• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, June 5, 2023

LEGO wants to remind American girls that they've got limitless potential, whether on the soccer field or building rocket ships. So with a new "Play Unstoppable" campaign, the company is unleashing a summer program designed to introduce kids to all kinds of new passions.

First, there's Team Unstoppable, with soccer legend Megan Rapinoe acting as co-captain. (While she isn't a major starter on this year's team, she is still expected to play a major role as the championship U.S. team tries for a three-peat.) And LEGO has, of course, immortalized her in tiny bricks.

The team includes journalist and author Elaine Welteroth, kid journalist Jazlyn Guerra, Olympic gymnast Sunisa Lee and clothing designer Kheris Rogers.

Girls can sign up for the team online and join a community committed to inspiring girls to "play their way, defy expectations, unlock imagination and foster creative experimentation," the company says.

There's also an immersive LEGO Play Stadium Experience, free to the public, which is headed to

Los Angeles, Kansas City, Columbus, Atlanta and Houston this summer. Guests get an RFID band that unlocks digital Lego mini-figures, which they can customize.

The LEGO Group and U.S. Soccer Foundation are also opening three new mini-pitches, with locations in Albuquerque, New Mexico; South Carolina and Richmond, Virginia.

The company is also rolling out a new LEGO Icons of Play, a soccer-themed building set that features Rapinoe, Yki Nagasato, Sam Kerr and Asisat Oshoala.

LEGO remains one of the leading researchers on gender differences in play. Those findings, made in partnership with the Geena Davis Institute in 2021, reveal that while girls are becoming more confident, they are still held back by gender stereotypes.

Interestingly, they are also somewhat less restrained by gender bias than boys. For example, 62% of girls say that some activities are meant for girls, while others are meant for boys. About 74% of boys say that. And only 42% of girls say they worry about being made fun of if they play with boys' toys, compared with 71% of boys who fear that others will poke fun if they play with girls' toys. And 82% of girls say it's okay for girls to play soccer and boys to do ballet, compared to 71% of boys.