Photo Courtesy of Unsplash.
In a season full of adversity and scandal, the Washington Spirit overcame it all to be named this year’s National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) champions on Nov. 20, 2021. The organization started its season with a venue change due to a substandard stadium under construction, then went through a coaching change engulfed in scandal, an owner breaking bridges on his way out, a coronavirus outbreak, and a league investigation. But despite all those struggles, the team remained focused on their goal of securing the organization’s first title in its eight year history.
The NWSL is one of the newer leagues on the scene, with its inaugural season in 2013. It’s one of many attempts at a professional women’s soccer league in the United States, but this one has lasted longer than most and is expanding at a rapid pace.
Among the many challenges the Washington Spirit faced this year, the validity of their stadium was first to hit them. While they were supposed to hold their home opener on May 26th at Serga Field, a lack of running water, no permanent locker room and construction delays caused their home field to be deemed unfit to play by NWSL standards. There were negotiations with the D.C. MLS (the men’s professional league) team, D.C. United, to play at their home stadium, but a Spirit executive told The Washington Post that D.C. United had “set a variety of conditions on the request, some of which would be impossible to satisfy, others of which were overreaching.” So what was set to be the home opener got moved to the opponents stadium in Houston, Texas. Nevertheless, the Spirit won the match 2-1 and secured the first of their 11 wins this season.
After the adjustments were made to meet the NWSL stadium requirements, the Spirit no longer had to deal with field issues, but a scandal broke in September implicating Spirit (now former) Head Coach Richie Burke, among others, in accusations of verbally and emotionally abusing his players. This was not the first time Burke had been accused of verbal abuse, the first coming shortly after his hire in 2018. The most recent allegations, however, came from former Spirit player Kaiya McCullough, but interviews revealed she was one of at least four players who had left the team in the past two years due to Burke’s abuse. The Spirit organization initially announced Burke would be stepping down due to health concerns but would remain in the organization. After push back from The Washington Post and NWSL players, Burke was put on administrative leave pending a league investigation. He was officially fired shortly there after.
With Assistant Coach Kris Ward at the position of acting head coach, the Spirit persevered on the field, but still had issues in the front office. Spirit CEO and owner Steve Baldwin was urged by all the Spirit players to step down and sell his shares of the team to his co-owner, Y. Michele Kang, for his role in attempting to cover up Burke’s abuse and his general mismanagement of the club. In a letter published on social media by the players, they called for him to sell his shares to Kang, whom they trust, fulfilling a public intention he made in 2019 that he would eventually hand the team over to female ownership. Baldwin has since announced he plans on selling the team by the end of the year, and that “a sale process for the club has commenced in earnest,” but has refused to give any more details than that.
And as if all this turmoil wasn’t enough, the coronavirus once again reared its ugly head in September. Four positive cases forced the Spirit to forfeit two games and incur roughly $50,000 in fines. The players released a statement apologizing for breaking COVID-19 protocol and promising to do better. While the NWSL as a whole is over 90% vaccinated, the Spirit had multiple unvaccinated players at that time and therefore posed a greater risk in spreading the virus.
Despite all these hurdles, the Spirit entered the playoffs as the #3 seed. They started off the first round beating reigning back-to-back champions, the North Carolina Courage, 1-0 in extra time. In the second round the Washington Spirit faced the #2 seed Seattle Reign. After going down 0-1 in the first few minutes, the Spirit rallied back to upset the Reign, 2-1.
Set for their return trip to the championship game for the first time since 2015, they faced the Chicago Red Stars on November 20th in Louisville, Kentucky in a nearly sold out stadium. The Stars dealt with a few injuries in the first half, which may have been their downfall, but at the end of 90 minutes the game was tied 1-1. Only a few minutes into extra time, veteran and U.S. National Soccer team standout Kelley O’Hara tracked a beautiful cross from Rookie of the Year Trinity Rodman (NBA legend Dennis Rodman’s daughter) and headed the winning goal into the back of the net. Twenty minutes later, the Washington Spirit were the NWSL Champions for the first time in their history.
Only time will tell if Baldwin will sell the team to Yang, if the league will crack down on player abuse, or if the Spirit will be given a proper home field. Along with these changes, the NWSL players are in their first negotiations to form a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) which is a contract between the NWSL and its players agreeing to things like minimum salary, guaranteed time off, playing conditions, and more. Never before in the history of any of the professional women’s soccer leagues in the United States have the leagues and players been able to successfully negotiate a CBA, but with a steadily increasing trend of women’s sports growing, this year might finally be the year that all changes.
Regardless of what happens going forward, all Camels from the Washington D.C. area know this is the fourth D.C. team in the last three years to win a championship. You might even call it the new District of Champions.
