98 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • DECEMBER 2019
WOMEN’S SOCCER
FIGHTING FOR EQUALITY
BY TIMOTHY BOLGER
A documentary about professional
female soccer players fighting for
equality worldwide is slated to be
released next year with the help of
a Long Island woman who is helping
bring the film to fruition.
Susie DeLellis Petruccelli of
Manhasset is producing Warriors
Of A Beautiful Game, which is being
directed by Kely Nascimento-Deluca,
the eldest daughter of Brazilian
soccer legend Pelé. The film casts a
lens on the movement toward gender
equity in sports, including equal pay
at the national team level. It also
aims to advance the cause by shining
a light on the issue and helping
raise funds for nonprofits working
toward correcting the disparity.
“The whole thing has been very
whirlwind, but it’s been very fun,”
said Petruccelli. “Everywhere we
went, what we found was not at all
what we expected.”
The filmmakers traveled to Brazil,
England, France, Italy, Tanzania,
and Orlando to interview professional
women’s soccer players and
document the challenges they face.
The production comes as the U.S.
Women’s National team, which recently
won its fourth World Cup, is
suing U.S. Soccer for gender discrimination
and women’s national teams
around the world are also asking
for equity from their federations
amid a worldwide movement to try
to change the global landscape of
women’s sports.
“The argument that women don’t
bring in the same revenue as men
is a complicated issue, but in simple
terms, it theoretically shouldn’t apply
to non-for-profit organizations
like U.S. Soccer and FIFA, which are
mandated by their own bylaws to
grow the game for everyone equally,”
Petruccelli said. “The revenue
argument is also unethical to hold
against women in clubs teams even
though they are for-profit organization
because, for example, in 1920
when a professional women’s game
in England got more attendance
than the men’s games at the time, the
English FA banned women’s football.
The ban stayed in place for 50 years,
thwarting the growth of the women’s
game unfairly.”
To advance the argument, Warriors
Of A Beautiful Game follows the
story of Lais Arjaujo, a young professional
female soccer player who
faced barriers, starting with just being
allowed out of the house to play
in her hometown in Brazil. Through
her own ingenuity, perseverance,
and a lot of luck, a recruiter saw her
play by chance and discovered her to
be one of the most talented players
he had ever seen. She then followed
her dreams to America.
“One way or another, I knew I would
not be able to fulfill my dreams if I
stayed in Brazil,” she said in the documentary.
“You see a boy who has
sufficient abilities, who has agility
there is always someone there to see
him, you know? We don’t have that
for women’s football.”
Filming has been completed, a rough
cut is in the works, and production
is in the home stretch, but the documentary
doesn’t have a release date
yet. The filmmakers are shooting for
its release to coincide with the 2020
Summer Olympics, which begin in
Tokyo on July 24.
The filmmakers are accepting
donations in partnership with the
Women Win Foundation to help
fund completion of the documentary.
Once completed, the filmmakers
will then raise money for initiatives
dedicated to the cause, such as the
Equality League, which advocates
for changes that protect female
athletes.
Besides Petruccelli and Nascimento
DeLuca, rounding out the team
behind the film is Co-Director
Justin Noto, Producer Luis Castro,
Cinematographer Eric Branco, and
Catherine Bealin, who’s in charge of
Social Impact. Two-time World Cup
winner Julie Foudy, who was a member
of the 1996 Olympic gold medal
winning U.S. Women’s National
Soccer Team, is executive producer.
Petruccelli, who grew up playing
soccer in California and went to
Harvard University before settling
on Long Island with her husband,
was tapped to produce the film due
to her expertise on the issue. She
is currently finishing a book about
women in soccer, Raised a Warrior,
due to be released in the spring. UKbased
Floodlit Dreams is publishing
the book after awarding Petruccelli
its inaugural Vikki Orvice Prize,
named for the pioneering female
British sports journalist.
“I didn’t know how lucky I was to
have the opportunity to play soccer
until much later in life,” Petruccelli
recalled. “I realized that other
women before our generation …
and women still in other parts of the
country and other parts of the world
still don’t have those opportunities.”
To support the effort, donations can
be made to Women Win Foundation,
Inc., 10985 90th Ave., Seminole,
Fla., 33772. Include “Warriors of a
Beautiful Game Documentary” in
the notes section. Online donations
can be made at womenwin.org/donate.
Donors can email their name
and contact into to susie@warriorwomenoffootball.
com
“Women still in other parts of the country and
other parts of the world still don’t have those
opportunities,” said Susie DeLellis Petruccelli.
PRESS BUZZ
L. to R.: Susie Petruccelli and Kely Nascimento filming at Manchester
City in England.
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