North Carolina Courage: the Novak Djokovic of NWSL.
North Carolina Courage is the Novak Djokovic of the National Women’s Soccer League. I first suggested this at the beginning of the season. After watching them win the NWSL championship yet again, this time against the Chicago Red Stars, I finally feel motivated enough to write about it.
Act I: Hidden in the Shadows
When you think about men’s tennis, three players have emerged as what one of my favorite writers, Juan José Vallejo, often calls the Holy Triad: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic. Between them, they have 55 majors, 264 total titles, and have held the number 1 ranking for approximately 780 weeks — that’s 15 years. And yet, in conversations about tennis history, more often than not, Djokovic’s name is added almost begrudgingly.
In 2007, when Djokovic entered the top 10, tennis fans’ affection was already divided between the majestic play of Federer or the grit of Nadal. No one took Djokovic seriously early on. He won the Australian Open in 2008, but I remember his antics, such as player impersonations, bizarre medical timeouts, or just complete rage. He had built this negative reputation. Regardless, he maintained his third ranking, hidden in the shadows of Federer and Nadal. When it came to sponsors, Djokovic originally wore Adidas before switching to Tacchini and Uniqlo. This really came after Adidas decided to invest in Andy Murray (a Scottish player who often challenged the Holy Triad), while Federer and Nadal continued as Nike athletes. It would take a complete change in diet and discipline for him to really disrupt the tennis world. In 2011, he had one of the greatest seasons of tennis of all time, won literally every title (beating Nadal six times), and had a 41-win match streak. In 2015–16, he won four majors in a row, something only two other men have done ever (their names are not, as you might expect, Federer and Nadal). But despite reaching the pinnacle of the sport, the crowd continued to cheer for his opponents, something that still happens today.
Hopefully after reading this description, you can see where I am coming from as both a tennis fan and a WoSo fan. If you really want to trace the roots of North Carolina, you must go back to Western New York Flash. In 2013, this was a team that featured the Thorns’ current goalkeeper, Adrianna Franch, and the Red Stars’ current striker, Sam Kerr. This version of the Flash faced the Portland Thorns in the first NWSL final. The Portland Thorns, in this scenario, are Roger Federer: beloved by many, easy to write about because they had Christine Sinclair, Alex Morgan, and Tobin Heath, visually featured in every article or ad due to the incredible atmosphere at their home games, and the first winner of the NWSL championship. They were the centerpiece of the league, and soon the Flash would cease to exist.
In 2014 and 2015, the Flash did not have memorable seasons, but they started building roots. Many of the Courage’s current key players, such as Sam Mewis, Abby Dahlkemper, Lynn Williams, Kristen Hamilton, and Jaelene Hinkle were all drafted in those two years. The pieces of a championship-winning team were there, but the results were lacking.
Enter Paul Riley in 2016, coming, as fate would have it, from a bad stint with the Portland Thorns. Riley grew his team, adding Abby Erceg (from the Red Stars), McCall Zerboni (from the 2015 Thorns, by way of a brief stint in Boston to start 2016) and Jessica McDonald. McDonald had started with the Red Stars and Reign in 2013, got passed to the Thorns in 2014, only to be traded yet again to the Dash in 2015, before coming to the Flash in 2016. This was a team of rookies and castoffs. Not a single one of them looked like star material.
Act II: Destabilization and Demoralization
The Holy Triad are the best all-court players. Roger Federer hits his serve incredibly well and with disguise. He has a deadly precise forehand and the most beautiful single-handed backhand. He glides on the court.
Nadal’s serve and backhand, meanwhile, are rooted in accuracy and geometry, with a primary focus on annihilating opponents off the court with his topspin-heavy forehand.
And then there is Djokovic.
Vallejo wrote this incredible essay on why it is difficult to talk about his game. To summarize: Djokovic destabilizes his opponent. He has one of the best backhands, but it isn’t as “majestic” because he uses two hands. His shots are consistent with the ability to switch angles, spins, and timing on the ball, at any given moment. His service game has improved tremendously, but it isn’t as notable as Federer. He has also become very well known for his athleticism — he is flexible and agile — making his defensive game unstoppable.
Djokovic will pick on a person’s weakness — in Federer’s case, his backhand. He can also play psychological warfare by attacking his opponent’s strength — in Nadal’s case, his belief in his own forehand. He wears you down physically and destroys you mentally. It is demoralizing. And who wants to write or cheer about that?
In 2016, the Flash truly were the underdogs of the NWSL playoffs. Their path to the playoffs often comes into question: they played the last-place Boston Breakers four times and the rest of the field twice. They also beat the Reign out of a spot in a now-infamous game that had been relocated to a baseball outfield because the Flash’s home stadium was hosting a music festival. People called their rise a complete fluke, but what was born out of this season was the growing chemistry of a team with all the stars aligning.
The shield-winning Thorns, storming into the playoffs after Mark Parsons had done a rebuild of his own in his first season in Portland, were expected to beat the fourth-seeded Flash in the semifinal. After all, the Thorns had arguably the most talented roster in the league at the time. Front and center in a group of stars that also included Christine Sinclair, Amandine Henry, and Lindsey Horan was Portland’s talismanic creator, Tobin Heath, having the best season of her life, heading into the playoffs after notching a record-breaking 10 assists.
In this long-winded tennis-meets-WoSo analogy, Tobin Heath is Roger Federer’s backhand. Break the backhand down, and the rest will follow. That’s just what the Flash did, singling out and taking down Heath more times than I can count. Djokovic — wait, sorry, the Flash — would go on to win the championship, but not long after, the headlines would be taken over by their transfer to North Carolina. The brand-new star on their jersey was erased in the move.
In 2017, the Courage won their first shield with a team composed of the same core, with the addition of key players like Denise O’Sullivan and Debinha. The Portland Thorns were only two points behind them, their roster virtually intact. It should also be noted that Tobin Heath was sidelined with an injury for most of the season. When it came time for the NWSL final again, seeing the Courage face the Thorns was no surprise.
That final, famously, is remembered as the worst one in the history of NWSL. It was ugly, the type of game where both teams bring out the worst in each other. Within the first five minutes, Tobin Heath body-checked Taylor Smith to the ground, separating her shoulder. The ref lost control of the game and the fouls mounted. In the end, the Thorns won the final, with Lindsey Horan scoring the only goal. It was a Cinderella ending for everyone but the Courage — vindication for the 2016 Thorns, a season-long narrative neatly wrapped up with a bow. North Carolina would have to raise the bar to a level no one has ever seen.
Act III: “Respect, Not Affection”
Vallejo uses Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle (you can either know a particle’s position or momentum, but not both at the same time) to describe Djokovic’s game. He specifically cites the difficulty to track Djokovic’s position and the ball’s momentum simultaneously.
The Courage are similarly unpredictable. As their opponent, you can try to track the position of each player, but you will remain uncertain about the ball’s momentum. Or, if you keep track of the current direction of the play, you will lose track of a player and get burned with a complete switch. Most teams have a linchpin, but it is difficult to identify one for the Courage. How do you market the Courage, this team that has no real star, but somehow forms a galaxy as a collective?
In 2018, the Courage were unstoppable. Once again, they only got better, maintaining their core but this time adding 2015 MVP Crystal Dunn, plus the legendary Heather O’Reilly to boot. They finished the regular season with the most points (57) and most goals (53) in the history of the NWSL.
Meanwhile, in Portland, Horan was named MVP. She had her own incredible season, posting numbers that made her look like she was doing the work of three or four ordinary players, forming a strong partnership with long-time favorites Sinclair and Heath. Adidas put her face on a billboard in downtown Portland.
After dismantling the Red Stars in the semifinal (relocated from their home stadium to Portland), the championship was set, and the Courage would face a familiar foe: the Portland Thorns. Anyone tempted to frame this matchup as a clash of two titans was soon proven wrong. It was a blowout. Jessica McDonald scored a brace on what had once been her home turf, silencing the fans who had once cheered her on. The Courage finally made their own history, winning the Shield and the Championship in the same season. They had scored five goals in the playoffs, conceding zero, spoiling the party for the Thorns’ record-breaking, heartbroken home crowd.
In 2015, the peak of Djokovic’s career, Charlie Eccleshare rightfully claimed that at this point, there was a “respect [for Djokovic’s game], not affection.” Despite winning quite literally everything (and I haven’t even mentioned Lyon and the ICC) all that anyone could muster for the Courage was respect.
Just as Djokovic is rooted in the baseline with every type of shot you can imagine, the Courage can rely on just about any of their players to wreak havoc. And the worst part is, you can’t predict what form that havoc will take, or who it will come from. Debinha or Mewis could score a free kick. The Williams-McDonald partnership could prevail. Dunn could take you on, beat you, and you would not even know what hit you. And just when you think it can’t get worse, Hamilton is substituted in, and at this point, you are mentally and physically exhausted.
Recently, Djokovic has aroused some controversy by not taking a harsher stance on Justin Gimelstob, a former player and coach and a representative on the ATP Player Council, of which Djokovic is the president. Gimelstob was charged with assault (he has also made many sexist and homophobic comments in the past). This all unraveled before Djokovic beat Federer in a five-set epic finale in Wimbledon, with the crowd against him. Gimelstob did not resign until certain beloved individuals such as Darren Cahill and Sir Andy Murray spoke out, prompting others to follow.
In 2018, the Courage gave one of their players, Jaelene Hinkle, the platform to voice her own homophobic views via The 700 Club. Some of her teammates have defended her. Many have remained silent. Words spoken will always have a greater impact, whether it be positive or negative, than any sports accomplishment. Any time the Courage plays anywhere but their home stadium, Hinkle is met with booing and “personal reasons” banners. They have fans, but unlike the Thorns or the Red Stars, neutrals always seem to be against them.
A week ago, the Courage clinched the shield and won the championship again. This time they would be hosting the final and their opponent was not the Portland Thorns. All eyes should have been on them. The Red Stars, playing in their first final after many semifinal losses, were the underdogs.
However, this year featured a new face of the NWSL, Sam Kerr — the same Sam Kerr who had started with Western New York Flash in the 2013 final, but much more mature in her game. This year Kerr broke her own record on goals scored, half of which were assisted by Yuki Nagasato. She won league MVP. Everyone was writing about her. Nike and Soccerbible even posted about her to their socials.
On the flip side, Debinha, an MVP nominee and Nike athlete, was left off the best XI. However, this is a tale as old as time by now. If anything, this game went worse for the Red Stars than the last final did for the Thorns, as the Courage had four different goal scorers and executed their game plan of suffocation perfectly. Debinha rightfully claimed the championship MVP in front of her supporters. Everyone else tweeted about a hope for a new champion in 2020.
Will the real Stan Wawrinka of NWSL stand up?
We are now left to wonder whether anyone will beat the Courage. Djokovic had one nemesis in 2015–16, a player who prevented him from winning his first French Open to complete a perfect season and denied him a 2016 US Open. His name was Stan Wawrinka. Despite losing the first set in both the French Open and US Open final, Wawrinka found the confidence to launch a comeback. If there is anything I remember about these matches, it is how Wawrinka played fearlessly despite the initial score, and when he found some rhythm with his single-handed backhand down the line, it was the turning point of the match. Yes, Wawrinka also has a single-handed backhand but unlike Federer, he hits this shot (as well as his serve and forehand) in a way that made Djokovic uncomfortable on the baseline. It was one of the few times I had seen Djokovic lose focus mentally that year. Wawrinka neutralized Djokovic twice in a slam final during his peak form. Who will be the Stan Wawrinka of NWSL?
