USWNT’s Deep Ties to the Bay Area.
Oakland is home to some of the most passionate, diverse, and forward-thinking soccer fans around. With that in mind, we’re continuing our deep dive into the history of women’s soccer in, and around, the Bay Area.
Next Up: A look at the U.S. Women’s National Team’s roots in the Bay Area.
Since before the inaugural Women’s World Cup in 1991, the Bay Area had already established itself as a breeding ground for the top future Women’s World Cup stars. Following the establishment of the US Women’s National Team program, the Bay Area became one of the team’s main regions for hosting home matches and finding and developing the top talent. The team comes to the Bay Area nearly once a year with the understanding that fans will show up and support the women’s game. The Bay Area boasts connections to more than thirty USWNT World Cup stars and an undefeated record in matches played in the Bay Area.
The first time the USWNT came to the region was in May of 1997 as Spartan Stadium in San Jose had proven to be an ideal venue at the time for high-level soccer matches. The USWNT would top England 5–0 in front of 17,358 fans as they began turning Spartan Stadium into their fortress. With regular crowds of nearly 16,000, the team would go on to win six matches in six tries over a ten-year span at Spartan Stadium. This included a 4–0 rout of Brazil in 2000 in front of 26,853 fans. The venue would also be used four times during the 1999 World Cup.
Since its opening, Avaya Stadium in San Jose has been a regular destination for the national team for International friendlies. The first trip to Avaya was for the World Cup send-off in 2015. As expected, another sold-out Bay Area crowd of 18,000 would witness the women defeat Ireland 3–0. Since that match, the team went on to beat Romania, Canada, and Chile at Avaya in 2016, 2017, and 2018 respectively. Much like at Spartan Stadium, the team is a perfect 4–0–0 at Avaya averaging over 16,000 fans a match. Making the return to Avaya every year an obvious choice for the U.S. Soccer Federation.
Between the time spent at Spartan Stadium and Avaya, the USWNT played one match at historic Candlestick Park, the former home of the San Francisco Giants and 49ers. The team would win their lone game at Candlestick 4–1 over New Zealand in front of 16,315 fans. The team most recently played at the new home of the 49ers, Levi’s Stadium, where they hosted one of their 2019 send-off games against South Africa. This was the second straight World Cup the Women would use a Bay Area send-off to prepare themselves for lifting another World Cup Trophy. The US would win 3–0 in front of nearly 23,000 fans.
The most important game played in the Bay Area, however, came in 1999 just days before the famous penalty shootout victory at the Rose Bowl. On Independence day in ’99, the USWNT would play in front of more than 73,000 fans at the old Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto as they fought to advance to the World Cup Final. The current President of USSF, Cindy Parlow, scored the opening goal for the USA in under five minutes before the match was sealed by Michelle Akers from the penalty spot in the 80th minute. For many, this was the match that convinced them to watch that famous final a few days later. In total, the USWNT is a combined 13–0–0 in the Bay Area and has averaged 21,000 plus in those 13 matches, leading some to make the argument that the Bay Area is women’s soccer’s good luck charm.
The number of local matches in the area also played a part in inspiring many of the future national team players but many also came through colleges and grew up in the Bay Area long before Spartan Stadium hosted a match. The Bay Area was ahead of the curve when it came to supporting the women’s game in this country. This fact was evident by the success of multiple division one programs in the ’80s and ’90s and the sheer number of Women’s National Team players who grew up or played in the area.
When talking about Women’s Soccer stars to come out of the Bay Area the first place to start is Brandi Chastain. Brandi rose to fame with her famous penalty (and iconic celebration) in 1999 to win the World Cup, but she got her start long before that growing up in San Jose. She would go on to initially play for the University of California, Berkeley her freshman season, being named an All-American and Freshman of the Year before injuries would sideline her for two years. She came back to play three years at Santa Clara University, helping the team reach consecutive Final Fours, spring-boarding her onto the 1991 World Cup team, her first of three World Cup teams.
Many would follow in Chastain’s footsteps as Santa Clara University has gone on to produce USWNT players with regularity. Both Ally Wagner and Danielle Slaton grew up in the Bay Area attending Presentation High School in San Jose before attending Santa Clara. They were two of three Santa Clara Products to feature in the 2003 World Cup alongside Kylie Bivens. Three Santa Clara players made the roster again in 2007 as Leslie Osborne and Marian Dougherty joined Wagner at the 2007 World Cup in China. Other notable Santa Clara USWNT products include Jennifer Lalor and 2-time World Cup Champion Julie Ertz. Also, Amy Griffin spent 2 years as an assistant with the program while on the USWNT roster herself.
Outside of Santa Clara, Pac-12 rivals Cal and Stanford featured multiple World Cup Stars of their own. The leaders of the 99ers, captain Joy Fawcett and Julie Foudy attended Cal and Stanford respectively. Both would feature and lead the USWNT in four World Cups from 1991–2003. Stanford since Foudy has produced many more World Cup Stars in Nicole Barnhart, Kelly O’Hara, Christen Press, and most recently Tierna Davidson who grew up in the Bay Area as well attending Sacred Heart High School in San Francisco. The lone Oakland raised player to make the national team was Sarah Rafanelli who would attend Stanford following high school at College Preparatory School in Oakland. While across the Bay in Berkeley, Cal was home to three-time World Cup veteran and two-time winner, Alex Morgan and Palo Alto born 1995 team member Mary Harvey.
Looking at the high school level, many grew up and attended school in the region playing in Northern California’s talent-rich competition. Other than Rafanelli, who attended high school in Oakland, the other East Bay high school to produce a World Cup veteran for the USA was Carondelet High School in Concord, with Tiffany Roberts in attendance. The other three Bay Area high school players, who did not attend college in the area, include Stephanie Cox from Los Gatos HS, Lorrie Fair from Los Altos HS, and another Sacred Heart graduate Abby Dahlkemper.
The final three with smaller connections to the area include Santa Clara-born Michelle Akers who stared at three World Cups; Megan Rapinoe who was born in Northern California and won the Golden Ball at the 2019 World Cup; and finally Modesto born Tisha Venturini who later played for San Jose CyberRays in the Bay Area. Professional women’s soccer in the US would not be where it is today without the contribution of the Bay Area players and fans who helped build the program from the start.
The production of talent and fan support for the Women’s National Team in the Bay Area is on par or better than all the other top soccer regions in the country. Outside of a few schools and a few regions, the Bay Area has produced more top women's talent and hosted more top women's games than most of the rest of the country. Simply put, the Bay Area loves it’s women’s soccer and has long supported its growth.
Next up: We’ll dive into the deep roots of women’s college soccer in the Bay.
