Atlanta Beat (WPS)

Atlanta Beat

Full name	Atlanta Beat
Nickname(s)	Beat
Founded	2009
Stadium	KSU Soccer Stadium
Capacity	8,300
Owner	T. Fitz Johnson
General manager	Shawn McGee
Head coach	James Galanis
League	Women's Professional Soccer
Home colors Away colors

The Atlanta Beat was an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta, Georgia. They still exist, but as an amateur team. The team joined Women's Professional Soccer as an expansion team in 2010, and played its home games at Kennesaw State University Soccer Stadium, the result of a public-private partnership between the team and Kennesaw State University.^[1] The club succeeded the former Atlanta Beat of the defunct Women's United Soccer Association.

History

Name and colors

The team's name was announced to be the Beat on June 18, 2009. The name was determined by a fan poll, with Attack, Beat, and Storm as the options.

The new Beat logo was the same design as the previous WUSA logo, with the two shades of blue being replaced by Gold and Ferrari Red.^[2]

Building the team

Atlanta began building its team at the 2009 WPS Expansion Draft on September 15, 2009,^[3] where it selected six players from the existing seven WPS teams, getting four players from the teams that finished first and second in the league's inaugural season. A week later, Atlanta selected five international players^[4] in the 2009 WPS International Draft, including three players from Umea IK, and thus now have exclusive negotiating rights to those players among WPS teams.

Inaugural season

The Beat ended the 2010 season in last place with 5 wins, 13 losses, and 6 ties. ^[5]

2011 season

The Atlanta Beat started off the 2011 season on April 9 in a game against the Boston Breakers in front of over slightly 4,000 spectators at KLS Stadium. The Beat lost 1–4 to Boston with their lone goal coming from Carli Lloyd in a penalty kick in the 78th minute.^[6]

Players

2011 roster

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player DF Katherine Reynolds MF India Trotter MF Lori Chalupny DF Keeley Dowling DF Cat Whitehill DF Heather Mitts DF Kia McNeill FW Lauren Sesselmann MF Carli Lloyd GK Allison Lipsher MF Angela Salem MF Colleen Flanagan

No. Position Player DF Megan Jesolva MF Julianne Sitch FW Meghan Lenczyk MF Kacey White MF Kylie Wright GK Katie Fraine FW Katie Bethke GK Allison Whitworth FW Analisa Marquez MF Kelly Parker MF Lyndsey Patterson MF Bianca D'Agostino

League suspension

On January 30, 2012, Women's Professional Soccer announced suspension of the 2012 season, citing several internal organization struggles as the primary cause. Some of these included an ongoing legal battle with an ex-franchise owner and the lack of resources invested into the league.^[7][8]

See also

• Women's Professional Soccer
• Atlanta Beat (WUSA)
• National Women's Soccer League

External links

• Official website (archived)
• Atlanta Beat on FunWhileItLasted.net

References

1. Ellis, Ralph (2010-04-15). "KSU hopes to raise profile with new soccer stadium". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
2. "Atlanta Beat Announced as Ninth Team in Women's Professional Soccer". WPS. 2009-06-18. Archived from the original on 2012-03-27. Retrieved 2009-09-25.
3. "Beat find attacking options and experience in Expansion Draft". WPS. 2009-09-17. Archived from the original on 2009-09-22. Retrieved 2009-09-25.
4. "Atlanta Drafts International Players". WPS. 2009-06-18. Archived from the original on 2009-09-27. Retrieved 2009-09-25.
5. "Atlanta Beat readies for inaugural season". GA Voice. Retrieved 14 November 2012.
6. "Boston Breakers 4–1 Atlanta Beat: Breakers kick-off season in dominating fashion". Equalizer Soccer. Retrieved 14 November 2012.
7. "WPS suspends 2012 season". ESPN. Retrieved 14 November 2012.
8. "Suspended season brings uncertainty". ESPN. Retrieved 14 November 2012.