Common ground in Boston

Mia, Boston Breakers demonstrate skills, sign autographs for fans

Boston Breakers captain Kristine Lilly makes Kate Sobrero (left) and Sara Powell do one-armed pushups. Bethany Versoy

By Karyn Lush

BOSTON -- Six WUSA players were in Boston Tuesday not to prepare to play in the final, but rather to promote the championship match. Approximately 400 fans joined Boston's Tracy Ducar, Angela Hucles, Kristine Lilly, Sarah Powell, and Kate Sobrero plus Washington's Mia Hamm on the Boston Common for an afternoon of skills demonstrations, trivia questions, and autographs.

"It was just great being out here especially right before the championship game," said Hucles. "Even though we're not playing the game, I think we're still involved and it's still our job to keep promoting the game and promote this league. It was great to see the turnout and it was a bunch of fun having the kids out here with their parents."

The event began with the players showing off their juggling and heading abilities before inviting kids from the crowd to attempt the ball-handling skills. For the players, being able to interact with the young fans on a personal level was key to the afternoon's proceedings.

"One of the things that I know with this league is we want to make sure that these kids understand that we're so much more alike than we are different," asserted Hamm. "We're having fun out there. We make mistakes, but we love what we do."

After the balls were put away, the players asked the crowd various trivia questions. Among the questions they sought answers to were who scored the most goals for the Breakers this season and what is the name of the Washington Freedom's mascot. Each fan that answered a question correctly received a prize such as a championship game t-shirt or a signed edition of Sports Illustrated for Women with Hamm on the cover.

Lavonda Sharpe was one fan who won a t-shirt for knowing that Atlanta Beat keeper Briana Scurry stopped a penalty kick in the shootout of the '99 World Cup final. Sharpe, a 15-year-old soccer player from Dorchester, was glad the players took the opportunity to conduct the clinic for their fans.

"This is like a lot of little girls' dreams," said Sharpe. "I know a lot of young girls want to get autographs and meet their idols so this is great."

Three such girls were Caitie Izzo, Julia Miehm, and Corey Underwood. The three soccer-playing 11 year olds along with Izzo's dad, Brian, journeyed two and a half hours from Long Meadow after hearing Hamm promote the clinic on a radio broadcast of the Red Sox game Sunday afternoon.

Despite the long drive, the elder Izzo was happy they made the trip.

"It was well worth it," he said. "It was awesome for them being able to meet their role models. This is something that they'll hopefully take with them the rest of their lives."

For the players, nourishing life-long bonds with the fans is of utmost importance.

"As players, we're going to do a lot of post-season promotions and really go out there and make sure that we don't lose the connections we've made during the season with our fan-base," commented Hamm. "I think that it's important for fans to know that we care about them and that you want to listen to their input and make adjustments to what they need because we need them for this league to succeed."

The clinic had added significance for Lilly as she was able to interact with her home team fans.

"The support here in Boston has been tremendous throughout with the national team and of course this year with the Breakers," she remarked. "The fans were there constantly. It was tremendous. This was another day just to show how great people are about supporting soccer and the WUSA."

There will be many more days like this one in the offseason as the players continue to meet with the fans at clinics and appearances across the country. At every stop along the way, they will attempt to inspire their followers with their passion for the game they love and teach them about the league that has been created because of it.

"We're just trying to spread the word and get people excited for the game to come out and support it because that's what we need to get this league to continue to grow and show this is going to be here for awhile," Lilly said. "That's what we're here right now to do -- promote the game, promote soccer, and to keep the word alive."

(c)womenssoccer.com 2001