When we started this historic fourth season of NWSL, we were enamored with our Twitter-hip new coach and snazzy lineup, but mindful of the challenges we would face losing so many players to the Rio Olympics. One thing was clear: the Thorns would need our support more than ever. We needed to be organized and loud, and continue to set the bar for other NWSL SGs starting to make more visible efforts.

Thanks to the success of the tifo donation pin and our already-solid merchandise sales, Riveters’ operating budget sat at a comfortable level early in the season. It became clear we had the capacity to do a bit more.

I volunteered to represent the Riveters on (read: invited myself to) the Community Outreach committee for 107IST. Since we didn’t have a specific seat there already, and I was kind of a noob, I just brought cookies and hoped for the best.

Needless to say, they were all extremely welcoming and eager to help us extend our impact. As it turns out, all I needed to do was ask a few simple questions and magical things started to happen around me.

We chose a handful of local organizations for our Match Day Donation Drives, anticipating possibly meager first-attempt results…and we were totally wrong. Let’s just say I now know the exact diaper capacity of a 2010 Prius and it’s pretty impressive.

By the end of the 2016 season, we made over a dozen donation drops from the match day drives. It felt so good to stand there and just stuff the bare shelves at some of these places. Our mission of choosing severely underfunded organizations made me see just how quickly those resources get used, though.

In 2016 we also sold A TON of merchandise. New t-shirts, some really nice patches and buttons, and a trusty old bandana had our bank balance looking very tidy, indeed. After sorting out next season’s operating needs, I am proud to say the Rose City Riveters were able to donate $5000 back into our community for the first time!

Five $1000 donations were made this week to:

Rose Haven http://rosehaven.org/

Raphael House http://raphaelhouse.com/

ImpactNW https://impactnw.org/

OutsideIN http://outsidein.org/

The Living Room http://www.thelivingroomyouth.org/

These funds are going to have a huge impact on these small, local organizations, and I can’t thank you all enough for pitching in cash, great ideas, supplies, vehicles, and braun when you had them available. We have some new volunteers joining the ranks, and planning for 2017 is well underway. I am so excited to see how much bigger, better and, most importantly, LOUDER the Rose City Riveters can be!

Don’t forget, the Timbers Army Winter Classic is coming up, and there’s still a short window of time to register.

There are men’s, women’s, and co-ed divisions, and the tournament will be at the all-new Rose City Futsal West location. What’s not to like? For $250 per team or $30 per individual, you get a three game guarantee, too. Why not join in on the fun?

With the Thorns season extending into the playoffs, we’re also extending our Match Day Drives. This Sunday, please plan to lend a hand to the individuals and families served by Impact NW.

Impact NW is a local organization that has been helping low-income Portland residents since 1966. Today, they have services available in Multnomah, Clark, Washington and Clackamas Counties and parts of Washington state.

“By working with schools, businesses, faith communities, other community-based organizations and governmental agencies we create a safety net and springboard for community members to improve their quality of life and achieve independence.”

Impact NW offers immediate assistance to those in our community who are either homeless or in transition, and often those they are helping do not have access to food prep stations.

Please bring non-perishable pantry items to the Fanladen (1633 SW Alder St) before you head into the stadium. The individuals and families these organizations are helping may not have access to a safe home to go and cook in, so if your item requires cooking, please make it microwavable and easy to open. Often those seeking help are in need of very substantial foods, like peanut butter or tuna. Below is a complete list of the items we are looking to collect:

• Oatmeal (packets)
• Peanut butter (jars and single-serve cups)
• Cereals (single-serve packages)
• Pop-Tarts
• Noodles and pasta (canned with pop-up lids, cups, or microwavable bags)
• Rice dishes (cups, microwavable bags)
• Mac & cheese (regular boxed and microwavable)
• Fruit cups
• Fruit leather
• Granola/trail bars
• Crackers
• Rice cakes (Quaker)
• Assorted nuts (single-serve packages)
• Juice box packs
• Canned goods (pop-up lids are best, please) – Soup, vegetables, tuna, chili

When people ask me about the differences in supporting the Timbers and the Thorns, I give complicated answers about the different fan bases and supporters groups, and the intersections and overlaps of the two, and demographics and visibility and growth and whatnot.

But then I find myself at the airport just after noon on a Monday to greet a team who’s just won a league Shield and I forget all those things.

It’s not about the number of butts in seats. It’s not about who sells how many jerseys. It’s not even about that Shield.

It’s about support.

We will be there, win or lose. We will be there, rain or shine. We will be there.

There were somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 of us at PDX Monday afternoon to greet the team as they arrived home as 2016’s NWSL Shield winners. They looked tired from their travels, but happy to be home, and ready to get to work preparing for Sunday’s playoff match, the first home playoff match for the Thorns in franchise history.

Among stalwart supporters and national team members, is one of the littlest Riveters, Harper. She’s new to us, but to me, she represents future generations of players and supporters.

She wore sparkly shoes to the last home match. She sat on her dad’s shoulders and waved a flag as the team came off the field. She’s one of us. She’s all of us. She’s just a tad shorter. But someday, she’ll kick a ball on that field or design tifo that’s raised in the stands. Next level, next generation support.

Last we checked, there were still a few tickets left for Sunday’s match. Go get them. Bring a friend.

Start thinking about what possible excuses you can give your boss should the need for another airport greeting arise.

In each of the four National Women’s Soccer League seasons, the Rose City Riveters have presented a trophy to the Thorns player who exemplifies what the supporters consider to be vanguard traits: connecting the spirit of the club with the city’s character, and their selfless contributions to both. These trophies have evolved over the years and intentionally carry an element describable as “We-Can-Do-It-Ourselves” if you may. Utilizing the makers and engineers at the local creative space ADX Portland, this year’s trophy features a reclaimed industrial gear, hand-crafted rose made of copper and steel, and fabricated steel background featuring the Riveters badge. It also has some fancy words on it which are about to be explained.

Some schools of thought insist that it is defense which wins games. The Rose City Riveters have determined that its consummate defender and backline leader has won not just hardware but their hearts. Emily Menges, who has worn her fervency like a badge of honor for her whole career, was voted as Player of the Year after a week-long poll contributed to by hundreds of Riveters. To commemorate this choice, Menges was presented this unique trophy after the final home match of the 2016 season on September 11th.

Throughout this season Menges has been a standout, a vital play-maker who has helped to keep the Thorns in the NWSL playoff race. She has shown to be a steady, reliable and club-minded player during a season loaded with instability thanks to national team call-ups, unfortunate injuries and the dreams of success for all who played at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Her individual production on the pitch is the stuff of highlight reels. Amazing as those efforts have been, when combined with her numerous displays of genuine appreciation to her teammates, supporters and everyday fans of the Thorns (those smiles and finger-points and waves which are less noticeable by the large cameras but noted and shared all the same by individuals), they have endeared Menges to us as a step above all.

It is interesting to note that the 2016 Riveters Player of the Year choice was the first year where the figures showed significant parity among the candidates rather than a singular, distinctive pick. This should be considered as high praise not just to the choice of Menges, but to all who were close in the running, who were voted for en masse, as well as those who have been considered in the past. We are fortunate to have a proud club, one that is full of talented and impassioned players to consider and honor.

Congratulations to Emily Menges, thank you to all of the players, and Onward Rose City.

Ever had a moment (or several) of incredible gratitude for our amazing capos, drums, and horns? How many times have you thought to yourself, “I should buy them a drink!”

Now is your chance.

BYCAP—Buy Your Capo A Pint—will be held September 11th, when the Thorns take on WNY Flash. In advance of the match, we’ll pass the hat (well—buckets) throughout the north end to collect your cash contributions towards pints. These “pint dollars” will in turn be funneled back into our community to provide financial aid opportunities at nonprofit Rock & Roll Camp for Girls, which aims to build girls’ self-esteem through music creation and performance.

“Creative voices of girls and women need to be amplified to create social change. Girls need positive role models and support for their creative endeavors. We can build a community where girls support each other rather than tear each other down. We can empower girls to recognize, understand and respond to discrimination. ‘Girls Rock’ is more than just a slogan.” —Rock & Roll Camp for Girls

Please help your beloved capos, drums, and horns give back to our community through BYCAP. 

The last Match Day Drive of the 2016 NWSL *regular* season is coming up on Sunday. Since school is kicking off, we are working with the HOPE program to replenish their school supplies for Vancouver-area school kids.

The Homeless Outreach Promoting Education (HOPE) program is a program that works with area homeless shelters to provide support to families with school-aged children. The goals of HOPE are to help students maintain consistent education while their families are in transition, provide educational opportunities to homeless students, and ensure that the schools and families are meeting students’ needs. HOPE works with families to get kids registered for school, arranges transportation for kids to keep going to the same school even if they move outside the school’s boundaries, provides tutoring and after-school programs, and helps families find resources in our community.

The Riveters are asking for donations of basic school supplies to help HOPE achieve their mission. The organization has requested the following items:

• Markers
• 3-ring binders
• Metal blade scissors
• #2 pencils – mechanical pencils are not permitted
• Colored pencils
• Scientific calculators
• Composition notebooks

Please bring these items to the Fanladen (1633 SW Alder) before the last home match. The Fanladen will be open from 4:30pm – 6:00pm on Sunday, September 11th.

In May of this year, many of you took the time to complete a survey created by Andrew Guest, PhD and Anne Luijten from the University of Portland. As you may recall, the purpose of the survey was in part to determine why the Thorns are one of the most popular women’s sports teams in the world. Thank you to those who took the time to add your contribution via the survey and interviews.

Dr. Guest has shared the results of the research with us, which you can view here.

While some of the contents won’t come as a surprise, it is an incredibly informative piece and great for sharing.

Time to vote for who has captured our hearts during the 2016 season. We started off with a bang, and the Thorns are racing toward playoffs in a good position.

Take a couple of minutes to think about the player contributions this season and who you want to see honored after the final home match of the regular season on September 11th.

As we get ready for the last three home games of the regular season, it’s time to fire up the Match Day Drive again!

For this drive, we’re asking for tampons, pads, condoms, diapers, and baby formula. This may seem like an odd assortment of items, but all are listed as critical needs by the organizations we have been supporting all season. Most of these women’s health-related items are expensive and overlooked during your average donation drive.

The need for pads and tampons is high given that these items are not covered by food stamps and the annual costs for these items can be over $70 a year per person, as noted in a New York Times article in early 2015.

The donations will be collected for Rose Haven and for Janus Youth Program, which has an Access Center located right above the Fanladen. Janus works with area runaway and homeless youth on emergency shelter, job placement, access to services, and education assistance. Janus was founded in 1972 and today serves over 6,000 Portland youths and families per year.

This Match Day Drive will last through the next two home games. Please bring your donations to the Fanladen (1633 SW Alder) before or after the Thorns matches on Sunday, 9/4 and Wednesday, 9/7. The Fanladen is open 2 hours before kickoff and for 1 hour after the team takes their lap.