COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. - The Ursinus College women's soccer team and head coach Aileen Ascolese will co-host a panel discussion concerning the ongoing debate around equal pay, gender, and soccer in the United States. Former Penn State soccer star and NWSL alumnus Maddy Evans will headline a discussion featuring New York Times journalist Jere Longman, attorney John Langel, and Professor Jeffery Gerson of UMass Lowell. It is co-hosted by Bryn Mawr soccer and will be held on October 21 at 6:00 PM in the Old Library on Bryn Mawr's campus.
Evans is currently an assistant coach at West Chester University following a successful professional career with the Boston Breakers (2013-2015), Brisbane Roar of the Australian W-League (Loan 2016/2017), and the Orlando Pride (2016-2017). In 2013, Evans was selected by the Boston Breakers during the fourth round (29th overall) of the 2013 NWSL College Draft. Not signed initially after training camp, she was called up as an amateur player when international players were called up to their national teams in late May. She played three seasons in Boston, making 46 appearances, including 23 starts. She won a USYS National Championship, including the Golden Boot for that tournament run, as a youth player for FC Bucks, and captained Penn State her senior year to the final of the College Cup.
Jere Longman has written extensively on sports, soccer, and equal pay issues for The New York Times and also published a book on the 1990 FIFA World Cup-winning USWNT titled "The Girls of Summer". Mr. Longman has been a sports reporter for The New York Times since October 1993, covering a variety of international sports, primarily those of the Olympics.
Prior to working at The Times, Mr. Longman covered the Philadelphia Eagles and the 76ers at the Philadelphia Inquirer from 1982 to 1993. He also worked as a general assignment sportswriter for the paper. From 1977 to 1982, he served as a general assignment reporter and sports writer as well as a school district beat reporter at the Dallas Times Herald. He wrote about high school and college sports at the Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss. from 1976 to 1977.
John Langel is the attorney who represented the players of both the USWNT soccer and hockey programs in their suits to establish a more equitable pay scale for women representing the United States. He was actively involved in supporting sports programming, fighting for athlete rights, and other related issues throughout his career as an attorney.
Professor Jeffery Gerson is a member of the College of Fine Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, in the Political Science department. He has written extensively about women in coaching and the various issues facing women athletes, coaches, and other participants in women's sport.
For more information about this event, please contact Bears head coach Aileen Ascolese at aascolese@ursinus.edu.