WPS, Megan Rapinoe, et.al.

Just found out about this. Sad story for Women's soccer.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/soccer-insider/post/womens-soccer-league-terminates-troubled-florida-franchise/2011/10/27/gIQAX6iEMM_blog.html

...and this too.

http://www.ussoccer.com/News/Womens-National-Team/2011/10/Sundhage-Calls-Up-30-Players-for-Arizona-Training-Camp.aspx

Go Keelin!!

purple passion wrote:Just found out about this. Sad story for Women's soccer.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/soccer-insider/post/womens-soccer-league-terminates-troubled-florida-franchise/2011/10/27/gIQAX6iEMM_blog.html

Not really a surprise. At least Abby Wambach won't have to do those painfully bad commercials for Borislow's company.

As for Keelin, completely deserved.

I can't muster sympathy for an owner who removes a team from its city and names it after a product whose name is oddly capitalized and unspaced. It bums me out that WPS is sounding like "woops"

For those who have followed the WPS, this is not a surprise. If the reports are true, the owner was strange and refused to be a cooperative member of the League ownership, to say the least.

What is interesting, and depressing, about WPS, is where they have their teams relative to where the fans are. From the article to which you provided the link:

"WPS, which barely survived last offseason, now enters the winter with five teams: Boston Breakers, Western New York Flash, Sky Blue of New Jersey, Philadelphia Independence and Atlanta Beat."

Here are the Division I women's college average home attendance numbers, by geographic playing pools:

Rank/Region/Total Home Attendance/Average Home Attendance

Code:

1   West         291376   692
2   Southeast    298092   593
3   Southwest    206993   440
4   Northeast    253210   348
5   Middle       152993   332


Nice stats, interesting to see that the highest average home attendance is only 692. What's the average attendance for these WPS games?

“After World Cup Thrills, Players Return to Unstable Women’s League”
New York Times, August 9, 2011

• The World Cup bolstered women’s soccer. Since the tournament, average attendance has increased to 5,164 from 2,741 at W.P.S. matches. Television ratings are up 18.5 percent.

• While the overall bump in W.P.S. attendance is encouraging, David Halstead, the owner of the Philadelphia Independence, said: “We’ve got to transition beyond just suburban families. We need more mainstream soccer enthusiasts.” Or, as midfielder Megan Rapinoe of magicJack put it, “We don’t want just little girls watching our games.”

• Salaries, which average $25,000 but run as low as $200 a game for a few, according to players, face further cuts.

• In Philadelphia, which is vying for the league’s best record, Halstead, the owner, said he lost $2 million in 2010, would lose $1 million this season and probably finish $500,000 in the red next season, if there is one.

• Included in the belt-tightening this season in Philadelphia was a reduction of the average player salary to $28,000 from about $32,000, along with cutbacks in housing and cars provided to players. Even health and dental insurance plans will be reconsidered.

• Top American players can earn about $65,000 to $70,000, supplemented by another $50,000 to $60,000 in salary from the national team. But some W.P.S. players make less than $10,000 a year and live three to an apartment, owners and agents said.

It's simply a shame that women's pro soccer is operating on bush-league budgets. With no teams in our time zone, there's not much we West Coasters can do to bolster the attendance. Anyone know what a U.S player can earn overseas in Sweeden or Germany or Japan or anywhere else?

I think that we, who would like women's professional soccer to flourish, would be better served by remembering how the NBA, NFL, and professional baseball began. Players got paid a pittance, but loved the sport so they stuck with it and filled in the gaps with other income. Over time, they built fan loyalties and, as part of it, fan bases, and after a long time they saw their incomes improve.

I don't see professional women's soccer establishing itself any other way.

WPS Permanently Suspends Operations

Interesting article, but what Women's team is affiliated with the Timbers?

Several teams in both leagues already are affiliated with MLS teams, including the Colorado Rapids, Portland Timbers, Seattle Sounders and D.C. United. United States women's national team players are also dotting those rosters, including the likes of Hope Solo, Alex Morgan and Sydney Leroux

I think they meant the Whitecaps. The article SB Nation had on the Timbers and the US Open Cup also contained several factual errors.

Yeah I was wondering about that too... Oh internet bloggers and their lack of necessity/accountability for credible sources...

http://www.sbnation.com/authors/jeremiah-oshan

Stupid sounders fans... Who could root for those louts anyway?? Oh wait...

Although not a WPS level team, the Portland Rain does put a nice product on the field. I just wish they would provide a better system of updating their information on game times and locations.

The Timbers do support them.

http://www.portlandtimbers.com/news/2012/05/timbers-announce-strategic-partnerships-portland-rain-girls-odp-program

Interesting article by Julie Foudy on the potential for a partnership between the MLS and a women's league:
http://espn.go.com/espnw/commentary/7962722/espnw-julie-foudy-explores-whether-women-pro-soccer-make-us

I'll admit that a lot of the time I hear Julie spouting off I got turned off ( read- her position on Hope Solo)
, but when she says that the women are going to have to bite the bullet and glom on to the MLS, she makes perfect sense. I remember thinking the same thing during the WUSA days.

Well, that is if MLS is willing to take them on... I know Garber, et al have worked very hard to make a league that is both profitable as well as economically sustainable for the long term. There is going to have to be a solid economic plan with ownership in the immediate and long term before MLS will even consider a women's league. The lack of foresight and vision is the whole reason why WPS was wearing a Puma logo instead of 3 stripes or a swoosh... It is going to take a very dedicated owners group and a lot more conservative planning if it is ever going to take root again, especially if they are going to be using the still very new name of MLS as their backing.

Portland would seem to be a logic place for a team with the current fan base for the Timbers and the Pilots. If only logic would prevail.

purple passion wrote:I just wish they would provide a better system of updating their information on game times and locations.

Not to mention roster info. But here is the schedule as is:

http://www.portlandrainsc.com/Schedule

First match tonight at Tualatin Hills Park & Rec.

Does anyone know if there are any Pilots or Vikings on their roster? The roster link on their website isn't working.

I got this off the Stumptown Footy site:

"According to their website, the Rain's first game will take place at the Tualatin Hills Parks and Recreation District’s Howard M. Terpenning Recreation Complex, at 15707 SW Walker Road in Beaverton, at 7pm.

Their opponent will be the Bend-based Oregon Rush. Tickets, according to the Rain's page at www.wpsl.info, are $10. Per John Strong, admission to the opening match is free"

Here's a link to a recap.

stumptownfooty.com/2012/5/25/3044615/recap-portland-rain-2-oregon-rush-1.

Ellie Boon (2013 recruit) scored the first goal--misidentified as Ellora in recap.

Thanks for the link.

you have to drop the period at the end, though.

stumptownfooty.com/2012/5/25/3044615/recap-portland-rain-2-oregon-rush-1

Interesting that she plays HS ball in Washougal, Club in Vancouver for the Columbia Timbers, and represents Oregon on the West region ODP team. I guess it must be the affiliation with the Portland Timbers.

http://www.oregonyouthsoccer.org/assets/players/2012_95_Girls_Pool.pdf

I think she played for Washington ODP previously.

I saw her play in a couple of high school games her sophomore year. She was way better than any of the other players on the field. My friends who live in Washougal say she is a great person as well as a great athlete.

I asked Michelle Enyeart is she was coming up this fall to see some awesome soccer competition.

Her answer:
I'm not sure I'll be able to make it up this fall anymore as I will be undergoing a 3rd ACL surgery next month. So, plans for the future are a bit uncertain at the moment.
Thanks again, say hi to Portland for me. I miss that place like crazy. Hope you're doing well.