USL Feature
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
TAMPA, Fla. – USL W-League Senior Director Amanda Duffy played a major role in a first for the United States Adult Soccer Association’s mid-year meeting this weekend as a panelist for a symposium devoted to women’s soccer in the United States.
The symposium was broken down into three segments, which included a session on the league success stories, a session to discuss recruiting new leagues, growing leagues and mentoring and a session to brainstorm what possibilities there were for additional tournaments and competitions that could further build women’s soccer in the U.S. Alongside Duffy on the panel were Jerry Zanelli of WPSL, Linda Rimmer from Washington State Soccer Association and Hawaii Soccer Association’s contingent of Donna Fouts, Gwen Barros and Linda Goeas.
It was during the last of these that the possibility of a women’s version of the U.S. Open Cup was broached, with the idea of a national knockout competition one that appealed to Duffy and the other members of the panel.
“That was a really interesting, positive conversation,” Duffy said. “It’s exciting that there’s consideration on the women’s side to have a competition of that nature. There’s certainly a place for it and there are definitely relevant parties that would be willing to put in the effort to make it come to fruition.”
The symposium also offered Duffy and the other members of the panel a chance to help USASA develop its women’s programs. While USASA runs adult women’s competitions, the opportunity for growth in this area was evident in the amount of interest the panel drew as the three sessions progressed.
“Before we got started there was a level of uncertainty as to the symposium’s attendance and participation,” Duffy said. “By the final session, it was a full room. There were probably 40-50 people in that room and all of them had a genuine interest in increasing opportunities for women’s soccer on a local level, a state level, a regional level and a national level. Clearly there’s a lot of support to do more for women’s soccer, to increase the opportunities to play and to increase the longevity of a female soccer player’s career.”
Showing what the W-League can offer in terms the quality of the organizations and quality of play was also an exciting opportunity for Duffy. While the league has a reputation that precedes it, being able to illustrate the development that USL offers through the Super Y-League and Super-20 League before players move into the W-League allowed Duffy to show why the league had been able to reach the standards of competition that put it second only to Women’s Professional Soccer in the United States.
“There are so many strengths in the W-League model,” Duffy said. “Most importantly there is an unparalleled degree of sophistication at this level, generated and maintained by our standards and regulations. Our owners strive to operate at the highest level and create exciting, competitive training and playing environments for players; players understand that by playing in the W-League their individual development will progress and opportunities for future playing opportunities will increase.”
But Duffy said she also took things away from the event that could be useful tools for the W-League in the future, and hopes the spirit of sharing and continuing to build the sport continues to develop and grow.
“I’m really pleased,” Duffy said of the experience. “It seems to have been exactly what USASA was hoping for in terms of the sharing of ideas, the discussion around specific areas of concern and the general interactivity amongst everyone involved. I look forward to sharing the information with the W-League owners and executives to further explore the concepts discussed.
“At the end of the day we’re all working to build the sport on the women’s side and there are plenty of aspects of what we’re doing in the W-League that can complement what USASA is doing on the women’s side and the same in reverse, and everyone benefits because of symposiums like this.”