Over the next few days, in an effort to familiarize our readers with some key women’s soccer landscapes in the US, we’ll be highlighting 4 different regions in the country that are not only developing today’s and tomorrow’s biggest talents, but are quickly setting the tone for what the future of women’s soccer can look like. These regions are: Texas, California, New Jersey, and Minnesota.

Obviously, our list is not exhaustive. These four regions aren’t the only hotbeds for talent, but they’re ones we’re most excited about here at Protagonist Soccer and also, most curious about. We encourage you to consider your own region’s women’s soccer environments. What teams play there, what leagues? What does your pipeline for local talent look like, what is special about it, and what are ways it could be improved? What are ways you as a fan can engage and get involved? And ultimately, if you find you’re passionate about your region’s women’s soccer scene and maybe want to help us cover it here at Protagonist Soccer, we encourage you to reach out to us to let us know.

Our next feature covers New Jersey, a state that usually is overlooked in favor of its neighbor, New York. But both states are so characteristically different in terms of culture and infrastructure that it’s a bit careless to compare the two, especially considering New Jersey’s long history in developing top soccer talent. Let’s dive in!

New Jersey, The Garden State

Who is your favorite women’s soccer player of all time? There’s a high chance they’re from New Jersey. Some of the sport’s biggest stars and best ballers called New Jersey home once: Heather O’Reilly, Tobin Heath, Christie Rampone, Carli Lloyd. Younger talent like Danielle Colaprico, Casey Murphy, Tziarra King, Amirah Ali, and Alana Cook also hailed from the state. The list is endless.

A young Tobin Heath in her Basking Ridge soccer gear.

New Jersey is made up of a comprehensive system of academies that host development teams, ODP teams, and ECNL teams. Heath and O’Reilly specifically are products of the Players Development Academy, an organization that is still going strong today and has locations in Basking Ridge, Piscataway, and Somerset County. Kearny, a suburb in Newark, is known as “the Cradle of Kickers” and “Soccertown” and is home to multiple organizations as well.

The next level up from academies are semi-professional teams, of which there are many in New Jersey. The USL W League, although only a year old at this point, has a strong presence in the region and is still expanding. Cedar Stars and Morris Elite (one of the W’s best clubs inn 2022) play home games in Monmouth County and Newark (sometimes) respectively. Both clubs finished their first seasons in the top half of their divisions, and Morris Elite is expected to stay competitive and finish in the top 3 again in 2023.

The Metropolitan Division of which Cedar Stars and Morris Elite compete in is adding another New Jersey team this year: Paisley Athletic FC. Paisley Athletic will be playing home games in Kearny AKA “Soccertown.” Once a part of the UWS 2, they ascended to UWS’ first league a year later. They’re now expanding into the USL W League and considering their previous experience, strong ties to the community, and their connections with other soccer organizations in the Metropolitan area, they’ll be a team that’s competitive from the very beginning. With Paisley Athletic in the W, that leaves only NJ Copa FC as the sole New Jersey-based organization in the UWS.

In the WPSL, New Jersey is home to a few clubs that play in the East Region conference: STA, which has a well-structured academy set up, and Real Central NJ, which has a USL2 men’s team. Both teams play clubs in Pennsylvania and New York and aren’t in the same division.

Collegiately, we would be remiss if we didn’t mention Rutgers’ women’s soccer, a program that consistently performs exceptionally and produces technical and skilled players who go on to have fantastic careers. Carli Lloyd, Amirah Ali, Madison Pogarch, Kristen Edmonds, and Casey Murphy all are alumnae of the school and were/are regular starters for their professional clubs. Having a top division one program like Rutgers in the community is a cherry on top for a state that has a well-maintained and respected youth development system.

And last but not least, professionally. The NWSL’s Gotham FC represents both New York and New Jersey, with players living and training in New Jersey and playing home games as well at Red Bull Arena. The club has deep roots in the New Jersey soccer community, but since rebranding has tried to straddle both NJ and NY cultures. Mixing the grassroots feel of New Jersey and the high fashion of New York is a bold move. Time will tell if their community outreach strategy prevails or if it serves to alienate both communities.

Gotham FC does have a partnership with a lower league team, Downtown United Soccer Club, a club attached to a youth soccer system located in New York. The team originally started out with Gotham FC branding and was touted as the club’s reserves side, but in the last year, the team has reverted back to DUSC branding. Furthermore, from an outsider’s perspective, DUSC has nothing to do with the NWSL team anymore. It’s unclear if the two organizations will continue their partnership or if Gotham FC will eventually bring in their own in-house reserves team similar to Racing Louisville FC.

In Conclusion

There’s plenty of room in New Jersey and in the neighboring state of New York for current and new organizations to grow and prosper. Eventually, the NWSL may even choose to place a team in the city of New York, allowing Gotham FC to fully own and claim New Jersey. The market is large enough and the city-based fans are hungry enough for a club they can access via public transportation.

As for lower tiers of the American sports pyramid: the possibilities are endless. Queensboro FC’s future in the USL is unclear at the moment, but potentially an independent organization, scared off from NWSL’s huge expansion fees, may seek to establish a tier two or three club based in New Jersey or New York. And the established leagues, who are always fluctuating, will ebb and flow in the area, as new clubs come in or pre-existing clubs go on a hiatus.

At the end of the day, New Jersey is a state with a vibrant soccer culture and the infrastructure is in place to allow for new growth in a market that’s always hungry to create more advanced playing opportunities for its next Tobin Heath or Amirah Ali. It just needs an organization or two to do the work, get into the community, get their hands dirty, and create it.