Brianna Pinto was just 18 years old when she gave a speech in front of the 68th FIFA Congress, where it was voted upon that the United States, Mexico and Canada would jointly host the 2026 World Cup as a unified North American contingency.
Her words — about the love of the game, about how soccer has opened connections for her, about how she would love the opportunity to welcome the world to North America for a World Cup — were short but powerful.
And they helped land the games in the United States next summer. That accomplishment, Pinto says, was one of the best experiences of her life.
“It made me want to enact real change in my community because I looked around the room at the governing body of FIFA, and it didn’t reflect everybody who played soccer. That was the catalyst of change for me.”
The NC Courage midfielder and former youth national team member for the United States founded the Pinto Futbol Foundation to ensure that the next generation has a place in the game — one camp, one pitch, and one opportunity at a time. For International Women's Day, she’s talking to FanSided about continuing to build accessibility in soccer.
FanSided is celebrating Women's History Month and International Women's Day by recognizing those transforming the sports landscape on and off the field and redefining what it means to lead and inspire. Check out the full list here.
How did the Pinto Futbol Foundation get started?
We started the Pinto Futbol Foundation with the intent of dismantling the structural and financial barriers to participation in soccer. I come from a soccer background where both my brothers played collegiately and professionally, and my dad played in college. And we realized that the opportunities were not available to everyone. We wanted to use our platform for good and give back to the game.
What has its impact been on communities you’ve worked with?
Our goal is to plant a seed, introduce them to the game, give them some tips and tricks about what we do on the field and how we’re successful. We also want to emphasize the importance of education through athletics. For a lot of kids in underserved communities, they see sports as an outlet. But you see sports as a vehicle to obtain an education. Because, under the collegiate model, you can get scholarships and opportunities that can help you see the world in a new light.
My family and I have taken advantage of that, and have all been Division 1 athletes. We’re looking to host three more camps this year. And we’re looking to expand more into rural North Carolina. And, of course, we love returning campers because the more time we get to spend with them, the better, and we’re able to establish relationships in the community. But our goal this calendar year is just to move to more remote areas and tap into communities of kids who haven’t seen the game, especially ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
One of our long-term goals is to build a mini-pitch in Durham, just so the kids have safe, accessible places to play. One of the barriers to participation is the fact that field availability isn’t around, and it keeps kids from establishing pickup culture.
Which experiences stand out to you from recent camps you’ve hosted?
Our most recent clinic was in December at the Boys and Girls Club of Durham and Orange Counties, and it was just a really great day to be able to put on a session for them, send them home with Adidas equipment that we’re able to donate to them. It helps them play well beyond that clinic.
I went a few days before just to say hello to the kids, get them excited and tell them I play professional soccer at NC Courage and my brother plays for the MLS. They were like, ‘What’s soccer?’
I asked if they knew Messi or Ronaldo. And they were like ‘Oh, yeah! We know them!’
So, we just needed to connect the dots a little bit. If we can make a soccer fan for life, whether that’s at the recreational level or just a fan of the game who watches, we see that as a win. As someone who’s been involved with U.S. Soccer for the past 13 years, we want to make soccer the preimminent sport in the United States. And it takes events like these to make casual fans. Also, reminding kids that they have a place in the game because, again, representation is a huge part of it.
In terms of representation, what are some positive shifts you’ve seen making sure that Black women are properly celebrated and platformed within the NWSL and in U.S. Soccer?
First, interacting with younger Black girls at the Boys and Girls Club was touching because when I was coming up in the sport, I didn’t have many other people who looked like me. So, just reminding them that you belong here, this is a game that is played globally and celebrated by people from all walks of life, was really profound and touching. It meant the world to me.
I think there’s a lot of change at every level of the game. The most direct impact is the way storytelling goes for Black women players in our league, and a huge component of that has been the establishment of the Black Women’s Player Collective.
We’re able to tell our own stories, get out in the community, and host events. It creates a community of support and emotional and physical well-being because we lean on each other throughout the league and really want to make sure that it’s a forward-thinking league that’s constantly advocating for human rights, civil rights, and things of that nature.
Storytelling and making Black women players visible in media is first. We’re proud to say we have so many of the best players in the world who are representing the league so well on national teams of their own, and it’s cool to see because I didn’t have those people I could really look up and identify with.
Sure, Brianna Skurry was one of them, but seeing so many more people, like from the entire diaspora, really means a lot to me.
What are some systemic changes you’d like to see in the next few years that can have a positive impact on representation?
I think coaching is a really important factor in a child’s life. I’m a big believer that the coach is the third most important person in a child’s life. It’s the parent, the teacher, and the coach. They really impact how a child sees themselves, their self-esteem, and their ability to overcome adversity. So, one of the barriers to participation in the sport of soccer is coaching education because they will need licenses, which is really expensive and time-consuming to acquire.
So, expanding the pool of coaches to just have more representation in general is a huge step. That’s improving and has improved throughout my career, but still, there’s massive steps to take.
Also, player care. So, support staff, athletic trainers and PTs and doctors, making sure that the Black women are believed when they have injuries and that their pain is managed properly because, like in any other part of the world, in healthcare, it can be really hard to advocate for yourself. So, I definitely would say that coach, representation of the actual players in the storytelling, and then also player care are the three most important ways to engage in increasing Black representation in the sport.
How did your own community inspire you growing up? Growing up in Durham and now playing for NC Courage, it seems like community plays a huge role for you.
I think community is everything because I do think it takes a village to raise a child, and those people will pour into you, whether it’s resources, time, money, whatever it may be, they help you get to where you’re trying to go. A funny anecdote is, I played boys’ soccer, and we had a scrimmage yesterday with the NC Courage. We were playing a boy’s academy team, and the coach on the opposing team used to be my coach.
It was just really interesting because in my community, that let me, the lone Black girl, be a part of a boy’s team, a team that wasn’t very diverse, but I felt so loved and welcomed, and it was a huge part of my development. And, I will say about community, and as it pertains to soccer, I do think that boys and girls should play together for as long as possible. It helps development, it helps emotional and social understanding. Sports teaches you so much about who you are as a person and how to interact with people in different walks of life. But, for my development, being able to be in an environment where people didn’t look like me, I was forced to put myself out there and be more outgoing. And I think there were some hardships that definitely came from it, like not having many other Black teammates. But, being the only girl, it taught me to advocate for myself, and, you know, be comfortable with speaking out about what I see.
And, on International Women’s Day, I want young girls to know that sports are there for them, it’s a place for them, and they can thrive, and there are so many valuable life lessons that they’ll learn through it.