By Paul Nicholson
September 8 – The Washington Spirit took the unusual step of playing the US national anthem before the players had entered the playing arena last night at the National Women’s Soccer League play-off match against the Seattle Reign.
The action was to prevent Seattle and US national team midfielder Megan Rapinoe from kneeling during the anthem in what was planned to be a “nod to” Colin Kaepernick, the San Francisco quarterback who has refused to stand during the anthem in protest against racial injustice and minority oppression. Kaepernick suffered a barrage of criticism for his actions.
The Washington Spirit owner Bill Lynch, a military veteran, felt strongly that Rapinoe’s action would be disrespectful to a tradition and the club issued a statement saying: “Playing the national anthem prior to sports events became standard during World War II and was a way to express the team’s and fan’s patriotism and show support for the U.S. Military.
“The tradition of honoring our military and our patriotism before our games is very important to us. We strongly feel that there are better ways to begin a conversation about a cause than tarnishing a tradition that is so important to so many.
“To willingly allow anyone to hijack this tradition that means so much to millions of Americans and so many of our own fans for any cause would effectively be just as disrespectful as doing it ourselves.”
Rapinoe expressed disappointment at the statement, saying: “Being a gay American, I know what it means to look at the flag and not have it protect all of your liberties. It was something small that I could do and something that I plan to keep doing in the future and hopefully spark some meaningful conversation around it.”
A club statement from the Washington Reign said: “We will continue to encourage all Reign FC players to participate in the pre-match ceremony, which honors those who have served and made sacrifices on our behalf,” the Reign said. “We will also continue to allow players to participate in the pre-match ceremony in a manner consistent with their personal beliefs, reflecting our respect for the rights earned and defended by those fighting for our nation.”
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