San Diego Spirit

Women’s United Soccer Association (2001-2003)

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San Diego Spirit
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The Spirit had one of the best stadium experiences in the pioneering Women’s United Soccer Association. While some clubs played in huge venues, Spirit investor/operator Cox Communications renovated 7,000-seat Torero Stadium, which turned out to be the perfect size for the WUSA audience. During their debut season in 2001, the Spirit played to 93% capacity (5,714 per match), with a star-studded roster that include Julie Foudy, Shannon MacMillan, Joy Fawcett and Fan Yunjie.

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Background

The San Diego Spirit were one of eight founding clubs in the Women’s United Soccer Association. The WUSA was the first attempt to form a fully professional women’s pro league in North America. A consortium of cable TV operators and executives put up $40 million in start-up capital. Each funder received investor-operator rights to one of eight league markets for its commitment of $5 million. Cable operator Cox Communications took the rights to San Diego.

The marketing cornerstones of the WUSA would be the stars of the United States Women’s National Team.  The league launched on the backs of the USWNT and their thrilling victory over China in the 1999 Women’s World Cup.  The Cup final on July 10th, 1999 drew a sell-out crowd of 90,185 to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena and record-shattering TV ratings. The tournament made media darlings of American stars Mia Hamm and Brandi Chastain and, to a lesser extent, the rest of the team.

Debut Season: 2001

In May 2000, the WUSA allocated three USWNT regulars to each of its eight franchises. San Diego received defender Joy Fawcett, midfielder Julie Foudy and striker Shannon MacMillan, a graduate of nearby Escondido High School.  In the international draft, San Diego added Fan Yunjie and Wen Lirong of the Chinese National Team.

Cox Communications spent $2.5 million to renovate 40-year old Torero Stadium at the University of San Diego for the Spirit.  The improvements included 3,600 new seats to bring total capacity to just over 6,000, a new and re-graded natural Bermuda grass surface, upgraded lighting to meet television broadcast standards, and various aesthetic improvements.

The 2001 Spirit started slow out of the blocks under Head Coach Carlos Juarez. Joy Fawcett missed most of the season due to pregnancy, but returned in August less than two months after giving birth to her third child. Shannon MacMillan was a bright spot.  Her 12 goals ranked second best in the WUSA scoring charts. A late season rally allowed the team to finish in 5th place with a 7-7-7 record.

Flagging Spirit: 2002

The 2002 Spirit started slowly again, which cost Carlos Juarez his job in early June 2002. General Manager Kevin Crow, a star for the San Diego Sockers during the 1980’s and 1990’s, assumed coaching duties for the remainder of the season. The Spirit finished in seventh place with a 5-11-5 record.

Off the field, the Spirit paced the WUSA in season ticket sales despite the team’s lackluster play. In 2002, the Spirit sold over 2,000 season tickets, which was the best figure in the eight-team league.

Youth Movement: 2003

In September 2002, the Spirit orchestrated the largest trade in WUSA’s two-year history in order to move up a single spot in the 2003 WUSA college draft. San Diego shipped three starters – midfielders Shannon Boxx and Sherrill Kester and defender Margaret Tietjen – plus the #2 overall pick in the 2003 WUSA draft to the New York Power in exchange for the #1 overall pick and midfielders Jan Lalow and Wynne McIntosh.  The prize on the back end of this trade was Santa Clara University midfielder Aly Wagner. Wagner was already a fixture on the U.S. National Team with 36 international caps as a collegian.  Soccer America called her “the most gifted play maker the United States has produced”.

Wagner got the most press attention, but she was just one component of a youth movement that transformed the Spirit in 2003. 22-year old Scottish striker Julie Fleeting returned for her second season. She finished 2003 tied for third in the WUSA in scoring with 11 goals.  New Coach Omid Namazi used his other two international roster spots to import the 19-year old Brazilian star Daniela and big Canadian forward Christine Latham. It was Latham, fresh off an All-American career at the University of Nebraska, rather than Wagner, that earned WUSA Rookie-of-the-Year honors in 2003.  The young cohort’s contributions were especially significant after offensive leader Shannon MacMillan suffered a season-ending ACL tear in May.

Playoff Heartbreak

The 2003 Spirit improved to 8-6-7, good for third place in the WUSA and the franchise’s first playoff appearance.  Prior to the season, the WUSA selected San Diego to host the 2003 Founder’s Cup at Torero Stadium.  All that stood between the Spirit and playing for the title before a home crowd was the regular season champion Atlanta Beat.

The Spirit travelled to Georgia for the WUSA semi-final on August 17th, 2003.  Aly Wagner scored in the 38th minute to put the Spirit up 1-0. The lead held up through regulation, but Beat forward Conny Pohlers tapped in the equalizer during stoppage time. Charmaine Hooper won it for Atlanta in overtime, ending the Spirit’s season in heart rending fashion.

The playoff semi-final loss proved to be the final Spirit game.  Investors pulled the plug on the WUSA on September 15th, 2003. The WUSA folded less than a week before the start of the 2003 Women’s World Cup, providing a sad bookend for a league that was born out of the euphoria of the 1999 tournament.

Just days before the league folded, the Spirit traded Aly Wagner to the Boston Breakers for midfielder Angela Hucles in a shock move.

Aftermath

In June 2004, a reconstituted Spirit – including Fawcett, Foudy and MacMillan – played in a WUSA exhibition doubleheader before an announced crowd of 7,123 at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles. The event was part of a pair of WUSA “festivals” (the other was in Minnesota) intended to showcase the eight former clubs and their stars to potential new sponsors and investors. The festivals flopped and the efforts of the WUSA Reorganization Committee wound down soon afterwards.

The rookie stars of the 2003 Spirit each returned to play in the first season of WPS six summers later in 2009.  Daniela signed with St. Louis Athletica and played four matches before her season – and career – was ended by a brutal tackle from Washington Freedom star Abby Wambach.  Christine Latham scored two goals for the Boston Breakers in 2009. Aly Wagner, now 28 and slowed by assorted injuries, signed with the Los Angeles Sol and played in the first WPS Cup final on August 22nd, 2009.  By 2010, the pro careers of Daniela, Latham and Wagner were over.

In June 2021 the National Women’s Soccer League, the third and most stable attempt at establishing the women’s pro game in the United States, awarded an expansion franchise to San Diego to begin play in the spring of 2022. Like the Spirit, the yet-to-be-named San Diego NWSL franchise will play in Torero Stadium, though plans for a soccer-specific stadium are said to be in the works.

Voices

On the Spirit’s 2003 overtime loss to Atlanta in the Founders Cup playoff semi-final:

“<Charmaine Hooper> was offside and fouled Joy Fawcett but we didn’t get the call. There wasn’t a dry eye on the team. We came seconds from playing in the Founder’s Cup game in our home stadium.”

– Dave Presher, General Manager 2003 (2011 FWiL Interview)

On the surprising trade of Aly Wagner days before the WUSA closed its doors:

“We had signed <18-year old Brazilian> Marta for the 2004 season and knew she was the best player in the world…we needed one fast central midfielder as we were considering some modifications to our formation with Marta coming aboard.  The league folding sucked.  We may have been overconfident, but we thought with Marta we were going to really be a surprise.“

– Dave Presher, General Manager 2003 (2011 FWiL Interview)

San Diego Spirit Shop

Downloads

2011 FWiL interview with former Spirit General Manager Dave Presher

Links

Women’s United Soccer Association Media Guides

Women’s United Soccer Association Programs

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