Lindsey Horan knew she would cause a stir when she told The Athletic, “American soccer fans, most of them aren’t smart.”
She did, after all, go on to say, “I’m gonna piss off some people.”
Based on the comments on the article and the rapid (and often out of context) aggregation of that particular quote, she was right.
But rather than engaging in a black-and-white, right-or-wrong argument, there’s a better question to ask: How would club veteran and USWNT captain Lindsey Horan, who began her career at age 17 and has amassed 139 national team caps, eight major club titles and a World Cup, have arrived at this conclusion? Perhaps it was indelicately worded and a bit jarring to hear especially from a prominent national team figure, but she’s not popping up with this kind of observation in a vacuum.
GO DEEPER
Lindsey Horan just wants to talk soccer
The truth is that there’s an entire ecosystem of factors that could have played into this perception of American soccer literacy, whether it’s right, wrong, conditional or a secret fourth thing. Literacy of any sort is not innate; it takes exposure, immersion, and practice — all things that have historically been in short supply for soccer in the United States, and in the women’s game especially.
First and foremost,…
