Gotham FC To Be The First NWSL Team To Visit The White House

NJ/NY Gotham FC will become the first National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) team to visit the White House for a championship celebration when President Joe Biden welcomes them on Monday.

In the United States, championship-winning teams from men’s “Big Four” leagues — the NBA, the MLB, the NFL and the NHL — are frequently invited to the White House to commemorate their victories.

Gotham FC, the reigning NWSL champions, said this year’s move represents “a major benchmark moment for professional women’s soccer” in the U.S.

Members of the 2023 NWSL championship team including ex-captain and retired fan-favorite Ali Krieger, championship MVP Midge Purce and Juan Carlos Amoros, the 2023 NWSL coach of the year, are expected to attend the ceremony along with NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman.

“This is such a monumental moment for the NWSL,” Krieger told The Athletic on Wednesday. “I’m so excited the NWSL is getting recognition at the White House and that we’re the very first NWSL championship team to celebrate.

“This is going to be such a great moment for the team and for us as a whole,” added Kriger, who retired at the end of the year.

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Gotham FC won their first championship title when they beat Seattle Reign 2-1 in November 2023. The triumph came just a year after the team finished in last place.

The last time a professional women's soccer team was honored by the White House was in 2010 – by President Barack Obama – when Sky Blue FC won the inaugural title in Women's Professional Soccer, the top-level women's league in the U.S. before the NWSL was launched in 2013.

Sky Blue FC was rebranded as Gotham in 2021.

The U.S. women’s national team has also visited the White House, with President Obama honoring them in 2015 after they won the Women’s World Cup for a third time. The USWNT retained their world title in 2019 but refused to attend a ceremony at the White House with President Donald Trump in office at that time.

Gotham FC are currently third in the NWSL with 40 points from 20 games, sitting behind leaders Orlando Pride and second-placed Washington Spirit.

Gotham’s next game is later on Thursday against Monterrey in the CONCACAF W Champions Cup. On Sunday, they host Utah Royals in the NWSL.