It all started with a sports bra.
Picture an 8-year-old girl seated in front of the TV during the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, where USA was playing China in the final. The match reached a penalty shootout where Brandi Chastain scored the winning goal for USA before ripping her jersey off in a celebration that has become an iconic moment for the sport. She was wearing a black Nike sports bra.
The following week, my mother and I were shopping at Kohl's when there it was, hanging in the girls' section — a black Nike sports bra. There was no chance we were going home without it, and my mom, who knew how invested I'd been in the World Cup, seemed to share my excitement as we made the purchase.
Now, flashback to Christmas 1999.
I don't remember if there was snow on the ground outside my family's home in Mansfield, but I do remember unwrapping a calendar. I'm not sure most 8-year-olds would be thrilled to receive a calendar from Santa, but this one featured Mia Hamm, another U.S. women's soccer star and my other hero at the time. I cherished that more than the Nintendo Game Boy I received that year.
Though I love baseball most, soccer was my first love, because it was the first sport that showed me that I, as a young girl, could become an athlete and a hero. Those were women on the world's biggest stage being celebrated for their achievements.
Twenty-five years later, my favorite thing about watching women's soccer is seeing young girls in the stands, now wearing Trinity Rodman and Rose Lavelle jerseys, with the same sense of inspiration and excitement I had.
Women's sports are bigger than ever, thanks to Rodman, Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and many more. While recently reporting on a sports-themed coffee shop owned by a pair of women in Kent, I learned that CNBC reported that "in 2024, for the first time, women’s elite sports will generate a revenue that surpasses $1 billion — a 300% increase on the industry’s evaluation in 2021."
Now, I can't help but imagine Cleveland becoming a part of the growing women's sports industry. And the city is so close.
Cleveland Pro Soccer has already submitted the bid to bring a National Women's Soccer League team to Cleveland, backed by a group that includes 15 local women investors. A decision on that bid could be announced any day.
Michael Murphy, co-founder and CEO of Cleveland Pro Soccer, and Keri Sarver, owner and director of the Internationals Soccer Club of Northeast Ohio, appeared on the "Sound of Ideas" on 89.7 WKSU this morning to discuss the bid. Momentum is gathering.
I understand naysayers will note that the Cleveland Rockers WNBA team folded, or that there's already so much discourse over new stadiums in town, how could we afford another? But pro soccer is already coming to Cleveland in the form of an MLS Next Pro men's team. Two weeks ago, the Cleveland Metroparks Board of Park Commissioners approved the purchase of undeveloped land across the street from Progressive Field for a soccer stadium.
Media coverage of women's sports has nearly tripled since 2019, according to Forbes. Last year, the NWSL announced deals with CBS, ESPN and Amazon worth $240 million. People want to watch women's sports.
But don't just hear it from me. Ask the future fans, merch buyers and season ticket holders who are already putting forth an effort to support a team.
I asked Ally Eclarin and Cassy Kopp, owners of State Champs coffee shop in Kent, about the push for an NWSL team. They've been vocal supporters, because they envision a future for women's sports in Cleveland.
"There is a huge love, need and want for a women's professional soccer team in this area," Eclarin said when I talked with her at State Champs this summer. "I act like I've already spoken it into existence, like it's real. I'm always saying, 'Oh, we're going to get this player and we're going to do this.' That's what you have to do. You have to manifest it."
I also talked to Kim D'Orio, a customer at the coffee shop who has also joined the cause. She said she sees a local NWSL team as an opportunity to inspire the next generation.
"To be able to have young people, especially young girls, to grow up and see their heroes and have access to their heroes here locally, to have that platform for women's sports, all of those types of things that come with it, it would be amazing to have it right in our own backyard," she said.
As someone who was once one of those young girls who found her heroes through women's sports, consider this my attempt at manifesting a professional women's soccer team for Cleveland, and for the next generation of World Cup winners.
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