After the end of the first half of Forward Madison FC’s Aug. 16 matchup vs. FC Naples, a parade of girls from various youth soccer clubs in the Madison area descended onto the field, and members of the Edgewood University and Madison College women’s soccer teams unveiled a banner, showing the logo for the new United Soccer League Women’s League team in Madison.
Over a hundred excited young girls and star collegiate athletes, with posters, pom-poms and purple smoke kicked off a new era in Madison’s women’s sports scene.
The USL W League is a pre-professional women’s soccer league, designed to provide women’s college soccer athletes a competitive opportunity outside of their academic seasons.
Their mission is to develop young talent in women’s soccer by providing a path of easy transition from college competition to a professional career.
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Following the reveal, the Chief Operating Officer and partner of Big Top Events LLC — the ownership group of Forward Madison FC — Conor Caloia and the President of Downtown Madison Inc. Jason Ilstrup spoke about the decision and the excitement from the group to further women’s sports in Wisconsin.
This move by the owners of Forward Madison is similar to their addition of the Madison Night Mares, a pre-professional softball team to their franchise who have seen great success since its inaugural season in 2024 — including becoming champions of Northwoods League this summer.
Multiple Wisconsin softball players are also a part of the Night Mares including top performers junior catcher Hilary Blomberg and junior outfielder Danielle Lucey who have called the Madison area home since childhood.
Following this trend, some Wisconsin players to keep an eye on with tryouts for the new USL W team looming include junior midfielder/forward Delaney Cox and sophomore midfielder/forward Abbey Stanton, who both grew up in Madison as well.
Forward Madison, contrary to the incoming W League team, is a member of the USL League One, which is a professional soccer league targeting mid-size markets with passionate fans, which came to Madison in 2019.
The USL W Madison team will begin playing games in May 2026, kicking off the 100th season of athletics at the historic Breese Stevens Field. While no conference has been confirmed for the team, the teams we expect them to compete against in May include AFC Ann Arbor, Chicago City SC, Chicago Dutch Lions FC, Detroit City FC, Flower City 1872, Indy Eleven, Midwest United FC, Minnesota Aurora FC and other Midwest-based teams.
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In the coming months, Forward Madison is asking for fan input on the name and brand of the team, and is opening a search for a Sporting Director and Head Coach, hoping to launch the full image of the team this fall. To help out the team and pitch your own ideas, fill out this form on the team’s website.
They are also inviting fans to become a founding member of the team, by making a deposit to become season ticket holders. In the first 24 hours since the announcement, over 250 season ticket deposits were placed and almost 500 in the first 48 hours. If you are interested in becoming a season ticket holder and becoming a part of women’s sports history in Madison, tickets can still be purchased here.
The team was also happy to announce that it has six founding partners from Wisconsin-based companies as well, demonstrating the community’s commitment to furthering women’s soccer.
Hummel will be the official kit and apparel provider, with Dairyland Insurance as the front of kit partner, much like Forward Madison. UW Credit Union will be the kit sleeve partner as well.
Alongside them, Trustage and Exact Sciences are joining the initiative, as the training and travel gear partner, and the community partner. And, of course, it wouldn’t be a Madison team without the support of Bubbl’r as the official beverage partner.
Since the announcement, the team has garnered support from many significant individuals in Madison as well, including recent Wisconsin graduate and Olympian, swimmer Phoebe Bacon, who expressed her support for the team on Instagram.
Along with Bacon, some other significant supporters include Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, Forward Madison Head Coach Matt Glaeser and ESPN sports reporter Jen Lada.