USWNT star Naomi Girma wants to 'Create the Space' for mental health in soccer

Before the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup in Australia kicked off last summer, FOX Sports announced a groundbreaking multi-year partnership with Common Goal USA, in which FOX Sports became the first and only World Cup broadcaster to take Common Goal's 1% pledge and commit 1% of its World Cup coverage through 2026 to telling the story of soccer for social impact cross-platform. By the end of the tournament, FOX Sports' total commitment of airtime exceeded 6%.

This year, ahead of CONMEBOL Copa América 2024 and UEFA EURO 2024, FOX Sports is continuing its commitment to making a positive impact on soccer in the United States. FOX Sports will work with its parent company, Fox Corporation, and Common Goal USA to host a series of mental health training for youth soccer coaches and hundreds of young athletes across the country in select host locations for Copa América 2024, including Atlanta, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami and New Jersey/New York.

The first of these mental health training sessions was held on Monday at the Cheviot Hills Recreation Center in Los Angeles as part of Common Goal's Create the Space initiative, which provides mental health training for professional athletes and community organizations, and unites the soccer community behind the idea that mental well-being is just as important as physical health.

Create the Space was launched in November with the support of some of soccer's biggest stars, including United States women's national team and San Diego Wave FC fullback Naomi Girma. In March 2022, Girma's friend and former Stanford teammate Katie Meyer died by suicide at the age of 23. Since then, Girma has been one of the leading voices for mental health in women's soccer, which was motivated by her