Players from the OL Reign organization teamed up with Gatorade to inspire the next generation of athletes in the Boys & Girls Club.
The world currently has soccer fever with the Women's World Cup in full swing. As the members of Team USA fight hard down under, the ladies of the NWSL's Seattle OL Reign organization are working hard on the local scene. Recently Seattle OL Reign team members Olivia Athens, Claudia Dickey, and Phoebe McClernon joined the Gatorade Get Fit Day to inspire young boys and girls to join sports and be active.
"We had an incredible time at Gatorade Get Fit Day and being able to connect with the local kids from the Boys & Girls Clubs," Dickey told FanSided. "As a team we are passionate about what Gatorade Get Fit Day represented – advancing food security in our community, empowering the youth to lead healthy, active lifestyles, and of course soccer! It was rewarding to see the smiles on the kids' faces while we did drills with them."
The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is still in season and with some of their OL Reign teammates in Australia and New Zealand representing the United States, these ladies are holding down the fort locally. They know that the attention from the World Cup can benefit women's soccer globally and nationally, and they are ready to welcome any new fans the World Cup brings to the U.S. and even closer to home in Seattle.
"Yes, I think the World Cup is a perfect example to promote women's sports because there are so many eyes and support towards the tournament from all around the world," Dickey said. "We have some of the best players in the world in the NWSL, especially here at OL Reign, so we want to continue to compete at the highest level to keep the excitement going."
"I think it's so inspiring to see the people you play next to on a daily basis, quite literally living the dream and representing their respective countries in a World Cup," McClernon said. "I think it's something that we as a club and as individual teammates take such pride in and makes watching the World Cup all that much more thrilling."
Seattle OL Reign will be working hard to achieve an NWSL championship this year
The NWSL season will continue through the summer and OL Reign are currently in fourth place. Athens, Dickey, and McClernon will continue working hard until and after their Team USA teammates return.
"In the near future, we want to do our best to get as many points out of these next few Challenge Cup games and then once we get everyone back, it's very clear our goals are to win the Shield and then go on for the Championship," Athens said. "So just kind of take it one game at a time until the end of the season and try to get as many points as possible."
Seattle OL Reign hosted more than 200 K-12 students at the Gatorade Fit Day in Snohomish County, Washington on July 23. They led the kids in fun-filled sports activities at Gaffney Field with the goal of advancing food security and promoting active lifestyles.