When the players on the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team embarked on the SheBelieves Cup, they honored a host of women they deemed influential not only to themselves, but women everywhere. And they did it by putting the names of those influencers on the backs of their jerseys.
Some examples of the women honored by the USWNT were Sally Ride, Serena Williams, Doris Burke, Maya Angelou and Mother Teresa. The three Utah Royals FC players — Becky Sauerbrunn, Christen Press and Kelley O’Hara — sported the names of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sojourner Truth and Heather O’Reilly, respectively.
A few of the trailblazers shared their gratitude on Twitter, including former women’s soccer players Abby Wambach and Mia Hamm. But it was Ginsburg who thanked the entire national team with a more personal touch.
Ginsburg, one of the nine Supreme Court justices, sent a letter to the team on official stationary thanking it for a “surprise package” — presumably the jersey with her initials “RBG” on the back — and specifically mentioned Sauerbrunn in the letter.
Sauerbrunn said in March that she chose Ginsburg for her jersey because the justice is “a complete rock star.”
“Dissenting opinion, battling cancer and then showing up to vote… what can’t she do?” Sauerbrunn said in a release. “I just think she’s amazing."