The Atlanta Beat was a professional soccer team that played in the

Women's United Soccer Association 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 Un ...

. 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 Alonzo Herndon Stadium, named for Alonzo Herndon, is an abandoned 15,011-seat stadium on the campus of Morris Brown College in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It is the only two-sided stadium in the Atlanta University Center. It is one block ov ...

, on the campus of Morris Brown College in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

History

The team began play in 2001, and reached the playoffs in each of the WUSA's three seasons — the only team in the league to do so. They advanced to the Founders Cup in both 2001 and 2003, losing on both occasions. The Beat's "founding players" were

Briana Scurry Briana Collette Scurry (born September 7, 1971) is an American retired soccer goalkeeper, and assistant coach of the Washington Spirit . Scurry was the starting goalkeeper for the United States women's national soccer team at the 1995 World Cu ...

Cindy Parlow Cynthia Marie Parlow Cone (; born May 8, 1978) is an American soccer executive and president of the United States Soccer Federation. A former professional soccer player, she is a two-time Olympic Gold medalist and 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup ch ...

, and

Nikki Serlenga Nichole Lee Serlenga (born June 20, 1978) is an American retired soccer player. She is a former United States women's national soccer team player and received a silver medal as a member of the 2000 U.S. Olympic Team. Early life Born in San Die ...

of the USA women's national team. The Beat had the #1 pick in the inaugural WUSA draft, and selected China's Sun Wen, star of the

1999 FIFA Women's World Cup The 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup was the third edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the world championship for women's national soccer teams. It was hosted as well as won by the United States and took place from June 19 to July 10, 1999, at ...

. Their first goal was scored by Japan star midfielder

Homare Sawa is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a forward or a midfielder. Regarded by many as one of the greatest female footballers of all time and the greatest Asian female footballer of all time, Sawa had a professional club car ...

. The coach of the Atlanta Beat was Tom Stone.

League Suspension

The WUSA announced on September 15, 2003, that it was suspending operations. Several former Beat players went on to play for the Atlanta Silverbacks Women in the W-League, and five –

Sharolta Nonen Sharolta Louisa Nonen (born December 30, 1977) is a Canadian former soccer defender and current women's soccer coach of the Florida International University Panthers. She played for the Nebraska Cornhuskers in college, where she was the first ...

, Nancy Augustyniak, and

Ifeoma Dieke Ifeoma Nnenna Dieke (born 25 February 1981) is an American-born Scottish football defender, currently playing for Apollon Ladies F.C. of the Cypriot First Division. She previously played for several professional clubs in Sweden and the United S ...

—played in

Women's Professional Soccer 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 sea ...

. It was announced on October 7, 2009, that a newly formed version of the Atlanta Beat would be joining WPS. On June 17, 2009, the new Atlanta Beat announced that Shawn McGee would be the General Manager of the recently reformed team.Atlanta Women’s Professional Soccer Team Names Shawn McGee General Manager

Players (All-Time Roster)

References

External links

Atlanta Beat (WUSA)
(archived) {{Women's United Soccer Association Defunct soccer clubs in Georgia (U.S. state) Women's soccer clubs in the United States B Soccer clubs in Georgia (U.S. state) Women's United Soccer Association teams 2001 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) 2003 disestablishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Association football clubs established in 2001 Association football clubs disestablished in 2003

History

League Suspension

Players (All-Time Roster)

See also

References

External links