How Women Are Changing American Supporter Culture At The Top

Invest in Women

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International Women’s Day was earlier this week, and one would be hard-pressed to find a more vibrant space to feel the power of women than in supporter groups.

As supporter culture continues to grow in the United States, women supporters are carving out their own path and blazing trails not only for themselves but for those that come after them. The best part? It’s working. There’s been a growing wave in female involvement within North American supporter groups, especially at the leadership level. 

At the Independent Supporters Council’s annual conference in January I spoke to several women who have held long-term leadership roles within supporter culture about their experiences in the American game. 

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Courtesy of Crystal Cuadra-Cutler

For women involved in American supporter culture for the better part of a decade or more, almost every origin story starts the same way: alone. They were the token woman on a leadership board or one of a handful of women braving what could be an intimidating or unfriendly space.

“Being a woman in this male-dominated space is very challenging,” said Crystal Cuadra-Cutler, president of the San Jose Earthquakes supporters group, The Faultline, and president of the San Jose chapter of the American Outlaws.  “I remember attending my first game, I attended with a female friend, and I remember wondering if this was going to be a place that’s safe for me, or welcoming for me.”

“In general, it was still very male-dominated,” said Bailey Brown, of her early days supporting FC Dallas. Brown is the current president of the Independent Supporters Council, and former president of the Dallas Beer Guardians. 

For Katherine Reed, the current president of Indy Eleven’s Brickyard Battalion,  growing up in a soccer-mad family meant going to 1994 World Cup matches in Chicago and attending Chicago Fire matches, experiences that were devoid of a real female leadership presence.  

“You didn’t see anyone leading that wasn’t that typical soccer guy,” Reed said.  

But passion outlasts circumstance, and as these women fell in love with their respective clubs and supporters groups, they made intentional efforts to pull in more women.

Courtesy of Katherine Reed

“I feel the responsibility myself of drawing in more people like me, because it wasn’t that way when I got involved,” said Reed.

Cuadra-Cutler now capos for  AO San Jose and the Faultline, and tries to use her platform (both figuratively and literally) to try to be the role model she didn’t have, and encourage other women to give capo-ing a try.

“[Early on] I would have loved to see a [female] capo. It would have made me feel like that’s something that I could do,” Cuadra-Cutler said. 

“Once I got that break and I was capo-ing, I felt like it almost helped with other women joining as well,” she said. “I recruited other women to become capos. I felt like a pioneer in some ways, because all the people around me were men. As I started meeting more women involved, it was becoming a sisterhood.”

Reed echoes that sentiment. 

“It’s amazing how quickly those bonds develop [between women] when you are so passionate about the same thing,” she said. “Soccer has brought us all together, and we are all struggling with similar issues in just being a woman in a sport.”

For Brown, a big component of SG leadership is making new women feel welcome, without forcing them to take a risk to put themselves out there, something that was essentially a requirement for Brown, Reed and Cuadra-Cutler. 

Courtesy of Bailey Brown

“Not everybody is an extrovert, not everybody is going to step out of their comfort zone and be like, ‘Hey new friends!’” she said. “But I think as leaders, and as women, we can see, whether it’s online, on social media or at a tailgate, noticing a new face, and saying, ‘Let me come to you, so that you feel welcome, instead of you having to come to us.’ It’s about being intentional, about making people feel like they belong with you, and that you can be their tribe.”

The tide is starting to turn. More women are joining supporters groups across MLS and the USL, and in the NWSL, female supporters are seizing the opportunity to build their groups in a more inclusive way, right from the start. 

“Something really special about the Riveters, but also NWSL supporter groups, is that there is an opening for female and nonbinary leadership, to say, we’re going to do something different,” said Gabby Rosas, chair of the Rose City Riveters, a Portland Thorns SG, and president of the 107 Independent Supporters Trust. “A lot of people see what it can be, and are going, let’s do it ourselves.”

With this shift comes more of a focus on the emotional labor of supporting. 

“Supporting is a privilege, because we have the time, the capacity, we’re financially stable enough to be able to contribute,” said Rosas. “That’s not always the case with women, who are mothers, who are caregivers and things like that. So it’s really about trying to find out what’s sustainable as a supporter. How do we make sure we don’t burn each other out? How do we support each other as we’re going through life?”

Despite all of this progress, there’s still more work to be done.

“I want it to become something that doesn’t have to be talked about,” said Brown. “I want it to get to a point where representation is happening, and it’s not something that people are having to be like, ‘Oh we need to go recruit to make sure we have a female voice at the table.’ I want females to feel like they can run for positions or start initiatives, and it will be supported no matter what.”

“My hope is that we’re going to get to a point where we don’t have to differentiate that it’s a male or a female capo, and that everyone is welcome in that sphere,” said Cuadra-Cutler. “I feel like now it’s a movement, and it’s really exciting to see.” 

For Reed, that movement is apparent in the stands.

“We get little girls in our capo stand at every game,” she said. “The light in their eyes, when they see that they have that power, that they’re in charge and they’re a part of the team, it’s amazing. We have more little girls coming into our section than ever before, and it’s awesome.”