The New York Power was an American 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 ...

(WUSA), the first professional soccer league for women in the United States. The team played at

Mitchel Athletic Complex The Mitchel Athletic Complex is part of the Mitchel Field complex, located in Uniondale, New York, on the site of the decommissioned Mitchel Air Force Base. The facility is owned by Nassau County. It is used mostly for football and soccer and als ...

Uniondale, New York Uniondale is a census-designated place (CDP), as well as a suburb in Nassau County, New York, on Long Island, in the Town of Hempstead. The population was 32,473 at the 2020 United States Census. Uniondale is home to Hofstra University's nort ...

. The team played from 2001 to 2003 when the league ceased operations.

History

On February 15, 2000, it was announced that the first professional women's soccer league would be formed by a number of major U.S. media companies and individual investors in response to the successful and hugely popular U.S. women's national soccer team who had won 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 ...

Time Warner Cable Time Warner Cable, Inc. (TWC) was an American cable television company. Before it was acquired by Charter Communications on May 18, 2016, it was ranked the second largest cable company in the United States by revenue behind only Comcast, operat ...

invested $5,000,000 for the operating rights for a team in the New York market. In addition to the upfront financial investment, league investors also provided resources for staff, facilities, and promotional efforts via cable television.

Team name and stadium unveiled

On November 16, 2000, the league announced the names of the eight teams admitted in the league. The New York Power was announced as the team name for the New York area with games to be played at the 10,000 capacity

, a multi-purpose athletic facility located in

. The team name was selected by team's front office with the slogan "Get emPOWERed" used in promotional materials.

Inaugural season

The Power began play in 2001 during the inaugural season of the WUSA. The team finished the regular season with a 9–7–5 record third in the standings. They reached the semi-finals in the playoffs where they faced the Bay Area CyberRays and lost 3–2. Average attendance for the club's home games during the 2001 season was 5,724.

Tiffeny Milbrett Tiffeny Carleen Milbrett (born October 23, 1972) is an American former professional soccer forward who was a longtime member of the United States women's national team. In May 2018 the National Soccer Hall of Fame announced Milbrett will be en ...

was the leading scorer on the team with 16 goals on the season. She also led the team in points (35), shots (73), shots on goal (42), and game-winning goals (4). Goalkeeper

Gao Hong Gao Hong (born 1964 in Luoyang, Henan) is a composer and performer of the Chinese pipa (pear-shaped lute). Gao has lived in the United States since 1994. She performs traditional and modern Chinese music, with her groups Spirit of Nature and ...

recorded 87 saves with a 1.11 goals against average (GAA).

2002 season

During the league's second season, the Power finished last in the regular season standings with a 3–17–1 record. The club had a rough time recovering from a number of injuries and the retirement of Norwegian defender

Gro Espeseth Gro Espeseth (born 30 October 1972) is a former Norwegian footballer, world champion and olympic champion. She played for the clubs Sandviken and Trondheims-Ørn, debuted for the Norwegian national team in 1991, and played 105 matches for the ...

, who departed after the inaugural season. Goalkeeper

, defender

Christie Pearce Christie Patricia Pearce (formerly Rampone; born June 24, 1975) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a defender. She is the former captain of the United States national team. Pearce is a three-time Olympic gold medali ...

and defender-midfielder

Sara Whalen Sara Eve Hess (; born April 28, 1976) is a retired American professional Olympic medalist soccer player. Whalen played for the United States Women's National Soccer Team from 1997 to 2000, won an Olympic silver medal with the team, and was a fou ...

all suffered injuries destabilizing the team. In July, head coach

Pat Farmer Patrick Francis Daniel Farmer (born 14 March 1962) is an ultra-marathon athlete, motivational speaker, and former Australian politician who served as a Member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing the seat of Macarthur in ...

was fired after the team lost many more games than it won or tied. Assistant coach and former

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

coach Charles Duccilli was named head coach. The team's general manager, Susan Marenoff, said of the coaching swap, "The team needed a change ... Pat worked very hard to make the best team he could. I really think we needed a different style, and that's what we've accomplished."

2003 season

The Power re-surged during the 2003 season to finish fifth among the league's eight teams, narrowly missing the playoffs. Australia women's national team coach and San Jose CyberRays assistant coach,

Tom Sermanni Thomas Dorby Sermanni (born 1 July 1954) is a Scottish football coach and former professional player, who mostly works in women's football. He has previously managed the Australia women's national team, the United States women's national team ...

, was named head coach during the 2002 postseason. The Power finished the regular season with a 7–9–5 record. Forward

Christie Welsh Christie Renee Welsh (born February 27, 1981) is an American former soccer player who played as a forward. She previously played for the New York Power of Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) as well as the Los Angeles Sol, Saint Louis ...

led the team in goals with six while midfielder

Shannon Boxx Shannon Leigh Boxx Spearman (; born June 29, 1977) is an American retired soccer player and former member of the United States women's national soccer team, playing the defensive midfielder position. She last played club soccer for the Chicago Re ...

led in assists with eight. Inaugural season star

ranked second on the team for goals (5) and assists (6) and led the team in shots (51), shots on goal (22) and points (16). Goalkeeper

Saskia Webber Saskia Johanna Webber (born June 13, 1971) is a retired United States, American association football, soccer goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper who previously played for the United States women's national soccer team as well as the New ...

made 50 saves during her 13 appearances for the club recording a 1.52 goals against average (GAA).

Year-by-year

Players

The "founding players" of the Power were

and

of the 1999 U.S. Women's World Cup team. International players who played for the Power included

Ann Kristin Aarønes Ann Kristin Aarønes (born 19 January 1973) is a Norwegian former footballer. She first played for Spjelkavik IL, then for Trondheims-Ørn and the Norwegian national team. Later she played for the WUSA's New York Power, during the club's first ...

(

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

(

( China), Cheryl Salisbury ( Australia) and Anita Rapp (

). 2003 Roster Coach:

Coaches

(2001–02) * Charles Duccilli (2002) *

(2003)

Awards

The New York Power received the WUSA Team Fair Play Award during the 2001 season.

received the WUSA Most Valuable Player and WUSA Offensive Player of the Year the same year.

and

were named to the WUSA Global XI First Team in 2001. In 2003, Coach

was one of three nominees for Coach of the Year.

League suspension

The WUSA announced on September 15, 2003 that it was suspending operations.

References

External links

New York Power website (archive.org)
{{Women's United Soccer Association Defunct soccer clubs in New York (state) Women's soccer clubs in the United States Sports in Long Island Women's soccer clubs in New York (state) Women's United Soccer Association teams 2000 establishments in New York (state) 2003 disestablishments in the United States Association football clubs disestablished in 2003 Association football clubs established in 2000