By Pete Borello
 Photo by Monique Schoenfeld, Town Crier |
Women with local ties get a kick out of their new jobs with WUSA
In the mid-1990s, the idea of forming a professional women’s soccer league in the United States seemed as far-fetched as colonizing the moon, driving around in water-powered cars and employing robot housekeepers.
Men’s pro soccer was struggling to survive. The North American Soccer League, suffering from overexpansion and Pelé withdrawal, folded a decade earlier. Indoor leagues had come and gone, the lure of air-conditioned arenas unable to draw more than a smattering of fans on even the warmest summer days.
New hope arrived in the form of Major League Soccer, a men’s league that kicked off its first season in 1996.
Women, however, still had to go overseas to play for pay.
Then in 1999, the United States’ performance in the Women’s World Cup changed all that.
Los Altos High School graduate Lorrie Fair and the rest of Team USA captured the Cup - and America’s attention - with a dramatic shootout victory over favored China. On a scorching July afternoon in Pasadena, where 90,185 fans packed the Rose Bowl and an estimated 40 million more watched the telecast from their couches, the U.S. broke a scoreless tie on Brandi Chastain’s game-clinching penalty kick.
In the days that followed, Fair and her teammates reached Super Bowl champion status - visiting the White House and making the talk show rounds. Fair described the team’s popularity as “jaw dropping.”
If there ever was going to be a pro women’s soccer league in the U.S., this was the time. So cable network mogul John Hendricks put together an investment group to make it happen.
In March of 2000, the Women’s United Soccer Association was born.
The New York-based WUSA launched its inaugural season in April of this year, with Fair and three other women with local ties on board.
Fair, her twin sister Ronnie and St. Francis High School graduate Gina Oceguera are all players in the league, which features top-notch players from around the globe.
Christy Eustice, the former athletic director at Pinewood School and Gunn High School, works in the front office of the Bay Area franchise.
Lorrie Fair and the 19 other members of the World Cup squad, plus four up-and-comers from the U.S. national team pool, are deemed the league’s “founding players.” Three founding players were allocated to each of the WUSA’s eight teams, with Lorrie Fair placed on the Philadelphia Charge.
All 24 players gathered for the inaugural game in Washington, D.C., on April 14, which Lorrie Fair considers the highlight of her budding pro career.
“I’ll never forget standing on the field listening to the national anthem and watching an eagle fly down from the top of the stadium onto a lady’s arm,” the 22-year-old midfielder said. “I thought I had it all together, but all of sudden I lost it and everyone was crying.”
In her first two years at the University of North Carolina, Lorrie Fair didn’t even consider the possibility of such a league.
“I never even thought of it,” she said. “I didn’t think about it until John Hendricks came along. We call him ‘St. John.’”
Chairman and CEO of Discovery Communications, the parent company of Discovery Channel and The Learning Channel, Hendricks convinced other media giants to become soccer angels as well. WUSA investors include Time Warner Cable, Cox Enterprises and Comcast Corporation.
“The best thing (about the WUSA) is that the guys involved are not in it to make money right away,” said Ronnie Fair, who was drafted by the New York Power. “They are concerned with finding ways to elevate women’s soccer. It’s founded by people who care about women’s soccer and want to see it grow.”
Without them, Ronnie Fair said she’d likely be playing pro soccer overseas. Instead, she’s the starting defender on the WUSA’s best team.
“I really had no idea it would be so much fun,” the Stanford University graduate said. “It’s the best job in the world. Sometimes I have to pinch myself.”
The WUSA also has been a dream come true for Oceguera, a reserve defender/midfielder for the San Diego Spirit.
“I thought there would eventually be a league, but after I was done playing,” the 23-year-old from Mountain View said. “I didn’t know what to expect. It’s a lot of fun and not as much pressure as I thought, and the fans have really been supporting us.”
After 40 matches the league was averaging 8,493 fans per game, according to WUSA public relations consultant Darren Hawks, exceeding projections of 7,000. Most of the teams are playing at college stadiums, with capacities ranging from 6,000 to 22,000.
Locally, the Bay Area CyberRays are attracting about 7,000 spectators per game to San Jose’s Spartan Stadium, according to Eustice, the team’s personnel director. The CyberRays, led by San Jose native Chastain, drew 10,000 for their opener.
“The response has been wonderful,” Eustice said. “People are really excited about a women’s league.”
The CyberRays share Spartan Stadium with an MLS team, the San Jose Earthquakes, who also play through the summer. The teams - and leagues, for that matter - don’t necessarily share fans, however.
“We have different fan bases,” Ronnie Fair said. “We get a lot of young girls and boys at our games, a lot of families.”
Oceguera has noticed the same thing.
“The MLS has older crowds, and I don’t think they have targeted younger kids like we are,” she said. “But I think that will change since they see how well that’s worked for us.”
Eustice said the WUSA isn’t targeting just families, “we’re trying to get everyone.”
The league’s marketing concept involves getting the players out into the community and making them accessible to the fans.
“We do clinics with kids, (autograph) signings and a lot of meet-and-greets,” said Lorrie Fair, who also appears on a Philadelphia radio show every Friday morning. “I was just at the opening of a health and wellness center. Anything they can send you to, they will.”
Before home games, the CyberRays send their players into the parking lots.
“The players usually stop by the tailgate parties before games to see the fans,” Eustice said. “They go out in groups of two or three and mingle with the crowd.”
It’s a good bet Los Altos Hills resident Barry Bonds, slugger for the San Francisco Giants, has never done that before a game at Pacific Bell Park. Nor is it likely Bonds has ever remained at the stadium up to an hour after a game to sign autographs, which is something WUSA players do.
“I think we are very dependent on interacting with the community,” Ronnie Fair said. “That’s one thing that’s kept us in the hearts of Americans the last few years.”
Oceguera has discovered that being fan-friendly is a great way to build fan loyalty.
“We haven’t won many games at home (the Spirit is 3-5-2 overall), but they keep coming back,” she said. “They love interacting with us.”
And Oceguera is confident her team will reward the fans with improved play.
“The first couple of games were hard because we were learning how to play with each other,” said the former Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo standout. “Now we’re playing better and getting chemistry.”
The CyberRays (4-4-2) are starting to develop chemistry as well, moving into fourth place last week with a 3-0 win over the visiting Charge. Philadelphia (5-4-2), which played without injured Lorrie Fair (pulled hamstring), sits in third place.
The Power leads the league at 5-1-4, yet Ronnie Fair isn’t entirely satisfied with New York’s performance.
“The team is playing well, but there’s still a lot of room for improvement,” she said. “It takes time to play with new people and we’re still making adjustments and working the kinks out. We’re still finding out what kind of team we are.”
The Power and Charge have played twice thus far, but the Fair twins haven’t had much opportunity to develop any sibling rivalry. That’s because Lorrie and Ronnie both play on the left side for their respective teams, making it difficult for them to go head-to-head.
Nevertheless, the sisters still cherish the chance to share the field.
“When I play Ronnie, I really just love to play against her because I get to see her - it’s nice to see your best friend,” Lorrie Fair said. “I want her to have a great game, but I hope we win.”
So far, though, Ronnie Fair’s Power holds the upper hand. The teams’ first meeting ended in a 2-all tie and New York pulled out a 2-1 win on June 10.
The Power will visit the Bay Area for the first time on July 8, taking on the CyberRays in a 3 p.m. match at Spartan Stadium.
“That will be so exciting,” Ronnie Fair said. “All my friends are coming; I’ve sent out reminder e-mails to all of them.”
Oceguera is also eager to play in the Bay Area, which she still calls home in the offseason. She and her husband of six months, teacher Brian Eagleson, live in Santa Clara.
“I can’t wait,” Oceguera said of the Spirits’ July 25 game in San Jose. “All my friends and family are here, and I hope we have more fans there (than the CyberRays).”
Fans who want to see these local players in action more frequently can turn to the tube for a two-dimensional experience.
The WUSA has national cable TV contracts with TNT and CNN/Sports Illustrated, plus separate deals with local cable stations in each market. The CyberRays, for example, are on either Fox Sports Bay Area or San Jose’s KICU when they aren’t featured on national TV.
While the telecasts are vital to the league’s survival, Eustice emphasized the importance of a live audience.
“Attendance is big,” the San Jose resident said. “We’ve got to get people out to the stadium to cover costs. Preparing the stadium (for a game) costs a lot of money and takes a lot of manpower and time. We need to sell tickets.”
With a total of $40 million invested in the league, WUSA owners don’t expect to make money the first year or two, according to Hawks.
Players won’t get rich overnight, either. Each team has a budget of roughly $800,000 for salaries, with players earning between $25,000 and $80,000.
Founding players like Lorrie Fair have the most lucrative contracts and also have what Hawks called “an equity stake in the league.”
The three local players have even heard rumors of expanding the league.
“I think that’s a couple of years away,” Oceguera said. “They want to make sure it produces the same next year and the year after.”
Ronnie Fair agreed, adding that there are “a ton of good players who could make it.”
Considering that the Los Altos area is bursting with soccer talent, don’t be surprised to see a few more local players join the WUSA in the coming years.
