Photography by J.B. Forbes/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP
MLS Expansion St Louis Soccer
Patty Taylor, left to right, Jo Ann Taylor Kindle, Carolyn Kindle Betz, and Chrissy Taylor, the ownership group of the new St. Louis soccer franchise
When Carolyn Kindle Betz greeted a buzzing crowd at Palladium on August 20, history was made in two ways. First, St. Louis had been awarded a Major League Soccer team. Second, it marked a first for the league and a rarity in professional sports: a majority women–led ownership group.
“Being the first majority female–led ownership group in MLS history affords us the opportunity to be role models during an important time for women,” Kindle Betz later noted. “Hopefully, we inspire young women to follow their dreams. Whether it’s business or sports, if they set their minds to it, they can accomplish it.”
The ownership group, MLS4TheLou, comprises eight members of the Taylor family—Kindle Betz, Andy Taylor, Jo Ann Taylor Kindle, Alison Kindle Hogan, Barbara Taylor, Christine Taylor, Kelly Taylor, and Patricia Taylor—as well as World Wide Technology CEO Jim Kavanaugh. At the forefront of that group is Kindle Betz.
“She had a vision,” says St. Louis native Ruth Harker, who played on the first-ever U.S. Women’s National Team. “We needed a team here.” Harker, who played at the University of Missouri–St. Louis before going on to be named one of the most valuable players at the U.S. Olympic Festival in 1985, sees St. Louis as a springboard for soccer. “If you look at the men’s team in the ’60s and ’70s that beat England, most of those players were men from St. Louis,” she says. “There’s a very, very rich history here, and the springboard definitely helped me.”
It’s also been a launching pad for other St. Louisans, including defender Becky Sauerbrunn, who took home the World Cup this summer as part of the U.S. Women’s National Team. Sauerbrunn has made an impact on and off the field, fighting for pay equity and better working conditions. While she’s excited about a primarily women-led ownership group, she looks forward to when it’s not considered an anomaly. “I think so many of us, for so long, have thought of playing or coaching as the two main avenues to staying involved in the game,” she told SLM. “Having women at the top and in the front offices of organizations can only help the game grow and reach new populations of people.”
That representation matters, says Malia Dunbar, who heads the Louligan Ladies, members of the St. Louligan soccer fan group. Dunbar recalls one of the group’s younger members, enthusiastically thanking Kindle Betz. “Just to see the younger girls embrace this,” Dunbar says. “This will open up doors for them.”
Harker recalls her own high school team playing at halftime of St. Louis Steamers games years ago. “Your hopes and dreams remained alive because of those things,” she says. “There’s a ton of outreach you can do from that platform.”
The ownership group is looking for other ways to provide opportunities to students in underserved communities, Kavanaugh recently told SLM, noting that “soccer can teach kids of all walks of life good habits: discipline, rigor, work ethic, teamwork.”
Harker, who didn’t play soccer until high school, at age 14, because her “parents didn’t have any money,” hopes an MLS team can impact St. Louis youth: “I think children benefit just from having a team, watching the excitement of the city getting a team,” she says, “and making it accessible for all people.”
