Rudaw.
WASHINGTON—After success in this summer's World Cup, America has fallen in love with women's soccer. Attendances are rising and more and more girls are taking up the sport. But as this season draws to a close, there's concern for the future and whether fans will stay with the game.
"We're trying to enjoy it, have fun, ride the wave we have right now and get people tuned in and get attention on women's soccer around the world," US Women’s National Team and Washington Spirit player Ali Krieger told Rudaw.
The Washington Spirit now attract around 5,000 fans for most games, and in Portland, Oregon, on the West Coast, a recent match against Seattle was watched by just over 21,000 fans.
Krieger’s coach, the Spirit’s Mike Parsons, said keeping the fan base engaged was key to the sport’s development.
"That's our focus, can we keep outreach, can we keep people interested, and it's not hard to right now,” he told Rudaw. “The quality of the soccer is great, the players here at the club are exciting to watch and the opposition coming every week are great."
In the above video, John Bevir reports for Rudaw from the US state of Maryland on the growth of US women’s soccer.
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