'This country isn't just white': A diverse US squad heads to women's World Cup

NEW YORK : A new era is dawning for the U.S. women's national soccer team, as the most diverse squad the program has ever produced will pursue an unprecedented third consecutive title when the World Cup kicks off this month in Australia and New Zealand.

The squad represents a major shift from its early days and even more recent USA teams that were overwhelmingly white. Trinity Rodman will make her World Cup debut alongside veteran defender Crystal Dunn on a team that features seven Black players.

"The issue is partly about economics and partly about how hard it is to eliminate stereotypes people have about who can succeed at what sports," said Jon Solomon, editorial director of the Aspen Institute Sports & Society Program.

Retired USA goalkeeper Briana Scurry said, "for decades I was the only one of color on the roster that started."

"(Now) you have players that are really making inroads and making impacts and impressions in more ways than one who are going to be there a long time because they're very young," she told Reuters.

Scurry's penalty kick save in front of 90,185 fans at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, helped the United States win the 1999 Cup, turning the team into idols for millions of American girls, in what was seen as a turning point for women's sports.

That squad offered little representation for girls of color. Scurry said she struggled to secure endorsement deals after her heroics, as the only openly gay player and as a Black woman.

"I was always going to be authentically me. I never hid that I was gay. I just was being who I am," said Scurry, a Hall of Famer and the host of the "Counterattack" podcast.

Scurry now sees the diverse soccer landscape she had wanted to be part of, and feels gratified that