Coming Soon: WPS – Women’s Professional Soccer

September 15, 2003 was a dark day for women’s soccer fans as the WUSA (Women’s United Soccer Association) closed its doors after 3 money-hemorrhaging years. Worse, it was on the eve of the 2003 Women’s World Cup (WWC), and the pall that was immediately cast certainly had an effect on the US team. Still, the fire of a women’s league has never burned out for many. After many years of work and restructuring, and hot on the heels of the USA’s win over Brazil in the 2008 Olympic Games, a new league is about to spring forth: the WPS (Women’s Professional Soccer).

While I’m not quite as fervent a women’s soccer fan as I am a women’s basketball fan, I’m still very passionate about the sport. I started following the US team in 1995, around WWC time, and was buoyed as their success in the 1996 Olympics, and the momentum started with the WNBA and ABL in basketball, helped to bring attention to this sport. After the amazing spectacle of the 1999 WWC, especially the final in the sold-out Rose Bowl (and yes, the sports bra), it was all but inevitable that the WUSA would happen.

Though it only lasted three seasons, the impact of the WUSA was profound. It helped the US find and develop players that might have not had the same opportunity if their only shot was an invite to the Women’s National Team (WNT). It also introduced the world to the rigors of the American training techniques. While it made it tougher in matches for the US in the long term, it raised the level of soccer around the world…and that was a very good thing indeed. Many current members of the WNT got to develop under the tutelage of the “91ers”.

But that was then. WPS is now. Having taken the lessons learned from the previous attempt—most importantly, how not to end up $100 million in the hole in just three years, and after waiting through the WWC and Olympics cycles, the new league is about to spring forth with the following charter franchises:

* Apparently the San Diego franchise is being thought of as an eighth innagural season member, though I’ve not been able to confirm that at this time.

Perhaps the most anticipated date at this point is the WNT allocation on September 16, 2008. It’s a little convoluted, so I’m just going to quote from the press release:

Members of the U.S. Women’s National Team player pool, including several 2008 Olympic gold medalists, will be allocated to the seven WPS teams who will participate in the inaugural 2009 season: Bay Area, Boston Breakers, Chicago Red Stars, Los Angeles, Sky Blue FC, St. Louis and Washington Freedom.

The allocation process began with members of the National Team player pool submitting their city preferences to the League.  After reviewing the athletes’ lists, the Teams likewise forwarded their player preferences to the League.

A League committee is examining both lists and considering League and Team marketing initiatives before sending an allocation recommendation to the Teams.  Upon evaluating this recommendation, the Teams may release players to the allocation board.  Prior to the Sept. 16 announcement, the WPS Board of Governors will hold a 48-hour closed-door meeting in New York City to determine the final allocation results.  During this time, the Board of Governors will consult with the players, teams and league in order to accomplish the best possible dispersal for all parties.

At the conclusion of the closed-door meeting, the Board of Governors will forward its allocation decisions to Commissioner Antonucci for final approval.

…Immediately after Allocation, the WPS Board of Governors will convene to weight the seven teams by strength.  This ranking will determine the selection order for the International Player Draft, to be held the week of Sept. 22.

Clear? Thought so.

Looking at comments that have been made to this point, A LOT of players want to be in Chicago. Hope Solo did say that she originally a preference (FYI: she previously played for the Philadelphia Charge in 2003), but will be happy to play anywhere (preferably where it’s not too cold).

Personally, I think the only player that could be thought of as a lock for a team before the allocation would be Abby Wambach. She started out with and became a star with the Washington Freedom (the current, and final, WUSA champs) aided by a player some of you might have heard of: Mia Hamm. Just as Mia was important for the Freedom, so too is Abby. The fans are certainly desperate to have her back.

I will of course be very curious where Hope Solo will end up, and some of the other WUSA veterans. Since many made their first appearances with the former league as players of the future, I hope they all end up on great teams. I know that can’t happen, but I want them all to do well.

Oh yeah…here are the players from the WNT player pool (those players with asterisks have WUSA experience): Danesha Adams, Nicole Barnhart, Shannon Boxx*, Jenni Branam*, Rachel Buehler, Lori Chalupny, Stephanie Cox, Marian Dalmy, Keeley Dowling, Tina Ellertson, Kendall Fletcher, Angela Hucles*, Marci Jobson*, Natasha Kai, Ali Krieger, Amy LePeilbet, Kristine Lilly*, Carli Lloyd, Joanna Lohman, Kristin Luckenbill*, Kate Markgraf*, Heather Mitts*, Heather O’Reilly, Jill Oakes, Leslie Osborne, Christie Rampone*, Becky Sauerbrunn, Briana Scurry*, Hope Solo*, Lindsay Tarpley, India Trotter, Aly Wagner*, Abby Wambach*, Christie Welsh*, Kacey White, Cat Whitehill, Angie Woznuk

(That’s 37 players, 14 with WUSA experience.)

As of now, the pre-season is slated to begin on March 1, 2009, with the regular season kicking off on April 4 (or 5), 2009. There is no info about any video coverage, either broadcast or online. I do hope they do something more accessible than the WUSA did with PAX-TV. While I was one of the fortunate few who got that network, one game a week definitely wasn’t enough…and no games a week during the middle of the third season when our dopey affiliate sold their franchise :-(   Honestly, I’d be OK with online, but I’m one of the happy few Americans with a speedy broadband connection.

I hope the league has indeed learned their lessons. They now have a much better idea of what attendance will be like (though without the 91ers, it might dip a bit), and hopefully they have sponsors lined up that will take a more long-term view of things. TV coverage on a widely accessible more-or-less basic cable network is a definite must. Without coverage there won’t be much growth. I have no doubt about the play…it will be exciting and increasingly competitive, that is the only non-variable in this entire venture. So, tie your boots on and hit the pitch…it should be an interesting year.

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