BOYDS, Md. — On a picture perfect sunny summer Saturday evening just outside of Germantown, Maryland, a crowd of better than 5,400 gathered to welcome their heroes home. The Washington Spirit took the field at home for the first time since the U.S. Women’s National Team’s World Cup victory, as a capacity crowd cheered their hometown players.
It’s the scene about which Ali Krieger and Ashlyn Harris have dreamed, through their years of hard work, yes, but also through the conscious sacrifices they have made to put U.S. women’s soccer on their backs to try to grow the sport professionally here in the states. Winning in Vancouver was about more than a simple title, more than a third star on the jersey. It was a vital element to the growth — and, even, the very survival — of professional women’s soccer around the country, a fact both players seem acutely aware of.
“This is great for women’s football, this is great for the club, this is great for the NWSL,” said Krieger before the game, where she was honored but did not play, still recovering from the whirlwind tour of celebrations and media appearances.
“We wanted to win not only for ourselves, our families, our fans and our country, but also to help this league survive.”
Harris, who was also in street clothes for the game, echoed Krieger’s sentiment.
“This is huge for our sport right now. We need to enjoy this. We need to continue this momentum. We, from the beginning, knew what we needed to do. We had to accomplish great things to keep this league progressing and to keep it surviving. Is that a lot to carry on players backs in a World Cup? Yes. But that’s the responsibility we take every day we step on the field,” Harris said.
That is quite a burden, certainly more than most professional athletes are asked to bear while competing for championships. But if the early returns are any indication, they’ve been worth the effort.
Saturday’s sellout marked the first for the Spirit since last season’s contest against the Portland Thorns, featuring the immensely popular Alex Morgan. The Spirit are home each of the next two weekends as well, with expected near-sellouts for both games.
This Saturday, the Spirit play host to the league-leading Chicago Red Stars, who have lost just once in 11 games. Chicago features National Team stars Shannon Boxx, Julie Johnston and Christen Press, now household names. However, the biggest out-of-town draw likely will come in two weeks, when the Houston Dash come to town.
The Dash feature Morgan Brian and Meghan Klingenberg, two of the USWNT’s rising stars. But they also have Carli Lloyd, who became a household name across America after her stunning, heart-stopping hat trick in the World Cup Final against Japan.
And while three straight raucous crowds are a nice building block, neither player is naive to the challenges that lie ahead to continue to build interest and groundswell in what is still a young sport fighting for a foothold in the American professional athletic landscape.
“I know that this doesn’t last very long, so we’re going to ride the wave,” said Krieger. “We just need to get those fans out to these games and get these games on TV. That’s why we were happy that we could win. It meant more to us than a gold medal.”
With both teams missing their stars on the field on Saturday (Seattle stars Hope Solo and Megan Rapinoe were also absent), the Spirit took advantage. After a scoreless first 45 minutes, the Spirit rode a trio of second half goals to a 3-0 victory to remain undefeated at home. That only adds weight to their next two games, as they currently hold the third spot in the table, with the top four teams advancing to the playoffs.
While the pace will return to something resembling normal for Krieger and Harris as they return to training and prepare to play next weekend, they hope the dynamic of how their sport is perceived has shifted more seismically, that the impact they made earlier this month in Canada will carry far beyond the foreseeable future. Harris knows now is the time to make sure their hard work won’t be forgotten.
“To be able to be here tonight, to shake hands with little girls and high five and sign, to give them dreams of doing the same thing I’m doing is pretty powerful,” she said. “And to be a part of that is pretty special. I’m very happy that there’s a sold-out crowd. That means I’m doing my job.”
