Hopefully we won't have any teams leave this year! We have at least heard of five new teams: http://www.uwssoccer.com/news_article/show/877419?referrer_id=2294922 http://www.uwssoccer.com/news_article/show/877843?referrer_id=2294922 Worcester Smiles - Worcester, MA (East) Lansing United - Lansing, MI (Midwest) LA Galaxy OC - Irvine, CA (West) Genesee FC - Flint, MI (Midwest) Farmington Sports Arena FC - Farmington, CT (East) I will admit, I'm getting a little worried that UWS is ballooning in a way that we criticized when WPSL did it. Ignoring the need to create a bunch of expansion team for the Midwest division last year, only two of the five additions to existing conferences last year weren't already-established clubs. None of the above five teams have played at the semi-pro level before, or even at least in a league that was bigger than their immediate region.
http://www.frontrowsoccer.com/2018/02/03/moving-galvano-coach-lady-lancers/ The Lady Lancers will play at Capelli Sport Stadium this season. Sal Galvano will coach the Rochester Lady Lancers this United Women’s Soccer season. He will replace Loren Inglese, who stepped down due to family commitments, Lancers boss Sam Fantauzzo said Saturday morning. Galvano, who was the Lady Lancers’ associate head coach in 2017, is the women’s head coach at Monroe Community College.
Sounds like the CO Pride, a UWS original but absent last year, will be back in action for 2018. Hopefully we have a West conference of more than 5 teams this year!
UWS Update February 2018 http://goalnation.com/uws-updates/ Intro paragraph: United Women’s Soccer (UWS) member organizations continue to ramp up their preparations for the 2018 season, with teams in the East and Midwest Conferences announcing further staff hirings and player signings. In the East, legendary announcer JP Dellacamera had an extensive interview on the new UWS team that he and fellow broadcaster Shep Messing launched last month while the Western New York Flash hired a new Head Coach. In the Midwest, Genesee FC released the coaching staff and first three signings for their inaugural season while the Detroit Sun augmented their already burgeoning roster.
https://www.frontrowsoccer.com/2018...ancers-lady-lancers-announce-7-dates-capelli/ Lancers and Lady Lancers know when they will be playing at home this year. They announced seven dates they will be played at Capelli Sport Stadium. That will include four doubleheaders between the NPSL (Lancers) and United Women’s Soccer (Lady Lancers) sides. The season opener, which will be a doubleheader is scheduled for May 27. The home dates: Sunday, May 27 Sunday, June 3 Friday, June 15 Sunday, June 17 Friday, June 29 Saturday, June 30 Saturday, July 7
https://www.uwssoccer.com/news_article/show/904071?referrer_id=2294922 Interesting development that the UWS is adding a whole "provisional" division in Florida this season...I wonder why it's not going to be fully integrated in to the league right away like the Midwest division was? Will it have a shortened schedule or something? It's not like the other divisions play a ton of games to begin with. In other news, it seems like FC Indiana, the Houston Aces, and the New York Magic are no more. Really sad about the Magic, as they are (were) one of the longest continually-running teams, first playing in 1998.
just in case nobody has seen this story...it is quite a tale: THE SURVIVOR’S TALE: Phillips remembers her walk, journey to safety on 9/11 Sep 11, 2017 https://www.frontrowsoccer.com/2017...t-phillips-remembers-walk-journey-safety-911/ Had she not taken the journey, Phillips would have not been around to continue her work as the president and manager of the New York Magic of the W-League and New York Metropolitan Women’s Soccer League. Had she not left the building, Phillips would not have enjoyed being inducted into the United Soccer League and Eastern New York Soccer Halls of Fame or would not have been named the W-League executive of the year in 2010.
Oh, were they the team where @CoachJon had recently seen Mami Yamaguchi play? This makes me even more sad: it was nice to know that a good but unlucky player, as Yamaguchi was in her career, still had a place where she could play.
I believe so. The Magic's website hasn't been updated since Sep2017 it seems, but in the news scroll, you can see something from 2016 with the Japanese bridge tour team. IDK what the Japenese bridge tour team is, but if you go the Magic's Twitter account, they were reTweeting things just last month from @bridgesoccer - seems like a program designed to give Japanese players exposure and opportunities in America.
so apparently their reserve team is still playing in the local league: https://www.nywomensoccer.org/schedule/day/league_instance/58495?subseason=412180 I have put some feelers out in order to investigate the situation further...I'll let you know if I hear anything of substance.
Following @msilverstein47 's post, I was curious about her move to Michigan. There are clues in her instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/p/BfWXbllhMVg/?taken-by=mamigucchi https://www.instagram.com/p/BZ-Dbm5Bdxl/?taken-by=mamigucchi
oh no worries...I'm happy to help...I've called out to my resources in Michigan in order to see if he can provide some clues as to exactly what she might be doing.
UWS live streaming - MYCUJOO SET TO STREAM UWS ACTIONEvery UWS club will have its own channel to broadcast gameshttps://t.co/tdymW8uahy#UWoSo pic.twitter.com/9pnlmNNcuB— United Women's Soccer (UWS) (@UWSSoccer) May 4, 2018 https://www.uwssoccer.com/news_article/show/914785?referrer_id=2294922
UWS Houston Aces have a new working relationship with the Houston Dash and appear to be adopting a semi-pro approach. For the 2018 season, the Aces and Dash have expanded its working relationship by allowing player exchange opportunities. The Aces roster will be made up of post-collegiate players, current professionals and international players along with players from the NWSL side as needed. HAR FC will be Houston's collegiate affiliate, thereby allowing NCAA student-athletes to play.HOUSTON ACES & HAR FC ROUND OUT UWS SOUTHWESTUWS team cultivates working relationship with Houston Dash of NWSLhttps://t.co/ofBAOiRg0Q#UWoSo #NWSL pic.twitter.com/ahkdGBas8Y— United Women's Soccer (UWS) (@UWSSoccer) May 18, 2018 And the WNY Flash are upgrading their roster, having just signed Georgia Allen (Syracuse Univ. and will play for England at U20 W.C. this summer), Taylor Bennett (Syracuse Univ. and played with the US U18s in high school), and Charlotte Williams (Penn State and was called into US U23 camp in July 2017).
With all due respect to UWS... They just pulled the Southwest Conference out of their @$$3$ in the past week or so. Games had already been played last weekend and there was no mention of a Southwest conference happening this year, though they had mentioned an ambiguous-start expansion in to Texas. (Also see my above post saying the the Aces had disappeared from the UWS site along with a few other teams.) If they're trying to be not-the-WPSL, this isn't the way to do it. Also, WTF does this mean for the Southeast conference in Florida, which was announced months ago but has "provisional" status? The Aces had previously called themselves a fully professional team, and regularly announced when players signed actual contracts for them, even back in the WPSL days. I'm assuming HAR stands for Houston Aces Reserves, as the article mentions it's that team where college players will be rostered.
Easy now, slugger... The Aces never disappeared from the UWS site. Their logo was still at the top of the site even though they didn't show in the West Conference any more. This has been in the works behind the scenes for a long while now but it took time to finalize. As you may already know, it takes a while for NWSL and their member teams to dot I's and cross T's (they still don't have a commish, for pete's sake). These teams have been preceding with prep for a while and already have schedules.... so they didn't pull it out of their arse. And if you're building a pro-am league and want to establish a working relationship with a NWSL team - which is a huge strength - than you make it happen, no matter what. As far as the Southeast is concerned... except for the Kicks, those are all brand new organizations. Best to give them a year and see if they make the grade, I say. In comparison, three of the five Southwest teams are experienced at this level and one (NTX) is led by someone who had a WPSL team (Dallas Premier).
That's all find and dandy.... But the optics of it aren't. If you're trying to get something to start in time for a 2018 season but you're not sure if it'll be ready, just say so. Put out your news article in February saying "We have a new conference attempting to launch in 2018 or 2019 and are in discussion with X teams". The first mentions of a SE conference were less than three weeks ago, and there wasn't confirmation for a 2018 season until the most recent article about the Aces themselves. And accepting (or at least announcing) new teams on the eve of a season starting looks very desperate and amateur-ish, no matter the situation. Considering that UWS was founded with the intent of functioning and presenting itself as far more professional and thorough than WPSL is, not being transparent about an upcoming division is a big unprofessional black eye in the "presenting" aspect, whatever planning and vetting went on behind the scenes beforehand. At the very least, for all the NWSL could still improve, new teams are often the worst-kept secret in WoSo. Everyone sees them coming from a mile away, and with good reason - the business stakes are very high (in WoSo terms). This, I totally agree with. Considering my criticism of UWS' rapid expansion into the Midwest last year and the five new teams mentioned in the first post of this thread, I do agree it makes sense for the "provisional" status of the SE might be precisely because everyone is new. UWS still needs to provide official clarification of the functionality of the SE conference, though, especially since they haven't actually said what the provisional status means. And yes, I already knew about most of the SW's teams' history in DII WoSo. That doesn't change my opinion that the optics of the addition of the SW conference was handled exceptionally poorly.
Game reports, sort of. WNY Flash 6/2 & Rochester Lancers 6/3 June 2; 6 pm at WNY Flash in Buffalo, the Long Island Roughriders won 5-2, after having lost to the Flash 3-1 at home on May 19. I decided to not make the 1.5 hour drive due to a very busy day right up to departure time. Next day June 3; 2 pm at Rochester Lancers, after going down a goal via PK, the Long Island Roughriders drew 1-1. It rained the whole game. The turf field was fine. Good result for Long Island, I think, having played the night before and today in the rain. After missing the Flash game, I decided to go to the Lancers, even though it was raining; especially since I missed the home opener. I counted about 40 people in the stands. I stayed about 30 minutes. As the Lancers did last year, music was played during the whole game, which I like. The team president says he gets fined every game by the league for this but he thinks it is worth it for improving the overall fan experience. I must say with the relatively small number of fans (even on a good weather day), the music does help. In the rain I made no notes, but I thought #9 for the Roughriders (Kayla Saager, senior at Binghamton University) was very good as the target forward. For the Lancers, #10 (midfielder and asst coach) Brooke Barbuto is probably the best player. Midfielder #12 Margaret Lee (senior at University of Rochester) was very strong. I saw that William Smith senior midfielder Megan Barwick is on the Lancers Roster, so I have an added incentive to go to games. She got 30 minutes in the second half, so I missed her play
https://www.frontrowsoccer.com/2018...-host-uws-national-championship-next-weekend/ Two of the spots in the four-team field have been clinched as the Houston Aces won the Southwest Conference title in Week VIII, while Calgary Foothills Women’s FC secured the West Conference crown after the completion of play in Week IX. The winner of the Midwest Conference playoff final, which will be contested by Lansing United and Grand Rapids FC Women at the East Lansing Soccer Complex Saturday, will occupy the third spot. The fourth position in the will belong to the winner of the East Conference championship game, which will be played on Tuesday, July 17 and will be hosted by Inferno Rush. Inferno clinched the conference regular season title during Week IX. Tickets for the 2018 UWS National Championship are priced at $10 for one day or $15 for a two-day pass, which can be purchased at the gate only. Online ticket sales, the semifinal matchups as well as live-streaming and other information will be announced closer to the event.
https://www.frontrowsoccer.com/2018...hosts-connecticut-for-uws-east-title-tuesday/ METUCHEN, N.J. – With three of the four spots confirmed in the 2018 UWS National Championship field, the last spot will be on the line at the East Conference championship game Tuesday. The Inferno Rush (7-3-0, 21 points) won the East Conference regular season title in Week IX and earned hosting rights for the match. The team will welcome in the Connecticut Fusion (6-3-1, 19), which secured its spot with road victories over New England and Worcester this past weekend. The match will take place at Millersville University’s Pucillo Field at 7 p.m. ET. Tickets are available at the gate and are $5 (ages 5 and up). For those who cannot attend the match can watch the stream live on Mycujoo, which can be found here.