Anyone know of any new W-League teams for 2003 or of any teams folding? I know that Indiana is planning on being back for 2003 (they sat out 2002). I also know that at least three groups of people were planning on trying to start teams this year but no update on the progress of those. I have heard rumors of Memphis shutting down the W-League team but I got an email from next year's mascott so that kind of disspells that rumor.
hey- there was an article in a quebec paper the past few days that the laval dynamites plans to return for next year...as they didn't field a team this year... but that doesn't meant they actually will, but hopefully they can! elaine
i found a similiar article at RDS...it's in french though... http://www.rds.ca/soccer/chroniques/SOCCER3D59A4D3.html elaine
WPSL east coast.. Hey I heard that the WPSl is coming east and will feild a 6-8 team league. Look for the Sirens to be in it and several existing W-league teams fed up of paying high league fees.
Wow that is sure interesting, are you pretty sure of that? I would like to see some rivalries between the leagues, it would be good for all.
Personally, I would like one of the two to be declared a Div. II league annd the other a Div. III league. It's confusing for me to have 2 D 2 leagues, as seems to be tye case with the W and thye WPSL, at leas as someone explained it to me (W-League teams getting fed up and seceding to start their own WPSL league).
That is a thought, which one would be which? Remember W-League just combined their leagues last year. Also the geography of it, most of the WPSL are west where there are no W-League teams. Denver I think is the only overlapping city, unless you consider that the Albuquerque team plays in both leagues . . . Do you think they can play in the same sandbox?
I've heard about Abq. I'm a little confused about their situation. Are they a "club", kind of like Calgary has been, that fields seperate teams for each league? Or does the same set of girls play a double schedule? Personally, I'm not well versed in the rules or style of play in either league. I've been to only one WPSL game, and have seen only one W-League game on TV. That said, I would place the W-League in D II and the WPSL in D III only because of the territorial differences. It seems like the W-League covers a lot more territory than the WPSL. I think this, along with other factors, has maybe caused the W-League to become more prestigious than the WPSL. As far as playing in the same "sandbox" (market?), I think the two leagues can coexist fairly peacefully. If anything, the W-League team in question might have more to worry about. It seems that a lot more money and effort is required to field a W-League team than a WPSL team. W-League games seem to attract much larger crowds in general than WPSL games, and therefore maybe require more investment (in all senses of the word) to keep the snowball rolling, which seems not to be true of the WPSL. Also, I was combing the WPSL site to see if any of my old Sacramento State acquiantances were on rosters. I found many, and they were all playing for two teams in the same metro area, Sacramento: the California Storm and the Elk Grove Pride. This fact may not prove that two teams in different leagues can coexist in a market, but does prove that two teams can coexist. What does prove that two teams in different leagues can coexist is the fact that everal cities have A-League or MLS teams and PDL teams. This phenomenon is another reason why I feel the WPSL should assume a DIII designation. It could be a feeder league to the W-League, which is in turn a feeder league to the WUSA. It would curb any sort of corporate rivalry that may exist in the two leagues, and make women's soccer easier to understand, at least for me.
All of that would require that the WPSL join the USL? Or maybe a partnership? Actually a merger would make sense as the WPSL serves the West while the W-League serves all but the west and there are only two overlapping cities (Denver and Alby). I saw the franchise fee for WPSL is $2000 and it is $4500 for the W-League, the WPSL has monthly dues, I don't know of any for the W-League. If you saw the W-League on TV, you were seeing the cream of the crop (was it Boston v Charlotte)? Those are cream of the crop teams, they get players from all over the world. Not every W-League team is like that, some are composed only of local players and most of those cannot compete with the Boston's and Charlottes. Look on the standings and you will see, some teams only can win games against 'worse' teams but not against the powerhouses, so most of the games are predictable. This is all very interesting.
hmmm. I wouldn't mind seeing them join the USL as a third division. Or even reuniting, however, I don't somehow see that happenning, as the WPSL came to be because of W-league teams that seceded from the W-League. Or are all those teams involved in that defunct now? It would indeed be nice to have one umbrella for domestic soccer, and uniting those leagues would help for sure.