US Lower Division News, 2021

Discussion in 'US Women's Lower Divisions' started by SiberianThunderT, Nov 19, 2020.

  1. msilverstein47

    msilverstein47 Member+

    Jan 11, 1999
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  2. msilverstein47

    msilverstein47 Member+

    Jan 11, 1999
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  3. msilverstein47

    msilverstein47 Member+

    Jan 11, 1999
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  4. msilverstein47

    msilverstein47 Member+

    Jan 11, 1999
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  5. msilverstein47

    msilverstein47 Member+

    Jan 11, 1999
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  6. msilverstein47

    msilverstein47 Member+

    Jan 11, 1999
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  7. msilverstein47

    msilverstein47 Member+

    Jan 11, 1999
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  8. Tash Deliganis

    Jan 16, 2022
    Question for those in the know with the UWS, WPSL, etc leagues.

    In my experience, each club that we have been apart of or watched locally has treated these leagues as basically an extension of club soccer, call it u20 if you will, rostering their own 15 yos in lieu of local college players living away from home. I understand housing and logistics come into play. But why purchase a franchise in one of these leagues if your roster is predominantly going to be in high school and for the most part unable to compete with teams who are rostering full grown women with college experience? How frustrating is it for college players to play with high school kids who haven't learned how to pick up the pace of a game? Is it like this all over or is this a regional thing?
     
  9. SiberianThunderT

    Sep 21, 2008
    DC
    Club:
    Saint Louis Athletica
    Nat'l Team:
    Spain
    My impression was that the high schoolers on these rosters are usually upper-end high schoolers, since most players are college age. And even for the college players, these leagues are basically meant to keep fresh between college seasons, so with the exception of a small number of teams, the actual level of competition isn't top priority? And the teams that do value competition get that training within the team instead of against others in the league (think of the talent mismatch seen in many UEFA pro leagues.)

    Besides, "purchasing" a franchise in these leagues is dirt cheap.... None of the players are paid, and the intent of heavy regionalization is to keep travel costs way down.

    But yes, for many of these clubs, the WPSL/UWS team is the most "senior" team of their overall development system, whether that's u20 or u23. At least with UWS, they have the two-league system, where the lower league is geared to u20/u23, leaving the upper league for more semi-pro-aspiration sides.
     
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  10. msilverstein47

    msilverstein47 Member+

    Jan 11, 1999
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  11. Klingo3034

    Klingo3034 Member+

    Dallas FC
    United States
    Oct 11, 2019
  12. msilverstein47

    msilverstein47 Member+

    Jan 11, 1999
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Klingo3034 repped this.
  13. msilverstein47

    msilverstein47 Member+

    Jan 11, 1999
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    FC Buffalo will represent the Eastern Conference, while the Calgary Foothills, Chicago Mustangs and San Antonio Athenians FC will represent the Western Conference, Midwest Conference and South Conference respectively. The semi-final matches will take place on July 23rd, with the final taking place on July 24th.

    [​IMG]
     
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  14. msilverstein47

    msilverstein47 Member+

    Jan 11, 1999
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    USL W League
    @USLWLeague
    The first-ever USL W League Final is set @MNAuroraFC will host @TormentaWLeague at TCO Stadium on Saturday, July 23rd, at 8 PM ET #MNvTRM | #ForTheW http://uslsc.cr/3AX5yEw
     
  15. msilverstein47

    msilverstein47 Member+

    Jan 11, 1999
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Sandra Prusina
    @sprusina

    1h
    Calgary
    @FoothillsWFC
    books a spot in the UWS Championship Final thanks to a 4-1 win over Buffalo. Mya Jones with two goals and an assist. Calgary can make Canadian soccer history tomorrow at 12:00 p.m. MT.
     
  16. msilverstein47

    msilverstein47 Member+

    Jan 11, 1999
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  17. Val1

    Val1 Member+

    Arsenal
    Mar 12, 2004
    MD's Eastern Shore
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    So any thoughts on how the Minnesota Aurora did this past year? I admit, I tried to buy in, but apparently their offering limited them to $1 million and everything after that had to be returned. Is this a pathway for other clubs? Because I found it appealing.
     
  18. SiberianThunderT

    Sep 21, 2008
    DC
    Club:
    Saint Louis Athletica
    Nat'l Team:
    Spain
    For other clubs at the amateur level, absolutely. But it's not going to let the club turn pro. The Aurora initially applied for, then backed out of applying for both NWSL and the USL Super League because they couldn't find big-pocket investors in time.
     
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  19. SiberianThunderT

    Sep 21, 2008
    DC
    Club:
    Saint Louis Athletica
    Nat'l Team:
    Spain
    Not that we should still be in the 2021 thread, but IDK if there's enough movement quite yet to justify a new one... Anyway, here's a nice write-up from the Athletic about the state of lower-division WoSo in the States
    https://theathletic.com/4126158/2023/01/26/womens-soccer-lower-division/
    Nothing super-new in here if people are familiar with where things were a year or two ago when both WISL and USL SL were announced, but a few interesting details do come up:
    --almost every lower division league has had discussions at some level with UEFA clubs interested in tapping into the American WoSo market
    --WPSL operational budgets range from $15k to $100k per year. The league is hoping to really grow its U21 presence
    --UWS seems to have abandoned the idea of making a DIII pro league, for now at least - main reason being every clubs would need an owner worth over $5m
    --WISL still plans to launch in 2024 with eight teams
    --WPSL's standout California Storm is apparently playing in both WPSL and USL W these days, so maybe the animosity between WPSL and USL is waning?
    --USL W is growing from 44 teams last year to 65 this year, on track to meet its goal of 100 by 2026 (making it on par with WPSL)

    An everyone agrees an Open Cup need to happen, though as has been mentioned, scheduling is an issue as all leagues (save for the not-yet-existing USL SL) rely mostly on college players
     
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  20. msilverstein47

    msilverstein47 Member+

    Jan 11, 1999
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Klingo3034 repped this.

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