| Soccer Teams |
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Soccer Teams There are three major soccer leagues in the United States for men’s soccer- Major League Soccer, United Soccer League First Division and United Soccer League Second Division. There are two major soccer leagues for the women’s soccer- the W League and the Women’s Premiere Soccer League. One League is currently sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation for indoor soccer and this is the Major Indoor Soccer League. There is also an amateur baseball league sanctioned under the USSF- the USL Premiere Development League. The Major League Soccer was created in 1993 in time for the staging of the 1994 World Cup in the United States. The MLS were originally made up of ten teams divided into two conferences. The league has a target of eighteen clubs by 2012. Initially, the league enjoyed good crowd attendance but the interest in MLS declined after the dismal performance in the 1998 World Cup. The league is once again gaining interest among fans and is seeing resurgence in attendance. MLS Clubs compete for the following cups: Brimstone Cup, Honda SuperClassico, Rocky Mountain Cup, Atlantic Cup, El Capitan Clasico, Texas Derby, California Clasico, and the Lamar Hunt Pioneer Cup. The MLS forms the top level of professional soccer in the United States. The Major Soccer League is composed of the Eastern and the Western Conference. The Eastern Conference is composed of the following teams: Chicago Fire, Columbus Crew, DC United, Kansas City Wizards, New England Revolution, Red Bull New York, and the Toronto FC which is actually based in Canada. The following teams are part of the Western Conference: Chivas USA, Colorado Rapids, FC Dallas, Houston Dyamo, Los Angeles Galaxy, Real Salt Lake and the San Jose Earthquakes. Each team plays 30 games each during the soccer season which lasts between March to November. There are forty soccer teams alone for the Women’s Premier Soccer League while the W-league is composed of 30 teams. While the Major League Soccer is divided into two conferences, the women’s leagues are divided into four. |