What The Heart Wants

We Got Next

The Hearts and Friends congregated at the Shissler Recreation Center just after 10am. The 14-strong group entered the facility and went to the main gymnasium. Placing their bags on the bleachers, they sat down and changed shoes while shedding unnecessary layers of clothing. Julie O'Hara saw the group and came down to chat with the players.

Julie O.: Brian said that you were coming. I didn't tell Sarah, so she should be pretty surprised when she sees all of you. Same with Deanna. There are also some players from the Anderson Monarchs club in South Philly who come now and then. I see a couple of them out there now along with one of their alumnae.

Steph M.: They're the all-black team that had a documentary made on them a few years ago, right?

Julie O.: Right.

Once everyone was laced up, Christen yelled across the gym, "We've got next!" The youth players looked over at the bleachers and were jaw-dropping stunned to see who was there. Sarah O'Hara ran over and hugged Ali and Steph Labbe, then went to Kristie and her Steph to exchange greetings. Deanna squealed slightly at seeing Diana and Rhian along with Julie and Christen. The rest of the players came over tentatively, but once Sarah and Deanna waved for them to join the group, they hurriedly approached them.

Ali: Hi girls! Someone told us that there was a group that played pickup here on Saturday mornings, so we thought we'd come check them out.

Riley Tanner (Sarah's club teammate): You're Ali Krieger!

Ali: According to my birth certificate, that would be correct.

Deanna: Rhian, when are you and Diana getting married?

Rhian: Next Valentine's Day in front of the LOVE Statue.

Kristie: As are Steph and I.

Morgan: Same with me and Sammy Jo.

Sarah: Wild! 

Carm: I'm Coach Moscato from the Philadelphia Hearts, the city's new NWSL team. What you see before you is about half of our team along with a couple of special guests. We'd like to play with you guys today. Give us about 20 minutes to get warmed up by ourselves and then we'll sub you into the game.

Dionne Stewart (Monarch U14 player): Serious?!?!

Christen: Serious.

The youth grabbed seats in the bleachers while the pros took the floor. Opening teams were as follows:

Orange: Steph Labbe; Ali, Kristie, Danielle, Diana, Carm, Steph Ochs.

Blue: Sammy Jo; Morgan, Steph McCaffrey, Jen, Rhian, Julie, Christen.

The Blue team took the kickoff, with the three current and former Red Stars forwards teaming up for a goal against Steph. The Orange team quickly responded through Diana and Danielle's quick thinking and ball movement that freed up Steph Ochs in front of Sammy Jo. The lopsided nature of the Blue team's roster placed more pressure on Rhian and Julie than expected, resulting in a handful of 3 v 2s that ended up in the net. Not to be outdone, Christen made both Ali and Carm look pedestrian before slamming a shot past the Hearts' top goalkeeper.

After around 20 minutes, Ali, Carm, Rhian, and Diana came off and were replaced by a couple of Monarchs, Sarah, and Riley. Ali and Carm went over to talk with one of the adults watching the proceedings and inquired about what kind of opportunities female youth players had for future development as they advanced in age. They were told that the Anderson Monarchs try to keep as many of them together up the ranks, but sometimes a player needs to move onto a club like FC Delco to get the proper challenge and exposure for a potential career in the sport. Several more Hearts subbed out with Ali going back in along with Diana. Steph McCaffrey joined Carm and was filled in by her on the current conversation, which intrigued the forward as she had begun thinking about getting involved in urban soccer development for girls.

As the clock ticked toward Noon, the pickup game started to wind down. Carm asked Julie if there were a place in the facility where they could set up a lunch gathering for the girls and order in some food. She went out into the hall and got things organized for the post-play gathering.

At the conclusion of the game, everyone went into the arts and crafts room where a handful of pizzas from Fishtown Pizza were laid out. The pros and youth players mingled, with the younger set asking some pretty precocious questions of their idols, including whether some of their favorite ships actually existed. Steph McCaffrey showed those around her the ring that Kristie gave her as proof of their being legit and also told them about Sam and Abby. Ryan Berley showed up around 12:30 to pick up Deanna and took a picture of her with Diana, Rhian, Ali, and Steph Labbe that he then sent out on Instagram with the caption: "Guess who showed up for my daughter's pickup game this morning". Julie asked Ryan how the promotion at the Franklin Fountain for the Hearts went, to which he stated that the shop was able to donate $1,200 to their fund because he and Eric decided to up the donation to $3 per Broken Hearts sundae sold. Wendy made an appearance at the end of the lunch gathering with tickets for the home opener along with an offer for the pickup group to be the team's "mascots" for the April 14th match as well. Julie and Mo'ne Davis from the Monarchs stated that they would deal with getting the players together for it and would bring it up at next week's Saturday morning pickup.