The Best of Week 1 in the NWSL
Season 11, Let's Go
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It’s about time NWSL supporters got a break. After several seasons marred by controversy, scandal and heartbreak, things have been, well, tough, for NWSL supporters recently. But if the first week of the 2023 season is any indication, we might be headed towards brighter days. Across the country tifos were raised, attendance records fell, and supporters kicked off the league’s 11th season with passion and excitement.
Members of Kansas City Blue Crew watched the Current’s away match against North Carolina from their new home brewery, Big Rip Brewing. “It feels so good to be back as a group for the season,” said Danielle Russell, a member of KC Blue Crew’s leadership board. “This offseason we have been working hard on continuing to build on what we've been doing: getting bigger and bigger and louder and louder. We've had some exciting changes we can't wait to watch how it helps us grow.”
Kansas City returns a strong team on the field and boasts some of the best facilities in the league, the right ingredients for attracting more fans this season.
“Our biggest ambition is to continue to grow,” said Russell. “We are all about the organic growth-we want people to see that we are a group that is welcoming and fun and they know they have a spot with us.”
(The club has drawn criticisms recently around its treatment of players, a developing story that will hopefully not derail the good stuff being built by supporters in KC.)
Hopes are high in Louisville, where the Lavender Legion is gearing up for a season that is hopefully free from controversy. After a messy first few seasons in the front office, the club has doubled down on transparency and positive hires, something that allows the supporters to focus on just that, supporting.
“It feels great to be back,” said members of the Lavender Legion in a group statement. “We’re very excited about the new additions in players and staff and we’re happy to get some transparency around past events and hopefully move into a new and better era. We’re happy that our players have had a say in interview processes and seem to approve of all new additions and feel safe.”
Louisville hosts the Washington Spirit this weekend, kicking off what will hopefully be a playoff-bound season. “We’re looking forward to this season in general, seeing how all of the new players work together on the pitch. We think we can make the playoffs,” the supporters said. “That’s a realistic ambition, a crazy ambition would be becoming shield and playoff champions.”
Up in the Pacific Northwest, members of the Royal Guard were spread out across several locations to watch OL Reign take on the Washington Spirit, from Menace Brewing in Bellingham, Rookies Sports Bar in Seattle, Doyle’s Public House in Tacoma as well as the club’s official watch party at the Rough and Tumble pub. The club is on the road again this week, but once they do return home, the Royal Guard will have their work cut out for them.
“Last season was a big jump in scale upon the team’s move to Lumen Field, and we got to stretch our organizational skills as well as our skills in The Keep (the Supporters Section).” said Jocelyn "Jake" Houghton, co-VP of the Royal Guard. “We’re looking forward to building on that foundation, growing the Section on game day and also in the volunteer core. We'd also like to branch out to do more community work.”
In San Diego, history was made as 30,854 people crowded into SnapDragon stadium, breaking the record for largest home opening attendance in a season. A key part of that were the members of the Sirens, a San Diego Wave supporters group.
"I had forgotten how much adrenaline and energy comes from that crowd of soccer fans,” said Sirens board member Jeni Dell. “The stadium on Saturday was packed. It felt more packed than the opening game at Snapdragon last season. I came across more than one group of fans who wished they had come earlier to get seats for their group.”
Wave supporters unveiled a huge tifo paying homage to a Jaedyn Shaw celebration from last season, and imploring the record crowd to ‘Catch a Wave.’
“Nothing beats the sense of accomplishment and pride at seeing that baby fly in front of a record-setting crowd of SD Wave fans,” said Sirens board member Jenn Ford. “I get a serious sense of nostalgia looking at the photos of our tifo in flight, and thinking of the community who came together to make it happen... and despite the challenges, how ready we are to do it again!"
“There was a huge sense of pride standing behind the tifo as it went up knowing that you helped make that,” added Dell. “Even from the back, it is beautiful.”
Not to be outdone, a few hours north in Los Angeles, Angel City supporters kicked off their second year with a huge announcement, and a tifo to back it up. The six independent supporters groups revealed the name and identity of their supporters section, La Fortaleza, and dropped a massive tifo to celebrate.
In a press release, supporters explained the origin of the collective, and its name.
“Fortaleza means strength and fortitude in Spanish, which is what our supporters section embodies,” explains Alondra Espinosa of the supporters group Mosaic 1781. Mizz of AC Pandemonium adds, “Fortaleza represents the strength of the supporters in the section, the robustness of our support of the team, and the power and resilience we project onto the pitch from our section during every match.”
The tifo, which depicted Angel City’s first ever captain Ali Riley in front of “an art deco sol rosa-themed sunburst,” was a collaboration between all 6 groups, and took 70+ members more than 29 hours over the course of one weekend to complete.
“This project does not come to life without all of us, the strength of our community, and our passion for this club,” said Shayla Pham of AC Pandemonium, who designed the announcement moment: from the tifo lift concept and desired impact, to the music, to the planning and execution.
“It was a backbreaking labor of love,” said Angelita Bernal of AC Pandemonium.
It paid off however, as the reveal was a moving experience for everyone in attendance.
“This tifo lift is supposed to be a moment, a feeling, that we can all remember so we can rejoice in the magic that we've created,” she Pham.