Pine Grove’s Jason Brown and David Horst were among nearly 55,000 people in attendance at the FIFA Women’s World Cup quarterfinals in Landover, Maryland, on July 1, 1999.
Neither Brown, nor Horst, nor any of those 55,000 fans knew the extent to which the events of the ensuing 10 days would affect America’s perception of soccer.
In hindsight, the 1999 Women’s World Cup — which the U.S. won dramatically by beating China on penalty kicks in the final — laid the foundation for what soccer has become in America today.
Both Brown and Horst continued to make soccer part of their lives. Brown is the girls’ soccer coach at Pine Grove, while Horst is a professional player with Major League Soccer’s Houston Dynamo.
Tonight’s game, pitting the U.S. women against Japan in the World Cup Final for the second straight time, will again influence many
aspiring young athletes — girls and boys — to take up soccer, something the USWNT has done for decades on both the national and local levels.
“After that (1999) World Cup, there was a bigger participation in soccer,” Brown said. “I believe that it continues now. The more that they televise games, the more kids are exposed to soccer. They’re exposed at a younger age and they’re exposed more often.”
Such exposure often leads to higher participation. In 2000, youth soccer registration in America surpassed 3 million, according to US Youth Soccer.
Some of the area’s more tenured coaches started noticing the results trickle into their programs.
“We had a lot more kids that took a more serious interest at a younger level,” said Mike Burcik, who has coached Blue Mountain’s girls’ soccer team since 1999. “If I were to take a look back at the history of our program, the kids coming into our team have a much higher understanding and appreciation of the game of soccer compared to when I first started.”
Burcik started at Blue Mountain a few months before the U.S. women won their second World Cup. They claimed their first in China in 1991, the first women’s tournament to be played. But the glory is typically given to the ’99 team because of the attention it received.
The 1999 Women’s World Cup got full U.S. media treatment for the first time. Nearly 2,500 media outlets covered games in huge stadiums where, according to FIFA.com, total attendance figures topped 660,000.
That publicity can prove critical when young athletes are deciding what sports they want to start or continue playing when they enter high school.
Recent Williams Valley graduate Hannah Nestor wasn’t planning on going back out for soccer following two injuries during her freshman season.
A week before the season started, however, Nestor watched a USWNT game on TV and knew she couldn’t quit.
“Just watching them actually made me go back out for soccer my sophomore year,” Nestor said. “I’m really happy I did.”
Had it not been for watching the U.S. women that day, Williams Valley would’ve missed a combined 65 goals and 21 assists Nestor recorded during her sophomore, junior and senior seasons.
Having USWNT members with local ties helps. Starting fullback Ali Krieger and backup goalie Alyssa Naeher each played their college soccer at Penn State. Meghan Klingenberg, the other starting fullback, grew up in Gibsonia — outside Pittsburgh — and played soccer at Pine-Richland High School.
The 1999 Women’s World Cup team made soccer a legitimate option for many young athletes just like them. No longer were they bound to the gridiron, the hardwood, the diamonds or the track.
“Everything always revolved around basketball and football when I was a little kid,” said Brown, who watched the Americans beat the Germans in the quarterfinals that day in 1999 at what is now FedEx Field.
“When the women won that World Cup, it generated a lot more interest in the states for soccer. It gave men and women heroes to look up to, myself included.”
Television viewers of the 1999 final reached 18 million, not counting the 90,000-plus packed into the Rose Bowl. The game had a 13.3 overnight Nielsen rating, doubling ABC’s expectations, according to a New York Times article published July 12, 1999. By comparison, the NBA Finals that year between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs averaged a rating of 11.3, the article reported.
When Brandi Chastain scored the clinching penalty kick, ripped off her shirt, fell to her knees and was mobbed by her teammates, the nation exploded and soccer in America was uncorked.
After the Women’s World Cup returned to the U.S. in 2003, the country’s recent infatuation with soccer intensified.
“Back when you had it in the United States, that provided not only the chance for people to see it on TV, but also to see it in person,” Burcik said. “I think that adds another dimension as well.”
The Americans finished third in 2003 and 2007 before falling to an emotional Japan team in 2011, but their efforts weren’t wasted.
“Since the game’s grown in this area, you have a lot more kids that are not only playing, but also playing at a higher level,” Burcik said. “They see the level that’s out there and what it takes to be a better player.”
Now, soccer is everywhere on TV. The newest addition will be the National Women’s Soccer League, select games of which Fox Sports 1 will broadcast next season — providing area youth with even more easily accessible examples of professional soccer.
But the best will be on display tonight. And, win or lose, the U.S. Women’s National Team has already done something no trophy can exemplify. They’ve continued to raise the standard of soccer in America.
“It’s awesome to see how passionate all their players are during the game,” Nestor said. “I think they set really good examples of how the game should be played and how hard you should always play. Younger players will look at them and say, ‘I really want to be like them.’ ”