Dozens of people showed up bright and early Saturday morning for the watch party at Fairplay in North Park for the women's soccer match of Team USA going head-to-head with Japan. Among the players on the field was Naomi Girma, who plays for the San Diego Wave.
"I think it's excellent to watch how women's soccer has grown even more so than when I was a kid, and there is a momentum with it and more and more females are seeing 'look at what I'm able to do," said Tiffany Tomlin, a Wave FC ambassador who was watching the game at Fairplay.
When it comes to women's soccer, Tomlin has seen it all, having grown up in San Diego; including having our own professional soccer team so many years ago.
"I love the momentum and just seeing all ages out of the game, especially the younger kids and the young girl athletes, so it's just been a blast," said Tomlin.
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"Momentum" is the key word here. With so many eyes on the 2024 Paris Olympics, the attention being put on our homegrown athletes is growing," according to Shane Gerde, Co-owner of Fairplay.
"I mean it's a bigger stage, you know so when more audience sees that, if they're not tuning into the Wave specifically and they haven't heard about them but they are tuning into U.S. Women's Soccer and the Olympics, it always comes back," said Gerde.
The crowd at Fairplay was on the edge of their seat during the game, both teams going scoreless well into halftime. Team USA managed to score, and after several extensions they finally won 1-0. Team USA will face off in the semifinals on Tuesday.
