Tag: Washington Spirit

The Downsizing of Fat Fans

Posted on by RJ Allen

I haven’t always been a sports fan.

I grew up in southeast Wisconsin, a place where Sunday Catholic masses in the fall usually included a reference to the Packers during the homily. And sometimes a joke about the Bears or the Vikings, to the delight of almost all. But I found football boring (little did I know) and paid it no mind.

I played basketball and baseball until sometime around seventh or eighth grade. I was big–tall–and slow.

The thing is, I’ve always been large. Fat, really. And the journey to being able to say that without feelings of overwhelming shame, well, it’s been a long one. And the thing about being the fat girl is that we don’t really play sports.

To be fair, women’s sports wasn’t really a viewing option. Maybe some golf, maybe some tennis. But except for Olympic years and major tournaments, I can’t remember seeing a women’s basketball game on television, never a women’s soccer game nor a women’s hockey game.  

The bodies of female athletes that I saw on television were tall, toned, and definitely not fat. Toned, but not overly muscular.  Even their athleticism was marked by a kind of grace that I just didn’t possess.

I never saw myself reflected in the women I saw playing sports. I didn’t see the fat girls.

As time marched on I eventually stopped playing sports. I tolerated gym class while I focused on other activities. For a long time, I looked at sports as something with nothing to offer me.

My foray back into the wide world of sports began with the NFL. With the Packers, a Super Bowl win, and the excitement of being able to connect with my dad and brothers. And, yes, the allure of the family Fantasy Football trophy.

But it wasn’t until the Women’s World Cup in 2015 that I truly became a sports fan.  I’d never watched a soccer game before June 8th, 2015, when the USWNT bested Australia.  No one in my family ever played soccer. None of my friends did. And, yeah, my dad, the football and basketball fan, thought it was boring. He’d say, “They’re always flopping around on the ground!” or “What good’s a sport where nobody scores?”

But I watched that game against Australia, and I was hooked.

Immediately.

My Google history from that night included a lot of names of players I’d never heard of before (I’d really only heard of Alex Morgan, Abby Wambach, and Hope Solo through cultural osmosis) as well as things like “What is stoppage time?” For reference, as a former basketball player, I was very concerned the first time I saw someone take the ball over the centerline, then back, then forward again.

“Isn’t that a foul? A backcourt violation?” I wondered.

Turns out, it was not.

Since June 8th, 2015, I have watched every single USWNT game.

I’ve watched as many NWSL games as I have been able (and while the ability to watch on YouTube is wonderful, are you seriously telling me that I have several hundred channels with my cable subscription, and not a single one is willing to broadcast the games?).

I went to a Chicago Red Stars game against Sky Blue FC earlier this year and had an amazing experience, and I took my mom to the July 9th USWNT match against South Africa. She’d never seen a soccer game before either, and she loved every minute of it. And when the Red Stars take on the Washington Spirit in their last game of the regular season later this year, I will be there, cheering my head off.

The USWNT turned me into a women’s soccer fan.

But I’ve also become more and more aware of my status as, what I’ve termed, a “fat fan.”

See, I’ve always been large, always been overweight. I think I was thin once, for about two weeks, after I was released from a hospitalization for pneumonia at the age of six months. I spent high school wearing super-sized Nike t-shirts and rocking the layered flannel look (and yes, I know–it wasn’t a look then; it still isn’t now).

I sit gingerly and carefully on seats that look unable to hold my weight–or I just stand–because I can still hear one of the kids back in elementary school taunting me about being too heavy for the desk chairs.  

I get anxiety about flying on airplanes–because what if they want me to pay for a second seat? Or what if I get sat next to someone who makes a big deal about my arms touching theirs on, or my thighs touching theirs. (Fat flying anxiety: it’s an actual thing.)

And on the one hand, becoming a fan of soccer has introduced me to the whole wide world of female athlete body types, and honestly helped me move toward overcoming my lifetime’s worth of shame over being the fat girl. But at the same time, I find myself continually reminded of who I am.

Life as a fat fan—and this isn’t limited to soccer; it’s just the sport I have the most experience with of late—can be complicated. As much as sports celebrate bodies and active lifestyles, and as much as soccer has helped to promote body positivity (thank you, Ali Krieger, and Christen Press, for your ESPN Body Issue comments in 2015 and 2016, respectively), I am always reminded of my size as a fan.

What it’s like to be a fat fan?

First of all, the official merchandise.

Now, this isn’t a problem so much in the NFL–I have no problem getting a Jordy Nelson or Clay Matthews jersey in the size that I want.

But I have noticed that it’s a problem in the soccer world. The USSF caps replica and authentic jersey sizes at 2XL. In both men’s and women’s sizes. (Let’s not get lost in the many problems with women’s jerseys, but seriously, that v-neck?). For a while, you could only get the 3-star jersey in the women’s cut. Which, as Serena Williams helpfully pointed out, doesn’t fit every body type.

But the 2XL in either cut doesn’t fit everybody (or every body) either.

So if you want to represent your favorite athlete or team, as a fat person, you’ve got to squeeze your body into a 2XL or go the route of finding non-licensed apparel. Which, yes, does exist. But, as a fans of the USSF and its players, we should try to avoid.

I have two jerseys: a 2015 away jersey with Ali Krieger’s name and number and a 2016 away jersey with Kelley O’Hara’s. I’m a defense girl; always have been. They’re 2XL and, yes, technically they fit, but they’re tight.

They’re tight and I feel uncomfortable wearing them. I spend the day pulling them down as they roll up, self-conscious that my fat back is showing. I spend the day feeling like Bruce Banner, just one moment of not paying attention to how wide I’m swinging my arms from bursting out of the seams. For the record, the 2016 jersey is just slightly better. I am comfortable wearing that one outside of the house. Sometimes.

But you know what would be so much better?

A jersey in 3XL.

That would fit just a little better and make me a little more comfortable. I’d still be fat, yeah, but I’d certainly feel a little more dignified. And what about fans larger than me? I know they exist. How hard would it be to offer a 4XL or 5XL option? How hard would it be to make fans of all sizes feel comfortable using their bodies to mark their enthusiasm and their passion for the sport?

The official NWSL team merchandise isn’t always better–though it can vary from team to team.

I’ve got a wonderful long-sleeve Red Stars shirt and a bright orange Sky Blue shirt that (after some deliberate stretching) fits okay. Team jerseys, depending upon availability, can range from topping off at L to 2XL, but never higher.

Which is a shame for multiple reasons. Not only are the opportunities far more frequent for people to go and see them play, but the league could benefit even more from increased merchandise sales to help support teams and players.

The NWHL, for example, also only offers up to 2XL, both in shirts and jerseys. But their merchandise is undergoing a revamp as they design new jerseys for their second season, and it’s possible that available sizes might change or increase nearer to the start.

But there’s actually a simple solution to this.

As a fat person, I’m used to sometimes paying a few dollars more for a size I want. Lots of places offer sizes up to 2XL at a set price, and sizes above 2XL with a slight surcharge. If I could go all day without feeling like everyone knows what color underwear I’m wearing, I’d pay the extra bucks.

The problem isn’t limited to federation and league products, either. The issue also exists within individual player merchandise, their personal branded lines. It isn’t an institutional issue but a cultural one.

And sometimes, yes, it’s simply out of the player’s control.

I can tell you, if there’s a player out there who offers their gear in larger sizes? I’m 100% more likely to buy from them.

Ashlyn Harris’s store via Sqor, when it first opened, offered at least one shirt that went into at least 3XL: the all-black Keeper shirt with her name on back.

It’s one of my favorites.

In contrast, Megan Rapinoe’s line doesn’t seem to offer anything over 2XL. Ali Krieger’s most recent t-shirt design only went to 2XL (and sold out in a day—congrats!). But when someone contacted Team Krieger, they did express concern over the issue of sizing. It’s interesting to note that the Krieger website includes a sizing chart that lists Bella+Canvas shirts being offered up to 4XL but the product itself is only offered up to 2XL. I love both players, and I support them both, but I can’t in good conscience buy a shirt from them that I’m not sure will fit me.

Hope Solo’s merchandise store seems to only offer options up to 2XL as well, but she recently put out a “Resting Pitch Face” merchandise line in cooperation with Girl Up. And with this product, her sizes went up to 3XL in one of the t-shirt options, and 5XL in the sweatshirt option. I was already a Hope Solo fan. I’ve got a (too-tight) t-shirt from the US Soccer store with her name and number in gold lettering, but am I considering plunking down more money for a shirt or sweatshirt that actually fits? That I can wear outside without feeling self-conscious?

You betcha.

And sure, there are the inevitable responses to issues like this. Why not just lose the weight? Why not be more active? Why not get healthier? Is it the responsibility of institutions or individuals to cater to fat people?

Well, those are questions that open up a whole host of other issues about the way society and culture views body types. But I can tell you this. I’m not unhealthy. My blood pressure is perfect. I don’t have diabetes.

Oh, and last summer, inspired by the USWNT during the Women’s World Cup (and in particular, Ali Krieger’s stories of her multiple comebacks after what could have been career-ending injuries), I actually did a C25K program and ran in a 5K in the fall.

Yeah, me. The fat girl.

So it’s not just that I’m lazy (I’m willing to admit that I can be), unhealthy (I’m not), or some other accusation someone wants to toss at me. And others who experience similar things aren’t either. The issue is that larger people exist, that we can be just as passionate as fans as everyone else, but we are continually reminded that sports just aren’t for us by the limited merchandise options made available.

We are literally being sized out of athletic patronage.

So, back to that last question: Should there be more size options? My answer is going to be yes. Yes, federations and teams and players should try to offer products in larger sizes. I’m not even saying that every product has to go up to 5XL or above. But one or two of them? Absolutely.

Why?

We’re fans.

We buy tickets. We squeeze ourselves into uncomfortable stadium seating that gouges into our hips, and if we look like we’re on the edge of our seats for the whole game, it’s 50% excitement and 50% because the armrests don’t hurt our sides that way. We buy merchandise that we can wear (snapbacks and scarves) or display (flags and signs) and merchandise that we’re apprehensive about wearing (jerseys, shorts, t-shirts, jackets, socks, etc.). We show up to games, and sometimes, honestly, sometimes we’re a little afraid or anxious about what other people think. Are our rolls of fat showing? Do we look ridiculous in this? Do people think we’re trying too hard, that we know less or aren’t truly fans because we weigh more?

We cheer and we root and we are so, so proud of our players and our teams and our leagues.

But sometimes?

Sometimes we don’t wear our gear at all. Sometimes we show up in things that fit us, things that make us feel like we don’t have to worry the whole day.

And then we wonder, the whole time, do people still know that we’re fans? Do they think we’re imposters? Do they know that we live and breathe and die by the scoreline? Our team’s place on the table?

Come the end of September, I’m going to be at that Red Stars game. And I’m going to be wearing some sort of soccer gear. I just wish I could be certain that I will be comfortable in it as I’m hooting and hollering and cheering the teams and the players on.

Making the Case: NWSL All-Star Match

Posted on by RJ Allen

In many ways, the National Women’s Soccer League has never looked better. With last season’s post-World Cup surge in attendance, the addition of a tenth team in the Orlando Pride, and player acquisitions like Lindsey Horan and Raquel Rodriguez (not to mention the return of fan favorite and big personality Natasha Kai), fans are eagerly awaiting the unprecedented fourth season of American women’s professional soccer. Should the USWNT do well at the Rio Olympics, it will only heighten interest in the league.

Which is why it could be the best time to introduce something many have been calling for since the league’s 2013 inception: an All-Star Match.

The lack of such a game, an institution in nearly every other major sport, has been puzzling. Both the first two incarnations of top-tier women’s professional soccer in this country, the WUSA and the WPS, held two All-Star games apiece with varying formats.

The first All-Star match took place in 2002 after the second WUSA season ended. Split into North versus South, the South won with an MVP performance from Abby Wambach in her rookie year with the Washington Freedom. The following year, in what ended up being WUSA’s final season, the All-Star match was moved to the middle of the season due to the 2003 Women’s World Cup, with a team of Americans falling to a team of WUSA internationals.

WPS’ inaugural All-Star match in 2009 presented yet another format. After the season ended, a team voted on by fans, media, coaches, and players hosted Swedish club Umeå IK. The American win featured a brace from Christine Sinclair. The 2010 All-Star match moved back to the middle of the season. With the same voting format as the previous year, top-voted players Wambach and ultimate winner Marta chose their teammates in the style of a pickup match.

The WPS did not hold an All-Star match in 2011, claiming most likely players would be away on National Team duty at the Women’s World Cup. And of course, the WPS would ultimately fold before the 2012 season.

With the lack of transparency that characterizes the NWSL, it is unlikely we will ever know if discussions of such an endeavor have taken place. However, one can hope that the league recognizes the benefits an All-Star match could bring.

The NWSL has struggled to create stars beyond National Team players, which is a problem given the amount of time those players are often away. If a fan is hard pressed to name a Houston Dash player other than Carli Lloyd, that fan is not likely to attend a match when Lloyd is called up for National Team duty. With the exception of perhaps the now-departed Ella Masar, the casual soccer fan simply does not know the Kim Littles, Kealia Ohais, and Sarah Hagens of the league.

An All-Star Match brings those players to light. With a lineup that could include Lauren Barnes and Arin Gilliland on the back line, Christine Nairn and Allie Long in the midfield, and Sofia Huerta and Beverly Yanez up top, anyone would be hard-pressed to deny the talent. The NWSL is often touted as a league with some of the best parity in the world, and nothing would demonstrate that level of play more than a field of the best twenty-two players.

Another advantage of bringing these top players together would be to create a prime scouting opportunity for Jill Ellis’ National Team. What better chance to see who deserves a call-up than seeing the best players from across the league play each other all in one game? Players like Crystal Dunn, Samantha Mewis, and Stephanie McCaffrey all earned first or repeat National Team looks based on their NWSL performance.

Finally, an All-Star match brings attention, and as an endeavor that is still fairly new, this league needs all the attention it can get. A televised, marketed game (no small feat in the world of women’s soccer) can create new fans as well as showing confidence in the league. A strong, confident league will stem the flow of young talent currently lost to early retirements and the allure of European leagues. It will also attract top international talent like Amandine Henry, further increasing the fan base.

Fresh off a World Cup win with the possibility of Rio gold on the horizon, professional women’s soccer has a chance to propel this momentum into something that will last. An All-Star match can only help, and after two failed leagues, the NWSL needs all the help it can get. But hey, the third time is the charm, right?

Just Pick an NWSL Team Already, I’m Begging You.

Posted on by RJ Allen

Hey all you new NWSL fans out there. Yeah you. I have a message for you.

Pick a team.

Pick an NWSL team and stick with them. For one whole season; just pick a team and stick with them. Even if they break your heart. Maybe especially if they break your heart.

Sports in America has a lot of do with pride. We take pride in our team when we slip on a hat or a jersey or a pair of sweat pants with their crest stamped on them. And the connection we have with that team is what keeps us from maybe losing interest in that team when there isn’t a World Cup or an Olympics to get our soccer juices flowing.

I know a lot of you just found the NWSL at the tail end of last season. You got high on the World Cup and you decided to log on to YouTube and watch those same players go head to head with each other. And suddenly you got to see some great match ups. Tobin Heath’s Thorns taking on Kelley O’Hara’s Sky Blue was a great match. So was Hope Solo’s Reign taking on Carli Lloyd’s Dash.

But if you want to keep the league going and healthy you can’t just be a fan of Tobin Heath or Hope Solo or Morgan Brian. You have to be a fan of the Thorns or the Reign or the Dash. You have to buy in to that team as more than one to four national team players. If you really want to support the league you have to buy in to one team even if your favorite national team  player is traded or gone for national team duty or out for a season due to pregnancy or injury.

Fan bases take time to grow. As year four of the NWSL gets ready to start it’s hard to really have the baked in relationship to one of the ten teams in the league unless you live in one of the cities. I get that. I live four hours away from three different teams so any home town pride for a team isn’t there for me.

That is why I present the following tips on how to pick an NWSL team.

1) Look at the team as more than a showcase for USWNT players.

Sure the Dash have Carli Lloyd who hit a hat trick in a World Cup final. But will that World Cup final moment and Carli Lloyd really be enough to keep you a fan of the Dash for more than 2 or 3 games? Most likely no.

So look at the team rosters. Look for other players that you might know. Watch past games and see what other players stand out to you. Try to find ones not on the national team that you really like. Try to find a team with a style that you enjoy watching.

2) It’s alright to be pissed off at your team.

I am a Reign fan. I make no bones about the team I support even if I try to take my bias out when I’m writing about the NWSL or another team. But no team in this league pisses me off like the Reign. Because they are my team. Because I invest time and energy and even money into them and sometimes they just let me down.

But you know what? If I team pisses you off that means you care. That means you are invested in them. And that is a great sign.

3) It’s alright to like players on other teams without it being your team.

One of the biggest problems I faced when trying to pick my team after finding the NWSL was feeling like if I picked one team it would cut me off from supporting other players I liked. And then I remembered the MLB and NFL where I have my team, the Red Sox and Packers respectively, and I still managed to like other players in those leagues.

Case in point, I am a huge Becky Sauerbrunn fan. She is one of my favorite 3 players in the world right now. And yet I am not an FCKC fan. I can want Sauerbrunn to do well, really well in fact, and still not call myself a fan of the team or support them. In fact I personally hope they end up at the bottom of the table. But that is the Reign fan in me coming out.

The bottom line is whatever team you pick is not as importuning as picking a team and sticking with them. And it’s ok to say that you’re a fan of one team but like another. I like the Chicago Red Stars a lot but they just aren’t my team.

Whichever team you pick for the upcoming NWSL season I want you to remember the most important rule. Portland sucks.

Introducing Backline Soccer

Posted on by RJ Allen

RJ Allen:

I am RJ Allen. I am the Editor in Chief of Backline Soccer. I’m joined by Chelsey Bush, who is the Managing Editor of Backline Soccer.

So Chelsey, why is Backline Soccer a thing now?

Chelsey Bush:

We felt like it was time to devote all our attention to promoting women’s soccer, and Backline Soccer is the perfect place for us to continue to provide insight, analysis, and conversations you can’t find anywhere else.

RJ Allen:

Our time at Midfield Press was a fantastic entry into running a website and learning about the world of soccer coverage. But it was time to create our own place.

Plus, now Chelsey has a title fitting her boss status.

Chelsey Bush:

Midfield Press is a great place, and I look forward to seeing how they continue their excellent coverage of men’s soccer.

RJ Allen:

We also have done a bit of rebranding. Titles of weekly pieces will be changed from more generic “NWSL Week X Recaps” to something with a little more panache.

Chelsey Bush:

We’re putting more of our stamp on things.

RJ Allen:

And, I think, the biggest change (outside of the site as a whole) is the rebranding of The Midfield Report into The Scouting Report.

Chelsey Bush:

Yeah, we definitely couldn’t let that go. It’s one of our most popular features.

New name, same faces!

RJ Allen:

We are adding a new news feature to TSR. Because, with a limited staff, we can’t get to everything. And if we don’t write about it, we want to at least give it some attention on the podcast.

Which I’m excited about.

Chelsey Bush:

Very exciting things coming up.

RJ Allen:

What are you most looking forward to in the Backline Soccer world?

Chelsey Bush:

I’m pretty excited about the NCAA coverage we’re adding. Personally, I’ll be doing a weekly column with an NCAA WoSo roundup.

The future of our WNT is there right now. The faces of the next World Cup are in college.

RJ Allen:

That is something I’m looking forward to learning more about. It’s a weak area for me, so growing my base as the site grows its base will be great.

Personally I’m looking forward to how the interviews with players grow and how TSR grows. Bringing on guests, our own thoughts, adding to the intelligent debate, etc.

Chelsey Bush:

We do have a lot of fun on there.

RJ Allen:

Something that will also be pretty great is that the four TSR hosts will be in Houston for the final.

And if all goes well we’ll be doing at least one live show from the hotel.

Chelsey Bush:

And we’re 75% sure all of us will survive the weekend.

It’s going to be a ton of fun, and we’re going to see some great soccer no matter who ends up in the game.

I’m really excited to bring my TSR friends to my “home base.”

RJ Allen:

I think it’s important that we’re branching off at this point. So when season five happens—it’s amazing that we’re all so sure it will—and the league is strong enough for a season five, we’ll hit the ground running.

Chelsey Bush:

Yes. We’re going to be doing a lot of building and work behind the scenes during the off-season.

No off-season for WoSo writers!

RJ Allen:

This is a really exciting time for us at Backline Soccer. And we hope all of you enjoy the ride with us. Between our own writing, TSR, interviews, and everything else we’re doing, it’s a really exciting time.

Chelsey Bush:

We’re ready to make our mark, and it’s going to be a blast.

RJ Allen:

If you want to find us elsewhere online you can find us on Twitter @BacklineSoccer, you can email us backlinesoccer@gmail.com, and you can find The Scouting Report here. 

If you’d like to write for or need to contact, Backline Soccer you can contact us here.

How to Pay the Amateurs

Posted on by RJ Allen

A lot has been written lately about if the amateur NWSL players should be paid, why they aren’t paid, and if the league or their clubs can afford to pay them.

Very little has been written about how these players should be paid and about what might be a reasonable agreement under which these players, who put in as much work as the players under contract, could be paid.

Every unallocated player (someone who is not being paid by the United States or Canadian federations) makes between $7,200 to $39,700 for the duration of the season, going from April to October. And while this is not a livable wage and needs to be raised if the league wants to retain talent, the amateurs aren’t paid at all. They are simply reimbursed for some, but not all, expenses.

Unllocated players, therefore, make between $360 and $1,985 a game, per their 20-game schedule.

Side note: USWNT players make $54,000 for the NWSL season, meaning $2,700 a game. Still too low, but much more reasonable than their solely NWSL counterparts.

If the NWSL keeps needing to use amateur players going forward, and they will always need to with a 20-person roster and a slough of both United States and Canadian national team players, they should be required to pay them. This pay should not count against the team’s NWSL salary cap (currently set at $278,000). 

This is the current NWSL language on amateurs:

An amateur Player is any person other than a professional Player.  An amateur Player may not receive or retain any remuneration for playing except expenses directly related to a game or games which have actually been incurred by the Player.

This is my proposal for paying amateur players:

An amateur Player is any person other than a professional Player.  An amateur Player will receive $200 each time they are listed in their club’s 18-person game-day roster. They may also receive remuneration for expenses directly related to a game or games which have been incurred by the Player.

The shoestring budget that some clubs operate on should be able to accommodate this modest pay for players putting on their uniforms to go out and try to score or defend goals in the club’s name. If they can’t, that has to be a sign that the ownership group might not be the right fit for the NWSL, going forward.

2015 and 2016 have seen teams having to often bring on amateur players because of the World Cup and Olympics. If the pay changes are put into effect in 2017, a non major year for the United States and Canada, fewer players will need to be called up. Too late to help out those who have already gone without pay, but a good time to implement a new policy and have two seasons to try it out on a smaller scale before the next World Cup year.

Pay the amateur players. It’s bad enough we call them amateur and not non-contract players. The least we can do is pay them. Maybe not what they are worth, but at least something. It’s the right thing to do.

Catching up with Christine Nairn

Posted on by RJ Allen

Christine Nairn, an Annapolis, Maryland, native, is no stranger to the Maryland SoccerPlex – the place she calls home on Saturday evenings. She not only grew up watching her brothers play there, but she herself played there as a youth player before going to Penn State and then being drafted by the Seattle Reign. She made her way back home two years ago, and I was lucky enough to catch up with her after training this week.

Backline Soccer (BS): With the sell out this Saturday, as one of three “hometown girls” on the team and having watched your brothers play here, how does it make you feel to see the growth and support for this team?

Christine Nairn (CN): It’s awesome for the growth of the game, like you said I’ve grown up playing here since I was like nine or ten or even younger going to watch my brothers play. For it to come full circle and to play in front of family and friends and former coaches, it’s a testament to this organization, to women’s soccer in general, to invest in the young players, the homegrown players as they call it around the US. We’re excited for the sell out and hopefully it’s the first of many for this year.

BS: With bringing in more help for Crystal Dunn up front, how does that help your play in the midfield, knowing you have a little bit more than last year where it was pretty much just Dunn over the top, knowing you have a little more space to work with?

CN: Crystal will always be one of the main targets for our team, I think she’s a force to be reckoned with. She’s shown why she was the MVP of the league last year and she carried us on her back the whole season. Crystal’s in a little different of a role this year, she’s getting in a little different spots on the field, different positions, so she’s still getting used to that. We’re still learning each other’s tendencies, the good thing about this team is that I don’t think we’ve reached our potential yet, each game we just focus on getting a little bit better than last game. I think, as we get better as a team, it won’t be the Crystal Dunn Show anymore, as much as it was fun to watch that show – if she wants to score 17 goals this year, by all means she can do it again, we wouldn’t hate that – but the more people zero in on Crystal, the more people are open, whether that’s on the outside, me in the midfield, or anywhere. Like Krieger said before, the depth of this team is so special, I think that even when the National Team girls are gone we have young players who have gotten minutes early on in the season and can step up and perform.

BS: Playing in the W-League the last two offseasons, what are some differences you’ve seen between the two leagues?

CN: Australia is so fun and every time someone asks about the Australian league, all the players have a smile on their face, it’s just an awesome time to go to Australia and play.  To keep fresh and clean on the ball and continue to stay fight is a positive of that and it works well with our season.  It’s still growing as a league and Australian soccer is getting bigger and bigger each year, I think that’s because the Matildas are getting better and better each year. I think they’re another force to be reckoned with this Olympic year, they’re going to be a dark horse team many teams might count them out. If you’ve seen the way they’ve been playing…

BS: They blew through qualifying.

CN: Yeah, they blew through qualifying and really gave the US a test in the World Cup last year and I think they’re going to surprise a lot of teams in the Olympics. If they can continue to produce and put on a game and attract more people, I think the W-League will continue to improve each and every year and I think that’s super important for their country as a sport and for their National Team for years to come.

BS: Going into week nine, how do you feel the tone within the team has changed or grown since week one and the outlook going forward?

CN: It’s probably gotten a little bit better with each and every day, like I said getting more comfortable with our starters and our players coming off the bench, getting into our roles and really embracing them. Never being satisfied. If I’m not starting, I’m going to accept my role, but I’m not going to be happy about it. I’m going to continue to push my teammates because I want what’s best for them and what’s best for this team is what’s best for me. If we can continue to push each other and get better each and every day, the sky’s the limit. One thing that I think that has stayed the same is our standard, we hold ourselves to such a high standard here, whether that’s Krieger getting on us or Crystal or D or Shelina or any of the Canadians. They keep the standard so high and say “it’s not good enough” and when those players leave, our main National Team players leave, there are other players stepping up and going into those roles. If we can keep that standard throughout the year I think we’ll be fine for the year and continue to get three points on the road and at home.

BS: Okay, hardest question I’m going to ask you, I’m a Penn State fan, what is your favorite creamery flavor?

CN: Peachy Paterno, with blue and white sprinkles. On my visit there, I ordered rainbow sprinkles and they corrected me like, “we only have blue and white sprinkles” and I was like, “Okay, sorry.” From that moment on I was like “Peachy Paterno – blue and white sprinkles.”

BS: You can actually order it online, they have coolers that you can put five half gallons in and a larger cooler.

CN: I didn’t know you could order it online, that’s determination. If there is one school that would ship their ice cream, it would be Penn State.

Catching up with Diana Matheson

Posted on by RJ Allen

Before the Spirit’s trip to Portland, I had the chance to catch up with their all-time leading scorer, Diana Matheson.

Backline Soccer (BS): With being here all 4 years, how do you feel the team and the league have grown and matured over the last 4 years?

Diana Matheson (DM): I mean it’s really improved each year both on the field and off the field. We’ve added great professional players every year and have gotten more consistency. Off the field, the league and this team is getting more and more professional.

BS: With the new additions, especially this year, your role has maybe kind of changed a little bit, how do you feel your role has changed on and off the field?

DM: I mean it’s kind of similar to last year, Mark always liked me on the wing as opposed to a midfielder, Jim has started me there most of the time as well, in this league I feel I’ve been more of a forward than a midfielder.

BS: If you could steal any 3 players from other teams and bring them over, who would they be?

DM: I feel like that’s kind of a tricky question. I’m going to go with Kim Little because she is fun to play with but she couldn’t keep number 8, she’d have to change it. Desire Scott, because she’s tough to play against so take her away from Kansas. I don’t have a third, so we’ll leave it at that.

BS: Do you and Krieger, with the upcoming Olympics, have a dinner or anything riding on it?

DM: No, no nothing, no dinners. Everyone’s got enough riding on that already, there doesn’t need to be a side bet.

A Conversation with Ali Krieger

Posted on by RJ Allen

For those of you that are new to women’s soccer, Ali Krieger is one of- if not the- best right backs in the world.For those of you that are new to women’s soccer, Ali Krieger is one of- if not the- best right backs in the world. A veteran of two World Cups, she was part of one of the greatest backlines to every play the game,  and gave us one heck of a summer last year, not to mention that epic penalty kick in 2011 and a load of amazing memories in between.

I was lucky enough to get to snag a few moments of her precious time, after training last week and got to find out what her answer to the most important question ever was, what’s her favorite Penn State ice cream. Ok, I may have asked her about soccer and the Washington Spirit and their awesome start to the season, which are pretty important too.

Backline Soccer (BS): How does it feel being back at right back?

Ali Krieger (AK): So good. I think that playing other positions as well has helped in playing my natural position, because I get more touches on the ball, like playing in midfield last season, I thought that was really fun for me. It was a different experience for me so I think having that, I can apply what I usually do at right back to those positions and get more touches on the ball and get better at that in other positions that I played and kind of get more experience. Of course I’m going play wherever my coach wants to play me and do the best I can. It feels much better to be playing in my natural right back position now.

BS: It seems like you’re becoming more confident in taking shots. Have you been given more freedom with that or is it just the flow of the game?

AK: It’s kind of flowing, I feel like I want to get into attack more and it’s been difficult in this league because the run of play is go-go-go. We’ve tried to calm the game down a little bit, to have possession, in order for me to get forward and I’ve just been finding myself more into the attack recently. But I don’t plan it, no. Against Portland I maybe could have put a couple of headers in. It’s nothing new that I’m doing or changing. I get too excited when I get up there, it’s fun. How to stay calm now, I’ve got to figure that out.

BS: The backline is starting to look like they’re starting to gel together, how do you feel about the progress, especially since game one? With Stephanie being back there now, how is that affecting the adjustments?

AK: It’s good, obviously we only have 2 out of our back 5, as we call it, are the same from last year, so it’s been an adjustment. The other 3 have stepped in and done a tremendous job and we haven’t skipped a beat. I think we’ve moved a few steps forward from where we were last year and having Shelina in there, as well – being a young experienced Canadian National Team player, has really helped. We’re really building off of each game and only allowing one goal in right now has been really great for us and we kind of iron out the details as the game goes on and then we take a look at film and we’re like look this needs to be cleaned up before next game and moving forward in this long season that we have. I think we’ve done a good job so far and now it’s just kind of getting use to each other and getting comfortable playing next to each other, kind of sticking together as a unit, that’s really important. If one of us makes a mistake, we all make a mistake, it’s not one person is leaving the other person out to dry, we’ve really done a good job at being a unit and making sure all of us are on the same page because we do know there are new faces in the backline and it’s so important to be that connected back 5 and that’s huge for any team.

BS: This may be the Penn State kid in me, what is your favorite Creamery flavor?

AK: Mint Chocolate Chip. I haven’t been in a while, it’s newer I think. I have to go back and take a look and stay on top of the flavors and the names, but mint chocolate chip for sure.

(I looked this up, there is Mint Nittany or Bittersweet Mint.)

Catching up with Stephanie Labbé

Posted on by RJ Allen

The Washington Spirit are sitting atop the NWSL standings, having taken 9 out of 9 possible points from their matches with a 3-0 record. Leading up to the Portland game this week, arguably the first real test for the Spirit this season, I was lucky enough to catch up with the new keeper in town, Stephanie Labbé. She was gracious enough to answer a few of my questions after training.

Backline Soccer (BS): What has been the biggest adjustment coming over to the NWSL?

Stephanie Labbé (SL): The speed of play and the quality of strikers that I face. I had the same backline in front of me for 6 years in Sweden, so figuring out everyone’s strengths and weaknesses on this backline and getting to know their styles of play.

BS: Do you think that the Olympic break helps with national team players not having to miss as many games and helps keep team chemistry in the club teams?

SL: Yes, I definitely think it’ll help. Anytime you get to play together, and the longer you get to play together, the more chemistry and the stronger the team becomes. We have a deep bench with a lot of good players, and the more we can play together, the better.

BS: Who is the crazier captain to play with Ali Krieger or Christine Sinclair?

SL: They both have different leadership styles. Ali tends to be more vocal, giving the pregame speeches and talking a lot on the field. Sinc is more of the lead by example, putting her body on the line and going all out. They are similar in that they are both very humble and have worked for everything they have, nothing in their careers have been given to them.

BS: What is the mindset going into the next four weeks knowing you play the same two teams back to back?

SL: I haven’t really thought of that too much. We’ve been keeping it game by game and really concentrating on the next opponent for the upcoming week. This week is Portland and we have to step up our performance from last week and play better against them then we did against Western New York.

BS: Do you ever wish, just once, that when your team scores, someone would come and give the keeper some love?

SL: Yes! I can’t really go running to the huddle and then all the way back to goal, maybe I can run to the bench. I will definitely have to talk to the defenders about this and maybe one of them can give me a hug or something—show me some love.

Hopefully one of the defenders will agree, and maybe when Ali Krieger scores again, she’ll show Steph some love.

Terms of the Deal Were Not disclosed. Wait, why?

Posted on by RJ Allen

“Per league and club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.”

That sentence shows up in every story on NWSLSoccer.com about a player signing. Officially, no club  can create a page on their website that lists  what each of their players make. The only things we do know are that non-allocated players (players from the United States and Canada on their women’s national teams) are paid between $6,800 and $37,800 and that each team has a salary cap of $265,000. 

The National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL), which just finished its first season, took a different route. You can go to their website and find a page that lists the salary for each player. The 72 players on the 4 NWHL teams have what they make listed. From the 16 players making just $10,000 to Kelli Stack who makes a league-high $25,000. This isn’t to say the NWHL is perfect, but in this one area it’s already ahead of the NWSL. 

Yet, in the NWSL, it’s league and club policy not to give out any information of the terms of the player deals or how much they make off of those deals. 

And that’s not even getting at the impact that having such low salaries has on teams and players in the first place. 

To look at the impact that the $265,000 cap has on a team, we need to have some fun with math. Let’s look at the 18 player roster for Seattle from the 2015 Championship game and see what Laura Harvey, head coach and GM, might be paying her players. 

The roster: Hope Solo, Megan Rapinoe, Kendall Fletcher, Rachel Corsie, Lauren Barnes, Stephanie Cox, Elli Reed, Keelin Winters, Kim Little, Jessica Fishlock, Merritt Mathias, Katrine Veje, Beverly Yanez, Haley Kopmeyer ,Amber Brooks, Mariah Bullock, Danielle Foxhoven, and Kiersten Dallstream. 

First off, Solo and Rapinoe can be taken out of consideration, because they are United States allocated players. US Soccer plays them to play in the league. (About $55,000 according to the court documents in the law suit between US Soccer and the United States Women’s National Team.) 

For the moment, let’s assume that no other players outside of the 18 that dress for game day are getting paid, just to keep the math simple. Teams are allowed to carry up to 20 players even if not all teams do.

So, 16 players have to fit under a salary cap of $265,000. That would be $16,562.50 per player, if everyone on the roster was being paid evenly. But as we know, in the world of sports, things are rarely fair.

Out of the 16 non-allocated players, Seattle has two from the Scottish Women’s National Team, (Kim Little and Rachel Corsie), one from the Welsh Women’s National Team, (Jess Fishlock), and one from the Danish Women’s National Team, (Katrine Veje). Let’s say each of them made $30,000 each. They are good enough to be called on for international duty after all. 

What does that give us? Two allocated players (Solo and Rapinoe), four international players making $30,000 (Little, Corsie, Fishlock, and Veje) and the 12 remaining players making roughly $12,083.33 each, if we’re keeping the rest equal. 

But the 12 left wouldn’t be all paid equally. The starting XI would likely be getting more than a bench player, right? 

The starting XI: Solo, Fletcher, Corsie, Barnes, Cox, Winters, Little, Fishlock, Mathias, Rapinoe and Yanez. 

So let’s increase the rest of the starting XI (Fletcher, Barnes, Cox, Winters, Mathaias, and Yanez) to $20,000 each.

So now you have two allocated players (Solo and Rapinoe), four international players making $30,000 (Little, Corsie, Fishlock, and Veje), six starters making $20,000 (Fletcher, Barnes, Cox, Winters, Mathias and Yanez), and the six bench players making $4,166,66 each. 

That puts the bench players’ salaries under the league minimum. 

See how quickly that $265,000 goes? 

I can’t tell you, with 100% certainty, what the players on Seattle make (outside of Solo and Rapinoe), but I can tell you that some of the players make close to the league minimum. Not making that information known only serves to keep the public from seeing just how many of those players are closer to the $6,800 end of the spectrum than the $37,800 end. 

Releasing the players’ salaries would give the public a chance to see just what each team is doing with their $265,000. It will give fans a chance to call GMs out if they aren’t using the money wisely, just like every other sports league has their fans do. 

The NWSL making it to its fourth season is huge. But that doesn’t mean that fans and members of the media should give them a free pass. The only way the league will change for the better is by fans and the media pushing them in that direction. 

And push we shall.