‘The little things really matter’: Paige Cronin reflects on the Royals’ pink scrunchie tradition

HERRIMAN — When Paige Cronin’s mother gave her a pink scrunchie, she just wanted to be able to pick her young daughter out on the soccer field.

Years later, the Utah Royals offered pink scrunchies to the first 4,000 fans attending last Saturday’s Breast Cancer Awareness match against the Kansas City Current at America First Field.

Cronin had a chance to look into the stands and see supporters wearing them.

“It was so nice to see, again, what I’ve talked about, people being a part of something bigger than themselves,” Cronin said Tuesday. “That was a really cool moment, for sure.”

What began as a mother’s practical solution has grown into the Pink Scrunchie Club, a community of supporters whose connection to Cronin and the Royals has expanded beyond soccer, raising money for breast cancer screenings and inspiring other charitable initiatives.

“No. Not even a little bit,” Cronin said when asked before the match if she’d ever imagined the scrunchie becoming what it has today.

“I think of just how small it was and how meaningful it has become, and that just means so much to me. Because I think for me and just how I was raised, and how I am every day, the little things really matter.”

Paige hit another NWSL milestone on a special night 🎀

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— Utah Royals FC (@UtahRoyalsFC) October 18, 2026

A promise kept

The pink scrunchie became a superstition for Cronin, accompanying her from Sky Blue FC in 2019 through Gotham FC and Racing Louisville before she joined the expansion Royals in 2024.

Seven years later, she’s still wearing those same two scrunchies.

“I literally have two, and I’ve tried to buy the same color and I cannot find it anywhere. So I’m holding onto those two,” Cronin said.

“They do go in the laundry and stuff like that, so they’re not totally disgusting. But yeah, I have my two from, my gosh, when was that? 2019. So yeah, crazy.”

It was after the Royals returned to the NWSL in 2024, with Cronin serving as the expansion team’s inaugural captain, that the scrunchies began to mean something to people other than her.

Following a match, she was chatting with a group of young fans when one asked if they could have her scrunchie.

Unwilling to part with one of her two originals, Cronin promised to give some out at the next home game. She ordered a package of 50 pink scrunchies online, autographed a few of them, and brought them with her.

Then she began to worry.

What if the girls didn’t come back? What if they didn’t even remember asking?

But the girls hadn’t forgotten the player who’d taken time to talk with them and promised to bring them a gift.

“When I saw those girls and they were looking at me and they were smiling and they were like, ‘You remember the scrunchies?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, of course,’” Cronin recalled.

“I just saw little Paige, and I just did not want to let them down, and I wanted to be there for them.”

Growing up in New Jersey, Cronin attended Sky Blue matches at Rutgers. Now she’s the professional player young fans are coming to see.

“I know how important these role models are,” she said. “So to be that player in Utah for these little girls, I will do that every single game and inspire the next generation.”

Something bigger than soccer

As the Pink Scrunchie Club grew, Cronin recognized an opportunity to connect the tradition to a cause close to her family.

Her aunt is a breast cancer survivor, and the color pink provided a natural connection to breast cancer awareness.

Cronin enlisted her Royals teammates, who were eager to get involved.

“We’re so excited to host our second breast cancer awareness auction,” Cronin said. “This was started by the players, and the club has been so supportive in helping us get it running.”

The auction opened Oct. 16 and runs through Nov. 2, with fans able to bid on autographed team-issued gear, signed jerseys, match-worn kits, boots and gloves. All proceeds benefit Intermountain Health, funding mammogram screenings for women in underserved communities.

Bidding is available through the Royals’ online auction.

Cronin credited her teammates for embracing the initiative.

“I’m honored that they wanted to join in, but I’m not surprised because that’s just the kind of people they are,” she said. “They want to help and they want to uplift others, and that’s a team I want to be a part of.”

The effort has also inspired others.

The Throne, a Royals supporters group, has organized a book drive for loved ones of people undergoing cancer treatment. Cronin also learned of a youth soccer team launching its own breast cancer awareness initiative after seeing her work.

“To see people doing good and spreading kindness and awareness, that’s what I feel like I just want to represent,” Cronin said.

Four thousand scrunchies later

The woman who started it all still reminds Cronin that soccer is about more than results.

“My mom is just like, ‘Yeah, but it’s much bigger than that. It matters what you do on and off the field every single day, and how you compete and how you show up, and when times are hard, how do you react?’”

Cronin has carried that ethos throughout her professional career, and she hopes young Royals fans recognize it when they watch her play.

“I think what I show on the field is that I’m always gonna compete, whatever position, whatever’s happening in my life,” Cronin said.

She also drew a connection between the determination she tries to demonstrate as an athlete and the challenges faced by people undergoing breast cancer treatment.

“Obviously people going through breast cancer are competing like heck,” she said.

“I’m gonna work so hard, and I’m gonna be the best teammate, and I’m gonna spread joy, and I’m just gonna be the best version of me and give everything I can,” Cronin said. “I think that’s what’s most meaningful to me.”

Yet when asked whether seeing the stands filled with pink scrunchies felt like a reflection of her own influence, Cronin was reluctant to take credit.

“I don’t even think of myself that way, honestly,” she said.

“I’ve had some people say, ‘Hey, Paige, this is because of you,’ and I’m like, ‘Oh no, no, no, no.’”

“But really, I’m just so humbled and honored to be a part of it.”