Souhan: Reeve at heart of women’s sports success in Minnesota

Brandi Chastain whipping off her shirt in celebration of winning the World Cup? That was a moment.

Caitlin Clark driving interest in women's basketball to new peaks? That is a movement.

Moments and movements — those are the phrases most commonly associated with women's sports.

What do we call it when constant change becomes the norm?

The Twin Cities this summer are at the epicenter of women's sports success.

This weekend, some of the world's greatest and bravest athletes will compete at the U.S. Olympic gymnastics trials at Target Center.

Simone Biles, perhaps the greatest gymnast in history, will compete with St. Paul's Suni Lee, the reigning Olympic all-around gold medalist, and others who promise to make the U.S. team a powerhouse again.

Great women athletes visiting Target Center isn't new.

The arena is home to the Minnesota Lynx, who are run by Team USA head coach Cheryl Reeve, and feature star forward Napheesa Collier, who will play in her second Olympics in Paris.

The Lynx won four titles in seven seasons in the 2000s, the most dominant run by a Minnesota professional team since the Lakers left for Los Angeles in 1960.

This year's Lynx team is the surprise of the WNBA.

Target Center was packed for the women's Final Four in 2022 and the Big Ten women's basketball tournament in 2023 and 2024.

Minnesota is home to the reigning PWHL championship team, and one of the best grassroots sports stories in memory — the Minnesota Aurora, a semipro soccer team for young athletes that sells out the 6,000-seat TCO Performance Center stadium on the Vikings' campus.

This would be a good time to stop being surprised by the rise of women's sports.

If there is a central figure in this story, it's Reeve.

She's succeeding the great Dawn Staley as the Team USA coach. She selected Collier with the sixth pick in the 2019 draft and has helped Collier develop into an unexpected star.

Reeve has always passionately championed women's sports as a matter of equality, equity and decency. She often notes that men's sports receive funding up front, while women need to prove they can be profitable before they attract big-money investors.

She's also in the running to be the WNBA coach of the year, while preparing for the Olympics.

This summer is a triumph for Reeve's teams, and beliefs.

"Cheryl is the embodiment of what everybody is trying to do in women's sports," said Andrea Yoch, founder of the Minnesota Aurora.

"Be successful on the court. Represent off the court. And be unabashedly loud about how much attention the women deserve to have. Every good thing that happens for Cheryl, I can't help but celebrate."

Despite her unfathomable schedule, Reeve and her wife, Lynx president of business operations Carley Knox, attended the Aurora home opener.

"I don't know how she does it," Yoch said. "I wonder if she has a body double, or if she sleeps. It's one thing to say publicly that you support women's sports. But then to have the amount of pressure she has and then show up and support us is amazing."

Yoch has discussed with women's soccer executives across the country whether it's better for a new league or team to build support in a community without a large women's sports presence, or in a thriving market.

The Twin Cities have given her the answer. The Aurora did not see a dip in their attendance when they were scheduled at the same time as the MLS' Minnesota United. The Minnesota Vikings supported the Aurora by providing TCO Stadium as a home field. Reeve and the Lynx support women's sports in Minnesota, but so do the men's teams.

This allows Yoch to dream of all the women's sports teams in Minnesota winning titles in the same season.

The PWHL team did it. The Aurora went to the championship game last year. The Vixen are in the playoffs. The Lynx are near the top of the standings.

And this weekend, Lee will compete in the Twin Cities for the first time since her gold medal in Tokyo.

A moment? A movement? It feels like more than that.