‘Making a statement.’ Inaugural TST women’s tournament in NC displays equality in soccer

With three minutes remaining, needing a goal to win, the U.S. Women closed in on victory.

They kicked the ball toward the goal and it narrowly bounced off the leg of a player for Wrexham. It seemed that the goal had been missed, but Jodie Taylor turned the ball with her foot and shot it at the edge of the goal.

It went in and the crowd went wild.

The competition was far from over, but for the team and the fans who’d come to watch at Cary’s WakeMed Soccer Park on Saturday, it might as well have been the championship goal.

It was a stark contrast to The Soccer Tournament from the year before when the U.S. Women’s team was the only all-female team competing in the tournament, forced to participate in the men’s bracket. They were eliminated in the first round, only scoring one goal.

The Soccer Tournament, in its second year of operation, is co-owned by Golden State Warriors point guard and Winston-Salem native Chris Paul. The tournament is a 7v7 winner-take-all championship with a prize for the winning team of $1 million. The 2023 TST was the first of its kind, held in Cary for only three days as opposed to this year’s five.

“We were making a statement,” U.S. Women team midfielder Heather O’Reilly said. “We came away super proud and quite frankly maybe crowd favorites or at least up there.”

Hometown heroes

Considering the U.S. Women’s team a crowd favorite is not that far off, but in this year’s TST they had competition for that title with the hometown favorite, N.C. Courage. Featured at the Courage’s quarterfinal, semifinals and final matches was a group of fans who not only brought the North Carolina flag to show their support, but also beat drums from the stands to lead the crowd in cheers of “NC-Courage.”

Eight teams competed in the inaugural women’s bracket, with Soccerhead FC, Angel City 7’s, Tampa Bay FC, Streetball Canada FC and Burnley FC Women joining NC Courage, US Women, Wrexham FC Women.

Soccerhead FC, U.S. Women, and N.C. Courage all had North Carolina Connections as players from UNC and Duke played on all three teams.

Burnley is notably owned in part by former NFL player JJ Watt, and his wife, Kealia, a former UNC soccer player. JJ Watt played in the men’s division, and his wife and sister-in-law Dani Watt played for Burnley’s women.

Angel City is a professional soccer team in the women’s league owned in part by celebrities Alexis Ohanian, Natalie Portman and tennis legend Billie Jean King.

Another connection between some of the women’s teams is the involvement of players from the 1999 U.S. Women’s World Cup championship team. Former U.S. Women’s National Team players, Saskia Webber, Mia Hamm, and Carla Overbeck coached two of the teams playing in the women’s tournament. The legacy of the women’s National Team weighed heavily on current competitors.

“It’s the proudest thing of my life to be a part of that legacy, that sisterhood, and there are a bunch of us here,” Webber said of the ‘99 team. “That changed everything for women’s soccer around the world.”

More visibility for the sport

Moving the sport forward and gaining more visibility for women’s soccer was a clear theme among the teams and players in the tournament.

Wrexham’s team flew in from England to play in the tournament. When asked what that meant to the team, Midfielder Lili Jones said, “To have raised the women’s profile is very important and it shows the value of the women’s game as well.”

For the teams, it was not only important to have a women’s bracket but to have an equal prize amount. Despite being much smaller than the men’s 48-team bracket, the winner of the women’s tournament received the same $1 million.

“The same purse, that was unheard of 25 years ago,” Webber said.

When the U.S. Women’s National Team won the World Cup in 1999 they received no prize money, as none was offered for the women’s cup until 2007. The year before, the champion men’s team from France received $6 million.

“It’s probably unfair for them back then,” O’Reilly said. “But it just shows sort of how far things have come. It’s just kind of cool and interesting.”

Monday’s championship game was a showdown between U.S. Women and the hometown N.C. Courage. Fans were out in full force for both teams, but it was clear from audience reactions that the N.C. Courage were the favorite.

With a decisive goal in target score time, the US Women won, 5-4.

Midfielder Talia DellaPeruta, a current Italian National team player and former UNC player from 2020-23, scored the winning goal.

“I’m just so grateful that I could contribute in that way and to be surrounded by such legends on the field. This is the best day ever,” DellaPeruta said after the win.

With the U.S. Women as the defending champions of the women’s bracket, the question remained: Would they come back for TST 2025?

“Is that even a question?” O’Reilly said. ”I’m gonna have this hopefully in my life for a long time.”