(Photo courtesy of Washington Spirit)
By WAMU’s Esther Ciammachilli
The Spirit, Washington’s professional women’s soccer team, plays its first game at the new Audi Field in Southwest D.C. Saturday. The game is somewhat of a test for the team and its fans.
Spirit supporters love their team—so much so that many travel long distances to watch home games at the Maryland Soccer Complex in Boyds, Maryland. Casie Wood drove more than an hour from Arlington to the complex for the Spirit’s game against Utah this week. Wood says she loves this stadium, but she’s looking forward to watching the team play at Audi Field—not only because it’s closer to her house, but also because the game has the potential to raise the team’s profile.
“That game’s going to be very impactful for the Washington Spirit to see if they can continue playing more games at that field based on the attendance they can get out of that game,” says Wood.
Team officials say that if the Spirit can get enough fans in the seats, there’s a potential for more games at Audi Field next season. But that is an uphill climb at this point.
The Spirit has had a rough go of it recently. Some of its top players have suffered from injuries, and the team has scored just one goal in the last 12 games. Earlier this week, it parted ways with long-time coach, Jim Gabarra.
“He took us to the championship game in 2016,” says Chris Hummer, the Spirit’s general manager. “But, you can be the best coach in the world and sometimes, you know, it just doesn’t fit. Something isn’t right. You can’t figure out what it is.”
Players want to finish the season strong. Team captain Estelle Johnson says playing in Audi Field means women’s professional soccer in Washington is making some progress. But, she says, the Maryland Soccer Complex is still home.
“Of course we want to play in the big stadium with all the lights and all the shiny things but the ‘Plex is awesome. I think it’s a great size for us right now. Hopefully, we’ll outgrow it here soon. But it’s nice to have our own pitch as well,” says Johnson.
Spirit officials say they’ve sold about 6,000 tickets for the Audi Field game, enough to fill about a quarter of the stadium. It’s a pretty good start for a team whose very name invokes determination.
This story originally appeared on WAMU.
