Sarah Whalen at the launch of USL Long Island Pro Soccer. (Photo by Joe Orovitz)
Sara Whalen Brings Professional Soccer to Long Island
The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame would like to congratulate Sara Whalen and the rest of the USL Long Island on the launch of their new professional soccer team, joining the United Soccer League pyramid.
Whalen, who is an IJSHOF 2024 Inductee, serves as co-founder and President of the team, breaking boundaries as one of the only female presidents in professional men’s soccer. This new adventure comes for Sara Whalen, who represented the United States at the 1999 World Cup.
Sara earned the opportunity to play for the United States after her standout performances in college soccer. At the University of Connecticut, Whalen was a three-time All-American and won the 1997-98 Honda Sports Award as the top college soccer player in the country. She was also the National Soccer Coaches Association of America’s player of the year in 1997 and named to Soccer America’s All-Decade college team of the 1990s.
A key defender for the US Women’s National Soccer team, the United States beat China for the 1999 World Cup. That event was the springboard for the rising popularity of women’s soccer in the U.S. Whalen played on the USWNT from 1997 to 2000, winning an Olympic silver medal in her final year with the team. Later, she became a founding player of the Women’s United Soccer Association.
As Sara puts it, “Long Island is where I fell in love with soccer. Like a boomerang, soccer sent me out into the world, taught me lessons I never expected to learn, and brought me back home. But this time, it brought me back for a different reason. Not to play. But To build. To help create something Long Island can be proud of and call its own. I am beyond grateful to get the chance to do that.”
For Sara Whalen, this new team is a way to give back to her community, and inspire locals to get involved in soccer like she did when she was growing up. The new USL Long Island team will be housed at James M. Shuart Stadium, home of Hofstra University.
