Former soccer player Megan Rapinoe is well-known for her free kick accuracy and play creation ability. Olympic gold winner Rapinoe is World Cup champion and Shasta County Sports Hall of Fame inductee. Having joined the National Women’s Soccer Team in 2006, she has taken part in more than 200 international events.
Soccer player Megan Rapinoe is well-known for her creative approach of play as well as her social engagement. Fan favourite and two-time World Cup champion and Olympic gold medallist, she is among the most talented and sly players in the game.
Contents
- 1 Megan Rapinoe Early Life
- 2 Megan Rapinoe Family Support
- 3 Megan Rapinoe Career
- 3.1 Early Setback and College Choice (2004)
- 3.2 Freshman Success (2005)
- 3.3 Comeback: Injuries 2006–2008
- 3.4 My 2008 college final year decision to go pro
- 3.5 Transfers and Pro debuts (2009–2011)
- 3.6 Magic Jack and Overseas Move (2011–2013)
- 3.7 2013 champion League finalist
- 3.8 Return of Reign to the 2014–2015 NWSL
- 3.9 Highlights of the early 2015 season
- 3.10 Legend Status and Success (2019–2021)
- 3.11 Retirement (2023) and last game
- 4 Megan Rapinoe Activism & Impact
- 5 Megan Rapinoe Biography in Brief
- 6 Megan Rapinoe Net Worth
- 7 Megan Rapinoe Personal Life
- 8 Megan Rapinoe Relationship
Megan Rapinoe Early Life
Megan Rapinoe, 39-year-old activist and former American soccer player born in Redding, California, on July 5, 1985, is under Cancer’s sign.
She is among the best athletes in the sport because of her play on the field as well as her advocacy off-field.
Megan Rapinoe is an activist and fervent supporter of the LGBTQ community having worked via several groups
the Athlete Ally and the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network.
For most of her childhood, Megan played soccer for teams managed and coached by her father, Jim, until she entered high school. She joined the Sacramento-based Elk Grove Pride club squad instead of playing soccer for Foothill High School. Apart from soccer, Megan ran track in her first and second years of high school and played basketball in her first, second, and fourth years. Megan also routinely appeared on the honour roll during her high school tenure.
Early in life, she started playing soccer and developed her skills still in a teenage state. Megan Rapinoe travelled to the University of Portland in Oregon with her twin sister, Rachael Rapinoe. Megan Rapinoe was a standout player for her university’s soccer team among the top scorers in collegiate women’s soccer in the United States. a knee problem caused her to miss some games between her sophomore and junior years. She resumed full-time soccer playing as a senior and started every game that year. 2008 saw her graduate from the University of Portland with a Bachelor of Sociology degree.
Megan Rapinoe Family Support
Among the five siblings Rapinoe had growing up in Redding, California, was her fraternal twin Rachael Rapinoe. Jim and Denise, her parents, raised her there. Denise and Jim raised seven children overall, some of which were not their own. From a past marriage, Denise’s son Michael and daughter Jenny Five years later, with the arrival of her older brother Brian, Denise came across twins. Jim and her grandfather Jack likewise served in the military.
Her grandpa on her father’s side can let one trace both Irish and Italian heritage. She started playing soccer herself at three years old after seeing her older brother Brian do it. Looking up to him as a role model.
Megan Rapinoe Career
Early Setback and College Choice (2004)
Rapinoe attended Portland University with her sister. Before signing up for full scholarships with the Portland Pilots, the Rapinoe twins almost picked Santa Clara University. Third place went to Rapinoe’s US squad at the 2004 FIFA U-19 Women’s World Championship. She thus missed playing college soccer that year.
Freshman Success (2005)
Lead by a rookie, Rapinoe guided the Pilots to an undefeated season and the 2005 NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Championship. In the Pilots’ 3-1 quarterfinal over Notre Dame for College Cup advancement, she scored two goals and one assist.
She helped the Pilots defeat UCLA 4-0 College Cup final by scoring one goal. She was first team freshman all-American chosen by both Soccer America and NSCAA. Rapinoe earned NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship All-Tournament and West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year honours.
She composed the first teams and all-wCC freshman. Beginning all 25 games, offensive midfielder Rapinoe finished seventh in school history with 15 goals and 13 assists as a freshman. That year she had seven game-winning goals.
Comeback: Injuries 2006–2008
With 10 goals and 2 assists in 11 games as a sophomore in 2006 Rapinoe was a top scorer. October 5 saw her first anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury against Washington State University, effectively terminating her season.
She was hurt but she joined Christine Sinclair, Tiffeny Milbrett, and Shannon MacMillan as the only Portland players in programmes history to score 25 goals and 15 assists in two seasons. Two games into 2007, Rapinoe’s season was cut short with her second ACL injury. She turned down the NCAA’s waiver for medical hardship.
My 2008 college final year decision to go pro
Rapinoe started all 22 Pilots games in 2008 following a second ACL injury recovery. She contributed five goals and thirteen assists to help the club go 20–2. With 13 assists—which led the Pilots and the conference—she was named West Coast Conference Player of the Year. She also received honours as Soccer America First Team All-American and NSCAA Second Team All-American.
Her NCAA medical hardship waiver allowed her to enter the Women’s Professional Soccer Draft even though she had one more year of university eligibility. Though only playing 60 games, Rapinoe’s 88 points—30 goals and 28 assists—rank tenth in school history.
Transfers and Pro debuts (2009–2011)
Chicago Red Stars, the best soccer team in the US, chose her second from the 2009 Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) draft. Megan joined the Philadelphia Independence following the Chicago Red Stars’ folded year later.
There, her goal came in one of four games. She was sold to MagicJack while overseas even though she was playing in the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Magic Jack and Overseas Move (2011–2013)
With her team, Megan ranked third in 2011 following ten MagicJack events. After removing MagicJack, the WPS left Megan and her associates free agents. After a little period, Megan started playing professional soccer in Australia. She later joined the US squad but left two games to play for the Olympique Lyonnais Féminin in France.
2013 champion League finalist
In 2013 Megan participated in the UEFA Women’s Champions League versus FC Malmö. Her squad lost even though they made it to the finals. Megan, though, was the fifth American woman in Champions League finals.
Return of Reign to the 2014–2015 NWSL
In 2014 Megan went back to America to spend entire season with the Seattle Reign. This season, she produced exceptional team performance. The Reign FC honoured Megan and eleven colleagues as well as thirty-six additional legends in September 2019.
Highlights of the early 2015 season
In 2015 Rapinoe went back to the Reign. She helped Jess Fishlock score her first professional hat trick in the 5-1 opening triumph over the Western New York Flash. First week she was selected NWSL Player of the Week.
Legend Status and Success (2019–2021)
In September 2019 Rapinoe and eight others joined 36 others to become Reign Legends. With six goals in twelve games, Rapinoe and Lauren Barnes led the squad in 2021. Rapinoe named NWSL Player of the Month August 2021. With 13–8–3 normal season record, the Reign came second. They advanced to the NWSL Playoffs but fell to the Washington Spirit.
Retirement (2023) and last game
Rapinoe confirmed her retirement following the NWSL 2023 season. October 6’s final Reign home game at Lumen Field attracted a NWSL record 34,130 fans. Rapinoe was acknowledged at the event at a ceremony.
OL Reign fell against NJ/NY Gotham upon arriving the 2023 NWSL Championship and playoffs. In the third minute Rapinoe ripped his Achilles.

Megan Rapinoe Activism & Impact
Rapinoe’s popularity has helped her to advocate several societal concerns. She has been vocal supporter of the LGBTQ community and argued for racial justice. She became the first white athlete to kne during the national anthem singing in 2016 as part of a movement started by NFL player Colin Kaepernick to protest racism and police violence directed at African Americans.
Together with some of her fellow USWNT colleagues, Rapinoe sued the US Soccer Federation in 2019. Citing gender discrimination, the squad sought pay on line with that of the U.S. men’s soccer team; a documentary on the lawsuit, LFG, debuted in 2021.
The action yielded a settlement the next year. Players were to collect $24 million and the federation promised equal pay for the men’s and women’s teams at upcoming events.
Megan Rapinoe Biography in Brief
Name: | Megan Repinoe |
Nick Name: | “Pinoe” |
Age: | 39 Years |
Born: | July 5, 1985 |
Gender: | Female |
Height: | 5’6″ft |
Weight: | 132 lbs |
Country of Origin: | Redding, California, USA. |
Net Worth/Salary | $5 million |
Girlfriend / Wife | Sue Bird (fiancée) |
Relationship Status |
Unmarried |
Kids |
N/A |
Father | Jim Rapinoe |
Mother | Denise Rapinoe |
Siblings |
Rachael Rapinoe (Her Twin Sister), Brian Rapinoe (brother) |
Social Media |
Instagram – Facebook |
Megan Rapinoe Net Worth
Following World Cup victory in 2019, the US women’s team brought home $4 million overall. By contrast, the French men’s team, the 2018 tournament winner, took in $38 million. The US women’s squad earned a $90,000 prise for qualifying for the quarterfinals. The American men would have gotten $550,000 to reach the same point.
After landing an improved deal in 2017, women’s squad members now get $4,950 for every tournament triumph.
Athletes from women often make $167,000 a year. Generally speaking, Megan and other elite players earn from all sources roughly $400,000 annually.
Megan Rapinoe Personal Life
By her first year of college, Rapinoe knew she was a lesbian. She came out as gay in the July 2012 Out magazine, disclosing that she had been seeing Australian soccer player Sarah Walsh since 2009. About five years after they initially started dating, Rapinoe and Walsh split in 2013. Later on Rapinoe dated Sub Pop recording singer Sera Cahoone.
Rapinoe and Cahoone came out as engaged in August 2015. Rapinoe claimed that their plans for marriage were shelved in January 2017. On July 20, 2017, Rapinoe and Seattle Storm basketball player Sue Bird revealed their relationship, therefore attesting to their late 2016 dating. October 30, 2020 saw their public involvement.
In a 2020 interview with Terry Gross on Fresh Air, Rapinoe discussed her older brother, who first pushed her to play soccer, having spent periods of time—including solitary confinement—in jail. Rapinoe emphasised that while detained, her brother joined white nationalist groups housed within prisons.
Megan Rapinoe Relationship
Megan Rapinoe said in 2020 that she had come out as LGBT in 2012 and that it had made her “a better, more full person” since she was no longer denying any part of herself. Sue Bird came out as LGBT in 2017 when she told ESPNW, “I’m gay,” having dated Rapinoe.
“Megan is my lover.” These are not mysteries to individuals who know me,” she remarked, stressing that she had simply refrained from talking about it in front of others. The pair said in October 2020 they were engaged.
Bird emphasised in a 2022 interview: “It’s more Megan.” We’re on Megan’s schedule; the reason they haven’t gotten married yet is the ongoing soccer schedule. Bird recalled that “Megan was a total dork” at their first meeting at a 2016 Rio Olympics photo session.
For Body Issue, Rapinoe referred it as “a celebration of athletes,” the two showed themselves naked. Then-president Trump wrote, “Megan should WIN first before she TALKS,” following Rapinoe’s announcement she would not visit the White House should they win the World Cup. Bird said in a blog post, “Megan, man… you just cannot shake that girl…
she is unaffected and unapologetic.” Their engagement was announced with a picture of Rapinoe on one knee. Bird later said to E!, “A young gay child might exclaim, ‘Oh! while Megan and I are strolling down the street. Neither are the unusual ones. They are just happy and carrying on with their life.