Brick Memorial Soccer Players Lace Up, Play With Pride

BRICK, NJ — For athletes, showing support for a cause takes many forms. Maybe it's a patch on your shirt, or an armband.

For the Brick Memorial girls soccer team, it's laces. Rainbow laces, to be exact.

The Mustangs are sporting rainbow laces, provided by the United Soccer Coaches association, as part of an initiative called Play with Pride. The aim is to send a simple message of support to fellow members of the soccer community and the community at large, showing support for people of all sexual orientations.

Billy Caruso, head coach of the soccer team, said the girls eagerly joined him in putting the rainbow laces, which were free, in their cleats.

"It's hard enough being a kid in high school, and even harder when you feel like you can't be who you really are," said Caruso, who's in his 24th season as coach of the Mustangs. "I wore them because I want every kid who plays for me -- the ones who I know are gay and the ones I don't know are gay -- to know there's always a place for them and they're all part of the Brick Memorial family."

United Soccer Coaches, formerly the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, began the initiative as an outgrowth of the pride jerseys worn by the U.S. women's and men's soccer teams over the summer, so high school and college soccer teams across the country could show their support for athletes and coaches of all sexual orientations.

“Soccer is an amazingly diverse sport,” said Dan Woog, chair of the United Soccer Coaches LGBT Coaches and Allies Member Group. “That diversity includes gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender coaches, players, support staff, referees and fans. This is a simple, effective and very colorful way to send the message that every person, associated with every team, is valued and respected.”

Caruso said he presented the initiative to the players before Wednesday's soccer game at Toms River South and the girls all jumped on it, lacing up their cleats on the bus ride from Brick Memorial to Toms River.

There was one small problem. "The rainbow laces are really thick," he said.

So thick, in fact, that some of the girls struggled to get them into their cleats.

"The new Nike cleats with the socks were a huge problem," he said. "The laces on those are so thin and the girls were struggling to get them (the rainbow laces) to go through" the eyelets for the laces.

"We were trying to do this on the bus," he said. Some girls gave up and then had to struggle getting the original laces back in the cleats. "We had parents bringing other cleats, it was crazy."

"I was thinking, 'Oh no, we're going to lose because I was trying to do something nice,' " Caruso said with a laugh.

Play with Pride week runs through Saturday, and players and coaches are encouraged to wear the rainbow laces during matches and post on social media with the hashtag #PlayWithPride to promote their team’s participation.

“Our association has the amazing ability to unite every coach at every level at every field across the nation,” said Lynn Berling-Manuel, CEO of United Soccer Coaches. “Play With Pride is one more way to highlight the enormous diversity and inclusiveness of both our association and our sport.”

Caruso, who said a fellow coach told him about the program, said he was glad to take part.

"It's an important message," he said.

The Brick Memorial girls soccer team's cleats photo provided by Billy Caruso