When Michelle Akers boarded a flight from New York to Italy for the USWNT’s first international match in 1985 at 19, she didn’t understand the gravity of the moment.
‘I literally was just there to play. No money, no fanfare, no audience, nothing. It was just because we loved it,’ Akers, a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame, told USA TODAY Sports. ‘It took me a game to understand, holy s—, I’m playing for America.’
Akers and the 16 founding members of the USWNT embarked on a seismic journey armed with $10 a day, Adidas cleats and hand-me-down men’s uniforms. What the original 85ers lacked in resources was made up by sacrifice, grit and belief in each other.
It’s the DNA and mentality that laid the foundation for the USWNT dynasty to become the most dominant team in women’s sports history. Yet, the 17 trailblazers that started it all rarely get that recognition.
Until now. Storied Sports partnered with Adidas to release a seven-part audio series, titled, “Origin Story: The 85ers,’ which premieres Dec. 10 in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the inaugural 1985 team. Akers, who served as co-producer on the project, said it’s an ’emotional’ story she’s been trying to tell for decades.
‘You’ve spent and invested your blood, sweat, tears, your dreams, your identity into building change and building lasting, empowered opportunity and equality,’ said Akers, an Olympic gold medalist (1996) and two-time World Cup champion (1991, 1999).
‘To look back 40 years later, from that first U.S. women’s national team, and see that it’s not only changed and elevated the USWNT, it’s changed women’s sports all around the world. And that, to me, is incredible.’
1985 USWNT was made of ‘warriors’
The origin of the USWNT dates back to the 1985 U.S. Olympic Sports Festival in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, more than a decade before the U.S. women won the first Olympic gold medal. The USWNT would be to be selected at the end of the tournament.
Players anxiously sat bleachers after the festival concluded, Akers recalled. And then USWNT head coach Mike Ryan read aloud a list of names that would form the first USWNT to compete overseas: Michelle Akers, Pam Baughman Cornell, Denise Bender, Denise Boyer-Merdich, Tara Buckley, Laurie Bylin, Stacey Enos, Linda Gancitano, Cindy Gordon, Ruth Harker, Tuca Healy, Lori Henry, Sharon McMurtry, Ann Orrison, Emily Pickering, Kathy Ridgewell and Kim Wyant.
‘They read the list of names and we got on a plane and went to New York … had a training camp, and the team was chosen and we left for Italy. So they made the team in three days,’ said Akers, who noted that their airfare was covered otherwise she ‘never would’ve been able to go.’
Akers said Ryan reminded the team of the opportunity — ‘He’s yelling at us. You don’t understand what it is the privilege and honor it is to play for your country!’ — and to a certain extent, she agreed. Akers didn’t realize what the USWNT would become. Consider: there was no women’s World Cup, it started in 1991, and Olympic women’s soccer tournament, it began in 1996.
Akers, one of the youngest of the bunch, said her teammates saw the bigger picture. Little did Akers know she was ushering in a program that would transcend not only the sport and the country, but the world.
‘Some of my other teammates, they had more vision I think, than I did. So for me, going there, I was so excited to play at the highest level in the world for the U.S.,’ she said. ‘It took a minute to let that sink in and feel the privilege of that, but also the opportunity to wear that jersey.’
Akers said she and her teammates had to hand-sew Team USA patches on their jerseys, old men’s uniforms that were given a second life by the women’s team. And although they didn’t have their last names on the back, Akers felt a tremendous amount of pride wearing it, an honor she feels to this day.
The USWNT lost to Italy 1-0 in its first international match on Aug. 18, 1985. They finished in a 2-2 draw against Denmark in their second match, before ending the tournament with losses to England (3-1) and Denmark (1-0).
‘Playing against Italy, that first game, and we got our asses kicked,’ Akers said. ‘… They were true soccer football players. And I recognize we had a long way to go.’
But the Americans’ confidence grew each time they took the pitch and Akers knew they had something special: ‘We were warriors. We wanted to win. That’s that mentality… It carries on over 40 years.’
‘We’ll outwork you, outplay you and never ever give up,’ Akers said. ‘And we see that time and time again in every competition, the USA plays in.’
‘Origin Story: The 85ers’: A sisterhood revisited
Ahead of every USWNT match, U.S. players enthusiastically chant ‘Ooosa, Ooosa, Ooosa’ before taking the pitch. It’s a tradition that dates back to the founding members being greeted by Italian fans cheering for ‘USA’ upon their arrival in 1985, an endearing connection between the past and present.
‘It makes my heart explode with pride and just a sisterhood,’ Akers said. ‘This thread continues and it’s represented by this cheer from that very first team. So it’s, it’s really, really special.’
Sisterhood is a central theme of the documentary-style audio series ‘Origin Story: The 85ers,’ which reunites the original members through conversations, memories and shared experiences. Forty years may have passed, but ‘nothing’s changed at all,’ Akers joked, likening her teammates to the cast of ‘A League Of Their Own.’
‘These are the characters of my teammates. They are off the hook,’ she added. ‘They’re completely authentic. They did things no one has ever done before, and they’re still doing it because that’s who they are. So I think as serious and intense it can be, it’s funny and emotional too.’
Akers said the reunion was extra special because it was the first time some of her teammates revisited 1985. Although Akers went on to have a prolific soccer career that stretched until 2000, many of her teammates hung up their cleats after that trip to Italy to pursue a job, families, education or anything deemed legitimate, because ‘soccer wasn’t a thing’ back then, Akers recalled.
‘Some of them literally packed their gear away in the attic and never looked at it again. And then when we started developing this project, they took it out of the attic and it was so emotional,’ Akers said. ‘The thought that now finally they’re being recognized and what they did is special.’
The 85ers ‘lit that spark’ that turned into a wildfire
In addition to the 17 members of the 1985 team, many USWNT icons — Brandi Chastain, Julie Foudy, Lindsey Heaps, Kristine Lilly, Becky Sauerbrunn and Abby Wambach — make appearances throughout the seven-part audio series to reflect on the 85ers legacy. The voices highlight how far the program has come.
‘You can’t understand the rise of women’s sports today without understanding and appreciating the women who built it,’ said Jaymee Messler, co-founder and co-CEO of Storied Sports. ‘I feel like it closes a loop that honors the past while acknowledging how deeply it’s shaped the present. And it feels like the 85ers lit that spark that this next generation turned into a wildfire.’
It’s appropriate the series is presented by Adidas, who was part of their story from the beginning ‘before there were lights, cameras or sponsorship dollars,’ Messler added. Adidas provided the first USWNT jersey.
Storied Sports is doing more than sharing the story. The content studio created an athlete-owned team LLC, where all 17 players are represented and trademarked in an effort to turn ‘history into equity.’
‘There’s so much investment going into women’s sports right now,’ Messler said, ‘and Michelle and I and our team have been focusing on how to create some of that investment into the women themselves that have built these sports.’
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