2021 NWSL College Draft

I think Chicago has three more firsts from previous trades. And if it is the Fall Series standings for the draft order, then I think Chicago still has #2, #3, & #4 lol. Rory does it again. Now does Louisville give up Macario for the three next best players in the draft?
https://thestudyofsports.com/nwsl/nwsldraft21.html

 

I don’t see how the league can have a draft in January given that only a few conferences are playing right now. All the other conferences are due back in the spring. The College Cup is scheduled for May, so they might have to wait until then. Or they could hold the draft in March or April while the schools are playing but I’m not sure that’s even allowed. I’ve never seen a college draft happen while the schools are playing. Or they could hold the draft during the NWSL regular season if it starts at its usual time in 2021, but that would be weird to me too. There’s also the eligibility situation to consider. All seniors can return to school next season if they want, though I’m not how many players will take advantage of that.

 

Any senior who wants to enter the draft can do so by simply hiring an agent, thus becoming NCAA ineligible.

 

The draft can happen during the NCAA season. It happens in baseball all the time that players are still playing in the playoffs when they are drafted, often literally while they are in the game. And even when they are drafted, they can go back for another year if they don't sign. Also hockey players are drafted and then still allowed to go to school.

The two big things are agents and actually signing the contract. The agent thing should be a non-issue. They can do like other sports and have the agent be an "adviser" until they actually sign. The NCAA is in a very athlete friendly mood recently, so I doubt they would try to cause any issues. And the NWSL is nimble enough that they can allow the players in different seasons to sign at different times.

If I were the NWSL, the things I would be worrying about are not having even info on all the players because of the different seasons and not knowing how many players will stay to use the extra year or how many players will leave before their senior year.

If teams aren't worried about roster depth, it might not be a bad idea to move the draft back. If they are, though, I wonder if two drafts might be the best idea. Have one at the normal time for players who know they want to turn pro and then have one after the spring semester when the college season is over for any players who wanted to finish our their year. Have the draft be like the NFL supplemental draft where if they take a pick in the first draft, they give that pick up for the second. The strategy and likely trading going on with that could definitely draw more attention to the draft. Do teams play if safe with the player they know they can get in the winter, or wait for the player they think they might get in the spring? I could see every fanbase have endless debates over what to do, which would only help keep them invested in the NWSL.

 

There is a whole NCAA website on eligibility and agents.
http://www.ncaa.org/enforcement/agents-and-amateurism

The one for baseball includes this FAQ.

https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/enforcement/2019ENF_MLBEducationalMemo.pdf
it includes the specific info in question Seven “ can I hire an agent?”

there was a landmark ruling on this point a few years ago in an Ohio case involving Oklahoma player Andy Oliver where a judge wrote in his opinion that the NCAA , as a private business association, could not constitutionally prohibit any player from seeking legal council under any circumstance, rather than have that go to a jury and become law, the ncaa paid Oliver three quarters of a million dollars to drop the suit.

the lesson? Don’t mess with lawyers rights to have clients. There is no stronger lobby.

https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/24/sports/baseball/24advisers.html?referringSource=articleShare

the NYT a gives this history.

so if you hire an attorney who also acts as an agent, the NCAA could likely not constitutionally prohibit that, but that doesn’t mean the NCAA allows it. The ruling only applied to baseball and I think only in OHIO where Oliver was from and hasn’t been tested in other sports. But it is still the case that if you hire and agent AND ask to be placed in a draft Or an agent (not a lawrer) talks to anyone, you are ineligible for further ncaa play, in any sport.


The idea that the ncaa has gone soft on agent policy is nonsense.their response to the court decision was to lobby for uniform restriction on agents in all states in a proposed bill called the Uniform Athletes Agent Act, the proposed sample of which prohibits hiring agents.
until then, they hold over any player that can be held ineligible while still trying to keep a new case out of the courts, which as the law now stands, the NCAA would likely loose. And again, they can’t use an agent to negotiate with the team before rejecting the draft offer)

Some sports don’t ask players if they want to be drafted, so the ncaa can’t punish a player who is drafted, but the player only has a very limited time to reject the draft offer. Those sports include MLB, NBA, and NFL drafts.( MAybe hockey, but that sport has specific rules on having an agent before college)

The last I saw, the NWSL has different rules. They will not draft any player who doesn’t ask to be placed in the draft or whose eligibility still exists, so seniors have to repudiate any remaining eligibility by asking to be place in the draft, and hiring an agent will also end elegibility.

 

Quick question, now that Macario has American citizenship. Could she opt to play in Europe, or to be eligible for the USWNT, she has to play in NWSL?

 

There are also the fifa rules on national team eligibility. Which have recently changed.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevep...up-hopes-for-one-cap-wonders/?sh=1048f12d511e

she moved to San Diego with her father at age 12 (2011)


So it appears she is not required to be a resident for five years after age 18, as was the case when she started on her path to the national team.

 

I understand the need for general rules and the spirit in which these rules were written. But in her case, it is obvious that she should be able to play for the US. Her move to the US was not motivated by soccer-related financial benefits. Fifa should rule on a case by case basis.

 

Haha.
Are your pockets deep enough to pony up the required vigorish?

 

At least they can still play their spring season if they want.

 

Here is what the NCAA has published:

National Women’s Soccer League Blanket Waiver Approved, December 15, 2020
The NCAA Division I Committee for Legislative Relief approved a blanket waiver to allow Division I women’s soccer student-athletes to enter the National Women’s Soccer League’s draft (and potentially be drafted), while maintaining collegiate eligibility to compete during the 2021 spring championship segment.

In granting this request, the committee noted:

1. This is a one-time request for the 2020-21 academic year only;
2. The blanket waiver does not permit a student-athlete to sign with an agent or an agreement to join a team, if drafted;
3. Any use of a student-athletes name, image or likeness by the professional league must be informational in nature;
4. The unique and extenuating circumstances associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of the pandemic on the 2020-21 soccer playing season; and
5. The NCAA Division I Student-Athlete Experience Committee supported the waiver request.

See Case No. 1115007 in Requests/Self-Reports Online via the search tab. Additional information regarding blanket waivers can be found on the Division I Committee for Legislative Relief homepage.

[References: NCAA Division I Bylaws 12.1.2 (amateur status) and 12.2.4.2 (draft list)]

 

Announced today, all college players, who before the current academic year had completed three years of college eligibility, will be eligible for the upcoming draft, regardless of whether they have registered for it. If a team drafts a player, they will have the rights to her until the beginning of the 2022 season.

 

How exactly does that work? If a player hasn't registered for the draft, and is planning on playing next Fall, how are they "drafted?" Maybe I'm missing something. I have heard that there is a severe lack of players registering for the draft for that exact reason: They are coming back to play a real season in the Fall.

 

A player can be drafted and still play in college. As long as the player doesn't have an agent and/or sign a contract, they are still an amateur. In fact, for hockey, this is basically the norm. The NHL will draft players and then the teams will have the rights to the player even if they stay in college.

And its the same reason why the players don't have to register. Say a player doesn't want to play in the NWSL. That's fine. Nothing about a team drafting that player's rights forces the player to play for that team. It just means if they want to play in the NWSL, then that is their team. They are still free to sign overseas with no restrictions.

 

Thanks for the clarification. I ask because my daughter is a senior in the PAC 12 but is not registering for the draft since she wants a "do over" next Fall for this crappy season lol

 

I don't blame her and had this happened my senior year, I probably would have done the same if given the chance.

From the sound of the rule, if she is picked, the team would just have her rights until the 2022 NWSL preseason, which should be after her last season.

So basically think of it this way: she is still getting picked to a team that she can join after her last season, it's just the draft process is taking place a year earlier.

 

Makes sense. We will see what happens. Maybe she will be contacted by team "X" and decide to go. Doubtful but who knows.

 

So I guess only a couple dozen players had registered for the draft before the rule change. They should of just postponed the draft to the spring.