INVESTING IN ANSWERS
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Michele Kang didn't just invest in women's sports in 2025. She invested in rewriting the science of female athletic performance itself. That's why she's REAL SPORTS' 2025 Sportsperson of the Year.
While others wrote checks for stadiums and salaries, Kang asked questions that exposed systemic failures no one else was addressing: Why do female soccer players suffer ACL injuries at rates two to eight times higher than men? Why do girls drop out of soccer at alarming rates during puberty? Why are female athletes still training under systems designed exclusively for male physiology?
Kang committed $55 million to U.S. Soccer in 2025: a November 2024 pledge of $30 million over five years for talent identification, youth competition, and professional development, combined with an April 2025 investment of $25 million to integrate her Kynisca Innovation Hub into U.S. Soccer's Soccer Forward Foundation. In December 2025, U.S. Soccer announced the launch of the Kang Women's Institute, a first-of-its-kind platform designed to accelerate advancements in the women's game through science, innovation, and elevated best practices.
The research gap Kang is addressing represents the most fundamental barrier to women's sports excellence. Only 6% of published research in sports and exercise journals focuses exclusively on women, a disparity that has left generations of female soccer players training under models built for male physiology. As Kang stated: "That ends now. This Institute will put female athletes at the center of U.S. Soccer's scientific research and build the evidence, systems and standards that will allow women and girls to reach their full potential."
The consequences of this research gap are devastating and visible across every level of women's soccer. Female soccer players are two to eight times more likely to tear their ACLs than men, injuries that can require surgery and nearly a year of recovery time. Emma Hayes, coach of the U.S. Women's National Team and a key advisor to Kang's initiative, realized how little we know about training female athletes when three of her players at Chelsea had ACL injuries in one year. Physical therapists didn't understand why women weren't coming back in the same six- to seven-month window as men, not factoring in that women don't have as much testosterone and don't build muscle in the same way. When Chelsea competed in the FA Cup, several players were all in the final phase of their menstrual cycle, and it affected their reaction times.
"The whole system is based on copy and paste from the men's game," Hayes explained. Hayes emphasized that training coaches requires understanding beyond logistics: "It's not as simple as just going to the field with an extra tampon and a sanitary towel, though that would be helpful. Everything from ensuring we don't wear white shorts to what are the best ways for having challenging conversations in what is a really tricky period for young girls."
The Kang Women's Institute will address critical gaps at every stage of female athletic development. According to a study by the Aspen Institute, one in three girls participates in a sport from age 6-12, but nearly one in two quit during puberty. The Institute will tackle pregnancy support, understanding when and how to train throughout pregnancy and accounting for whether a player had a vaginal birth or C-section when planning their return to play. Research projects already underway with UNC and Duke focus on connecting health and performance, while another major project targets girls' soccer dropout rates, particularly at middle school age.
This focus on science and health distinguishes Kang's leadership. REAL SPORTS recognized her $50 million Kynisca investment as part of our 2024 #1 Most Important Moment, Capital Goals, alongside the NWSL's record $120 million San Diego Wave sale and Unrivaled's $35 million funding. While those investments built infrastructure and leagues, Kang's 2025 commitment addresses something more fundamental: the scientific foundation that determines whether female athletes can train safely, recover effectively, and reach their full potential.
Her path to this moment began with questions that revealed systemic failures. After buying three clubs, she noticed problems compared with men's sports: "Why do we have more ACL injuries? Why don't we have enough female coaches and referees?" Those questions came from someone who entered women's sports with fresh eyes and capital earned from selling her healthcare IT company, Cognosante. As the first woman of color to own a National Women's Soccer League team, the Washington Spirit, and majority owner of Olympique Lyonnais Féminin and London City Lionesses, Kang launched Kynisca in 2024, the world's first multi-team global organization focused on professionalizing women's football.
Her impact extended beyond soccer in 2025. In May 2025, Kang rebranded Olympique Lyonnais Féminin to OL Lyonnes, with a new logo featuring a roaring red lioness, symbolizing an independent identity separate from the men's team. Named ESPN's Sports Philanthropist of the Year in 2025, Kang invested $4 million over four years to USA Women's Rugby Sevens, provided $2 million in seed funding for IDA Sports producing cleats designed specifically for female athletes, and invested in Just Women's Sports.
Every investment followed the same principle: identify what female athletes actually need, then build it. Not adapt men's solutions. Not compromise with underfunded alternatives. Build it right.
U.S. Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone captured the significance: "For far too long, women and girls have trained under systems and standards built for men, and the Kang Women's Institute is an essential first step in changing that. Michele has helped us take a huge leap forward in reshaping the future of the women's game for generations to come."
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Michele Kang's 2025 Sportsperson of the Year recognition isn't about capital investment. It's about scientific transformation. She's funding research that will rewrite training protocols, reduce career-ending injuries, keep girls playing through puberty, and support athletes through pregnancy. She's ensuring that the next generation of female athletes won't train under systems built for men's bodies. That's not just leadership. That's legacy. That's why Michele Kang is REAL SPORTS' 2025 Sportsperson of the Year. [RS]
Sources:
Michele Kang takes on women’s sports’ most neglected need || U.S. SOCCER: U.S. Soccer Launches Kang Women’s Institute to Transform Health and Performance in the Women’s Game || Exclusive: Billionaire Michele Kang launches $25 million U.S. Soccer institute that promises to transform the future of women’s sports || Michele Kang Named ESPN’s Sports Philanthropist of the Year Honoree || Michele Kang - Wikipedia
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