UWS Prepares for Center Stage

While my opinions about soccer in the pandemic wouldn’t shock anyone that frequents this website, I can’t pretend I’m not a tiny bit excited for the UWS to be center stage. The league announced late last week that a National Cup would be help in Round Rock, Texas, July 9-17. As of the time of this article, the confirmed total of 7 teams will be participating, with 3 clubs from outside the state joining 4 Texas clubs. The 7 clubs are: Bat Country FC, CTX Hornets, Dallas International, FC Austin Elite, Lancaster Inferno, Santa Clarita Blue Heat, and Worcester Smiles.

I approached Danny Woodfill, GM of FC Austin Elite, about his plans for the Cup his team will be hosting. First off, why Austin? “Round Rock and Williamson County were much more lightly affected by the COVID Pandemic and as we considered playing this Summer, we thought we’d be able to and there probably teams across the country in lightly affected areas that might want to play. We have the facilities and more favorable conditions, so I thought we had to do something.”

The players will be dormed at Concordia University Texas which has a newer campus that is currently closed to outsiders, just the kind of environment needed to sequester and protect the health of the players involved. And the chance of sickness is a real thing, but Woodfill highlighted the UWS’ focus on the safety of every player. “You can never fully insure the safety of players, soccer is a game of risks; however, we have worked very hard to minimize risk. We’ve worked with our medical director, Dr. Pyron and her Medicine in Motion staff to make sure that we put in strong standards and we reduce risks. We will sequester travelling teams in dorms so they minimize their exposure to regular travellers. Additionally the city of Round Rock is fully committed to helping maximize safety and minimize risk, so we feel we can do this safely.”

The league’s press statement outlined the details of the competition: “a 9-day tournament format of three games, semifinals, and final.  The tournament will be held without fans, and games will be live-streamed.” Woodfill mentioned that his goal is for the live-stream to be HD. “It’s expensive, but we want as many people to watch as possible.” The league is currently looking for sponsors to cover the cost of streaming.

Registration for the tournament is open for all teams (UWS or otherwise) until Friday. Until that deadline is reached, the UWS can’t finalize lineups, format or matches. So we’re expecting next week to bring more details on the tournament.

- Dan Vaughn

Another Perspective on the Situation Facing the WPSL

This weekend we ran an article with one WPSL owner who was extremely disappointed in the WPSL’s approach to the cancelled 2020 season. In an effort to protect this person’s identity, the interview was posted anonymously, though we vigorously vetted the person to ensure accuracy. The league contacted us with a list of owners who they believed offered a counter to this viewpoint. In the interest of fairness, we reached out to one, John Saeger, who owns South Star FC (which operates in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area). We sent him the exact questions we use when interviewing our previous owner, though in John’s case, he didn’t want anonymity.

We aren’t picking a side in this fight, because that’s not our goal or job. However, allowing multiple voices at the table and encouraging those that whistle blow is a priority for Protagonist Soccer. So here’s a second voice of someone directly affected by the WPSL’s decisions, who sees things differently.

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So how long have you been involved with women's soccer? 

I’ve been involved in youth soccer in North Texas for roughly 20 years, had my own club (all girls) and then merged with D’Feeters (all girls). Last year was my first year with a WPSL Team. This year, I planned on fielding (2) teams as FC Dallas decided not to participate. North Texas is a hotbed for soccer, especially on the girls/women’s side. There are plenty of players who just want the opportunity to play.

How has your club been doing financially, before the pandemic?

We were doing fine. Sponsorships were heading in the right direction. We’re a 501(c)3 so 100% of our funds are applied to the players, coaching staff and playing/practice expenses. The Board (myself included) are all volunteer.

How do you get funding? What's a good year look like for your club? 

100% of our budget is from sponsorship. Our budget for just the single team was in the $75,000 range, with (2), we were looking at $100,000.

With the pandemic happening, what has your club been doing?

Not much right now. With the season cancelled, we will be having training sessions, starting soon. We’ll have camps throughout the summer for the players to participate in and also help run on the youth side.

What was your view/experience with the WPSL prior to this season?

I had 1 season (last year) that we played under my belt. I had an amazing time. We have such a great group of players and coaches. We play our home games at TCU and Coach Bell, Coach Higginbotham and all of the TCU staff are fantastic and supportive. I’m probably more disappointed than the players and coaches that we can’t play. And working with the league was great too. They are great people to work with.

Do you agree the season should be cancelled?

I don’t think they had a choice. Yes.

How did you expect the league to deal with the league fees?

Being familiar with the youth side, there are expenses which you can’t get out of. I wasn’t surprised at all when they announced what they were going to do.

When the league revealed their budget constraints, did the fact that the league funds the buyout loan (which they used to purchase the league) bother you at all?

I look at my League Fee as an investment into the league. There are things I can use (branding) that add to my brand. The WPSL is working to raise the standards for the women’s game. I get it that there are some teams are upset but I’m personally looking at the big picture and I knew the risks going in.

How could the league have done better?

I think the league handled things as well as they could of. They waited until the last possible moment to make the decision. This pandemic hurts everyone, no one is immune. It sucks!

What's the outlook for your club this year?

Our coaches are in touch with our players year around. Helping them with their fitness and getting them ready for their college season. If they don’t play this fall, there’s a possibility that the WPSL may have a “1 time” fall league and we’ll be right there.

Will you continue to play in the WPSL?

Absolutely!

Transforming Clumsy Allies to Soccer Fans

Last week, when the interest in the US Open Cup couldn’t have been higher, several of our writers fired off articles tangentially related to competition. I wrote a piece on the need for ESPN+ to begin including the qualifying rounds of the tournament in their broadcast coverage. Dan Creel wrote a piece on the lack of women’s clubs playing in the Open Cup. After establishing that is wasn’t banned in the rules, his piece moved to it’s primary goal - “where is this USWOC?” His passion for WOSO getting an equal opportunity for an Open Cup was clear throughout his piece. When we ran the story, I looked it over and posted it as I always do with Dan’s work - he’s an accomplished writer with interesting takes, and I felt this was within the guidelines of our site and coverage.

Several hours later I received a text message from RJ Allen. If you don’t know who that is, I highly suggest checking out the site she edits and writes for, Backline Soccer. One of the best WOSO sites in the country, RJ is a leading voice in WOSO journalism and has been at it much longer than I have. We met when she was a guest on a podcast I hosted about 3 years ago and is one of those people in the soccer community who gets my attention - when she speaks, I listen. She knows what she’s talking about. The text encouraged me to remove the article from the site. I was stunned.

When I read the piece, as I’m sure Dan felt when he wrote the piece, I saw a piece that backed WOSO and encouraged equality and respect for the women’s game. A piece that was critical of the promotion of the men’s game over the women’s. A piece that encouraged change and reevaluation. So when I saw that message, my first response was to bristle and be defensive. RJ, who has always been patient with me, explained “the problem with pieces like that are [that] they tap into a lot of the things that we fight against from the trolls and from people who don’t take women soccer seriously.” She explained for several more messages and I began to think things over. I didn’t remove the piece, in fact, if you want to read it, it’s right here. But I did decide that night that I would talk to RJ about the article more and also reach out to other WOSO journalists who could offer their perspective on the issue. And that article is this one.

So for the purpose of this article, I spoke with RJ Allen (Backline Soccer) and another former podcasting buddy, Chelsey Bush. Chelsey has written for multiple sites but currently writes for another great WOSO site, The Equalizer. Both of these great writers were happy to share their perspectives on the USOC, the idea of women’s clubs in the tournament, a women’s only USOC, and finally what issues are facing women’s soccer currently.

“Why not play in the USOC?”

Both writers were quick to shoot down the idea of playing in the tournament currently. “It’s a flat out nonsensical suggestion,” RJ said. “The full USWNT loses to U17 boys clubs. Semi-pro women’s teams would be demolished and it would become a line in the sand for people who don’t understand why to believe that all the things they think are correct. It’s a lose/lose for the women’s teams that would enter.” Chelsey doubled down on the idea. “As much as I’d like to support it, I can’t. The fact remains that men and women are physically different. Yes, there are some players who could hang but a team by and large would not be able to compete for long…Now if a team wanted to enter simply to make a point about equality, then sure, I’d support it.”

While I, like so many passive fans of WOSO (or more specifically the USWNT), are amazed at the level of play by Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe, it is a mistake to imagine these players could compete physically with the majority of professional male soccer players. I’ll admit, it pains my woke hands to even type that sentence, but this is science, not opinion. There are physiological differences that advantage men in the game. That doesn’t mean watching or supporting WOSO is fandom of some sort of lesser form of the sport, it’s just a different form. As the fan of a lower league side (UPSL) club, I do not mind that the players for FC Grande couldn’t compete with the average or even poorest MLS side. It doesn’t shake my support for my club.

“What about a USWOC?”

“It’s frustrating that we aren’t there yet, but we just aren’t. ”

— Chelsey Bush

What’s amazing was how aligned the answers were from both writers, regardless of them living in different cities, writing for different websites, rooting for different clubs. Chelsey pointed out the issues in the current WOSO pyramid. “I don’t think the women’s pyramid is set up for an open cup competition yet. There is such an enormous gap in quality between the NWSL and either the WPSL or UWS.” She also highlighted some other issues. “NWSL rosters aren’t large enough to support multiple competitions. They have to play midweek games and struggle enough as it is. The WPSL in particular is such a sprawling organization I’m not sure what it would take to organize it into a cup competition with other leagues.” RJ hit on the same issue, but with a slight twist. “There should be work done on the second divisions first to get them in a more solid position. But one day, yes, I believe so. Personally, I’d like it without the pro teams but that is a personal belief - that pro teams shouldn’t play semi-pro teams for any meaningful matches.”

“So if not USOC, what should WOSO be focusing on?”

“I’m not the best person to answer this, I want to preface that,” RJ began with her response. “Support in general would help. More connections to the NWSL clubs, more money, more people giving a damn.” Chelsey was more verbose in her response. “Year-round livable wages. Longer seasons. Larger rosters. A true pyramid in WOSO, which means figuring out where WPSL and UWS stand. Homegrown contracts. Making [sure] each pro club can stand on its own and exceeds minimum standards. For the NWSL specifically, removing itself from USSF control.”

“How can WOSO allies be more effective in their support?”

“There is no magic pill, just cold, hard cash.”

— RJ Allen

I asked this question because when we ran that USOC story, I assumed we were being effective allies to WOSO - promoting the sport and equal opportunity. When the pushback came from those in the game, I realized that re-analysis was needed. Chelsey kicked off with a rallying cry I’ve heard in lower league soccer for years. “Go to games, buy merch, talk about it like a sport and not a cause. Find your team and go in.” RJ hit the same notes in her response - “Give them money. Go to NWSL games, buy a kit, donate to the NWSLPA. If you want to support a second division team, the same would apply there too. These teams need butts in seats, money and people caring about them.”

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We cover a level of the game that is often ignored by the vast majority of the soccer fans in the United States. No matter how much we love our local soccer club, we will always be outnumbered by the big-money operations that dominate this industry. So we should always be able to understand the plight of WOSO in this country, because they have it even worse than our local men’s sides. So be an ally and support a WOSO club. The UPSL has been rapidly expanding it’s women’s teams and many NPSL clubs are expanding into the field as well. It’s about soccer, no matter the gender of the players on the field. So let’s listen, grow, and root for a club, as fans.

- Dan Vaughn

If you want to know more about WOSO or find a club to support, I suggest hitting up any of these great WOSO sites:

Backline Soccer

All for XI

The Equalizer