The crowd was smaller, and there was no bald eagle swooping down to the field this time, but 15 years after its professional debut, the US womens league is going to places its never been before 14 April 2001. A crowd of 34,148 sees the first professional womens soccer league game in the United States. Tennis legend Billie Jean King does the coin toss. A skydiver brings the game ball into Washingtons RFK Stadium. Singer/actress Joy Enriquez sings the national anthem, punctuated by another appearance from the skies a bald eagle, who swoops down to the field with a piercing cry. 16 April 2016. No eagle. The national anthem is a stock recording. The crowd stands at 3,578, barely 10% of the total from 15 years ago. RFK Stadium is busy with a DC United game that probably siphoned a few hundred people off that attendance count. Were at the low-key Maryland SoccerPlex, fighting for parking spaces with hordes of youth soccer and basketball parents playing on the courts and fields nearby. And yet, among the players, coaches and fans at the Washington Spirits opener against the Boston Breakers, optimism reigns. When the Spirit and Breakers kicked off, professional womens soccer reached a new milestone the fourth consecutive year of a leagues existence. The WUSA, which kicked off in 2001 with such fanfare, went out of business after three seasons. So did WPS, which scaled back expectations but still couldnt turn the corner after three years. With its kickoff Saturday night, the NWSL set a new longevity record. Womens soccer at the SoccerPlex is not a curiosity. Its familiar. When the WUSA collapsed, the Washington Freedom kept an organization intact and moved out to the exurban facility to play exhibitions and amateur games until the next pro league formed. When the Freedom moved away in 2010, DC United Women moved in, Its drawing youth teams that sit on team benches for warmups, and its drawing adults who cheer in supporters groups or hang out in the beer garden behind one goal. And thats progress in the eyes of people like Jim Gabarra, the only head coach the Freedom had in any incarnation and now, after a few years away with New Jersey team Sky Blue, the Spirits new coach. Its great because its another chapter, Gabarra said at a media day the week before the opening game. Were going to a place weve never gone in our game weve got 10 teams, and were going into our fourth season. Across the board, its talk about optimism and growth and expansion higher salaries, more opportunities. In the middle of our down period, it was talk about, Lets make sure we dont lose another team because the whole league will fold. Theres none of that talk now. That far outweighs having an eagle at your opening game. Scotsman Tom Sermanni was also at that 2001 opener as an assistant coach for the Bay Area CyberRays. After stints coaching the national teams of Australia and the USA, hes the head coach of the leagues 10th team, the Orlando Pride. (The 2001 game) was an amazing occasion, amazing buildup, Sermanni said in a league conference call. The difference between that and our current league is that our league has been started much more conservatively, which gives us a firm foundation. The NWSL still has plenty of progress to make. Games are on YouTube, with productions of wildly variable quality, but rarely on television. Salaries for players outside the US or Canadian national teams have inched upward over four years to a range from $7,200 to $39,700. The leagues shoestring budgets show up in the strangest ways. Saturday night, FC Kansas City put out a picture of the teams 2015 championship rings. NWSL was misspelled. While the US womens team argues over win bonuses and an as-yet-undefined equal pay, NWSL players just outside the national team pool scrounge to make a living wage, usually needing a host family and maybe a second job. The Memorandum of Understanding at the centerpiece of the teams dispute with US Soccer all but assures that US national players will be paid more than others for league play on top of their national team salaries. And the agreement has other limitations that have calcified the womens national team pool, even as non-national team players routinely displace their more famous counterparts for league awards. The Spirits Crystal Dunn, in the national team pool but omitted from the World Cup roster, took MVP honors in 2015. Portlands Michelle Betos was named the leagues top goalkeeper ahead of the players who made the rosters for the USA and Canada. In 2014, household names such as Hope Solo and Carli Lloyd were named to the NWSLs second XI. But such details are lost in the equal pay argument. For better but much more often for worse, much of the U.S. mainstream media treats soccer especially womens soccer as something that happens once or twice every four years. The equal pay mantra gets traction. The need to build something sustainable between World Cups has not. Still, the quality of play is sound, even if the NWSL cant afford to buy up most of the worlds stars the way the WUSA did in the days before European womens leagues could pay decent wages. Gabarra smiled Saturday night in comparing the results from 2001 to 2016 in each case, a messy 1-0 win for the home team. But the goal was better this time instead of a soft penalty kick, well-traveled veteran Joanna Lohman opened the seasons scoring with a bicycle kick off Dunns deflected cross. There was good stuff, but a little bit of panic at times, Gabarra said. Its just the frantic nature of the first game. And they can take heart from the growth of Major League Soccer, the mens league that was paying developmental players a paltry $11,700 salary just 10 years ago. Today, even as reserve player makes at least $51,500. With low pay and tough games dominated by wily veterans, the NWSL is a league in which veterans prey on the young. And yet, the opportunity isnt lost on players like Cali Farquharson, who made her pro debut Saturday for the Spirit. Im still shaking, she said through nervous laughter and tears. As a kid, you always dream about being a professional soccer player. And the day has finally arrived where I could step out on the field and say Im playing professionally. The Spirit did line up one special guest to mark the occasion of its fourth season opener. Briana Scurry, the winning goalkeeper in the 1999 Womens World Cup and two Olympic finals, spoke briefly to the fans before kickoff. Scurry played in the two previous pro leagues. The occasion of the fourth season was not lost on here. All of you are now part of history, she said. And they hope to be a part of the future as well. Source: http://allofbeer.com/womens-pro-soccer-sees-reason-for-optimism-15-years-on/ from https://allofbeer.wordpress.com/2018/03/24/womens-pro-soccer-sees-reason-for-optimism-15-years-on/
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AuthorHi my name is Samantha Roberts I am 23 years old and I just graduated with my BSN degree I love to enjoy going out with friends on my spare time and enjoying the Bachelor life. Archives
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