On December 23, the City of Boston leased the beloved but deteriorating White Stadium to Boston’s new professional women’s soccer team. The lease began a whirlwind of preparation as work to repair White Stadium starts this month. Demolition and reconstruction are set to occur at an accelerated rate, since Boston hopes to finish in time for the 2026 season of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL). Mayor Michelle Wu and many of Boston’s sports fans, in the meantime, are enthusiastically awaiting the arrival of the new team, officially named BOS Nation FS.
Leila Ohashi (II), a captain of Boston Latin School girls’ varsity soccer team, supports the idea of renovating the stadium. She says that she is “very excited about the renovations” and hopes that “they will help to increase the awareness of women’s soccer while also upgrading a space that has needed repair for a long time.” It is certainly agreeable that a professional women’s soccer team in Boston would be an inspiration for young athletes while also leading to an increase in publicity.
Cleo Woodcock, Head Coach of the girls’ junior varsity soccer team, agrees with Ohashi about how beneficial it will be for the youth and for NWSL awareness. She suspects “that the impacts of construction will grow, but [that] they will be temporary” and that the field’s renovation is desperately needed as the current white stadium field is “not safe to play on.”
The plans for the stadium renovation have already affected the BLS varsity football team, as they had to find alternative venues for their games this past season. When BLS varsity football Assistant Coach Timothy McQuade was asked about the switch of home fields, however, he was quite positive, stating that his players “were excited to play our home games so close to BLS.” and that the “home field advantage played a big part in our win against Cambridge.”
While building plans are moving forward, so is a lawsuit filed by the Emerald Necklace Conservancy. Heralded by Roxbury and Jamaica Plain residents, the lawsuit looks to hinder or even prevent both the renovations and the arrival of a new women’s soccer team. While most parties agree that White Stadium in Franklin Park needs renovations, the Emerald Necklace Conservancy believes that planning was not done with the proper counsel of community members in the surrounding area. They are concerned that it will inhibit access to the park for the community and BPS sports teams that have been using the space for decades. There are also concerns about insufficient parking in the area and if the team will even be profitable, given the failure of the last women’s soccer team in Boston.
Although there is some truth in their concerns, in reality, the plan is to share the space with both the community as well as BPS sports. The soccer team will only have access to the field for 40 days a year, with the rest of that time going to BPS teams. Furthermore, the vast majority of the 527 acres of Franklin Park (which contains White Stadium) will be left free for the public to access year-round. Additionally, with the sharp uptick in NWSL’s popularity, both parties of the lease are optimistic about the future success of BOS Nation FC.
Boston must address issues related to parking and construction, but these problems can be solved. The stadium is going to be a great opportunity for Boston to show that they value women’s sports and for people all over New England to become involved in this beautiful game. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done before a new NWSL team graces the pitch at White Stadium, but when all is said and done, it will be worth it.
