Wow. That was quick. Kat Williamson and Courtney Wetzel, the newest members of the Flash, walk out for today's scrimmage http://t.co/mmfsoBSS3T— WNY Flash (@WNYFlash) April 5, 2014
WNY roster: F - Abby Wambach, Samantha Kerr, Adriana, Emma Kete, Courtney Verloo MF - Carli Lloyd, Vicky Losada, McCall Zerboni, Angela Salem, Courtney Wetzel, DiGiacomo, Iacchelli D - Kristen Edmonds, Katherine Reynolds, Kat Williamson, Brittany Taylor, Amy Barczuk, Annie Steinlage GK - Lydia Williams, Kelsey Wys, Adrianna Franch (injured)
Portland has lost a ton of talent in the past few months: F - Danielle Foxhoven F/MF - Tiffany Weimer MF - Becky Edwards MF - Nikki Washington MF - Courtney Wetzel D - Marian Dougherty D - Tina Ellertson D - Kat Wililamson D - (Marissa Diggs) - This is who Houston drafted with Portland's 2nd round pick GK - Karina LeBlanc
Portland roster: F - Alex Morgan, Christine Sinclair, Jackie Acevedo, Jessica McDonald, Elisabeth Sullivan MF - Vero Boquete, Tobin Heath, Sinead Farrelly, Amber Brooks, Mana Shim, Allie Long, Angie Kerr D - Rebecca Moros, Stephanie Catley, Nikki Marshall, Rachel Van Buehler, Emily Menges, Sarah Huffman GK - Nadine Angerer, Michelle Betos Strengths: Plethora of Goal Scorers, Goalkeeping Weaknesses: Central Defense, Midfield continuity
They didn't list the trialists. Niemiec was a trialist. WNY was rumored to have signed Sonia Bermudez from Barcelona, not to mention trialist Haley Palmer at defense.
Watch Kat Williamson (and Tymrak) in college (full match). Kat Williamson does get burned real bad within the first couple of minutes.
Quite a few, actually. Rosters are supposed to be announced on Monday, so we'll see which 20 made the final cut. I was expecting her to be the weak link in Portland's backline going into last season, and she didn't start off that great, but she improved over the course of the season. There was never any chance of Boquete playing for WNY, so to get one of the best rookies from last season, plus a 1st round pick in a strong draft class for her is a great deal for WNY. Wetzel I'm a little less excited about. She didn't really do that much for Portland, and she may not see much playing time for the Flash, but at least they got something in return for Huffman, who wasn't going to play for WNY this season. That and Huffman probably had a higher salary than Wetzel did, which would free up some cap space.
Does Portland have a reserve team? I asked this because Portland could potentially save cap and a roster spot by assigning Huffman to their reserves and that way they can call her up when needed. Works for everyone involved. She gets to spend more time home with friends but also does not take up a roster spot or too much salary cap.
It does happen in the men's game. All the time. Just look at a team like Arsenal, who had Robin van Persie, Cesc Fàbregas, and Samir Nasri force their way out in the past 3 years. And that's for a team that hasn't finished lower than 4th in the EPL since 1996 and regularly competes in the UEFA Champions League.
Reserve players pretty much have to be amateurs, as teams can only call up amateurs to replace NT members who are away. Although, I think they'd have to waive her to get her off the roster, so unless she has a guaranteed contract she would then have her contract terminated and thus be able to sign an amateur contract.
Until female athletes can sign multi million dollar contracts like the men that's not going to change. Most male athletes follow the money, female athletes go where home is. Better get used to it.
But female athletes would also follow the money, if they were being offered millions. They would actually follow it even more. Millions of dollars would pay for a lot of shoes.
Exactly. Men can afford to play in undesirable locations because they can wipe their tears every night with their millions of dollars. The women can't afford that luxury yet so they will settle for the next best team.