Trinity’s Sunday clash against league leaders Sporting JAX will feature a tribute to the groundbreaking women’s soccer team

DALLAS — Dallas Trinity FC will recognize a group of their direct foremothers in a special program of events included in the team’s match Sunday afternoon at the Cotton Bowl in recognition of Women’s History Month.

Thirteen members of the legendary 1984 Dallas Sting will attend the match against Gainsbridge Super League leaders Sporting JAX. The contest kicks off at 4 p.m. and can be streamed live on WFAA+.

The ’84 Sting are widely recognized as the first women’s soccer team from the United States to compete internationally. In a defining run, the Sting beat Australia, Japan, China and Italy to win an international championship, marking the first major title for an American soccer team, men’s or women’s. Four members of the Sting would be invited to join the 16-player roster of the US Women’s National Team in 1991 for what would be the first-ever FIFA Women’s World Cup. 

Sunday will mark another chapter in the legacy of the North Texas legends, who as recently as four years ago were said to have a movie planned on the team’s ’80s exploits with Matthew McConaughey to star as the team’s coach, Bill Kinder. Mysteriously, the project fell apart due to what was told to WFAA to be “decades-old allegations” against Kinder, but said allegations were never expressed or reported in detail beyond them not being “criminal in nature.”

Kinder told WFAA at the time that he hoped the team’s story would be told eventually as it was “an uplifting, positive story” and that “ultimately the girls get credit for what they accomplished.”

The Sting will be honored on the field prior to kickoff and will participate in a pre-match panel at 2:30 p.m. The following Sting alumni are  scheduled to appear:

Kasey JonesAmy EklundMegan RustMichelle Conaway KimzeyAlicia Tannery DonelanPam Patak LowryDr. Jennifer LawsonMelinda Derden ReeseErin Adamson O’DonnellSheri MungaiBarbara GarlandToni CatchingsTina Fowler