‘Believe in your damn self’: Sweden women’s soccer jerseys trade names for inspiration

The Swedish women’s soccer team ditched names on the back of their game jerseys for something more inspirational — tweets.

Each player chose a tweet from a prominent Swedish woman on Twitter, according to The Guardian, to use on the back of their jersey for the Algarve Cup. Sweden, the 2016 Olympic silver medalist, plays Russia for seventh place in the Cup on Wednesday.

March 8 is International Women’s Day. March is also Women’s History Month in the United States.

“I think it is great that we can join forces with other strong women and that we together can show that everything is possible. There is always a need to show young women that it is possible to succeed and that no one should feel limited in what they can achieve and particularly not because of their sex,” team captain Lotta Schelin told The Guardian.

Schelin’s quote is from the founder of the Feminist Initiative Party, politician Gudrun Schyman: “Never look down on someone unless you’re helping her up.”

The jerseys also include the Twitter handle of the women who are quoted.

Lisa Dahlkvist picked a quote from Swedish singer Zara Larsson: “Believe in your damn self.”

Midfielder Olivia Schough’s shirt says, “Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always.”

The initiative is called #InYourName, according to Creativity. Adidas will sell limited editions of the shirts and donate part of the proceeds to young women’s sports in Sweden.

This story was originally published March 6, 2017 at 5:47 PM with the headline "‘Believe in your damn self’: Sweden women’s soccer jerseys trade names for inspiration."