Full name | Atlanta Beat | ||
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Nickname(s) | Beat | ||
Founded | 2009 | ||
Stadium | KSU Soccer Stadium | ||
Capacity | 8,300 | ||
Owner | T. Fitz Johnson | ||
General manager | Shawn McGee | ||
Head coach | James Galanis | ||
League | Women's Professional Soccer | ||
The Atlanta Beat was an American soccer club based in Atlanta, Georgia that competed on a professional level. The team joined Women's Professional Soccer as an expansion team in 2010, and played its home games at Kennesaw State University Soccer Stadium, the result of a public-private partnership between the team and Kennesaw State University. [1] The club took the name and logo of the former Atlanta Beat (WUSA) of the defunct Women's United Soccer Association.
The team's name was announced to be the Beat on June 18, 2009. The name was determined by a fan poll, with Attack, Beat, and Storm as the options.
The new Beat logo was the same design as the previous WUSA logo, with the two shades of blue being replaced by Gold and Ferrari Red. [2]
Atlanta began building its team at the 2009 WPS Expansion Draft on September 15, 2009, [3] where it selected six players from the existing seven WPS teams, getting four players from the teams that finished first and second in the league's inaugural season. A week later, Atlanta selected five international players [4] in the 2009 WPS International Draft, including three players from Umea IK, and thus now have exclusive negotiating rights to those players among WPS teams.
The Beat ended the 2010 season in last place with 5 wins, 13 losses, and 6 ties. [5]
The Atlanta Beat started off the 2011 season on April 9 in a game against the Boston Breakers in front of over slightly 4,000 spectators at KLS Stadium. The Beat lost 1–4 to Boston with their lone goal coming from Carli Lloyd in a penalty kick in the 78th minute. [6]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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On January 30, 2012, Women's Professional Soccer announced suspension of the 2012 season, citing several internal organization struggles as the primary cause. Some of these included an ongoing legal battle with an ex-franchise owner and the lack of resources invested into the league. [7] [8]
The Atlanta Beat was a professional soccer team that played in the Women's United Soccer Association. The team played at Bobby Dodd Stadium on the campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology in its first year of operation before moving to Herndon Stadium, on the campus of Morris Brown College in Atlanta, Georgia.
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Kristine Marie Lilly Heavey is an American retired soccer player. She was a member of the United States women's national team for 23 years and is the most-capped football player in the history of the sport, gaining her 354th and final cap against Mexico in a World Cup qualifier in November 2010. Lilly scored 130 goals for the US national team, behind Mia Hamm's 158 goals, and Abby Wambach's 184.
Heather Mitts Feeley is an American former professional soccer defender. Mitts played college soccer for the University of Florida, and thereafter, she played professionally in the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league; for the Philadelphia Charge, Boston Breakers, Philadelphia Independence and Atlanta Beat. She is a three-time Olympic gold medalist, and was a member of the U.S. women's national team. She played in four matches in the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, where the U.S. national team finished second. Mitts announced her retirement from soccer via Twitter on March 13, 2013.
Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top-level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 season, with continued plans for future expansion. The WPS was the highest level in the United States soccer pyramid for the women's game.
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FC Gold Pride was an American professional soccer club based in the San Francisco Bay Area, which participated in Women's Professional Soccer. The club replaced the San Jose CyberRays of the defunct Women's United Soccer Association as the top-level women's soccer team in the San Francisco Bay Area. FC Gold Pride moved to its final home of Pioneer Stadium on the campus of CSU East Bay in June 2010 after opening their 2010 home schedule at the Castro Valley High School Athletic Stadium. The club ceased operations in November 2010 after struggling financially and being unable to find new investors.
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The 2010 Saint Louis Athletica season is the second season for the team, after a strong showing in their inaugural year.
Kia McNeill is a retired American professional soccer defender who most recently played for the Boston Breakers in the NWSL. She previously played for the Saint Louis Athletica, Philadelphia Independence, and the Atlanta Beat in the WPS and was a member of the United States U-23 women's national soccer team.
The Boston Breakers were an American professional 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.
The Boston Breakers was a professional soccer team that played in the Women's United Soccer Association. The team played at Nickerson Field on the campus of Boston University in Boston, Massachusetts.
The 2010 Chicago Red Stars season was the second season of the soccer club and its second season in the Women's Professional Soccer league.
The history of soccer in the United States has numerous different roots. Recent research has shown that the modern game entered America in the 1850s through New Orleans when Scottish, Irish, German and Italian immigrants brought the game with them. It was in New Orleans that some of the first organized games that used modern English rules were held.
The 2011 Atlanta Beat season is the club's second season in Women's Professional Soccer and their second consecutive season in the top division of women's soccer in the American soccer pyramid. Including the WUSA franchise, this is the club's sixth year of existence.
The 2011 Western New York Flash season was the team's inaugural and only season in the Women's Professional Soccer league, after competing as the Buffalo Flash in the USL W-League. The Western New York Flash won the league, then went on to win the 2011 WPS championship over the Philadelphia Independence.
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 2011 Philadelphia Independence season was the team's second and final season in the Women's Professional Soccer league, and its final season as a team.
The 2010 Philadelphia Independence season was the team's inaugural season of competition in the Women's Professional Soccer league.
Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 season, with continued plans for future expansion. The WPS was the highest level in the United States soccer pyramid for the women's game.
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