W-League folds

Discussion in 'US Women's Lower Divisions' started by Nacional Tijuana, Nov 6, 2015.

  1. StarCityFan

    StarCityFan BigSoccer Supporter

    Aug 2, 2001
    Greenbelt, MD
    Club:
    Washington Freedom
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    They added three teams in VA last year, so I'm not sure how much more room there is. But they're lacking in the Carolinas - wonder if the Carolina Elite Cobras and the Charlotte Lady Eagles will transfer over from the W-League.
     
  2. GUSF

    GUSF New Member

    Dec 2, 2015
    Greensboro, NC
    Rumor is there will be 2-3 teams in the Carolinas this year to compliment 3 teams in VA.
     
  3. A. Dufresne

    A. Dufresne Member

    Nov 7, 2015
  4. StarCityFan

    StarCityFan BigSoccer Supporter

    Aug 2, 2001
    Greenbelt, MD
    Club:
    Washington Freedom
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    It confirms what I was told off-the-record, that Braddock Road and the Spirit Reserves will play in WPSL next year. Will be interesting to see how the divisions shape up - could have one with just DC-metro teams: those two, plus Fredericksburg, ASA Charge, and ACF Torino.
     
  5. SiberianThunderT

    Sep 21, 2008
    DC
    Club:
    Saint Louis Athletica
    Nat'l Team:
    Spain
    Wasn't there supposed to be a VA team or two joining next year, too? Add the five you mentioned, Virginia Beach, Chesterfield, and the new VA team(s) since I doubt you'd isolate the VA teams in their own division - or shuttle them to the SE division...
    That'd be a dang big division to have in the East conference, though...
     
  6. StarCityFan

    StarCityFan BigSoccer Supporter

    Aug 2, 2001
    Greenbelt, MD
    Club:
    Washington Freedom
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Federal City (Fairfax) and Williamsburg were supposed to join this past summer but apparently put it off. Federal City is promised (again) for 2016. I don't know what happened to Williamsburg.

    Geographically, then, it might make sense to have the Virginia teams in their own division: Virginia Beach, Chesterfield, Fredericksburg, Braddock Road, Federal City. Then you'd have to create a division with the three Maryland teams - Spirit Reserves, ASA Charge, ACF Torino - and a couple of Pennsylvania or New Jersey teams.

    It does seem a little odd that there were two W-League teams in the Carolinas but no WPSL teams.
     
    SiberianThunderT repped this.
  7. A. Dufresne

    A. Dufresne Member

    Nov 7, 2015
    Well now... here's the news confirming what I had posted a little while back. The New England Mutiny will indeed be part of United Women's Soccer, a new D2 league.

    http://www.masslive.com/sports/2015/12/new_england_mutiny_excited_to.html#incart_river_index

    Whatever division the Spirit Reserves play in the WPSL, I can very well see a +40 if not a +50 goal differential when they win it... that is, if they still have the same quality of roster, etc. I read somewhere after the W-League folded they wanted their players to have an "exceptional experience." I just don't know how that equates with how the WPSL is run.

    "The WPSL"... where you have to find news on the league in internet forums, various scuttlebutt, etc. No official announcement yet from the WPSL about these new teams, never mind the 2016 Championship host site that was announced by Columbus. Their stance when it comes to social media & what gets posted on their website is... utterly baffling.

    This thing about West Coast bias has always surrounded Zanelli. Hard not to see it these days. And they're never proactive. It took him weeks to respond to the W-League folding. Go on UWS! We all deserve better.
     
    StarCityFan repped this.
  8. SiberianThunderT

    Sep 21, 2008
    DC
    Club:
    Saint Louis Athletica
    Nat'l Team:
    Spain
    Sounds like it will be a nice, regional league. Hard to see it ever being recognized as D2 while still in one time zone, though... (Not that anyone was ever recognized as D2 in the first place). NWSL certainly won't endorse it with half of NWSL's audience nowhere near UWS. That said, maybe in future years they can poach the high-reaching WPSL teams (RSL, Houston Aces, CRS Reserves, San Diego SeaLions, etc.) since it sounds like WPSL doesn't want to revive the WPSL Elite. Hopefully UWS lasts longer than WLS did.
     
  9. SiberianThunderT

    Sep 21, 2008
    DC
    Club:
    Saint Louis Athletica
    Nat'l Team:
    Spain
    Addendum: I know the article says they want a national league in two conferences. But just from the history of all women's D2 leagues in the country, I don't count on any big talk, I only believe when it happens.
     
  10. SiberianThunderT

    Sep 21, 2008
    DC
    Club:
    Saint Louis Athletica
    Nat'l Team:
    Spain
    Here's a question: considering that the league will be made up of WPSL and W-League teams, are they going to try to go for affiliation with the United States Adult Soccer Association again or not?
     
  11. SJJ

    SJJ Member

    Sep 20, 1999
    Royal Oak, MI, USA
    Club:
    Michigan Bucks
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    the press release, in .PNG format:

    http://cdn1.sportngin.com/attachments/photo/5720/5821/National_Championship_Press_Release.png


    I wonder about the dates, July 30-31. I thought that all women's leagues had to end so that players would get back to their schools for practice. Last season, both major summer leagues had their finals the weekend of July 24-26. The 2006 WPSL finals would be one week later.

    NCAA Women's D-I has First Contest on August 19, 2016. (Last year was August 21, 2015.) There should be 21 "practice units" for prep. (Never fully understood that terminology.) So that would seemingly mean a final by July 24.
     
  12. SJJ

    SJJ Member

    Sep 20, 1999
    Royal Oak, MI, USA
    Club:
    Michigan Bucks
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    #87 SJJ, Dec 15, 2015
    Last edited: Dec 15, 2015
  13. SiberianThunderT

    Sep 21, 2008
    DC
    Club:
    Saint Louis Athletica
    Nat'l Team:
    Spain
    University of Western Sydney?
    Upper West Side?
    X-D

    On a more serious note, I hope they're timely about releasing the full information today like the MassLive article said. I'd love to see a website and/or more teams. (And start a UWS thread instead of continuing on this W-League-is-dead thread.)
     
  14. SiberianThunderT

    Sep 21, 2008
    DC
    Club:
    Saint Louis Athletica
    Nat'l Team:
    Spain
  15. SJJ

    SJJ Member

    Sep 20, 1999
    Royal Oak, MI, USA
    Club:
    Michigan Bucks
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  16. SiberianThunderT

    Sep 21, 2008
    DC
    Club:
    Saint Louis Athletica
    Nat'l Team:
    Spain
    Interesting! Kinda fun to see the Spirit grow its club structure.
     
  17. SiberianThunderT

    Sep 21, 2008
    DC
    Club:
    Saint Louis Athletica
    Nat'l Team:
    Spain
    Just trying to tie up some loose ends:
    We currently have four of the "last 18" W-League teams unaccounted for. Does anyone know the status/plans for
    -Arizona
    -Carolina
    -Charlotte
    -CO Rush
    ?
     
  18. kenntomasch

    kenntomasch Member+

    Sep 2, 1999
    Out West
    Club:
    FC Tampa Bay Rowdies
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Arizona took a bath on trying to bring two LigaMX teams to Yuma (I know, right?) and had announced last summer they were likely out o' business.
     
  19. SiberianThunderT

    Sep 21, 2008
    DC
    Club:
    Saint Louis Athletica
    Nat'l Team:
    Spain
    :confused:
     
  20. A. Dufresne

    A. Dufresne Member

    Nov 7, 2015
    From what I've heard, Charlotte will only field a developmental team this summer. The WPSL was never an option. Too smart for that. Ethics are certainly a foundation of their organization. If UWS takes care of their business this summer, they will go that route in 2017.
     
    SiberianThunderT repped this.
  21. StarCityFan

    StarCityFan BigSoccer Supporter

    Aug 2, 2001
    Greenbelt, MD
    Club:
    Washington Freedom
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Carolina no longer has a website.
    Colorado has one, but it hasn't been updated since last year.
     
    SiberianThunderT repped this.
  22. SiberianThunderT

    Sep 21, 2008
    DC
    Club:
    Saint Louis Athletica
    Nat'l Team:
    Spain
    Actually, I might have found Carolina... I went to the WPSL site today to see if I was remembering correctly that their most recent article mentioned Tijuana (it did) but while I was checking I saw it mentioned "CAROLINA COBRAS" (SC, not NC) in it as well. Not the "Carolina Elite Cobras", but then again WPSL has often been willy-nilly with how team names are displayed (e.g. that same article has "Washington City Reserves" right next to "Washington Spirit Academy", ouch). Could also be a different team making a name grab, though.
     
  23. SiberianThunderT

    Sep 21, 2008
    DC
    Club:
    Saint Louis Athletica
    Nat'l Team:
    Spain
    #98 SiberianThunderT, Mar 15, 2016
    Last edited: Mar 15, 2016
    So, over the last week or so, I made it my project to clean up the W-League wikipedia page - namely the team list, which was simply a list of plain text (that, of course, I found to be fraught with errors*). I've turned it into both a sortable list and a timeline. I thought I'd just highlight some of the things I've found in the process:

    There are 23 once-members of the W-League still in existence:
    --12 in WPSL: the California Storm, San Francisco Nighthawks, New Jersey Wildcats, Seattle Sounders, Atlanta Silverbacks, FC Indiana, Tampa Bay Hellenic, Spirit Reserves, Dayton Dutch Lions, Carolina Cobras, Gulf Coast Texans, Spirit Academy (from Braddock Road)
    --9 in UWS: Long Island Rough Riders, New York Magic, New England Mutiny (from Springfield Sirens), Laval Comets*, Quebec Dynamo*, New Jersey Valkyries, Santa Clarita Blue Heat, Colorado Pride, Colorado Storm
    --2 in NWSL: Western New York Flash, Washington Spirit (from DCU)

    We all know the Washington Freedom, existing for 11 years (2001-2011), is often credited with being one of the best, most constant presences in US WoSo; while I haven't dug through the WPSL records, there are 19 ex-W-League teams to have hit 12 or more years, including 3 that are entering their 22nd year:
    --The California Storm, San Francisco Nighthawks, and Long Island Rough Riders were all W-League founding teams, putting them at 22 years in D2 US WoSo (1995-2016)
    --Right behind them ate the New Jersey Wildcats, who started in the W-League in 1996, putting them at 21 years
    --19yrs: Hampton Road Pirahnas (1995-2013) and New York Magic (1998-2016)
    --18yrs: Springfield Sirens/New England Mutiny (1999-2016)
    --17yrs: Rochester Ravens (1996-2012)
    --16yrs: Maryland Pride (1995-2010) and Charlotte Land Eagles (2000-2015)
    --15yrs: Boston Renegades (1995-2009), Chicago Cobras/Gaels/Red Eleven (1996-2010), Ottawa Fury (2000-2014), and Seattle Sounders (2002-2016)
    --14yrs: NoVA Majestics (1999-2012)
    --13yrs: Denver Diamonds (1996-2008)
    --12yrs: Rhode Island Rays (1995-2006), FC Indiana (2005-2016), and Atlanta Silverbacks (2005-2016)
    Near misses: NH Lady Phantoms (9yrs), Piedmont Spark/Greensboro Twisters/Carolina Dynamo (10yrs), Vancouver Whitecaps (10yrs), London Gryphons (11yrs), Toronto Lady Lynx (10yrs), Tampa Bay Hellenic (9yrs)
    Note that of those 22 long-lasting teams (and 6 near misses), 10 are still active. Credit to those teams for being stalwarts of US WoSo!

    While 28 of the 127 W-League teams made it to at least 9yrs and 22/127 made it to at least 12yrs, at the other end of the scale 65/127 lasted no longer than 4yrs, and 20/127 lasted just 1yr. In other words, if you last at least 5yrs, you're already in the top half of US WoSo teams. (Adding in WUSA, WPS, WPSL, and WLS teams that never saw the W-League will probably depress that number to 4yrs.)

    If anyone wants to find out more about the early days of the W-League (or the early days of WPSL for that matter), at least in terms of the teams participating/the standings/the playoffs, check these out:
    http://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/usl-w.html
    http://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/usl-w2.html
    http://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/wpsl.html

    *some errata corrected:
    --The Virginia/Hampton Road Pirahnas were listed as starting in 2001, when they in fact were a 1995 W-League founding team
    --The Rhode Island Rays were listed as 1996-2005 before folding outright, when they were also a founding team and spent 2003-2006 in WPSL
    --The Rochester Ravens were not listed despite being one of the longest tenured WoSo teams out there
    --The San Diego Top Guns were listed as 1995-1996, when they did not in fact participate in the 1996 season
    --The Springfield Sirens were not listed as transferring to WPSL and changing their name, nor were they even wikilinked to the New England Mutiny. However, there's still a conflict I've seen concerning their 2002 season, which their official site states was in WPSL but the links above don't have an eastern division for WPSL in 2002 (neither do they have the Sirens/Mutiny in the W-League 2002 season).
     
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  24. SiberianThunderT

    Sep 21, 2008
    DC
    Club:
    Saint Louis Athletica
    Nat'l Team:
    Spain
    #99 SiberianThunderT, Jun 1, 2016
    Last edited: Jun 1, 2016
    Just as a little "where are they now?" for our last 18 W-League teams... I may do this periodically just for fun...

    The three UWS West ex-W-League teams are currently 2-1 all together, but that include one h2h match.
    The three UWS East ex-W-League teams are fairing worse at 1-3-1, while their ex-WPSL competition is 2-1 (including one h2h) and the expansion side is leading the conference at 2-1-1
    The seven WPSL ex-W-League teams are doing alright, 5-1 overall against the previous WPSL teams, (there's also one h2h match between Spirit teams,) but Carolina has not played yet and the NJ Wildcats are the 0-1 accounting for ex-W-League's sole WPSL-loss so far.
    The two Quebec ex-W-League teams are inactive but have NOT been silent ever since they were denied entry to UWS by the CSA. I don't know French so I can't really follow the Dynamo's Twitter, but the Comets have RT'd several fan Tweets suggesting they group with the Montreal Impact for an NWSL bid.
    The three other teams I can't find any info on, which makes sense for Arizona and the CO Rush but is a bit odd for Charlotte, which voiced interest in joining UWS in the future.
     
  25. BEAST442

    BEAST442 Member

    Jun 27, 2010
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    This is a little mis-leading given the expansion NJ Copa is 2-1-1 having played 4 matches while NE Mutiny is 2-0 and LI is 1-0-1 having only played 2 each. And both of LI games were against NJ Copa as well. NY Magic has been a big disappointment though at 0-2 and a minus 7 goal differential.
     

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