Winds of Change: Women's pro soccer comes to the Inland Northwest with the Spokane Zephyr FC

On Sunday afternoon a couple thousand people filled a ballroom at the Davenport Grand Hotel to be among the first to find out the name of Spokane’s newest professional sports team.

Cheering, the crowd was thrilled to learn the name of the new top-flight women’s soccer team: Spokane Zephyr FC.

There were roughly 2,000 people in attendance because this is a big deal. It’s arguably Spokane’s first shot at hosting a top-tier sports team.

A wind from the west, as Zephyr was known amongst the Greek gods, represents the team, including in its stylized crest. The Zephyr will play in USL Super League, a tier-one league in the U.S. women's soccer hierarchy, along with teams from, so far, eight cities including Charlotte, Dallas, D.C. and Phoenix, among others.

“A lot of times, women’s teams are launched as an afterthought,” says Katie Harnetiaux, Aequus Sports president and co-owner and president of Spokane’s club. “This is not an afterthought.”

The women’s team is sharing the pitch with the Spokane Velocity FC men’s pro team at the new ONE Spokane Stadium in downtown, starting in fall 2024.

Spokane Zephyr FC will play in USL Super League, which is intended to compete with the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), the country's other tier-one professional league.

The team crest features a stylized Z with long tails to evoke the movement of wind, and features the team's colors of teal blue, gold, dark grey and white (officially, these color names are Impact blue, basalt, Palouse gold and cloud).

The Zephyr will be Spokane’s only top-level pro team, and the city’s first since the Spokane Shock of the Arena Football League — a different sport than the NFL, but widely considered a minor league of gridiron football. Aside from that, the city’s only other claimant for such consideration was the single season that Spokane hosted the Spokane Canaries hockey team in 1916-17. The team only played that year due to being relocated from Victoria, British Columbia, during World War I.

Spokane Zephyr FC is set to begin play next fall, along with a semi-pro team in the USL W League featuring pre-professional athletes.

Read more about the team in this week’s issue of the Inlander, on newsstands this Thursday, Nov. 9. For season ticket deposits, team merch and more, visit spokanezephyrfc.com.