NWSL
The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federation. The NWSL was established in 2012 as the successor to Women's Professional Soccer (WPS; 2007–2012), which was itself the successor to Women's United Soccer Association (2001–2003). The league began play in 2013 with eight teams, four of which were former members of WPS (Boston Breakers, Chicago Red Stars, Sky Blue FC, and Western New York Flash). it has 12 teams across the United States. five teams have been crowned NWSL Champions, awarded to the playoff winner; four teams have claimed the NWSL Shield, awarded to the team in first place at the end of the regular season; and three teams have been champions of the NWSL Challenge Cup, an annual league cup tournament that began in 2020. The latest (2022) NWSL champions are the Portla ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2021 NWSL Season
The 2021 National Women's Soccer League season was the ninth season of the National Women's Soccer League, the top division of women's soccer in the United States. Including the NWSL's two professional predecessors, Women's Professional Soccer (2009–2011) and the Women's United Soccer Association (2001–2003), it is the 15th overall season of FIFA and USSF-sanctioned top division women's soccer in the United States. This season was the first in which the NWSL has been fully self-governing. After the 2020 season, the league terminated its management contract with the United States Soccer Federation (USSF or U.S. Soccer), which nonetheless continues to provide major financial support to the NWSL. Further financial backing is provided by the Canadian Soccer Association. Both national federations pay the league salaries of many of their respective national team members in an effort to nurture talent in those nations and take a major financial burden off of individual clubs. On No ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2022 National Women's Soccer League Season
The 2022 National Women's Soccer League season was the tenth season of the National Women's Soccer League, the top division of women's soccer in the United States. Including the NWSL's two professional predecessors, Women's Professional Soccer (2009–2011) and the Women's United Soccer Association (2001–2003), it was the 16th overall season of FIFA and USSF-sanctioned top division women's soccer in the United States. Twelve teams competed in the league, including two expansion teams, San Diego Wave FC and Angel City FC. The NWSL regular season, comprising 22 games for each team, began on April 29 and ended on October 2, 2022. OL Reign topped the standing with 40 points and thus won the NWSL Shield. The championship playoffs were held from October 16-29 and were won by Portland Thorns FC, who defeated the Kansas City Current 2-0 in the final and thus became the NWSL champions. The year also included the 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup, which was played from March 18 to May 7 and overl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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NWSL Player Allocation
The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) federation players were players whose salaries for playing in the NWSL were paid for by their respective national federations from 2013 to 2021. American federation players were contracted to the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) and not to their respective NWSL clubs, whereas Canadian federation players were contracted directly to their respective NWSL clubs. Federation players were sometimes known as allocated players, allocation players, or subsidized players, which occasionally created confusion with players paid using the NWSL's "allocation money," a mechanism introduced before the 2020 NWSL season. NWSL federation players originally came from the USSF, the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA), and the Mexican Football Federation (FMF), and they were distributed to the eight founding teams of the NWSL through a player allocation process in January 2013. The FMF ceased allocating players to the NWSL in 2016 and before starting its own ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Portland Thorns FC
The Portland Thorns FC is an American professional women's soccer team based in Portland, Oregon. Established in 2012, the team began play in 2013 in the then-eight-team National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), which receives support from the United States Soccer Federation (USSF). The Portland franchise is owned by Peregrine Sports LLC, which also owns the Portland Timbers. Alongside the Thorns, the Houston Dash and Orlando Pride are other NWSL teams with Major League Soccer affiliations. In its inaugural season, the Portland Thorns FC placed third during the regular season and, in the playoffs, won the first NWSL championship. The club won the NWSL Shield in 2016 and a second NWSL Championship in 2017. In 2020, they won the Community Shield with the best record in the pandemic-shortened regular season. In 2021, the Thorns won the NWSL Challenge Cup, the Women's International Champions Cup, and the NWSL Shield. They followed up in 2022 by winning the NWSL championship. T ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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OL Reign
OL Reign is an American professional Women's association football, women's soccer team based in Seattle, Washington. Founded by Bill and Teresa Predmore in 2012 as Seattle Reign FC, it was one of eight inaugural members of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). In 2020, Olympique Lyonnais#Ownership and finances, OL Groupe, the parent company of French clubs Olympique Lyonnais and Olympique Lyonnais Féminin, became the team's majority owner and rebranded to its current name, badge, and colors. Laura Harvey is the team's head coach; she led the team to two consecutive NWSL Shield wins in 2014 and 2015 and a third in 2022. OL Reign has played its home matches at Lumen Field since 2022. The team previously played at Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, Washington, Tukwila (2013), at Memorial Stadium (Seattle), Memorial Stadium (2014–18), and at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma, Washington, Tacoma (2019–21). History Establishment Following the demise of Women's Professional Soc ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sam Kerr
Samantha May Kerr (born 10 September 1993) is an Australian professional football player who plays as a forward for Chelsea in the FA Women's Super League and the Australia women's national team (the ''Matildas''), which she has captained since 2019. As of 2022, Kerr is the all-time leading Australian international scorer, and is the all-time leading scorer in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in the United States. She is the only female football player to have won the Golden Boot in three different leagues and three different continents – the W-League (Australia/New Zealand) in 2017–18 and 2018–19, the NWSL (North America) in 2017, 2018, 2019 and the FAWSL (Europe) in 2020–21 and 2021–22. Kerr started her career at the age of 15 with Perth Glory where she played from 2008 to 2012, before moving to Sydney FC. In 2013, she joined the Western New York Flash for the inaugural season of the NWSL and helped lead the team to win the NWSL Shield. She later pla ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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North Carolina Courage
The North Carolina Courage is a professional women's soccer team based in Cary, North Carolina. It was founded on January 9, 2017, after Stephen Malik acquired National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchise rights from the Western New York Flash. The Courage is affiliated with the men's team North Carolina FC of the United Soccer League and plays its home games at the Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park. In 2018, the Courage became the first team in NWSL history to win the Shield and the Championship in the same season. In 2019, the team became the first team to win the Championship on its home field. History 2017 On January 9, 2017, the North Carolina Courage announced their formation as the relocated Western New York Flash, with a new home of Cary, North Carolina. The Courage officially hired Paul Riley, the Flash's coach prior to relocation, on January 30, 2017. The team played their first match, on April 15, 2017, against the Washington Spirit, and won 1–0 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lauren Barnes
Lauren Kate Barnes (born May 31, 1989) is an American professional soccer player who currently plays as a defender for OL Reign of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She previously played for the Philadelphia Independence in the WPS and represented the United States on the under-15, under-20, and under-23 national teams. Early life Barnes was born in Arcadia, California to parents, Joyce and Gary Barnes. She attended Upland High School in Upland, California where she was a four-time first-team All-CIF selection. She was rated as the number two overall recruit in the nation by RISE Magazine and Soccer Buzz and was named Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of California. In 2005 and 2006 she was named Parade All-American, NSCAA/adidas Girls Youth All-American, and 2006 CIF-Southern Section Co-Player of the Year. In addition to her high school play, Barnes played for local club soccer team, Arsenal FC. UCLA Bruins, 2007–2010 Barnes attended UCLA where she p ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2023 National Women's Soccer League Season
The 2023 National Women's Soccer League season will be the eleventh season of the National Women's Soccer League, the top division of women's soccer in the United States. Including the NWSL's two professional predecessors, Women's Professional Soccer (2009–2011) and the Women's United Soccer Association (2001–2003), it was the 17th overall season of FIFA and USSF-sanctioned top division women's soccer in the United States. Twelve teams will compete in the league. The NWSL regular season, comprising 22 games for each team, will begin on March 25 and end on November 11, 2023. For the first time, the NWSL Challenge Cup will run entirely concurrent with the regular season from April to September 9, 2023. Teams, stadiums, and personnel Stadiums and locations Capacities listed here are full capacities, and do not reflect COVID-19 restrictions. Personnel and sponsorship Note: All teams use Nike as their kit manufacturer as part of a league-wide sponsorship agre ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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NWSL Playoffs
The National Women's Soccer League Playoffs (or NWSL Playoffs) are a single elimination tournament among six teams in the National Women's Soccer League of the United States, deciding the winner of the NWSL Championship. Since playoff games cannot end in ties, those are broken by two straight 15-minute extra time periods, followed by shootouts of best-of-five rounds plus extra rounds as required. Format The top six teams in the final standings at the end of the NWSL season qualify for the playoffs and are seeded in order of their record; the top two teams receive a first-round bye. Prior to 2021, only the top four teams qualified for the playoffs. Tiebreakers The initial determining factor for a team's position in the standings is most points earned, with three points earned for a win, one point for a draw, and zero points for a loss. As of 2022, if at least two teams tie in point total, when determining rank and playoff qualification and seeding, the NWSL uses the following ti ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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NWSL Challenge Cup
The NWSL Challenge Cup, currently known as the UKG NWSL Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual tournament organized by the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top-tier women's league in the United States soccer league system. The tournament is open to all NWSL teams. The NWSL Challenge Cup was first held in 2020 as a one-off tournament to mark the league's return to action from the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the first top-tier professional sports league in the United States to restart after COVID-19 lockdowns began. Subsequently, the NWSL announced that it would return as an annual league cup competition. The current (2022) holders are the North Carolina Courage The North Carolina Courage is a professional women's soccer team based in Cary, North Carolina. It was founded on January 9, 2017, after Stephen Malik acquired National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchise rights from the Western New York F .... Records and statistics Results by team List ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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United States Soccer Federation
The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of the sport of soccer in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, the federation is a full member of FIFA and governs American soccer at the international, professional, and amateur levels, including: the men's and women's national teams, Major League Soccer, National Women's Soccer League, youth organizations, beach soccer, futsal, Paralympic and deaf national teams. U.S. Soccer sanctions referees and soccer tournaments for most soccer leagues in the United States. The U.S. Soccer Federation also administers and operates the U.S. Open Cup and the SheBelieves Cup. History U.S. Soccer was originally known as the United States Football Association. It formed on 5 April 1913, at the Astor House Hotel in Lower Manhattan and on 15 August of that year was accepted as one of the earliest member organizations of FIFA and ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |