SALT LAKE CITY — The National Women’s Soccer League has announced that a 25-game, Olympic-style tournament will be held this summer in the Salt Lake City area.
It may seem like an unlikely place for a major soccer tournament, but Real Salt Lake was one of the first teams in Major League Soccer, which is a fairly recent development, considering the longtime international passion for the sport.
Major League Soccer was born as part of a deal the United States made with FIFA in order to host the World Cup in Los Angeles in 1994. The World Cup was successful, but the league got off to a rocky start.
Now, soccer — or football, depending on who you’re talking to — is gaining more popularity with American sports fans, and Real Salt Lake was one of the first teams to really take off.
Deseret News intern Jared Dann moved to America from the U.K., and he grew up loving his version of “football.” He had multiple teams in his town of Nottingham, but when he moved here, he was surprised at what he could learn from this little team in Utah.
In fact, there’s a lot to learn from soccer in Utah. Even a diehard British soccer fan thinks so.