
The road to Catarina Macarioâs first Champions League final with Lyon
Macario leads Lyon in Champions League goals with seven.
LOS ANGELES â Two hours before Angel City FCâs 1-0 home loss to the Orlando Pride, JJ Keith was enjoying the sunshine and festive atmosphere with her family at Christmas Tree Lane East, a park that borders Banc of California Stadium. The grassy expanse was nearly full of mothers, fathers and children buzzing about the eveningâs match, clad in their ACFC black, white and pink jerseys, hats and scarves.
JJ, a massive womenâs soccer fan, and her husband bought season tickets for Angel Cityâs debut season in the NWSL as soon as they went on sale. She jokes that the game falling on Motherâs Day was her âtrump cardâ to make her two children, ages 11 and 13, attend a game. Her 13-year-old daughter, Beatrix, whose pronouns are she/they, is not much of a soccer fan, but knows how important it was to their mother to be there Sunday.
âI played soccer for six years and then stopped because I got bored, and also COVID was a big deal,â Beatrix said. âAnd then my endurance died. I canât even do the mile that well.â
JJ felt strongly that her kids, especially Beatrix, who attends a middle school magnet program in the San Fernando Valley, have the chance to witness an Angel City match at the Banc. The expansion club’s ownership group and front office staff, made up of majority women, have been vocal from the beginning about their intentions to advocate for inclusive values as well as women’s and LGBTQ+ rights.
âI wanted Beatrix here because theyâre queer, and I wanted them to be in a space where thereâs a lot of adult queer women,â JJ said. âSeeing queer families, like families with two moms for example, is something they donât see a lot of. I just want them to be in those spaces and see that and have it modeled for them. Weâre not the only type of family, and this isnât the only way you can do things. And the players, too, not just the fans â to have out and proud athletes on the field, itâs so important. I love our queen, Christen (Press). I just wanted Beatrix to get that context of what adult gay women are doing and what that looks like.â
The Gunn Family of Eagle Rock were also enjoying the pregame festivities at Christmas Tree Lane East two hours before kickoff. After buying a bag of ACFC merchandise, and putting some of it right on, 6-year-old Maisie Gunn kicked a miniature soccer ball to her mom, Justine, as father Nathan gushed about the benefits of his daughter becoming interested in sports.
âThe great thing about sports for girls is it takes them completely out of a world that can be not very supportive to little girls,â Nathan said. âAll the women in sports are badasses. Theyâre all working toward the same thing and itâs inclusive of their talents, irrespective of society and whatever else.â
When asked why she wanted to be here on Motherâs Day, the exuberant Maisie, who lost a tooth playing soccer last week, said, âBecause we wanted to do something that we thought Justine would like.â
Justine laughed and said, âShe doesnât usually call me that.â
The energetic kindergartner has recently started playing soccer, and her mother grew up playing recreationally, so the Gunns are excited to have a womenâs team in their backyard to support.
The family also recently purchased season tickets for the Los Angeles Sparks, initially inspired by the teamâs mobility around the Black Lives Matter movement.
âItâs a great city for womenâs sports,â Justine said, âand weâre happy to have a girl whoâs becoming a big fan. I want her to be involved in sports, because itâs a great place to build confidence and a lot of other important values.â
The familyâs tickets are for Section 119, much to Maisieâs delight.
âI want to go to the tippy top!â Maisie exclaimed, before running no more than 10 feet away with her little ball and shouting, âIâm gonna go play soccer!â
Meanwhile, JJ, who says she is âvery much a feminist and very much in favor of gay rights and trans rights,â spoke passionately about the U.S. Supreme Courtâs leaked draft opinion last week in favor of overturning Roe v. Wade. Many womenâs sports leagues, teams and athletes expressed their frustration with the news, which would dismiss the constitutional right to an abortion if confirmed.
âIâm f—ing furious about the Supreme Court changing on this and that they lied in their hearings,â JJ said. âI am beyond livid, just absolutely enraged and ready to mobilize. I personally never had an abortion, but the access to abortion completely changed my life. My husbandâs ex-girlfriend was able to have an abortion, and so when we started our life together, there wasnât this other kid. And I want my kids and their partners in the future to have access to that choice.â
âThe fact that I was able to choose motherhood is very important to me,â JJ adds. âAnd I want my kids to be able to choose parenthood when or if â (JJ points at Beatrix) this oneâs very against it â if they decide itâs for them. Being a mother is so hard. Everything is so difficult and stacked against mothers. To ask someone to do that against their will when itâs not what they want to or are able to do, is unfair to the mother, unfair to the family, unfair to any children she does have or will have. Itâs just not right.â
JJ recognized how powerful it was for a professional sports team like Angel City FC to take a public stance on such a polarizing topic, even when, she said, womenâs reproductive protections should be viewed as a basic human rights issue.
We stand together. pic.twitter.com/Sqqq1fOrdf
— Angel City FC (@weareangelcity) May 5, 2022
âI am really glad to be a fan of a football team that will stand up for that right,â she said.
Beatrix said that access to contraception and abortion is something that they and their fellow seventh graders are aware of and discuss.
âKids do talk about it,â Beatrix said, âespecially the female students.â
Justine also saw ACFCâs statement against the Supreme Court opinion on Twitter and said that sheâs proud to support a team committed to fighting injustice.
âIâm very proud of womenâs sports teams in general, including the Sparks and Angel City, at how outspoken theyâve been in these years of really depressing news for women,â Justine said. âThatâs so important and that is absolutely part of why we support them. I also feel a little genuinely sad that women athletes have to be saddled with the extra responsibility of being political when maybe they donât want to be. Itâs not fair, because itâs hard enough to be a pro athlete. I am glad that itâs not much of a debate anymore, that they can speak their minds and not face any problems because of it. ⌠It should be just good enough that theyâre awesome athletes, but thatâs the way the world is, and Iâm very proud to fully support them.â
Joshua Fischman is a contributing writer at Just Womenâs Sports covering Angel City FC and the Los Angeles Sparks. He has covered basketball for Vantage Sports and Hoops Rumors and served as co-host of âOn the NBA Beatâ podcast. Joshua received his masterâs in Sports Media from Northwestern Universityâs Medill School of Journalism. Follow him on Twitter @JJTheJuggernaut.
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