Carolina Courage was a professional
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
team that played in the
Women's United Soccer Association
The Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) was the world's first women's soccer league in which all the players were paid as professionals. Founded in February 2000, the league began its first season in April 2001 with eight teams in the Uni ...
. The team played at
Fetzer Field on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus in 2001, and then at the soccer-specific
SAS Stadium in
Cary, North Carolina
Cary is a town in Wake County, North Carolina, Wake, Chatham County, North Carolina, Chatham, and Durham County, North Carolina, Durham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina and is part of the Raleigh, North Carolina, Raleigh-Cary, NC M ...
in 2002 and 2003.
History
The team was founded in 2000 and began play in 2001. The Courage played their first season at
Fetzer Field on the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...
campus.
They finished the 2001 season in last place, tied with the
Washington Freedom Washington Freedom may refer to:
* Washington Freedom (cricket)
* Washington Freedom (soccer)
{{dab ...
on points, with a 6–12–3 record. The Courage moved to the new
SAS Soccer Park in
Cary for the 2002 season and drew an average of 5,800 spectators to its matches.
The team won the
2002 Founders Cup, defeating the Washington Freedom 3–2. In 2003, the Carolina Courage finished 7th in the league with seven wins, nine losses, and four ties.
The
Women's United Soccer Association
The Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) was the world's first women's soccer league in which all the players were paid as professionals. Founded in February 2000, the league began its first season in April 2001 with eight teams in the Uni ...
announced on September 15, 2003, that it was suspending operations.
The Courage name was revived in 2017 by the
North Carolina Courage
The North Carolina Courage are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Cary, North Carolina, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It was founded on January 9, 2017, after Stephen Malik acqui ...
, a new team in the
National Women's Soccer League
The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...
that plays at the same stadium in Cary.
See also
*
Women's professional sports
Women's professional sports are a relatively new phenomenon, having largely emerged within the latter part of the 20th century. Unlike amateur female athletes, professional female athletes are able to acquire an income which allows them to earn ...
*
List of soccer clubs in the United States
*
Women's association football
Women's association football, more commonly known as women's football or women's soccer, is the team sport of association football played by women. It is played at the professional level in multiple countries, and about 200 national teams partic ...
References
External links
Archive.org: Carolina Courage Website on September 30, 2003
Sports in Cary, North Carolina
Defunct soccer clubs in North Carolina
Women's soccer clubs in North Carolina
Women's United Soccer Association teams
2000 establishments in North Carolina
2003 disestablishments in North Carolina
Association football clubs established in 2000
Association football clubs disestablished in 2003
Sports in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
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