Brandi Chastain taking off her shirt to celebrate winning the World Cup? That was an amazing moment.
Is Caitlin Clark driving interest in women’s basketball to new heights? It’s a movement.
Moments and movements — these are phrases most commonly associated with women’s sports.
What do you call it when constant change becomes the norm?
This summer, the Twin Cities will become a hub of success for women’s sports.
This weekend, the world’s best and most courageous athletes will compete at the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Trials at Target Center.
Simone Biles, arguably the greatest gymnast of all time, will compete against reigning Olympic all-around gold medalist Suni Li of St. Paul and other athletes expected to make the U.S. team a powerhouse again.
It’s not uncommon for talented female athletes to visit Target Center.
The arena is home to the Minnesota Lynx, led by U.S. Team Head Coach Cheryl Reeve and star forward Napheesa Collier, who will be playing in her second Olympic Games in Paris.
The Lynx won four championships in seven seasons during the 2000s, the most dominant run by a Minnesota pro team since the Lakers moved to Los Angeles in 1960.
This year’s Lynx team is a surprise for the WNBA.
Target Center was packed for the 2022 Women’s Final Four and the 2023 and 2024 Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournaments.
Minnesota is home to the reigning PWHL champion team and one of the greatest grassroots sports stories in memory, the Minnesota Aurora, a semi-professional soccer team for young athletes that fills the 6,000-seat TCO Performance Center stadium on the Vikings’ campus.
It’s probably a good time to stop being amazed by the rise of women’s sports.
If there is a central character in this story, it’s Reeve.
She replaced the great Dawn Staley as coach of the U.S. team, making her the sixth pick in the 2019 draft and helping develop Collier into an unexpected star.
Reeve has always been a strong advocate for women’s sport as a matter of equality, fairness and decency, often pointing out that while men’s sports are funded up front, women’s sports need to prove they can be profitable before attracting big-money investors.
As she prepares for the Olympics, she is also a candidate for the WNBA Coach of the Year award.
This summer will be a win for Reeve’s team and belief.
“Cheryl represents what we all aspire to be in women’s sports,” Minnesota Aurora founder Andrea Yoch said.
“Succeed on the court, represent off the court, and be unashamedly vocal about how much attention women deserve. We can’t help but celebrate all the good that happens to you, Cheryl.”
Despite their unfathomable schedules, Reeve and his wife, Carly Knox, the Lynx’s president of business operations, attended Aurora’s home opener.
“I don’t know how she does it,” Yocchi said. “I wonder if she has a body double or if she’s sleeping around. It’s one thing to publicly say you support women’s sports, but it’s great that she shows up and supports us, despite the amount of pressure she’s under.”
Yocchi has spoken with women’s soccer executives around the country about whether it would be better for new leagues and teams to build support in areas that aren’t thriving in the women’s sport, or in thriving markets.
The Twin Cities gave us the answer. Aurora was scheduled to play MLS’ Minnesota United at the same time, but attendance didn’t suffer. The Minnesota Vikings supported Aurora at TCO Stadium. Reeve and the Lynx support women’s sports in Minnesota, but they support the men’s teams as well.
This allows Yocci to dream of every girls sports team in Minnesota winning a title in the same season.
PWHL teams have done it: Aurora was in the finals last year, the Vixens are in the playoffs, the Lynx are near the top of the standings.
And this weekend, Lee will compete in the Twin Cities for the first time since winning gold in Tokyo.
A moment? A movement? It feels like more than that.
