Time to give the ladies some love

By: Melissa | May 2nd, 2008

April is over so I’d like to take a moment to point out something very important that everyone should be aware of. The Women’s Professional Soccer league will begin play less than year from now. Yup, let the hype machine begin. What hype machine you ask? Honestly, I have no idea but perhaps I can help create a teensy little buzz by introducing the WPS blog on The Offside.

It’s not entirely clear to me what I intend to do with this blog for the remaining less-than-a-year, but I think to begin, I’ll try to cover whatever news trickles out of the WPS offices (conveniently located down the street from a different office I work at) as well as report on women’s soccer at the upcoming Olympics - with an eye towards potential player signings. I also plan to post information on a particular pet peeve of mine: where in the crap fans can watch the games either streaming or on television. In the meantime we’ve got the potential for new teams in new cities as well as player drafts and international signings. All pretty exciting stuff. So let’s begin…

WPS takes a more grassroots approach than its predecessor, the WUSA, since the fan base is small and there are no real superstars to propel the league. They are also partnering with MLS to share facilities and staff. But unlike MLS, WPS is using the traditional franchise system so each club owns their players. The roster will feature mainly US citizens or green card holders as there are only five international slots allowed per team. Teams will consist of between twenty and twenty-four players and there will be a draft – probably more than one, but the details are not finalized. Teams currently exist in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, St. Louis, and Washington DC. There is potential for expansion, even before April, as the league is still looking to grow. Got between two and three million dollars lying around? Whalla! You can own your very own sports team.

Will I be stalking the WPS offices and picking through their trash? Uhh, no. But perhaps, when I think up a few intelligent questions, I can land an interview or two. I do think it will be fun to document the development of this league and my hope is, I can develop this blog to look more like the MLS or Mexico The Offside pages, with individual bloggers covering each team. So that means I will always be on the lookout for anyone who wants to help write this thing!

Ok, so when I’m not here, I’m usually loitering over at the MLS page and writing the San Jose blog. I also spend a lot of time geeking out over open source technology (this blog is written entirely using Linux) and working on a robotic art project. I guess I have a lot of interests so sometimes I may stray a bit from talking soccer. Be patient, I’m a little frazzled but I’ll get back on point eventually. Please check back here often and write lots of comments.

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