As the women’s World Cup continues in France, there’s another group of tough athletes taking the field in the San Diego area. Many are age 70 and older. Don’t even think about telling them to sit.

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

The U.S. women will play England in the semi-final round of the World Cup on Tuesday. And so we thought we’d bring you the story of some other tough and inspirational female soccer players. Gloria Hillard reports from San Diego, Calif., at the matchup between the blues and the whites.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: OK, ladies (clapping). Blues over there. Whites over here.

GLORIA HILLARD, BYLINE: In a purple headscarf and wearing for the blue team, Tina Zucker is getting in some last-minute dribbling practice.

TINA ZUCKER: Well, the thing about playing soccer and being 70 is I don’t feel 70.

HILLARD: Although she admits when she’s out and about and wearing her soccer uniform, people will often ask…

ZUCKER: Do you play soccer or do you coach soccer or do you go to see your grandchildren? I’m like, I play. And that’s the thing that all of us go through.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Come on, Ladies. Keep coming. Keep coming. Oh, my God.

HILLARD: Most of these women play for the Prime of Life Women’s Soccer League in San Diego. They are not only playing a game they love. They are sharing the dreams of a younger generation, something they couldn’t have imagined as young girls – a U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team. Seventy-two-year-old Joan Captain says in the 1950s and ’60s and before Title IX, girls were often discouraged from playing sports.

JOAN CAPTAIN: When I grew up, you had to be a, quote, quote, “a lady.”

HILLARD: She’s changing out her jersey so there will be an equal number of good players on each team and doing pushups.

CAPTAIN: I usually play forward or I usually play defense. I had people say, oh, that’s so dangerous, you know, you should take it easy. And I say, well, you see that couch over there? The couch will kill you (laughter).

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Nice job, Trish, even if you are on the other team.

HILLARD: Brandi Mitchell of San Diego Soccer Women says these women are a demographic that should be recognized.

BRANDI MITCHELL: They’ve gone against, culturally, what we expect of women in those age groups not only as athletes but specifically with a sport that you just don’t see being offered to women of older ages in general.

HILLARD: At 79, Danielle Madsen has been playing soccer for 40 years – maybe not as hard and tough as two decades ago.

DANIELLE MADSEN: On our two teams, they’re very nice. And they don’t kill you (laughter). So playing against some of the other teams – yeah, you can get hurt.

HILLARD: She’s referring to those young players in their 50s. There’s only one exception in senior women’s soccer – no slide tackling. And that’s just fine with Karen Tenney. She says she doesn’t notice how many times she hits the grass during the game. She just counts her bruises in the morning.

KAREN TENNEY: I’ve broken my wrist and my thumb, both from friendly fire. I still played with it. I put a cast on, I put bubble wrap on it so I could still play.

HILLARD: From the sidelines, cheering the women on are a few retired former team members along with Lucy, a golden retriever and mascot for both teams. Patty Storm says at this time in their life, the game is more about camaraderie than competition.

PATTY STORM: It’s just pulling together and supporting each other and getting some wonderful exercise.

HILLARD: The players do admit when it’s tournament time, it’s game on. In this game, well, there was some debate as to whether the score was 1-0 or tied. Tina Zucker just shrugs.

ZUCKER: Honestly, I have no idea. I just know that I ran after the ball. Sometimes, I got it. Sometimes, I didn’t. And that’s the name of the game.

HILLARD: A game she plays three times a week.

For NPR News, I’m Gloria Hillard.

(SOUNDBITE OF SOLIMINE AND BURKI’S “WHEN YOU’RE SMILING”)

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Boston’s Suffolk Downs racetrack, once a hugely popular venue for a nationally beloved sport, is marking the end of an era as it hosts its last live horse race ever.

SARAH MCCAMMON, HOST:

It’s the end of an era for East Boston’s historic Suffolk Downs racetrack. Live horse racing, which began there in 1935, will end after one final race day tomorrow. Tori Bedford from member station WGBH brings us this from the track.

(SOUNDBITE OF BUGLE HORN)

TORI BEDFORD, BYLINE: It’s the second race of the day and hometown jockey Tammi Piermarini is soaring through the muddy track on Atta Kid, a horse that, unlike her, is just starting his career.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Come on, Tammi.

BEDFORD: Piermarini and Atta Kid fly through the finish line to win the race.

TAMMI PIERMARINI: You can walk right in the girl’s room. Just shut the door behind you.

BEDFORD: Piermarini is small and sturdy. She hops off her horse and meets me in the locker room where we talk while she wipes mud from the track off of her face.

PIERMARINI: 1985, I rode my first horse here.

BEDFORD: Piermarini is a local kid. She grew up in Newburyport and started riding at 3 years old. She came to Suffolk Downs at the age of 18 and went on to be the third leading female jockey in the country. It’s also where she rode her parents’ first racehorse.

PIERMARINI: That was probably one of the most exciting moments of my life to have them come into the winner’s circle and it’s their horse and their colors I’m wearing. I can’t express or explain how I felt.

BEDFORD: Jockeys like Piermarini have hitched their careers to a sport with waning interest around the country as casinos and online gambling grow in popularity in live horse racing spots, like Suffolk Downs, get transformed into apartments and retail buildings. With the retirement of the tracks, Piermarini says more jockeys and horses are retiring, too.

PIERMARINI: As long as people will ride me, I’m going to continue. But if I’m forced to retire because of no business – and that’s a sad way to go. It’s not that I want to retire. I’m being forced to retire.

BEDFORD: Just outside, a lot of longtime fans here say they aren’t quite ready to say goodbye. Jimmy Haephy grew up in nearby Revere and has been coming to the track for 40 years.

JIMMY HAEPHY: A lot of memories here, you know? A lot of good ones. I know every inch of this place. It’s like walking in my front door walking in here. And I don’t understand why they were closing it. Some reason they want to close, make a shopping mall. I don’t know.

BEDFORD: As a kid nearly 70 years ago, Conrad Smith, or Smitty, was obsessed with two things – baseball and horse racing, coming every weekend with his parents.

CONRAD SMITH: I’ve been doing this all my life, and I’m still coming here. I don’t know what’s going to happen after next year.

BEDFORD: Suffolk Downs used to bring in tens of thousands of spectators with races every day. Now CEO Chip Tuttle says the entire sport is struggling.

CHIP TUTTLE: We fought really hard for a long time to try to preserve racing here at the property, and it didn’t work out, so now it’s on to what’s next.

BEDFORD: Suffolk Downs has closed before and reopened, but Tuttle says this time it’s for real.

TUTTLE: There have been times in the past where we thought racing was going to end, it was over. And we were able to find ways to continue. But I can’t see a way for us to continue racing here.

TD THORNTON: We’ve got Rocket Road in those bright orange silks. He’s covered up on the…

BEDFORD: TD Thornton sits up on the roof in an announcer’s booth speaking into a decades-old microphone to let the crowd know which horses are racing next and pressing a bugle horn to bring those horses out onto the track. He says he doesn’t want the final race to feel like a funeral.

THORNTON: And we’ve had a pretty damn good run here for 84 years so that’s how I’m going to try and focus it and end it on a high note. This is reality, and my role in it is to give the track a respectful sendoff.

BEDFORD: What’s next for you?

THORNTON: Pressing his bugle right here and getting the horse out onto the track.

(SOUNDBITE OF BUGLE HORN)

THORNTON: Horses are heading out for today’s fourth race with the Exacta, Trifecta and Superfecta betting.

BEDFORD: For NPR News, I’m Tori Bedford in Boston.

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NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

In one of the most highly-anticipated games at the Women’s World Cup: top-ranked and defending champion United States defeated France in the quarterfinals.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

The U.S. soccer team showed yet again why it’s the best team at the Women’s World Cup in a hard-fought quarterfinal victory over host France. For the Americans and their fans, it was a thrilling win that lived up to the hype of the pregame buildup. And with today’s 2-1 victory, the U.S. moves on, and the French team is done. Among those in Paris watching the game in the stadium was NPR’s Melissa Block. She joins us now. Hey there, Melissa.

MELISSA BLOCK, BYLINE: Hey, Audie.

CORNISH: Holy smokes, this was a good game. What was it like to be in the stadium?

BLOCK: It was amazing. There were about 46,000 people, a sellout crowd. You know, the U.S. flag – a lot of red, white blue – but the French flag blue, white and red. So the whole stadium was just a scene of the exact same colors in different configurations. And, man, the French were loud until the U.S. scored early in the game, Megan Rapinoe on a free kick that went right into the net. And the energy from the French side just kind of got sucked out of the room, out of the stadium.

And then when she scored again later on, boy, they were defeated. They got a second wind late in the game with their defender Wendie Renard on a header. But final score – 2-1 U.S. France is out, and their team was unconsolable – inconsolable on the field after the game, in tears. I mean, look. They’re the host country. And this was a marquee lineup. And for them to lose this early is really, really a shame. They’re an excellent team.

CORNISH: You described this as a marquee lineup. And I know there were many who felt like this game actually should have been the final, not the quarterfinal. Why?

BLOCK: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, this is – chalk this up to FIFA’s way of determining the seeding and the brackets. And for these two top teams – I mean, the U.S. first seed, France number four – to be playing this early in the quarterfinals and for France to be done is just really a tragedy. I mean, there’s no reason these two teams shouldn’t be playing in the semis or the final. As it is now, the U.S. goes on to play England in the semi. And we’re still waiting for results in the next couple of days – and actually tomorrow – of Italy and the Netherlands and then Sweden and Germany.

CORNISH: Stepping back for a moment, there were questions about the U.S. team after this somewhat shaky performance against Spain in the last game. Does this performance put that to rest?

BLOCK: Yeah. I mean, it’s interesting. There was a lot of second-guessing of coach Jill Ellis and her lineup that she had in the last game and some pretty shaky defense work, front line that was just not getting on the attack as they should have been. It was the exact same lineup in this game, and they performed so much better – the same second-guessing going in. I mean, people were really concerned that she hadn’t changed tactics, but it paid off. And Megan Rapinoe – again, two goals in this game, two goals in the last game. She is the player of the game. And she’s just outstanding to watch, just a phenomenal performance in both of these last two games.

CORNISH: So France was obviously a tough competitor, but now the U.S. is going to face third-ranked England in a match on Tuesday in the semifinals. So this tournament is not going to get any easier.

BLOCK: No, and England looked super strong the other day when they were playing against Norway. They’re a really powerful team. And the other four teams still to play in the quarterfinals are all, you know, top ranked. I mean, this is no cakewalk for the U.S. And look. The U.S. has made it into the semifinals in the last seven World Cups. So if they had gone down today, it would have been historic – didn’t happen. But, boy – a tough fight from Spain the other day and from France today.

CORNISH: One more thing. There’s been a lot of conversation about the pay inequity, especially for the U.S. women’s soccer team. Can you talk about just how big the Women’s World Cup is this year?

BLOCK: Yeah. I mean, it’s fascinating to see Audie, because, there is this fight going on back home. The U.S. women are suing U.S. Soccer for gender discrimination. And you look at this tournament, and – record TV audiences across Europe – in Italy, in England, in France – and big crowds, at least here in Paris. There are going to be sellout crowds in Lyon for the semifinal and final.

And you have to ask. I mean, for countries that have not invested in women’s soccer – and there are many of them – they have to be looking at this and seeing not just a great game but a really powerful audience that they could be tapping into. And if they’re not, they’re crazy.

CORNISH: That’s NPR’s Melissa Block in Paris. Melissa, thanks so much.

BLOCK: You bet.

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

A mass of fervent, dedicated U.S. soccer fans has taken France by storm, inspiring the more lackluster “Les Bleues” supporters, and forcing small, World Cup towns to up their game.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

The U.S. women’s soccer team is back in action tomorrow in Paris. They’ll be taking on France in the Women’s World Cup quarterfinals. The U.S. has won all four of its games so far, and their fans have been with them every step of the way. NPR’s Eleanor Beardsley reports the U.S. supporters have become a sensation of their own in France.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Chanting) USA. USA.

ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE: Everywhere the U.S. team has played, its loyal fans have followed, filling stadiums and streaming into little French towns decked out in jerseys, flags and paraphernalia. And so it was this week in the eastern city of Reims, a town known more for champagne than soccer.

CATHERINE BERNIER: So we are here 12 meters below the ground, which is about 40 feet. And you can already feel the cold.

BEARDSLEY: That’s Catherine Bernier leading a group of Americans on a tour of the underground cellars of champagne house Taittinger. Bernier says they were caught off guard two weeks ago when tens of thousands of U.S. fans poured into Reims for the Thailand game. But now they’re ready with more English-language tours, and Bernier’s become a fan.

BERNIER: If the American team wins tonight…

(LAUGHTER)

BEARDSLEY: Christine Zavesky is here from San Francisco. She says French people have been yelling USA when they see them in their jerseys.

CHRISTINE ZAVESKY: I think that the energy here has been awesome. France has been a really cool place to host. And we’ve been to matches in Paris, Nice and now Reims. And so I think I said that right but…

BEARDSLEY: As they tour the champagne houses and visit the famous Gothic cathedral, the only problem these American fans have faced so far is how to pronounce the name of this host city. Thirteen-year-olds Nina Corso and Aven Amador talk about their favorite players before they give it a try.

NINA CORSO: Alex Morgan.

AVEN AMADOR: Tobin Heath. Reems (ph)? Like Rech (ph).

BEARDSLEY: Vitalie Taittinger, who’s head of marketing for the champagne house founded by her great grandfather, says pronunciation doesn’t matter a bit.

VITALIE TAITTINGER: It’s an honor for us to welcome Americans. We are very happy. It’s a party. So welcome to Reims.

BEARDSLEY: In the tourist office, Cecile Depresles says all the hotels and restaurants are full. But she says the American fans bring more than business to Reims.

CECILE DEPRESLES: Personally, I’m surprised by the spirit. It’s really, really with heart. Many visitors coming from the U.S. say coming here, especially for the World Cup of football, it’s really crazy for us because, in France, I think we don’t have really this spirit. And we support our team of football, but it’s not really with the same force.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Chanting) Allez Le Bleus.

BEARDSLEY: But thousands of fervent French fans did cheer on their team at the Paris fan zone this week as Les Bleus beat Brazil 2-1 in overtime. Parisian Danny Diambaka was among them. He says that American spirit is catching on to his shoulder.

DANNY DIAMBAKA: (Through translator) I’ve seen the chanting and euphoria of the U.S. fans at the stadium and in the metro. It’s incredible. But it’s building now for the French team, too. And people are getting into women’s soccer. There are a lot of men here. That means this is something that’s interesting everyone. And that’s important for France.

BEARDSLEY: All these passionate French and American fans will come together at the sold-out game tomorrow night in Paris to watch their teams battle it out for a berth in the semifinals of the Women’s World Cup. Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News.

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

The U.S. women’s soccer team has advanced to the quarterfinals of the World Cup after a thrilling game against Spain. The U.S. on Friday will play France, which is hosting the tournament.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Go USA. The United States has advanced to the quarterfinals of the Women’s World Cup where the team will play France. The win didn’t come easily, though. NPR’s Eleanor Beardsley was there and sends this report.

(CHEERING)

ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE: The U.S. women’s team beat Spain 2-to-1, but the win didn’t come without a fight. The game got off to a dream start for the U.S. when they were awarded a penalty kick in the seventh minute and a goal scored by Megan Rapinoe. But Spain quickly turned around and scored a goal off a defensive mistake, shocking the Americans on the field and in the stands. Eighteen-year-old Reagan Lemoine from Los Angeles was watching.

REAGAN LEMOINE: It was very stressful because it was 1-1 most of the game and then they got the penalty. I knew as soon as they got the second penalty in the box that we were going to make another goal.

BEARDSLEY: In the second half, the Americans showed why they’re the No. 1 ranked team, outrunning and outplaying Spain for most of the 45 minutes, including another penalty kick and goal by Rapinoe. The stadium in Reims was packed and the ambiance lively on a hot, sunny day. Alongside the many American and Spanish fans were French families out to watch a women’s soccer match, something not so common in a country where soccer is still considered a man’s sport. Still, Jonathan Vernier brought his 8-year-old son.

JONATHAN VERNIER: (Speaking French).

BEARDSLEY: “We live in Reims, so we thought we’d take the opportunity to come out and watch the women play,” says Vernier. And this American team and their fans put on a real show.

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Chanting in French).

BEARDSLEY: Vernier has an American flag painted on one cheek and a Spanish flag on the other. His son is screaming oo-es-ah (ph) along with the American fans.

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Chanting) U-S-A, U-S-A.

BEARDSLEY: But Vernier says he is, of course, supporting France, who the U.S. will now play in the quarterfinals on Friday. It’s a showdown that’s been anticipated since the schedule was announced months ago.

Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Reims.

(SOUNDBITE OF KONX-OM-PAX’S “OPTIMISM OVER DESPAIR”)

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

The Women’s World Cup has entered the elimination quick-fire Round of 16. NPR’s Michel Martin speaks with Roger Bennett of the Men in Blazers about Team USA’s performance so far.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Finally today, let’s check in on Women’s World Cup, hosted by France this summer. This weekend, the tournament entered the round of 16 – the knockout round, a time when players have to leave it all on the field or go home. And who better to guide us through it than our friend Roger Bennett, half of the “Men In Blazers” podcast and a tireless soccer superfan, who’s been touring the U.S. this summer to spread love for the beautiful game.

And he’s with us now from – where are you exactly, Rog? (Laughter).

ROGER BENNETT: I am in New York City, Double-M, and it is a joy to be back with you.

MARTIN: Likewise. Likewise. So this is the first time we’ve had the pleasure of checking in with you during this competition. How’s the women’s World Cup going for you so far?

BENNETT: Oh, it’s a human joy. I actually call it the real World Cup because America have actually qualified for this one and are very, very good. So we’ll call the other one the men’s World Cup. We have finished the group stage. We are in the knockout round now. It’s win or go home, and it couldn’t be more exciting.

MARTIN: Well, going into the weekend, big news was that for the first time ever, two African teams, Cameroon and Nigeria, made it to the round of 16. While Nigeria was facing off against powerhouse Germany, Cameroon was paired with England, also a top contender. So both African teams now out of the tournament, both having suffered 3-0 losses. But the fact that they made it this far – does it say anything bigger about the women’s game?

BENNETT: It was heartbreaking to watch Cameroon today – to watch them struggle against England, to watch them feel hard done to by the refereeing and the video assistant refereeing, which has been a constant thorn as a feature in this tournament in-game. The Cameroonians were crying the decision-making made by the referee, and they probably had a case at some point. I am not Cameroonian, but I felt their pain.

You know, their dreams are as big as the American or English players dreams. Their resources are not. They struggle to even be at this World Cup, Cameroon. They’re so woefully underfunded. The players hardly come together to play games. They barely train before the tournament begins. I can say the joy from an African perspective is that fan interest is soaring. And that may be the true legacy of the World Cup runs for the continent of Africa – a taste of the future and all that is to come.

MARTIN: And, you know, of course, Team USA continues to be the favorite, won all of their matches by shutouts. So Team USA plays Spain tomorrow. I guess the U.S. is still a favorite to win. But Spain isn’t a pushover, though, right?

BENNETT: USA, USA.

MARTIN: (Laughter).

BENNETT: Michel, it’s been a joy to watch the U.S., who didn’t lose a single group stage game, didn’t give up a goal, either. I will say their games have been devoid of suspense or drama. They score early and often. But the reality is, we still do not know how good this team is. They’ve played teams that are, frankly, just patsies happy to be there. Title IX has given the U.S. such dominance in this sport, which has barely been on the radar of other nations. That has changed. The European powers have all invested heavily, deeply, smartly in the game. And there’s so many threats in this World Cup, starting with Spain. So there’s many games to go before we can get what we all dream, which is American glory.

MARTIN: I do want to mention, though, that Team USA had success off the pitch, too, because U.S. Soccer has agreed to negotiate with players who are currently suing the sport’s governing body for gender discrimination. And, you know, I’m just interested in your take on this, as a person who watches both the men’s game and the women’s game closely. What do you make of it?

BENNETT: It’s a massive issue behind the scenes. Now the tournament’s kicked off, football is almost always front of mind for the players. But it really is simmering away in the background. The U.S. women are remarkable. They are elite footballers, elite athletes. But they are also pioneers, not just for the women’s game in America – for the women’s game around the world.

And, as they say – I interviewed a series of the players in the run-up to the World Cup, and Megan Rapinoe, the talismanic attacking midfielder – she said, we do not feel that we’re just trying to pioneer for women’s soccer. We feel we’re pioneering for women in all jobs in all offices around the world. It’s a massive weight, a massive responsibility that is on their shoulders. Ultimately, for the U.S. women, they all agree – winning is the best negotiation, and that’s what they’re now trying to focus on and pulling off and trying to do.

MARTIN: All right. Big match today – France versus Brazil. How did it come out? And what does it mean for Team USA?

BENNETT: The French team, on whom to – trying to repeat the achievement of the men and becoming world champions, they played just exquisite tactical, technical football. And if the U.S. can top Spain, the clash between the French and the U.S. will be a one which will really grab the wider American audience and fuse it to this tournament.

MARTIN: That is Roger Bennett, one of the “Men In Blazers.”

Roger, it’s always good to talk with you.

BENNETT: Michel, courage.

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.