Fort Lauderdale United opens season with new players, high hopes
Fort Lauderdale United, South Florida’s only women’s professional soccer team, entered the 2025-26 season with 12 new players, a vastly different roster from the one that reached the USL Super League final in June.
Despite the infusion of new faces, the team picked up where it left off, going undefeated through its first three games heading into Saturday’s home game against first-place Dallas Trinity.
“We had a little more experience in the team last year, but we were missing a youthful impact, so that’s what we’ve done with this roster, gone a little younger,” said coach Tyrone Mears, who spent his career playing professional in Europe and MLS. “I think the balance of the squad is looking a lot better this season.”
The latest addition is England U19 forward Princess Ademiluyi, who joined on loan from the NWSL’s Gotham this week, pending league and federation approval. She came up through the West Ham youth system in England and joined the first team at age 16.
She joins a Fort Lauderdale attack that includes Kiara Locklear, Sophie Harding and Jasmine Hamid.
“Princess arrives with an impressive pedigree and résumé at such a young age,” said Fort Lauderdale associate head coach Ali Rogers. “Her background with top clubs and international experience has prepared her well, and we expect her to make an immediate impact with our team. She is a dynamic athlete whose presence on the field is both powerful and difficult for opponents to contain.”
General manager Aly Hassan added: “Princess is an exciting young talent with the potential to take the league by storm. Her experience with top clubs and England’s youth national teams adds another layer to our attack, and we can’t wait to see her in action for Fort Lauderdale.”
Midfielder Carlyn Baldwin, 29, is the oldest player on the Fort Lauderdale roster. The Oakton, Virginia, native played three years at the University of Tennessee and spent eight seasons in the Portuguese league, where her teams won two Portuguese Cups, two Portuguese Super Cups and a Portuguese League title.
She came back to the United States to help grow the women’s professional game in this country, which has two first division leagues. The NWSL, which was founded in 2012, is firmly established, and the USL Super League joined the top tier last season.
The NWSL drew 2 million fans during the 2024 season with an average attendance of 11,235. Last month, the league set a record with a crowd of 40,091 for the game between Bay FC and Washington Spirit at Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants. The previous record was 35,038 for a Bay FC vs. Chicago Red Stars game at Wrigley Field.
Baldwin believes the United States can support two women’s leagues.
“Our job as players is to focus on our performances and win, and growing a fan base also means tapping into pop culture, we’ve seen women’s sports rise over the past five to 10 years,” she said. “Do we have a women’s soccer fan base in the U.S. to support all these teams? Yes. If you look at countries in Europe, they sustain multiple divisions in smaller countries. So, with the quality and talent we have here, we absolutely can do that.”
Haley Craig, a 22-year-old goalkeeper who grew up in Dexter, Michigan, and played at Stanford University, also believes there are enough women’s soccer fans to sustain the NWSL and USL.
“I was with the Portland Thorns when we had the biggest attendance in over a year at a home match, so I don’t think that’s an issue in NWSL, but the USL is a baby league, and we’re just starting,” Craig said. “For us, it’s brand new, and we have to win championships to draw fans. We came really close last year and that’s here our eyes are set this year. The fan base will come.”
Among the other Fort Lauderdale players to watch this season are Sh’nia Gordon, Ella Simpson, Stella Nyamekye, a 19-year-old from Ghana, and Julia Grosso, a native of Sunrise.
Mears, the 42-year-old coach, is a former English player whose 18-year career included stops at Preston North End, Derby County, Burnley, and Bolton Wanderers. He joined the Seattle Sounders in 2014 and went on to play for Atlanta United and Minnesota United. Mears retired from West Brom in 2019.
In March 2023, he joined the Inter Miami Academy staff with the U17 team, and in January 2024 became head coach at Fort Lauderdale United.
Fort Lauderdale United plays its home games at Beyond Bancard Field at Nova Southeastern University (7510 SW 30 St, Davie). Saturday’s match vs. Dallas Trinity is at 7:30. Tickets are $10 for youth, and start at $18 for adults and available at https://www.ftlutd.com/get-tickets/
This story was originally published September 9, 2025 at 4:24 PM.