- [Narrator] This is a story about how one city in Oregon changed the world of sports.

Generations of ground-breakers lived in this place and continued to live here.

They all saw a future where women and girls have equal opportunity to play and compete, and fans who show up to passionately support them.

It's a story about legendary pitchers and world champions, and soccer dynasties, and life-changing legislation, and all of it ties back to the city of Portland.

So how did this place become the epicenter of this world?

The history here is so deep, and might be surprising even for the most diehard fan.

- Thousands and thousands of women have spent decades building a foundation to support what's happening now.

- It doesn't matter if you're from New York or LA.

Athletes will tell you, coming to Portland is different.

- My DNA is in this place, and Portland has shaped who I am.

- [Narrator] Before the Fire, or the Thorns, or any of the popular college teams, there were the Erv Lind Florists.

The Florists were Portland's elite fastpitch softball team.

Formed in 1938, the team went on to play for almost 30 years and they were really good.

How good?

Well, meet "Bullet" Betty Evans.

One local sports writer said, "What Babe Ruth was to Yankee Stadium, Betty was to Normandale Park."

She threw 51 no-hitters in her career.

For context, Nolan Ryan, the MLB record holder, threw seven.

The Florists won close to 78% of their games in their nearly 30-year run, including two world championships and five second-place finishes.

The Florists were also really popular.

The team became a point of pride for the city.

And when Portland hosted the Women's Softball World Championships at Normandale Field, around 44,000 fans attended the tournament in the first week.

That's more than two sold out nights at Moda Center.

And Normandale Field was actually built to host, its construction was seen as a clear investment in The Florists, making it the first venue in Portland created predominantly for a women's sport in 1948.

So what was going on?

Why was the city investing so much money in a women's sports team in the 40s?

Well, way back in 1937, Portland named Dorothea Lensch the city's first ever Director of Recreation in the Parks Bureau.

She was one of the only women in the country to hold a position like this at the time.

Lensch significantly expanded the city's recreation programs, and she created a lot of new opportunities for women and girls to play sports.

Lensch became a national figure in recreation, and many other cities studied her programs and philosophies.

She was also a big softball fan and she played a huge role in bringing that world tournament to Normandale Park.

There's some queer history here, too.

Many of The Florists were gay.

Most weren't out at the time, but some came out later in life and told their stories.

The team and Normandale Field became important gathering places for queer women in Portland.

It's even on the National Register of Historic Places for its significance to the city's queer community.

There was a section of bleachers where friends of players were known to sit, and for those in the know, this was a designated gathering place for queer women at the park.

But gay or straight, all of The Florists were elite competitive athletes, and this went against societal gender norms of the time.

The Florists were breaking these gender rules at the height of what became known as the Lavender Scare in the US It was a rise of moral panic about queer people that ramped up after World War II.

Anyone even suspected of being gay could face serious persecution.

So women athletes across the US generally maintained a code of silence about their teammates' identities.

This showed up for The Florists.

There was constant pressure for them to be more feminine.

Erv Lind required his players to travel to and from games in dresses and skirts, and the long baseball-style pants worn by the team in their early days were traded in for short skirts in 1952.

Ultimately, none of this stopped players or fans from forming queer community on and off the field, and skirts didn't stop athletes from playing explosive competitive softball.

- My dad brought me here to a game, and I didn't really know about it, and really care about it, you know?

But I just remember the team from California had those satin, green satin, you know, outfit on.

We were sitting right over there, and I was like, I was scared shitless because, you know, they'd foul the ball up and it was, like, really hard!

And I was like, "Dad, I don't like," you know, kind of like... (women laughing) You know, and then they would slide, and so you'd see, you'd have this big strawberry on this huge thigh.

And I was like, "Whoa, who are these people?"

- [Narrator] The Florists won their last world championship in 1964, and the team disbanded shortly after the death of their coach, but their legacy was carried on by another team called the Lavender Menace.

The Menace also played a lot of their games at Normandale, soon to be renamed Erv Lind Field.

And in the 1970s, they were more openly political.

They were one of the first openly gay softball teams in the country.

- [Clarice] That was what was happening with Gay Lib, you know, after Stonewall.

I mean, it was all like, we gotta let people know who we are so they'll see we're not as horrible as they think.

- I just saw it really as a kind of political theater.

- [Narrator] The Menace continued to build queer community at Erv Lind Field.

- [Maryann] We had fans.

- [Clarice] It was festive.

It was festive because the joy of us being in a space, you know, with other gay people, I mean, our community, and just everybody relaxed, and having a good time, and, you know, making connections of various sorts.

- [Narrator] Some players discovered the team on their own.

- [Sherrie] I was working at a middle school, and one of the, the PE teacher recruited me to play on their team.

And they warned me about the lesbian team and how tough they were, and they wore long pants, and I was like, "Show me!"

(women laughing) - [Jane] Clarice recruited me off the Broad Squad.

- Oh yeah, we recruited from other teams.

- An actual team, yeah.

- I was playing on a team with a lot of older closeted lesbians on it.

- So I just ran up on you, or what did I do?

- Yeah, you did.

(women laughing) You just barged in.

(women laughing) - [Narrator] The team turned pop culture on its head.

- [Rose] Taking songs, or country songs, you know, "Stand By Your Team," you know, Tammy Wynette coming up with this kind of constant, kind of, not taunting, but definitely feeling the joy.

- Yeah.

- Feeling the joy.

- Not ashamed.

- [Rose] Not ashamed.

- [Narrator] And joy was one of the main tenets of The Menace.

At a time when it was dangerous to be an out queer person.

- [Sherrie] From the outside, what I saw with the Lavender Menace was joy.

Really a joy that I think captures what it's like when other parts of your life are hidden, and then you all of a sudden have this place where you can be yourself.

- [Maryann] Yeah.

Well, I still think about that, I still think about, you know, if I'm, like, having a bad day, I think, "Okay, just remember what it's like to stand at shortstop and charge in on that ball."

(mellow music) - I mean it, don't anybody throw me a ball.

- It looks big, doesn't it?

It's like a little kid coming back.

The sky at night with the lights on here was always just incredibly beautiful.

She floated like a gazelle.

She was so, like, weightless.

She'd snatch the ball up.

- [Rose] Parallel to the ground.

- Yeah, fantastic.

She was good.

Oh, my God, I can still throw!

- Yeah, go over to first base, Clarice.

(all agreeing) Go like this, just go like this!

- [Clarice] Oh, yeah!

(women laughing) - Come on!

- Here, you can do it!

- No, I never played first base, I'm too short.

- [Tina] All right, ready?

- Yeah!

- [Tina] Here, Clarice!

(all cheering) - [Maryann] Out, touched the base!

♪ Stand by your team ♪ ♪ Give it your summer weekends ♪ ♪ It's something more than softball ♪ ♪ When nights are cold and lonely ♪ - Anyway.

(laughs) - [Narrator] These athletes might not have known it at the time, but this era in history laid the groundwork for the future of women's sports.

Congress passed a series of education amendments in 1972.

One particular amendment, co-authored by Oregon Congresswoman Edith Green, would go on to revolutionize college sports.

It was called Title IX, and it made it illegal to discriminate based on sex and education.

Before Title IX, it was totally normal for a school to fund men's sports and not women's.

To help formulate Title IX, Congresswoman Green worked with one of her good friends, an athlete who knew this struggle firsthand.

This friend was a talented softball player who played third base for a pretty popular team called the Erv Lind Florists.

Margaret Dobson batted over 600 in her time with the Florists and played on the world championship teams.

She went on to earn a varsity letter playing on the men's baseball team at Portland State University, and then she continued to pursue advanced degrees in physical education.

American public school fitness testing was partially based on her PhD dissertation.

She was one of the first researchers to prove the benefits of mental rehearsal in muscle development, and programs she developed for working with special needs athletes helped create the Special Olympics.

She had an extensive global influence on sports and fitness, but back to the huge impact of Dobson's work on Title IX.

The world of women's sports we know today might not even exist without this law.

Without Title IX, we might not have players like this.

Or this.

(crowd cheering) Christine Sinclair and Megan Rapinoe are both global soccer superstars.

Their legacies include World Cups, NWSL titles, Olympic medals, and fighting for equality on and off the field.

But before all of that, they played for the University of Portland.

Over the course of a decade, this team became a bonafide dynasty.

They won two national championships and smashed NCAA fan attendance records.

Some other notable names also got their start on this team, like Tiffany Milbrett and Shannon McMillan, who both went on to play for Team USA in the 1999 World Cup.

That '99 team is widely credited with helping popularize women's soccer and women's sports in the US, and it inspired a generation of young fans and athletes.

- So my dad is a huge soccer fan.

He took me to the University of Portland games when I was a kid.

Shannon McMillan and Tiffeny Milbrett were playing at UP, and I feel like it was, like, cold, but I remember the stands being full, and just seeing people, like, out in the cold, watching women's soccer.

- [Narrator] It was also during this era that the first pro team started to pop up.

There are a couple notable examples.

The Portland Power.

This team was part of the ABL, a pre-WNBA women's pro basketball league, and the original Portland Fire, an early expansion team in the WNBA.

These teams were loved, but short-lived.

- [Jenny] My dad and I, and, like, friends and I, we went to those games and the atmosphere was electric.

- [Narrator] The Power folded in 1998, and the Fire in 2002.

- There was a brick building over by what was the Memorial Coliseum at the time that they had painted the Portland Fire, like, big logo, like a welcome thing, and I remember my dad and I driving by, and they were, like, rolling paint over it, and it broke my heart.

So I felt like it was right there, and then it felt like it had slipped through our fingers.

- [Narrator] But before these teams disappeared, they left a big impact on an impressionable young Portland kid.

- When it came to the Portland Power, I remember I really, really liked Natalie Williams, and she was, like, tying her shoe or something, I was just like, "Cute shoes, Natalie!"

And, you know, she looked over and smiled, and I was just like, "Oh, my God!"

And then when the Portland Fire team came, it was like it amped that whole thing up to a whole new level.

And so when I started to think about all of these little pieces and how I'd grown up, Portland has really shown up for women's sports, and that felt normal to me.

- [Narrator] Jenny Nguyen revolutionized the world of sports from Portland again.

In 2022, she opened the first bar in the world dedicated 100% to showing women's sports.

The Sports Bra tapped into an unserved market of hungry sports fans.

- [Jenny] One thing that I underestimated was the universal experience that I had as a fan.

From the moment there was the idea of The Bra that was out in the world, people reached out from all over with exactly the same experience, exactly.

A sense of not belonging, a sense of not feeling safe, a sense of, you know, not being seen or represented.

I remember the first time we had an Olympic athlete in here.

I remember she was coming out of the bathroom, and she kind of looked, like, a little bit teary, and we were talking, and she said, "I've never felt so seen in a place in my whole life."

And I was thinking to myself, "You've been to the Olympics and that didn't make you feel seen?"

Like, what is happening, what does that mean?

I felt, like, really othered as a kid, but from the moment I had a ball in my hands, or I stepped foot onto a court, it was like the only thing that mattered was being part of a team and playing.

And then, of course, the legendary Thorns fans, which a decade ago, were having numbers in the tens of thousands.

And so they kind of defined women's sports fandom on an international level.

- [Narrator] Portland was awarded an NWSL team in 2013.

Why?

Well, partly because we already had an established women's soccer fan base.

And since 2013, the Thorns have become one of the most successful teams in the league, led for 12 years by former pilot Christine Sinclair.

And with the Thorns came the Rose City Riveters, a soccer supporters organization whose undying passion for their team changed the perception of women's sports worldwide.

- So let's say you're walking into the stadium, you're gonna hear the drums, then you're gonna see a bunch of flags waving.

You'll see scarves up in the air.

You'll see Capos, they're the ones leading the chants, And then when the Thorns score goals, we pop smoke.

(crowd cheering) Every game feels like a playoff game because they're just so riled up.

It's probably the best compliment that we can get when our rivals say, "Love playing in that stadium."

- [Producer] Even when they're getting booed and... - Even when they're getting booed, they love it, like, they're living for it.

- The fans boo you in a loving way, right?

They make you feel, like, alive.

I played professionally for almost 20 years, and you don't remember a lot of things, but I remember my first game day.

I remember walking out Providence Park and feeling the electricity of the city.

The fans just don't show up and go like, "Yay."

They show up with a passion, like it's personal, that they want you to see that they, as a fan, they see you, they believe in you.

And that's why I think that The Thorns changed the trajectory of women's sports in this country, and some could argue globally, because it showed how you show up.

It showed an organization where this was it.

- [Tina] These players deserve full support all the time.

That's why I want to be here, 'cause I want to make sure that we're here, they know that we're here, and they can hear us.

And they have told me that they can hear us.

(laughs) Hey, you!

We've got the ball!

We're at your gates!

We're at your door!

- [Crowd] Hey, you!

We've got the ball!

We're at your gates!

We're at your door!

(crowd stomping and clapping) Like, this is the most fulfilling thing I've done with my life, truly.

- [Narrator] Justice, equity and holding those in power accountable are also core parts of being a supporter in this community.

- Equality, parity, is the standard.

This isn't the female Timbers Army.

This is the Rose City Riveters.

- We're waiting for those with money to actually catch up, but if you think that these are world-class players, world-class talent, then show us.

- I really see this overlap of women's sports fans and just, like, values around equity and inclusivity.

- [Narrator] Sandra Yokley is the founder of the Backcourt Collective, a nationwide fan-led organization, started in Portland, dedicated to building the future of the women's game.

- In this, Jess is right there, not over there.

Oh, my goodness, hi!

It's like you do all this work to put an event together and you never really know.

- [Narrator] The Backcourt Collective puts on events like this watch party and aims to connect creatives, organizers and fans in the women's basketball community.

But by day, Yokley is a sociologist.

- [Sandra] Being able to see the overlap of women's sports fans, values of equity and inclusivity, the LGBTQIA+ community, and then also kind of maybe that spirit of Portland, you get fans who care.

- [Announcer] The moment that you all have been waiting for has finally arrived!

Get ready to meet your Portland Fire!

(crowd cheering) - [Narrator] After a 24-year hiatus, the Fire returned to Portland.

(crowd cheering) - [Sandra] There was definitely, like, a buzz, almost like a vibration that you could feel, and it was very contagious.

It was like everyone was hyped, everyone was excited.

Kind of like a shared vibrational energy kind of feel.

- The fan support and how loud it got in that arena tonight, that was probably one of the loudest things I've ever heard, being on a court.

- [Narrator] A lot has changed in the Fire's 24-year absence.

Clarice and Tina have been together for 49 years, and they've been season ticket holders for every professional women's basketball team in Portland history.

- You know, that's what was so amazing last night at the Fire game.

I mean, there we are, Moda Center is packed, and all of a sudden, you know that screen where they show the audience?

All of a sudden there's one woman down on her knees, proposing marriage to her partner, and the whole crowd is... - [Tina] It was great.

- [Clarice] I think they have signs that say, "Applaud, applaud!"

I thought, "Oh, my God, we have come somewhere."

- [Narrator] And even more has changed in the nearly 90 years since the Florists first stepped onto Normandale Field.

So what does the women's sports landscape look like in Portland today?

Well, we've got the Thorns, the Fire, there's a new pro softball team, another new pre-professional soccer team, a pro tackle football team, a pro ultimate team, a world champion roller derby team, a pioneering rugby team, and countless opportunities for women, girls, and trans and gender-expansive people to play sports and cheer for teams across the city.

The world of women's sports is bigger and more exciting than ever.

This world is still growing and there is still history to be made.

- So let's keep cheering on our community, keep showing up to games, keep motivating girls to play in sports, because we all know, when you play, everybody wins, thank you.

(crowd cheering) - [Narrator] The Portlanders have been there every step of the way, helping move the culture forward, and who knows who will be next?

- [Jenny] This is a part of history, this is a part of women's sports history, it's part of Portland history.

My dad said something to me that I'll remember forever.

"You've changed the narrative.

You have proven that this is important and that it matters, and you can't put that back in a bottle, like, it's already done.

You flipped a switch and the switch will never turn off."

(upbeat electronic music)