US Lower Division News, 2021

Normally we'd start threads like this in January, but considering how mess up 2020 has been, I figure let's just move on as soon as we can, right?

About a month ago, UWS announced the addition of a new Central conference, currently including four teams in the heartland: Gretna Elite Academy (Omaha, NE), KC Courage (Overland Park, KS), Springfield Demize (Springfield, MO), and St. Louis Scott Gallagher (St. Louis, MO). From what I know, the Courgae and Demize are well-known lower-division organizations, with both moving to UWC from WPSL and the Demize having one or two associated men's teams. Scott Gallagher is the youth organization that was formed at the same time as the St. Louis Athletica (WPS) and AC St. Louis (USSFD2) and survived the collapse of both of those other branches of the organization, with Scott Gallagher leadership since involved with St. Louis FC (USLC) and the upcoming St. Louis City FC (MLS). UWS has also seen massive planned growth in their League 2, plus a new team based in SLC,UT joining the first league's West conference.

I haven't seen much news about 2021 on the WPSL site yet aside from the addition of on NYC-area club that also has a men's (UPSL) team.

The women's UPSL site has nothing new.

Not much has happened in Puerto Rico, which everything having been canceled back in August. The league will have a new trophy next year, though! Also, it seems like the women's Sol team was training as recently as last week, maybe for some planned friendlies? The men's Sol team just played against the Houston Dynamo academy the other day.

 

The framing of this announcement is...interesting, to say the least. "Launch"? When the league has had women's competitions multiple times in the past and really failed at making anything stick, or even reporting on it with any regularity? Getting Caligiuri on board is a pretty big deal I guess, but it'll make it an even bigger oops if nothing comes of this.

 

Late January updates:

WPSL website has been *massively* pared down - if you want to join the league, there's a link for that, and then a page that just lists all the clubs. That's it. No news, no competition history, nothing.

UWS has added a couple more teams in their first league (Scorpions in the East and Wichita in the Central) and a few more second league teams as well. UWS also seems to have a lone "Southeast" team in Atlanta... No clue how that will work out long-term.
(There were also a BUNCH of teams added across the USA and Canada earlier in January.)

 

Missed this last week: USL targeting next spring for a new pro-am league
https://theathletic.com/2338627/2021/01/22/usl-womens-league/
I don't have a subscription to The Athletic, so I don't know all of the details, but this sounds to me like a scale-back of their original plan for a fully professional league, so I'm not sure what this new league might provide the WoSo landscape that WPSL and UWS don't already do... Or, notable, what the old W-League didn't do.

One interesting point that *is* present in the first few paragraphs that I can see is that the person USL hired two years ago to look into WoSo is now involved with Angel City FC instead, so USL is gonna need someone else again. USL is better-organized than UPSL is, so they'll probably be more successful in that aspect, but IDK is splitting up the amateur landscape even more is gonna help much.

 

Okay, so in the span of a few months, we've had three new* women's leagues announced. Asterisk b/c the UPSL women aren't really new, USL is getting back into WoSo after shuttering the W-League less than 10yrs ago, and UWS is adding an extra level onto an existing structure.

I'm all for adding extra investment into WoSo, but at some point you have to stop adding horizontally (creating excessive competition) and think vertically. At least UWS seems to be thinking vertically, with upper and lower levels already that the new pro league will sit atop, but I'm still not sure if UWS is at critical mass like WPSL is, and in general I'm not sure this glut of new leagues is good for WoSo.

 

Yeah, NISA has certainly had a rocky start in the collapse of new-NASL. It'll be interesting to see the more of story, but my initial guess is that this is more a UWS effort with extra support from NISA. At least that's what I hope. The update that JT posted doesn't really say who the planned pro teams would be, but all the quotes are from the UWS side. Also worth noting that two MI teams already field squads in both existing leagues.

USL certainly has the resources, especially now that they've pared down their ambition from a fully pro legue two years ago to a pro-am league now. I just have a bitter taste in my mouth about anything USL, especially with the whole W-League history... Individual USL clubs I'm fine with, but the org as a whole, I don't trust. They definitely have critical mass on their side, at least with USLC and USLL2 - USLL1 seems to be in the same unstable situation that NISA is, just a bit less so.

 

That's literally what I was talking about when I said JT's update The article doesn't mention anything that suggests a 50-50; it doesn't mention anything that suggests otherwise either, but it only includes quotes from the UWS side. That was more my point.

Yeah, interest is a great sign; and as anything with WoSo, execution is always the question. There was an attempt at a Midwest-focused pro/rel system years ago that fell through almost immediately with WMLS/WLS, and of course we know WUSA and WPS only lasted three years each. I'm actually pretty confident that USL could create and run a pro-am WoSo league indefinitely with just support from current USLC clubs with the resources they have; it's just whether the desire and dedication is there. And I'm skeptical of what the fallout will be of multiple "new" leagues establishing all at once... I would be entirely unsurprised if we're back down to WPSL+one other competitor come 2026.

 

Interesting pick! She clearly has some great coaching chops; will be interesting to see how she does as a league manager.

 

Lots of expansion for USL L2 over the past week or so, with eight new teams:
1-Great Lakes
3-New England, including old WPSL standby org (and once-reserves to the Boston Breakers) Aztec Soccer Club
1-Northeast
2-Mid-Atlantic
1-Sunshine

Still waiting to hear more about the UWS/NISA pro partnership, or *anything* about the USL semipro league.

Both the WPSL and UPSL pages are just threadbare team lists, no news or other information at all.