Growing the Women’s Game
Kings Hammer FC Falls to Indy Eleven 3-1 in Inaugural USL W Match
----- #growHERgame -----
Kings Hammer FC Falls to Indy Eleven 3-1 in Inaugural USL W Match ----- #growHERgame -----
First off, this is more of a commentary than a match report but, I’m sure you all understand.
Tonight, I got to experience something extremely cool. I took my wife and daughter (and my youngest son) to the first ever USL W match.
Why is that significant?
I watched my daughter’s eyes light up as she watched high level amateur/Pre-professional soccer playing live in front of her very eyes. I listened as she pointed out things to her mom that she was noticing on the field that were similar to what her team does. As her former coach, it was even better to hear her talk about things that she’s heard me talk about before. I coached her in the fall and worked a number of sessions with her team now.
I looked around and saw I was out numbered probably four or five to one by girls, their teammates, and red and blue blooded soccer moms. It’s important to see girls like you, playing the game.
On the drive home I asked my daughter, “Did you have fun?”. “Yes” she replied. “Do you think that maybe someday you could play like them?” “I don’t know if I’ll ever be that good but…” Her mom reminded her that she had about 10 years to get there and if she wanted it bad enough, she could do it.
THAT RIGHT THERE IS WHAT #growHERgame is about!
HONORED
I’m a pretty lucky guy. I was honored to be invited to the match by both clubs tonight. I got invited by both clubs to attend tonight’s match. I don’t think it was because they knew I’d cover the match and write about it. I think both organizations understand how much this evening actually means to me as a soccer fan in the Tri-State Area. (Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio) How much it means as a #GirlDad to be at a match like that with my daughter and as a coach that has coached girls teams over the years,
Indianapolis, you surprised me tonight. No, not the team, the city. You showed out tonight for what could be a great thing moving forward for your city. The BYB might have been a little smaller than usual but, probably the sound coming from the opposite end of where I was sitting, was impressive. The environment that they created inside Grand Park Event Center was awesome. Hats off to the Indy Fire, and Indy Eleven for making the venue work.
Now, on to the match
The first match in club history for both of these teams. It’s a big deal. Both of them were looking to come in and get a win to start the season off in the right direction.
Indy came out strong. In the ninth minute, Rachel McCarthy put Eleven on the board with a rocket off of her left foot.
Indy’s counter attack was strong tonight. Kings Hammer didn’t seem to have an answer for it early and they got caught out again in the 17th minute as McCarthy registered her second tally on the night.
One thing is for sure though, Kings Hammer FC’s ladies weren’t going down in this match without a fight. Kings Hammer’s Mandy Schlueter put an amazing goal in the back of the net in the 40th minute to put KHFC on the board.
Schlueter, an Ohio State Commit, showed why the Buckeyes are looking forward to having her in Columbus. She’s GOOD and we are going to be hearing about her play a lot this season I would guess.
Unfortunately for Kings Hammer, that was their only tally of the night.
Indy Eleven however, they weren’t done putting goals up on the board. Katie Soderstrom scored a laser of a shot after an amazing cross by Selena Barnett to seal the victory for Eleven.
Indy Eleven starts their season off 1-0 while Kings Hammer FC falls to 0-1 to start their campaign. But really, the story here isn’t about the result.
What else does the USL W need to do to continue to #growHERgame ?
Don’t settle for tonight being the best USL W experience. Continue to work with the clubs around the league to try and get more butts in seats. Help them all promote their matches. Not just the inaugural match. The USL for the sake of the women’s game and USL W needs to spend some extra time and money to help grow this league and the women’s game.
There needs to be more and more eyes on the women’s game moving forward and the USL has a huge chance to do that. They can invite more bloggers, content creators, FIFA Ultimate Team streamers to matches so they can see what they are doing. Get more excitement in the air surrounding USL W.
Work with clubs to get as many matches online as possible! More games need to be seen by the public when people can’t get to the venues to watch the matches. Make the most out of services like Twitch, Youtube, Twitter, and Facebook to get as much content out as possible to show full matches and show off highlights.
#SCTOP10 anything that is worthy… @SCTOP10 is a lot of baseball and softball highlights this time of year. Let’s get some soccer highlights on social media and FANS…. RETWEET… SHARE… load our feeds with the highlights.
Okay, if you made it this far, thanks for reading but if you can’t tell I’m extremely excited about the USL W League.
#NWSL2CINCY
Yes, I’d love to have the highest level of Women’s soccer in Cincinnati. The pro game. But we also need to be supporting the high level amateur game.
Support these teams this summer!!!
Kings Hammer FC
Home Matches-
Bishop Brossart High School
USL W
https://www.kingshammerfc.com/2022-uslwschedule
Cincinnati Sirens
Home Matches-
Lakota West High School
WPSL
https://cincinnatisirens.com/schedule/
#SupportLocalSoccer #growHERgame #GrowTheGame
If you missed the Indy Eleven Kings Hammer Match, you can watch the match in it’s entirety here:
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