Walking over the chalk pointing to the unmarked tents of Denver NWSL’s small, but budding supporters’ group felt like a treasure hunt outside of Dick’s Sporting Goods Park ahead of the U.S. Women’s National Team’s match against the Republic of Ireland on Thursday night.
The supporters’ group, yet to be named just like the club itself, was marked mostly by white T-shirts with the Denver NWSL logo, and brought out hundreds curious for what’s next. The most popular tailgate host — perhaps slightly ahead of the guy giving out water in the 85-plus degree heat — was the face-painter stenciling stars and stripes on children’s cheeks.
The adults, if not congregating in small circles with beers in hand, made the rounds to talk to the club’s leadership, including owner Rob Cohen, president Jen Millet and general manager Curt Johnson, under one of the tents. The three engaged with every last fan who approached them, talking ball and visions for the club.
Ptarmigan Emery, a member of the supporters’ group, was one of them. She’s played soccer most of her life and runs a Facebook page with hundreds of members dedicated to meeting for pickup soccer games. Most members, she said, are women.
Shocked at how long it took for Denver to be granted a women’s professional sports team, she felt relief when the club was announced earlier this year. So far, her expectations for the club’s actions have been exceeded.
“We don’t even have a name, but we already feel like this team is ours,” she said. “When I was growing up, it was that you either made it to the national team or you didn’t, there was nothing in between and there were no leagues. But now, just to have somebody who looks like us, and for these little girls to see these women who are killing it, it can make such a big impact.”
When the USWNT played at DSGP a year ago, the grassroots effort “For Denver FC” wasn’t much more than a dream. It eventually gained traction, turned into a formal bid and was awarded the NWSL’s newest expansion franchise.
Even then, when the other two finalists for expansion — Cleveland and Caitlin Clark-backed Cincinnati — were announced, some felt Denver was a longshot.
Now, it’s a reality that hung over the USWNT’s 4-0 victory over Ireland in Thursday’s friendly. The anticipation and love for women’s soccer in Colorado — the type that makes a crowd cheer when USWNT coach Emma Hayes picks up a ball and gives it to a player for a throw-in — won’t be a once-every-year-or-two thing anymore. It’ll be every week from March to November, starting next year.
“The ownership group… has taken the mantle and they want to do right by this community that cares so much about this sport,” Millet told reporters at halftime of the Ireland match. “And I think the goal for Curt and I is to continue to foster that relationship and make sure those fans feel close to the club and that they feel like they have a voice in what we’re doing and what we’re trying to build.
“Being able to have these exchanges and encounters with them at a match like this — we were out on Tuesday night meeting with some fans and supporters, too — I want that to be ingrained in our culture.”
Success in the next step, Millet joked, is survival. Less than nine months separate the USWNT’s win over Ireland and Denver NWSL’s first match. And the club is still without a brand, coach or players.
All of those things could change soon, though. Millet told DNVR on Tuesday that the team’s branding should be announced in the next few weeks. A coaching hire and player signings should also come soon, with the NWSL transfer window beginning on Wednesday, July 1. Denver NWSL and the Boston Legacy FC were granted an additional $500,000 of allocation money earlier this month in lieu of the new CBA ousting the expansion draft. Soon enough, they’ll start using it.
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