United Women’s Soccer (UWS) announces West Conference for its inaugural 2016 season.

Five teams will take part in the UWS West for the league’s inaugural 2016 season

United Women’s Soccer (UWS) is proud to announce the establishment of a West Conference for its inaugural 2016 season.

All five teams slated to compete in the UWS West have shown themselves to be models of excellence not only on the field, but off the field as well. League spots are designated to aspiring second division clubs under U.S. Soccer who meet predetermined criteria relevant to developmentally-appropriate standards of facilities and infrastructure.

The first five teams of the UWS West Conference are the:

Colorado Pride – CO

Colorado Storm – CO

Houston Aces – TX

Real Salt Lake Women – UT

Santa Clarita Blue Heat – CA

“We are excited to add a West division to compliment our East region,” said League Commissioner Joe Ferrara. “All of these teams operate with high standards and are definitely of championship caliber.”

“This league will be amazing!,” said Santa Clarita owner Carlos Marroquin. “Our decision was based on the fact that we want quality not quantity.”

“We are thrilled to be joining United Women’s Soccer,” said RSL Women Head Coach Mark Davis. “We are really looking forward to the match-ups we will be having in the UWS West.”

Last season, the Colorado Pride participated in the final National Championship match of the now-defunct W-League. The Colorado Storm were also a W-League member team and are one of the longest-running youth clubs in the United States, originally having been formed as Cherry Creek Lightning Soccer in 1967. The Houston Aces were two-time National Finalists in the WPSL (2013-14) and won the 2013 USASA National Women’s Open.

Real Salt Lake Women are two-time National Women’s Open Finalists (2011 & 2013) and were a 2012 WPSL National Semifinalist. In 2015, RSL Women won the WPSL Elite Championship, hammering the San Francisco Nighthawks by a 7-0 score in the final. Founded in 2008, the Santa Clarita Blue Heat were 2011 Western Conference champions in the W-League.