I went to the Women's World Cup parade and now I'm really excited about the future of women's soccer

Friday morning, I attended the ticker tape parade in honor of the US Women's National Team winning the Women's World Cup last week.

It was awesome. 

There's nothing quite like the enthusiasm of tween girls — and this was a parade made up almost entirely of tween and teen girls.

I really recommend spending time with more teens. I went to the parade for work, but I came away from it really happy about life.

This girl in the picture below, Alex Thiessen, was my favorite person I encountered. She came to the parade from New Jersey with her family. "We're pretty big soccer people," she told me. "I'm really excited to be here today because a lot of my role models play on the team."

"Who's your role model?" I asked.

"Alex Morgan."

There were lots of people from out of town, too. Michelle Bernardi and Denise Rogers brought their sons up from Philadelphia. (The boys, Xavier and Jimmy, play for the Philadelphia soccer club, and were really excited to be there as well.)

There were plenty of people from the city, as well. These girls are from Brooklyn: 

 It wasn't just women, either. There were plenty of men.

These boys, both 15 and from Manhattan, came downtown "to celebrate freedom" and their love of soccer. 

Later, I heard the one on the left, Sam, yell out to no one in particular, "I am freedom incarnate!"

Oh yeah, there was a parade, as well. Not as many selfie sticks as I expected, but several of the US World Cup players turned their backs to the crowd in order to take selfies. Some of them may have needed selfie sticks. 

New York's mayor, Bill de Blasio, rode in a float with player Megan Rapinoe and New York's first lady Chirlane McCray: 

 And then it was over! I'm still smiling! 

SEE ALSO: Here's why it's fair that female athletes make less than men

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