Saint Louis Athletica

Athletica only played two preseason games, less than any other WPS team, and didn't play any other WPS team in those games. Athletica convincingly won both games, though: 7-2 versus the University of Missouri and 3-1 versus Notre Dame.

Athletica got off to a very slow start, being the only team with no points after the first two games and winless after the first four, despite usually outplaying their opponents; Athletica out-shot their opponents by more than twice, and frequently was in complete control during the first half of games. Despite this, Athletica was in last place or tied for last place in the league for the first two months of the season, even after they started winning. In the fourth game, Athletica lost what was assumed to be their star player, Brazilian Daniela, to a season-ending injury, and this combined with the slow start made many people write Athletica off.

However, Athletica went 10-4-2 the rest of the season, even better than the eventual season champions Los Angeles Sol during that same time period. Included in that impressive run was four consecutive away wins, which were largely responsible for propelling Athletica into second place in the league. Athletica only lost to two teams (Los Angeles and the Washington Freedom) for the rest of the season. The solid play came from USWNT players Lori Chalupny, Hope Solo, and Tina Ellertson, and breakout scoring force English international Eniola Aluko. Athletica ultimately clinched second two games before the regular season was over.

Athletica only got to play one playoff game, though, as they lost to #4 seed Sky Blue FC, a team they had beaten in all three of their meetings during the regular season. Athletica did not play well during the first half, which allowed Sky Blue to score, and while Athletica stepped up their game very well in the second half, they could not find the equalizer. Athletica has thus never come from behind to win or tie.

On May 27, 2010, team founder Jeff Cooper announced that the team was folding due to financial problems. The entire Athletica roster was entered into free agency on June 1, 2010.[4]

While it was initially announced that the team name would be just "St. Louis" – with no moniker – the official name of the team was changed to "Saint Louis Athletica" two months later, still well before the inaugural season began. According to the official release on SLSU's website,

The word "Athletica," while not found in the English dictionary, is derived from the adjective "athletic," with the "a" denoting the newly created noun as feminine, a common practice in many foreign languages ... The word 'Athletica' denotes strength and power – characteristics of this organization that are epitomized by the crest, which also pays homage to St. Louis' roots," said Cooper. "Naming a professional sports franchise is no easy task, to say the least. With Athletica, we feel we have perfectly captured the essence of our team's identity in a name and crest that transcends cultures.

Originally, the crest used to represent the St. Louis Athletica was simply the same crest used by Cooper's organization St. Louis Soccer United, which is also presumed to be the crest that will be used if SLSU is awarded an MLS franchise as well. The crest resembled a medieval coat-of-arms, and featured a rendition of the statue Apotheosis of Saint Louis from outside the St. Louis art museum (as viewed from the left), a symbol frequently used to represent the city of St. Louis before the Gateway Arch was constructed. The crest also featured a fleur-de-lis, representing both the city's French heritage and the convergence of the three rivers in the area. The colors used were dark blue, two shades of green, and grey.

In the video citing "St. Louis" as the official team name, an entirely new crest was revealed. While the general shape and design were retained, the color scheme changed to just green and two shades of grey, the fleur-de-lis's position was replaced by 2009 and two fleur-de-lises were placed on either side of the crest, and Saint Louis was replaced by a Joan of Arc figure on horseback as viewed from the right, holding a flag up instead of a sword, the sword instead being at her hip. It also has what appear to be branches on each side of the coat-of-arms.

The final version of the Joan of Arc crest was not very different from the second version. Everything was retained except for the color scheme (replacing one shade of grey with the dark blue) and the 2009. Newly included was an "StL" on the flag with a bar under the 't', and the banner was extended to say "Saint Louis Athletica" with 'Athletica' centered.

Due to competitiveness in St. Louis youth soccer and the similarity between Athletica's logo and the logo used by SLSU's youth clubs, the Joan of Arc logo was phased out during the 2009-10 offseason, with the crown-and-sword crest that had been used as a secondary logo taking its place as Athletica's primary logo.

Athletica's uniforms for the 2009 season were revealed, along with those of all the current WPS team, were revealed on Tuesday, February 24 in New York City. The official WPS press release lists Athletica's colors as "USA Forest Green" and "Pace Grey". The kits for all teams were supplied by PUMA.

In both the home and away kits, the socks are grey and the shorts are green with grey stripes down the side. The tops for home and away are green and grey, respectively, with the WPS logo on the right shoulder sleeve. The Athletica crest appears on the left corner of the top and on the right leg of the shorts. The goalkeeper's jersey is expected to be hot pink. Athletica players will not have the option to wear the 'skorts' included in PUMA's kit design for games, along with the Red Stars and the Freedom.

On June 7, in honor of the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure that was to happen in St. Louis the next week, Athletica wore kits with white tops and socks and pink shorts instead of their normal green tops and shorts and grey socks. The game ball was also two shades of pink instead of the regular white with green stripes.

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  USA Hope Solo 2 MF  BRA Elaine 3 MF  USA Carolyn Blank 4 MF  USA Kendall Fletcher 5 MF  USA Lindsay Tarpley 6 MF  JPN Aya Miyama 7 MF  USA Shannon Boxx 8 DF  USA Tina Ellertson 9 FW  ENG Eniola Aluko 11 DF  ENG Anita Asante 12 DF  USA Elise Weber

No. Pos. Nation Player 13 MF  USA Sarah Teegarden 16 MF  USA Erin Walter 17 MF  USA Lori Chalupny (captain) 18 GK  USA Ashlyn Harris 19 FW  SWE Madelaine Edlund 20 FW  USA Kristina Larsen 21 DF  USA Niki Cross 23 MF  MEX Veronica Perez 22 DF  USA Sarah Wagenfuhr 25 MF  USA Tina DiMartino 61 GK  USA Kati Jo Spisak

The following former players have played at the international level:

• #2 FW Kerri Hanks (2009)
• #3 DF Stephanie Logterman (2009)
• #4 DF Sara Larsson (2009)
• #13 GK Jillian Loyden (2009)
• #14 DF Melissa Tancredi (2009)
• #16 DF Kia McNeal (2009)
• #21 MF Francielle (2009)
• #21 FW Sarah Walsh (2009)

Includes playoff games