Champion women’s soccer team is first from league to visit White House

Published: Sep. 23, 2024 at 10:07 AM EDT|Updated: Sep. 23, 2024 at 10:53 AM EDT

(Gray News) - President Joe Biden welcomed the National Women’s Soccer League champions Gotham FC to the White House on Monday.

The White House regularly welcomes champion teams from the world of professional and college sports all the time, but this is the first time the White House welcomed a team from the women’s league, the NWSL said.

Gotham FC, based in the New York and New Jersey area, beat Seattle Reign last November 2-1.

President Joe Biden, center, is presented with a team jersey from NJ/NY Gotham FC head coach Juan Carlos Amoros, left, and teammate Midge Purse, right, during an event in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, to welcome the NJ/NY Gotham FC and celebrate their 2023 NWSL championship. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)(AP)

Biden saluted the players and league.

“You never gave up. You never gave up,” Biden said of Gotham FC, which had faced adversity in recent years, including a last-place finish.

He also saluted the record attendance for the championship game: “I think it’s fair to say everyone watches women’s sports.”

The league said the NWSL “just hit a milestone of 1.5 million fans in attendance.”

The White House ceremony will also feature Gotham players, staff, ownership and NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman.