I mean, it's the same setup we've seen in the W-League and in WPSL... We're still apparently waiting on a team or two from Ohio. Also, I still hope that UWS can lure the NWSL Reserves teams away from WPSL... (We already know the Spirit Reserves don't like it there.) Would be interesting to maybe see the East conference split into north & south divisions - plays 2x against divisional opponents and 1x against other-division teams. It will be interesting to see how the 2017 playoffs are set up... Obviously the winner of each conference gets in, but who would be the 4th team? (or is there even a 4th team at all?) If the East has enough teams to split into two divisions, you could say two East teams get into the playoffs. Could also say the defending champion's Conference 2nd place team gets the 4th slot. Or could say the rep from the defending champion's Conference gets a bye to the final while the other two Conference reps play a SF...
Geographically the western conference should be split One west of the Rockies One to include Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas Is the WUSA approaching several teams at once? Regarding playoff conference champs with the best non champ make the most sense. Also, where can I learn more about the structure and business models of the WUSA NPSL and NWSL?
Maybe, but good luck finding enough teams to fill those two suggested divisions. Also, you're forgetting about Utah, where current team RSL is situated. WUSA??? You mean UWS? I have no clue who they are and aren't approaching. However, it's essentially never a league approaching teams, it's always the other way around. I just mentioned Ohio since the article that leacked Grand Rapids' participation specifically mentioned the Midwest Conference was expected to include teams from MI, IN, and OH; we now have confirmed teams in MI and IN but none yet from OH. It's a nice idea, but "best non champ" is hard enough to define when there's no interconference games to start with, and nearly impossible to define in a league where the different conferences don't play the same number of games. I mean, you could use PPG, but when no team plays more than 10 games, even PPG is comparatively weak at cross-conference comparisons. I assume you mean UWS WPSL and NWSL, not WUSA (again) NPSL and NWSL. NWSL is relatively opaque in its business model, but it's apparently following the MLS business model to a near perfect T, and that's easy enough to look up. For UWS and WPSL, it's almost impossible to look up. The UWS website is much better than the WPSL website for the kinds of information fans would need in general to follow their teams, but neither has any significant business information on them.
IIRC the MLS model is you buy into the league and manages a franchised team. the MLS imposes standards and restriction to keep each team fairly equivalent. the NASL is more team centric and you actually own the team and allows more variability from team to team but puts the league at risks if enough poorly managed teams go under. the NWSL doesn't have enough teams to risk losing any so the MLS model is probably better. by expanding by conference of 5+ teams the UWS can afford to lose one per conference and still be ok; critical number may have been reached. if they are not approaching the teams, how did they get 3 teams in the same region to move and one created? maybe one or two teams approach the UWS and was told to bring a friend or two. maybe there are other teams in other regions looking for a friend or two to join up in the south or southeast as we speak.
FC Indiana may set the record for being in the most leagues: W-League, WPSL, WPSL-Elite, and now UWS. Though now that I think about it you could say the same of the Mutiny.
Michigan Legends F.C. Added To Midwest Conference http://www.uwssoccer.com/news_article/show/741004?referrer_id=2294922
It already tripped me up once that their company and facility are called "Legacy" but their team name is "Legends" (and their county is "Livingston"). Anybody up for calling them the Livingston Legacy Legends?
I may have missed it mentioned somewhere but it appears NY Surf is also an expansion franchise for UWS. They are advertising tryouts http://www.nysurfsoccer.org/uwsnysurf/ I would assume they will join the East division. What I thought was interesting is on their tryout page, in addition to the 2016 teams, they have Lavelle Comets and Quebec Dynamo listed. Has It been confirmed they will be playing in 2017?
I haven't seen or heard any news about any of those three clubs specifically, but in UWS's most recent news article (literally posted just an hour ago) they do say FWIW the Comets RT'd an article about the introduction of the Midwest Conference last month, so they apparently are still interested in UWS. Probably about time to start the 2017 thread, with news about tryouts and signings starting to pop up.
And heeereee's that Ohio team that was hinted at way back when: http://www.uwssoccer.com/news_article/show/749179?referrer_id=2294922
Just thinking out loud here... Only one of the first 11 teams was a true expansion yeah. Now, all but one of the six newest teams are expansions. (Not to mention the currently unconfirmed expansion NY Surf.) I hope UWS isn't bloating unsustainably - I mean, previously existing teams at least have track records of survival. Not that there are many previously existing teams left as potential WPSL steals, but still. I just hope this crop of expansion teams has passed rigorous enough vetting that we don't see half of them gone after two years.
This level of expansion was needed since the league created a whole new region / division. We are nearing the number of teams that the USL-W had in its last season, which led us to realize that it was ending. At least UWS is increasing, not reducing. P.S. would be nice to put the Midwest teams on their Teams page.
The west is much more spread out than the east or Midwest Wonder if there is any equalization for travel cost I like to see more teams in the west leading to a split of the west into two
Ah, I just realized I forgot to ever reply here I know expansion is sometimes needed if you're fleshing out a new conference, but the fact that it's all *new* teams and not established teams is a bit worrisome, is all. For example, instead of adding one existing team and five new teams, UWS could have really pulled for the Dayton Dutch Lions to come back over, then used them, FCI, and the Lancaster Inferno as three existing teams to serve as a base for two new expansion sides. In that case, you'd have three five-team conferences, with this year's expansion totaling two established and two entirely new teams. (TBH, when it was hinted that the Midwest conference would include Ohio, I was wholly expecting it to be the Lions, not an expansion side.) Yeah I've been thinking the same thing... That's just how population works, buddy. Every other league in the country has to deal with the exact same thing. There's no way there will be more than 10 teams west of the Mississippi River before there are 16 east of it. And - equalization travel cost? HA! This isn't a professional league, man! Every single team is on its own.
Well, it was this week last year when UWS announced its West conference. A month later, the CSA officially forced the two Canadian teams out, but UWS was by that point already building its schedule w/o those teams, so the gears had been in motion for a while. I'm guessing, then, that if there is to be any more expansion this year, it would likely be announced soon, since I'm sure they'll want to get deep into scheduling soon. (I have no clue what's up with the NY Surf - they haven't Tweeted anything about UWS since those ads went up way back when.) That said, as I've hinted at in earlier posts, I don't like rapid expansion, at least of truly newly-minted teams. I kinda hope that, in the future, UWS asks teams to establish themselves in WPSL and prove they have a high set of standards and good dedication before coming to UWS. On the flipside, if they *don't* announce any new teams in the West or East for this summer, it'll be the first time UWS was unable to pull through on an expansion promise, after successfully getting the West set up last year and the Midwest set up this year. So failing for the first time certainly wouldn't be a good omen.
I think they were listening to you! UWS announced a new East expansion side yesterday and [drum roll]... its the SDA Lady Knights out of Syracuse, who have moved over from the WPSL. Not the Surf. And it looks like the Midwest is set as Indy Premier is the 7th team to join the conference. The Midwest teams started to announce their schedules the other day and they were the last to be officially announced. Rumors are that Calgary Foothills FC will join the West Conference. CSA has approved them to join but its a matter of USSF approval now, I guess.
Syracuse and Indy are great! Calgary sounds like it'll be hell for travel, though... I mean, Vancouver would be even farther, but I wouldn't have expected UWS to go into western Canada before central Canada.
Calgary is official now. http://www.uwssoccer.com/news_article/show/757594?referrer_id=2294922 After some digging, I realize they were founded two years and played an exhibition season in 2015, which included a victory over the Seattle Sounders Women, with the intent of joining the W-League for 2016... Which clearly didn't work out. But I'm glad it's not an outright expansion team. (At least this makes it easy for the West to have a ten-game slate!)
So Cal Crush FC is a new team in the West as well... http://www.uwssoccer.com/news_article/show/759280?referrer_id=2294922 I recognize their head coach Reggie Rivas... did he have anything to do with the old W-League team LA Strikers?
I do not like how SoCal is "still hiring" and also hasn't set a home field yet... I mean, it's nice now that all three conferences have the same number of teams from a symmetry standpoint, but this is why I would prefer UWS to take on existing teams (or at least well-established organizations) instead of expanding out of nowhere.
By "existing teams" I assume you are meaning from the WPSL? I know, easy assumption. In that case... when it comes to the WPSL, from my experience I would say only about 20% of those teams would be ready and/or willing to take the next organizational step up. Of those teams who are not affiliated with a MLS/NWSL/PDL/NPSL side, I could count on one hand (maybe two) of those teams who would be up for the "minimum standards" challenge. And the transition from a lawless environment (WPSL) where you can make things up on the fly to one with rules & regulations (UWS)? Only the strong organiaztions and/or who want to truly build the game would take the risk right now. As far as So Cal Crush is concerned, from what I've found these are the same people who worked with the LA Strikers. And that team dealt with the rules and reg's of the W-League. So, I can be more faithful in them than a LA Villa FC or Fram Ajax. And the other top So Cal teams have seemingly chained themselves to the WPSL cause, which is a shame. But if UWS can form a southwest division in 2017? So Cal and maybe AZ-based? I think 1-2 of those top teams would make the move. One word - travel. Travel. Travel. Travel.