United Women’s Soccer Launches w/ NE Mutiny on Board
- Updated: December 16, 2015
Photo credit: G. Skovera
A day after the New England Mutiny confirmed their move out of the WPSL, their new stomping grounds for 2016 officially launched on Wednesday with the creation of United Women’s Soccer (UWS).
UWS, which is sanctioned by U.S. Soccer as a second-division women’s league through the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA), will kick off its debut season in May with at least eight clubs, including the Mutiny.
“It was pretty much born from the idea of a group of like-minded organizations across the country,” Mutiny owner Joe Ferrara told masslive.com on Tuesday. “But particularly here in the Northeast, of having a league where the standards are high…to fall in line with being a second division team tier under the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).”
Similar to the WPSL, UWS will be a pro-am league featuring college and professional players alike.
Joining the Mutiny for the league’s inaugural season will be the New York Magic, Long Island Rough Riders, TSF Academy (N.J.), New Jersey Copa FC, Lancaster Infero (Pa.), Laval Comets (Quebec), and Quebec Dynamo. The inclusion of the Comets and Dynamo is subject to approval from the Canadian Soccer Association.
According to the league’s first press release, the aim of UWS is to “provide a platform for some of the nation’s best female talent….and to promote the women’s game to younger players, gaining a fanbase that will help grow support for women’s soccer not just throughout the USA and Canada, but worldwide.”
The league is currently planning to open an application process for additional franchises. While all eight clubs currently on the docket for year one are based in the northeast, the league is hoping to attract enough clubs on the other side of the country to form a western conference.
The league also confirmed that franchises will be granted to aspiring second division clubs under US Soccer that meet pre-determined criteria relevant to developmentally-appropriate standards of facilities and infrastructure.
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