THEY’RE FINALLY HOME. 2017 NC COURAGE SEASON REVIEW

From the first-person perspective of the NC Courage Communications Manager Kelly Glendenning

On October 31, 2002, I dressed up as my childhood hero for Halloween.

Danielle Fotopoulus was fresh off a WUSA Founder’s Cup Championship, and my adoration of this U.S. Women’s National Teamer was at an all time high. I had to be her for Halloween. Like HAD TO.

I was dressed head to toe in a royal blue Carolina Courage kit, even though it was 40 degrees outside, and my mom made me wear a reflector necklace. Regardless, I didn’t let it ruin my vibe.

I got to spend the spooky evening as the starting forward of the coolest soccer team that my nine-year-old self could ever dream of. I was stoked and legitimately pretended I was her when I strutted up to the neighbor’s door in my shin guards and cleats to ask for candy. Best day ever.

Fast forward eleven months. I’ll always remember September 15, 2003. Worst day ever.

The WUSA announced that after three seasons, it would be suspending operations. I didn’t know exactly what this meant, but what I did know was that my team was gone. I sobbed profusely as my parents tucked me into bed.

Shortly after the WUSA’s announcement, the local newspapers picked up the story, and one paper interviewed my dad who is a longtime Cary resident, high school coach and father of two girls.

“I like to see every sport and every gender represented equally,” the News & Observer quoted my dad saying in 2003. “Another opportunity has been taken away from women to be a professional athlete.”

I was so confused. North Carolina was a historic hotbed for women’s soccer. I couldn’t understand how the Carolina Courage could just be gone in the blink of an eye when they were So. Freaking. Good.

Cary was the Courage’s home. They belonged here and the whole community felt it. Something great had to come to an end.

The next 14 years were filled with more soccer success for the state. After all, North Carolina is home to the best women’s college programs in the country, and our youth clubs are second to none. We weren’t deprived by any means. Soccer never left NC from 2003-2017, but boy, something was missing.

On January 9, 2017, it all came back.

Media and community officials gathered in the East Suites of WakeMed Soccer Park on a cold winter morning awaiting the announcement that then-NWSL Commissioner Jeff Plush, Governor Roy Cooper and NCFC club owner Steve Malik were to make.

The North Carolina Courage was to be the NWSL’s newest team, and they were to start playing in April.

As I stood to reveal the Courage logo for our press conference guests to see, I struggled to hold back the emotions.

I was elated that more young athletes would get to experience what I had at nine years old as a season ticket holder for the Carolina Courage. Soccer fanatics from across the state would once again flood WakeMed Soccer Park to watch the best female athletes in the world go to work.

In April, the 2017 NWSL Season started. We knew we had a good team; we had acquired the league’s reigning Champions. Owner Steve Malik had declared that we were going to be the best women’s professional soccer team in the world. I’m sure a handful of people believed him.

That prediction, however, would come to pass. Every time the Courage reached a milestone, we became less surprised, and more impressed.

The NC Courage started with a win on the road in Week 1 against the Washington Spirit. Then they came home and opened up with a win over the Portland Thorns in front of a massive 6,298-person crowd. Brazilian Debinha laid out a bicycle kick to start the second half, and the entire stadium roared. What’s up Courage Country.

Then the Courage won again, and again. 4-0 in the first 4 weeks. That’s got to be a record.

Head coach Paul Riley never focused on records or results. He was honest from the beginning that the season was all about improvement each week, not about outcomes. Stay the COuRse.

Four wins turned into 16 wins in the regular season, and the Courage clinched the NWSL Shield. That’s definitely a record.

Ashley Hatch scored her first professional goal against FC Kansas City on June 3, 2017. And she kept scoring. And didn’t stop. Seven goals in her rookie season. Junkyard Dogs.

​As the final week of the regular season rolled around, we looked up, and our team was in first place, headed to the NWSL Playoffs. The buzz was back. That intoxicating feeling we had felt in years past that came from being the best had emerged again.

But the Chicago Red Stars were coming to town for the final NC Courage home game of 2017, and they were the only team we hadn’t beaten all year. Underdogs.

90 minutes went by with no goals from either side until a corner from Abby Dahlkemper found Jess McDonald and then, like a movie script, fell to the feet of Denise O’Sullivan. We’re going to the ‘ship.

To conclude their inaugural season, the NC Courage were packing their bags and heading to Orlando for the NWSL Championship. Many of the players had been in this position before. They’d won the whole thing with the Western New York Flash a year ago. Could it be destiny?

45 minutes and no score. 45 more minutes and one score, but not for us.

It was the end of the season, but not the end of the race. No Finish Line.

While the Courage didn’t get the preferred result in the NWSL Championship against the Portland Thorns, they laid the foundation for seasons to come. They’ve given fans a reason to return to Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park for 2018 and brought back the joy that is the beautiful game as interpreted by the feet of women of amazing strength and skill.

The NC Courage has always lived in our state. It’s lived in the dynasty of women’s NCAA National Championships. It’s lived in the sold-out U.S. Women’s National Team friendly matches. It’s existed in the thousands upon thousands of youth players with dreams so palpable that they actually decide to go for them.

If we’re going by the book, Day 1 of the NC Courage was January 9, 2017.

But we’re the NC Courage, so we don’t go by the book.

Day 1 of the NC Courage cannot and should not be placed on a calendar. 2017 was technically our inaugural season, but it didn’t really feel like it.

The NC Courage didn’t move to Cary on January 9, 2017. That’s the day they finally came back home.