Atlanta Beat (WPS)

{{Infobox football club

| clubname = Atlanta Beat

| image = 150 px

| fullname = Atlanta Beat

| nickname = Beat

| shortname =

| founded = 2009

| dissolved =

| stadium = KSU Soccer Stadium

| capacity = 8,300

| owner = {{Flagicon|USA}} Fitz Johnson

| chrtitle = General manager

| chairman = {{Flagicon|USA}} Shawn McGee

| mgrtitle = Head coach

| manager = James Galanis

| league = Women's Professional Soccer

| season =

| current =

| position =

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The Atlanta Beat was an American soccer club based in Atlanta, Georgia that competed on a professional level. The team joined Women's Professional Soccer as an expansion team in 2010, and played its home games at Kennesaw State University Soccer Stadium, the result of a public-private partnership between the team and Kennesaw State University.{{cite news|url=http://www.ajc.com/news/cobb/ksu-hopes-to-raise-462143.html |title=KSU hopes to raise profile with new soccer stadium |first=Ralph |last=Ellis |newspaper=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution |date=2010-04-15 |access-date=2010-04-25}} The club took the name and logo of the former Atlanta Beat (WUSA) of the defunct Women's United Soccer Association.

History

=Name and colors=

The team's name was announced to be the Beat on June 18, 2009. The name was determined by a fan poll, with Attack, Beat, and Storm as the options.

The new Beat logo was the same design as the previous WUSA logo, with the two shades of blue being replaced by Gold and Ferrari Red.{{cite news|url=http://www.womensprosoccer.com/Home/atlanta/news/general/090618-atlanta-beat-announced.aspx |title=Atlanta Beat Announced as Ninth Team in Women's Professional Soccer |publisher=WPS |date=2009-06-18 |access-date=2009-09-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120327094245/http://www.womensprosoccer.com/Home/atlanta/news/general/090618-atlanta-beat-announced.aspx |archive-date=2012-03-27 }}

=Building the team=

Atlanta began building its team at the 2009 WPS Expansion Draft on September 15, 2009,{{cite news|url=http://www.womensprosoccer.com/Home/news/columnist/090917-lauletta-beat-expansion-draft |title=Beat find attacking options and experience in Expansion Draft |publisher=WPS |date=2009-09-17 |access-date=2009-09-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090922221812/http://www.womensprosoccer.com/Home/news/columnist/090917-lauletta-beat-expansion-draft |archive-date=2009-09-22 }} where it selected six players from the existing seven WPS teams, getting four players from the teams that finished first and second in the league's inaugural season. A week later, Atlanta selected five international players{{cite news|url=http://www.womensprosoccer.com/Home/atlanta/news/press_releases/Atlanta%20Beat%20Selects%20International%20Players.aspx |title=Atlanta Drafts International Players |publisher=WPS |date=2009-06-18 |access-date=2009-09-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090927161213/http://www.womensprosoccer.com/Home/atlanta/news/press_releases/Atlanta%20Beat%20Selects%20International%20Players.aspx |archive-date=2009-09-27 }} in the 2009 WPS International Draft, including three players from Umea IK, and thus now have exclusive negotiating rights to those players among WPS teams.

=Inaugural season=

The Beat ended the 2010 season in last place with 5 wins, 13 losses, and 6 ties.

{{cite web|title=Atlanta Beat readies for inaugural season|date=30 April 2010|url=http://www.thegavoice.com/community/sports/275-atlanta-beat-readies-for-inaugural-season|publisher=GA Voice|access-date=14 November 2012}}

=2011 season=

The Atlanta Beat started off the 2011 season on April 9 in a game against the Boston Breakers in front of over slightly 4,000 spectators at KLS Stadium. The Beat lost 1–4 to Boston with their lone goal coming from Carli Lloyd in a penalty kick in the 78th minute.{{cite web|title=Boston Breakers 4–1 Atlanta Beat: Breakers kick-off season in dominating fashion|url=http://equalizersoccer.com/2011/04/10/boston-breakers-4-1-atlanta-beat-breakers-kick-off-season-in-dominating-fashion/|publisher=Equalizer Soccer|access-date=14 November 2012}}

Players

=2011 roster=

{{Fs player | no= | nat=USA | pos=DF | name= Katherine Reynolds}}

=League suspension=

On January 30, 2012, Women's Professional Soccer announced suspension of the 2012 season, citing several internal organization struggles as the primary cause. Some of these included an ongoing legal battle with an ex-franchise owner and the lack of resources invested into the league.{{cite web|title=WPS suspends 2012 season|url=https://www.espn.com/sports/soccer/story/_/id/7519539/women-professional-soccer-suspends-2012-season-amid-legal-dispute|publisher=ESPN|access-date=14 November 2012}}{{cite web|title=Suspended season brings uncertainty|url=http://espn.go.com/espnw/more-sports/7520830/suspended-wps-season-brings-uncertainty|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120203142926/http://espn.go.com/espnw/more-sports/7520830/suspended-wps-season-brings-uncertainty|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 3, 2012|publisher=ESPN|access-date=14 November 2012}}