Four months after the U.S. Women’s National Team brought home the World Cup, President Barack Obama had some words for them in person: “This team taught all of America’s children that playing like a girl means being a badass.”

The USWNT was honored in a ceremony at the White House this morning for their thrilling run, which culminated in a 5-2 victory over Japan. On the day before the event, they took to a field in President’s Park to kick around some balls with local kids.

“It’s exciting to see that women’s football is growing in a positive direction,” USWNT and Washington Spirit defender Ali Krieger told DCist. “For these young kids, we can be role models for them, getting them out to be active and wanting to play soccer and wanting to be involved in the community.”

And it was thirteen-year-old Ayla Ludlow, who had written a heartfelt letter to the president and first lady after watching the World Cup (and being taunted by her brother about how “boys are so much better at girls than soccer”), who kicked off the event—and introduced President Obama.

“This victory was about more than just soccer. It was about dominance, and skill, and inspiring our whole country,” the president said, after name checking much of the team and admiring their stunning performances. To much applause, he noted that someone had changed Carli Lloyd’s Wikipedia title to president of the United States—a job that is about to open up, he noted. “I guarantee Carli knows more about being president than some of the folks who were running, but that’s a whole other topic of conversation.”

You can see the whole thing here (starting around the 44 minute mark).