This is going to be a very nostalgia-driven exercise as I'm basing most of my selections on players who played here before. USWNT allocation (3): Ali Krieger (DF) - just returned to America apparently in order to play - preferably for the Spirit - in the new league. Played for the Freedom in 2009. Judging by Twitter comments, she's also the first choice among Spirit fans. Becky Sauerbrunn (DF) - played for the Freedom in 2009 and 2010 and for the DC United Women in 2012. Just have to coax her back from Colorado. Lori Lindsey (MF) - played for the Freedom in 2003 and 2009. Lives in the area along with her significant other. Might want to stay with the Flash, though, since she played for them last year. Canada allocation (2): Erin McLeod (GK) - Played for the Freedom in 2009 and 2010 Second player TBD Mexico allocation (1-2): TBD Free agents with ties to the area: Lianne Sanderson (FW) - Former English national team player, only not on team because she can't stand the coach. Played for DCU Women in 2012. Lives locally with her significant other Joanna Lohman (MF) - Formerly in the USWNT pool but now a little past her prime. Played for DCU Women in 2012. Nikki Marshall (DF) - Played for Freedom in 2009 and 2010 but played for Breakers in 2012 and might want to stay with them. Rebecca Moros (DF/MF) - Played for Freedom in 2009 and 2010, for Flash in 2011. Would need to be coaxed back from Japan. Caitlin Miskel (MF) - Drafted in late round by Freedom in 2010 but made starting roster. Lives locally, played for DCU Women in 2012. Hayley Siegel (MF) - Was key figure as d-mid for 2012 DCU Women Internationals (2): Lisa De Vanna (FW) - Played for Freedom in 2009 and 2010, would be great to get her back from Australia. Second player TBD. College draft picks (4?): Christine Nairn (MF) - Local Maryland girl with strong local following, tied for top goalscorer for DCU Women in 2011 Holly King (MF) - Northern Virginia girl who was a superb d-mid for the DCU Women in 2012 when she was available Others TBD So far that gives us a starting lineup that looks like this: De Vanna - Sanderson Miskel - Lindsey - Lohman - Moros (with Nairn, King, Siegel as young, up-and-coming alternatives) TBD - Marshall - Sauerbrunn - Krieger McLeod Assuming an eighteen-player roster, that leaves (in order of importance): 1. Left flank defender 2. Backup forward for when De Vanna runs out of gas 3. Backup goalkeeper 4. Backup defender 5. Backup forward (Marshall, Moros and Miskel could all move up top as well if necessary.) Would love to get Bompastor (Freedom 2009-2010) back for #1, but I don't think it's going to happen. Perhaps someone more familiar with the Canadian or Mexican team, or a solid international, can make a suggestion. Ditto for a backup forward - could get Mykjåland (Freedom 2010) back for that, for that matter.
Well, if we're going for nostalgia... I would love the Spirit to pick up a fair amount of ex-Athletica players. Most of them have connections elsewhere, though, if they're even going to be in the league at all (e.g. Solo, Tanc). I would easily settle for having Becky as a STL connection, though. Also, agree with the rest of the post: continuity is the best advertisement, IMO.
I can't say I see many players on the Athletica list that I would object to, though I really don't want Hope Solo and Kia McNeill would give me pause. Blank played a bit for the DCU Women and could probably have a spot in the new league, though more likely with Sky Blue since she's a Jersey girl. Ashlyn Harris was here in 2010 but then went to WNY before going to Germany. Asante played briefly for the Freedom but with only a handful of spots available for internationals probably won't be returning. I was looking for other former Athletica players with ties to this area but am coming up empty other than Christie Welsh, who's now retired.
I believe Blank lives in the D.C. area now... I have a WVU-centric solution for both the left back and 2nd Canadian holes: Bry McCarthy. She's in camp with Canada right now...has a great future with the program. She will likely be their starting left back at the World Cup in three years. She really gets into the attack well and has a great left foot...she's a great weapon serving free kicks and corners.
Nice thread. Thanks for starting it. My kind of thread. I agree with a lot of the selections so far, but I think you're low-balling the roster a little bit. I think it'll have to be more competitive in the middle of it, and I think it will. Here are my predictions. Some are the same. Some are different. USWNT Allocation: D - Ali Krieger D - Becky Sauerbrunn MF - Lori Lindsey Canada allocation: GK - Erin McCleod MF - Kaylyn Kyle Mexico allocation: F - Monica Ocampo (still only 25 yrs old. extended range. can strike from anywhere) MF - Guadalupe Worbis Internationals signed: F - Lisa De Vanna MF - Aya Miyama (surprise) Rookies drafted/signed: F - Caroline Miller (Virginia) D - Kat Williamson (Florida) F - Tiffany Cameron (Ohio State) D - Domenica Hodak (Maryland) (final round pick) MF - Holly King (Florida) (undrafted rookie free-agent) GK - Erin McNulty (Penn State) (undrafted rookie free-agent) Other free agents signed: MF - Sinead Farrelly D - Kia McNeill F - Lianne Sanderson (qualifies as U.S. resident) MF - Joanna Lohman MF - Sarah Huffman MF/D - Carolyn Blank D - Toni Pressley GK - Allison Lipsher Not sure which of the rookies will even make the final roster, and which will be developmenal players, etc. For now, including developmental players (including all the rookies for now), the roster looks like this .... F - Monica Ocampo, Lianne Sanderson, Lisa De Vanna, Caroline Miller, Tiffany Cameron MF - Miyama, Lindsey, Lohman, Kaylyn Kyle, Sinead Farelly, Worbis, Huffman, King D - Ali Krieger, Sauerbrunn, Kia McNeill, Toni Pressley, Kat Williamson, Blank, Hodak GK - Erin McCleod, Allison Lipsher, Erin McNulty Very diverse, some international flair (Sanderson is a freebie with her living in the U.S.), and a well-balanced team.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sport...68cf2c-4957-11e2-8af9-9b50cb4605a7_story.html You can change the "apparently" in Kreiger's line in the OP to "explicitly" - and add that the Spirit is her #1 choice, so if they want her, she's in.
Sarah Huffman - would love to have her back but was figuring she was settled on the west coast. Also pretty likely that she'll want to go wherever Abby goes. Carolyn Blank - was assuming that as a Jersey girl she'd go back to Sky Blue, but I'd be glad to have her. She was superb for the DCU Women when she was cleared to play for them - had to miss out a bunch of games after getting a concussion, as I recall. Monica Ocampo - actually had her on my draft of this writeup but dropped her as I don't have that good a feel for the players on the Mexican team. Lianne Sanderson - as you note, despite being English she doesn't count as an international because she's got her green card. I'm figuring her as a shoe-in for the Spirit, and Lohman will come with her.
Somehow I forgot about Alex Singer and Beverly Goebel, two more Freedom alums I'd be glad to have back.
Actual allocations: Harris, Krieger, Lindsey; Gayle, Matheson; Garciamendez, Worbis. Two points to me and three to WPS_Movement, who somehow sensed Worbis to DC.
The Spirit desperately need to pick up some attacking players now. Lisa De Vanna would give them what they need. They need to get another attacking player, on top of De Vanna. They need to get Kristen Mewis or Caroline Miller badly in the draft. Lianne Sanderson would help out dramatically as well. Getting a playmaker like Sinead Farrelly in the midfield would also be imperative.
I'd be pretty surprised if Sanderson didn't end up back in DC. She's about the best free agent forward this team is going to be able to attract and I think she wants to be there.
Here is an interesting interview with Lianne. http://www.nwslnews.com/catching-up-with-lianne-sanderson/ She and Joanna plan to play in the NWSL but won't say where.
She and Joanna are in India for one of their JoLi events. Jo has said that she'll reveal where she'll be playing once they get back - and I'd be very surprised if they aren't on the same team.
Writeup on the allocated Canadian players, with a positive spin on DC's share: http://www.wakingthered.com/2013/1/...ocks-breaking-down-nwsls-canadian-womens-team
Looks like these predictions were not too far off, for their rookies. Including Hodak, who is a very underrated player. It's also good to see Hodak is in the league. She had more of an offensive role, and sacrificed for her team to take on more of a defensive role. Her efforts paid off. She is a much needed defender (toward depth) now as a professional player for her local Spirit team. And she'll certainly have one of the best hairstyles in the league. http://terpconnect.umd.edu/~drhodak/ENGLISH391 Webpage.html
Nice Defense and Mid-field but their offense will have issues. Is that a misprint about Huffman? I thought she was going to WNY.
That was my initial prediction of how their roster would be, put together months ago before Huffman was announced anywhere. Huffman is indeed playing for WNY this year.
I think their offense is young but has loads of potential. Ochs, Miller, and McCarty are very promising players. Collectively probably the best group of young forwards in the league.
Leroux, Simon, and Leon (from Boson) disagree, as all are now top of the line strikers for their senior national teams.
Get back to me by the end of the summer. (btw, was thinking more along the lines of unproven rookies so didn't consider the likes of Morgan and Leroux, but someone like Cuellar you could throw into the mix).
Cuellar is the most underrated forward in this league, right now. She could end up being their leading scorer this year.
Seems the roster is down to 23, at least according to the Spirit website- http://washingtonspirit.com/teams/washington-spirit/
That's actually 18 players! They may have a few players coming in to look at later but everyone listed there has basically made the team in all likelihood.
Enjoying the twitter updates from starcity (https://mobile.twitter.com/StarCityFan/tweets) as well as the audio streaming of today's scrimmage.... Now lets get a goal or two!