On Super League Final Day, Questions Remain about the Demise of Spokane Zephyr FC
#1 Lexington SC host #3 Carolina Ascent FC for all the marbles after the fallout from the USL Super League’s first failed club. Did the Spokane Zephyr breach their duty of care to their players?
Tonight at 7:00 PM ET, #1 Lexington SC will host #3 Carolina Ascent FC in the championship final for the United Soccer League (USL) Super League (also known as the Gainbridge Super League for sponsorship purposes). It should be a night of celebration on the eve of an important moment for soccer in the United States: the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
However, the second-ever Super League final is being played in the shadow of a lamentable first for the USL: a Division I women’s professional club closing up shop.
Less than 48 hours after playing their final match of the season, Spokane Zephyr co-owner Ryan Harnetiaux told players the club was suspending operations, and wouldn’t compete in the Super League’s next season. The Super League — which expanded to 9 clubs in its second season with the addition of Sporting Club Jacksonville — was back down to 8.
“It’s sad. It’s definitely sad,” Spokane forward Maddi Desiano told Soccer Sheet earlier this week. “I’m from Southern California, and there was no professional women’s soccer team for me to go to, [but] by 2022, there’s teams in LA and San Diego, and so the game has definitely grown. And so when I think of Spokane, they’ve never had that and they finally got this team and organization that they really cared about. So I feel for the little kids because they had inspirational people in their backyard that they could go watch every weekend. So it’s definitely devastating for the community, and I feel for them.”
The Zephyr’s ownership, which also owns the Spokane Velocity in USL League One, a Division III men’s professional league, released a short statement on Wednesday, May 20 announcing the decision, one day after players were informed.
To our Spokane Zephyr FC community, supporters, and partners – thank you.
Over the past two seasons, you’ve helped bring professional women’s soccer to life in Spokane. The energy, belief, and support you’ve shown this club have meant everything to our players and staff.
After careful consideration, we have made the decision not to continue operating a professional women’s team beyond the 2025/26 season.
This is not the end of women’s soccer in Spokane. We remain committed to the game and to this community, and we will continue exploring ways to ensure women’s soccer remains an active and visible part of the Inland Northwest.
We’re proud of what Spokane Zephyr FC has meant to this community and grateful for the role you’ve played in it.
Thank you for being part of this journey.
For the past two weeks, Soccer Sheet has investigated what the end of the Zephyr means for the players and staff, the Spokane community, and the USL Super League. Unfortunately for fans, staff, and players, the reality of a club folding is more complicated than putting up the chairs, turning out the lights, and locking the doors. The women of Spokane Zephyr FC are unemployed, and are behind schedule to find new teams before matches start back up after the World Cup.
In conversations with multiple sources close to the Zephyr, including some granted anonymity so they could speak candidly and without fear of retribution, Soccer Sheet discovered that while the end of the club was likely unavoidable, the way the situation was handled has harmed players and potentially undermined the credibility of the USL.
“The USL look like they’re cosplaying with supporting women’s soccer,” said Spokane Soccer Show host Benji Wade on a podcast.
During the course of Soccer Sheet’s investigation, multiple sources alleged that the Zephyr’s ownership, Katie and Ryan Harnetiaux, were in breach of their duty of care to players and staff, with now-former Spokane players being left to pick up the pieces.
Specifically, multiple sources allege the club knew about their decision to suspend operations for at least 6-8 weeks prior to the end of the season, with warning signs evident for the better part of a year. Additionally, multiple sources alleged potential violations of Washington State labor law.
The Harnetiauxs and the club, through a spokesperson, declined to comment for this story, and declined to comment on a follow-up request outlining some of these allegations. Additionally, neither the league nor USL Super League president Amanda Vandervort responded to multiple emails and messages from Soccer Sheet requesting comment on this story, though Vandervort read at least one of the requests based on a read receipt.
Warning Signs for Spokane
The Spokane Zephyr brand was first announced in November 2023 to much fanfare. USL Super League president Amanda Vandervort joined team president Katie Harnetiaux and 2,000 fans for the announcement.
“This is a historic day for Spokane and soccer in America. I’m proud to be from Spokane, invested in Spokane and helping to lead transformation,” said Harnetiaux. “This is about expanding opportunities for women in professional soccer. Our mission is to deliver the highest level of professional soccer plus increase access, elevate diversity and inclusion and bolster economic vitality of the region.”
Vandervort pointed out Harnetiaux’s unique position as a president of both a men’s and women’s professional soccer team.
“Katie is not only one of few women CEOs or Presidents in America to lead a men’s professional team but may be the only one in the world to also lead a women’s professional team,” said Vandervort.
Like the other clubs in the USL Super League, Spokane Zephyr FC first took the pitch in the fall of 2024 in what was a strong debut season for the league. Despite finishing fifth in the league, the team’s prospects for their second season were strong, and Spokane standout Emina Ekić won Super League Player of the Year from both this publication and the league.
However, warning signs began to appear between the team’s first and second seasons. Multiple players, including Ekić, departed for Lexington SC. Multiple sources allege that Spokane’s ownership asked for Lexington to pay all of the transfer fees up front, a possible harbinger of financial problems to come.
After head coach Jo Johnson stepped down after the first season, Spokane did not prioritize finding a replacement, and began the season with interim head coach Josh McCallister wearing multiple hats, including as a recruiter and as a strength coach. They finally added Nicole Lukic as a permanent head coach in October.
Near the end of the second season, players grew suspicious as the club refused to renew contracts, and seemed to ignore calls from player agents to finalize contract details, or allow them to talk to new clubs.
A Spokane paper, The Spokesman-Review, went into more detail about the economics behind the decision, noting that the Harnetiauxes’ ownership group has missed multiple payments to the Spokane Public Facilities District, a municipal corporation that manages sports, entertainment, and stadium facilities in Spokane.
When Missing the Playoffs has a “Silver Lining”
For two years in a row, the Zephyr’s season ended in heartbreak, with the team missing the playoffs by the slimmest of margins on the final day of competition.
Last year, Spokane tied Fort Lauderdale United for 4th place in points — and had a superior goal differential — but lost the final playoff spot due to the league’s head-to-head tiebreaker. This year, Spokane needed Fort Lauderdale to defeat or draw Dallas Trinity in their final match, but a 4-0 Dallas win put the Texan Trinity one point ahead of the Zephyr on the table.
This year, the missed playoffs weren’t the worst thing that would happen. After the Zephyr won their match but lost the playoffs on Saturday, May 16, players were told the next day there would be a team meeting at 9:00 AM on Monday.
At that meeting, Ryan Harnetiaux gave a short, scripted speech to players and staff and informed them that the Zephyr were “pausing participation” in the Super League. Every player was now a free agent, and out of a job.
According to the USL Players Association, which represents Super League players, other statements from Harnetiaux included, “The economics of this type of club just aren’t fitting with this community;” “Ownership has realized that Spokane is a difficult market for D1 women’s soccer;” and “At the end of June, everyone is free to go.”
He ended the three minute speech with “good luck,” declined to take questions, and proceeded to walk over to a catered breakfast for the organization’s men’s squad, the Spokane Velocity, where he informed the Division III team that their jobs weren’t in jeopardy. According to a source, Harnetiaux told the Velocity “we’re fully investing in you guys,” and told the men all of the ownership’s proverbial eggs were in the USL’s upcoming move to a three-tier soccer pyramid with European-style promotion and relegation, as well as a Division I league to compete with Major League Soccer.
“There was no time to ask questions or comments, and anything like that was fielded by [vice president of operations Carrie Taylor],” said Desiano. “For the next hour or so, there was a lot of group discussion, a lot of anger, and sadness, and disappointment, and then we hopped on a call with our [players association], and they talked us through some scenarios.”
The Zephyr players were not fed, nor were they recognized by the ownership for their contributions - adding insult to the injury of missing the playoffs. However, had the Zephyr made the playoffs this year, players could have lost additional weeks to find new employment.
“The whole thing is bittersweet. Before we knew [the club was folding], bitter because we were so close.” Desiano told Soccer Sheet. “But we all have to ask the question, if we would have made [the] playoffs, if we [had gone] all the way, would we have been withheld this information for another two weeks? And that’s another two weeks of players not being able to find teams, talk to agents, all that … the whole thing was just crazy because the sliver lining of it was that we found this information out earlier than maybe we could of. And for a lot of players, they were able to act on it.”
Due to the World Cup, league schedules, and international play, most women’s soccer leagues are on break for most of the next two months, giving Spokane players some time to find new employment.
Sources told us, however, that the players are frustrated at the situation given how long the club knew the team was suspending operations. For contractual reasons, and because they didn’t know about the club’s plans, players were unable to talk to other clubs. Young players on multi-year contracts may have thought they had job security and housing.
According to multiple sources, Zephyr players will be paid through June, receiving their last paycheck from the club on July 10; however, players who were under contract past June 30 will not receive any additional compensation. The USL Players Association stressed in a statement that contractual protections would be stronger if the league had a collective bargaining agreement or CBA.
“What makes this situation especially concerning is that players in the USL Super League do not yet have the protections of a collective bargaining agreement,” read the USLPA statement. “Players who signed multi-year contracts are now facing the reality that those agreements will be cut short without compensation or any protections.”
The CBA is also a priority for players like Desiano.
“I think the biggest thing that we’re all pushing right now is for the CBA to get finalized, so players have more rights,” Desiano told Soccer Sheet. “For me, who was signed for two years, and some of the other players, we don’t get anything from that second [year in the] contract. They’re unilateral contracts. We’re done getting paid at the end of this year’s contract. So I think that’s one thing we’re trying to get people more aware of, and just pushing towards.”
Superlative Spokane Players
Despite the team’s short history, the Spokane Zephyr produced a player of the year during its first season in Emina Ekić, and a two-time goalkeeper of the year in Hope Hisey, who ends her tenure with the Zephyr holding multiple Super League goalkeeping records.
Hisey responded to the end of the Zephyr with a public social media post thanking the fans and combatting the narrative that they had anything to do with the end of women’s soccer in Spokane.
Thank you for your support over the last two seasons. We feel your heartache and frustration as much as we felt your energy on match day.
I am genuinely sorry and disappointed to see a narrative circulating that blames the community. It’s unfair, untrue, and overlooks the institutional framework needed for women’s sports to thrive.
My teammates are the real heartbeat of this entire experience. I am so incredibly humbled and grateful to have taken the field with such resilient and empathetic people.
I hope that’s the story the community’s youth take away from this experience: not one of shying away from challenges but one of our collective ability to perform, learn, and celebrate in the face of them.
The support from the women’s soccer community over the past few days has only strengthened my belief in the health of the sport and our league.
If you build it, they will come. And if you work to sustain it, they will stay.
Ekić responded to the post on Instagram, writing, “You’re truly the best ❤️ so happy Spokane brought us together.”