Today, the USL W League announced its first California division, the NorCal Division. The division will finally be home to the previously announced Oakland Soul and Stockton Cargo. Joining the two clubs are Academica SC, California Storm, Marin FC, The Olympic Club, Pleasanton RAGE, and San Francisco Glens.

Academica SC, Marin FC, and Pleasanton Rage are leaving the WPSL completely it seems (all but Pleasanton were removed from the WPSL website by at least yesterday) but California Storm, the 2022 WPSL champion, has announced that they will field teams in both leagues. With their ability to not only recruit top talent from the Sacramento area, Northern California, and internationally, their director Jamie Levoy is confident they’ll be able to field two competitive teams.

Northern California is a hotbed for some of the country’s top talent – Naomi Girma, Tierna Davidson, and Abby Dahlkemper to name a few. Others like Catarina Macario, Christen Press, and Alex Morgan cut up their college soccer fields in Palo Alto and Berkeley before they became three of the USWNT’s biggest stars. And with schools like UC Davis, Cal, Stanford, and Santa Clara typically recruiting strongly from Northern California, semi-pro women’s teams in the region have historically performed strongly during the summer seasons.

“We’re so excited to welcome six highly competitive clubs, bringing the league to over 60 clubs in its sophomore season which is an incredible milestone,” said Joel Nash, USL Vice President of Youth and Pre-Professional Properties in the USL’s press release released this morning. “Northern California is home to some of the county's most vibrant and talented soccer, from players and clubs to fans and their communities and I believe these founding clubs are a perfect representation of that.”

USL announced in September the creation of the Northwest Division in the Pacific Northwest of the country. Paired with the NorCal Division, the W League is foraying strongly into the West. And with the inevitable creation of a Southern California division in the coming years and a second division league, the Super League, set for a 2023 inaugural season, the USL is showing their commitment to growing the amount of opportunities for women in the country to play soccer at a competitive level.

-Protagonist Staff