Some American Athletes Refusing to Play on Trump’s Team
They shoot, they score, they — move to Sweden?
For Ella Masar, an American pro soccer player, Tuesday’s presidential election of Donald Trump was the deflating equivalent of the home team scoring a goal against itself. And so on Friday, Masar, who played for the U.S. women’s national soccer team in 2009, and who signed a deal with Sweden’s FC Rosengard last December, asked her team’s management to let her stay in Sweden.
For Ella Masar, an American pro soccer player, Tuesday’s presidential election of Donald Trump was the deflating equivalent of the home team scoring a goal against itself. And so on Friday, Masar, who played for the U.S. women’s national soccer team in 2009, and who signed a deal with Sweden’s FC Rosengard last December, asked her team’s management to let her stay in Sweden.
“I actually went in to see [FC Rosengård management] and asked to sign on for another four years at the club so I do not have to go back to the U.S. with Donald Trump as president,” she said.
This is not, of course, a possibility for millions of Americans — or even for all athletes — who are alarmed by the new Oval Office occupant. LeBron James, star of the very much United States-based Cleveland Cavaliers and former Hillary Clinton campaigner, said in a very long Instagram caption, “Parents and leaders of our children please let them know they can still change the world for the better! Don’t lose a bit of faith! They’re our future and we must remain stronger than ever!! Yes we all wanna lace up the boots, put on the hard hats and strike but that’s not the answer. Love, genuine LOVE and FAITH will be the only thing that can get us through this. Minorities and Women in all please know that this isn’t the end, it’s just a very challenging obstacle that we will overcome!!”
As for whether James would go to the White House to see Trump if the Cavaliers win again next year, the basketball star said only, “I don’t know. That’s something I would cross. We’ll have to cross that road, I guess. We’ll see. I would love to have to cross that road.”
Of course, not all of Cleveland’s athletes feel as James does. On Wednesday, hours after Trump became the president-elect, Trevor Bauer of the Cleveland Indians tweeted, “M.A.G.A!!!” He was referring to Trump’s campaign slogan. When asked how he could look his female relatives in the eye, Bauer responded, “the [sic] all voted Trump as well.”
We are sure the Swedish Baseball and Softball Federation is crushed that it will not be gaining a new American member.
Photo credit: Leigh Vogel/WireImage
Emily Tamkin is a global affairs journalist and the author of The Influence of Soros and Bad Jews. Twitter: @emilyctamkin
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