Simple question just trying to gauge the support that will be coming from the Quakes fanbase out of curiosity.
At least you're honest To be perfectly frank I'd be shocked if even 50% are supporting the women's team.
Same here. I hope they do well, but I'm not really going to get involved. I'll probably check what's going on from time to time though.
I can't watch women's soccer. It's dreadfully boring. But I will go to one game (and so will the rest of the Ultras probably) and we'll try to spice it up a bit. Plus, some of them women are pretty fine.
Hopefully they can develop their own supporter's group too. Part of the great thing about Quakes games lately has been the lead in chants and so forth the supporter's groups have taken. The women's game could benefit from it too.
Adults = parents and local coaches. You're prob right. Pony tails, they'd be lucky to get. I suppose they'll ask Mia to make the rounds again for autograph nights.
I will support the club by purchasing season tickets. And I hope they are successful and find their niche. Girls deserve the chance to dream and aspire to be professional athletes just as boys do. Most girls (like most boys) won't realize their dreams, but lessons learned in physical exertion, teamwork and leadership along the way will stand them and our society in good stead. I am also hopeful that Soccer Silicon Valley Community Foundation, in a program similar to the SSV Kidzone, will be able to partner with the Bay Area Women's Sports Initiative (BAWSI) to bring BAWSI Girls, http://www.bawsi.org/programs/prog_gft.html, from schools in underprivileged neighborhoods (like mine) to games so that they can see their heroes in action.
Funny you didn't mention "wanting to watch them play." The great thing about dreaming is no one can stop you. CyberRays or no CyberRays. On the other hand, the concept of professional sports implies a certain minimum number of people want to pay to see you play. I figured MLS had pretty much found that minimum and stretched that concept as far as it would go around here. We shall see. No World Cup '99 bounce, but some of the same deep pockets are involved this time, and some better administrators and much more reasonable expectations.
Bingo. It would be nice if women could aspire to be pro soccer players, but it is a form of entertainment, and if nobody wants to watch it, they don't deserve nothin.
well, however it floats... Certainly MLS has been floated as much by deep-pocketed speculators and sponsors as it has by ticket demand. WPS's investors and sponsors may see it as potentially lucrative, or they may just think their beloved grand daughters deserve a league to aim for.
Agreed. And WUSA proved that on average 5-6k people DO want to watch it every week. Problem WUSA had was that it wasn't structured to survive on attendance like that. It needed attendance comparable to MLS, and it just wasn't happening. WPS appears to be structured to survived quite nicely on 4k a game. So the big question is, can they get those kind of numbers out? WUSA managed those kind of numbers fairly easily, so there is a good chance WPS could do it too.
I plan to attend WPS matches. Whether I'll enjoy them or not remains to be seen, since the first kick is still months away. I only went to one WUSA match, and that was a double-header-on-a-single-ticket with the Quakes back in 2002, I believe. Interestingly, many of the Cyberrays fans departed before the Quakes match began, while nearly all the Quakes fans arrived after the Cyberrays match ended. I also saw a couple Women's World Cup matches at Spartan Stadium in 1999 and enjoyed those. So did lots of other people who paid to see the women play. But you're right. My commitment to WPS is primarily political. I believe little girls should be able to grow up watching professional athletes whom they can emulate. I entirely disagree that anyone can dream about anything. Kids need role models and they need to know that there are opportunities available for them. Without a professional league, how can any sane little girl dream of being a professional soccer player? Plus, if there's going to be a league, as a point of civic pride, why wouldn't we want the Bay Area franchise to be successful in it? And more importantly, if Quakes fans support the women's club, I am hopeful we will see the fans of the women's club supporting the Quakes. Local soccer fans should be embracing the Beautiful Game in all its manifestations.
Yeah I agree. I've tried to watch some of the women's national team games and they're just too slow and uneventful for me. Can only imagine the WPS will be even more boring.
ill MAYBE go to one game, but thats it for me.......... it will more than likley fold... i mean comeon, we ...................WE..........men are beraly holding on..........and more people watch mens games more than women.............. ill suspect .....a 3k -5k (if EVEN) crowd BERALY every home game.....maybe 7k(again......) if its a sj for LA rivaly. womens soccer will never...and i repeat NEVER catch on in america.....its WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY to boring for the average joe too watch, if they think mens footy is boring then they will disgrace womens footy...............................................................................................................in alllll honesty, i wish them luck this time around.
i agree with everythingggg kinda. except the woment support quakes if we support them. LOOK BUDDY, if they dont watch em now they wont watch them then! but i agree with everything else.
Well do remember that WPS would succeed quite well with 5k a game. Infact that's more than they're planning for I believe.
The local WPS club, Bay Area Women's Professional Soccer, LLC, has not seen its first kick, yet it's already supporting Quakes fans. BAWPS, LLC is a table sponsor for the Soccer Silicon Valley Community Foundation annual dinner this Friday, 10/24. The team's owners and a couple of their star players, Leslie Osbourne and Rachel Buehler, will be in attendance. Looks to me like they "get it": the local soccer community should be unified. We're all in this together.
Awesome to hear the WPS team getting involved already, even though they're sans-Stadium/name/full team yet. I'll definitely be giving them a chance and attending a few matches if I can. Women deserve a shot too, and who knows they may end up being as entertaining as the men if they can be surrounded with the same kind of fan presence.
Thanks Don. The WUSA took a pretty adversarial approach to MLS. That was a mistake on so many levels. Happily, the new group have learned from the errors of the WUSA and will be looking to cooperate with MLS. We do all need to pull together. I'm hoping that MLS and USL merge (and take the USL name because it's soooooo much better) and that the WPS becomes part of that. This would get all of professional soccer under one umbrella and that's what we need. I see that the Bay Area WPS team is the closest one to me. So I probably won't be going to any games, unless I can manage a Quakes/WPS double in the same weekend next year. That would be fun actually, and twice the opportunity to drink beer and watch live soccer!! Also, the Timbers say that they are starting a women's team. So I'll go watch them, at least a couple of times. GOOOO QUAAAAAAKES!!!!! GO WPS!!! - Mark
The Los Angeles WPS team has officially been named the Los Angeles Sol. It's awesome how the team-name kind of has a tie-in with the Los Angeles Galaxy team-name, as a Sol (or Sun in English) is often the center of a galaxy as it is in ours. Whether the connection was intentional or not is beside the point. Here's to hoping that the Bay Area WPS team is named the San Jose Tremors. GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
You're right. That's not correct. A sun is not the center of the galaxy. Rather a large black hole is suspected to be the center of the galaxy. But the Sol/Galaxy space connection is a good one none the less.