This week on The IX Sports Podcast Soccer Edition, host Kathleen Gier is joined by Annie Peterson, Associated Press reporter and author of The IX Sports’ weekly Soccer Insider.
Since Peterson is based in Portland, Gier and Peterson discussed Epicenter Week in Portland, in which the owners of the Portland Thorns (NWSL) and the Portland Fire (WNBA), along with Nike, hosted a series of events that aimed to both promote women’s sports and consider the future of the industry.
This year, the event featured the unveiling of the Fire and Thorns’ joint training facility.
“It’s the first purpose-built women’s training facility for two different leagues,” Peterson said. “So that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world.”
The facility even includes lactation rooms for nursing mothers.
“It’s not 100% finished yet, but it is — it’s gorgeous, and and and I, you know, I’ve seen a lot of training facilities over the course of my time with the NFL, and the Ducks have an amazing training facility. This is gorgeous … and very female centric, which is nice,” Peterson said.
Then the pair turned to discuss the current state of the NWSL. The Thorns are on a three-game winning streak. But the real powerhouse of the league continues to be in New York City.
“But let’s face it, Gotham is a super team. And and if they weren’t six points ahead of … everybody else it’d be like, ‘Oh my god what happened to Gotham,’ right? So this is just — this is Gotham being Gotham,” Peterson said.
Then the conversation turned to North Carolina Courage midfielder Ashley Sanchez, who is currently leading the race for the Golden Boot with 13 goals.
“She is just making a case for herself for inclusion on that [US] national team. … I think that yeah, the looming women’s World Cup has made it made it important for her, and and she’s doing it. She’s she’s just having an amazing season, so just a joy to watch,” Peterson said.
Tune in to the episode to hear more about Epicenter Week, including some of the special perks that Thorns players will get to take advantage of at their new facility.
Make sure to subscribe to The IX Sports Podcast for in-depth coverage of women’s soccer, hockey and basketball; and tune in each weekday morning for a quick overview of the biggest headlines on Women’s Sports Daily, like WNBA news and PWHL expansion updates.
