Yesterday was a day for league-wide releases of schedules in the world of women’s sports. The National Women’s Soccer League released a schedule for its 16-team league. As has been the case the last few years, the schedule is a balanced one, with each of the teams playing each other once at home, once on the road.
More complicated, however, is the schedule for the inaugural season of the Maybelline Women’s Lacrosse League. Like its brother league, the Premier Lacrosse League, the entire league travels from location to location to play games over the course of one weekend in both team markets (called “homecoming weekends”), and in markets in which it is hoped that the league can develop the sport.
The one thing we do not know is exactly how each of the individual weekends is structured. We do not know, for example, whether each weekend is three games for each team like in Athletes Unlimited, or whether it will be one game for each team like in the Premier Lacrosse League.
What’s interesting here is that each of the weekends scheduled for WLL games is a three-day block rather than just either Saturday or Sunday. Is it possible for the regular season in the WLL to be 24 full-field games in three months? I’m not so sure, given the fact that the Premier Lacrosse League’s eight sides played 10 regular-season games each.
We do know that the WLL’s tour will go from coast-to-coast, with many established markets to tap into:
Week 1
Dates: May 15-17
Location: Pawtucket, R.I.
Venue: Centreville Bank Stadium
The skinny: Pawtucket?Yep, both the PLL and the WLL are starting their seasons an hour south of Boston in one of the newest facilities in the region, which is the home of Rhode Island FC in the United Soccer League.
Week 2
Dates: May 29-31
Location: Baltimore, Md.
Venue: Ridley Family Athletic Complex, Loyola University
The skinny: This is a reflection of the league leaving Homewood Field behind; the men and the women are taking their talents a mere two miles west, up and over Jones Falls.
Week 3
Dates: June 5-7
Location: Charlotte, N.C.
Venue: American Legion Memorial Stadium
The skinny: This has been the site of some prominent neutral-side games over the last few years, as well as the ACC Tournament.
Week 4
Dates: June 19-21
Location: Hempstead, N.Y.
Venue: James M. Shuart Stadium, Hofstra University
The skinny: Hofstra has been a fine host of NCAA quarterfinal doubleheaders on the men’s side, and the Hofstra women are coached by one of the finest of all time, Shannon Smith, who went to school 25 miles east in West Babylon.
Week 5
Dates: June 26-28
Location: San Diego, Calif.
Venue: Torero Stadium
The skinny: This is a small facility, which seats only about 6,000. However, it is a direct shoutout to the lacrosse community of California, especially the CIF San Diego Section. It is a bit puzzling that the league didn’t hit upon Snapdragon Stadium or have the weekend in the San Francisco Bay Area, given the talent that is flowing out of that area,
All-Star Weekend
Date: Around the 4th of July
Location/Venue: Unknown
The skinny: Looking to the PLL for guidance as to where the mid-season All-Star Game is going to be held? The PLL hasn’t disclosed where its All-Star Game is going to be, either. I’d guess both events are going to be held in the same market.
Week 6
Dates: July 10-12
Location: Evanston, Ill.
Venue: Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium
The skinny: Yes, this is The House that Kelly Amonte-Hiller Built. Also hosting the school’s football and soccer team, this place will be hosting the first NCAA Division I Final Four outside the Eastern Time Zone.
Week 7
Dates: July 17-19
Location: Fairfield, Conn.
Venue: Rafferty Stadium, Fairfield University
The skinny: This weekend is being held in perhaps the most competitive region for youth girls’ lacrosse in the country. Fairfield County has the likes of Darien, New Canaan, Greenwich Academy, Greenwich High School, Sacred Heart-Greenwich, and Wilton, all of whom have sent athletes to Division I teams this decade.
Week 8
Dates: Aug. 7-9
Location: Cambridge, Mass.
Venue: Harvard Stadium
The skinny: The regular season ends a mere hour north of where it started, at a location which is important in the history of the sport. Carole Kleinfelder, the head coach at Harvard, worked with Brine to develop a molded-head women’s lacrosse stick. By the time Harvard won the 1990 NCAA women’s lacrosse title, the Brine Cup stick was a proven concept.
Championship
Date: Aug 14, 15 or 16
Location: Chester, Pa.
Venue: Subaru Park
The skinny: For much of the early history of the Division I tournament, the championship final was held within about an hour’s drive of Chester. But guess what? The Final Four returns to the home of the Philadelphia Union in 2027 and 2028.
