New WPS side gets name: FC Gold Pride

With U.S. women’s national team legend Brandi Chastain at the podium, key figures of FC Gold Pride and the WPS were on hand for the naming announcement. Top row, left to right: Albertin Montoya, head coach; Sissi, assistant coach; goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart; defender Rachel Buehler; and defender Tracy Hamm. Front row, left to right: FC Gold Pride general manager Ilisa Kessler; WPS commissioner Tonya Antonucci; and team owners Brian and Nancy NeSmith with daughter Amanda. Photo: John Todd, centerlinesoccer.com, isiphotos.com.

Filling a void in the Bay Area soccer landscape that has existed since the 2003 demise of WUSA and the CyberRays, today the new name of the region’s Women’s Professional Soccer entry was made known. Starting next year, FC Gold Pride will take the field at Santa Clara’s Buck Shaw Stadium, a ground they will share with the MLS San Jose Earthquakes.

“There are three parts to the name,”said Brian NeSmith, who owns the team along with wife Nancy and daughters Sarah and Amanda. “The first starts with that we’re not just creating a team — we’re creating a club. The top of that pyramid starts with the women’s professional team, but we’re looking to expand through other teams both at the youth level and the intermediate level, so we’re creating a whole club, very similar to the European system, and that’s a critical part of our name, is creating a broader organization. I think a big part of what will make us successful is being a bigger club than simply this one team.

“The second part is we’re here in the Bay Area. It’s the Golden State, and everything’s gold here in this area, so we’re excited about that with the Olympians and their gold medals, and the former players and everybody that’s here, we all know that gold is the standard that we all are appealing to.

“The last, which really goes to the name, is that we’ve chosen a mascot as an animal. We spent a lot of time debating around the kitchen table and in the car drives to the soccer games, going back and forth about what makes sense for us, and we’re very excited about combining these all into what I think can really serve as an inspiration and we’ll see a lot of cheering around these names.”

After unveiling the logo, he continued. “The lionesses are the hunters, they work together as a team and they’re really the ones that provide, and we think it’s a great symbol for women’s soccer in the Bay Area.”

The team will begin training in March, 2009, with league play beginning a month later.

CLS Interviews:

Brandi Chastain

Head coach Albertin Montoya

Owners Brian and Nancy NeSmith

General manager Ilisa Kessler

Players Nicole Barnhart, Rachel Buehler, and Tracy Hamm