Michele Kang continues to set a powerful example in financial investment within women’s sports.
U.S. Soccer has announced that the founder of Kynisca Sports International has committed to investing $30 million over the next five years to discover young talent and enhance the professional development of female soccer coaches and referees.
This donation marks the largest contribution ever made to U.S. Soccer by a woman and represents the highest amount donated for programs focused on women and girls.
“Michele Kang’s gift will transform soccer for women and girls in the United States,” stated U.S. Soccer president Cindy Parlow Cone. “It will impact generations of women and girls in our game, including players, coaches and referees.”
The investment will enable U.S. Soccer to double the number of national team camps, providing six camps per age group for its youth national teams. Furthermore, the organization aims to broaden its digital talent identification program, which seeks to discover future national team players, potentially reaching 100,000 female athletes.
Professional development opportunities for coaches and referees will also see an increase, with an additional 70,000 female coaches and referees gaining access to education and mentorship in the sport.
Throughout 2024, Kang has broadened her investment efforts in women’s sports, beginning with the establishment of Kynisca this spring. Kynisca is the first multi-team global organization devoted to women’s sports, encompassing her three soccer clubs: the NWSL’s Washington Spirit, France’s Olympique Lyonnais Féminin, and England’s London City Lionesses.
Kang has highlighted that a significant motivation behind her investment strategy is to enhance the awareness and understanding of female athlete science. “In my healthcare business days, I focused on a certain area, but I invested in other areas so that we’re all coming along,” Kang remarked during U.S. Soccer’s press conference in New York. “We need to bring everything else along, and that was really what was driving the investment; not only the clubs, but the cleats, the health research and training methodology.”
At the recent Summer Olympics in Paris, Kang announced a $4 million contribution to USA Rugby following the women’s rugby sevens team’s bronze medal victory. In October, Kynisca also led a seed funding round for IDA Sports, a women’s footwear brand that will boost the company’s research and development of soccer cleats designed specifically for female players.
Kang, the founder of medical tech enterprise Cognosante and venture capital firm Cognosante Ventures, is not the only individual to make substantial financial contributions to U.S. Soccer this year. Financial support from Citadel LLC founder Ken Griffin and Diameter Capital co-founder Scott Goodwin aided in securing the hiring of the new men’s national team manager Mauricio Pochettino, who signed a two-year, $12 million contract. (These donations also covered Pochettino’s staff expenses and the buyout of Gregg Berhalter, totaling approximately $20 million.)
Furthermore, Arthur Blank, owner of the Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United, invested $50 million towards building a new national training center in Atlanta, which will carry his name upon its completion in 2026—an event that coincides with the U.S. co-hosting the men’s World Cup alongside Canada and Mexico.
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