Flame Bearers: Pathways to Paris

Debinha (Deb) and Bia Zaneratto are two of the greatest soccer legends in the game. Both grew up playing with the boys, and in Deb's case often playing with whatever the neighborhood kids could grab that resembled a ball. Bia had her first opportunity to play with girls at 13. In this conversation we sit down with Deb and Bia together, as they both play for the Kansas City Current in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). This conversation is co-hosted by Maé-Bérénice Méité (2x Olympian and 6X National Figure Skating Champ, France) and conducted in Portuguese with English translation courtesy of Ana Ramos. If you don't know these two superstars, you should. Deb has played for Brazil in 2X FIFA World Cups, 2X Olympics, and has 130+ caps for her country. In the NWSL, she's wracked up 10,000+ minutes played, and is one of the most decorated players in the league (2x NWSL championships, 3x NWSL shields and multiple MVP titles). Bia skyrocketed onto the world stage at 14, and has since been a veteran of 4X FIFA World Cups (2011, 2015, 2019, 2023) and 2X Olympics. Both of them are on a mission to make the future of women's sports brighter and better than it was for them. In today's conversation we discuss motivation, overcoming challenges/stereotypes, and their hopes for the future of women's sports. When asked about her early motivation, Deb shares, "The boys wouldn’t let me play soccer with them, so I wanted to show them there was no reason I couldn’t play with them." Similarly, Bia offers, "I wanted to show the boys that I was just as capable. That a woman's place is wherever she wants.” As both look to the future, they share a commitment to increasing opportunities and support for women and girls in Brazil. Tune in to hear how! This episode was made possible in partnership with the Kansas City Current. Photo and video credit to the KC Current. ----