The NWSL season is long, with games starting in March and rolling through November. The Chicago Stars have found a fun way to release the pressures of the year — and bond.
The soccer players meet up weekly to try their hand at Waddayaknow Trivia, a free event started in 2008 at multiple bars in Illinois to keep family and friends connected in the Chicago area. Everyone needs a break, but trivia keeps the mental — and competitive — juices going.
“It’s really nice to connect to something that’s not on the field,” said defender Sam Staab, who has one goal and one assist this season.
While Staab and the rest of her teammates knew each other to a degree, they were not the “closest of friends” starting out. But playing trivia has brought them closer than ever.
“Now they look forward to hanging out every (week) and shoot the s—,” Staab said. “Eat, play some trivia, hang out and catch up. So it’s fun, and not soccer, which is really fun, too.”
For the 1-2-8 Stars, formerly the Red Stars, they discovered these trivia nights at a normal team hangout at a bar. The club met up in 2024 to watch Caitlin Clark — whose Indiana Fever visited the Chicago Sky at United Center on June 7 — break the college basketball scoring record in her senior season at Iowa. A worker came up to the group with a suggestion.
“We were having dinner at the place and they (said to) come up and sign up for trivia and it starts in 20 minutes,” Stabb said. “We all looked (at each other) and said ‘Oh my gosh, we should totally play.’”
The competitive spirit of the Stars looks the same whether on the pitch or guessing trivia answers. Once a year, there is a Tournament of Champions where over 300 teams compete for a grand prize. The Stars take the event “seriously,” as well as the weekly qualifiers.
“You wager what you think is best for each answer, so Sam is also our wagerer,” midfielder Shea Groom said.
Staab added: “And I keep people on track as well. I’m a control freak, if you couldn’t tell.”
The Stars won their most recent round of trivia, with a full squad on hand: Along with Groom and Stabb, the group included forward Catherine Barry, defender Hannah Anderson, midfielder Maitane Lopez, forward Ava Cook, goalkeeper Halle Mackiewicz and defender Justina Gaynor.
Each player has their individual role for answering questions, with random knowledge a necessity. Hailing from different areas of the globe brings a worldwide perspective to the trivia team, which is an advantage.
“We all went to college for different things, where maybe other teams work together and are in the same field,” Groom said. “Ava is our music expert, Alyssa (Naeher) is pretty much random knowledge and I like to claim U.S. geography and African geography. We really balance each other out.”
“We have this diverse background,” Staab said. “We’re able to answer a lot of questions, or just have at least educated guesses on a lot of things. And we just kind of kept going with it.”
The squad — named Cheeseburgers in Paradise — is on a winning streak now, claiming victory in their last two trivia outings. They usually finish in the Top Five, with the first-place prize a $50 restaurant credit.
“We got into a streak where we were up to probably $300, then we started (buying) dinner and actually eating,” Groom said.
There’s not a certain method of training for trivia days, as any question in any category can pop up on any given day. Categories can sway from old sitcoms to presidential history. Groom tries to stay prepared each week, as much as she can be, at least.
“I memorized the entire map of Africa,” Groom said.
The trivia nights are “pretty chill,” a welcome feeling for any professional athlete. And when sports is your day job, you might as well play that card when it helps.
“There was a question about the World Cup that Alyssa (Naeher) knew, and we wrote on the bottom (and asked) if we get extra points if we have a winner,” Groom said, referring to the Stars goalkeeper’s two World Cup wins.
“And they did give us extra points.”
