“The Waiting Game” NWSL preseason in 2020

In early March, The National Women’s Soccer League players showed up after their off season hyped for what was sure to be their biggest season ever. All signs were pointed toward growth and expansion. A brand new, shiny contract with CBS Sports to show some games and stream others. Renewed excitement in the league after a dominating World Cup in France. And with the Olympics on the horizon, new fans wanted to get and inside look at the league that produces the players that were sure to be on their way to a another gold medal.

And then the Coronavirus hit. The entire country shut down. Sport, around the world, came to a screeching halt, including the NWSL.

Most of the players were already with their respective teams already. They had been practicing for maybe a week when the stay at home order was made. Sporting events all over the world were suddenly canceled and while it paled in comparison to the disturbing spread of the disease, we were all collectively mourning one of the great comforts in life; playing and watching games.

For months, we had no idea when sports would come back. There was daily speculation of what it would look like when it did, but that just became annoying so we just had to put our heads down and stay the course. For the NWSL players, however, their lives were in serious limbo. No one had to dial back expectations more than them, and most of them were doing that away from the comfort of home.

The Waiting Game is a “mini-doc” about resiliency through sport in a time of uncertainty. We’re focusing on professional soccer players, but these women are no different in many ways to the youth players in our community. The insane drive they have and the sense of purpose, day in and day out, is incredibly inspiring. It may sound odd, but women and girls that play soccer have thrived during the pandemic. In simplistic turns, this entire community has turned a negative into a positive.

How is this possible? These players are all about teamwork. They lift each other up when things get hard. It happens on the field, and it happens in life. This sense of connection to something larger than yourself starts early, as was witnessed at the club level on social media in record breaking toilet paper juggles, pep talks to one another, and team zoom calls.

Well, it doesn’t waver much as they get older, so we wanted to be on the inside during the time when the players honestly had no idea what what going to happen. They were just…waiting. Our show follows how a few pods of players from three different teams — Sky Blue FC, Chicago Red Stars, and Portland Thorns — lived during this time and got through it with a mix of support, discipline, humor, and belief in themselves.

Since we were unable to fly to the various locations, the players involved shot footage of themselves over this bizarre period when they didn’t even know if they were going to have a season. Thankfully, the NWSL managed to pull it together to be the first league in this country to start up.

We want to thank the NWSL, the teams that allowed us behind the scenes, and most of all the players, Elizabeth Eddy, Caprice Dyasco, Emily Boyd, Zoey Goralski and Morgan Weaver. It was amazing to get to know them from afar and document this strange period in all of our lives through the lens of women’s soccer.

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