NWSL becomes first U.S. pro league to return to action; all players take a knee during national anthem
Team sports is back with a dramatic opening scene.
The National Women’s Soccer League became the first North American pro sports league to return to action following the pause of sports due to the coronavirus pandemic when the NWSL kicked off its Challenge Cup with a showdown between the North Carolina Courage and the Portland Thorns in Herriman, Utah, on Saturday.
But before the first kick of the ball, players made it clear there were more important things at stake than a soccer game. Both teams took the field wearing Black Lives Matter T-shirts. And then in a scene never seen before in pro team sports in the U.S., all players in the starting lineup took a knee during the playing of the national anthem.
“We took a knee today to protest racial injustice, police brutality, and systemic racism against Black people and people of color in America,” the teams said in a joint statement released before the game. “We love our country and we have taken this opportunity to hold it to a higher standard.
“It is our duty to demand that the liberties and freedoms this nation was founded upon are extended to everyone.”
A substitute player, members of the coaching staff and the officials appeared to be the only ones to stand during the playing of the “Star Spangled Banner.” The players also wore “Black Lives Matter” armbands during the game.
Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthem during the 2016 NFL season to shine a spotlight on police brutality and racial injustice only to find himself effectively blackballed from the league a year later.
U.S. star Megan Rapinoe joined Kaepernick’s movement and took a knee while wearing a national team jersey only to have U.S. Soccer create a policy to force all players to stand.
“You love to see it,” Rapinoe, who opted not to join her NWSL club (Reign) for the 8-team, month-long “bubble” tournament in Utah, tweeted of the pre-game scene. “You love to see these women using their voice, demanding better for America, and for black people and people of color.”
But the recent killings of black people — including George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville — at the hands of white officers have helped awaken a country to what Kaepernick was willing to sacrifice his football career for. It took four years, but even NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Saints QB Drew Brees finally began to realize the national anthem protest movement was not about disrespecting the flag. Earlier this month U.S. Soccer even rescinded its anthem policy and apologized for having it in the first place.
That change in mindset was on full display at the start of the NWSL’s Challenge Cup. The league had said Friday that it would support the players in however they decided to use their platform to advocate for social justice.
Tennis icon and women’s sports pioneer Billie Jean King applauded the efforts of the two teams.
“This is how you use your platform for change,” King tweeted.
“That was powerful,” Yael Averbuch West, the executive director of the NWSL players’ union wrote on Twitter. “Thank you @NWSL @CBSSports and @nwsl — players for drawing attention to what really matters.
“Very proud of this league.”
On the field, the NWSL’s eighth season got underway ahead of the other major team sports. Major League Soccer is scheduled for a July 8 start, while the NBA and WNBA plan to restart its seasons at the end of July and the NHL in August. Major League Baseball had initially hoped for a patriotic July 4th return, but after the players and owners fought a bitter battle over dollars, baseball is currently scheduled to return on July 23 or 24.
“It’s a significant statement for all sports,” NWSL Commissioner Lisa Baird said during an interview at halftime of the CBS broadcast of the game. “We want to bring sports back with health, safety and wellness in mind for all the players and I’m just so proud of these women out here on this field playing with all their hearts, but we do miss the fans.”
Just like the other sports leagues attempting to return during a pandemic, games are being played without fans in the stands.
The back-to-back league champion Courage won the tournament’s opening game with a 2-1 win over the Thorns after a stoppage-time goal from Lynn Williams.
But the NWSL’s return to the field for the 23-game tournament at two venues in the Salt Lake City area was not without drama. The Orlando Pride pulled out of the Challenge Cup earlier this week after a night at a local bar led to six players and four staffers testing positive for COVID-19.