family wouldn’t be there to see it.

“I was like, ‘I wish my family was here. I wish I could celebrate this moment with them,’” Williams recalled. “So to finally be able to do that, to see them in the stands and just know how proud they are of me — every single time I talk to my mom, she cries. It just means the world to me.”

In addition to Williams’ mother, her sister is traveling to the World Cup. So is her fiancé and his family. Some of her best friends and their families, too.

And Williams won’t have to worry about how any of them will pay for their trips. Or the expenses they’ll have once they arrive.

“Personally, I’m so proud that the union and brands like Visa with Cash App continue to find innovative ways to support USWNT Players,” Roux said, “so that our members can focus on their craft on the pitch.”