In 2021, the women’s soccer fans gained a new league when the United Soccer League announced eight new women’s teams. This list included six that were linked to existing USL Championship, League One and League Two clubs, one expansion team, and a team led by D.C. United’s ownership group.
The original eight teams were the Chattanooga Red Wolves SC, Greenville Triumph SC, Hartford Athletic, Minnesota Women’s Soccer, Kaw Valley FC, Queensboro FC, South Georgia Tormenta FC, and the team in Washington, D.C. The league noted at the time that at least 30 teams were expected to play games during its inaugural season — 44 teams in 20 states ultimately signed on that year.
The USL W has blossomed into more than 90 teams since its debut.
The USL W is a pre-professional league
The pre-professional league was the brainchild of Championship, League One and League Two team owners. As a pre-professional league, the USL W provides opportunities for amateur college athletes to develop their talent ahead of their future professional careers.
One of the league’s goals is to provide more coaching and playing opportunities for women in soccer. The league also gives fans the opportunity to see elite soccer played across the United States, often at a fraction of the cost of a NWSL ticket.
The teams are made up of youth athletes, college players, pre-professional soccer players and retired professional athletes. Teams are divided into four conferences (Central, Eastern, Southern, and Northern) that are further divided into divisions; each division is made up of five to eight teams.
During the regular season teams play 10-12 games against other teams in their divisions. Winners are determined by a points system: three points for a win, one for a draw, and none for a loss. There are eight ways ties can be broken, including by total points per game, goals scored in league games and even a lottery system.
The path to the USL W can vary
One of the teams playing this year is Racing Louisville. If the name sounds familiar, it’s because the team is directly affiliated with the NWSL team that plays under the same banner. As Shaun Francis, one of the head coaches of Racing Louisville’s USL W team, told The IX Sports, the goal for their program is to create a pipeline straight into the pros.
“We have an academy as well,” he explained. The academy is made up of athletes who range in age from 6 to 19-years-old.
“Then we have the W league and we have the pro team,” he added. “It is a pipeline where we’re we’re expecting, or we’re looking to see if we can have players that are from the academy level can get to that point where they end up playing in the USL W and then are able to transition into the pro team.”
That kind of system isn’t in place for all 90+ USL W teams, but it’s working in Kentucky.
The team’s roster is also made up of a lot of players who grew up relatively nearby. “We do have local players on our W team,” Francis said. “We have players that go to U of L [the University of Louisville], we have players that played at UK [the University of Kentucky], we have players from Vanderbilt.”
The trick to finding players for the team is recruiting, which often begins at the college level. “We have the first team staff, they have someone that does some of the recruiting to find players. They would look for basically players that are at the highest level in college that might be able to make the transition to a pro level. So, when we bring them in into a W League system, they can also have them practice with the pro team to see how they fit in with the group.”
The 2026 season is the biggest yet
This year’s season is the largest in league history — a massive 96 teams will battle ahead of the Finals in July.
Those 96 teams boast a lot of players, which could make it difficult to keep up with everyone. The league put together a list of players to keep an eye on, and a few are shared below:
Ella Bulava, Pittsburgh Riveters SC: Bulava played four games for the Riveters and just wrapped up her sophomore year at the University of Maryland, where she played in every game.
Grace Ivey, Sporting Club Jacksonville: Ivey previously played for the North Carolina Courage U23 but made the move to Jacksonville for this season. She earned All-League First Team recognition last season after scoring five goals and two assists for the Courage.
Zoe Thompson, Santa Clarita Blue Heat: Thompson is definitely coming into the USL W with a lot of eyes on her — her two older sisters, Alyssa and Giselle, are already members of the United States National Team. She’s fully expected to continue that tradition.
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