 Photo Joe Hu/Town Crier
Nancy NeSmith and her husband Brian have purchased the Bay Area franchise of the new Womens Professional Soccer league. They didn’t get in on the Women’s United Soccer Association, which may have been a good thing since it folded after three seasons. But Los Altos residents Brian and Nancy NeSmith are on board for Women’s Professional Soccer, last week buying the Bay Area franchise of the new league.
“We always wanted to do it – 100 percent – ever since the CyberRays,” said Nancy, referring to the WUSA team that played in San Jose from 2001-2003. “We wondered, ‘Why didn’t they call then?’ When we were presented with this opportunity, we jumped at it.”
The NeSmiths are sole owners of a yet-to-be-named team set to begin play in April when the WPS kicks off its inaugural season. The league has six other teams – based in Los Angeles, New York/New Jersey, Chicago, Boston, St. Louis and Washington, D.C. – and there are more to come. Dallas, Atlanta and Philadelphia are expected to have teams in place for the 2010 season.
Nancy and husband Brian are confident the WPS can succeed where the WUSA failed.
“You always learn from past mistakes,” Nancy said. “(The WUSA) was a great product. But we’re approaching this a little differently – it’s more grassroots. It’s smaller and more cost-conscious.”
An investment group led by cable network mogul John Hendricks founded the WUSA, sinking $40 million into the league over three years. It folded due to sagging attendance and a lack of TV exposure.
Hendricks is also among the investors in the WPS, as is NBA star Steve Nash and former Yahoo! president Jeff Mallet. League headquarters are in San Francisco.
“As one of the top six media markets in the country, the Bay Area is a prime growth opportunity for WPS as we seek to raise the league’s profile among soccer fans, other potential owners and sponsors alike,” WPS Commissioner Tonya Antonucci said in a press release.
Nancy said she and Brian, CEO of the high-tech company Blue Coat Systems, were approached four months ago about purchasing the Bay Area franchise.
“We were very interested and it happened fairly quickly,” Nancy said. “We met with the other owners and the commissioner, and felt very positive about it.”
Perhaps no one was more positive about it than the NeSmiths’ daughters, both standout soccer players. Sarah – a freshman on an athletic scholarship at Northwestern University – played for Los Altos High and the nationally ranked MVLA Mercury club team. Amanda is a junior at Los Altos who plays for her school and the nationally ranked MVLA Avalanche club team.
“It was a family decision, and immediately they said, ‘Let’s do it,” said Nancy, the only woman to own a stake in a WPS team.
A familiar face will coach the team. The NeSmiths last week hired Los Altos graduate Albertin Montoya, who has coached Sarah and Amanda on the club level. His wife, Erin Montoya, is the girls varsity coach at Los Altos.
“We looked at a few candidates and he definitely had the best qualifications,” Nancy said. “He’s very well known in the Bay Area and has a lot of experience coaching women. He was the best qualified.”
A former first-round pick in Major League Soccer, Montoya is in his first year as an assistant coach for the Stanford University women’s team. He assisted at Santa Clara University the past two seasons.
The NeSmiths are in the process of hiring a general manager, according to Nancy, with other front-office positions to be filled soon after. She said the team’s name, logo and colors will be announced in the next few weeks.
Brian will handle the financial and business aspects of the franchise, while Nancy said she will be in charge of “sales, marketing and soccer enthusiasm.” Nancy, a proud soccer mom for 15 years, intends to use that status to attract youth players to WPS games.
“The Northern California soccer community is huge,” she said. “We want all those fathers and daughters to come out and watch soccer in a fun, family friendly environment.”
Each team will play 20 regular-season games in the inaugural season, running through late August with playoffs. But first, the teams need players. Each squad will be allocated three players from the U.S. National Team on Tuesday and four international players by the end of the month. A general draft of out-of-college players follows in October and a college draft in December.
Nancy said she isn’t sure if any players from the Los Altos area will be on the team, but she hopes there are some local players good enough to make it. She’s already been approached by young girls aspiring to play in the WPS one day.
“We’re trying to give girls the same potential to dream as boys and have their own athletic heroes,” Nancy said. “It is about the girls, in the end, and they now have something to dream about.”
To contact the NeSmiths about the team, e-mail
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or write them at 171 Main St., No. 255, Los Altos, CA 94022. For more information about the league, visit www.womensprosoccer.com.
Contact Pete Borello at
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2 Comments
2Comment
at Friday, 16 January 2009 10:53
Give 'em a break. I hope they make some money.
1Comment
at Tuesday, 23 September 2008 16:43
I was hopeful about the team until I heard who the owners are. This will be barely a blip on the sports radar. Anybody surprised on the coach selection? Typical Nesmith move!
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