There are lots of North Carolina connections in NWSL’s new LA team

The National Women’s Soccer League announced Tuesday that it awarded the rights for a professional women’s soccer team in Los Angeles to a majority woman-owned group, with a planned kickoff of spring 2022.

The ownership group is led by Academy Award-winning actress Natalie Portman, technology venture capitalist Kara Nortman, media and gaming entrepreneur Julie Uhrman, who will serve as team president, and tech entrepreneur and venture capitalist Alexis Ohanian, whose firm, Initialized Capital, led the investment. The group of investors also includes 30 other men and women from the entertainment and business industries, as well as current and former female athletes.

A stand in name of “Angel City” is being used until an official name and home stadium is announced sometime before the end of the year.

“Today we take an exciting step by announcing the first women majority-owned and led ownership group,” Portman said in a release by the NWSL. “I am thrilled by the opportunity to partner with this incredible group of people to bring a professional women’s soccer team to Los Angeles.”

A number of women who are members of the ownership group have ties to North Carolina, including former U.S. Womens’ National Team star Mia Hamm, who played soccer for University of North Carolina.

Hamm led the Tar Heels to four national championships between 1989-94, and finished her collegiate career with 103 goals and 72 assists. She was unanimously selected national player of the year in 1992 and 1993.

It was in the midst of her time at UNC that Hamm helped the USWNT win the inaugural FIFA Women’s World Cup in 1991, taking a redshirt year to do so. Hamm was also on the team when it won a second time in 1999 and when it won Olympic gold medals in 1996 and 2004.

Another member of the ownership group is Tisha Venturini-Hoch, who played alongside Hamm both at UNC and on the USWNT. Venturini played for the Tar Heels from 1991-94 and won the Hermann Trophy among other awards throughout her career. Her 69 goals are the fourth-most in ACC history.

Hamm, Venturini and USWNT teammate Kristine Lilly founded the TeamFirst Soccer Academy together, which aims to help young soccer players develop individually while also learning about the unselfish team nature of the sport.

The third former Tar Heel in Angel City’s ownership is Lorrie Fair Allen. She helped keep UNC women’s soccer in the national spotlight after Hamm and Venturini graduated, as the team won national titles in 1996, 1997 and 1999. She also played for the USWNT in its 1999 World Cup run as the team’s youngest player and in the 2000 Olympics, when it won a silver medal.

She returned to UNC in 2016 to pursue her online master’s degree in public administration. Fair has worked as a U.S. State Department sports envoy since 2009 and is also the Chief Program Director for the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Program.

Also on the ownership team is Saskia Webber, who formerly served as an assistant women’s soccer coach at N.C. State University. Webber played alongside Hamm, Venturini and Fair in the 1999 World Cup as as a goalie. She’s currently the goalkeeper coach for the LA Bulls youth soccer club.

NC Courage owner Steve Malik welcomed Angel City to the league via Twitter on Tuesday.

“Welcome [Angel City] to #NWSL,” he wrote. “Excellent owners with outstanding female leadership and diverse representation. NWSL making a huge statement even during a challenging time for sports.”

Angel City will join league play in 2022, the same year Racing Louisville FC is set to kick off. With the addition of both clubs, the NWSL will have a total of 11 teams.

“The growth trajectory of the NWSL is incredibly exciting, but we also need to be strategic and thoughtful about how fast we expand and the communities we partner with,” Lisa Baird, NWSL commissioner, said in a press release. “We’ve long sought the right partner in LA considering the NWSL fanbase that already exists in the region and the massive interest in women’s soccer in general. Those factors, along with an incredible ownership group make this an ideal situation and we couldn’t be more thrilled to move forward.”

This story was originally published July 22, 2020 at 2:38 PM.