Editor’s Note: See update at bottom.
The Orlando Pride are, by their very name, a symbol of the LGBTQ+ community. Many of the Pride’s most prominent players have been gay, and Exploria Stadium includes 49 rainbow-colored seats as a memorial to the victims of the 2016 Pulse nightclub mass shooting. But apparently, the word “gay” is too political for the team.
March Madness is finally here. No, not that silly basketball tournament that once again left your school out (what, just me?). I’m talking real madness: The 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup. If it’s anything like the start of last year’s edition, you won’t want to miss a minute.
The North Carolina Courage are in full-on rebuild mode in the post-Paul Riley era. Lynn Williams is the latest star leaving the storied NWSL club after seven seasons with the Courage/Western New York Flash; the team announced a blockbuster trade to send the USWNT forward to Kansas City on Monday morning.
It’s not easy being a single mother. It’s even harder when you’re a professional athlete. But Sydney Leroux sure makes it look easy, or at least fun.
Preseason NWSL camps are less than a month away. With that in mind, Sydney Leroux was in the backyard getting in some training this week with her 5-year-old son, Cassius, who was sporting a full Tottenham kit. Leroux, a 31-year-old Orlando Pride forward and prime Mom of the Year candidate, did what any self-respecting parent would do upon seeing their offspring wearing Spurs colors: kick a ball straight at the kid’s head.
The 10th annual NWSL Draft was held on Saturday evening, and with the No. 1 overall pick, expansion side San Diego Wave FC selected Stanford defender Naomi Girma, who was U.S. Soccer's 2020 Young Female Player of the Year.
Girma joins a San Diego backline anchored by USWNT veteran Abby Dahlkemper and former Stanford teammate Tegan McGrady. The 21-year-old can also play in midfield, where she may be needed after the club selected a forward, German international Marleen Schimmer out of Grand Canyon University, with its ninth pick in the first round.
Twice World Cup-winning forward Alex Morgan has joined San Diego Wave FC, the National Women's Soccer League's expansion team said on Monday ahead of ther inaugural season.
The move reunites the Southern California native with United States team mate, defender Abby Dahlkemper, and her former national team head coach Jill Ellis, who is club president.
The NWSL’s wild offseason continued Monday with the announcement of a major trade featuring two USWNT stars. NJ/NY Gotham FC announced Krashlyn is heading to the Big Apple, confirming the rumor Ali Krieger and Ashlyn Harris would leave the Orlando Pride.
As a semi-active goalkeeper and current goalkeeper coach, I pride myself on being knowledgeable about all things goalkeeping. But early on into this project, I realized I was in over my head. My goalkeeper expertise was far outweighed by my previous lack of knowledge on women's soccer.
I couldn't rank the top ten women's goalkeepers because I couldn't even name ten of them. I was humbled and also disappointed in myself, but I set out to rectify the situation by producing the best damn rankings of women's goalkeepers I possibly could.
Angel City FC and San Diego Wave FC will start to really fill out their rosters during the NWSL expansion draft on Dec. 16, during which time each team is allowed to draft up to nine players from other preexisting NWSL squads. But neither club is waiting around for the expansion draft or the 2022 NWSL Draft two days later to make moves, with one USWNT player heading west and a potential blockbuster trade in the works ahead of Friday’s trade deadline.
Mana Shim and Sinead Farrelly aren’t done sharing their stories, and they’re not content with the few changes that have already taken place in the NWSL. They want more, and they appeared with Alex Morgan on NBC’s “Today” show on Tuesday to demand further justice not just for themselves but for women’s athletes everywhere.