On Sunday, Angel City’s Christen Press and Ali Riley took the pitch one last time in Los Angeles in front of a packed BMO Stadium. The two legends of the game and hometown heroes played their last home game before they will retire at the end of this season. This post isn’t about the game or the circumstances surrounding either’s retirement. It’s about honoring them and their careers because I’m so grateful that I started following women’s soccer and Angel City in time to see them play their last couple of seasons.

Growing up, I was never a “sports person.” I played sports, but I never really watched. My parents weren’t super dedicated sports fans at the time (now they are into the WNBA) so I didn’t inherit any fandom from them. To be honest, I used to think that being into sports was kind of lame and for scary men. How could people feel so strongly about just watching other people play a game that doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things? Well look at me now!

Thanks to women’s sports and, specifically, Angel City I learned that it didn’t have to be that way. Over the past couple of years, I have found the women’s soccer community to be a fun, thoughtful, and inclusive space where people enjoy sport together while also engaging with important issues facing players, supporters, the world at large, and where all of those things intersect.

A space like this is not possible without players like Press and Riley. People who fought for respect and equity as players all while they created magic on the pitch. People who opened their arms to fans and said “you belong here.” People who broke down doors to raise the standards and push the sport forward. I can’t pretend to have witnessed either of these players in their prime. However, through following this club and engaging with the community, I’ve learned over time what they’ve done to leave the game in a better place than where they found it. That influence was palpable in the stadium whenever they touched the ball on the field, and during the retirement ceremony after the game.

I feel privileged to have watched some important moments in the twilight of these players’ careers even though I missed the glory days. Before I ever started following women’s soccer, Christen Press tore her ACL during Angel City’s inaugural season. After 781 days, she returned from injury, and 73 days after that, she scored her first goal back in Cary, North Carolina. I don’t know if I’ll ever get over the sight of her celebrating, sprinting eyes closed straight into the arms of Sarah Gorden, someone she went through the trenches with at the Chicago Red Stars in the mid-2010’s.

I don’t think I’ll ever forget what it felt like to see Press score in person at BMO Stadium in May. It was a special moment that the players and fans shared together, filled with joy. Press has talked about how her role at Angel City has changed after injury. She has approached her return with joy and agency, something she never felt she had before tearing her ACL. On Sunday she was smiling, having fun with her teammates despite the scoreline. You could feel it in the atmosphere of the stadium. They were out of playoffs, they were losing, but it was a joyous thing to watch Christen and Ali play one more time in Los Angeles. The feeling transcended the game.

I think the first time I cried because of sports was because of Ali Riley. In 2023, New Zealand co-hosted the World Cup alongside Australia. In the opening match of the tournament, New Zealand defeated former international juggernauts Norway in front of a sold out crowd in Auckland. There’s a type of person that always questions the viability and interest in women’s sports, but New Zealand, a country not really known for soccer, the players, and the fans were ready to prove them wrong. Riley led the Football Ferns to their first win in a World Cup ever. It was a historic moment for so many reasons. Videos of the goal celebration and post-match photos still tug at the heartstrings. Even during this huge moment for New Zealand’s football history, Riley took the time and space to advocate for others. FIFA had banned the rainbow Captain’s Armband ahead of the tournament, but Ali painted her nails the colors of the Pride and Trans Flags which were on full display during post-match interviews so she could keep showing her support for the LGBTQ+ community. The statement and the nails will be forever iconic.

Despite the many hardships along the way to Sunday’s retirement ceremony, there was so much to celebrate across both players’ careers. It was kind of poetic, Press and Riley ending their careers together. Two Angelenos and former Stanford Cardinals who took very different, but very impactful, paths through football to end up standing on the pitch together in their hometown, celebrating their careers together at a club they never knew could exist when they started out. It really was something beautiful to witness.

The generation that fought for a stable professional league that was sustainable and safe for players is leaving the game. What better examples than them for the next generation to pick up the mantle and keep pushing the growth of women’s soccer?

So Christen, Ali, thank you for everything you’ve done for women’s sport and Angel City. Thank you for showing me how fun it can be to be a sports person.

**Images courtesy of Angel City