Mother and daughter to watch rare World Cup games in United States

It was a coming together of her three worlds — her career, her athletic passions and her family. “Being a mom, a CEO and a former athlete myself, I knew the impact it had on young girls,” she said. “This means more to girls than it does to boys.” The idea sparked in December 2022, and by 2024 the Wild FC team was born. In 2026, the Wild FC Academy was founded as a club pipeline streamlining young talent to the elite stage. Fabie trains at the academy. “It’s awesome to have another pathway for when you get older, not having to always go abroad,” she said. Four years since the concept was sparked, Zumwalt is still no stranger to the occasional remark describing the club as a “recreational league.” “Often, when people come up to the game at McMahon Stadium and they watch us play, they go, ‘wow, this is for real pro sport,’ ” she said. “There’s just this attitude that women’s sport isn’t real professional sport.” The Haitian women’s soccer team made its World Cup breakthrough in 2023, debuting in the tournament at Australia and New Zealand, and winning its first World Cup match against China in the group stage. “You’ve got all this stuff going on with the WNBA taking off and (women’s professional soccer leagues) in the U.S. and U.K., and you’ve got women’s professional cricket,” she said.” It’s become a little more mainstream.” The growth of women’s sport is also playing a pivotal role in their lives off the field.

An Ernst and Young survey found that 94 per cent of surveyed women in the C-suite played sports. “Wild has always been more than about a sport, it’s about elevating a generation of female leaders,” Zumwalt said.