It’s hard for the Washington Spirit to find the language for what they experienced last season. After a roller-coaster playoff run, the club won the NWSL championship in November, securing victory with a header in extra time from U.S. women’s national team fixture Kelley O’Hara. A deep roster racked up awards: Forward Ashley Hatch led the league in scoring to win the Golden Boot, first-round draft pick Trinity Rodman became Rookie of the Year and veteran Aubrey Kingsbury (né Bledsoe) was named Goalkeeper of the Year. Their core talent jelled over the course of the season, and, with most of the group back, Washington is hopeful it can defend the title in 2022.
But that’s the part that’s easy to cover. It’s the rest that’s so difficult to describe.
The championship’s backdrop was a reckoning with abuse and harassment from leadership figures across the league. The Spirit’s coach was reassigned and ultimately fired after a Washington Post investigation shared accounts that he had verbally and emotionally abused players. The front office was accused of fostering a toxic culture. The players called for the team to be sold. Their most dedicated fans felt that they had no choice but to boycott. The season was a storybook journey for a championship, and it was also a prolonged, deeply painful mess.
