AUCKLAND, New Zealand — When Crystal Dunn walked into her hotel room for the first time upon arriving for the 2023 Women’s World Cup, she couldn’t help but feel like part of her home near Portland, Oregon, had traveled with her.
There was a play set for her son Marcel and a set of mini goals. Along with room spray and candles that Dunn brought herself, her comfort level was ultra-plush, at least away from the field.
“I’m like, ‘Are those goals for me? Am I practicing my tactical work here?'” Dunn joked. “But they put a couple of toys in there, so when I had my son over, he can have some things to play with. And everyone got different things. Rose [Lavelle] got a book collection because she’s a bookworm, so she actually got a new series that’s cool to read that everyone’s reading now. So everyone got their own little touch of home I would say.”
She added, “I think we all love the structure. We love the accommodations that we all have. The training facility is amazing. Sometimes I’m like, ‘We’re in New Zealand? I mean, we’re back at home.’ So it’s great.”
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For the first time in the history of the Women’s World Cup, FIFA established base camps for each of the 32 teams. They include a unique training facility and hotel for each squad, but not all base camps are created equal, and in a bid to ease the path toward a historic third consecutive Women’s World Cup title, the U.S. Soccer Federation has spared no expense. The USSF has made numerous improvements to its Bay City Park training base in Auckland. The Federation even footed the bill for an additional half-sized training field to go with the one that was already provided.
With the help of Nike, the USSF also dressed up its hotel to give it a personal touch.
“I think it just makes us feel just a little more like a daily routine, and less like a traveling circus. And that’s a good thing,” U.S. forward Alex Morgan said.
USWNT GM Kate Markgraf doesn’t have to dial up the way-back machine too far to remember the days when FIFA would double up teams in the same hotel. It created some moments that were all kinds of awkward: Back in 2007, the Americans had to walk through the lobby in front of a Brazil team that had just trounced them 4-0. Let’s just say Brazil’s celebrations didn’t let up just because the U.S. team — and some of their family members — were walking through.
“That was just absolutely brutal,” Markgraf said. “And something that I was like, ‘I will never do this to another team.’ I was always like, ‘I will never boast in front of another team. Ever.'”
So why weren’t base camps used before?
Some of it was down to a lack of investment from FIFA. Even now, the $960,000 stipend that each team receives isn’t on par with the $1.5 million that men’s teams were given at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Another issue was logistics. At the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France, there often wasn’t enough time between games to make a home base practical. This time around, there’s an extra day between games, making a base camp worth the investment. When FIFA said there would be home bases in 2023, the USSF was ready.
