Words Andrew Lawn
Shannon Mac Millan has won the World Cup. She has an Olympic Gold medal, scoring in both the final and semi-final. In 2002 she was named the US Soccer Athlete of the Year.
Now, she’s back in San Diego, her hometown, sharing a love of the game.
“Soccer has given me everything. If not for soccer, I wouldn’t have been able to go to college. The game has opened so many doors and taught me so many valuable life lessons, like teamwork, facing adversity, leadership and all those amazing things. Through San Diego Loyal, I've been able to do that for others”.
“When I retired I endured a bit of depression, I was wondering where I could replicate the teamwork and excitement of playing. When Landon initially called about a role at San Diego Loyal, I was unsure. I grew up locally in Escondido, so I am passionate about making a pathway for kids here. But, we had tried to bring soccer to San Diego with SoccerCity and were both burned by that experience. Landon shared my concerns, but said ‘let’s have breakfast, this is legit’. A couple years in, Loyal went through a few changes within the office and Ricardo Campos took over as club president. Ricardo had the vision to make Community Relations its own stand-alone department, a department that would commit and connect with the community and not just check boxes. He approached me about coming into the office as the Vice President of Community Relations and I jumped at the opportunity”.
“We want to make sure it's a club that represents the community and I think what Loyal have done has really shown that. It's not just putting words on a wall. They're not afraid to speak. They're not afraid to act. I think it's a platform and a foundation that's built for the city, whether it's helping one of our community partners or walking off the field with one of our players when they’re abused for their race or their sexuality. The club has really shown that we're true to our core. We’re loyal to our community”.
“That runs all the way down through the club, from the top, to the offices and out into the community. In my role, I am blessed with going out and growing that. My role is looking at how we can volunteer our services? How can we make the connection open up pathways for players and kids? Can we find kids that maybe didn't know they wanted to play soccer? The chance to be a part of an organisation that truly believes and embraces the grassroots at the community and to see the face of kids that normally wouldn't have a chance to go to a soccer camp - now they're out there and they get a soccer ball and a backpack and a water bottle. Seeing the impact the game can have is pretty special. Actually, it’s amazing”.
Shannon is well placed to speak about growing the game, having been part of the famous World Cup win in 1999 - Brandi Chastain and all that - which catapulted soccer into the US imagination, forcing it alongside Baseball, Basketball and American Football.
Heading into the tournament the players, in an interesting psychological move, were told in no uncertain terms that the future of women’s soccer depended on them going all the way.
“Before the tournament Marla Messing approached us and told us we were going big. The World Cup wouldn’t be smaller stadiums, it would be NFL Stadiums. The final would be the Rose Bowl - oh and they were going to sell every seat. We were told that the train was picking up speed, so we had to win or this thing was going to come off the rails”.
“I remember us all sitting there like ‘yeah, let’s see’. Then we saw it happening, the momentum and excitement built. At the time, we were hoping to launch a Women’s league in the USA and we had a sense that it might help, but we didn’t appreciate the magnitude. We were just playing because we love the freaking game”.
“For the opening game we're on our way to the Giants Stadium to play Denmark and we're stuck in traffic. At first, we're like ‘my god, we're gonna be late for the game’ and then the police escort comes, they move us over into the hard shoulder and we start realising the traffic was for our game. We’re pressed against the side of the bus staring at all those faces and they’re all staring back at us. It still gives me the chills”.
“The Rose Bowl holds over 90,000 people and true to Marla's words it was sold out for the final. When you first walk out, it sucks the air out of you but you find a way to kind of tune that out. For me, it was finding my brother in the stands. Joy Fawcett - then Joy Biefeld - was my best friend in the team. We spent so much time together that her family kind of became my family. Her Dad was there at every game and no matter where he was you would hear him shout ‘GO BEEF’, finding those little touchpoints was important. It allowed you to focus this massive flood light into a laser so you could concentrate on the warm up and doing what you need to do”.
“After the game, I was given a photo of the Rose Bowl during the final. You can see the entire stadium, all the fans, the scoreboard and us on the pitch. I have it hanging in my house and so many people who I didn’t realise were there will look at it and point to where they were. I almost want to put a pin in and label everyone. It's crazy to think of what it's done but it's also exciting and I feel very blessed to have been a part of something like that”.
An Olympic and World Cup winner Shannon may be, but like many girls of her generation, soccer wasn’t an obvious port of call growing up.
“I actually played every sport growing up. It was my junior year of high school when I started to focus on the game. At that point I ran track. I played basketball, I played softball. I liked softball and I could steal bases but I couldn't hit the ball. I loved basketball. I was quick and I could steal the ball but I'd miss the lay up. So, that's not so much fun. When the time came to choose, it was an easy decision to choose soccer because no matter what was going on that day at school, or if I’d had an argument with my parents, when I got to the field and I crossed that white line, everything else went away. For the next two hours it was mine and I could just go run and be free. Soccer is the one that came natural to me, not easy, but natural”.
Thanks to people like Shannon, who have inspired youngsters and then worked tirelessly in the community to provide opportunities to play the game, its popularity is skyrocketing and the standard is following suit. From her unique vantage point, what does Shannon believe the future looks like?
“Domestically there’s room for improvement, but globally it is exciting. Once countries started to support and empower women to play, it was always gonna be awesome and we’re seeing that in the increasing parity on the field. Take the World Cup in 2023. There aren’t massive blowouts anymore, you see teams like Vietnam pushing the USA all the way, and Panama taking the lead against France, it's crazy exciting. There’s also still plenty of work to be done as well, case in point being Jamaica, who had to independently fundraise the money needed just to be able to get to the World Cup”.
“The USWNT needs to keep pushing forward and keep evolving. I think the fact that NWSL is growing is phenomenal. We need to keep players here and keep them playing. What's exciting to me is how many first timers are on the US roster and these are ridiculously talented players. Someone like Savannah DeMelo who, if not for the NWSL, wouldn't be on the national team, she'd probably be working a job somewhere, but because we had the league, she's been on fire and had to go to the World Cup. I think the future is bright for the US but it's no longer going to be easy”.
