The Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) was the world's first women's soccer league in which all the players were paid as professionals. Founded in February 2000, the league began its first season in April 2001 with eight teams in the United States. The league suspended operations on September 15, 2003, shortly after the end of its third season, after making cumulative losses of around US$100 million.
The USL W-League was a North American amateur women's soccer developmental organization. The league was a semi-professional, open league, giving college players the opportunity to play alongside established international players while maintaining their collegiate eligibility. The league was administered by the United Soccer Leagues system, which also oversees the men's United Soccer League and Premier Development League. The W-League announced on November 6, 2015 that the league will cease operation ahead of 2016 season.
The Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) is an amateur women's soccer league in the United States.
Charlotte Lady Eagles is an American women's soccer team, founded in 2000. Between 2002 and 2015 the Lady Eagles were a member of the United Soccer Leagues USL W-League, the second tier of women's soccer in the United States and Canada, and a member of the W-2 League between 2000 and 2002.
Colorado Rapids Women is an American women's soccer team, founded in 1996. The team is a member of the women's premier soccer league and plays in the Central Conference's Mountain Region. The team was a member of the United Soccer Leagues W-League, the second highest tier of women's soccer in the United States and Canada. The team played in the Western Conference against the Colorado Rush, LA Strikers, Pali Blues, Santa Clarita Blue Heat, Seattle Sounders Women, and Bay Area Breeze.
San Diego WFC SeaLions was an American women's soccer team based in San Diego, California. It was founded in 1988 with the local Peninsula Soccer League and originally called the "Has-Beens". The Has-Beens went on to win the Peninsula championship that year. In 1997 Auto Trader Publications became the team's first commercial sponsor and changed the team name to Auto Trader Women's Select and later San Diego Auto Trader. The team was invited to tour Europe to face clubs in Germany, Hungary, and Italy where they went 4-0.
F.C. Indiana, also known as F.C. Indiana Lionesses, is an American women's soccer team based in Indiana. Founded in 2003, the team is currently a member of the United Women's Soccer league. They play their home games at Newton Park in Lakeville, Indiana.
Daniela Alves Lima, commonly known as Daniela, is a former Brazilian football midfielder who played for professional clubs in Brazil, Sweden and the United States. As a member of the Brazil women's national football team she participated in two FIFA Women's World Cups and three Olympic Games. Daniela was a box-to-box central midfielder who was renowned for her powerful long range shots.
Sound Football Club is an American women's soccer team in the Women's Premier Soccer League. Sound FC play its home games at Starfire Sports Stadium in Tukwila, Washington, six miles south of downtown Seattle.
California Storm is an American women's soccer team, founded in 1995 as the Sacramento Storm, before changing its name the following season. The team is a member of the Women's Premier Soccer League and the USL W League, both semi-professional women's leagues in the United States. The team plays in the North Division of the Pacific Conference in the WPSL and in the NorCal Division for the USL W League. The team was a founding member of the W-League, then left in 1998 to become one of the founding teams of the WPSL. It returned in 2022 and will field a team in both leagues.
New England Mutiny is an American women's soccer club, which competes at the pro-am level of women's soccer in the US, in the United Women's Soccer league.
The Boston Breakers were an American professional women's soccer club based in the Boston neighborhood of Allston. The team competed in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). They replaced the original Breakers, who competed in the defunct Women's United Soccer Association, as the Boston area's professional women's soccer team. Boston would eventually get a new expansion team in 2023 that would begin play in 2026.
Soccer in the United States has a varied history. Research indicates that the modern game entered the country during the 1850s with New Orleans' Scottish, Irish, German and Italian immigrants. Some of the first organized games, using modern English rules, were played in that city.
The prominent women's sports leagues in the United States and Canada serve as the pinnacle of women's athletic competition in North America. The United States is home to the vast majority of professional women's leagues. In North America, the top women's leagues feature both team sports and individual athletes. While some leagues have paid professional female athletes, others do not and function at a semi-professional level.
Women's soccer in the United States has developed quite differently from men's soccer. Until the 1970s, organized women's soccer matches in the U.S. existed only on a limited basis.
LaKeysia Rene Beene is an American former soccer goalkeeper who played for the United States women's national soccer team and the San Jose CyberRays of Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA).
Amanda Kate Cavan is an American mental health counselor, television personality, and former soccer forward who played for the United States women's national soccer team, as well as the Philadelphia Charge and San Jose CyberRays of Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA).
Raleigh Wings was a W-League women's soccer club based out of Raleigh, North Carolina. The team began play in 1998 and folded after the 2000 season.
United Women's Soccer (UWS) is a national pro-am women's soccer league in the United States. The league was founded in 2015 as a response to the dual problems of disorganization in the WPSL and of the folding of the original USL W-League. The league began play in May 2016 with eleven teams in two conferences. The first league currently has 39 teams in 3 conferences and second league currently has 18 teams in 2 conferences.
The Senior Colorado women's Rush Team is a women's footballteam based in Littleton, Colorado. In the recent past, the team competed in the Rockies Division of the Mountain Conference of the Women's Premier Soccer League's (WPSL) Central Region. It suspended play after the 2022 WPSL season and was succeeded as the Rush Soccer WPSL club in Colorado by Flatirons Rush SC, based in Arvada, Colorado. Colorado Rush's youth teams and academy continue to operate under the name.
