The US Women’s National Team won its record third World Cup this weekend, and local clubs expect league enrollments to surge.
Sixteen minutes into Sunday evening’s championship match, U.S. midfielder Carli Lloyd launched a shot from about the middle of the pitch. When the ball caromed off the post and into the goal it was already Lloyd’s third score. Throughout the tournament, critics harped on the U.S. team’s often anemic offense, but that wasn’t the story in the championship game. Llloyd’s three goals is the fastest hat-trick from kick-off on record.
“The game last night, as long as I’ve been involved in soccer, the 16 minutes—about 20 minutes of action-packed soccer, I personally have never seen a more focused team in any sport,” Andrew Warner says. “I mean I just thought it was a mesmerizing experience,”
Warner heads up a Tallahassee club team called Warner Soccer, and he says the national team’s success is going to bring more kids to the sport.
“I have to believe any young player—boy or girl—watching that could only but get enthused about the sport,” Warner says, “and really that’s going to be the legacy of this tournament, I believe.”
And Tallahassee sports and recreation official Brian Smatt says international competitions like the world cup and the Olympics have a big impact on youth sports.
“So we’re hoping the same thing will transcend to women’s soccer, and soccer in general. Hopefully there will be a bigger buzz,” Smatt says. “Unfortunately, our registration’s not until November, so it’s not something that’s going to be right away, but hopefully it’s still on people’s minds.”
Tallahassee’s club teams like Warner’s, Top of Florida, and Tallahassee Tottenham Hotspur offer recreation leagues, too, and these start up in August and September. For the older set, the Tallahassee Soccer Association runs seasonal leagues and year-round pick-up games.
