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If Tyler Lussi could send a message to her childhood self with an update from the future, the world she would describe might come across as fantasy. Maybe not for the kid who once dressed up as Princess Leia for Halloween, but for others it would have taken some convincing to believe that in 20 years it would be possible for Lussi to be playing professional soccer in Los Angeles before electric crowds of more than 20,000 people.
The young Lussi back then would have been starstruck by the actress who played Padme Amidala in the “Star Wars” prequel trilogy. Now, she has Natalie Portman partially to thank for turning Angel City FC into a reality.
“I get to have conversations with her,” Lussi told ESPN, still maybe a little starstruck. “How cool is that?”
It’s all still a bit surreal. And so is what Angel City is building.
Born with the collective support of a mostly-female ownership group that includes some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, legendary U.S. women’s national team players and heavy-hitters from private equity, Angel City has a chance to become the country’s standard bearer for women’s professional sports. Its combination of ambition, investment and timing has already created a sense of relevancy — game-day in Los Angeles comes to life as it were scripted in the National Women’s Soccer League offices.
The formula — round up stars like Jennifer Garner, Christina Aguilera and Sophia Bush to join forces with soccer royalty like Abby Wambach, Julie Foudy and Mia Hamm — might not be replicable in other markets, which only makes Angel City more crucial to the NWSL. If the league is to succeed long-term, it needs Angel City to lead the way.
Despite a lack of on-field success that currently has the team on the playoff bubble, the club has quickly come to represent something important for the future of women’s professional…
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Source : espn
