A record number of Denver soccer fans descended on Empower Field at Mile High Saturday for Summit FC’s first home match of the team’s inaugural season.

With an official attendance of 63,004, the crowd was the biggest the National Women’s Soccer League had ever seen. And for the fans, it’s a long time coming. Efforts to bring a professional women’s soccer team to Denver started in late 2023, and for those who have been pushing for Summit FC since then, they said it was wonderful to finally get to see professional women’s soccer in the Mile High City.

Dana Kettlewell is a Fort Collins middle school music teacher and the chair of the board for the 14ers, the Summit’s official supporters group. She was a part of For Denver FC, the group that came together to campaign for a women’s soccer team in Denver, and said she had already cried twice Saturday morning just thinking about how much hard work was put in by so many people to make Summit FC a reality.

Kettlewell said she grew up playing soccer and always wished she could have watched her favorite players in person. Seeing families and avid, excited soccer fans walking around the stadium parking lot on Saturday filled her with hope, she said.

“You walk through the parking lot and you see all these families tailgating, and not just girls, but young kids and people of all walks of life finding a place to be welcome here, and feeling like they belong,” Kettlewell said.”This just represents everything that’s so good in this world.”

Tailgating fans showed up several hours before the scheduled noon kickoff. By about 10 a.m., Empower Field’s Mane Street was packed and awash with dark green jerseys, with kids kicking soccer balls around and a line for Summit merch stretching several hundred people long.

At the The 14ers Supporters’ Group tailgate, members were able to pick up their scarves showing their membership, while all were invited for burritos, doughnuts and coffee as well as human foosball and music curated by a live DJ. Kettlewell said the 14ers have about 500 official members and their own section at the stadium.

Kathy McLemore and Brian McGary drove up to Denver from Colorado Springs for the game. They described themselves as massive soccer fans; in addition to being members of the 14ers, they are also members of the Trailheads, a support group for Switchbacks FC, the USL team.

“We do anything we can to support Colorado soccer,” McGary said, his beard dyed blue in support of the Switchbacks, who also had a game Saturday.

Parri Tantello said she was one of the first 300 people to put a deposit down for season tickets and was thrilled to learn Denver was getting a professional soccer team, though she admitted she knows little about soccer. Instead, she was just excited to support women’s sports.

Kevin and Michelle Still came to the game with their daughter Izzy, 9. When asked how excited they were for the game, Izzy started jumping up and down. A soccer player, she said she loves the sport, and she and her family said they were super excited to support the Summit.

“I just like the fun-ness,” she said. “I just love it.”