Is there a reason why there should be a limit on the number of teams that participate in friendlies? Too many people focusing on the redundancy and not enough focusing on the competition allows 4 teams to play games they normally wouldn't be playing these games in a competitive environment....
I don't think there should necessarily be a limit, especially since the ICC was planning on expanding anyway. It just seems weird to duplicate existing events, like stepping on other organizations' toes.
And I just found this: Women's ICC looking to sue Louisville's IWC EXCLUSIVE: A source with knowledge of the situation told me that Relevent Sports Group is exploring legal options over alleged infringements of the structure and name of the Women’s ICC. https://t.co/CCnJTp4rbp— Bob Williams (@WilliamsBob75) January 19, 2021 Would explain why NWSL scrubbed the article from their site so quickly
How is it weird? No one complained with the Timbers started a pre-season competition when the Carolina Challenge Cup and La Manga Cup already exists... Now, the branding being similar to the ICC may be problematic, but the formats being similar absolutely is not a problem and should be encouraged.
If the lawsuit is successful, could NWSL teams play European sides in one-off exhibitions (no tournament) or is everyone else (non-ICC NWSL teams) stuck playing each other in friendlies?
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.kansascity.com/sports/article248704760.html With dreams of landing contract offer, soccer players work out for KC’s new pro team Friday morning delivered Rashida Beal a second chance. A second chance to make it in the National Women’s Soccer League. A second chance to don a Kansas City jersey and represent the town, albeit not the same club, that first drafted her in 2017. But Friday wasn’t only about a second chance for Beal. It was also a shot at pro soccer for 29 other women as KC’s new NWSL team held open tryouts at Swope Soccer Village ahead of the league’s preseason.
Some dates to put on your calendars: Looks like NWSL 2021 dates are trickling out:April 9 - Challenge Cup in home marketsMay 15 - Start of regular season (ends Oct. 30) -- *no Olympic break*Nov. 6 - Playoffs startNov. 20 - NWSL ChampionshipDec. 16 - Expansion draft for Angel City FC and Sacramento— Jeff Kassouf (@JeffKassouf) January 27, 2021 EDIT: more details in the link https://www.nwslsoccer.com/news/art...in-home-markets-kickoff-scheduled-for-april-9
In the link above also is a link to updated protocols for playing in home markets. Direct link here. Just a few key takeaways from the protocols: -Players now need a reason (player or person in household has a pre-existing condition, e.g.) for a medical opt out of the season to continue to receive pay and benefits. If a player opts out of the season without an approved reason she'll forfeit her salary but not medical benefits or housing. -Players must quarantine for 7 days after initial arrival into the market (from international or domestic travel) followed by a test on the 6th or 7th day. For USWNT players on national team duty, they must have a test every 48 hours, including 48 hours before departure back to NWSL team and then 48 hours after arriving back. They can rejoin the NWSL team on the 3rd day if all tests are negative. -Generally each team will be tested twice a week (including staff). Referees will be tested once per week. -Physical evaluation and cardiac testing are required for any player who has had COVID before being released to return to training/play. (as well as obviously symptom-free and finished with quarantine) -Vaccine when available should be offered but optional.
NCAA Men's and Women's College Cups are scheduled May 13-17 at WakeMed per ACC Press Release yesterday, so the Courage are either off or on the road opening weekend.
Naomi Osaka buys part of the North Carolina Courage. It's unclear whether she's just part of the Courage or part of the umbrella organization NCFC. It's also unclear how much of the team she has purchased. Forbes estimates her net worth at $25 million. That might sound like a lot to you and I, but in terms of cash on hand to fund a professional sports team that might lose seven figures a year, that's not much. Of course her annual income right now in winnings and especially endorsements might well be into eight digits. The women who have invested in me growing up made me who I am today, I don’t know where I would be without them. Throughout my career I’ve always received so much love from my fellow female athletes so that’s why I am proud to share that I am now a owner of @TheNCCourage ⚽️❤️ pic.twitter.com/Iz0YcVvOqz— NaomiOsaka大坂なおみ (@naomiosaka) January 28, 2021
Also in the news: United Women’s Soccer and NISA are teaming up to try to launch a second-division pro women’s league next year. Story to come.— Jonathan Tannenwald (@thegoalkeeper) January 28, 2021 Ahead of USL news planning to launch a second division pro-am league, looks like NISA is partnering up with UWS to launch a second division professional women's soccer league next year.
At least UWS and NISA are generally good about finding space in the overall soccer pyramid... I've never really trusted USL, as they seem to butt heads with just about everyone they come into contact with, and there was talk 2yrs ago of their league potentially challenging NWSL, which would not have been healthy for the game either... But I don't have the worry with the UWS/NISA, and the updated news from USL is that theirs would be a pro-am league instead of a pro league, so they're not going to challenge NWSL any more either. This is probably a discussion, then, for the US Lower Division boards instead!
https://www.yahoo.com/news/megan-rapinoe-called-sarah-bouhaddi-204648505.html Megan Rapinoe called Sarah Bouhaddi 'overrated.' Now the French goalie is expected to become her teammate.
Rapinoe might not be wrong...but Bouhaddi has improved since the time they have played together at Lyon.
And in other OL Reign news, they have a new sponsorship from Starbucks, which may only be surprising in the sense that it hasn't happened before now. I wonder if this partnership with such a global brand will translate to something at the parent club in France....
It's also worth noting that while they picked up the Starbucks sponsorship for their pre-game Legends campaign, they lost Zulily as their jersey sponsor. The two may be related because the reason Zulily did not renew their jersey sponsorship is because of the increase in popularity in NWSL caused the sponsorship to be too expensive for Zulily. I'd imagine that increase in popularity is a reason why Starbucks decided to do their sponsorship. Starbucks announcement: https://www.olreign.com/news/2021/2/4/starbucks-announced-as-sponsor-of-legends-campaign News of Zulily ending their sponsorship: https://www.sounderatheart.com/seattle-reign/2021/2/3/22265466/ol-reign-end-partnership-with-zulily
Consider we're still fighting the pandemic, and that many colleges are having a competitive spring season this year, I would not at all be surprised if the Challenge Cup functions as a formalized version of a preseason, and nothing else is scheduled... I hope not, but I would not blame the teams or league if they tried to stay light on games.
Guess the Challenge Cup would be a competitive preseason tournament prior to the regular season in May.
NC Courage announce their jerseys: 1359834592413376512 is not a valid tweet id I really like the alternate: