Author: George Grodiy Feb 23rd, 2022
Bay Cities Football Club is a professional soccer club founded in 2021 that will participate in the men’s inaugural NISA season in 2022 and the Women’s Semi-Professional league in the UWS. Bay Cities will bring professional soccer to the Peninsula and bridge successful sports, community, and technology opportunities for the surrounding bay cities.
It was highly important for the club to provide men’s and women’s teams equal opportunities both outside and on the football field. Even though it was previously declared that both rosters will be equally treated and financially invested, Bay Cities F.C. women's team theoretically did not have the same opportunities on the field, compared to the men’s roster, as the men’s team has already joined the NISA Professional League. That was one of the decisive factors to provide our women’s team an opportunity to participate in the UWS League Two, enhancing the level of competition, thus increasing the desire to grow and move forward. Such a step ahead develops the motivation and provides women a real professional opportunity in sports.
“Our vision is to provide professional opportunities for the young men and women in our community. With joining the UWS League Two, we feel this is the first step in being able to achieve that goal for the countless young female players in Redwood City and the Peninsula.” - Andres Perez, Bay Cities F.C founder.
Two Bay Cities’ founders are Redwood City community advocates Anders Perez and Ivan Martinez. Currently, Anders and Ivan both lead separate non-profit organizations with extensive roots in Redwood City that continue to positively impact the daily lives of hundreds of youth and families. This experience has allowed both leaders to establish the needed network and support to launch Bay Cities Football Club, providing equal opportunities for both men and women.
The reason why Bay Cities F.C. is so much dedicated towards women’s football development is not only motivated by the concepts of equality and equity but also by the lack of a well-developed infrastructure and system in women’s soccer in the United States. Anders Perez believes that there is a big gap between European and United States women football development, therefore Bay Cities F.C. must remain responsible for providing women everything needed for the success:
“All along, we feel that our women’s game is underserved compared to the men’s game. Bay Cities wants to do our part in helping close the gaps and address the inequities in terms of opportunities for female soccer players. If we don’t create the infrastructure for the women’s game, we’re going to fall behind. The development model and the infrastructure in Europe is 100 years ahead of ours.”
About United Women’s Soccer (UWS)
United Women’s Soccer is a national pro-am league founded in December 2015 on the basis of providing equality, opportunity and respect for the women’s game. UWS has proven to be an innovative league that has paved the way for the further advancement of women’s soccer. Ninety-plus teams based in the United States and Canada comprise two distinct levels of competition: UWS and UWS League Two (UWS2).
