Five Questions with Jasmine Spencer

Caitlin Best | Editor, AngelCity.com

Jasmine Spencer is one of the City of Angels’ most experienced players, having played in the NWSL since its inception in 2013. She most recently played for Houston, but also spent time in Seattle, Orlando and Washington, not to mention stints with the City. Sweden, Cyprus and Australia. Spencer scored his first goal for Angel City against Kansas City Current on September 1.

Your goal against Current was scored from a spot where you had taken several shots in previous games. What was it like to have it finally go in?

At that moment, I’m not even sure I was as excited as I was later because I was like, “We need these glasses. This game was crazy. Just go into the net.”

Then after the game, when we finally got the win, a group of people like Brit and Eng who stayed with me after practice and worked on this shot for months came up to me and said, “Yay! it’s amazing!”

But yeah, I noticed that all my chances ended up in that area, and I kind of hit the post, hit the crossbar, the goalkeeper made a crazy save. So I thought, if I’m going to score, it’s going to be in this area, so let me just keep repeating myself.

Having been in the league since 2013, you have a perspective that a lot of other people don’t have. How do you see the sport evolving as it continues to grow and become more popular? What is your dream scenario for the league in five years?

I think by our very nature as female athletes, we haven’t received the recognition or even the resources we deserve to perform to the best of our abilities. So, out of necessity, we had to embrace this platform to speak out and fight for what we deserve. But I hope and believe that we will get to a place where we can just play, and then people who are interested in change can continue to use their platform.

I don’t know if five years is ambitious, but I hope we get to the East-West Conference. I hope we’ve got a really good broadcast deal that players can benefit from financially. I hope we have some really cool events like All-Star Week with the All-Star Game and fun challenges. I hope that the championship weekend continues to turn into a big event.

What events would you like to see during All-Star Week and where do you think you would shine?

Definitely a test of skill. I think some kind of celebrity football tennis match would be fun. I feel like the average person doesn’t have the best hand-eye coordination, but soccer and tennis are pretty low-key so anyone can give it a try. And then obviously the All-Star Game, where you can bring your favorite players from different teams together and play together.

My best competition would probably be something like speed dribbling. Something based on dexterity, of course.