When the World Cup Came to Our Backyard
- Jul 29
- 2 min read
Back in July 2023, as Australia and New Zealand prepared to host the FIFA Women's World Cup, a Washington Post feature on Sam Kerr and the rise of women's football in Australia made a stop at our own training ground.
Two of our players, Adriana Urrunaga, originally from Peru, and Natalia Castaneda, from Colombia, spoke to the Post about what it meant to pick up the game as adults after moving to Australia. Urrunaga noted that soccer is largely a male-dominated sport back home in South America, while Castaneda pointed out how much she valued being able to join a women's football club in almost any suburb here. It's a small but telling detail, women from 15 different nations training together on our pitch, many of them discovering the game for the first time in a country that was, at last, making space for them to play it.
The article captured something bigger than one club: a country falling for its Matildas, led by a captain who was becoming a genuine sporting icon. Sam Kerr's rise, from an all-time leading goal-scorer for Australia to a Golden Boot winner across three continents was part of a wave that saw record crowds, record ticket sales, and record numbers of girls picking up a ball for the first time.
We were proud to be a small part of that story. It's the same reason Dynamo exists: to give people, wherever they've come from and whatever their experience with the game, a place to belong on the pitch.
Two years on, that spirit is still what drives us. Powered by Community, Driven by Ambition.
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