While Bay FC’s star-studded reveal last month may have been the toast of the town—the best women’s soccer in the Bay Area is currently being played in the USL.
In lieu of professional women’s soccer, which has been missing from the region for over a decade, the USL—the second tier of American soccer—has been quietly laying down the foundation for its own professional women’s league, named the Super League, set to debut in 2024.
Before these launches, the closest professional women’s team that players could aspire to used to be the NWSL’s Angel City FC in Los Angeles.
Whereas Bay FC is a top-heavy investment powered by Sixth Street Partners and celebrities, the USL has charted more of a bottom-up approach to activating the massive Bay Area market—taking existing local club teams and gradually professionalizing them with an eye towards the major leagues.
One such way has been through the establishment of the W League this year, a seasonal pre-professional club competition that is similar to the longstanding WPSL, where out-of-season student athletes and adult players combine to play each other. The difference being, the USL has a track record of sustaining a professional league (on the men’s side).
This reputation has meant that the region’s best players have flocked to the new league, seeing a pathway that wasn’t there before.
On Sunday, after the W League’s season finale, three powerhouse teams from Northern California—the San Francisco Glens, the Oakland Soul, and the California Storm—all qualified for the postseason.
The Soul booked their ticket by beating their previously undefeated rivals across the Bay Bridge, the Glens, 3-1.
“We just need more players to know about this league,” Soul coach Jessica Clinton said after the game. The former Fordham and Boston University coach, who moved across the country to join the Roots project, was beaming after the final whistle. Her team had come back from a goal down to take all three points behind a second half hat trick by Japanese youth international Manaka Hayashi.
“From an organizational standpoint, the Roots have been the best,” Clinton said, referring to the team’s purpose-driven ethos and world-class training facility that they share with the men’s team in Alameda. “The USL has truly been about promoting the women’s game. They’re putting player health and safety at the top.”
For her, the promise of a professional coaching opportunity was the big carrot on the stick. Pending the completion of their own stadium, it’s been announced that the Soul will join the Super League once it opens.
“While the W League and Super League are different things, I would love for all the teams to look at how [the Roots] operated in a professional environment,” Clinton said. “You don’t necessarily need to doll out the money, it’s about how you take care of the players and do what’s best for them.
Jamie Levoy, owner of the historic California Storm, up near Sacramento, oversees so many players that she opted to field dual teams in the W League and WPSL, where the Storm are also defending national champions.
Despite only playing in the amateur leagues, the club has remained a steady option for women in the region to play at a high level, boasting former players such as Alex Morgan, Brandi Chastain, Julie Foudy and Brazilian legend Sissi.
“The USL has done a great job of setting a high standard of professionalism and created a really good environment for the players,” Levoy told Soccer Bay Area. “They’re crushing it on the social media side too, promoting the clubs and the players.”
“At the end of the day, what matters is that the women have more platforms.”
In the first round of the W League playoffs, the Storm take on Oly Town FC of Olympia, Washington.
The best team in the nation for much of the W League season ended up being the Glens, one of the latest clubs in the city looking to represent San Francisco on the big stage. While fans might have recently heard Mayor London Breed casually bring up the idea of building a new soccer stadium downtown, the Glens have already broken ground on a new facility on Treasure Island.
Glens W League coach Mike Sharabi has spent his career coaching soccer at schools up and down the peninsula. He’s currently head women’s coach at Skyline College, where the Glens also play their home games.
”I’ve loved every minute of this experience in the W League,” Sharabi said. “What I really like about this setup is that players from all different colleges come together and form one team in a short amount of time. You get to see a player from UCLA here play with a Stanford player there.”
“The players have told me that they love the venues, the fans, and the competition. We’ve created memories that will last a lifetime.”
The season finale between the Glens and Soul at Merritt College was played in front of a sold out crowd. Included in the attendance at the game was Oakland mayor Sheng Thao.
But missing from the proceedings was co-captain Samantha Tran, who joined the Soul after a decorated career at Stanford. She is tied for the team lead with six goals across the season.
The Tracy native also previously told this publication that she had stopped playing soccer for a while after college, citing feelings of burnout. She said competing in the W League has given her a new lease on the sport she grew up loving.
“It’s really exciting to see the women’s game grow this way,” Tran told Soccer Bay Area. “To have this much love and passion in the community in just our first year has been unbelievable. The environment makes being a player easy.”
“It’s been so much fun,” she said, flashing a smile. “I would love to return next season.”
The Glens will host The Soul for their opening playoff game at Skyline College on July 7. Tickets are available online.
About the Author: Kevin V. Nguyen has covered soccer for The Guardian, The Sacramento Bee, and The San Francisco Standard. Follow him on Twitter @KevinNguyen_89
