I've been interested in this thread - because young player have been playing professionally for years in Europe. I don't think most of the world's womens players play for the money - they play because they love the game. When campuses were closed during covid my 18 yo daughter delayed her start date, got an agent and headed overseas to play on a team in that country's top division. She is not a superstar player and will never be, but she's traveling in Europe when she has breaks, having fun, making friends, makes enough money to live and is doing university online. She eventually declined her mid/bottom-tier university scholarship (which was substantial) and doesn't regret her decision. She didn't want to be locked into the college system for 4 years because it doesn't offer what playing professionally can - a full season playing with older, more experienced players. Improving as a player and person was more important to her than the "college experience". Maybe she has been lucky... She's a midfielder btw.
With all the talk about players skipping college and moving towards prioritizing pro experience I am curious that there has been no discussion about LM's recent announcement. She is choosing to focus on college and UT and not sacrifice that for the YNT path.
I saw that Texas player tweet too. Couple questions - Is she an important player/starter on the US Team? Is she intending to enter the next draft or stay at TX? Seems to me if you're a starter for your national team, you should be playing in World Cups if given the opportunity. If she thinks 18 games at UT will better prepare her for the draft or something then I guess that's a point. She has years more to play at UT though. If a player is feeling stressed out and needs personal time, that's fine. Take some time, but how many World Cups do you get to play in again?
Two players who forsook the YNT World Cup path in 2008 suffered a several year delay in their integration into the full team. It turns out there are a lot of good players, and if you aren’t in the USSoccer mix, it can cost you. O’Hara ( Stanford 2009) didn’t get her first Callup until Spring 2010 and didn’t figure in the 2011WWC until Tarpley got injured ( despite a Herman trophy) and only had one brief cap at outside mid. It wasn’t until she accepted playing at Fullback that she started playing regularly. She had originally rejected playing there. Press was the Herman troph winner in 2010 but didn’t get her first full team cap until 2013 in a friendly against Scotland. She did get a couple camp Cal ups before. She was an alternate in the 2012 Olympics and didn’t play. it seems a lack of integration into the NT system does affect where you are in the minds of the Senior coaches. Both those players had trouble being seen as hungry enough on the full team. so even if this Texas player gets the Herman Trophy, being a regular on the national team isn’t just given to you. You have to fight for a spot against players who have been there all along.
Yes, my understanding is that she has been an active and prominent starter in the YNT system. It is a surprise to me and imagine this will hurt her path to the full team if that is an ultimate goal. Just curious what the whole story is on this. I do admire her choice to focus on her college academics and team. Just don’t think there is enough of a financial reward to forgo a college scholarship and degree for your future.
I am well aware that my post will most likely create the usual polarizations on this thread (or will me downright ignored), but I don't think your average 16 yo player scores a beauty like the one Moultrie showcased two days ago in a Senior-level environment. What I mean is: to me, she has something special and sure she didn't emerge just as a "well-marketed product".
That was a great hit. But, a good shot doesn't make a player special to me. New PRO Jaedyn Shaw is special. You will see. She is one of the 2005 birth year players (same as Moultrie) who I was referring to in an earlier post that is better than Moultrie. https://justwomenssports.com/nwsl-soccer-jaedyn-shaw-san-diego-wave-fc-contract-signing/
there has been a good amount of chatter that Shaw is legit! Will be interested to see how her career progresses.
The Washington Post reported a couple weeks ago that Shaw had been approved to play for the Spirit. She was on the preseason roster as a "non roster invitee" so she has trained with the team but is not on their roster currently. Perhaps there's some contract issues? Maybe they spent all their money on Mark Krikorian! Moultrie's goal was clearly all from Nike hype...
Found it but was too late to edit my previous post. Looks like these younger players are getting the wheels in motion on league policy. The NWSL had a summit or something recently about the future of the league but I don't recall anything about revisions to the "homegrown" player rules. NWSL will allow 17-year-old Jaedyn Shaw to join league Steven Goff June 30, 22 The National Women’s Soccer League will allow 17-year-old Jaedyn Shaw to sign with a team, making an exception to its age-restriction rule for a U.S. under-20 national team attacker who could have spurned the league for a European club next winter. The Texas-born attacker trained with the Washington Spirit before this season but wasn’t allowed to sign because she was under 18 — the league threshold — and Washington didn’t own her NWSL rights. On Thursday, though, the league announced it will allow Shaw to enter the NWSL through a discovery process involving all 12 teams. Ranked by how they finished last season, teams will be able to claim her rights next Thursday. (The NWSL won’t say whether the 2022 expansion clubs, Angel City and San Diego, are at the top or the bottom of the list.) If Shaw doesn’t fall to Washington, which won the championship last season and is no higher than No. 10 on the discovery list, the Spirit would attempt to make a trade. “We obviously think she’s talented, and we would like for something to work out,” Spirit Coach Kris Ward said during his weekly media session. “But it’s not always that simple.” The past week, Shaw was part of the U.S. U-20 squad that won the Sud Ladies Cup in Aubagne, France. In a three-game competition, she scored in the last two matches. Shaw is expected to make the roster for August’s FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Costa Rica. “You have someone who wants to play, and there’s a process that has to be [completed] before that can happen,” Ward said of Shaw’s NWSL future. “Fortunately now we’re at the end of that line, and it’s just figuring out the final hurdle.” Had the NWSL not made an exception for Shaw, she would have had to wait until the draft in January, two months after she turns 18. However, the league risked losing her overseas or being sued on antitrust grounds as 15-year-old midfielder Olivia Moultrie did last year. Moultrie won, and the league made her available through the discovery process. Seattle-based OL Reign selected Moultrie, then traded her rights to the Portland Thorns, with whom she had trained for two years. Portland relinquished a third-round draft pick. “Any team that seeks to participate in the discovery process [for Shaw] would need to demonstrate a plan for how they would comply with the safeguarding rules related to minors until Shaw turns 18,” the NWSL said. Commissioner Jessica Berman said in a statement, “This is a special circumstance that I believe requires us to show flexibility in how we execute our policies, and as a practical matter, is part of our ongoing review of our age restriction policy.” The NWSL said the age-restriction policy will remain in place “as the league continues to review and revise its policies and procedures. … [Any] future requests will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.” Although the league’s decision to make Shaw available in the discovery process might prevent her from joining the Spirit, Ward said he doesn’t think “they were difficult or obtuse in any way.” “It’s their understanding the landscape is changing and shifting,” he said. He added that, with more pro opportunities worldwide available to young female players than ever before, access to the league beyond the draft is “something that’s going to need to be addressed.” In Shaw’s case, Ward said, “I don’t think the league threw up roadblocks looking toward a process, but they wanted to make sure a process was carefully thought out and that it was fair.” The NWSL, which launched in 2013, does not have a homegrown development system like MLS. In the men’s league, teams develop teenagers in their youth academies and own exclusive signing rights. There is no age limit to sign an MLS contract, either. The Spirit has employed two teenagers: Mallory Pugh, then 19, who was acquired through the ranking order in 2017, and Trinity Rodman, then 18, in the 2021 draft.
Moultrie had a very good game she was good both offensively and dfensvly against well established players and came off to an ovation from the fans when she came off late. She certainly a beer night than any NY player did. Moultrie has stepped up and handled anything asked of her. while Shaw May turn out to be the real deal, she may just be hype. She can thank Moultrie for her opportunity to com into the league underage, even if it is at two years older.
NWSL risk losing the player who wants to play for Washington where she can help that team in future otherwise she probably go overseas instead of forced to play for another team she doesn’t want.
Shaw is going to San Diego. Here is the current rule on who has the rights to a discovery player where there are mutliple teams simultaneously claiming a player as a discovery player. (It is a little lacking in transparency.) Discovery Ranking The Discovery Ranking is determined by the reverse order of finish of the prior NWSL regular season, taking the Championship match into account. Specifically, the last ranking will go to the winner of the NWSL Championship game, the runner-up of the NWSL Championship game will be second to last, and the 1st ranking will be provided to the Team with the lowest position in the NWSL table. Expansion Team(s) will be placed in the Discovery Ranking as determined by the NWSL Board of Governors (as recommended by the Product Committee). The Discovery Ranking is confidential and may not be disseminated or discussed with any person that is not an employee, contractor, or otherwise directly affiliated with the NWSL or one of its Teams without prior written approval of the Commissioner.
If they do not make youth players go through the Discovery route, then players will just go pick their teams and circumvent the regular draft process. People who bitch about the way the NWSL does things, do not pay attention to professional sports in the U.S. The NFL has a special draft for players (same as the Discovery player draft in the NWSL) who opt to go pro outside of the regular draft window. The NWSL has had at least a handful of youth players training at various clubs this season. If these players wants to go pro before the NWSL draft, they go the Discovery Draft route. San Diego got her rights as they were likely first up on the draft board (no one would have passed on Shaw). They engaged in discussions with the Spirit to trade her, because Shaw alledgedly indicated that she wanted to play for the Spirit. But, after a couple of weeks, she changed her mind and ended up signing with the Wave.
Which in turn hurt other future players because what club wants to discover a talented player only to lose them to an opposing club?
but players are already picking where they want to play no? Is training with a club discovering? Some of the nwsl teams have WPSL teams. Does the nwsl club have first call on those players? The problem is the nwsl focus has been short term. They need to implement a real pro pathway and make it clear what it is. Players who want to follow it can
The NWSL problem is that although the soccer is great, some Euro teams are willing to pay big dollars for young players. That is something the NWSL has to compete with, so it raises the importance of considering where a player would like to play.
Training with the club and actually allowed to join the senior team is discovering. I mean San Diego could have just gone and take any other player training or that has WPSL but they took the one that was training and about to join the senior team roster. https://justwomenssports.com/nwsl-soccer-jaedyn-shaw-washington-spirit-san-diego-trade/ Shaw went through the NWSL’s discovery process last Thursday. The teenager would have been eligible for the 2023 entry draft but the NWSL amended its entry process for Shaw, granting special permission to enter the league in what commissioner Jessica Berman called a “special circumstance.” While San Diego acquired the rights to Shaw, she had previously trained with the Spirit during preseason and was listed on the team’s roster. Most recently, she was part of the USWNT’s U20 squad that won the Sud Ladies Cup in France, scoring in two of the team’s matches. She’s also expected to make the roster for next month’s FIFA U20 World Cup in Costa Rica. It isn’t the first time that a player has had their rights acquired by a team different from the one they trained with. While Olivia Moultrie trained with Portland prior to her joining the team, her rights were granted to OL Reign and the Thorns then had to trade for her. She has since signed a professional contract with the team and has played in 13 games for Portland this season. “We’re continuing to talk,” Spirit coach Kris Ward said Saturday of the situation. “At this point, it’s still unclear, which is disappointing seeing as though she would have been cleared to play this week or this weekend.”
Spirit did not 'discover' her. Everyone knew about her. She is a star at the youth national team level and lived in Texas. They simply invited her to train with them. San Diego Wave and Angel City have done the same with other youth players. If NSWL just allowed clubs to invite in youth players to train, and then claimed them as theirs, the So Cal teams would be at a significant advantage due to the quality of players who grow up there.
No they are not picking where they want to play without compensation. Shaw would have gone to the Spirit if they gave up compensation for her that the Wave deemed appropriate. Obvously Shaw changed her mind after visiting San Diego Wave (yes she visited there while they were negotiating trade terms with the Spirit). So Shaw has been treated just like anyone else, including an Alex Morgan if she wanted a trade tomorrow. Whereve she would want to go would have to give up compensation for her.
I saw a lot of player movement in the offseason that looked like players picking their destination. At minimum, players informing current Clubs that they would prefer to play elsewhere.
Yes, and as I said, they were not able to leave for their desired destination without proper compensation from the desired club to the exiting club. This is exactly how it worked for Shaw too.
With the league having forced Moultrie through the discovery process notwithstanding her having trained with the Thorns for a couple of years, it would have been pretty difficult not to run Shaw through it. What would be interesting would be to know who the Wave wanted in trade for Shaw, once it was determined the Wave had discovery rights to her, in order to give her up to the Spirit. That piece of info would give great insight into how good the Wave and the Spirit see her as a player.
Watching Attacking Third, they claimed that San Diego wanted 250k from Spirit if they wanted Shaw. Also her contract is only through 2023 with no option added. Pretty weird. Don't know if they tried to get as much as they can out of her but 250k is ridiculous. Portland only had to give up a third round pick for Olivia. At least OL Reign was considerate instead of "you want her, you have to give up 5 first round picks" mentality. Holding the player hostage and pricing up so its beyond what they will pay to keep her.