Hope Solo isn’t letting the election of a new U.S. Soccer president end her campaign to change the game in the United States.

Instead, Hope is taking the fight to Washington, and she’s doing it by using her voice, with the help of the media. In a recent interview on Politico’s Women Rule podcast, Hope spoke with Anna Palmer about the various factors holding back American soccer and what can be done to change things.

“Soccer in America has become the rich white kid’s sport,” Hope said. “That is why we are not one of the best countries in the world on the men’s side — because we have alienated so many people.”

Hope believes that because of the cost associated with playing youth soccer at a high level in the United States, children, especially minorities are being driven away from the sport and toward other sports that don’t cost as much to play. And she believes it falls on the governing body to use their power and money to make the game more affordable to all.

“U.S. Soccer should be helping coaches get their licenses, should be helping youth players play on different clubs,” she said. “It’s sad. That’s why soccer in America is just a mess right now.”

Hope’s recent trip to Washington D.C. to visit with lawmakers also touched on a subject that has been at the forefront of her fight from the very beginning: Equal pay for female athletes.

“If you look at the law, it’s mandatory that they pay us equally,” she told Palmer. “Yet the federation gets away with not paying the women equally, and they push it through the court system.”

Listen to the whole podcast below, and subscribe to Women Rule on iTunes.