Washington Spirit

Team information

Inaugural season: 2013

Home stadium: Segra Field

Owner: Steve Baldwin

Team colors: Red, blue, white

Overview

The Washington Spirit are a franchise in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), the top professional soccer league for female competitors in the United States. It formed in 2013 following the collapse of Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS), which ceased operations in 2012. The Spirit are one of eight charter members of the NWSL and captured the first league championship in its history to conclude a tumultuous 2021 season.

Based at Segra Field in the Washington, DC suburb of Leesburg, Virginia, the Spirit are operated by majority owner Steve Baldwin as of the conclusion of the 2021 NWSL season. In October 2021, Baldwin pledged to sell his stake in the club amid the fallout of his decision not to censure the team’s coach amid player allegations of abusive behavior. Initial media reports suggest that minority owner Y. Michele Kang, who publicly joined calls for Baldwin’s ousting, is likely to succeed him as the franchise’s principal owner.

In a 2012 press release officially announcing the team’s founding, the club indicated it chose the Spirit nickname to reflect the traditions of patriotism and local history embraced by numerous professional sports franchises in the US national capital. The Spirit’s official color scheme is dominated by red and blue and includes white accents to reflect all the three colors found in the flag of the United States.

History

In 2012, WPS ceased operations due to financial struggles and an ongoing legal dispute between the league and one of its franchise owners. The loss of WPS left the future of top-level women’s professional soccer in the United States in doubt. US soccer administrators and several member franchises in women’s soccer organizations including WPS and the Women’s Professional Soccer League (WPSL) Elite League convened to discuss solutions. By November 2012, negotiations had yielded a framework for a new eight-team league to commence play in 2013. That league became the NSWL, and the Washington Spirit was one of its eight charter members. The others included the Boston Breakers (now dissolved), the Chicago Red Stars, FC Kansas City (now dissolved), Portland Thorns FC, Seattle Reign FC (now OL Reign), Sky Blue FC (now NJ/NY Gotham FC), and the Western New York Flash (now the North Carolina Courage).

Initially playing its home games at Championship Stadium in Germantown, Maryland, the Washington Spirit have also hosted matches at Audi Field in Washington, DC, and Segra Park in DC’s Virginia suburbs. The club officially considers Segra Field its home stadium, though it played home games at both Audi Field and Segra Field during the 2021 season.

The Spirit suffered through a difficult inaugural season of NWSL play in 2013, registering only three victories to finish in last place. In 2014, the Spirit improved considerably in compiling a record of 10 wins, 9 losses, and 5 ties to finish fourth in the expanded nine-team league and qualify for the playoffs. In their first-ever NWSL playoff appearance, the Spirit dropped a single-elimination match against Seattle Reign FC by a score of 2–1. The Spirit replicated their fourth-place finish in 2015, and once again lost their first-round playoff matchup against Seattle in that year’s postseason tournament.

In 2016, the Spirit improved to a second-place finish, compiling a record of 12 wins, 5 losses, and 3 ties despite scoring only 24 goals in 20 games. The Spirit punctuated the successful season by winning a playoff game for the first time in franchise history, defeating the Chicago Red Stars 2–1 in extra time to reach the NWSL’s championship game. After battling the Western New York Flash to a 2–2 tie, the game ended in a penalty shootout with the Flash prevailing by a 3–2 margin.

After the 2016 season, the Spirit saw significant roster turnover that included the departures of multiple key players including captain Ali Krieger. The team regressed in the standings, slipping to last place in the ten-team league with a record of 5 wins, 15 losses, and 4 ties. In 2018, the Spirit managed only two wins in 24 regular-season games but managed to avoid finishing last as Sky Blue FC amassed 2 fewer points. An improvement in 2019 saw the Spirit rise to fifth in the league with 34 points, but the club finished outside the NWSL playoffs.

In 2020, the Washington Spirit participated in the league’s Challenge Cup, which replaced the league’s usual regular season and playoff schedules after they were cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. After finishing in second place in the tournament’s preliminary round, the Spirit lost their single-elimination quarterfinal playoff matchup against Sky Blue FC.

The 2021 Washington Spirit season was a chaotic one, with the team persevering through an extended period of turmoil that began when multiple players came forward to accuse head coach Richie Burke of verbal and emotional abuse. Burke was one of five coaches to face such allegations during the 2021 NWSL season, and league officials had to step in and force Burke’s removal when Baldwin, the club’s majority owner, refused to take action. Burke was subsequently banned from all professional involvement in the NWSL. The incident led to an open power struggle between Baldwin and minority owner Kang, which resulted in Spirit players going public with their demands for Baldwin to sell his stake in the team. Baldwin eventually relented and agreed to sell his position in the club. Meanwhile, the Spirit were forced to forfeit two games after the team suffered a COVID-19 outbreak. The Spirit were also fined for breaking the NWSL’s rules regarding COVID-19 safety protocols.

Despite the tumult, the Spirit authored a compelling run to win the 2021 NWSL championship. Finishing third in league standings at the conclusion of the regular season, the Spirit defeated the North Carolina Courage 1–0 in extra time in their first-round playoff matchup, setting up a battle between Washington and OL Reign in the second round. The Spirit defeated OL Reign 2–1, then beat the Chicago Red Stars by the same margin in extra time in the league’s championship game. Multiple sportswriters characterized the Spirit’s championship run as one of the most unlikely and compelling sports stories of the year.

Notable players

Leading players from Washington Spirit history include Aubrey Bledsoe, Crystal Dunn, Ashley Hatch, Ali Krieger, and Trinity Rodman. Bledsoe is a two-time NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year, winning the prize after the 2019 and 2021 seasons. She backstopped the team to its first-ever championship in 2021. In 2019, Bledsoe was added to the senior roster of the US national women’s soccer team and was on the team’s active roster during competitive matches in January 2021.

Forward Crystal Dunn was a key Spirit member from 2014–2016 following a successful collegiate career with the North Carolina Tar Heels. With the Spirit, Dunn won a Golden Boot as the NWSL’s top goal-scorer in 2015 and was also named that year’s Most Valuable Player (MVP). Dunn also made year-end NWSL all-star teams in 2015 and 2016 before she left the Spirit to join England’s Chelsea FC Women.

In 2021, Ashley Hatch became the second member of the Spirit to win the NWSL’s Golden Boot award. She tallied 10 goals to lead all NWSL players that season while also helping the Spirit win their first league title. Prior to her tenure with the Spirit, which began in 2018, Hatch was a member of the North Carolina Courage. She won the NWSL’s Rookie of the Year award with the Courage in 2017.

A veteran of more than 100 games with the US national women’s soccer team, Krieger is a defender who served as Spirit captain during her time with the club, which spanned the 2013–2016 NWSL seasons. Krieger also represented the United States in three International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) Women’s World Cups (2011, 2015, 2019), winning two world titles (2015, 2019).

Trinity Rodman burst onto the NWSL scene in 2021, capturing the league’s Rookie of the Year award. Holding the NWSL record for being the youngest player ever drafted by one of the league’s member clubs, Rodman tallied 6 goals in 22 appearances for the Spirit in 2021. Prior to breaking into the NWSL, Rodman was a fixture of multiple US women’s under-17 and under-20 youth teams. She is the daughter of National Basketball Association (NBA) legend Dennis Rodman.

Bibliography

Decourcy, Mike. “Why the Washington Spirit's NWSL Championship Is the Most Remarkable in U.S. Sports History.” Sporting News, 21 Nov. 2021, www.sportingnews.com/us/soccer/news/washington-spirit-nwsl-championship-sports-history/1m1ltuadyurfxzetmkk4cthcd. Accessed 24 Nov. 2021.

Goff, Steve. “The Washington Spirit Has Leaned into the Chaos—And Come Out with a Shot at a NWSL Title.” Washington Post, 19 Nov. 2021, www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2021/11/19/washington-spirit-has-leaned-into-chaos-come-out-with-shot-nwsl-title/. Accessed 24 Nov. 2021.

Hensley-Clancy, Molly. “Washington Spirit Owner Steve Baldwin Says He Plans to Sell Stake in Club as NWSL Fallout Continues.” Washington Post, 14 Oct. 2021, www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2021/10/14/steve-baldwin-washington-spirit-sale-michelle-kang/. Accessed 24 Nov. 2021.

Murray, Caitlin. “NWSL Final: Washington Spirit a Fitting Champion after Overcoming Year of Turmoil.” ESPN, 20 Nov. 2021, www.espn.com/soccer/united-states-nwsl/story/4524920/nwsl-final-washington-spirit-a-fitting-champion-after-overcoming-year-of-controversy. Accessed 24 Nov. 2021.

“USWNT Rewind: Washington Spirit Win 2021 NWSL Championship.” U.S. Soccer, 22 Nov. 2021, www.ussoccer.com/stories/2021/11/uswnt-rewind-washington-spirit-win-2021-nwsl-championship. Accessed 24 Nov. 2021.

“Washington Spirit Coach Banned from NWSL over Abuse Allegations.” ESPN, 28 Sept. 2021, www.espn.com/soccer/united-states-nwsl/story/4485927/washington-spirit-coach-banned-from-nwsl-over-abuse-allegations. Accessed 24 Nov. 2021.

“We are the Washington Spirit.” Washington Spirit, 11 Dec. 2012, washingtonspirit.com/2012/12/11/we-are-the-washington-spirit/. Accessed 24 Nov. 2021.