My Soccer Story: Kristi Kivi
Kivi is an executive board member of The Pride, an FC Cincinnati supporters' group
Kristi Kivi knew from the first time she attended an FC Cincinnati game that she wanted to become a season ticket holder. She saw the way the fans supported the team through a rough transition to Major League Soccer and wanted to be part of it.
“The fans here seem to always find something to grasp onto to keep the energy going,” she said. “And obviously it dips and it wavers, but they do a much better job than I have seen in other fanbases.”
Like many things in Kivi’s life, she completely immersed herself once her interest was piqued. Season tickets turned into becoming a member of a supporters’ group called The Pride, which turned into a spot on the group’s executive board and a role as a drummer on gamedays.
Kivi grew up around soccer and played it herself. She watched the “Dare to Dream” documentary about the U.S. women’s national team as a kid and, in her words, “haven’t looked back since.”
"It's a physical activity that to me makes sense,” Kivi said. “I don't want to go work out and run on a treadmill, but if you give me a purpose behind that, like, to score a goal, that was my kind of thing."
An older cousin whom she looked up to played soccer in college, which only connected Kivi to the sport more. She did not realize until much later how much being surrounded by other women who were passionate about soccer shaped her view of it.
“I thought that was normal,” Kivi said. “I thought that women played soccer and women got offers to play soccer at universities. That was like second nature to me, so I kind of maybe had a warped view back then.”
In five seasons, FC Cincinnati went from being the worst team in MLS when they joined the league in 2019 to winning the Supporters’ Shield as the team with the best regular-season record in 2023. Though the team lost to archrival Columbus Crew in the Eastern Conference final, Kivi wouldn’t trade the consistent excellence the Supporters’ Shield represents for an MLS Cup.
“That to me, I think at the end of the day, matters more,” she said. “Especially as the first trophy for [FC Cincinnati] to take home, because that is what Cincinnati is about. It is about the growth and the strength that this club and this city has exhibited.”
In addition to her roles with The Pride, Kivi is part of the Cincinnati chapter of the American Outlaws, the supporters’ group for the U.S. national teams. When the U.S. women’s national team played in Cincinnati in September 2023, she took the lead on designing a Taylor Swift-themed eras tifo celebrating the team’s past and present stars. Alex Morgan offered her approval on social media.
“That was after the summer of Barbie,” Kivi said. “It was very girlhood. It was very women in sports. That, to me, was really cool to be a part of something that I could not see happening 10 years ago.”
When she originally moved to Cincinnati, Kivi was not planning to stay in the city on a long-term basis. Her feelings have changed dramatically, thanks in no small part to FC Cincinnati and The Pride.
“The sense of home that comes from that feeling of being part of something bigger than yourself has been life-changing for my perspective on this city,” she said.