The jersey hanging in my closet got me thinking about 2023.
It was Jan. 2 and I had yet to wear my new “kit†— that’s what soccer folks call it — from ºüÀêÊÓƵ City Soccer Club.
“Is it red or pink?†my wife asked after I donned it.
“Both,†I replied.
Officially, the color is called City Red, but it clearly has an infusion of pink, perhaps a nod to the fact that the soccer club is the first female majority-owned team in Major League Soccer, with a woman, Carolyn Kindle , as CEO. The team’s main jersey sponsor, Purina, is also a company with a woman in charge in president and CEO Nina Leigh Krueger.
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Whatever you call the color, I love the jersey and couldn’t be more excited about the inaugural season of the newest pro sports franchise in ºüÀêÊÓƵ. The team’s MLS debut in Austin, Texas, on Feb. 25, and its first MLS home game against Charlotte on March 4 at CityPark are among the biggest things to look forward to in ºüÀêÊÓƵ as 2023 begins.
That’s true whether you’re a lifelong soccer fan, as I am, or just a resident of a city that could use some good news as a new year begins. There is something inherently hopeful about the start of a new sports franchise, and to be there at the very beginning creates the sort of memories that never fade.
So it was when I lived in Denver in 1993 when the Colorado Rockies made their Major League Baseball debut on April 9, 1993. I cried when Eric Young, the first home batter in franchise history, hit a home run, just 20 feet or so away from where I was sitting in left field at the old Mile High Stadium. A couple of years later, the new Coors Field helped revitalize a part of the city that had seen better days. The franchise wasn’t very good that first year, or nearly any year since then, but its positive impact on the city is undeniable.
In ºüÀêÊÓƵ, the new stadium is already up and running in Downtown West, creating a new connection between the city’s downtown core and its thriving Cortex district. The stadium, owned by the franchise, is a thing of beauty, and its addition to the city’s landscape from Union Station to the Arch connects the soccer team’s history to the city in a way that can’t be overlooked.
“Our City. Our Home,†says the jersey, and it’s true. CityPark exists because of owners willing to invest in the city, and voters who paved the way. The stadium is the stylistic accomplishment that it is in part because before they said yes, voters said no. Remember, city voters in 2017 rejected the previous ownership group’s proposal for a mostly publicly funded stadium. But the owners reconfigured, the Taylor family stepped up, and the new team earned the expansion franchise and created a first-class, team-owned stadium.
As 2023 begins, the soccer team, and its city, are intertwined, for better or worse. Both are run by women, ºüÀêÊÓƵ City SC by Kindle and the city of ºüÀêÊÓƵ by the triumvirate of Mayor Tishaura O. Jones, President of the Board of Aldermen Megan Green, and Comptroller Darlene Green.
It’s a first for the MLS, and the city of ºüÀêÊÓƵ, too. Maybe those things are coincidence. But I want to believe that the perspective of women leaders might change, over time, how people in ºüÀêÊÓƵ look at both their new sports franchise and their city.
What does that look like? It looks like a full soccer stadium with thousands of fans flocking downtown. It looks like new hotel and apartment developments down the street from the stadium, and planned changes to downtown walking and biking paths to increase safety and convenience.
It looks like the city’s top business organization — Greater ºüÀêÊÓƵ Inc. — committing to stay downtown and grow its footprint, while a major nonprofit law firm — Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, makes the move downtown, even while some other businesses close up shop and move elsewhere. It’s nearly $300 million in building permits issued in downtown and Downtown West neighborhoods in 2022.
Red or pink? That depends on your personal prism.
As 2023 begins, I wear my new ºüÀêÊÓƵ City SC jersey with pride and excitement.
Our City. Our Home. It’s an optimistic mantra in a city that could use some hope.