what is the WPSL? I have to admit I'd never heard of it until Brandi Chastain signed up the other day. I have heard of the W-League but admit I don't follow it much. It's like the women's version of the A-League? Are these two leagues compeating for players, or is one lower than the other? Which league is better or more likely to become the "modest WUSA?"
The Women's Premier Soccer League , an 18 team "amateur" league that is NOT part of the United Soccer Leagues ( that include A-League, W-League, Men's Prfoessional Development League, etc). So, it is a rival for the W-League (especially in Denver and New England, where they have teams in the same places). It was originally based in California, where the W-League has no teams, but has since expanded around the US (some W-League teams left to join the WPSL). http://www.wpsl.info/ Like the W-League, and unlike the WUSA (if it still exists), players do not lose their college eligibility. One of the teams is called "The Maryland Pepsi Pride"! I don't know which league is better in terms of competitiveness. I suspect they are somewhat similiar, but it probably varies from team to team (the W-League, which I have seen play, has wide variance in the quality of the teams, some are miles ahead of the weaker teams). It would be difficult to establish, because the teams do not appear to play each other. I know that many of the Canadian team players play with the W-League Canadian teams (there are 7 of them), and many of those also play for US colleges in the fall (which is why the W-League finishes mid-summer).
Thanks for the reply and the link to the WPSL site; I'll have to study up on this. WPSL is "amateur" and W-League is "semi-pro?" Other than college, where does each league get their players? Seems a pity to have two rival leagues instead of just one really strong one (from a fans point of view and maybe a marketing point of view, because we no longer have the WUSA.) Do you think many former WUSA players will play for these leagues? I had thought they may go overseas where I guess there are club teams in Germany, Norway and Sweden--don't know if those are professional (i.e. paying) teams though.
Hey tigercub, I posed the same question on another board. Check out the response: https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=92751 In addition to the information posted at the link above, from my limited research on the Web, I found that most (if not all) of the teams in the WPSL had at one time been a part of the W-League... or maybe it was one division. The WPSL has only a handful of teams, most primarily out of CA with a few spread throughout the nation and a few in the Northeast. The W-League on the other hand has something like 40 teams fitting into something like 6 or 8 divisions. I also agree beachesl, who says that the level of play from one team to the next in the W-League can vary greatly. I've seen a few W-League games and have played with some of the players in various Indoor and Outdoor co-ed leagues. Of all the W-League games I've seen, I've pretty much come away slightly disappointed, mostly because I'm expecting the level to be on par with the level of play I witness through playing with some of the girls, or matching or exceeding the level of play exhibited by perhaps some Div 1 college matches. On the other hand, most of the women playing in these co-ed leagues usually are only doing it to either stay in shape and keep their speed on and off the ball, or they're trying to get back from injury or trying to make roster, so they tend to be pretty good, which sort of misleads me.
Thanks for the additional info, bostonbully. tigercub, since I assume that you are a young female soccer supporter, you may be interested in a good, bright Canadian site devoted to Canadian Women's soccer, called Go Big Red: http://www.gobigred.ca/ (be careful to put in the ".ca" part, rather than the ".com" you are used to) especially the forum: http://www.gobigred.ca/forum/ubb/ultimatebb.php In terms of European leagues, I think most of these are what we would call "semi-pro", with some players paid and others not. Most of them, like in England I think, are more interested in developing local players from scratch, and not interested in foreign players. A few Canadian women have played in the Norwegian league, and there is a Big Red topic about this: http://www.gobigred.ca/forum/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=12;t=000053 I don't think that many of the top American players would go overseas, as I'm sure there are still ways, even without the WUSA (who'll hire them on a piecemeal basis for the "festivals", if any, this year), of making more money (and getting on with that thing called "life") in the US. I expect most of your top pros, like Canada's, will sign on with the WPSL or W-League teams pending whatever happens down the line with the WUSAII and whatever else happens in women's soccer.
Good information; thanks for the links! Interesting time in women's soccer; wish everything were a bit more stable.
Is there a minimum college class (freshman, soph, junior, senior) in which you have to have completed before you can play in the league?
FearM9, in the WPSL? Not that I'm aware of. IIRC, the Elk Grove Pride, who play near Sacramento, used to consist entirely or almost entirely of high schoolers. I'm pretty sure the W-League allows this to an extent as well (although I've never seen a W-League game in person----only a WPSL game). I do too. I wish I could track down the criteria on what constitutes a Div 1, Div 2, Div 3 league, etc. I used to think it was as simple as the top league in a country is a division 1 league, and so on and so forth, but someone said there's much more to that, implying that a country may in theory be devoid of a D1 league, but have d2, D3 leagues, etc. [political rant]To me, this is warped. IMHO, from what I've seen of the W-League on TV versus what I've seen in person of the WPSL, the W-League is greatly superior in quality. Therefore, I think it would be nice if somehow the USSF or FIFA could force a D3 designation on the WPSL, and have the W-League remain Division 2 and the WUSA (assuming it is revived to a normal league) remain division 1. Too bad politics (and maybe just a weird definition of "divisions") might preclude this from ever happening.[/political rant]
I read recently that both leagues are considered D2. Don't know if that is true or not though. Up to that point, I thought they were both amateur.
They are indeed both D2, you are correct. One or the other or both are either amateur or "open" meaning I think that college players can play for free and others can recieve pay or a stipend.
There was a ruling that NCAA scholars could NOT play on a team where fellow players received funding. This of course precluded travel costs such as transportation, accomodations, and meals. Perhaps this has changed recently..? As an aside, the name of the new Montreal team is The Xtreme.