How To Sell A Soccer Team, Or The Rebirth Of The Boston Breakers
By Kevin Koczwara
Lindsay and Anne Clemons drive their red Toyota RAV4 into Harvard Stadium, and men in orange vests direct them, in twists and turns, to the rear of the crowded parking lot. They are closer to the high school lacrosse games unfolding on the fields in the distance than they are to the stadium, but Lindsay and Anne are not there for that. They came to see Boston’s women’s soccer team, the Boston Breakers, play the Houston Dash in their home opener at Soldier Field, a single turf soccer field with some steel bleachers neatly tucked away in the middle of Harvard’s field complex.
It’s April in New England, and feels it—a chilly breeze blasts off the water, a low-hanging sun barely pokes through the clouds. The couple had never heard of the Breakers, Boston’s only women’s professional team, until a few weeks ago.
“I love sports and I’ve always had an interest in women’s sports but it always feels like it stops after college,” Lindsay, 33, says. They bought a pair of Breakers t-shirts, worn deep under their winter jackets, and a flex package of 15 tickets to be used in any way they wanted. Then they bought one extra so they could go to the team’s eight home games together. Despite their research, they have no idea what to expect.
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