Women's soccer on a roll
Red Stars hope to ride wave of popularity
By Matt LeCren
The dreams of Shannon Boxx, Lori Chalupny, Julie Johnston and Christen Press became reality July 6 when the United States national team routed Japan 5-2 to win the 2015 Women’s World Cup in Vancouver.
Sixteen years after winning the 1999 World Cup on home soil, the Americans are back on top of the soccer world.
For the above-mentioned players, all of whom play for the Chicago Red Stars of the National Women's Soccer League, the accomplishment is the culmination of years of hard work. It is also just the beginning of what they hope will become a lasting legacy.
Much as the 1999 team sparked the 2015 champions, they hope to inspire the next generation of young women to not only defend the title but to make professional women’s soccer a permanent fixture in America's sports landscape.
The players expressed their thoughts after returning to Chicago after a whirlwind two weeks that included parades on both coasts and appearances at concerts and on TV shows.
“I think that it is an incredibly important moment for women’s soccer,” Press said before the Red Stars tied the Boston Breakers 1-1 July 18 at Benedictine University in Lisle. “We’ve had such a great ride through this summer, and we’re hoping to continue it.
“The important thing is (for) the fans who have been so great for us and for the national team to continue to support us and come out to the NWSL games and see that there’s hundreds of women in this country that play great soccer.
“It’s 20 players deep on every NWSL team, and it’s something worth watching. And I think if the fans continue to support us in our leagues, that that is going to push women’s soccer in America forward at the national team level, at the club level, all the way down to the youth leagues.”
Women’s soccer began to take off after the U.S. victory in the 1999 World Cup, which led to the founding of the first pro domestic league two years later.
But the reaction to this year’s triumph stunned even seasoned veterans like Boxx, 38, a member of four World Cup teams. She never foresaw the sell-out crowds, including more than 52,000 for the final, that cheered on the U.S. in Canada, let alone that she would be part of a ticker-tape parade in New York City.
“(Canada) was so close to the U.S. it almost felt like we were in the U.S.,” said Boxx, who announced her retirement from the NWSL on July 27. “We had such great crowds. The fans were amazing. It just felt like home. We definitely had the advantage for every game.
“I think the ticker-tape parade was pretty amazing. Not everybody is given the honor to do that. I’ve been around a long time, and I think that’s one of the coolest events that I’ve ever been part of.”
Boxx, who will retire in September, has witnessed the growth and improvement in women’s soccer since the first World Cup was held in China in 1991.
“It’s gotten so much better,” Boxx said. “You go back to 1991, I wasn’t on the team then, but I do remember it. They came back to nobody. Nobody was waiting for them at the airport.
“Then you saw 2003 and 2011. We didn’t win but we got an amazing reception when we came back to the U.S. I think (2011) is when it started with social media being in tune, getting Twitter feeds.”
Johnston, 23, who started on defense for the U.S., is part of the vanguard of a new generation that expects success. But even she was surprised by how popular the team has become.
“Being my first World Cup it was absolutely unbelievable. And to win it, definitely, I don’t think you can top that,” Johnston said. “I didn’t know what to expect in the sense of the fans.
“In every single game it was absolutely remarkable to see how many U.S. fans were there (and) when we came back to the States, it was even greater. Doing the parade, just walking around, the amount of support that we got as a team was awesome.”
Local support hit a high note on July 18 when a crowd of 3,560 – the first sell-out in franchise history – showed up to welcome the first place Red Stars and their eight World Cup players (who include Canadian team members Karina LeBlanc, Adriana Leon, and Melissa Tancredi, and New Zealand representative Abby Erceg) back to town.
The turnout was double the usual attendance and demonstrated the impact of the World Cup title. Interest is high, especially among young girls, and Press wants to take advantage of the moment.
“Winning the World Cup, I think you have this platform available where you can reach out to younger kids and they can see our dreams that we’re playing for,” Press said. “We’re just trying to go upward.
“I think a lot of us play so that young girls can look at our team and go, ‘I can do that.’ That’s why I thought the ticker-tape parade was so special because we looked down into the crowd and there were girls there, and I could see it in their eyes that, ‘I want this,’ and they can.
“That’s the future, that they can be better than us. I think a lot of my journey has been to allow people to dream. I would say that of all my teammates.”
Indeed, Chalupny, 31, who returned to the national team after a five-year break that included dealing with concussion issues, was inspired by what happened in Canada.
“It was a pretty incredible experience,” said Chalupny, who is the Red Stars captain. “My personal journey back to the World Cup is a big accomplishment for me. You can’t beat it.
“I think the challenge is to keep it going. World Cups only happen every four years and winning it definitely gave us a little bump in viewership and the amount of attention that has been given to the sport. But the great thing is we have this league, and we play every year and it’s in people’s hometowns. People can watch us play and that will continue the momentum.”
At least, that’s the hope. The nine-team NWSL is now in its third season and facing a crucial turning point. Three previous attempts at women's pro leagues folded after the third season. Each demise came after an uptick in interest from the World Cups.
“We’ve been at this for eight years, so we’ve seen this before,” Red Stars owner Arnim Whisler said. “The bump for the national team will last a fair while, probably through the (2016) Olympics. The question is can we convert those fans and keep them coming here.
“In 2011 in Women's Professional Soccer, the bump continued through that year. That league folded that winter, so what we don’t know is can we get that going again in the spring.
“That’s on us. That’s on data capture, marketing through the people who have been in the stadium, better relations with the press in Chicago. We can convert that.”
From the standpoint of individual clubs, it all comes down to winning. The Red Stars, who barely missed the playoffs last season, appear to be in good shape. They are in second place with a 7-1-5 record and 26 points. Chicago stands one point behind Seattle Reign FC but has played one fewer game.
“We’ve got to keep winning,” Whisler said. “In a town like this with nine or 10 other pro sports (teams), if we don’t win, we’re off the radar.
“We’ve got the brand and the talent. We’ve got people coming in the stadium who have never seen us before. These are all the ingredients. We just have to thrill them when they come, and they’ll usually come back.”
A run at the NWSL championship would keep emotions high in Chicago.
“I think we have a lot of exciting players on the team outside of the national team players,” coach Rory Dames said. “I think they’ve showed that over the six or seven weeks (during the World Cup), so regardless of why people are here, I would like us to play the way we’re capable of playing and have a little bit more energy going forward and be able to combine in the attack.
“Hopefully we can get some more fans in because they want to see some players and buy into the team and really start to like the team and enjoy what they see.”
There is much on display. The Red Stars are blessed with several exciting young players with bright futures. They are midfielder Vanessa DiBernardo, 23, a Naperville native, and Waubonsie Valley High School and University of Illinois graduate, who is a member of the U.S. under-23 national team along with rookies Danielle Colaprico, 22, and Sofia Huerta, 22, who leads the team in scoring with six goals.
Boxx is confident the younger players will keep the sport moving forward.
“I look at these young girls and how good they are,” Boxx said. “I was not this good when I was their age. You see that the talent is getting so much better and the competition is that much harder.
“We still have a lot to do. We still want to improve it even more, so it’s something that’s going to be on these guys’ shoulders when the older girls are gone, but I’m really impressed with how the competition has improved.”
With several other of the U.S. veterans planning on retiring in the near future, a generational change is coming, but players like Colaprico are relishing the chance to play with their mentors.
“It’s so nice to have them back, and I’m happy that they won the world championship,” Colaprico said. “They have so much experience on the field, and it’s nice for us to have those players around us. Personally it kind of calms me down.”
But players like Huerta and Colaprico gained valuable experience and confidence while the World Cup players were away. The youngsters now know they can thrive at the pro level and aspire to play in the World Cup one day.
“I think everyone in the league aspires to do that,” Huerta said. “It’s just really hard, but I think we both definitely want to do that.
“There’s that different level that you have to get to if you want to play for that team, so when they left I was like, ‘Alright, maybe it was our turn to up that level.’”
Press, 26, is optimistic that women’s soccer will remain at a high level in this country.
“This is a special moment, and we hope that we can continue to go forward,” Press said. “We don’t ever want to step back at this point. We’ve worked really hard to get where we are, and the future is bright.”
Red Stars hope to ride wave of popularity
By Matt LeCren
The dreams of Shannon Boxx, Lori Chalupny, Julie Johnston and Christen Press became reality July 6 when the United States national team routed Japan 5-2 to win the 2015 Women’s World Cup in Vancouver.
Sixteen years after winning the 1999 World Cup on home soil, the Americans are back on top of the soccer world.
For the above-mentioned players, all of whom play for the Chicago Red Stars of the National Women's Soccer League, the accomplishment is the culmination of years of hard work. It is also just the beginning of what they hope will become a lasting legacy.
Much as the 1999 team sparked the 2015 champions, they hope to inspire the next generation of young women to not only defend the title but to make professional women’s soccer a permanent fixture in America's sports landscape.
The players expressed their thoughts after returning to Chicago after a whirlwind two weeks that included parades on both coasts and appearances at concerts and on TV shows.
“I think that it is an incredibly important moment for women’s soccer,” Press said before the Red Stars tied the Boston Breakers 1-1 July 18 at Benedictine University in Lisle. “We’ve had such a great ride through this summer, and we’re hoping to continue it.
“The important thing is (for) the fans who have been so great for us and for the national team to continue to support us and come out to the NWSL games and see that there’s hundreds of women in this country that play great soccer.
“It’s 20 players deep on every NWSL team, and it’s something worth watching. And I think if the fans continue to support us in our leagues, that that is going to push women’s soccer in America forward at the national team level, at the club level, all the way down to the youth leagues.”
Women’s soccer began to take off after the U.S. victory in the 1999 World Cup, which led to the founding of the first pro domestic league two years later.
But the reaction to this year’s triumph stunned even seasoned veterans like Boxx, 38, a member of four World Cup teams. She never foresaw the sell-out crowds, including more than 52,000 for the final, that cheered on the U.S. in Canada, let alone that she would be part of a ticker-tape parade in New York City.
“(Canada) was so close to the U.S. it almost felt like we were in the U.S.,” said Boxx, who announced her retirement from the NWSL on July 27. “We had such great crowds. The fans were amazing. It just felt like home. We definitely had the advantage for every game.
“I think the ticker-tape parade was pretty amazing. Not everybody is given the honor to do that. I’ve been around a long time, and I think that’s one of the coolest events that I’ve ever been part of.”
Boxx, who will retire in September, has witnessed the growth and improvement in women’s soccer since the first World Cup was held in China in 1991.
“It’s gotten so much better,” Boxx said. “You go back to 1991, I wasn’t on the team then, but I do remember it. They came back to nobody. Nobody was waiting for them at the airport.
“Then you saw 2003 and 2011. We didn’t win but we got an amazing reception when we came back to the U.S. I think (2011) is when it started with social media being in tune, getting Twitter feeds.”
Johnston, 23, who started on defense for the U.S., is part of the vanguard of a new generation that expects success. But even she was surprised by how popular the team has become.
“Being my first World Cup it was absolutely unbelievable. And to win it, definitely, I don’t think you can top that,” Johnston said. “I didn’t know what to expect in the sense of the fans.
“In every single game it was absolutely remarkable to see how many U.S. fans were there (and) when we came back to the States, it was even greater. Doing the parade, just walking around, the amount of support that we got as a team was awesome.”
Local support hit a high note on July 18 when a crowd of 3,560 – the first sell-out in franchise history – showed up to welcome the first place Red Stars and their eight World Cup players (who include Canadian team members Karina LeBlanc, Adriana Leon, and Melissa Tancredi, and New Zealand representative Abby Erceg) back to town.
The turnout was double the usual attendance and demonstrated the impact of the World Cup title. Interest is high, especially among young girls, and Press wants to take advantage of the moment.
“Winning the World Cup, I think you have this platform available where you can reach out to younger kids and they can see our dreams that we’re playing for,” Press said. “We’re just trying to go upward.
“I think a lot of us play so that young girls can look at our team and go, ‘I can do that.’ That’s why I thought the ticker-tape parade was so special because we looked down into the crowd and there were girls there, and I could see it in their eyes that, ‘I want this,’ and they can.
“That’s the future, that they can be better than us. I think a lot of my journey has been to allow people to dream. I would say that of all my teammates.”
Indeed, Chalupny, 31, who returned to the national team after a five-year break that included dealing with concussion issues, was inspired by what happened in Canada.
“It was a pretty incredible experience,” said Chalupny, who is the Red Stars captain. “My personal journey back to the World Cup is a big accomplishment for me. You can’t beat it.
“I think the challenge is to keep it going. World Cups only happen every four years and winning it definitely gave us a little bump in viewership and the amount of attention that has been given to the sport. But the great thing is we have this league, and we play every year and it’s in people’s hometowns. People can watch us play and that will continue the momentum.”
At least, that’s the hope. The nine-team NWSL is now in its third season and facing a crucial turning point. Three previous attempts at women's pro leagues folded after the third season. Each demise came after an uptick in interest from the World Cups.
“We’ve been at this for eight years, so we’ve seen this before,” Red Stars owner Arnim Whisler said. “The bump for the national team will last a fair while, probably through the (2016) Olympics. The question is can we convert those fans and keep them coming here.
“In 2011 in Women's Professional Soccer, the bump continued through that year. That league folded that winter, so what we don’t know is can we get that going again in the spring.
“That’s on us. That’s on data capture, marketing through the people who have been in the stadium, better relations with the press in Chicago. We can convert that.”
From the standpoint of individual clubs, it all comes down to winning. The Red Stars, who barely missed the playoffs last season, appear to be in good shape. They are in second place with a 7-1-5 record and 26 points. Chicago stands one point behind Seattle Reign FC but has played one fewer game.
“We’ve got to keep winning,” Whisler said. “In a town like this with nine or 10 other pro sports (teams), if we don’t win, we’re off the radar.
“We’ve got the brand and the talent. We’ve got people coming in the stadium who have never seen us before. These are all the ingredients. We just have to thrill them when they come, and they’ll usually come back.”
A run at the NWSL championship would keep emotions high in Chicago.
“I think we have a lot of exciting players on the team outside of the national team players,” coach Rory Dames said. “I think they’ve showed that over the six or seven weeks (during the World Cup), so regardless of why people are here, I would like us to play the way we’re capable of playing and have a little bit more energy going forward and be able to combine in the attack.
“Hopefully we can get some more fans in because they want to see some players and buy into the team and really start to like the team and enjoy what they see.”
There is much on display. The Red Stars are blessed with several exciting young players with bright futures. They are midfielder Vanessa DiBernardo, 23, a Naperville native, and Waubonsie Valley High School and University of Illinois graduate, who is a member of the U.S. under-23 national team along with rookies Danielle Colaprico, 22, and Sofia Huerta, 22, who leads the team in scoring with six goals.
Boxx is confident the younger players will keep the sport moving forward.
“I look at these young girls and how good they are,” Boxx said. “I was not this good when I was their age. You see that the talent is getting so much better and the competition is that much harder.
“We still have a lot to do. We still want to improve it even more, so it’s something that’s going to be on these guys’ shoulders when the older girls are gone, but I’m really impressed with how the competition has improved.”
With several other of the U.S. veterans planning on retiring in the near future, a generational change is coming, but players like Colaprico are relishing the chance to play with their mentors.
“It’s so nice to have them back, and I’m happy that they won the world championship,” Colaprico said. “They have so much experience on the field, and it’s nice for us to have those players around us. Personally it kind of calms me down.”
But players like Huerta and Colaprico gained valuable experience and confidence while the World Cup players were away. The youngsters now know they can thrive at the pro level and aspire to play in the World Cup one day.
“I think everyone in the league aspires to do that,” Huerta said. “It’s just really hard, but I think we both definitely want to do that.
“There’s that different level that you have to get to if you want to play for that team, so when they left I was like, ‘Alright, maybe it was our turn to up that level.’”
Press, 26, is optimistic that women’s soccer will remain at a high level in this country.
“This is a special moment, and we hope that we can continue to go forward,” Press said. “We don’t ever want to step back at this point. We’ve worked really hard to get where we are, and the future is bright.”