Professional women’s soccer is formally again in Massachusetts.
Boston Legacy FC hosted their home opener on Saturday at Gillette Stadium. The group fell 1-0 to defending National Women’s Soccer League champions Gotham FC.
Despite the loss, greater than 30,000 fans introduced the power to Foxborough for the group’s first-ever recreation. They got here decked out in the Legacy’s inexperienced and pink colours, some with winter hats and coats to stave off the mid-March wind.
One group was particularly prevalent among the many crowd: younger feminine soccer gamers and their mother and father.
Michael Ratty, of Boston, introduced his 4-year-old daughter, Sadie. She’ll be beginning soccer in a few weeks as a fifth birthday current. He stated he is excited for a future the place his daughter and her siblings see women’s sports as regular.
“ I’m a Premier League fan, so they’ve actually grown up watching soccer. So now anytime there’s any soccer, she calls it, ‘We’re going to daddy’s soccer,’” he stated. “This is the first time I’m like, this is your soccer. It’s not mine.”
Ten-year-old Frankie Linehan from Dorchester got here together with her ladies’ soccer group. She stated she was excited to see ladies take the sphere.
“It supports our soccer team, and it gives us the power to keep playing soccer,” she stated.
Many of the mother and father in attendance stated they have been excited for his or her kids to have feminine athletes to look as much as. That included Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, who introduced her two sons and daughter to the sport.
“ The power of knowing that these are our role models who are not just on the field, but connected to our community off the field is really incredible,” she stated. “We are looking forward to deepening this partnership. We’re well underway with their permanent home right in Boston and White Stadium. It’s just a really wonderful moment to celebrate together.”
The group is splitting their home video games between Foxborough and Centreville Bank Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island for his or her inaugural season. They plan to make a renovated White Stadium in Boston’s Franklin Park their home pitch subsequent season, sharing the amenities with Boston Public Schools college students.
Legacy ahead Ella Stevens stated she felt the love from the fans on Saturday, despite the fact that the group didn’t pull off a win.
“It was so special,” Stevens stated. “I think for me, the walkout was like, a little surreal, playing in that stadium with the fans that all showed up, the number of people who came out to support. It was an incredible feeling walking out into the field.”
For longtime ladies’s soccer fan Sarah Toce, of Boston, it was further particular to convey her rugby-playing daughter Hannah to her first skilled soccer recreation. They had pink streaks and gold sparkles in their hair.
“Whether it’s rugby for her, or soccer for her, or whatever it is, she’s going to learn lessons in here from watching these incredible athletes and how hard they go and how they pick each other up,” she stated. “That’s going to make a difference no matter what sport she plays. So I’m excited to have her be able to see that on the big scale.”
Toce grew up watching Boston’s earlier ladies’s soccer group, the Boston Breakers, earlier than they folded in 2017. She stated she thinks the Legacy — and women’s sports as a complete — can solely go up from right here.
“We’ve been here, we’ve been doing the thing, we’ve been playing at a high level, we’ve been putting ourselves on the line out there,” Toce stated. “So now to finally get the recognition from, you know, that other half of the population, it feels good. And it also feels like, come on guys, like, it’s about damn time.”
This section aired on March 16, 2026. Audio shall be out there quickly.