PORTLAND, Maine — Hunter Morse ambled through the crowd Thursday night at Thompson’s Point. The Portland Hearts of Pine’s beloved goalkeeper waved at a few fans before taking a knee to talk to two children.
Midfielder Ollie Wright came next, his signature golden curls immediately identifying him as his girlfriend held his hand tightly. Ray Saari, the club’s brand new sporting director, walked with his fiancée and stopped to take a few questions. Before long, coach Bobby Murphy was taking in the crowd as a growing number of his players gathered together, laughing, talking, and really, just hanging out.
And then of course, there was soccer icon and legend, Michelle Akers, chatting warmly with people, sometimes for several minutes, but never being overwhelmed by a crush of the crowd. She gave out hugs, signed autographs, and took some selfies.
Welcome to Heartsapalooza, the Hearts of Pine’s third annual fanfest celebrating the team, its supporters, and the news that Akers, who won two World Cups and an Olympic gold medal, and was named FIFA Female Player of the Century in 2000, has signed on as a founding advisor to the club’s new women’s team.
In reality, it might have been the most perfect Maine public event imaginable.
“Oh no, this is not normal,” said Saari as he surveyed the scene of fans sometimes approaching players but generally just giving them space. “You don’t get this with other clubs. Not even at the (USL) Championship league level.”
Darcie Smith and her twin sons, Miles and Eli, both 10, had been standing there when Morse walked through the crowd.
“That’s Mr. Morse!” said Smith, who lives in North Yarmouth.
“What?” replied one of the boys excitedly.
“Yes, it really is,” she said as Morse smiled and waved at the family.
Later, Smith praised the Hearts club for creating such a friendly, inclusive culture. Hearts’ games have created so many different bonding opportunities for her family and friends. She and the boys hadn’t come to the two previous Heartsapalooza events because they always had soccer practice, but this time, they skipped it.
Smith had been wanting to attend since her son, Eli, had been recovering from a bad concussion. Mikey Lopez, the Hearts’ captain, had heard about the injury and sent Eli a personal message, which Smith said brought a smile like she hadn’t seen from her son in a long time.
Sarah Davenport had been looking forward to the event for some time. She is excited about the women’s team, and is part of the Lightkeepers Supporters Group, a collection of fans of the women’s team that will have its inaugural season next summer.
The women’s team doesn’t have a name quite yet, but Tom Caron, a co-owner and investor of the Hearts, told the crowd to expect to learn the name in the near future.
“We really want to support all women’s soccer,” Davenport said.
Davenport was particularly excited about Akers’ attendance.
“She’s one of one,” Davenport said. “The experience she brings to the soccer world is really going to be valuable, especially when looking at the wisdom she has learned over the last 30 years.”
Akers recalled how in her time, she and other women athletes had to build opportunities to grow professional soccer, which at the time, just hadn’t been there.
“It is empowering to me but more so empowering to these people, not just the girls coming up who can have a dream of playing professional soccer or playing for their country, but for the fans, the women my age, for everyone to connect together with something that represents them, that’s what attracted me to come here and drew me here,” Akers said. “It’s fun and rewarding to be a part of that.”
Portland announced Tuesday that Akers had agreed to be a founding advisor to the Maine women’s team. Akers will help the club shape the team’s foundation, its sporting identity, culture, and long-term vision, the club has said.
Hannah Sirois, the Hearts’ vice president of fan experience, said it still feels like “an unreal statement” to say that Akers is part of the Hearts.
“It’s so exciting because we can make her and her generation proud to continue to move things forward,” Sirois said.
Sirois then addressed the importance of girls seeing female role models in sports, saying, “Statistics say that if females stay in their sport, they will be helping lead some of our major businesses and they will be leaders throughout the country and world. So stay in your sport!”
Club officials believe Akers will have a number of positive impacts on the club but they are quite enthused about the impact she can have on girls throughout Maine because she was not only a star player but also now can be seen on a more executive level.
That’s a claim borne out by a 2024 study in England that showed that girls ages 10 to 17 reported that 66 percent believed seeing successful female athletes boosted their own confidence, while more than half said watching women compete made them believe they could do anything.
For Davenport, the idea that a women’s team can have that sort of impact has made her work hard for Lightkeepers.
“We have members all throughout the state of Maine,” Davenport said. “How cool is that?”
