The Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) is an amateur women's soccer league in the United States and Canada. It is the top amateur league for women's soccer in the United States soccer pyramid, below only National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The WPSL is the longest-running active women's soccer league as it enters its 25th season in 2023 – the 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The WPSL is also the largest women's soccer league in the United States, North America and the world with 130 active teams as of 2023.
The Chicago Red Stars are a professional women's soccer club based in Bridgeview, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. A founding member of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league, they have played in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) since 2013.
The Western New York Flash was an American soccer club based in Elma, New York that competed in the United Women's Soccer league. They have won league championships in four different leagues: the USL W-League in 2010, Women's Professional Soccer in 2011, Women's Premier Soccer League Elite in 2012, and the National Women's Soccer League in 2016.
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.
Elizabeth Ely Bogus is an American soccer coach and retired player who played as a midfielder and forward. She played semi-professionally with Chicago Cobras, Arizona Heatwave, Ajax America Women, Mile High Edge, Pali Blues, and Boston Aztec; at the professional level, she appeared for Los Angeles Sol, Boston Breakers, PK-35 Vantaa, Seattle Reign, and FC Kansas City.
Jennifer Rose Buczkowski is an American former soccer midfielder. She played for FC Kansas City in the NWSL. She previously played for the Philadelphia Independence and New Jersey Sky Blue of Women's Professional Soccer.
Julianne Marie Sitch is an American former professional soccer defender. She is currently a coach for the Chicago Red Stars and head coach of the University of Chicago men's soccer team. In 2022, she became the first woman in NCAA history to lead a men's team to a national championship.
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.
Alexandra Linsley Long is an American soccer player who plays as a midfielder for NJ/NY Gotham FC in the National Women's Soccer League and the United States national team. She made her debut for the national team on May 8, 2014, in a friendly against Canada. She has since made 45 total appearances for the team.
Elli Kayla Burris is an American professional soccer player who last played as a defender for OL Reign of the NWSL. She previously played for FCR 2001 Duisburg in the Frauen-Bundesliga, Melbourne Victory in the Australian W-League as well as the Boston Breakers in the WPS and the WPSL Elite.
The Women's Premier Soccer League Elite (WPSL Elite) was a women's semi-professional soccer league created by the Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) to support the sport in the United States, both from continued interest by WPSL teams in professionalism and as a response to the suspension (and ultimate demise) of the WPS.
Jessica Marie McDonald is an American professional soccer player for Racing Louisville FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the highest division of women's professional soccer in the United States, and the United States women's national soccer team. She previously played for the Australian W-League teams Melbourne Victory and Western United as well as the Western New York Flash, Chicago Red Stars, Seattle Reign FC, Portland Thorns FC, Houston Dash, and North Carolina Courage. McDonald became a World Cup champion in 2019, with the United States team that won the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup.
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. The U.S. is now regarded as one of the top countries in the world for women's soccer, and FIFA ranked its national team #1 in the world after its back-to-back Women's World Cup victory in 2015 and 2019.
The 2012 Chicago Red Stars season is the fourth season of the soccer club; the season it competed was the only season of the Women's Premier Soccer League Elite.
Alyssa Lee Mautz is an American former professional soccer forward and midfielder. She played from 2013 to 2022 for the Chicago Red Stars of the NWSL, and played on loan to Australian club Perth Glory for the 2018–19 W-League season. She previously played for Sky Blue FC in Women's Professional Soccer (WPS), Zorky in the Russian Women's Football Championship and has represented the United States at the U-23 level. She retired from Chicago in 2022 to accept a job as an assistance coach at Texas A&M University.
Victoria Lauren Huster is an American women's soccer midfielder currently playing for Washington Spirit of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). In 2020, she was elected president of the National Women's Soccer League Players Association.
Carissa Xenia Miller is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) club Kansas City Current.
Michele Weissenhofer Fumagalli is a retired American professional soccer player who last played as a striker for the Chicago Red Stars of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She is currently the performance dietitian for Chicago Fire FC in the MLS.
Meghan Jeanne Lenczyk is an American professional soccer player who was last played for the New York Fury of the Women's Premier Soccer League Elite. She also played for Atlanta Beat, New York Fury, Washington Freedom Reserves, and F.C. Virginia.
