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Carolyn Ruoff’s goal felt like a rocket no one saw coming, launching the Portland Cherry Bombs into their inaugural season as the ball neatly tucked into the upper corner of Drip FC’s net in the ninth minute.
The goals kept coming, three more by full time, giving the Cherry Bombs a first win in their history. It was a hot start befitting the momentum already brewing off the pitch.
“With this organization being brand new, there wasn’t a lot of certainty of what to expect,” defender Audrey Dizon, who scored their second goal of the preseason exhibition game this past weekend, tells The Athletic. “To go out and for us to show up and have fun and enjoy being out there playing together, it was such a cool way to open the season.”
Fans let off pink smoke bombs when midfielder Ruoff scored that first goal. More than 2,000 smiling supporters — including members of the Portland Opera, who sang in the stands — filled out the Oregon city’s Lents Park on a Sunday night to mark the occasion.
“You could see the passion Portland has for supporting their sports teams,” Dizon says. However, the Cherry Bombs broke into the local scene before first kick, thanks to their savvy kit design and partnerships.
Starting this week, the Cherry Bombs will play in the USL W League, a competition unsanctioned by U.S. Soccer that sits between college and professional soccer in the United States. Their roster features the likes of Dizon, a rising junior at Gonzaga University in neighboring Washington, and Ruoff, who graduated from Cornell University in 2018 and has played for various teams since. The team even has a few high-school players.
The club are picking up on the interest surrounding women’s sports right now. More people are investing in the space than ever before, and the Cherry Bombs’ ownership group — Collide Sport — is no different. But with more teams getting involved in women’s sports, standing out can be difficult. From the start, the Cherry Bombs set out to find a way to do that, and “be culturally relevant” in the growing scene.
Weeks before that inaugural match, the team launched a loud marketing campaign, creating an identity through social media that is unapologetically Portland, inspired by the city’s music scene. Their team name is a reference to The Runaways’ hit song of the same name, released in 1976.
They found their viral moment when they released their inaugural kits, featuring Planned Parenthood as their front-of-kit sponsor. Their campaign included social media posts with U.S. women’s national team icon and broadcaster Shannon Boxx, as well as a Portland-based musician, Ava, in their drag persona. The kit quickly sold out.
“Fans want to cheer for a team they feel reflects their own values,” Courtney Schmidt, the team’s general manager, tells The Athletic. “They want to feel represented in that public space by the teams that they’re repping every day, and the teams that they’re following on social media and buying tickets to.”
For Schmidt, Planned Parenthood was a “dream target” when considering sponsors for the new women’s club. The team began speaking with them last year, before they even picked the club’s name. Schmidt leads partnerships for the Cherry Bombs and the ownership group’s two other teams, the Portland Pickles (baseball) and the Portland Bangers (men’s soccer). Those two sides are known for their vibrant marketing and energetic atmospheres. In many ways, the Cherry Bombs followed their lead.
“I was so excited to see how receptive (Planned Parenthood) were to an inaugural sports team, especially one that is so community-based,” Schmidt says. The nonprofit organization provides sexual-health care globally.
“A priority for all our teams is to create sport and entertainment that is accessible for everyone. You get a ticket and a beer for less than $20 at every single one of our games. That accessibility narrative was very applicable for Planned Parenthood, as well, and I think they saw a lot of themselves in our team, and wanted to be able to support that.
“We have this platform that we’re creating and continuing to grow, and I believe, especially now, more than ever, teams should be able to speak to their fans, and people want transparency on who they’re supporting — and we’re ready to make that clear for everyone.”
At their core, the Cherry Bombs are a grassroots-level club. They play in a public park, so had to build a stadium-like atmosphere around the pitch they’re using. They bring in concessions, grills, coolers and fridges to create the necessary infrastructure to host a match. There are bleachers and picnic tables for fans, and they are responsible for bringing in signage as well as trash cans. Spectators also bring their lawn chairs to watch games more comfortably.
“Our goal is to make Lents Park our home,” Schmidt says. The team want to “continue to give back to our community and build upon this plain turf field that’s been here for years, and get permanent lighting in, new goals, bathrooms and things like that”.
Crucially, the team provide a pathway for women’s soccer players who hope to continue playing at a high level or develop towards playing the sport professionally. The women’s soccer landscape in the United States is constantly evolving, with more leagues for players to choose from than ever before. However, those pathways do remain limited.
“It serves the women really well,” Cherry Bombs head coach Janine Szpara tells The Athletic. “You go through all this club soccer and then go through college, and then, for (these) women, they’re in their prime at 22, or not even in their prime yet. We have a pro league now, but there’s still more players than there are opportunities to play.”
“It’ll be fun one day when we get our first Cherry Bombs player who made it to the professionals,” Schmidt says.
Until then, the Cherry Bombs are still growing, with players joining the team on a rolling basis as they return from college. As of last month, Szpara said the team signed 32 players, though only 18 are registered for each game. About that many players presently are with their reserve team, including six or seven who are still in high school, she said.
Most of the roster have deep ties to the greater Portland area — either playing or previously playing for local programs, or even coaching youth teams in the region.
The diversity of the roster is evident when you consider Lillie and Tess French, sisters who play for the Cherry Bombs. Lillie, 28, scored the team’s third goal last week, off an assist from her younger sibling. The pair have a six-year age gap.
To Lillie, playing for this club is about much more than simply winning games.
“What the Cherry Bombs are trying to do is create an inclusive environment where everyone is welcome to come watch sports, (where) everyone’s welcome to be a part of this fun, energetic, passionate fan group,” she says. “It’s not just about soccer. It’s about much more.”
During halftime of their first match, as Lillie French was walking to the team’s tent, she recognized two girls from the youth team she coaches. They were at the match with handmade signs, rooting her on.
“Hopefully, they’re going to come out to some more games,” French says. “Hopefully, they can strive to do the same things when they’re older.”
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Portland Thorns, NWSL, Women's Soccer, Culture
2026 The Athletic Media Company
Continue reading...
The goals kept coming, three more by full time, giving the Cherry Bombs a first win in their history. It was a hot start befitting the momentum already brewing off the pitch.
“With this organization being brand new, there wasn’t a lot of certainty of what to expect,” defender Audrey Dizon, who scored their second goal of the preseason exhibition game this past weekend, tells The Athletic. “To go out and for us to show up and have fun and enjoy being out there playing together, it was such a cool way to open the season.”
Fans let off pink smoke bombs when midfielder Ruoff scored that first goal. More than 2,000 smiling supporters — including members of the Portland Opera, who sang in the stands — filled out the Oregon city’s Lents Park on a Sunday night to mark the occasion.
“You could see the passion Portland has for supporting their sports teams,” Dizon says. However, the Cherry Bombs broke into the local scene before first kick, thanks to their savvy kit design and partnerships.
Starting this week, the Cherry Bombs will play in the USL W League, a competition unsanctioned by U.S. Soccer that sits between college and professional soccer in the United States. Their roster features the likes of Dizon, a rising junior at Gonzaga University in neighboring Washington, and Ruoff, who graduated from Cornell University in 2018 and has played for various teams since. The team even has a few high-school players.
The club are picking up on the interest surrounding women’s sports right now. More people are investing in the space than ever before, and the Cherry Bombs’ ownership group — Collide Sport — is no different. But with more teams getting involved in women’s sports, standing out can be difficult. From the start, the Cherry Bombs set out to find a way to do that, and “be culturally relevant” in the growing scene.
Weeks before that inaugural match, the team launched a loud marketing campaign, creating an identity through social media that is unapologetically Portland, inspired by the city’s music scene. Their team name is a reference to The Runaways’ hit song of the same name, released in 1976.
They found their viral moment when they released their inaugural kits, featuring Planned Parenthood as their front-of-kit sponsor. Their campaign included social media posts with U.S. women’s national team icon and broadcaster Shannon Boxx, as well as a Portland-based musician, Ava, in their drag persona. The kit quickly sold out.
“Fans want to cheer for a team they feel reflects their own values,” Courtney Schmidt, the team’s general manager, tells The Athletic. “They want to feel represented in that public space by the teams that they’re repping every day, and the teams that they’re following on social media and buying tickets to.”
For Schmidt, Planned Parenthood was a “dream target” when considering sponsors for the new women’s club. The team began speaking with them last year, before they even picked the club’s name. Schmidt leads partnerships for the Cherry Bombs and the ownership group’s two other teams, the Portland Pickles (baseball) and the Portland Bangers (men’s soccer). Those two sides are known for their vibrant marketing and energetic atmospheres. In many ways, the Cherry Bombs followed their lead.
“I was so excited to see how receptive (Planned Parenthood) were to an inaugural sports team, especially one that is so community-based,” Schmidt says. The nonprofit organization provides sexual-health care globally.
“A priority for all our teams is to create sport and entertainment that is accessible for everyone. You get a ticket and a beer for less than $20 at every single one of our games. That accessibility narrative was very applicable for Planned Parenthood, as well, and I think they saw a lot of themselves in our team, and wanted to be able to support that.
“We have this platform that we’re creating and continuing to grow, and I believe, especially now, more than ever, teams should be able to speak to their fans, and people want transparency on who they’re supporting — and we’re ready to make that clear for everyone.”
At their core, the Cherry Bombs are a grassroots-level club. They play in a public park, so had to build a stadium-like atmosphere around the pitch they’re using. They bring in concessions, grills, coolers and fridges to create the necessary infrastructure to host a match. There are bleachers and picnic tables for fans, and they are responsible for bringing in signage as well as trash cans. Spectators also bring their lawn chairs to watch games more comfortably.
“Our goal is to make Lents Park our home,” Schmidt says. The team want to “continue to give back to our community and build upon this plain turf field that’s been here for years, and get permanent lighting in, new goals, bathrooms and things like that”.
Crucially, the team provide a pathway for women’s soccer players who hope to continue playing at a high level or develop towards playing the sport professionally. The women’s soccer landscape in the United States is constantly evolving, with more leagues for players to choose from than ever before. However, those pathways do remain limited.
“It serves the women really well,” Cherry Bombs head coach Janine Szpara tells The Athletic. “You go through all this club soccer and then go through college, and then, for (these) women, they’re in their prime at 22, or not even in their prime yet. We have a pro league now, but there’s still more players than there are opportunities to play.”
“It’ll be fun one day when we get our first Cherry Bombs player who made it to the professionals,” Schmidt says.
Until then, the Cherry Bombs are still growing, with players joining the team on a rolling basis as they return from college. As of last month, Szpara said the team signed 32 players, though only 18 are registered for each game. About that many players presently are with their reserve team, including six or seven who are still in high school, she said.
Most of the roster have deep ties to the greater Portland area — either playing or previously playing for local programs, or even coaching youth teams in the region.
The diversity of the roster is evident when you consider Lillie and Tess French, sisters who play for the Cherry Bombs. Lillie, 28, scored the team’s third goal last week, off an assist from her younger sibling. The pair have a six-year age gap.
To Lillie, playing for this club is about much more than simply winning games.
“What the Cherry Bombs are trying to do is create an inclusive environment where everyone is welcome to come watch sports, (where) everyone’s welcome to be a part of this fun, energetic, passionate fan group,” she says. “It’s not just about soccer. It’s about much more.”
During halftime of their first match, as Lillie French was walking to the team’s tent, she recognized two girls from the youth team she coaches. They were at the match with handmade signs, rooting her on.
“Hopefully, they’re going to come out to some more games,” French says. “Hopefully, they can strive to do the same things when they’re older.”
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Portland Thorns, NWSL, Women's Soccer, Culture
2026 The Athletic Media Company
Continue reading...
