OFFICIAL STATEMENT
DOING WHAT’S BEST FOR PLAYERS.
We must listen to players and put health and safety first, and as a pioneering club we must take a stand to do what’s right!
LOS ANGELES, CA (July 9th, 2025) — Player health and safety must come first, and after extensive discussions with players we have notified the UPSL Women’s League that WE WILL NOT be attending the UPSL National Finals in Kansas City (MO) due to the rather brutal scheduling format of 4 games over the 3 day event that has been set.
United City FC Women is a/the top ranked club in the UPSL Women’s League this season ending our campaign 9W, 0L, 0D and +41GD (the highest in the nation over 9 games).
We take soccer very seriously but player safety, both mental and physical, is our top priority. Although it’s a “3 day event”, the full 4 games only span 48 hours, a schedule we feel puts players in danger of injury risk.
We currently have 5x active CONCACAF National Team players on our roster, we have one player on trial in Italy in Serie A, and others heading to top leagues in US/Europe in August on trial. We have a duty to them, and we will ensure we do what’s best for all United City FC Women players.
The UPSL Women’s current format of 8 teams attending National Finals requires all teams to play a minimum of 3 games in 24hours, 1x Friday (evening), 2x Saturday (morning+evening), with the top 2 teams then playing a 4th game for the Final on the Sunday with no real recovery time in between. This schedule format is overly demanding of players with no up-side to it, it’s 4 games in 48hours.
We believe this is not the way to showcase women’s soccer, and I would not want my players to be seen or judged performing in a Final with tired legs playing less than their best due to lack of rest and proper recovery.
Women’s bodies have unique needs and respond differently to recovery times compared to men’s. For instance, cyclical hormonal shifts can impact performance and recovery, and women are more prone to certain injuries like ACL tears, of which are x8 greater vs men, especially when playing that many games at high tempo over a short period without adequate recovery time.
Playing at KC Current’s facility SHOULD be a showcase moment for UPSL Women and the teams attending. Aside from the first game that’ll be played with fresh legs, the quality of the games will obviously decline over the 3 days, and with each game played back-to-back the risk of injury increases exponentially.
We know the UPSL Women’s League is trying to shine a positive light on women’s soccer, and we commend them for this, but we need it to be done correctly and safely. The current format is not conducive to showcasing women’s soccer, and for that reason we are pulling out. This format is not the format used on the UPSL Men’s side, nor any other Women’s League who stagger games (Round of 16, quater-finals, semi-finals) leading up to the Final to ensure players can give 100%.
Proper rest is essential for athletes, especially when dealing with physically demanding game schedules to avoid injury and maintain both physical and mental well-being.
These articles outline some key issues for women in sport especially when forced to play without suitable recovery times.
We hope 2026 National Finals will be played with only the top 4 clubs attending with semi finals on the Friday and the Final to be played on Sunday, (with the playoff the 3rd spot also being played the Sunday by the other two teams). Should this happen, and should we qualify, we will happily attend in 2026.
This is a big decision not to go, but we must stand up for what’s right by players, and not just seek the glory to market ourselves as “Heading to National Finals”. We can not risk a player’s health in an overly demanding and ridiculous schedule under the sun in +90⁰ heat and +60% humidity over the 3 days.
We would love to go win this, take the $10,000 Cash Prize, but no money is worth risking player safety and jeopardize a possible trial and transfer to a pro club due to picking up any type of injury. We don’t need to go to a National Final for bragging rights, what we do day to day is what we brag about!
We are happy to go play the eventual winner of UPSL Nationals the following week to truly determine who is the best in the nation, as our lack of presence in Kansas as arguably the top team in the country ultimately means the real “top 8” clubs truly aren’t there.
To all our fans we thank you for all your support.
We will be announcing our next game later this week, stay tuned!
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