Country | United States, Canada |
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Confederation | CONCACAF |
Founded | December 16, 2015 |
Number of teams | 22 |
Level on pyramid | 2 |
Current champions | Santa Clarita Blue Heat (2016) |
Website | Official website |
2017 UWS season |
United Women's Soccer (UWS, also commonly abbreviated UWoSo) is a second-division pro-am women's soccer league in the USA. The league was founded in 2015 as a response to the dual problems of disorganization in the WPSL and of the folding of the USL W-League. The league began play in May 2016 with eleven teams in two conferences. The league currently has 22 teams in 3 conferences.
In the summer of 2015, disorganization and the inability to field teams led to many last-minute changes in the WPSL playoffs. This, combined with a general lack of competitiveness due to rapid expansion, led to frustration from many long-time WPSL teams. The 2014 WPSL final four hosts ASA Chesapeake Charge elected to skip the 2015 WPSL playoffs altogether as did the entire Sunshine division,Fire & Ice SC was a no-show, and the New England Mutiny published a threatening response to how WPSL as a league was run and was regressing.
Later that year, the W-League suddenly announced that it would be ceasing operations. There had been no outward signs that the league or its teams were struggling, but the league had been contracting steadily over the preceding several years - from 30 teams in four divisions for 2012 to just 18 teams in three divisions for 2015 - and many of the teams that had left were recent finalists (Buffalo Flash, Vancouver Whitecaps Women, Pali Blues, Ottawa Fury Women, and several Washington D.C.-area teams) leaving relatively few flagship teams.