The San Diego Spirit was a professional

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 that played in the

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 ...

. The team played at

Torero Stadium Torero Stadium is a 6,000-seat multi-purpose stadium on the west coast of the United States, located on the campus of the University of San Diego in San Diego, California. Opened in 1961, it serves as the home of the school's football and soccer ...

on the campus of the

University of San Diego The University of San Diego (USD) is a private Roman Catholic research university in San Diego, California. Chartered in July 1949 as the independent San Diego College for Women and San Diego University (comprising the College for Men and Schoo ...

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

. The team began play in 2001. The league announced on September 15, 2003, it was suspending operations. The founding members of the Spirit were

Julie Foudy Julie Maurine Foudy ( ; born January 23, 1971) is an American retired soccer midfielder, two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist. She played for the United States women's national soccer team from 1988 to 2004 ...

Shannon MacMillan Shannon Ann MacMillan (born October 7, 1974) is an American retired soccer player, coach, FIFA Women's World Cup champion, Olympic gold and silver medalist. Named U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year for 2002, MacMillan played for the United Stat ...

and

Joy Fawcett Joy Lynn Fawcett (; February 8, 1968) is a retired American professional soccer player. She earned 241 caps with the United States women's national soccer team (WNT) and retired from the WNT in 2004 as the highest scoring defender for the U.S. W ...

. The team reached the playoffs in the 2003 season, losing to the Atlanta Beat in the semifinals. Other notable members of the Spirit included Scotland's

Julie Fleeting Julie Fleeting MBE (born 18 December 1980), whose married name is Julie Stewart, is a Scottish former footballer who played as a forward. She spent nine years at English club Arsenal and was the first Scot to play as a full-time professional ...

, Brazil's Daniela and Canada's

Christine Latham Christine Elizabeth Latham (born 15 September 1981) is a Canadian former soccer player who played as a forward for the Boston Breakers of Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) and the Canada national team. Club career Early years and university L ...

, as well as U.S. national team players Jenni Branam,

Aly Wagner Alyson Kay Wagner (born August 10, 1980) is an American sports broadcaster and retired soccer midfielder who last played for Los Angeles Sol of Women's Professional Soccer and the United States women's national soccer team. She is a two-time Ol ...

and

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 ...

Year-by-year

Players

The "founding players" of the Spirit were

and

of the 1999 U.S. Women's World Cup team. 2003 Roster Coach:

Omid Namazi Omid Namazi ( fa, امید نمازی; born December 8, 1964) is an American retired soccer defender who is currently an assistant coach and the director of scouting for USL Championship club Hartford Athletic. Namazi played professionally in ...

Coaches

* Carlos Juarez (2001-2002) *

Kevin Crow Kevin Troy Crow (born September 17, 1961) is an American former soccer defender. He played two seasons in the North American Soccer League, eight in the Major Indoor Soccer League and four in the Continental Indoor Soccer League, all with th ...

(2002) *

(2003)

League suspension

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

References

External links