Hi everybody! My name is Chloe Merino I’m a junior Biochemistry and Anthropology double major at the University of Pittsburgh with a chemistry minor and certificate in the conceptual foundations of medicine. This summer I have the incredible opportunity to travel to Sydney Australia during the Women’s World Cup! I’m beyond excited because I’ve always wanted to go to Australia, and as someone who grew up playing soccer their whole life seeing the World Cup in person would be a dream come true.
I’m originally from Oak Park- a small town in Southern California that’s about 15 minutes from Malibu. My twin sister and I grew up playing soccer together as our parents put us in a recreational league at five years old. I began to grow out of soccer as I got older until my passion for the sport reignited due to one position: goalkeeping. The first time I saw a professional goalkeeper make a high dive-save, I knew I had to learn how to fly just like them. From there I played pretty competitively and all throughout high-school until COVID ended up making recruitment for schools pretty difficult (and some injuries). When I heard about the Pitt at the Women’s World Cup Program, I knew I had to at least apply because the opportunity was too great to miss. Another passion of mine is anthropology and the sociocultural significance of a global sporting event like this is so immense, I just had to take the opportunity to study it all and be there in person!
Sport and culture and how they are intertwined fascinates me. This Women’s World Cup 2023, I’m especially interested to see how current heated conversations in our nation as well as globally will arise in the event. Transgender athletes and where they belong in sport is one topic I’m most interested in studying from a more global perspective. As a transgender individual who grew up playing women’s soccer myself, studying the policies on trans athletes in sport is a personal goal of mine to better understand world views on transgender athletes and people like myself. The Women’s World Cup at Sydney is the perfect place to do that. I want to hear perspectives from athletes, sports fans, news commentators, policy makers, and more firsthand so that I can more clearly capture the intricacies of this debate.
I’m so excited to reach a broader global perspective, and gather more first-hand experience and information about my interests while traveling abroad. Thanks for reading, I’ll get back to you in Sydney!