It’s 9 am on a sunny, quiet Sunday morning at Providence Park in Portland, Oregon. You can still hear the cheers and chants echoing from the previous night’s Portland Timbers match. Stadium preparations are underway as the Rose City Riveters enter Providence Park carrying their tifo1 for that night’s Thorns home opener against the new NWSL expansion team, the Orlando Pride. It’s ten hours before kick-off as a dozen or so volunteers work on setting up their enormous, hand-painted banners and corralling the flags that they will hand out to supporters.

The Riveters are the largest, and most visible supporter group in the NWSL, but they are by no means alone in their passionate support for their local side. Every team in the league has a supporter group, and each express their pride and love for their city. For Heather Lamb with Cloud 9, “Jersey Proud isn’t just a throwaway motto. It’s something we truly feel.” From the punk-rock ethos of Portland, to the BBQ culture of Kansas City, these groups provide the color, the heartbeat, and the local soul.

Being a supporter of women’s soccer is difficult most of the time, and being a supporter of club level women’s soccer can be even harder. “The struggle with that, is not everyone knows that there is a professional Women’s League”, Megan Wesson with the DC Spirit Squadron said about the challenges groups face. Or as Jennifer Muller (Cloud 9) explains, “Supporter’s culture isn’t as established in women’s soccer as it is on the men’s side. Many casual fans don’t quite know what to make of us.” Unlike Europe where women’s clubs are more prevalent, women’s soccer in North America is dominated by the national teams. This support is especially strong in the U.S., and continues to grow after their World Cup win in 2015. This usually means that many of the fans that come to NWSL matches are there to see their favorite national team players, regardless of what club team they play for.

Supporter groups, on the other hand, create a separation of support, prioritizing club over country during club games. This can cause confusion and sometimes antagonism from those that are unfamiliar with the concept. Rooting against idols like Alex Morgan, Hope Solo, and Carli Lloyd is sacrilegious in the USWNT oriented soccer culture of the U.S. However, supporter groups are hopeful that more and more people will come to support club level soccer, and that more games will be marketed to that purpose. Danielle Russell (KC Blue Crew) is hopeful that teams will market games more, “Come see Shea Groom and Mandy Laddish take on the Orlando Pride” and less “Come see Becky Sauerbrunn and FCKC as we welcome Carli Lloyd and the Houston Dash”.

Along with navigating these treacherous waters, supporter groups have also had to negotiate for space within their stadiums. Standing, chanting, and drumming for an entire game does not always endear supporter groups to the more casual fans around them. Groups often deal with complaints about how loud they are, or about standing throughout the game. Megan describes this uphill battle, “When we are in the stands, we want to make people feel as welcome to our group as possible, but it’s not always easy to convince someone to stand in a section with drums and loud chanting for two hours.” Culturally in the U.S. the kind of support that soccer engenders is an anathema, and takes some getting used to.

Historically women’s soccer has also been marketed as a place for families and children almost exclusively, while supporter groups seek to expand beyond that traditional base. Maggie Dziubek (Chicago Local 134) says that though families are important, supporter groups give, “…anyone who is there as an adult, without kids, gives them an opportunity to enjoy the sport in sort of a different social setting then it has been framed historically. That has been the challenge, making a space for that kind of fan.”

For the most part the NWSL front offices are working with their supporter groups. How much and what kind of support differs from team to team, but most recognize their supporter group as an asset. Many teams are working to designate official sections in the stadiums for them, which helps to both define these groups while informing other fans of their location, so that they can choose to participate or not. They also help arbitrate any issues that other fans have with the noise that the groups create. The teams allow supporter groups to bring in banners, flags, and drums, as well as designating space for pre-game tailgating. Some front offices even work with the supporter groups on ticket discounting, and player meet-and-greet events.

The benefits supporter groups bring to NWSL clubs are palpable. They create a more exciting atmosphere at games, as well as give additional encouragement to players, some who are unpaid or make as little as $7,200 a year. Most of all, however, they create a solid base of support focused on the club itself, rather than the fickle fortune of what national team player the club was allocated. This solid base is especially important in light of the uncertainty surrounding the USWNT’s EEOC complaint filing for equal pay and what impact it will have on the NWSL. Currently the NWSL receives salary assistance from the US Soccer Federation in terms of the national team salaries, which understandably creates some concern amongst NWSL supporters. The NWSL has also scheduled a break in August for the Olympics, but the fact that many big name players are expected to miss matches in order to prepare, is also of concern. Having a good season ticket-holder base, and a dedicated supporter group helps teams weather these storms.

With the home opener matches this last weekend the NWSL kicked off its historic fourth year, and all indications suggest that this year will be about growth rather than survival. As Steph Yang with the Boston Armada relates, “There doesn’t seem to be that weird feeling of gloom that hit us at the end of season 3 of WPS, where people were kind of aware that the league was really struggling and had a bunch of challenges ahead.” Instead the groups I spoke with were unanimous in their enthusiasm and optimism for the NWSL’s fourth season.

As the league continues their modest growth trajectory and adds an expansion team this year, so too are supporter groups focused on building the structure to grow. This growth is often through one-on-one interactions with other fans at NWSL matches, or in promoting supporter cross-over from those that follow men’s soccer. The hope is that, as Maggie states, “marrying women’s soccer culture with the larger soccer culture”, will help it become more mainstream and visible. Megan spoke of their status as a supporter group saying, “It’s been a journey, for sure. However, I’d say we’re picking up momentum. We went from having 1-5 people in the stands with us, to 20-30…” She goes on to say, “…With more people comes more responsibility, so we want to be sure we make this process enjoyable for everyone. With putting officers in place, the creation of memberships, and expanding our social media outreach, we want to get bigger and better as each season comes.”

Finding more like-minded people to shoulder these tasks is key, as these groups rely on volunteer hours. Even with smaller groups there is a lot of work behind the scenes. Some common tasks that these groups perform are: maintaining webpages and social media accounts, creating and selling merchandise, maintaining membership rolls, tracking financials, organizing game-day tailgates and away-day viewing parties, as well as creating and transporting the flags, banners, and drums necessary to create a strong and visible presence within their stadiums.

The hours group members dedicate highlights the importance they place on their teams, players, and the league in general. Danielle joined the Blue Crew because, “Their love and dedication for the team definitely rubbed off on me and I fell (hard) for FCKC.” And even after the tough year Boston had last year Steph says that the Armada, ”…still came because we weren’t there expecting them to win. All we expect from the players is to give their best to the team, and we’ll give our best to the team too.” Jennifer states that Cloud 9 will, “…go on supporting this team through thick and thin. No matter what the results. No matter what their place in the standings.”

How each group member came to love women’s soccer is varied; playing soccer as a kid, dressing like Mia Hamm for Halloween, following the previous women’s leagues before they folded, or falling in love with the USWNT in 2011. One thing they all agree on is that having club level women’s soccer benefits everyone. It is this love and dedication that pushed members to coalesce into groups, and once they found each other they became family. Megan feels that, “The Squadron really is a family, and we all have the common goals to help the Washington Spirit, the NWSL, and women’s soccer excel to its fullest potential.”

After the Thorns match on Sunday night, many in the North End supporter section stayed to chat and help clean up. They gathered up the flags and signs, and transported their tifo back to storage. Over 12 hours after the tifo crew first arrived at the stadium, they headed home. Across the league there were wins and losses, but the overall consensus was that the NWSL’s opening weekend was a success. Meanwhile casual and hard-core supporters alike, took to social media or met at their local pub. Coming together to rehash the best and worst moments of the matches, and above all, to enjoy the camaraderie of their soccer family.

See below for more information on these groups:

DC Spirit Squadron (Washington Spirit): Twitter Facebook Website

Boston Armada (Boston Breakers): Twitter Facebook Website

Cloud 9 (Sky Blue FC): Twitter Facebook Website

The Crown (Orlando Pride): Twitter Facebook Website

Chicago Local 134 (Chicago Red Stars): Twitter Facebook Website

KC Blue Crew (FC Kansas City): Twitter Facebook Website

Bayou City Republic (Houston Dash): Twitter Facebook

Rose City Riveters (Portland Thorns): Twitter Facebook Website

Royal Guard (Seattle Reign): Twitter Facebook Website

WNY Flash Mob (WNY Flash): Twitter Facebook Website

Queen Anne Collective (Seattle Reign): Twitter Facebook

tifo: derived from the Italian term tifosi, meaning a feverish, fanatical support. It is used to describe visual displays created by fans to support their team.