“Let’s make HERstory.” That’s the tagline for the new incoming professional league, the result of an alliance between the existing NISA professional and UWS pro-am leagues. And the recently announced managing director, Carrie Taylor, is already doing just that.

The only female coach in men’s professional soccer at the time, she gained the needed experience to someday run a professional league of her own during her tenure with the USL team SD Loyal. From there, Taylor went on to take a technical consultancy role with the Jamaican Women’s National Team, where she helped them develop a model for success. That plan was then presented to the Jamaican Football Federation.

Today, her new challenge is creating a professional women’s soccer league, not a unique concept, but unique in the fact that it will be an alliance between an existing professional men’s league and pro-am women’s league. Together, Carrie, NISA, and UWS hope to create another league for women’s soccer players (currently the NWSL, which is a tier above the incoming UWS Pro league, is the only option) to play at a competitive, professional level.

But first, she’ll have to complete the “robust” process of acquiring sanctioning from US Soccer.

When asked if she expects any hurdles in getting that sanctioning, Taylor said, “Anytime you're maybe being a little disruptive, there's always a chance that some people aren't going to be for it. So the hope is that you know there can be an additional platform for women and it would in my opinion be crazy not to sanction it if we show that there's X number of clubs out there that want to do this. How can you say no to a group of people who want to provide more opportunities for women in the game that we all love?”

But some women’s soccer fans may be hesitant. Some consider this a direct competitor to the NWSL, which currently has 10 teams, and is set to have two more (located in Los Angeles and Sacramento) by 2022. A competitor could mean less professional players, funding, sponsors, maybe even market value. But Taylor believes that the UWS Pro league will actually complement the NWSL, strengthen it, and benefit all women’s soccer fans and players everywhere.

“We will be speaking with Lisa Baird and you know, why compete,” posits Taylor. “Can we collaborate? Can UWS Pro be like a AAA baseball system to the NWSL? Can it be an affiliate? I don't know if it can, but let's have that discussion. Let's talk about how we collaborate, how we partner, and not have this adversity.”

And it’s true, for any woman in sports, we know that sometimes women feel the need to compete with one another when, in fact, if we work together, we can achieve even greater things. And that’s what Taylor hopes to do. She plans to work closely with Lisa in the future to create regional partnerships, maybe even a US Women’s Open Cup, or a model similar to the NISA Independent Cup. In short, UWS Pro means greater opportunities for fans to watch their favorite sport and athletes to play it.

Another thing that will soothe worried women’s soccer fans who’ve seen previous professional women’s leagues such as the WUSA and the WPS fold is the fact that Taylor, NISA, and UWS are analyzing those now defunct leagues and implementing what they’ve learned. Taylor herself is consulting with a well-known name in Chicago soccer, Peter Wilt, previous GM of the Chicago Red Stars’ WPS team, first GM of the Chicago Fire, and now the driving force behind the incoming NISA team in Chicago. Wilt has plenty of experience and first hand knowledge of what led the WPS to fold, and Taylor says he’s been a valuable resource with helping create the NISA + UWS alliance.

Taylor is just getting her feet wet right now with the league, and there’s much work to be done still. Currently, she plans on presenting their sanctioning application to US soccer before the deadline in September. The process is lengthy and complex, but she mentioned six teams minimum will need to be presented to US Soccer. Each team must have paperwork showing funding sources, infrastructure in place, and even coaching staff. It may be a lot of work, but Carrie Taylor’s resume shows she has the experience needed to get that process going with each team, and to make sure each team is the perfect club to be a founding member of the UWS Pro league.

It’s also too early to tell if the league will be regional, like the UWS is currently, or nationwide, like the NWSL. That will depend on the quality (“quality over quantity,” Taylor says), number of teams, and the locations of said teams that enter as founders and as expansions in future years. Taylor also said the league won’t just be a summer league, like the UWS and other pro-am women’s league WPSL. But more details will be revealed on that later.

One of NISA’s main goals is to bring pro soccer to every city, and Taylor shares that goal. She also says women’s soccer isn’t just for women. Recent research shows that male soccer fans are increasingly becoming interested in women’s soccer and engaging with key leagues and brands on social media.

And why is that surprising? Women’s soccer is, at the end of the day, soccer. If you're a soccer fan, gender should not be a factor in your interest levels. Male soccer fans may find this league to be a great gateway into becoming women’s soccer fans. Especially with the inclusion of NISA, an already existing, well-established, and well loved professional men’s league. Taylor expects many NISA teams to get women’s teams, and rightfully so.

“To me, it makes sense to have a women's side and a men's side because often, the women's side gets overlooked. You know, no matter whether it's MLS, whether it's USL, women's soccer needs support and allies within the men's game,” said Taylor. “And if you're looking at a true club structure, you're leaving out half your population if you don't have a women's side. You're leaving out potentially half your fanbase. To me, it's a no brainer.”

But most importantly, I asked a tough question that I believe not enough people ask, and some may be hesitant to answer. I asked her for her frank thoughts on the lack of diversity in women’s soccer, and what initiatives will be in place when the league starts to make sure it’s both diverse and inclusive, from the player level all the way to the front offices. I included her entire answer, without abbreviation, so readers can understand how passionate and how important this topic is to Taylor.

“That is, that is a fantastic question and anyone that’s listening to my Women in Soccer’s Women Talking Soccer podcast, anybody that’s seeing the initiatives through the Women in Soccer group that I’m involved with, knows that diversity is very special to me. It’s very important to me and being a white woman, I understand the privileges that I’ve had and I have to do my best to make sure that EDI structures are in place. One of one of the things that I think is doable and it needs to happen is: hypothetically, let’s say we do get sanctioning, the makeup of this league, of the front office, needs to look like the United States. I’m not saying there won’t be men involved, but it needs to be very female forward, and it also needs to not be just a bunch of white women. We need to champion all people. The hope is that when we’re reaching out and talking with these clubs, one of the questions that I’m definitely going to ask is what does your coaching staff look like? Are you interviewing women? The only way to affect change is to do it from the top. We have to make sure that opportunities are being given….If we’re truly investing and really wanting to grow a women’s professional league, let’s do it female forward and with inclusivity of all—all skin colors, all religions, all of it. Because that’s what America is.”

I’ve spoken with Carrie a few times in the past, and it’s obvious right from the start she’s a very likable person, but likability means nothing if, at the end of the day, your league is failing and your teams are folding. However, I firmly believe Carrie will join the likes of Lisa Baird in regards to being an individual who is well respected by their peers, colleagues, and fans alike, but will also be someone who just gets things done. Keep an eye out for this league, and for Taylor herself. They both will be making “HERstory” in the future.

- Elisabeth Schendel