BURLINGTON — A year’s worth of anticipation hailed down on Vermont Green’s Sophie Reale as she blew past two defenders and harvested the first goal of the women’s exhibition matches last week.
Five thousand fans brought Virtue Field to capacity and spilled onto the nearby hillside for the games against semipro teams Flower City Union and A.S. Blainville. World Cup winner Sam Mewis returned as head coach this year, but young fans were no farther from the field’s railings as she took the pitch.
“Playing for the national team, playing in the NWSL, the fans have this hungriness for more: for more access, for more autographs, for pictures,” said Mewis, who moved to Colchester after retiring from the U.S. team. “It is honestly really familiar from playing at the level that I played at before.”
A hum about Vermont Green’s expansion into the women’s game underscored the two sellouts and two wins: 4–0 over Flower City, 2–1 over Blainville. This year, nurturing a lush landscape for soccer in Vermont is top of mind.
Players convened June 9 for the first of three practices before their Flower City matchup, many learning each other’s names for the first time. In their two games, Green would entertain and improve, Mewis said that day.
“Every time you get the ball is an opportunity to express yourself,” coach Brad Cole added during drills.
Last season, Vermont Green announced a permanent women’s squad is a matter of when, not if. Exhibition games will continue until a full season is secured, with Mewis and University of Vermont women’s soccer head coach Kristi Huizenga guiding the launch.
Vermont Green trains on June 13 at Virtue Field in Burlington. Video by Busy Anderson
Olivia Borgen, Sophia Lowenberg and Violet Rademacher claimed a goal each for the Green in Wednesday’s second half, conceding none. The 4–0 outcome was much more comfortable than the Green’s 5–4, penalty kick win over FC Laval in 2024. The difference was in the roster, and particularly the personnel on the sidelines, said goalkeeping coach Erin Murphy.
“It’s not just, we took the male coaches and had them go female,” she said. “I think Sam has really embraced her role a lot this year.”
Joining Mewis was former Portland Thorns player Mo Fitzgerald, with Murphy stepping up as a coach after her own career with UVM and the Green.
“You also have to develop coaches, more women coaches, more referees. You need more administrators. You have to have talent in the front office,” sports journalist Meg Linehan said on “The Women’s Game,” a podcast run by Mewis.
At the top of both matches, the Green and their opponents walked out with girls from Nordic SC, Monarchs SC and the Mad River Valley Soccer Association. All-female referees supervised the field and ball girls fueled the fast pace. During Saturday’s contest, Democratic U.S. Rep. Becca Balint announced that the Vermont Community Foundation would send $10,000 to the Burlington School District to buy cleats and other gear.
The National Women’s Soccer League has seen a 163% increase in attendance since its 2013 start and will add the nearby Boston Legacy to its ranks in 2026. The Massachusetts club’s swan logo was scattered in the Virtue Field stands at the Green’s exhibition matches less than a week after the crest was unveiled.
A row of girls watches as the Vermont Green women’s team takes the field in Burlington on June 11 against Flower City. Photo by Busy Anderson
Joining the surge is the professional women’s United Soccer League Super League, home to eight clubs founded in August 2024. Tampa Bay won the inaugural championship in front of a sold out crowd Saturday night, and seven new teams are set to debut next season.
“I’ve played soccer in the mid-’70s in Venezuela where it was a very hot sport, and just to see the degree of athleticism that these women have, how far the sport has come in terms of how soccer is played with women, is amazing,” said fan Alicia Daniel from Burlington.
The Green has a solid foundation on which to rest ambitions for a second team. Vermont led the nation in youth sports participation in the most recent measure by the federally funded and directed National Survey of Children’s Health: 69% of kids ages 6-17 played on a sports team or took lessons in 2022, well above the national average of 54%.
Vermont families have 46 competitive clubs and 51 recreational programs to choose from under the Vermont Soccer Association, the state’s arm of U.S. Youth Soccer. When Andrew Minnis joined the state org as executive director last December, he looked to collaborate with the Green’s founders right away.
“A big push of mine since I came in has been really trying to bridge the gap of southern Vermont,” Minnis said.
Clubs under the association are more abundant in and around Chittenden County, with less access to youth soccer south of Montpelier, he said.
The association’s partnership with U.S. Youth Soccer’s Europe branch, announced last month, holds promise for an exchange of knowledge overseas that could help coaches add teams to Vermont’s inventory, Minnis said.
At the moment, when teens surpass the challenge of local clubs, their paths upward become more sparse. Players can be selected for Vermont’s Olympic Development Program with the chance to represent their state, region or country but have few options outside those rosters.
Players watch a ball in the air on June 11 during the match between the Green and Flower City in Burlington. Photo by Busy Anderson
In high school, the Green’s Liv White commuted three hours from her hometown of Pittsford to play with New England Mutiny, a Massachusetts club, she said on “The Women’s Game.” When coaching local clubs, White’s teammate Lauren DeGroot sees that routes to elite teams lead kids out of Vermont.
“These girls are super talented, and we’re able to see that from such a young age, and it’s unfortunate that you see those girls and you feel like you’re doing them a disservice cause there aren’t those opportunities,” she said. “You think, ‘Can we send them down to Massachusetts, Jersey, so they can get that? Cause they aren’t getting it here.’”
Female footballers of the Green’s caliber are still looking elsewhere for off-season training.
“I have to drive an hour and 15 minutes to Quebec to play soccer over the summer,” said Sydney Remington, a UVM player, of her training without the Green.
Green forward Erin Flurey closed shop that night, poking in a loose ball to slash Blainville’s 1–0 lead and chipping the keeper in a bold signoff for a 2–1 win. The women’s exhibition team concluded year two undefeated.
Best friends Marie Coyne and Veda Pfeifer walked out to centerfield hand in hand with Green and Blainville players before kick off. The girls are 10 years old and don’t doubt they can compete on Virtue someday. They just need some support.
“Like cheering for you and saying, ‘You got this,’” said Pfeifer.
Convinced the Green is here to stay, fans imagine the club playing at home fields all around Vermont, not just at Virtue, and even a new stadium open to local teams when Green isn’t in town. But a simpler goal played on repeat all week:
“I would like to see a women’s team. Period,” said fan Annette Seidenglanz.
A version of this story was first published by Community News Service, a program in which University of Vermont students work with professional editors to provide content for local news outlets at no cost. Busy Anderson is a UVM student.
