07/21/2020 - 17:17
- Clarín.com
- sports
Actress Natalie Portman leads the founding group of a new women's soccer franchise that will debut in 2022 , a project that also includes other Hollywood figures such as Jessica Chastain and Eva Longoria and athletes such as Serena Williams, announced the women's league (NWSL) on Tuesday. U.S.
"A group largely founded by women and led by actress and activist Natalie Portman (...) has secured the exclusive right to bring a professional women's soccer team to Los Angeles to debut in the spring of 2022," The NWSL reported in a statement.
The Los Angeles team, tentatively named Angel City , will become the NWSL's eleventh team as another new franchise, Louisville FC, will join the current nine teams in 2021.
In addition to Portman, other members of the founding group are technology venture capital investor Kara Nortman and video game entrepreneur Julie Uhrman, who will serve as president of the new soccer team.
"Today we are taking an exciting step by announcing the first female-owned owning group," said Portman, an Oscar winner in 2011 for the movie "Black Swan."
"Sports are a joyous way to bring people together, and this has the power to make a tangible change for female athletes both in our community and in the professional sphere," she added.
"We hope to have a substantial impact in our community, committing ourselves to expanding access to sports for young people in Los Angeles," added Portman, who during his career has been involved in various social causes, including the 'Time's Up' movement, which fights sexual harassment and abuse in the entertainment industry.
Investors in the new franchise include other actresses like Chastain, Longoria, Jennifer Garner, and America Ferrera , and athletes like tennis player Serena Williams and more than a dozen former soccer players, including Mia Hamm and Julie Foudy.
The NWSL, which celebrated its inaugural season in 2013, was the first professional team sport in the United States to restart activities amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Her Challenge Cup tournament, renounced by figures such as the current women's Golden Ball, Megan Rapinoe, has been held since June 27 in two stadiums behind closed doors in the state of Utah and will end with the title match on Sunday.
The United States is one of the great powers of women's soccer, so much so that it is the current world champion.
(With information from AFP)