The Midwest Division of the
Women's Premier Soccer League will welcome three new teams in 2014. The addition of Motor City FC, Minnesota Lady TwinStars, and Cincinnati Lady Saints will grow the women’s game into new territory, and bring even more competition to the largest division in the league.
Learn more about the three new contenders below!
MOTOR CITY FC
Motor City FC has fielded a women’s team for five years within a youth club in the suburbs of Detroit, but after three State Cups and one regional Tournament of Champions, Head Coach Skipper Mukhtar, Jr. knew his girls wanted to compete at a higher level.
“Our state contains three of the best semi-pro men's teams in the country: Michigan Bucks, Detroit City FC, and the new Michigan Stars. I truly believe Detroit is waiting for a high quality women’s team,” Mukhtar says. As the only semi-pro women’s soccer team in Michigan, Motor City is seeking the best players in the state; so far, they have signed two former professional players and two former U.S. Women’s National Team members.
“Our hope is that someday, young girls will dream of putting on a Motor City FC jersey,” continues Mukhtar. “But in 2014, our goal is just to put on a good show, and of course, to win.”
Open tryouts will be held on December 23, 2013.
For more information, visit:
http://www.mc-fc.com
Motor City FC on
Facebook
MINNESOTA LADY TWINSTARS FC
For the Minnesota TwinStars FC, a women’s team will be something entirely new in 2014. “We play teams like the Quad City Eagles and Madison 56ers in the NPSL, and their women’s teams always play before our games,” says Youssef Darbaki, the TwinStars’ Technical Director and Head Coach. “I realized Minnesota women didn't have anywhere to play.”
Darbaki believes that the introduction of a WPSL team to the Minnesota TwinStars will provide high-level soccer opportunities to local women, both players and coaches, where no such opportunities existed before. There’s no shortage of talent: only a few weeks after the TwinStars’ announcement, players from the University of Minnesota and several other local colleges have already shown interest in the club. In addition, the team’s two head coaches,
Jemma Perkins and
Kate Ryan Reiling, have coached successful Division III programs at Macalester College and the University of St. Thomas in the Twin Cities area. “Their talent is undeniable, but these women also know how to connect with their players,” Darbaki says. “As an ex-professional and now, as a coach, I know how important that connection is.”
In conjunction with the launch of the Minnesota TwinStars WPSL team in 2014, the club will also continue to expand TwinStars Youth Academy to include girls’ teams this summer.
Open tryouts will be held January 2-4, 2014. A second tryout is scheduled for later in the spring.
For more information, visit:
http://www.wpslfc.com
@LadyTwinStarsFC on Twitter
Minnesota Lady TwinStars on Google+
CINCINNATI LADY SAINTS
After two successful seasons in the WLS, a small, but elite Midwest women’s soccer league, the Lady Saints are ready for a wider scope of competition. “I personally started this club from scratch, and it has been a very calculated growth over time,” says Saints President and CEO, David Satterwhite. “2014 will bring soccer in Cincinnati to a new level.”
The Lady Saints will make the move up to the WPSL this season at the same time as their male counterparts, the
Cincinnati Saints, move from the Midwest Soccer League to the
National Premier Soccer League. Satterwhite says that having a men’s team has been helpful in getting the word out about the Lady Saints, as women’s soccer in Cincinnati has been almost nonexistent in previous years.
In the winter, the Lady Saints hone their skills by competing in the Women’s Indoor Soccer League, and the club receives year-round support from its official supporter group, the Seven Hills Crusaders.
For more information, visit
http://www.cincinnatisaints.com
Lady Saints on
Facebook
Cincinnati Saints on Google+
@LadySaints on Twitter
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