Women's Professional Soccer: a History
Bolstered by their first-place finish in the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, the 20 players from the U.S. Women's National Team formed WUSA in February 2000. The league was composed of eight teams, with four international players allowed per team. Soccer greats like Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly, Julie Foudy, Brandi Chastain, and Michelle Akers laced up their cleats with international stars like Germany's Birgit Prinz, Brazil's Sissi, and China's Sun Wen to take to the field in April 2001. The inaugural season closed with the Bay Area CyberRays defeating the Atlanta Beat in penalty kicks.
Despite initial excitement over WUSA, interest in the league waned after a while. With ticket sales and television ratings lagging, the league found itself struggling to survive. After three seasons, WUSA suspended operations.
The league's founders and players did not throw in the towel on the idea of a women's professional soccer league, though. All rights to the teams' names, logos, and other associated content were upheld in the case of the league starting up again. In 2003, the WUSA Reorganization Committee began work to re-launch a women's professional league in the U.S.
After holding a summit with the Women's Sports Foundation and several business executives to discuss the successes and failures of WUSA, the committee formed the not-for-profit Women's Soccer Initiative, Inc. (WSII) in 2004. The organization's mission was to "promote and support all aspects of women's soccer in the United States chiefly by encouraging and enabling the creation of a world-class professional women's soccer league." Just three years later, WSII took a step toward achieving this mission.
Women's Soccer LLC was formally established in 2007 with the help of operational grants from the U.S. Soccer Federation and U.S. Soccer Foundation and backing by seven investor groups. The league was later officially named Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) on January 17, 2008. Its logo featured a silhouette of U.S. soccer great and future soccer Hall of Fame inductee Mia Hamm. Preparations began for the league's inaugural season, which began in 2009.
In its first year, the WPS was composed of seven teams. Before the 2009 season even began, though, two more teams were slated to join the league in 2010. Teams were composed of U.S. WNT, domestic, and international players. On March 29, 2009, players like U.S. WNT forward Abby Wambach, domestic player and former University of Virginia standout Becky Cauerbrunn, and Brazil's golden girl Marta took the field for the league's inaugural game. Over 14,000 fans turned out to cheer on the new league. After an eventful first season that included major trades, season-ending injuries, and action on the part of the WPS disciplinary committee, the Sky Blue FC defeated the Los Angeles Sol for the first WPS championship.
The road to developing a women's professional soccer league in which players are paid has been long and tumultuous. And it is by no means complete. The goal of WPS is "to be the premier women's soccer league in the world, and the global standard by which women's professional sports are measured." This not only sets the bar for the WPS-It also sets the bar for other countries. With such lofty goals, female soccer players everywhere can be assured that their fight for a paid professional league is far from finished.
Sources
"Women's Professional Soccer: About Us." 18 Nov. 2009.
http://www.womensprosoccer.com/about/about-wps
"Women's Professional Soccer." 18 Nov. 2009.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_Professional_Soccer.
"Women's United Soccer Association." 18 Nov. 2009.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_United_Soccer_Association.
Published by MH
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- The road toward establishing a women's professional soccer league began in 2000.
- Despite a failed first attempt, supporters continued in their mission.
- Today, Women's Professional Soccer exists as a league in which the players are paid.
1 Comments
Post a CommentThanks for writing this--as a season ticket holder to the Washington Freedom WPS team, I can say that Women's Professional Soccer is one of the best values in terms of tremendous athletes and family entertainment at a reasonable ticket price.