P R E S S  R E L E A S E

 

NEWEST WPSL EXPANSION CLUB DEBUTS WOMEN'S SOCCER IN PASSIONATE CENTRAL ILLINOIS MARKET  

 

 

OKLAHOMA CITY (12/19/2024) — The Women’s Premier Soccer League is pleased to announce Peoria City as its newest member for the 2025 season. With the announcement, high-level women’s soccer officially comes to the City of Peoria,lll. 

 

 

With the debut of its women’s side, President and Managing Partner, Jim DeRose, calls the opportunity for Peoria City to align with the WPSL an “historic first for women’s sports in Peoria.” Since the club’s launch in 2020, Peoria City has committed to providing Central Illinois a family-friendly entertainment option while helping prepare the professional soccer players of tomorrow. At the core of Peoria City’s values is a dedication to the community, fan-first mentality, supporting its players, and boosting the local economy. 

 

 

“Women’s soccer is among the fastest-growing professional sports in the world and our domestic professional leagues are among the best globally,” DeRose said. “It is our hope that, similar to our men’s team, we can provide top women’s amateur players from around Central Illinois and the country a place to showcase their talents and further develop them for their college and possibly professional careers.” 

 

 

 

 

Coaching appointments for Peoria City’s debut WPSL season will be made in early 2025. 

 

 

Peoria City is expected to play at the historic Shea Stadium, home of the Bradley University soccer program and the club’s men's side, for its inaugural WPSL season. The site is a former minor league baseball stadium redesigned in 2003 as a soccer-specific stadium with seating for more than 2,500 spectators with expansive berm seating. 

 

 

Peoria City is aligned with the Central Illinois Soccer Academy, which offers affordable clinics, camps, and player identification events throughout the region, placing special emphasis on the total development of its participants by incorporating individual, small-sided and full-sided training techniques. 

 

 

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For more information on Peoria City, visit ​​www.peoriacitysoccer.com, or follow its social media channels — X,  Instagram, and Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube.

 

 

For more information on the WPSL, visit wpslsoccer.com

 

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About the Women’s Premier Soccer League 

The WPSL completed its 26th season of play in 2024 as the longest-active women’s soccer league in the United States. Boasting more than 140 clubs nationwide while occupying 32 states coast-to-coast, the WPSL solidifies itself as the largest women’s soccer league in the world. Team rosters feature elite collegiate, post-collegiate, international, and standout prep student-athletes. Many of the United States’ most accomplished women’s national team players have played in the WPSL since its inception in 1998, including household names such as Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, Abby Wambach, and Brandi Chastain.