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For #WomensHistoryMonth, we teamed up with Goal Click to tell soccer stories from the perspective of women making their mark in the game, from cheering in the stands to working in the soccer industry. “As a proud ally member of Women in Soccer, we wanted to do what Goal Click does best – hand over control to inspirational women making their mark in the world of soccer and have them tell their stories from their own perspective. 2022 is going to be a great year for women’s soccer – these stories sum up the energy and change happening on and off the pitch.” – Mathew Barrett, Goal Click Founder.

In the first story of this series, we head to Louisville, Kentucky to meet our storytellers Leigh Nieves and Al Theiss.

Leigh is the President of the Lavender Legion Supporters’ Group, an official supporters group for Racing Louisville FC in the NWSL. Louisville was announced as the NWSL’s fourth expansion team back in 2019, and in April last year, the team played their first competitive game in the NWSL Challenge Cup. Leigh told us about the ups and downs of the first season of the group and the exciting growth of the soccer community in Louisville. Read Leigh’s story.

Al is a sports photographer based in Kentucky and told us about the importance of inclusion and the excitement around the team in Louisville. Jump into Al’s soccer world here.

In the next stories series, we’re in New Mexico with Goal Click to hear from Jules Myers. Jules applied for New Mexico United Diversity Fellowship and began working at the club as an Assistant Game Day & Events Coordinator. Since then, she’s worked to progress her career and is now the Game Day Producer and Community Experience Manager of New Mexico United in the USL Championship.

Learn more from Jules about the impact the team has had on the state of New Mexico, the role of the supporter’s section ‘The Curse’, and the importance of the sports industry becoming a more inclusive and diverse space.

From New Mexico, we head to Chicago to meet storytellers Aries Pickett and Meg Sullivan who are both based in Chicago and work for the NWSL.

Aries is the Senior Manager of Talent & Administration at the NWSL and in her story, you’ll hear how working in the game made her fall in love with women’s soccer and everything it does to connect diverse groups of people.

Meg Sullivan is the Managing Director, Finance & Administration at the NWSL. Check out Meg’s Goal Click spotlight to see and read about the influence of the “99ers”, Meg’s life working for the biggest women’s soccer league, and how Covid-19 affected the NWSL. 

Thank you to Goal Click and to all of our participating WIS members whose words and photos captured the spirit of women in soccer across America!