San Jose CyberRays 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 Spartan Stadium on the South Campus of

San José State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popu ...

. Stars included U.S. National Team star Brandi Chastain, WUSA Goalkeeper of the Year LaKeysia Beene, and leading scorer

Julie Murray Julie Elizabeth Murray (born 28 April 1970) is an Australian soccer player who appeared in 68 international matches for the Australia women's national association football team during a 13-year international career. She played professional c ...

. Other memorable CyberRays were Brazilians Sissi and

Katia Katia is a feminine given name. It is a variant of Katya. Notable people with this name Actresses and models * Katia Dandoulaki, Greek actress *Katia Margaritoglou, Greek fashion model and beauty contestant *Katia Winter (born 1983), Swedis ...

Tisha Venturini Tisha Lea Venturini-Hoch (; born March 3, 1973) is a former American soccer player and current National Spokesperson for Produce for Better Health. She is a gold medalist in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, and a world champion in the 1999 FIFA Wome ...

(from the U.S. National Team), and "ironwoman" Thori Bryan, who played every minute of the first season. They were coached by Ian Sawyers, who received WUSA Coach of the Year honors in 2001.

History

Establishment

The CyberRays were founded in 2000 as a member of the

, the first professional women's soccer league in the United States. The league featured many of the stars from 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 ...

. The team featured United States women's national team players and league founding players Brandi Chastain,

and LaKeysia Beene.

Year-by-year

Inaugural season

The team won the WUSA title (known as the Founders Cup) for the league's inaugural season in 2001. The CyberRays triumphed over the Atlanta Beat, in a 4–2 shootout after double overtime of a 3–3 game. It was the only year in the country's history that both a women's and men's professional soccer team won championship titles in the same city.

2002

In 2002 the team changed its name from the Bay Area CyberRays to the San Jose CyberRays, and also gave their roster a facelift, allowing Murray to retire and trading for Pretinha from the

Washington Freedom Washington Freedom was an American professional soccer club based in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Germantown, Maryland, that participated in Women's Professional Soccer. The Freedom was founded in 2001 as a member of the defunct Women's Uni ...

, who along with Katia and Sissi, gave the new attack a decidedly Brazilian flavor. The bold changes didn't have the desired effect, however, and the team finished out of the playoffs. One bright spot was the emergence of Katia, who scored 15 goals and broke Tiffeny Milbrett's record for most points in a season.

2003

The CyberRays had high hopes for 2003, but an anemic offense (worst in the league in goals scored) hurt the team all year. The team remained in contention until the end of the season, but finished out of the playoffs for a second straight year. But even bigger problems were brewing in the background, as the WUSA continued to struggle financially. The CyberRays folded on September 15, 2003, when the league announced it was suspending operations.

Players

2003 roster

Stadium

The CyberRays played at Spartan Stadium on the South Campus of

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

. The stadium was used for the

and was also the home of the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer from 1996 to 2005. At the time, the stadium featured a grass pitch and up to 30,456 capacity.

Broadcasting

In 2002, games were broadcast on television via

PAX TV Ion Television is an American broadcast television network owned by the Katz Broadcasting subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company. The network first began broadcasting on August 31, 1998, as Pax TV, focusing primarily on family-oriented ente ...

. California Bears assistant coach Jennifer Thomas provided color commentary while KCBS Radio sports announcer Hal Ramey was the play-by-play announcer. A number of league games were broadcast on

Turner Sports Warner Bros. Discovery Sports (WBD Sports) is the division of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) that is responsible for sports broadcasts on its parent company's various channels in the United States, including TBS, TNT, AT&T SportsNet, and TruTV. ...

and CNN/Sports Illustrated.

References

External links

San Jose CyberRays website (archive.org)
{{Women's United Soccer Association Defunct soccer clubs in California Women's soccer clubs in the United States C Soccer clubs in California Women's United Soccer Association teams 2001 establishments in California 2003 disestablishments in California Association football clubs established in 2001 Association football clubs disestablished in 2003