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We know how much Louisville loves showing the rest of the world what we're made of. Let's do this together. Come to the Racing Louisville games at Lynn Family Stadium.

Bev Yanez
| Opinion giver

Women's sports are on the rise. The number of visitors is booming. The number of viewers on television is skyrocketing and sponsorship money is flowing.

The WNBA has thrived. University sports have this too. And last year, Sportico called the National Women's Soccer League the fastest-growing professional sports league in the United States. Racing Louisville, the team I coach, plays in this league.

That's why I'm writing to you: Our team needs more support. Our players need your support.

As a former player and mother of two girls, I am enjoying this amazing moment in women's sports. My soccer journey began as a child in California, inspired by the US women's soccer team that won the 1999 World Cup. Fifteen years ago, in my first professional season, I was making $700 a month and living with a host family. Seeing how far women's sports have come was breathtaking. It's about time.

I love this city so much. My husband played soccer at the University of Louisville and for the Louisville Lightning, the former professional indoor soccer team. Every time I visited it felt like home. It's so inviting and so comfortable in his skin.

This is a great sports city, home to Ali, the derby and incredible college sports. Louisville loves fighters. This team I coach – they fight. They represent our community in the most positive aspects. Now we are aiming for our first playoff participation since our club was founded in 2021 and we need our city behind us.

We know what great support looks like: We had a record crowd in April when 11,365 people watched us win and watch Thunder Over Louisville at Lynn Family Stadium. We just saw a record crowd of over 14,000 at the Yum Center for the outstanding University of Louisville volleyball team. I know Louisville is packed for Cardinals women's basketball.

But the truth is that we haven't seen that many people at our games recently. Don't get me wrong, I love our fans, just like our players. Whoever comes drives our team forward. But we would love to see more from you. The energy of the home crowd fuels our group, discourages opponents and gives us an advantage. We're in this together.

When our team travels to away games, we see sold-out stadiums in Kansas City, Los Angeles, Portland, San Diego, San Jose and Washington, with overflow crowds in Kansas City and over 30,000 people in San Diego. We see these crowds supporting their teams and inspiring the next generation in the stands.

That's what we want here. We know how much Louisville loves showing the rest of the world what we're made of. Let's do this together. Come to the games at Lynn Family Stadium. Support our players who work hard every day to improve their skills and represent our city on a global stage.

We can't wait to see you at Lynn Family Stadium on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. We'll be back home on October 19th and on October 30th our beautiful stadium will host the US Women's National Team. I hope to see you there.

Bev Yanez is the head coach of Racing Louisville FC, which competes in the top division of the National Women's Soccer League and plays its home games at the state-of-the-art Lynn Family Stadium, a 15,304-seat venue that opened in 2020 in Louisville's Butchertown neighborhood.

On By John Fenwick

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