The 2025 NWSL Championship is set to kick off in San Jose on November 22, adding yet another chapter in the history of women’s soccer.

For nearly four decades, the Bay Area has been one of the most essential regions in the evolution of women’s soccer in the United States. Long before the NWSL, long before women realized they could play soccer professionally, before even the sport of soccer became a fixture on televisions across the country, and before the rise of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team became a global phenomenon, the Bay Area was quietly building the foundation – on college pitches, in community stadiums, in the lush and misty parks, and through generational athletes who carved pathways where none existed.

Today, that history sits inside a broader cultural movement: the Bay Area is becoming one of the premier homes for women’s sports in the country. Alongside the NWSL’s Bay FC – which began play in 2024 – the region now boasts the WNBA’s Golden State Valkyries, who sold out every home game in their inaugural season in 2025, and beginning in 2026, will welcome women’s professional baseball. The arrival of all three one right after the other signals the same thing Bay Area women’s soccer established decades ago: here, women’s sports are not just welcomed, they thrive.

Youth and College Soccer: The Bay Area’s Talent Engine

Some of the best soccer players in the world grew up in the Bay, trained there, or came there during their formative years, but that didn’t happen overnight. Colleges in the Bay like Stanford, Santa Clara, and Cal offer local talent opportunities to flourish in the next phase in their career.

They all have long histories with some of the most well-known alumni in the game.

Santa Clara produced the four Bay FC co-founders Brandi Chastain, Danielle Slaton, Leslie Osborne, and Aly Wagner as well as players like Julie Ertz and current players like Orlando Pride’s Julie Doyle and Utah Royals’ Alex Loera. The program has two National Championships (2001 and 2020), 14 West Coast Conference titles, and has appeared in 12 College Cups.

Next is Stanford, one of the most dominant programs in NCAA history. Under Paul Ratcliffe, the program has won three national championships (2011, 2017, 2019) and reached numerous College Cups. Its success is deeply tied to the broader Bay Area player pool, with the current Stanford women’s soccer team made up of 11 Northern California products and, at the time of publication, they’re currently 17-1-2.

Stanford has churned out some of the most iconic players: recently retired legends Christen Press, Ali Riley, and Kelley O’Hara and some still in the game, like local talent Tierna Davidson and Sophia Wilson.

And we would be amiss if we didn’t mention UC Berkeley, also known as Cal. The Bay’s third major program, despite never winning national acclaim, produced one of the most well-known players in the world: Alex Morgan, a household name on the same levels of fame as Michael Jordan and Serena Williams.

WUSA, WPS, and the NWSL: Three Professional Leagues, One Goal

Across three eras of women’s professional soccer in the U.S., the Bay Area has been home to global stars and title-winning teams: seven NBA championships from the Golden State Warriors, five Super Bowls from the San Francisco 49ers, eight World Series titles from the San Francisco Giants, four World Series titles during the Athletics’ Oakland era, and two Super Bowl wins while the Raiders called the Bay home. With league championships from both the WUSA’s San Jose CyberRays (2001) and WPS’ FC Gold Pride (2010), women’s soccer has long stood proudly in the same arena of excellence.

In August 2001, the Bay Area CyberRays (renamed San Jose CyberRays in 2002) won the inaugural Founders Cup of the WUSA, the world’s first women’s professional club championship match. It was a landmark moment, not just for the Bay but for global women’s football. The WUSA was dissolved in 2003 but that team’s legacy is still visible in the region today, where its players coach local youth teams and attend home Bay FC games.

Six years after the Rays closed up shop, the FC Gold Pride were established. In 2009, the team struggled to gain traction but in 2010, after some savvy offseason signings, the team went 17-3-4 and Marta – one of those offseason signings – won her second consecutive Player of the Year and Golden Boot (19) trophies. They also lifted their one and only championship trophy that year. The Gold Pride folded at the end of the season and the WPS followed soon after.

After the Gold Pride folded, there was a long stretch without a professional women’s soccer team in the Bay Area – more than a decade – but in 2024, Bay FC ended the drought.

It’s no surprise that when it came to resurrecting the game, the call was coming from inside the house. Local legends and Santa Clara products Brandi Chastain, Leslie Osborne, Danielle Slaton, and Aly Wagner are now “The Founding Four” of Bay FC.

“The Bay Area is where this all began,” said Chastain. “We look forward to the Bay fans embracing our team and celebrating the competitive spirit and talent we will put onto the field to continue the strong Bay tradition of playing to win championships.”

The Bay Area showed out for their team. In its inaugural season, Bay FC had an average attendance of 13,000, the fourth-highest 2024 average in the league. The team went on to qualify for the playoffs but were defeated by the Spirit in the quarterfinals.

And this past August, Bay FC played the Spirit at Oracle Park — home of the San Francisco Giants — in front of a crowd of 40,091. The game set a new NWSL attendance record, and it was the highest-attended game ever for a professional women’s league in the U.S. – in any sport.

The next landmark moment for the Bay Area, the 2025 NWSL Championship at PayPal Park in San Jose – the league’s 50th playoff game ever – is a celebration of all this history.

The USWNT: A Fortress in the Bay Area

You can’t talk about women’s soccer in the Bay Area without the U.S. Women’s National Team. The first USWNT game in Northern California took place at Spartan Stadium in San Jose in 1997. More than 17,000 fans packed the stands to watch the national team rout England, 5-0.

That was the start of a beautiful run in the Bay Area, where the national team went undefeated until this year against Brazil. Since 1997, an average of almost 21,000 fans have watched 15 wins and one loss.

In 1999, 73,000 fans packed Stanford Stadium to watch the USWNT in the Women’s World Cup semifinals. The world tuned in and would arrive in droves to watch the team win the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup final in Pasadena. The 99ers influenced a generation of girls, and it made the world look at the USWNT with genuine interest and respect. A few years later, Abby Wambach scored her first international goal in Spartan Stadium, setting her on her path to 184 goals.

If there is an iconic Bay Area venue that can host a soccer game, the USWNT has probably played – and won – there.

Avaya Stadium (now PayPal Park)? The USWNT has played there six times and only lost once. Levi’s Stadium? Check. Candlestick Park, now demolished but once home to the SF Giants and the site of Game 3 of the 1989 World Series that was delayed by a 6.9 earthquake? Spartan Stadium, Stanford Stadium? Check and check.

Where the Sport Took Root and Never Let Go

Few regions in the world can claim what Northern California can when it comes to the growth and passion of women’s soccer.

There’s a youth ecosystem that produces national team players with remarkable consistency. College dynasties have shaped the NCAA landscape for decades. Professional champions are littered across multiple leagues and moments, including the world’s first women’s pro club champions. It has a strong connection to the USWNT and played host to one of the most important matches in Women’s World Cup history

But the heart of the Bay Area’s legacy isn’t only in its trophies or milestones, it’s in the people. Most important to the fabric of the women’s sports culture in the Bay is a community of fans who show up in force, stay loud, and treat women’s sports as essential, not optional. Women’s soccer didn’t simply pass through the Bay Area, it grew up there and found its voice there. The story isn’t finished though. Hosting the NWSL Championship on November 22nd is a new chapter for a region where the game of soccer took hold and never let go.