We Don’t Have the Beat

Kennesaw won’t have the Atlanta Beat to kick around this year.

Women’s Professional Soccer canceled its 2012 season Monday, slightly more than two weeks after the Beat used the No. 1 pick in the WPS draft on U.S. national forward Sydney Leroux out of UCLA.

Atlanta, which finished 1-13 in 2011, also drafted midfielders Katy Frierson of Auburn and Kate Deines of Washington, but they’ll have to wait until at least 2013 to take the field as professionals at .

"We will communicate any new developments as soon as they become available," the Beat posted on Facebook. "Your support has been tremendous and we hope that it will continue."

The board of the five-team WPS voted to suspend play while it tries to resolve a legal dispute with the owner of the terminated South Florida magicJack, Dan Borislow.

“Making the decision to suspend the 2012 season was a difficult and painful one,” league CEO Jennifer O'Sullivan said, “but it is necessary to take the time to address current issues and solidify our business.”

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The preseason for the Beat was a month away, and the season at the KSU Soccer Complex would have started in April.

The league has played three seasons, including two with the Beat. The last professional league for women’s soccer, the Women’s United Soccer Association, played three years before folding, The Associated Press noted in an article posted by ESPN.

The owners of the Beat and the other four franchises—Boston Breakers, Philadelphia Independence, Sky Blue FC and Western New York Flash—have committed to working with O’Sullivan over the next year, the league said.

“We are committed to complete the hard work necessary to resume play in 2013 and re-establish WPS as the premiere women's professional soccer league in the world," O’Sullivan said.

In the meantime, some Beat employees will lose their jobs, the Marietta Daily Journal reported, and Kennesaw State will lose a tenant for its soccer stadium.