All players kneel for national anthem as NWSL becomes first major U.S. team sport to return

Mike DeCourcy

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All players kneel for national anthem as NWSL becomes first major U.S. team sport to return image

The National Women’s Soccer League on Saturday in Utah became the first major U.S.-based team sports concern to return to active competition following the shutdown necessitated in March by the COVID-19 pandemic. And the members of the Portland Thorns and North Carolina Courage became the first to kneel, unanimously, as the Star-Spangled Banner was played in advance of the game by saxophonist David Halliday.

"We took a knee today to protest racial injustice, police brutality, and systemic racism against Black people and people of color in America,” read a joint statement from the Thorns and Courage players issued just after the anthem concluded. "We love our country and we have taken this opportunity to hold it to a higher standard. It is our duty to demand that the liberties and freedoms that this nation was founded upon are extended to everyone."

The players from both teams wore Black Lives Matter T-shirts over their uniforms during warm-ups and as they lined up for the anthem in advance of the opening game of the NWSL Challenge Cup, a tournament that runs until the championship July 26 at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah.

MORE: Will Roger Goodell kneel with NFL players in 2020? 

As Halliday was introduced over the loudspeaker, the 22 players assembled on the field each dropped to one knee. Nearly half the players held their right hands over their hearts and Halliday played. Reserve players on the sideline were kneeling, as well.

US men’s national team forward Jozy Altidore tweeted the message: “Powerful.”

In advance of the game, broadcast on CBS, several star players from the NWSL participated in an essay to mark the return of American pro team sports and indicate they feel the absence of fans from this tournament, which will be played entirely inside a quarantine “bubble.”

“Today is another step in our return,” said several players in unison, including U.S. women’s national team players Casey Short, Lindsey Horan and Abby Dahlkemper.

“We are back.”

Mike DeCourcy

Mike DeCourcy Photo

Mike DeCourcy has been the college basketball columnist at The Sporting News since 1995. Starting with newspapers in Pittsburgh, Memphis and Cincinnati, he has written about the game for 35 years and covered 32 Final Fours. He is a member of the United States Basketball Writers Hall of Fame and is a studio analyst at the Big Ten Network and NCAA Tournament Bracket analyst for Fox Sports. He also writes frequently for TSN about soccer and the NFL. Mike was born in Pittsburgh, raised there during the City of Champions decade and graduated from Point Park University.