TAMPA, Fla. – The United Soccer League announced Tuesday that it has created a professional Division II women’s soccer league in the United States: the USL Super League.

With this new league, the USL said that an unprecedented pathway for feamle players — from youth to professional — within one ecosystem. The formation of the USL Super League will provide new opportunities for players, fans, coaches, referees, staff and executives looking to participate in women’s professional soccer.

The league’s compensation structure and professional standards will be consistent with the USL men’s professional leagues. The USL Super League brand, the league stated, will reflect this commitment to gender equity and reaffirms that the USL portfolio is built upon a recognized and proven structure of success in international football.

“Today, we are thrilled to unveil the USL Super League and begin an exciting new chapter in the growth of women’s soccer in the United States,” USL CEO Alec Papadakis said. “We aim to make the USL Super League globally recognized and admired for its community-building, operational excellence, financial sustainability, and high level of competition. With these objectives in mind, we deepen our commitment to equitable treatment of our men’s and women’s pathways, and to create career opportunities for women to play professional soccer, women coaches, women technical directors, and women soccer executives. We at the USL League Office are united in our passion and commitment to the pursuit of this vision.”

The USL Super League expects to double the number of professional women’s soccer teams in the United States when its inaugural season begins in 2023. The USL women’s pathway now includes the Girls Super Y League, the Girls USL Academy, the women’s pre-professional USL W League which kicks off next year, and the women’s professional USL Super League. The USL Super League will apply for Division II sanctioning from U.S. Soccer in the coming months.

“In our country there are seven times as many professional soccer teams for men than there are for women,” said Betsy Haugh, USL director of women’s soccer operations. “We are going to improve that ratio, and we invite players and fans to join us in building a new, outstanding level of women’s soccer.”

The USL Super League and the pre-professional USL W League complement each other by generating fan excitement and spurring interest from clubs and cities across the country. For its inaugural 2022 season, the W League already has announced its first 16 clubs and expects more than 30 teams to take the field in 2022. This growth reflects the heightened demand for elite women’s soccer among fans, partners and investors. The USL W league will continue to promote women’s college soccer and its more than 900 programs as the foundation of U.S. dominance in the world’s game.

USL will continue expanding its league office staff, including a club services group, to ensure all teams meet or exceed high standards. The USL Super League will benefit from USL’s media landscape, commercial and strategic partnerships, and national footprint, with clubs in more than 120 communities across the country.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.