When
I first started writing about the experience of a Washington Spirit volunteer,
I wanted the share the perspective of being a member of the Spirit Crew and
what being a member of the Spirit Family meant to me. But there is so much more than the first
three parts of this series can adequately articulate. And the 2014 season hasn’t even started yet.
Just because it has been the
off-season doesn’t necessarily mean that the Spirit Crew has been idle. Well, in a way we have… but being a part of
the Crew has afforded us opportunities to enjoy the sport, the team, and the
players we cheer for that I couldn’t have possibly imagined before. The @DCSpiritCrew Twitter account was created
to help share some of the experiences we have to the rest of the Spirit Family,
whether they’re young, old, near, or far from the Maryland SoccerPlex. Spiritnanigans is probably, in my mind, one
of the best ways to describe the crazy adventures the Spirit Crew have as we
support the women’s soccer, the NWSL, and the Washington Spirit, even if Coach
Mark Parsons couldn’t pronounce it on one of the Spirit Live Chats.
What exactly is a
Spiritnanigan? To be honest, I have no
idea. Is it fans doing something in
support of the Washington Spirit? Is it
a celebration from Tiffany Weimer, like she promised during her Spirit
Ambassador chat? Is it just the fun we
all have supporting the team? Is it all
of the above and more? I think it is
what we make of it. It’s like the Spirit
Family, it’s the team staff, players, volunteers, fans, and everyone that wants
to help the team and the league grow.
It’s all the things we do to help make the NWSL and the Washington
Spirit prosper.
So far this off-season, the
Spirit Crew’s Spiritnanigans have ranged from the solemn, laying wreaths at
Arlington National Cemetery, to the fun and exciting, like the going to the
NWSL College Draft in Philadelphia, PA and travelling to Frisco, TX to support
both the US Women’s National Team and the Canadian Women’s National Team in
what was the largest crowd for women’s soccer on US soil since 2003. Spiritnanigans are also the adventures and
fun that we have together while doing those things, like running into and
chatting with Yael Averbuch before the draft because she, like us, showed up
early to the convention center or helping a group of stranded travelers in a
parking garage by jump starting their vehicle while wearing our Spirit
scarves. Spiritnanigans are getting the
fans involved in solving our existential crisis of trying to figure out which
jersey we should wear to the US/Canada game: Ali Krieger or Diana
Matheson. Spiritnanigans are us wearing
our Spirit scarves around Dallas and talking with fans in the stands about the
NWSL and the team. Spiritnanigans are
also even getting input from our Twitter followers over whether or not
something is a zip-up hoodie or something called a “sweat jacket.” Spiritnanigans is our passion for what we do
and what the logo represents and it’s not just limited to the Spirit Crew. Spiritnanigans is about what the entire
Spirit Family can do to help get the word out about the NWSL and the Washington
Spirit. It’s about joining the Spirit
Crew. It’s about becoming a Spirit Ambassador. It’s about buying season tickets,
going to games, and sharing the love we have for our team to other people. And above all, it’s about representing the
Spirit Family and having fun while doing it.
The Spirit Crew will continue
the Spiritnanigans and we would love to see everyone else’s Spiritnanigans as
the pre-season and regular season get ready to kick off. Follow us on Twitter @DCSpiritCrew and join
in on the fun. We’d love to see what
kind of #Spiritnanigans everyone else gets into.
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