Fair, but I will say that neither of my posts suggested the write-ups had to be immediate, they just had to happen (hence the "still waiting" and "so far" comments - I wasn't giving up on the notion that UWS wasn't going to do it). I too would be happy with seeing a weekend recap today. As long as we get one. Is UWS really leaning on the "am" side of "pro-am" at the moment? I know they've always talked up being a "true division II behind NWSL" so I would imagine they're pushing toward the "pro" side, honestly, especially with the emphasis on all the signings teams are having.
Hot off the pressesUWS WEEK 1 WRAP-UP: LI & NE both score 3-0 wins in their 2016 home openers... https://t.co/A6cEWky0MY #UWoSo pic.twitter.com/J0iV6SKDhI— United Women's Soccer (UWS) (@UWSSoccer) May 16, 2016 A fairly nice wrap-up! Though I gotta say it seems a bit weird to mention the conference as well in the statements of record for each team. X-D No extra info on the LIR attendance, which is a bit of a shame... I hope it pops up somewhere! I know one thing the W-League was fairly good at was reporting attendances, at least compared to other amateur leagues (e.g. PDL, WPSL, NPSL, etc.) so I'm really hoping UWS keeps that mantle up. @kenntomasch, you got any extra attendance intel?
It was great to see the weekend recap as well as the conference players of the week! And yeah, I was hoping to see an attendance figure for the LIRR game. But if their PR and social media is a sign post, I don't know how many fans would have showed up since they are all about promoting their PDL team and affiliation with NYCFC. Barely any mention of their women's team prior to this weekend's game. But hopefully we can get a number somewhere. I know they guy who does the PR for the league, so I'll reach out to him. I mentioned the "am" of pro-am since what I've heard is they are really working out a plan that suits this level of soccer. Working out the pros and cons of both the W-League and the WPSL models to see what works best, both on and off the field. They haven't taken the W-League manual and simply copy and pasted it for this league. They are really working at a new conception of what it takes for a "D2" team to succeed, so... this season will be a work in progress, so 2017 (the year these teams wanted to form this new league but with the W-League folding were forced a year ahead of schedule) can be the year they can approach the NWSL reserve sides, etc. (the "pro") with a proper league mgmt. model in place. Also, having to take on truly "am" teams like the Magic, TSF and the Storm to get the game/travel schedules worked out for this year... for heaven's sake, the Magic still have their 2015 W-League schedule posted on their team website. And TSF and the Storm's team sites are as rudimentary as you can get. Ugh. I hope that makes sense... no coffee yet for me today! Here's an interview the UWS commissioner did with Top Drawer Soccer... http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/coll...s-steps-into-the-summer-league-scene_aid39195 It kind of corroborates what I'm saying that they are using this season to get the kinks worked out, so they'll have their management model set for expansion in 2017. As far as the East is concerned, I'd love to see a renewed NY Fury team (Paul Riley's old WPSL Elite team, maybe a Flash reserve side?) take the place of the Magic and a Sky Blue reserve side take the place of TSF. And from what I've heard, if the Spirit reserves had chosen UWS, their whole WPSL division would've followed suit, so that could be a great base for a Mid-Atlantic division. And the WPSL are up to their old tricks again... the Breakers reserves had listed their opener this past weekend but... all of the sudden that game has disappeared! And they only have 9 games listed in a 7-team division. Making it all up as they go along. The same old, same old... sorry about that. Got carried away. I'll try and leave that stuff out of this thread.
Yeah, makes sense! There are certainly some "am" teams here, but I was under the impression that the majority of the teams were trying for the "pro" side of things. It certainly was thrown together quickly, but as we've seen with NWSL and even with the team-run WPSL Elite, it's possible to get things thrown together quickly. I guess both of those example did have teams with previous DI experience helping, of course. I thought FC Copa already had a working agreement with Sky Blue, so not sure if they would take over TSF... And the Long Island Fury are still active in WPSL. Would definitely be interesting to see a Flash Reserves started, though, I'm all for Reserves sides!
Most of the teams are most certainly looking at going the "pro-am" route (as opposed to "am"). I would say 4 of the 5 teams in the West (excluding the Storm) are looking to take the next step up while in the East, I would take out the Magic and TSF. Copa were the Sky Blue reserves team in 2015 but I haven't seen any mention of their partnership this year... but they certainly look to be serious about what they're doing despite last weekend's result. The LI Fury and the NY Fury co-existed under Riley's umbrella for two (maybe three?) years. I remember at the time of WPSL Elite, Riley talking about the NY Fury as a "pro" team and wanted to make it so before they just opted for the LI Fury the last few seasons. And I got the attendance for the LI game... 276. Hmm... here's my breakdown of what attendance numbers should be at this level of soccer. 100: essentially a family and friends event, not good AT ALL. 200+: not bad but "you" (the team) need to step up your community outreach. 500+: this should be the minimum amount of fans attending games at this level. Essentially pays all the bills for your home game, too. 750-1,000: now that's good stuff. Keep up the great work! Anything up from there is icing on the cake, in my opinion.
Well, 276 is still above recent W-League averages! Do you have a link for that, or was it tapping personal communications? I forgot they both existed at some point. Just going through WPSL season pages on Wiki: 2006-2010: just Long Island 2011: both LI and NY 2012: both LI and NY, but split WPSL/WPSLE 2013-2016: just Long Island, as the pro players that supported NY mostly went to NWSL (and Riley went to NWSL in 2014 too)
oooo they're doing weekly player awards! http://www.uwssoccer.com/news_article/show/649004?referrer_id=2311518
I have not been tracking this league. Quite frankly, after the debacle of WPSL Elite or whatever that was, I am skeptical of most really low-level leagues and especially so in the women's game. I mean, I was able to find W-League attendance figures fairly readily for most teams. But I pay this league no mind, sorry.
So if this inaugural season is successful What measures will be used to gauge success? & Who are the expansion candidates?
Success will be surviving. I know that sounds a bit snippy, but honestly: D2 WoSo had always been riddled with teams switching leagues and popping into or out of existence by the dozens each year. If enough teams haven't lost so much money as to bail out that the league is back next year, I'd say that's a success. Remember that WLS only had one year in its original alignment, and the entire lower half vaporized for year two, followed by the whole league kinda disintegrating. So if both UWS division survive this year, and the league makes it to year three, I'd say that's success. As for expansion, I think multiple ex-W-League teams voiced interest, but either had already committed to WPSL or are waiting to see how well UWS does. Assuming things go well with UWS this year, (not just trumpeting from the Mutiny,) I expect many ex-W-League teams to shift over from WPSL (or come back from a year off). In particular, I'm think Dayton, both Spirits, Carolina, etc.
I agree with STT. In other news, UWS also posted a couple of weekend previews for each conference... East - http://www.uwssoccer.com/news_article/show/650523?referrer_id=2294922 West - http://www.uwssoccer.com/news_article/show/650885?referrer_id=2294922 It looks like the Pride and the Aces will have quality sides this year in the West, but Santa Clarita appears to have the edge when it comes to the experience on their side. We'll see today in their match vs. Houston. Copa has been trumpeting their side behind the scenes, so if they come out with two losses this weekend, their season may already be over. Its not often at this level that a team with three losses wins a conference title. The Inferno/Mutiny match should be an interesting one.
I have been following the UWS and so far it appears to be a legit quality league. Social Media has been on top of things with weekly recaps and awards, although stats are not updated from week 2 yet, and the games seem to be competitive (well except for that Santa Clarita/Houston trouncing) and of fairly high quality. It appears to be mostly college players with some "pro" veterans sprinkled in to each team. I hope it survives and thrives as it really fits a need for a stepping stone to NWSL.
Here are the recaps from over the weekend... West wrap-up http://www.uwssoccer.com/news_article/show/651652?referrer_id=2311518-news West Players of the Week http://www.uwssoccer.com/news_article/show/651685?referrer_id=2294922 East wrap-up http://www.uwssoccer.com/news_article/show/651805?referrer_id=2294922 East Players of the Week http://www.uwssoccer.com/news_article/show/651812?referrer_id=2294922 From what I've heard about the Santa Clarita-Houston match is that the Aces didn't have their A team starting, as only 1 of the 8 players (their top signings) listed in the weekend preview played in the match. It was an even match until the final 10 minutes of the first half and than four Blue Heat goals (including a OG by the Aces) started the blowout. We'll see how they do when they face RSL this weekend. We'll get a better idea after that game, I guess. Lady Andrade was released by the Flash so I wonder if she'll be a signing for a NWSL club or if she'll join her Colombian teammates in Houston. Other than that, it seemed like all the other matches were pretty competitive even the TSF-Copa game. That wasn't decided until late.
300+ in the Denver Derby - pretty good 100+ at TSF - could definitely be better 650+ at Copa - very nice! Hopefully the new club can keep that up rain in PA, so I'm guessing the attendance there was pretty low no report on the Aces' attendance, but for the sake of their fans I hope it was low too, with how bad that blowout was!
My writeup on the UWS and Sunday's match in Lancaster: The League is Dead! Long Live the League! I was in the pressbox with no view of the bleachers, but it was raining practically the whole time, so I don't think attendance was all that good.
Well this didn't last too long ... They still don't have stats from last weekends games posted. With only 11 teams in the league, it shouldn't be that difficult. Let's go! Keep up the quality in both the play and in the administration. It is important to differentiate the league from the older unorganized versions. On a positive note, They did put out a recap of all the games, player awards and a preview of this weeks games.
I've been out of the loop the past week but I checked the website today and it looks like all the game stats have been posted. Its something they definitely need to keep up on... like you said, differentiation. I don't know if the teams are responsible for uploading the game stats or the league is, but I hope it would be the latter. Stats aren't for sissies or novices. It gets technical. And whoever is in charge of that at the league level needs to be ahead of the curve, not behind it. Or "even" or parallel or perpendicular with it. Big word, that. And yeah, they're doing well with the news posts and social media, too. Now if we get could some games on the internet, I'd say they'd definitely be ahead of the curve.
"Stats aren't for sissies or novices. It gets technical." This is so true! While a quick glance at the stats would make it appear they are correct, there are numerous errors and omissions. Several of the games have goal scorers who were not credited with playing any minutes and there are no updates for things like individual shots taken. The write ups are inconsistent with the stats as well. The first ever game talks about the goalkeepers splitting time and yet there is no split in the stats. There are players listed as playing 90 min. in games that didn't even attend the game as part of the 25 person roster. I know this may seem minor and unimportant but if you want to be the league that values "professional standards" then you need to pay attention to the details.
Massive link dump update... be prepared! Colorado Pride v Storm webcast - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1zEYFRbMzAwCdDi4zGg71lXfIZaWHgp2 Pride v Storm game story - http://pridewleague.com/?p=879 LIRR v Lancaster webcast - Blue Heat v CO Storm game story - http://www.signalscv.com/section/19/article/152903/ Mutiny v Lancaster game story - http://www.masslive.com/sports/2016/06/new_england_mutiny_suffer_firs.html#incart_river_index UWS East wrap - http://www.uwssoccer.com/news_article/show/656888?referrer_id=2294922 UWS West wrap - http://www.uwssoccer.com/news_article/show/656894?referrer_id=2294922
Based on the timetags on the Colorado Pride's match tweets, their game yesterday with the Houston Aces took 5 hours, 15 minutes from first whistle to last due to lightning delays.
As professional as the W-League generally was, I gotta admit I find it a bit funny how the ex-W-League teams have fared vs the ex-WPSL and expansion teams in UWS. In the West it's basically dead even, but in the East the ex-W-League teams are 1-6-3. X-D I am, though, surprised at how even it's looking in the West. Everyone's dropped at least 3pts so far, and no one is under 1PPG. Even Houston, who've lost three out of five, haven't looked truly bad since their first match and have the only win over the division leaders.
Okay, I know there are still two weekend games to play, but just to insert my thoughts of the past two games this weekend: Soooooo glad to see RSL get another W The West really is quite the logjam at the moment; a win or draw from Houston tomorrow would keep it completely muddled (though a loss would probably eliminate them). In the East, it looks like it's clearly down to a two-horse race between Copa and the Mutiny. A win by Lancaster tomorrow could make it either a one- or three-horse race, depending on if the Mutiny slip up again or not later, but I think that's doubtful to occur.