I don't think Plush frequents these forums, so the odds that anyone here is commissioner is pretty low.
Louisville President (Former USL Executive) accepts NWSL position as Managing Director Of Operations. Very good move from the league and is a promising move as we look to the future, will be interesting to see what she brings to the table and is already successful with USL and Louisville.... Also League preparing to expand on digital side.
So if memory services they have a commissioner, a Managing Director of Operations and a Communications Officer but is there any paid staff or r all the worker bees still interns?
I mentioned in the National Team forum that it seems to be a good time for the NWSL players to organize. Yael Averbuch thinks so, too. I’ve even been working to form a Players Association to give NWSL pros a voice and improve our communication throughout the league. http://www.yaelaverbuch.com/blog/finding-my-why I think she has the smarts, skills, personality, and street cred to be a great leader in this effort.
Hi. I am a professional soccer player from Eastern Europe. I was looking through the possibility to play soccer in the US. Firstly, I considered NCAA/NAIA as my primary goal. Unfortunately, I found out that my professional carrier of playing soccer under contract won’t allow me to get into those leagues. I am trying to figure the process of recruitment for NWSL and have quite a few questions regarding that. As I understood, international players can be drafted through supplemental and discovery drafts. What is the way to get into the list? How do I make myself to known to coaches? I was trying to locate their contact information on NWSL club’s websites. Very few of them have any. I would appreciate any information and guidance regarding my basic questions. Thanks!
Red Stars put out a little teaser of what they may be thinking going into the draft next week: http://chicagoredstars.com/roster-outlook-and-the-future-in-chicago/
There's no drafting process for internationals. There is a discovery process, where a team can put in a claim for a player whose rights don't belong to another team. So if a team wanted to sign you, they would just put in a discovery claim and as long as no other team had put in a claim earlier, they'd then be free to sign you to a contract. The best way to get noticed/known to coaches would be to go to teams' open tryouts. Pretty much every team still has them. I saw that the Thorns are having one Feb 18-19, but I'm not sure when other teams tryouts are planned. The best way to find out when they are is to follow the teams' twitter accounts. If you can't make it to an open tryout due to being in Europe and unable to fly out, then I guess the best option would be to make a highlight video and put it on YouTube and try to get coaches/teams/agents to see it. Again, Twitter would probably be your best bet for contacting them.
Could be, but I wonder if a foreign national who will graduate from college in the US this Spring can declare. I noticed that U of Portland GK Hanna de Haan has declared for the draft. She's a foreign national.
If an international played in the NCAA, then yes, they have to go through the draft to play in the NWSL the year following their graduation. That is why Dagný Brynjarsdóttir was not able to play in the NWSL until 2016 despite graduating in 2015. But that draft is only for college players (hence why it's called the "NWSL College Draft"), so if someone hasn't played in college then they are eligible to be signed as a discovery player regardless of age and nationality (well, as long as they are not in the USWNT player pool, but that's not a worry for internationals). Speaking of Brynjarsdóttir, though. I know she played for Valur, which is in the top division in Iceland, before attending Florida State, but she was still eligible to play in the NCAA. Not sure how that worked, as I thought the Iceland top division was professional, but maybe that varies by team? Anyway, my point is: Hanna if you haven't, you should talk to some colleges and have them confer with their athletic department's legal experts to see whether you have really lost your NCAA eligibility.
IIRC there are a tooooon of instances of players playing with top-flight teams as high schoolers (or older) in their home country before going into NCAA. I think NCAA considers foreign leagues as a different case than playing professionally in the US. Also, veeeerrry few leagues (if any?) internationally are "fully professional" by most people's standards anyway - or even semi-pro.
The NCAA's definition of professional is anything above and beyond "actual and necessary expenses" whether that happens domestically or internationally.
Well then they're not consistent in how they apply that definition, or their guilt-by-association aspect of it. WoSo players have had top-flight experience before entering the college game on multiple instances - even if some of the internationals played as amateurs, they've certainly had compensated teammates, which doesn't fly in the US, which is why lower-division teams here always make a big deal about whether they pay players or are NCAA-compliant.
Mostly covered already, but no draft for international players (unless coming through University in the USA). I've helped a couple of reasonably high profile international players in their efforts to come play in NWSL. The first thing you should know is that it is extremely difficult. Teams have a limited number of international slots so if they are going to use them, they try very hard to maximize the value of those slots. That means players that have built some level of name for themselves either on a national team or in a league that is viewed as strong. Those international slots are also pretty unforgiving. Because it is one of the best ways to get immediate talent on your team, NWSL teams have tended to show a low tolerance for underperformance from international players. It costs teams nothing to waive a player. There are no guaranteed contracts. Therefore, there are a long list of international players who have come here, had little impact and been waived (often mid-season). Not unusual to see this happen within months of a player signing. Recent examples like Stephanie Roche signing, moving to the US and getting waived within a couple of months. Last season Western New York went into the preseason with Lady Andrade, Jeon Ga-eul, Halimatu Ayinde and Michelle Heyman in international slots. All quality players. By June, I think, all of them were gone. So, I don't want to rain on your parade, but it is important to understand just how difficult it is to secure an international spot in NWSL. Now, if you carry a US passport it's a bit easier, although still a challenge given only 10 teams and 18 roster spots per team.
http://www.fourfourtwo.com/us/news/...stern-new-york-north-railhawks?utm_m_medium=t This would absolutely suck.
Big news out of Western New York: per multiple unnamed sources the Flash are reportedly moving to North Carolina ahead of the 2017 season. Meanwhile, a Minnesota businessman is close to purchasing FCKC. Elam Baer says he will keep the team in Kansas City. http://www.kansascity.com/sports/mls/fc-kansas-city/article124271874.html
Seriously!! I didn't see that coming at all (well, the WNY news; the KC one has been in the works for awhile).
More info on FourFourTwo on the WNY move: http://www.fourfourtwo.com/us/news/...stern-new-york-north-railhawks?utm_m_medium=t So it seems that the team's name likely will be Carolina Courage as Malik trademarked it in September. Will they play at WakeMed? What happens to Riley? I have so many questions.
Very interesting move. I thought the WNY franchise just renovated their stadium? Must have been a very good offer for the WNY owner to sell the franchise. I'm guessing the teams colors will change as well?