Upcoming season or competition: 2026 Women's Lacrosse League season | |
 | |
| Sport | Lacrosse sixes |
|---|---|
| First season | 2025 |
| Owner | Premier Lacrosse League |
| No. of teams | 4 |
| Country | United States |
| Broadcaster | ESPN |
| Official website | https://thewll.com/ |
TheWomen's Lacrosse League (WLL;sponsor nameMaybelline Women's Lacrosse League) is a professionallacrosse sixes league owned and organized by thePremier Lacrosse League (PLL). It is the sole professionallacrosse league for women in the United States. The WLL commenced play in 2025, with four clubs competing. Its matches are broadcast domestically byESPN.
Prior toAthletes Unlimited Pro Lacrosse, two attempts at establishing a professional league for traditionalwomen's lacrosse were made – theUnited Women's Lacrosse League (UWLX), and theWomen's Professional Lacrosse League (WPLL).[1] The UWLX was established byUnited Women's Sports in 2016,[2] and played three seasons before quietly disbanding. Under the leadership of former UWLX CommissionerMichele DeJuliis,[3] the WPLL played two seasons in 2018 and 2019, before its 2020 season was cancelled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in the United States,[4][5] and collapsed as a result.[6][7] A number of players in the WPLL would be offered contracts to play in Athletes Unlimited's non-traditional, individualized league, which commenced play in 2021.[7]
By the 2020s,Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) executives were motivated to take advantage of both a growth in demand for women's sports in the U.S., and the timing of the2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, where discretionarylacrosse sixes tournaments will be contested.[1][8][9] The PLL established its "Unleashed" program in 2020, aimed at fostering women's participation in lacrosse through training camps andexhibition games, including the first Unleashed All-Star Game during the2024 PLL Championship Series.[10][11][12] The establishment of the Women's Lacrosse League was announced by PLL PresidentPaul Rabil on the November 13, 2024 broadcast ofGet Up onESPN.[10][13]U.S. national team players Lizzie Colson,Ally Mastroianni, andCharlotte North, formerNorthwestern Wildcats midfielderIzzy Scane, andAthletes Unlimited assistant coachAlex Aust Holman, were also simultaneously unveiled as the league's first five signings.[9][11][14] All but Colson were later appointedcaptains of each of the four charter clubs: theBoston Guard,California Palms,Maryland Charm, andNew York Charging – the brandings of which were unveiled on a December 10 broadcast of ESPN'sSportsCenter.[15][16][17] In the same month, Athletes Unlimited announced the suspension of its lacrosse activities, leaving the WLL as the sole professional lacrosse league for women.[18][19][20]
Thelacrosse sixes format is used for games in the Women's Lacrosse League, which feature six-on-six teams, smaller fields, and shorter time periods thanwomen's lacrosse. There are no specialized roles in sixes, and thus no qualifying designations forattackers anddefenders.[12][20] Sixes also features thirty-secondshot clocks and quick restarts initiated by thegoaltender.[21] The league's season begins with the annual WLL Championship Series, which takes place concurrently with thePLL Championship Series in February. The format of the league's full season is yet to be determined, though a series of tournaments similar to the WLL Championship Series held throughout the year is being considered.[22][23]
The Women's Lacrosse League is a wholly ownedsubsidiary of thePremier Lacrosse League.[24] Courtney Ellis serves as the league'soperations director through her role as the PLL's director of women's growth, while Rachel DeCecco serves as itssporting director through her role as the PLL's vice president of lacrosse.[23][24]
The Women's Lacrosse League consists of four clubs: theBoston Guard,captained byCharlotte North; theCalifornia Palms, captained byAlly Mastroianni; theMaryland Charm, captained byAlex Aust Holman; and theNew York Charging, captained byIzzy Scane.[16][17] The league chose the markets for their four charter franchises based on local television viewership for lacrosse, the size of the local fandom for women's lacrosse, and the success of the PLL clubs that share the markets.[25] Officialhome grounds for the four teams are yet to be determined.[23]
| Team | Location | Joined |
|---|---|---|
| Boston Guard | Boston, MA | 2025 |
| California Palms | California | 2025 |
| Maryland Charm | Maryland | 2025 |
| New York Charging | New York | 2025 |
| Tournament | Location | Date |  Champion |  Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 WLL Championship Series | Springfield, VA | February 11–17 | Boston Guard | New York Charging |
ESPN hold the domestic broadcasting rights to the Women's Lacrosse League in the United States, airing some matches on itsESPN2 channel, while alsolivestreaming all the league's matches onESPN+.[22][26] The league's primary sponsors areLexus andWhirlpool,[15] whileMaybelline holds thenaming rights to the league and the WLL Championship Series, as the "Maybelline Women's Lacrosse League" and "Maybelline Championship Series", respectively.[27]
Led by Digit Murphy and Aronda Kirby, the co-founders...
Michelle Dejuliis -- the CEO of the WPLL...
Athletes Unlimited on Wednesday suspended its Pro Lacrosse league indefinitely...
The six-on-six format uses a shorter field than traditional field lacrosse [...] Unlike in field lacrosse, there are no designations between offensive and defensive players, so many athletes used to specialized roles will have to broaden their understanding of the game. The WLL fills a women's professional lacrosse void in North America after Athletes Unlimited folded in December.
The WLL will live as a separate subsidiary of the PLL but be wholly owned by the league [...] The WLL will be run day-to-day on the commercial and operations side by Courtney Ellis, senior director/play operations and women's growth at the PLL, and on the lacrosse side by Rachel DeCecco, VP/lacrosse at the PLL.
The Maybelline Women's Lacrosse League will officially debut at the Premier Lacrosse League's 2025 Championship Series...
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