W ith confetti and ticker tape landing on the shoulders of champions and their fans along the Canyon of Heroes in downtown Manhattan, Emma Morrone saw something bigger than the elite players returning to the United States after their World Cup win in France.

In the floats that carried the likes of Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan, and Julie Ertz, alongside the rest of the world championship squad, the 17-year-old football player – or “soccer player” as she, and those around her, would call it here in the US – said she saw role models, not just passing stars.

And, the New Jersey high school senior said that she hopes she sees the future in those women who have inspired a nation with their athleticism, and spurred a conversation about equity and rights in America and abroad.

“We look up to them, and how they play, and take from their game, learn from their moves,” Ms Morrone said, referring to herself and her two teammates who had made the trek from New Jersey on Wednesday morning, 17-year-old Caitlin Scully and 18-year-old Alex Pardo.

That is, they are learning moves from them both on and off the pitch. They see what the US Women’s National Team has done to promote pay equality, an issue that persists for the women in spite of their clear strengths compared to the US men’s team. They see how the players have spoken about and promoted a general sense that one must stand up to bigotry, in general.

They want to learn those moves, too.

“I think they’re really amazing,” Ms Pardo added. “They make me want to be a better player, and make me want to become involved. When your role model speaks up, it makes you want to speak up.”

It wouldn’t be long until Rapinoe herself spoke up once again, hoping to inspire fans like those three teens. On the steps of New York’s City Hall, the co-captain of the world champion team extolled fans to lead in their own lives, and to take on the challenges of making the world a better place.

“We have to be better. We have to love more, hate less. We have to listen more, and talk less. We have to know that this is everybody’s responsibility,” Rapinoe said with circular sunglasses reminiscent of John Lennon, and purple hair.

She continued, saying that their supporters are more than just fans of a sport who “tune in every four years”.

“You interact with your community every single day,” she said. “How do you make your community better?”

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With their 2-0 victory over the Netherlands last week, and the run of wins leading up to that world cup victory, the US women’s team has catapulted themselves into the forefront of a national conversation, and the players have proven eager to embrace their platform

They’re currently engaged in that fight for pay equity, with a class action lawsuit including all of the players suing the US Soccer Federation, saying they get paid less than the men’s national team and receive less support, even though they consistently outperform those same men.

The proof of that is pretty clear: This year’s World Cup win is the second straight for the American women, while the men’s team didn’t even make it into the same tournament last year. That’s not even accounting for the hard dollars, with women’s games bringing in $50.8m in game revenue between 2016 and 2018, compared to $49.9m for men during that period. The pay structure is complicated, but the women have argued in their lawsuit that there are a range of inequities, including the argument that if they played 20 “friendlies” (where bonuses would not apply), they would earn a maximum of $99,000 while men max out at $263,320 for the same play.

That fight, and their representation of the US in France, has brought them some enemies and friends in high places. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris – two presidential candidates, whose merchandise could be seen repped by fans along the parade route on Wednesday – have both praised them. Donald Trump has gotten into fights with them on Twitter.

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Elizabeth Redwine was among the mothers to line up to catch a glimpse of the champions, and had brought her 11-year-old daughter Lila, and her two friends Ella and Emily.

Ms Redwine had picked up a piece of paper from the trash on her way in, and used her lipstick to write a message of solidarity: Equal pay for superior work, her sign read.

“I want them to one day be paid as much as their brothers,” she said of the three girls she had brought to see the historic occasion, all three of them athletes.

Maggie Gannon, a 24-year-old teacher who moved to New York City from Ohio from Wisconsin on Tuesday, said she chose to start her first full day in the city at the parade because the team is “bringing a voice for young girls and the marginalised”.

She said that the chants of “equal pay” that were heard both in Manhattan on Wednesday and in France last week have resonated throughout the country.

“We were sitting in a Buffalo Wild Wings in Ohio, chanting with them,” Ms Gannon said, recalling watching the World Cup final.

Joanne Shea, a 33-year-old actor, had come with her 18-month-old daughter Maeve, and said that the US women’s team had restored a sense of national pride at a time when she said there are slim pickings.

“There’s not been a whole heck of a lot to celebrate lately when it comes to national pride,” Ms Shea said.

But, noting that there have been some positive signs in the past few years. In the 2018 midterms, for instance, more women ran for and were elected into Congress than ever before. And, now, the country is taking cues from, and talking about, and obsessing over the women’s World Cup champions that have become the standard bearers of a host of equality issues.