As the North Carolina Courage continue to make history in women’s soccer as the NWSL’s winningest franchise in terms of trophies, the club represents a deep and treasured regional legacy in the sport at all levels.
From the first sanctioned collegiate national championship game to the first-ever professional league in the United States, North Carolina has been the backdrop to many of women’s soccer’s historic moments.
“When we’re talking about American women’s soccer history, we have to say North Carolina is No. 1 because of everything Anson Dorrance built at North Carolina, all of the titles, the number of times N.C. has hosted the NCAA Finals. … The Triangle is an incredible hotbed of women’s soccer and that’s not a new thing,” said Jen Cooper, the author of Keeper Notes NWSL Almanac.
The Carolina Courage, the professional precursor to the NC Courage, was one of the founding teams of the Women’s United Soccer Association (WUSA), the first fully professional women’s soccer league in the world. Originally slated for Orlando, the team relocated to North Carolina due to the state’s strong soccer culture after Orlando couldn’t secure a venue.
“It was a late decision to move the team, but it speaks to the strength of North Carolina as a soccer market. It speaks to how well-thought-of that market was then. You already had the most NCAA titles and such a wealth of not just Tar Heel players, but also Duke, Wake Forest, N.C. State players in the game,” Cooper said.
Carla Overbeck is as entrenched in the history of women’s soccer in North Carolina as anyone. A player for UNC from 1986-1989 and coach at Duke since 1992, Overbeck was a key player for the Carolina Courage and WUSA as a whole. A member of the USWNT 99ers, Overbeck retired with 168 caps and was one of the founding members of WUSA.
“It was such an important time in women’s soccer. There always has to be a first and there always has to be some founding members to start something like this. I’m really proud of our team and how we went about our business and fought to bring a women’s professional league to the United States,” Overbeck said.
The Courage played their inaugural season at UNC’s Fetzer Field before moving to what is now First Horizon Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park, the first soccer-specific stadium with a professional women’s team as its primary tenant.
“It was incredible because you had this unbelievable state-of-the-art stadium to play your games in. Then that was where we were based and the fields that we trained on were just below. You loved going to work. You loved the surface that was out there. It was Bermuda grass, and it was beautiful. It was a beautiful facility,” Overbeck said.
The stadium was truly unique at the time for WUSA and stood out as a premier venue.
“Of all the teams, it was the first to be in something that was basically their own venue. There were no other tenants. It wasn’t a football stadium. It wasn’t an old, decrepit stadium like some of them were,” Cooper said.
In addition to Overbeck as one of the league’s founding players, the roster featured some top internationals like three-time FIFA World Player of the Year and Germany’s all-time leading goal scorer Birgit Prinz, and 1995 Women’s World Cup Golden Ball winner Hege Riise, who led Norway to the 1995 title with five goals and five assists, suiting up for the team.
“So many other internationals from overseas came over because outside of the national team environment, it was the best arena for women that wanted to play professionally,” Overbeck said.
After finishing last in WUSA’s inaugural season, the Courage rebounded in 2002, winning the regular season with a 12-4-5 record. In the semifinals against the Atlanta Beat, Overbeck, three and a half months pregnant at the time, scored the golden goal to send the team to the final.
“I was chasing, trying to keep up with Birgit, who was running down the field with the ball. … Briana [Scurry] made a huge save and I was in the right place at the right time and knocked it in. We loved playing in front of our home crowd. It was pretty special to know that you had a little hand in making that league come to fruition was pretty cool,” Overbeck said.
The Courage then defeated the Washington Freedom 3-2 in the Founders Cup II, making history with Marcia McDermott as the first female coach to lead a professional women’s soccer team to a championship.
Though WUSA folded after three seasons, it laid the groundwork for the future of professional women’s soccer, including the NWSL and NC Courage.
“You have these proud moments. We were a part of its inception and to see where the national team is now and to think that the 99ers had a small part in getting it to where it is now is pretty special,” Overbeck said.
From youth to college to the pros, North Carolina has always been the place to make history in the women’s game and the Courage are poised to keep that tradition and legacy moving forward for many seasons to come.
Fast Facts:
- All four Tobacco Road schools have played in the Women’s College Cup Final, with Wake Forest being the last to do so by making the 2024 final against UNC. NC Courage Head Coach Sean Nahas’ brother, Damon, coached UNC in that match, while Wake Forest was led by Tony da Luz, father of NCFC great Austin da Luz.
- Before the Carolina Courage, the Raleigh Wings were a semi-professional team in the first iteration of the USL W-League. Overbeck also played for the Wings during her time with the USWNT alongside players from the local universities.
- NWSL PA Executive Director Meghann Burke played for the Carolina Courage and U.S. Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone played for the Raleigh Wings.
- There have been 17 NWSL players from North Carolina and 101 players who played collegiately in the state. Of those seventeen, two come from towns with populations smaller than 10,000: Megan Brigman of Laurinburg and Morgan Goff of Dunn. Other North Carolina municipalities represented include Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary, Charlotte, Apex, High Point, Wilson, Brevard, and Youngsville.
- The USWNT has played 17 games in N.C., tied for the sixth most of any state. Notable firsts in those matches include Courage great McCall Zerboni’s USWNT debut and Heather O’Reilly’s first goal for the senior team.
- The NC Courage were the first NWSL team to host and win the NWSL Championship, doing so in 2019. The year before, the team became the first to win the NWSL Shield and Championship.
