The North Carolina Courage is a professional women's

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

team based in

Cary, North Carolina Cary is a town in Wake and Chatham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina and is part of the Raleigh–Cary, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to the 2020 Census, its population was 174,721, making it the seventh largest muni ...

. It was founded on January 9, 2017, after

Stephen Malik Stephen Malik is the owner and chairman of North Carolina FC of United Soccer League and North Carolina Courage of National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of t ...

acquired

National Women's Soccer League 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 Federatio ...

(NWSL) franchise rights from the

Western New York Flash The Western New York Flash (WNY Flash) was an American soccer club based in Elma, New York that competed in the United Women's Soccer league. They have won league championships in four different leagues: the USL W-League in 2010, Women's Pro ...

. The Courage is affiliated with the men's team

North Carolina FC North Carolina FC is an American professional soccer team in Cary, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh. Founded in 2006, the team plays in USL League One, the third tier of the American league system. The team has played its home games a ...

of the

United Soccer League United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a Association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues curren ...

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 with a goal by

McCall Zerboni McCall RaNae Zerboni (born December 13, 1986) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for and captains NJ/NY Gotham FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Early life Born in Camarillo, California, to par ...

. The Courage went on to win the 2017 NWSL Shield and advanced to the 2017 NWSL Championship after defeating the Chicago Red Stars 1–0 in the semifinals, but fell 1–0 to the Portland Thorns in the finals.

2018

In 2018, the Courage had the best season in NWSL history, losing just one of 26 games played during the season. The Courage also participated in and won the inaugural

Women's International Champions Cup The Women's International Champions Cup (WICC) is an annual club women's soccer invitational tournament in the United States. Launched by Relevent Sports Group in 2018, it features four American and European women's soccer teams competing for the ...

Heather O'Reilly Heather Ann O'Reilly (born January 2, 1985) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Irish club Shelbourne of the Women's National League. She played for the United States women's national soccer team (USWNT), w ...

scored the only goal in the victory over

Olympique Lyon Olympique Lyonnais (), commonly referred to as simply Lyon () or OL, is a men and women's French professional football club based in Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The men play in France's highest football division, Ligue 1. Founded in 1950, ...

. After clinching the NWSL Shield, the team defeated the Portland Thorns in the 2018 NWSL Championship 3–0.

Jessica McDonald Jessica Marie McDonald (born February 28, 1988) is an American professional soccer player for Racing Louisville FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the highest division of women's professional soccer in the United States, and the ...

was named the NWSL Championship MVP after scoring two goals in the match.

2019

The Courage returned to the

finals, but were defeated by returning finalists Olympique Lyon. The Courage were crowned NWSL Champions for the second consecutive season after defeating the Chicago Red Stars, 4–0 in the 2019 NWSL Championship held in Cary, North Carolina.

Debinha Débora Cristiane de Oliveira (born 20 October 1991), known as Debinha Miri or simply Debinha, is a Brazilian professional football forward who plays for the Kansas City Current in the National Women's Soccer League and the Brazil women's nati ...

was named the NWSL Championship MVP after scoring the fastest goal in NWSL Championship history. The team clinched the NWSL Shield for the third time in as many years on September 21 after defeating Utah Royals FC. The team had an overall record of .

2020

With the NWSL season cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the Courage participated in the inaugural 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup. They were defeated in the semifinals by

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 Uni ...

. The Courage also participated in the 2020 NWSL Fall Series, finishing in fifth place.

2021

On January 28, 2021, the club announced that professional tennis player

Naomi Osaka is a Japanese professional tennis player. She has been ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) and is the first Asian player to hold the top ranking in singles. Osaka is a four-time Grand Slam singles champio ...

had made an investment in the team. Osaka stated that she was inspired to take part ownership by those who had invested in her during her career, and that she wishes to "continue the legacy of women empowerment." The Courage failed to qualify for the 2021 NWSL Challenge Cup championship, falling one point short in the East Division to

NJ/NY Gotham FC NJ/NY Gotham FC is a professional women's soccer team based in Harrison, New Jersey. Founded in 2006 as Jersey Sky Blue, the team was known as Sky Blue FC from 2008 until 2020. A founding member of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in 201 ...

. On September 30, 2021, the club fired head coach Paul Riley after news of prior sexual abuse allegations emerged against him. The Courage replaced Riley with assistant

Sean Nahas Sean Nahas (born April 24, 1978) is an American soccer coach and former player who is currently the head coach of North Carolina Courage of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Early life Nahas grew up in East Northport, New York, and ...

in the interim.

2022

On December 1, 2021, the Courage named former interim head coach

as head coach for the 2022 season.

Team name, crest, and colors

The team's name is a nod to the original

Carolina Courage Carolina Courage was a professional soccer team that played in the Women's United Soccer Association. The team played at Fetzer Field on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus in 2001, and then at the soccer-specific SAS Stadium in Cary, North Carolina i ...

– who won the 2002

Women's United Soccer Association The Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) was the world's first Women's association football, women's soccer league in which all the players were paid as professionals. Founded in February 2000 in sports, 2000, the league began its first se ...

(WUSA) Founders Cup – as is the stylized lioness image, which matches the head of the lioness on the WUSA team's badge with very minor alterations. The badge features elements from the

flag of North Carolina The flag of the state of North Carolina, often referred to as the North Carolina flag, N.C. flag, or North Star, is the state flag of the U.S. state of North Carolina. History First flag (1861–1865) North Carolina did not have an offic ...

with both the star and the color scheme, the latter keeping in line with the NCFC brand. The lower right point of the star represents the

Research Triangle The Research Triangle, or simply The Triangle, are both common nicknames for a metropolitan area in the Piedmont region of North Carolina in the United States, anchored by the cities of Raleigh and Durham and the town of Chapel Hill, home to ...

, a geographical region that includes

Chapel Hill Chapel Hill or Chapelhill may refer to: Places Antarctica * Chapel Hill (Antarctica) Australia *Chapel Hill, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane *Chapel Hill, South Australia, in the Mount Barker council area Canada * Chapel Hill, Ottawa, a neighbo ...

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

, and

Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...

. The Courage's primary colors include "Atlantic blue", "cardinal red," and "Southern gold."

Uniform evolution

Home Away

Sponsorship

Stadium

The North Carolina Courage play their home games at WakeMed Soccer Park, a

soccer-specific stadium Soccer-specific stadium is a term used mainly in the United States and Canada to refer to a sports stadium either purpose-built or fundamentally redesigned for soccer and whose primary function is to host soccer matches, as opposed to a multi-pu ...

owned by

Wake County Wake County is located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. In the 2020 census, its population was 1,129,410, making it North Carolina's most-populous county. From July 2005 to July 2006, Wake County was the 9th-fastest growing county in the U ...

and operated by the Town of Cary. The team shares the venue with

, a

USL League One USL League One (USL1) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that had its inaugural season in 2019. The Division III league is operated by United Soccer League, the same group that operates the Division II USL Championshi ...

team also owned by Stephen Malik. The soccer complex consists of a purpose-built main stadium, two lighted practice fields, and four additional fields. The main stadium and the two lighted fields (2 & 3) are all

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

international regulation size (120 yards x 75 yards). The main stadium seats 10,000 with the expansions of 2012. Field 2 also has 1,000 permanent bleacher seats. The park is on that the State of

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

has leased to Wake County. Money to build the soccer park came from $14.5 million in county-wide hotel room and prepared food and beverage taxes. The Town of Cary assumed responsibility for operations and maintenance in 2004 from

Capital Area Soccer League North Carolina FC Youth (NCFC Youth) is an American soccer club and eponymous league based in Raleigh, North Carolina and serving greater Research Triangle. It is the largest youth-to-professional soccer club in the country. Club NCFC Youth was ...

. On January 26, 2006, the Town of Cary council amended its lease to allow it to sublet the property to Triangle Professional Soccer through the year 2011 for the exclusive promotion of professional soccer and lacrosse events at the complex. This deal was extended for the new ownership group through 2014.

Future stadium proposal

On December 6, 2016, along with a name change, North Carolina FC announced plans for a housing and multi-use stadium development — originally announced as seating 24,000, then scaled down to 20,000 seats — in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...

, as part of the men's team's bid for a

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

(MLS) expansion franchise. Team owner Stephen Malik and real-estate developer John Kane led investment in the proposal, purchasing 88 acres of land in 2019 and estimating the total project cost to be $1.9 billion. The MLS expansion bid was put on hold in 2021 along with the stadium plans as the

consumed municipal funding. The project gained former BioAgylitix CEO Jim Datin as an investor in June 2022.

Year-by-year

Players

Current squad

Staff

Head coaching history

Honors

NWSL Championship 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 can ...

**Winners (2):

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

**Runners-up (1):

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

NWSL Shield The NWSL Shield is an annual award given to the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) team with the best regular season record as determined by the NWSL points system. The NWSL Shield has been awarded annually since 2013 and is recognized as a ...

** Winners (3):

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. T ...

** Winners (1):

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

**Winners (1):

**Runners-up (1):

Broadcasting

In 2019, the NWSL broadcast partnership with A&E was terminated a year early, all games would be streamed on Yahoo! Sports in the United States and on the NWSL website for international viewers. In 2018, Courage games continued to be streamed on

Go90 go90 was an American Internet television service and mobile app owned and operated by Verizon Communications. The service was positioned as a mobile-oriented "social entertainment platform" targeted primarily towards millennials, featuring a m ...

, the NWSL website and select games were broadcast on Lifetime. After

was shut down by

Verizon Verizon Communications Inc., commonly known as Verizon, is an American multinational telecommunications conglomerate and a corporate component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is headquartered at 1095 Avenue of the Americas in ...

on July 30, all games were available for streaming on the NWSL website. In 2017, Courage games were streamed exclusively by

for American audiences and via the NWSL website for international viewers. As part of a three-year agreement with

A&E Networks A&E Networks (stylized as A+E NETWORKS) is an American multinational broadcasting company that is a 50–50 joint venture between Hearst Communications and The Walt Disney Company through its General Entertainment Content division. The company o ...

, Lifetime broadcasts one ''NWSL Game of the Week'' on Saturday afternoons. In 2017 season, the Courage were featured in national Lifetime ''NWSL Game of the Week'' broadcasts on June 3, July 1, August 19, and July 15, 2017.

References

External links

*
Courage Country
{{North Carolina Sports National Women's Soccer League teams Women's soccer clubs in North Carolina Soccer clubs in North Carolina 2016 establishments in North Carolina Association football clubs established in 2016 Sports in Wake County, North Carolina USL W League teams