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 York/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.

And with that, here’s the second part of our series, California.

You’d be hard pressed to find a bigger market for soccer expansion in the United States than the state of California. According to one online statistic, “there are approximately 321,000 youth soccer players in both North and South California.” Those youth soccer players are not always destined to play at the highest level of the game, but their awareness, interest, and overall knowledge of soccer is creating generations of soccer fans in the most populous state in the country. That fandom is making California a target for growth, especially in the women’s game.

The Professional Game

There was a time when the only professional soccer clubs in California were the San Jose Quakes and the LA Galaxy. Then five years ago, LAFC was added to the MLS map, with a host of famous owners and a fancy home field. Soon after, El Trafico was born and the rest is history. Growing concurrently, the USL has rapidly filled in the map at the second division, with men’s clubs popping up across the state, including Sacramento Republic, Monterrey Bay, San Diego Loyal, Orange County SC, and Oakland Roots.

On the women’s side, the growth of the game across the country is being matched in the state of California. Last year, two clubs were added in the Golden State. San Diego Wave and Angel City FC both began play in 2022. The Angel City launch took a similar approach to LAFC by putting together a host of famous owners including actress Natalie Portman, professional tennis player Serena Williams, actors Uzo Aduba, Jessica Chastain, America Ferrera, Jennifer Garner, and Eva Longoria, and a host of USWNT greats. The club has been incredibly effective in everything it has done from a public-facing perspective. The one criticism of the club is the play on the field, with the team finishing 8th in the standings, outside of the playoff picture.

San Diego Wave may have a less flashy owner, Ron Burkle, and (at least from my perspective) a slightly less impressive kit and logo design, but the club delivered results on the field. The San Diego squad finished third it the regular season standings, led by USMNT legend Alex Morgan. Morgan finished the season with 16 goals in 18 matches played. In the playoffs, the team lost in the semifinals against eventual 2022 champions, Portland Thorns.

Alyssa Thompson was the #1 pick in the 2023 NWSL draft for Angel City. Image credit: Yahoo Sports

Both NWSL sides are well-supported in the state, with Angel City leading the league in attendance with an average of 19,000 fans a match. San Diego is third in attendance, but set the record for a single-match when 32,000 fans packed Snapdragon Stadium to see the opening match between the two California clubs. The hype around both of these clubs is strong, shadowing the overall hype surrounding the NWSL and professional women’s soccer as a whole. And there’s much more to come.

According to Sandra Herrera, in an article for CBSSports.com, there’s already another NWSL expansion side coming to California. “Utah, San Fransisco Bay Area and Boston are set to be the next expansion sites, with two of the new teams set to pay a record $50 million in franchise fees.” Herrera expects these clubs to enter the league in 2024. Professional women’s soccer is rapidly filling the state and fans can’t get enough.

Professional Lower league

While the men’s second and third division professional maps continue to fill the state map, with teams in USL Championship, USL League One, MLS NextPro, and NISA, there has yet to emerge a second or third division professional league in the women’s game. USL is actively building a second division professional women’s league.

The Super League, led by Amanda Vandervort, was originally scheduled to kick off in 2023, but the league announced in December that the league launch would be delayed until August 2024. Vandervort’s leadership will be key to the successful implementation of the league and her passion is on display when she discusses the possibilities. In a recent interview with NBC Sports she raved about the future of the women’s pyramid in America. “We're also building, like you see in England, an entire system. We're going to launch our Academy this summer, our amateur league [USL W League] is expanding from 44 to 65 teams so when we launch the Super League in 2024, we have a full professional system for the development and advancement of women's soccer players.”

Vandervoort appeared on NBS Sports to discuss USL Super League.

There is little doubt that California will be included in the Super League’s roster of teams. Vandervort, in the same interview, discussed the connection between existing USL clubs and fans of women’s soccer. “The USL has 36 men's professional teams, we are currently in over 200 communities, and these are communities that want women's soccer. They're hungry for the women's game, they want to see women's soccer, they want to play women's soccer, they want to work in women's soccer and that’s what we’re building at the USL.” While there is no public knowledge of which existing clubs plan to extend into women’s soccer, the sheer number of well-supported California clubs should lead to some second division women’s sides in California. The USL plans to announce the Super League teams in the coming months.

Amateur Soccer

The biggest news in the region is, of course, the addition of a whole new division of the USL W, the NorCal Division. That new division will bring 8 new clubs into the league, all with various histories and maturity. The biggest name is 2022 WPSL Champion Cal Storm, who will bring their impressive pedigree to a new league. That move is a big one, clearly. While UWS stayed pat with the clubs in their West Division, WPSL added another Surf club, this one in San Diego. That’s the fourth Surf franchise with a team in the league, joining El Paso, Los Angeles, and Utah. With the addition of San Diego, WPSL really fills the California state map, with 16 clubs (including Cal Storm, who are keeping a team in the league).

The USL W’s NorCal Division is going to be a big addition to the overall map. A quick look at the division shows a depth of talented squads. Academica SC, from Turlock, California, has been playing soccer for over 50 years in the area and only recently returned to the women’s game. The Olympic Club, founded in 1860, is one of the oldest athletic clubs in the country. While the San Francisco-based club has fielded athletes in many sports over its history, the club began playing women’s soccer in 2002. Another Bay Area club entering the division is the San Francisco Glens, which has a long history (over 60 years) and a massive youth soccer program, the largest in the city. Pleasanton Rage, founded in 1983, also play in suburbs of San Francisco, creating a natural rivalry for these clubs. Founded in 2004, Marin FC Sirens join the division as the sister team of current USL League Two team, the Legends. Of course, the club with the one of the longest and richest history is California Storm, which should be expected to compete from day one.

Two relatively new expansion sides will enter the NorCal Division in 2023 as well. Oakland Soul have some of the most interesting and fun design elements you’ll find in lower league soccer. The club describes itself as “a Purpose-driven women’s soccer team in Oakland, California.” Affiliated with the USL Championship men’s side Oakland Roots, Soul is bound to be well-supported from the beginning. Stockton Cargo was the first USL W expansion club announced as this NorCal Division was built out. Originally established in 2021, Stockton seems to also have a lot of public support in the city. Lee Neves, club President, sees the club as a community focal point. “SC Stockton will be a club that my parents, as well as the entire community, can be proud to call their own.” Should be fun to see how these less experienced sides compete with the other parts of the division, who bring much longer track records.

United Women’s Soccer league has two California clubs in its West Division, Los Angels Soccer Club and Santa Clarita Blue Heat. LASC has a history that goes back into the 1950’s and includes championships, world tours, and at least one Hall of Famer. The club recently “launched the Los Angeles Soccer Club youth program. 50+ boys and girls teams of all ages, across Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley.” Santa Clarita Blue Heat has a reputation for developing incredibly talented young women who move up into the professional ranks. The club won the first UWS Championship in 2016 and has a consistent track record of success in the league. Both clubs focus on youth development and its paying dividends for women’s soccer in California.

As mentioned earlier, the Women’s Premier Soccer League, has an impressive map in the Golden State. Legacy clubs like California Storm and San Francisco Nighthawks anchor the league, while youth programs from across the state field teams in the league. It’s the natural extension for a girl’s youth program to add a team in the largest amateur women’s league in the country. The WPSL is alive and thriving in California and, regardless of other challenging leagues, is certainly the dominant entry-level expansion league in the state.

Cal Storm will enter a new league and defend its WPSL title in 2023.

Speaking of this rival leagues, plenty of them are popping up with the popularity of women’s soccer across the country. The UPSL, the largest men’s amateur league in the country, is working furiously to plant its flag in the women’s game. In California alone, the UPSL has added 16 women’s squads. Many of those clubs have sides playing in other leagues, but use the UPSL as another opportunity to develop talent. Regional leagues are also beginning to challenge for space with the nationals. The NISA-affiliated Southwest Premier League is launching into women’s soccer and already lists 5 women’s teams playing in its SoCal division. Word from the SWPL leadership is that women’s soccer is their focus this year as they work to expand that aspect of their strong regional league.

And all this league talk ignores the long lists of amateur soccer academies and local leagues across the state generating wave after wave of talented women. Not to mention the MANY impressive college, juco, and high school programs that are training the next generation of California stars. The state is brimming with talent, much of it still undeveloped or undiscovered. The sky’s the limit for California.

The Outlook

The story of the rise of women’s soccer in the United States is the same story in California. Long the hotbed for USWNT stars of the past, California continues to produce talented young women across the state. Those women are testing their skills in the amateur game in a variety of leagues, including national, regional, and local. It’s a great time to be a young woman playing soccer in the state of California and it should only get better in the near future.

- Dan Vaughn