The rise of women's soccer has led to more professional options for athletes

FILE - Seattle Reign forward Emeri Adames celebrates after scoring a goal against North Carolina Courage during the second half of an NWSL soccer match, Aug. 25, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)
By ANNE M. PETERSON
As the popularity of women's soccer grows, so have the opportunities for players looking to make the sport a career.
The National Women's Soccer League was once the lone professional women's league in North America. But others have more recently jumped into the market, including the USL's Super League and the Northern Super League in Canada.
And now it appears lower-tier leagues are forming, too. The NWSL has asked U.S. Soccer to sanction a second-division league that would include at least six teams and possibly launch in 2026. The WPSL Pro also will launch next year as a second-tier league.
'I think this is what progress looks like,' said Amanda Vandervort, president of the USL Super League. "I think the more options there are, whether it's owners, investors, players, or fans, the better it is for everyone. And competition is good for the development of the game.'
The Super League sits on the top tier of women's professional soccer in the United States alongside the NWSL. The eight-team league plays on a fall-to-spring calendar like many international leagues, and is currently in the stretch run of its inaugural season. A ninth team will join next season.
Although the Super League doesn't share the same national profile, level of competition or attendance as the NWSL, the two leagues aren't necessarily built to be rivals. Growing the game is good business.
NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman believes there's room for everyone.
'There are countless examples of players who were unsigned in our league who ended up going to some of those other leagues, who are still able to play the sport of soccer and continue their careers. And maybe there's a world where they find their way back to the NWSL," Berman said. "If they didn't have a place to go and play in the interim, they might not have continued to play."
There are signs of the mutually beneficial relationship. The NWSL's Washington Spirit has loaned several players to the Super League's Dallas Trinity this season. The NWSL's Gotham FC played a pair of preseason friendlies against the Super League's Fort Lauderdale United and Tampa Bay Sun.
Jumping into the fray is the Northern Super League, which kicked off last month in Canada. The league has long been a dream of former national team star and co-founder Diana Matheson. It has been boosted by Christine Sinclair, international soccer's all-time leading goal scorer.
Canada was one of just two countries that played in the 2023 Women's World Cup without a domestic professional league. The other was Haiti.
While a majority of the players in the league are Canadian, 20 other countries are represented, too. The league minimum salary is $50,000.
"It's a global industry and we're competing with leagues all over the world, which is the reality. But I think in North America specifically, I think us, the NWSL, Liga MX Femenil in Mexico, also know that we have the opportunity to really build women's soccer in our region,' Matheson said. "I think we've got three very competitive tier-one women's pro leagues in our region that can work together to build that landscape."
Liga MX Femenil is the most established of the women's professional leagues in North America outside of the NWSL. It has 18 teams, all associated with men's teams.
'The interest in women's soccer is growing, we are in the conversation now and changing narratives, and that allows us to talk about how much the game has been developing in the country,' league President Mariana Gutierrez told The Associated Press last fall.
More options are coming. Should U.S. Soccer sanction the lower-division NWSL league, it will serve to develop players as part of the greater soccer ecosystem, bridging the gap between amateur soccer and the top tier.
Cleveland Soccer Group, which had bid in the latest round of NWSL expansion, pivoted to joining the division 2 WPSL Pro. Cleveland's group, which will also have an ownership stake in the league, will join teams from Atlanta, Dallas, North Carolina, Oklahoma City, Sioux Falls and the San Francisco Bay Area in the league's first season next year.
'Rising demand calls for more options, not fewer,' Vandervort said. 'And if you look at the landscape today, we still don't have as many options for women to go pro, even with the addition of these leagues, as the men do. If you look across the landscape, across the cities, the communities, the towns, that don't have access to women's pro soccer today, there's a huge gap. So the more women's soccer we have, the greater our sport will become, the more dynamic, the more exciting for fans, the more opportunity for players and coaches and staff, and everyone involved in the game.'
© Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Japan Today

15-06-2025

• Japan Today

Panthers on brink of Stanley Cup repeat after 5-2 win over Oilers

Brad Marchand of the Florida Panthers celebrates a goal with teammate Eetu Luostarinen in the Panthers' victory over the Edmonton Oilers in game five of the NHL Stanley Cup Final ice hockey Brad Marchand scored two goals to lead Florida to a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers that put the Panthers one win away from their second straight NHL Stanley Cup title on Saturday. The victory in Edmonton gave the Panthers a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final. They can secure the trophy for a second straight year when they host game six on Tuesday. Game seven, if needed, will be in Edmonton. Less than 48 hours after a heartbreaking overtime loss to the Oilers in game four -- in which Florida became the first team in Cup Final history to lose after leading by at least 3-0 in the first period -- the Panthers bounced back. Marchand gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead at 9:12 of the first, bringing the puck in after a center ice face-off and beating Oilers goalie Calvin Pickard on the high glove side. Sam Bennett doubled the score with a shot from the left circle, delivering his 15th goal of these playoffs at 18:06 of a first period in which the Oilers had just three shots on goal. After a scoreless second half, Marchand struck again at 5:12 of the third, taking an Eetu Luostarinen pass in the neutral zone and eluding Oilers defenseman Jake Walman to beat Pickard with a backhander to make it 3-0. "I'm just enjoying every moment," said Marchand, the 37-year-old who was acquired from the Boston Bruins in March. "It's such a special group of guys and I'm having so much fun here right now. "I honestly feel like a young guy in the league again," added Marchand, who now has 13 career goals in Stanley Cup Final games, including six in this series. He's the first player to have six goals in the championship series since Esa Tikkanen in 1988. Connor McDavid scored his first goal of the series at 7:24 of the third. But any Oilers' hopes of another unlikely comeback triumph immediately took a hit when Sam Reinhart scored to push the Panthers' lead to 4-1. And after Corey Perry cut the deficit to 4-2, Luostarinen put it out of reach with an empty-netter with 1:19 remaining. Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 19 of 21 shots he faced and Edmonton, trying to become the first Canadian team since the Montreal Canadiens in 1993 to capture the Cup, were 0-for-3 on the power-play. Pickard, who started in goal for the first time in the Final after taking over from Stuart Skinner after the first period of game four, allowed four goals on 18 shots. © 2025 AFP

Japan Today

05-06-2025

• Japan Today

Oilers beat Panthers in OT to win NHL Stanley Cup Final opener

Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers celebrates after scoring the game-winning goal in over-time to beat the Florida Panthers 4-3 in the opening game of the NHL Stanley Cup Final ice hockey Edmonton's Leon Draisaitl scored the game-winning goal with 31 seconds remaining in overtime to lift the Oilers over Florida 4-3 in Wednesday's opening game of the NHL Stanley Cup Final. The 29-year-old German center scored his second goal of the game on a power play from in front of the net, Oilers captain Connor McDavid taking a pass from Corey Perry and firing the puck to Draisaitl, who beat Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. "It was just a number of really good plays -- great pass by Corey down low to get it to Davo (McDavid) and then obviously a great pass by Davo," Draisaitl told Canada's Sportsnet. Draisaitl's NHL record-tying third over-time goal of the playoffs gave the Oilers a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven championship series, which continues Friday in Edmonton. "It's a great start for us, but, yeah, we've got to regroup and get ready for game two," Draisaitl said. Czech winger Tomas Nosek of defending champion Florida received a delay of game penalty for knocking the puck over the glass from his defensive zone with 1:43 remaining in the overtime, setting the stage for the decider as the Oilers battled back from a two-goal deficit. "We've done it all year, especially in the post-season," Draisaitl said. "We stick with it and we're never going to quit." No Canadian team has won the Stanley Cup since Montreal in 1993, but the Oilers hope to end the 32-year drought and win their first Cup since 1990. It's a rematch of last year's final, when Florida beat Edmonton in seven games, the Oilers pushing that series to the limit after losing the first three games. "I think we're just a little bit more mature (than last year)," Draisaitl told US broadcaster TNT. "Obviously every other game writes its own story, but I thought we hung in there. We were mature and obviously we just needed one look and capitalized on that." No NHL team has defeated the same rival in back-to-back finals since Montreal beat Boston in 1977 and 1978. The Panthers, who lost to Vegas in the 2023 final, fell to 8-3 on the road in this year's playoffs while the Oilers improved to 7-1 on home ice in the post-season. Draisaitl opened the scoring after only 66 seconds, blasting a rebound into an open net after Bobrovsky made two of his 42 saves. Florida's Sam Bennett knocked in an equalizer 10:49 into the first period after being tripped into Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner. Brad Marchand, traded from Boston to Florida in March, put the Panthers ahead 2-1 only 1:41 later on a power play goal. Bennett delivered his second goal of the night and team-record 12th of the playoffs 2:00 into the second period, but the Oilers answered 77 seconds later, Swedish left wing Viktor Arvidsson lifting Edmonton within 3-2. Skinner, a 26-year-old Canadian, made 16 of his 29 saves in the second period to keep the Oilers close. Edmonton found the equalizer with 13:27 remaining in regulation as McDavid's shot was knocked in by Swedish defenseman Mattias Ekholm. © 2025 AFP

The Mainichi

04-06-2025

• The Mainichi

Table tennis: Miu Hirano to join Super League in China

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan's Miu Hirano is joining the Chinese Table Tennis Super League, the Paris Olympian posted on her Instagram on Wednesday. "I'm really happy to participate with Shenzhen University. I'll do my best," the 25-year-old said of her new team, which counts the reigning two-time women's singles world champion Sun Yingsha among its members. Hirano made a second-round exit at the worlds in May in Qatar and later revealed she will be involved less frequently in Japan national team activities. "I want to take on table tennis with a different, renewed mindset. I want to change my environment," she said upon her return to Japan after the tournament. Hirano first played in the Super League in 2016 when she was 16, representing Ordos 1980. She won team silver with Japan both at the Tokyo Games in 2021 and in Paris.