MLS players, especially younger ones, are known to live together in group houses to share costs and keep company. But clubs in the National Women's Soccer League have gone a step further and arranged homestays for many players with host families during their five-month season.
And this week we learned that Meghan Klingenberg and Morgan Brian, two NWSLers who also happen to be important members of the US women's national team, have a rather unique second home when they're on duty with the Houston Dash: the family of former NBA coach and current ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy – or the “VGs,” in the players' parlance.
“I can’t tell you how fortunate we are,” Van Gundy told USA Today. “You don’t know when you have people, but the example they set and also for me having been in the NBA for a long time, they just have a different perspective because they’ve never had it easy.
“And it’s interesting to watch them. They’re just really excited about the opportunities and how they go about it is impressive.”
Van Gundy, who previously coached the New York Knicks and Houston Rockets, came across the Dash's homestay program via a chat with Brian Ching, the former US national team and Houston Dynamo striker who now serves as managing director for the Dash, the Dynamo's sister club. He was so intrigued that he volunteered to host before even checking with his wife.
Klingenberg moved in ahead of the Dash's inaugural season last year, and Brian followed suit after the club made her the No. 1 pick in the 2015 NWSL draft. Both have been welcomed into the Van Gundy household with open arms, from “Pancake Sundays” to the kids' music recitals to helping set up the Apple TV. And the VGs have even traveled to Canada this summer to cheer their duo on in the Women's World Cup.
“They were absolutely so inviting,” said Klingenberg, a Pittsburgh native who joined the Dash after a stint in the Swedish league. “They made me feel like I was part of a family. Their house was my house. Anything I needed they were willing to help. I’m involved in all their family activities and invited to everything.
“I go to the little one’s cabarets and sit with the family, go out to dinner, sometimes I cook for them because they’re not super into cooking. It’s really a great family dynamic because it’s nice being able to come home from soccer and not having to talk about soccer, think about soccer, be around soccer anymore.”
Clearly moved by his time with Klingenberg and Brian, Van Gundy urges USWNT fans and soccer supporters of all stripes to attend NWSL games and give the women's game the attention it deserves, as the league looks to find the stability that eluded its failed precedessors.
“The utter lack of sense of entitlement was actually startling for me,” he said. “For professional athletes, I always think about it in these terms: the most difficult diva of women’s soccer would be the easiest NBA player ever.
“Go to the games,” he added. “I don’t know if there could be a better thing for trying to take your kids to something. It doesn’t matter if you have daughters or sons. You want to see great athletes competing, setting the right example. Going is the best thing anybody can do because they’ve gotta find a way to make [NWSL] stick and work this time.”
