The Women's Premier Soccer League, the most well-established women's league in the country, has had a second tier since 2021 although until last year it was explicitly targeted at young players, as WPSL U21. From a Northland perspective, the most intriguing addition for the 2026 season is Dakota Fusion FC. The Fargo-Moorhead-based club entered the WPSL in 2018 before departing the top division last year. As I wrote elsewhere, their successes at that level were sparse, and their head coach back in 2018 told The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead, "I don't really have expectations in terms of wins, losses. I'm just hoping to start something that will continue for years to come."
I was scathing of his perspective at the time, but maybe he was just 7 years early, and Fusion pitched their tent too high on the pyramid's slopes. We have approached the club, but they have not responded at this time. If Fusion can stick, there is at least one short road trip. Just down the I-29 is Sioux City Sol, a third-year club in the league. Their ownership just changed. Continuing down the interstate, Kansas City is also well represented in the Central Conference. All in all it's another whopping geographical spread, from Fargo, ND to Lafayette, LA, albeit with clusters of clubs in Oklahoma, Missouri and the Kansas City metro.
The full roster is Casa Deportiva Cumbra Alta (LA), Central Kansas United (KS), Dakota Fusion (ND), Flick City Channel Cats (Tulsa, OK), Lou Fusz Athletic II (St Louis, MO), Missouri Reign II (Columbia), Nebraska Fierce (Omaha), Oklahoma City FC Reserves, Side FC 92 OKC, (OK), Sioux City Sol (IA), Sporting Wichita (KS), Sunflower State FC Reserves, Union KC Red and Union KC Navy (Kansas City) and United Capital City Athletic (Jefferson City, MO).
While US Soccer doesn't distinguish among amateur leagues of any gender, Division II remains the development platform for ambitious, young organizations that a U21 league should be. Nonetheless, 15 clubs that play in WPSL also have teams in DII, including 2025 WPSL Champions Sporting CT . Unlike the traditional WPSL model, where the season ends in playoffs, DII will continue regular-season play through the end of July. The player pool utilized by DII is also younger, with a stronger focus on high schoolers. Interestingly, the league is transparent with paying referees less and requiring three rather than four. They have also published the difference in the fee schedule. WPSL clubs pay $4,500 to join, compared to WPSL II, where it is only $1,500 and is zeroed out for current WPSL members. WPSL annual dues are $4,250, whereas WPSL II charges $1,750.
Given the well-established college-to-WPSL pipeline, I expect the standard of play to be similar to that of the other division.
