WPS: The Good News and the Bad News

Hello everyone! As I said yesterday, WPS would be releasing information on their finalized teams for 2011, in particular, regarding the futures of both the Washington Freedom and FC Gold Pride. Well, as in almost every story, there is some good news and some bad news. I'm the kind of person who wants to hear the bad news first, so here we go:

The Bad News- Unfortunately, FC Gold Pride, the league's regular season Champions, and also the 2010 WPS Champions, will not be returning. They couldn't find the support or money they needed to keep the team afloat, and as a result, they will not be returning to the WPS in 2011. It sucks, because I liked FC Gold Pride a lot, they were always one of my favorite teams, ever since the first time I saw them on TV in 2009. Although, its fair to say that I love every team in WPS. Really, it just sucks to see anyone go. The coolest thing about WPS fans is that they are just that, fans of the entire league and all of its teams. Although we all may have ou favorite teams, we love every single team that's in the league. And, I think I speak for everyone when I say it really sucks to see a team go. No matter what team is your favorite, you still love the other teams, and its players, because you probably know them from somewhere else. That's what makes this league so fantastic. There may be rivlaries and we may have a favorite, but at the end of the day we have an attachment to all of the players and teams. R.I.P FC gold Pride. You will be greatly missed.


The Good News- The good news is that, the Washington Freedom on the other hand, will be returning in 2011! I was so happy to hear that the league was able to salvage at least one of our beloved teams, and since the Washington Freedom is my proclaimed "favorite", I was super happy to hear that they'll be returning. Congratulations to the Freedom! The fans and players fought hard together to keep the Freedom in for 2011, and it worked. So happy to know they are returning.


Other News (I think its good news for the most part)- The Free agency period opens up at midnight. That means teams will be working to re-sign their players whose contracts have ended, but that also means teams will be looking to land some new acquisitions. Since FC gold Pride has just folded, their players will be listed as Free agents. World Class players like Marta, Sinclair, Barnhart, etc will be finding new homes. Its going to be super fun to see where these players go, and it will also be fun to see where other free agents will end up! This Free agency period is going to be pretty exciting. Imagine Sinclair going to the Freedom, or Sky Blue FC? Or what if marta goes to the Beat? Any outcome will be exciting and will make the fans anticipate the 2011 season even more. Also, the chicago Red Stars are looking for investors. They have been given until December 15th to do so. I hope they hang in there too. We were able to keep the Freedom, let's make sure the Red Stars return as well! And for one last bit of news, the Western NY franchise will be selecting their 6 players now, since the Expansion Draft was postponed/cancelled. They will announce their picks later this week.


The WPS, as a young league, is going to suffer casualties. Its just something that's going to happen. It was unfortunate and sad to lose the LA Sol, the St. Louis Athletica, and now FC gold Pride. Those teams may be gone, but we'll never forget them! We're moving forward, and they will not have folded in vain. Here's to the future of WPS, a successful 2011 season, to moving forward, and to hoping that we don't lose anymore teams!

Keep your eyes peeled for free agency moves! This is the part of the off-season that's exciting and fun, becuase you never know what big moves will be made, and you never know which players will end up where! I'm looking forward to this Free agency period, and I'm excited to see where the Free agents will end up. As always, I'll post about any moves on here.

See you soon!

Denise