Beverly Hills, California – Southern California was a natural destination for the NWSL’s first-ever media day, and not just for the benefits of gathering in a warm location in the winter. The history of women’s football runs through the area, most notably hosting the 1999 World Cup Final, and it is such a hotbed for talent that 10 of the players in attendance are from the region. As athletes and media members gathered in the reliably picturesque Beverly Hills, however, it was hard to ignore the reality of the past few weeks.
Barden fires have been burning in Southern California since Jan. 7, with nine fires blazing by late Friday and covering about 50,000 acres overall. Nearly 30 people have died and thousands of others have been displaced, Some stay at the Beverly Hilton As the days were counted until the NWSL’s first media day at the hotel.
“I’ve been here the last few days, and this is true of our ecosystem, I don’t think you can walk around the city of Los Angeles and not meet someone who has been directly affected or some level of separation,” said Commissioner Jessica Berman.
That includes Angel City FC captain Ali Riley, who lost her childhood home in the Palisades Fire just days before her wedding. The Blazes forced the U.S. Women’s National Team to move their annual January camp — which included about half of the players participating in media day — from Carson, California to Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. A similar move was also not excluded for the NWSL.
“We had daily meetings about whether we should have this event, which of course was planned long before the fires,” Berman said. “We made the decision very carefully based on where we understood the community and this was literally probably less than a week ago that we were going to go ahead with the event.”
The NWSL’s choice to continue as usual is one of several indicators that the recovery process is already underway in the Los Angeles area. Angel City officially began preseason training on Tuesday, while the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers resume play on Jan. 14 after postponements related to the fires. However, it’s not just a decision to avoid the hassle of rescheduling – there is power in choosing normal.
“Talking to Ali, she’s just been trying to grapple with the fact that what she’s known is now gone,” said Alyssa Thompson, Riley’s teammate in Angel City. “I can’t really speak for her, but we’re with her and I don’t really know what the team dynamic is right now, but I bet it’s fun, getting out of it and just playing football.”
Of course, a return to normal wasn’t just about strengthening players. Berman and other league officials held meetings during the week with various stakeholders and partners, some of whom were affected by the wildfires but appreciated the opportunity to work.
“Part of this city’s recovery effort is going to be encouraging tourism and getting people back to some semblance of normalcy and in the meetings that we’ve had over the last two days that are adjacent to this particular event, that has been validated, that has been validated,” Berman said “I was in a meeting yesterday, as an example, with people at Amazon and people in the meeting had lost their homes and of course the first reaction is, ‘You don’t need to be here,’ and they’re like, ‘No. , I have to be here.
Diana Ordonez of the Houston Dash, who was born in Riverside, Calif., said she was glad the NWSL was committed to his plans. Baked into a return to normality was the task at hand, and one that the league’s players are very passionate about – growing the league’s reach during a period of rapid growth for women’s sports.
“I think there was a question mark for all of us as to whether we were going to come out here and do this,” Ordonez said. “I’m glad we were able to do that and it’s safe to be here. I think it sheds light on the situation – the fact that we get here and do this just shows us what a privilege it is, life That we have where we come and can do these things and have so much fun doing them, but hopefully we’re also going to push this to paint NWSL in the light that I think it deserves to be painted [in]give it the attention it deserves and so I hope that in light of the situation we can just come together with something in common, have a good time and just be prepared for the season. “
The league is expected to help with projects related to the recovery of the Los Angeles region, with Angel City already leading the way in the NWSL. The city’s women’s soccer team joined its counterparts across the sporting landscape Donate $8 million to relief efforts on January 18, with more likely to follow in the coming weeks.
Sandra Herrera contributed to this report.