The National Women’s Soccer League began it’s short 2020 season in Herriman, Utah. During the national anthem, players from the North Carolina Courage and the Portland Thorns FC took a knee. According to CNN, the players were wearing Black Lives Matter shirts. In an online statement the teams said they were protesting “racial injustice, police brutality and systemic racism.” Players said: “It is our duty to demand that the liberties and freedoms this nation was founded upon are extended to everyone."