Alex Ovechkin has a noted love for the sport of soccer. Sunday morning, ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reported that the Washington Capitals captain would be taking that love to the next level and become an investor in the National Women’s Soccer League’s Washington Spirit.

Ovechkin said that he was in part inspired to do so by his mother Tatyana who is a multiple-time Olympic gold medal winner in basketball for Russia.

“It doesn’t matter if you are a man or a woman, you should be able to chase the same goals as a professional athlete,” Ovechkin said that his mother has taught him. “I think it’s important to support women and women’s professional athletes — not just in the United States, but all over the world.”

The pending unrestricted free agent also remarked that it was important for him to back a team in Washington, DC.

“It was also important for me to support the DC community,” Ovechkin said. “I support everybody in this town. Me and my wife love to go watch a soccer game, watch football, and baseball. We all win. If I have this opportunity, I think it’s very important for me to do it because it also shows we care.”

The Spirit, who recently played their first home game in front of fans since 2019, also boasts Chelsea Clinton and Jenna Bush Hager as investors.

Ovechkin doesn’t just want to be involved with the Spirit monetarily though.

“If I have the chance, I have the time, I’d love to go to a practice, would love to go to the games,” Ovechkin said. “I’m looking forward to meeting the players. I think it’s critical to be involved with those kind of things. To support women’s soccer, I think it’s pretty cool.”

The Spirit’s captain and current president of the NWSL players’ association, Tori Huster thinks that would be highly beneficial for the organization.

“I think he could really make some strides here, and show that we are valuable, and he believes that. I’m sure that will only be reinforced when he meets all of our players and meets our staff. He, as well, will have a really cool perspective on sports in general and what is professional,” Huster said about Ovechkin. “He can show us how to raise the bar and the standards — some that we might think are great, but he can pinpoint what we can do to improve, whether it’s in the medical department or the media department. We need allies like him in male sports that are going to help us make those improvements.”

The Spirit will get their regular season underway on May 16 as they travel to Florida to take on the Orlando Pride.

Headline photo: Pixabay/Washington Spirit logo