Women's Professional Soccer Adds Buffalo Flash As Newest Entry to League

It is only fitting that the region that was home to such pioneering woman leaders as Harriet Tubman and Susan B. Anthony would be the next entry in a pioneering professional sports league, Women's Professional Soccer.

On Friday, WPS announced Western New York was conditionally approved by its Board of Governors for entry to the world's premier women's soccer league. The announcement took the WPS community by surprise, since Buffalo had not been on their short list for expansion.

Instead of the league approaching Buffalo, the city approached the league. The initiative was inspired by the success of Buffalo's W-League club, the Buffalo Flash.

The W-League, of United Soccer League (USL) is considered one of the top developmental leagues in the United States, one level below Women’s Professional Soccer.

Having gone undefeated in the regular season and going on to win the W-League Championship with the Flash, the club's owner Joe Sahlen got to thinking. What about moving up a level?

Perhaps his imagination was piqued by the signing of two of his biggest stars by WPS. In fact, the W-League's MVP, Spanish international Veronica Boquete, scored two goals and earned an assist in the two matches she played for the Chicago Red Stars.  

We're thinking Mr. Sahlen is wishing he'd gotten this bright idea before his best two players were signed by his future competitors.

Sahlen is well-known in Buffalo as a successful sports entrepreneur. The club's operations will be based at Sahlen Sports Park in the Buffalo suburb of Elma, New York.  The team’s home games will be split between Rochester, New York, at the 14,000-seat Rochester Rhinos Stadium and the newly-expanded Niagara Field on the campus of Niagara University in Lewiston, New York, giving WPS six soccer-specific stadiums among its eight teams.

Sahlen will contribute to the upgrade at Niagara field, increasing the seating to 4,000 and bringing the amenities up to WPS standards. The dual venue idea is designed to provide easy access to a strong potential Canadian fanbase along with the existing Buffalo Flash fanbase at the Niagara location, while also capturing a strong soccer community in Rochester.

"The Western New York region has a tremendous soccer tradition and the existing infrastructure of the Flash organization will provide a great foundation for this team to flourish in WPS," said Anne-Marie Eileraas, incoming WPS CEO.

“All of us in the Flash's organization are excited at the opportunity of moving up into WPS,” said Sahlen. “Our undefeated season in the W-League gives us a strong base and provides tremendous momentum entering the 2011 season. We are confident in WPS as a league, its franchises, and our own competitive ability. Our inclusion into WPS will help promote female competition, area participation, and mutual growth for all parties involved.”

The team will be officially introduced at events in Buffalo and Rochester in early October along with the team name and logo for WPS. An expansion draft for the Western New York team to draft players from among the current seven WPS teams is expected for late October.

“By making adjustments to our league structure and operations over the past few months, expansion talks have heated up in several cities,” said David Halstead, Co-Chair of the WPS Expansion Committee. “We are pleased to have moved quickly on the diligence process with the Flash organization and are excited to see them join WPS as an eighth franchise for the 2011 season.  It gives our league an even number of teams for scheduling purposes and puts us back in expansion mode as we look ahead to 2012 and beyond.”

At a time when there are concerns about the long-term future of Buffalo's other two major league sports franchises, it is good for the region to add a third major league club.

The fact that a women's team is in Buffalo is geographically and historically significant since the Greater Buffalo and Rochester areas were the scene of a great deal of history in the Underground Railroad and women's suffrage movement, led by such heroes as Harriet Tubman and Susan B. Anthony.

Perhaps in part because of this history, Buffalo and Western New York are well known for producing women leaders in business, philanthropy and the arts. 

The WPS franchise may just be the beginning. There has been a call to explore the feasibility of obtaining a WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association) franchise for Buffalo as well. 

About Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS)

Headquartered in San Francisco, Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) is the world’s premier soccer league for women with seven teams across the United States featuring the best players from around the world. WPS completed its inaugural season in August 2009 as Sky Blue FC of New Jersey became the first-ever WPS Champions.

In 2010, seven teams will each play 24-game schedules from April 10-September 12 including five original WPS teams—Boston Breakers, Chicago Red Stars, FC Gold Pride (Bay Area), Sky Blue FC (NJ/NY), and Washington Freedom—and two expansion teams Atlanta Beat and Philadelphia Independence.

The top four finishers in the regular season will qualify for the 2010 WPS Playoffs presented by MedImmune scheduled for September 19-26. For more information, visit the WPS official website at www.womensprosoccer.com or follow all the news at www.twitter.com/womensprosoccer.