The dots have been slowly coming together over the past few months and now we've got a face and a name to put to them.
The new eight-team American women's league that will begin play in the spring will be called the National Women's Soccer League. But you can just call it the NWSL for short.
Those eight teams that comprise the league are a nice combination of old-school WUSA and WPS names and a few new faces: Boston Breakers, Chicago Red Stars, FC Kansas City, Portland Thorns FC, Sky Blue FC, Washington Spirit, Western New York Flash and Seattle, which has yet to announce its team name.
US Soccer made the announcement on Saturday and also unveiled the NWSL's logo — an appropriately patriotic red, white and blue crest with a silhouetted player in action. Kind of a nice homage to the NBA's logo, no?
About the only thing left we're wondering is, who is that on the logo? We know the NBA's shield features Jerry West (the guy's nickname is "The Logo," for crying out loud!). The anonymous player has a pony tail, so it's clearly not short-sheared Abby Wambach. Alex Morgan, perhaps?
Here's hoping the NWSL goes on to a long, successful run as the premier women's league in North America. It's got some decent backing, too — US Soccer will subsidize the salaries of up to 24 US national team players, while the Canadian Soccer Association and Federation of Mexican Football will each do the same for up to 16 players.
In the meantime, while you're waiting for the official league website to launch, check out the NWSL's official Facebook page at facebook.com/NWSLsoccer or follow it on Twitter @NWSL_soccer.
