Atlanta Beat (WPS)

The Atlanta Beat is an American soccer club based in Atlanta, Georgia that formerly competed on a professional level. 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 took the name and logo of the former Atlanta Beat (WUSA) of the defunct Women's United Soccer Association.

This article is about the WPS team. For the WUSA team, see Atlanta Beat (WUSA).
Atlanta Beat
Full nameAtlanta Beat
Nickname(s)Beat
Founded2009
GroundKSU Soccer Stadium
Capacity8,300
Owner T. Fitz Johnson
General manager Shawn McGee
Head coachJames Galanis
LeagueWomen's Professional Soccer

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
Main article: 2010 Women's Professional Soccer 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. Pos. Nation Player
— DF  USA Katherine Reynolds
— MF  USA India Trotter
— MF  USA Lori Chalupny
— DF  USA Keeley Dowling
— DF  USA Cat Whitehill
— DF  USA Heather Mitts
— DF  USA Kia McNeill
— FW  CAN Lauren Sesselmann
— MF  USA Carli Lloyd
— GK  USA Allison Lipsher
— MF  USA Angela Salem
— MF  USA Colleen Flanagan
No. Pos. Nation Player
— DF  USA Megan Jesolva
— MF  USA Julianne Sitch
— FW  USA Meghan Lenczyk
— MF  USA Kacey White
— MF  USA Kylie Wright
— GK  USA Katie Fraine
— FW  USA Katie Bethke
— GK  USA Allison Whitworth
— FW  USA Analisa Marquez
— MF  CAN Kelly Parker
— MF  USA Lyndsey Patterson
— MF  USA 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

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.


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