| Founded | 2011 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Dissolved | 2012 | ||
| Stadium | FAU Soccer Field | ||
| Capacity | 1,200 | ||
| Owner | Dan Borislow [1] | ||
| Manager | Abby Wambach | ||
| League | Women's Professional Soccer | ||
| 2011 | WPS, 3rd | ||
magicJack (stylized with the first letter in lower case) was an American professional soccer club based in Boca Raton, Florida. The team competed in Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) for one season until legal challenges caused the team's owner, Dan Borislow, to be banned from the WPS, which folded in 2012.
In 2001, magicJack was founded as Washington Freedom, a team of the defunct Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA). The Freedom were the only team to continue as an organization after WUSA folded, first playing exhibition games, then joining the W-League. The Freedom were a founding member of WUSA's successor, Women's Professional Soccer. In 2011, the team was purchased by Dan Borislow, the owner of the phone tech company magicJack, renamed, and relocated to Boca Raton, Florida.
The team opened its 2011 season with three wins, and was the only team with a perfect record for the first month of the season. Despite this, coach Mike Lyons was then dismissed, beginning a long period of coaching controversy, while both Borislow and Christie Rampone functioned as team coach at various points. During the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, magicJack lost in a WPS-record 6–0 defeat, falling to the Philadelphia Independence.
On July 21, 2011, Abby Wambach was named as magicJack's player-coach for the rest of the season. [2] The team was the visiting side when the Western New York Flash of Rochester (Wambach's hometown) set the new WPS league record attendance of 15,404. [3] magicJack ultimately finished third in both the regular season and the playoffs.
In the waning months of the season, Borislow sent an e-mail to his players telling them that WPS was threatening to terminate the team before the season was over, and he filed a suit in Florida courts. The league denied this accusation, and agreements were made for the suit to be dropped. [4]
On October 25, 2011, the Women's Professional League Governors voted to terminate the franchise, [5] accusing owner Dan Borislow of violations ranging from "unprofessional and disparaging treatment of his players" to "failure to pay his bills". WPS also stated, "Mr. Borislow's actions have been calculated to tarnish the reputation of the league and damage the league's business relationships." [6] All players were able to sign with new teams when free agency started on November 9, 2011.
Forward Ella Masar was the only magicJack player to publicly condemn the team owner, Dan Borislow, accusing him of mistreating players, including her. [7]
Borislow again filed suit in Florida courts; on January 10, 2012, the judge ruled that the league could not terminate the team's franchise without following its own procedures, and a hearing was set for the following week. [8] Before adjudication resumed, WPS and Borislow reached another deal, this time allowing Borislow to keep his team as an exhibition team, guaranteeing magicJack at least seven games for each of the next two years, one at each of the WPS teams' home grounds and two in Florida. [9] The WPS announced on January 30 that it was suspending the 2012 season, in part because of their legal dispute with Borislow. [10] The league announced that it would cease all operations on May 18, 2012. [11] Borislow died in July 2014 of a heart attack after playing in a soccer game. [12]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Kathryn Michele Markgraf is the General Manager of the United States women's national soccer team and a retired American professional soccer defender. She previously played for the Chicago Red Stars in the WPS, the Boston Breakers in the WUSA, and the United States women's national soccer team. She was a three-time Olympic medalist and played in three FIFA Women's World Cup tournaments. She started in 97% of her 201 United States Women's National Team appearances in her 12-year career. She ended her career with a high school championship, state club championship, NCAA Division I championship, Olympic gold medals, and a FIFA World Cup Championship.
Washington Freedom was an American professional soccer club based in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Germantown, Maryland, that participated in Women's Professional Soccer. The Freedom was founded in 2001 as a member of the defunct Women's United Soccer Association. Beginning in 2004, the Freedom played its home games at the Maryland SoccerPlex. In 2011, the team relocated to Boca Raton, Florida, and became magicJack.
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Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was an American professional women's soccer league that operated as the top division of women's soccer in the United States. The league was formed in 2008 and dissolved in 2012. Below are notable records and statistics for WPS teams, players, and seasons, all as of the end of the league's final season in 2011.
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Daniel Marc Borislow was an American entrepreneur, sports team owner, inventor, and thoroughbred horse breeder. Borislow was born and grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and attended Widener University. In 1989, he founded Tel-Save, Inc. to resell access to AT&T long-distance lines. Borislow took the company public in 1995, and two years later brokered a $100 million deal with AOL at the "Cafe L’Europe", Palm Beach. In early 1998, Tel-Save had sales of $300 million and was valued by Wall Street investors at $2 billion. However, due to the financial strain of paying off the AOL deal, Tel-Save lost $221 million in 1999, and Borislow sold his stock for approximately $300 million and retired.
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Madeline Nicole Washington is an American retired professional soccer forward and right midfielder who last played for Boston Breakers in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and is currently an assistant coach for the women's soccer team at the University of Washington. She previously played for Chicago Red Stars, Boston Breakers, and magicJack in Women's Professional Soccer as well as the Portland Thorns FC and Houston Dash in the NWSL. She captained the United States team that won the 2008 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup and played for the under-23 team.
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Media related to MagicJack (WPS) at Wikimedia Commons
