The Oregonian’s Geoffrey Arnold was also out and about with the U.S. Women’s National Team at last night’s open practice, and no surprise, the Timbers beat man was focused on the upcoming women’s soccer league, in which Portland’s expected to be a significant player.
Portland has one of the eight teams in the upcoming U.S. Soccer (and Canadian and Mexican soccer) supported league, but theirs is the only one with a direct tie-in to a market’s Major League Soccer team. The Paulson family will own both.
With Abby Wambach and Megan Rapinoe making Portland home (and Canada international Christine Sinclair having roots in the area), speculation regarding how loaded the northwest teams will be began shortly after U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati conceded teams and players will have input on where talent’s allocated. With Alex Morgan, Sydney Leroux and Hope Solo playing for the Sounders Women in last year’s W-League, the northwest spots are already starting to fill up.
Arnold asked a number of the national team’s stars about the possibility of playing in Portland. Here’s Wambach, who has also been linked with Western New York and Washington, D.C.:
“Of course I would love to play here,” Wambach said. “(I have to) make sure it’s the right fit for me. The right fit for the city. I would love to call Jeld-Wen Field my home base.”
And Rapinoe:
“I just moved back here, so it would be nice to stay put when I come and play in the league,” said Rapinoe, a star player for the University of Portland. “After coming to this city, everybody is going to want to come here.”
Solo, who lives outside Seattle:
“It’s so awesome that Seattle and Portland are going to have a women’s team and create that rivalry,” goalkeeper Hope Solo said.
As I spoke to other national team members, there seemed to be both a realization the northwest will be a coveted assignment and caution that things are still a long way off. Multiple players hinted details on the league are still hard to come by, so while everybody was optimistic about the league, the optimism was cautious.
If the league comes to fruition, U.S. Soccer may have to weigh having star-studded teams in the northwest against parity.
Then again, it’s pretty ludicrous to take any competitive issue too seriously right now. After all, the league hasn’t even been named, yet.
