The following is a list of drafts held by
National Women's Soccer League
The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federatio ...
(NWSL), with a brief description of each.
Preseason 2013 (inaugural)
*
2013 NWSL College Draft
The 2013 NWSL College Draft was the first annual college draft held by the National Women's Soccer League to assign the NWSL rights of college players to the eight NWSL teams. It took place on January 18, 2013 at the National Soccer Coaches Asso ...
: Held January 18 at the annual
NSCAA
The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization in the world, with more than ...
convention, this year in
Indianapolis
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
, the draft allowed all eight teams to draft four players who had completed their college eligibility. While they had originally announced that the draft would be in snake format with randomly determined order, NWSL announced several days before the draft that the order would be the same in each of the four rounds, with the order semi-randomly determined with weighting based on evaluation of the
allocation
Allocation may refer to:
Computing
* Block allocation map
* C++ allocators
* Delayed allocation
* File allocation table
* IP address allocation
* Memory allocation
* No-write allocation (cache)
* Register allocation
Economics
* Asset alloca ...
results.
*
2013 NWSL Supplemental Draft: After a limited free agency period, NWSL pooled remaining players who were identified by the teams to be distributed via draft. Each team submitted 8–10 player names to the draft pool, with players picked over six rounds.
*2013 Preseason Waiver Draft: Players who were waived by their teams were available for other teams to pick up. Of the 6 players available, only
Lauren Alkek
Lauren may be a given name or surname.The name's meaning may be "laurel tree", "sweet of honor", or "wisdom". It is derived from the French name Laurence, a feminine version of Laurent, which is in turn derived from the Roman surname Laurentius.
...
(drafted by
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
) was selected by
Western New York
Western New York (WNY) is the westernmost region of the U.S. state of New York. The eastern boundary of the region is not consistently defined by state agencies or those who call themselves "Western New Yorkers". Almost all sources agree WNY in ...
.
Offseason 201314
*2013 Postseason Waiver Draft: Players who were waived by their teams were available for other teams to pick up. Of the 11 players available, only
Nikki Marshall (previously of
Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States
* Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
) was selected by
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
.
*
2014 NWSL Expansion Draft
*
2014 NWSL College Draft
Offseason 201415
*2014 Postseason Waiver Wire: Players who were waived by their teams were available for other teams to pick up. Twelve players were made available, two-thirds of them coming from teams that finished in the bottom three.
FC Kansas City selected
Rafaelle Souza,
Portland Thorns FC
The Portland Thorns FC is an American professional women's soccer team based in Portland, Oregon. Established in 2012, the team began play in 2013 in the then-eight-team National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), which receives support from the Uni ...
selected
Danesha Adams
Danesha LaVonne Adams (born June 6, 1986) is an American retired soccer forward and midfielder. She is an assistant coach for the Houston Cougars. She played for Portland Thorns FC in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She previously pl ...
, and the
Washington Spirit
The Washington Spirit is an American professional soccer club based in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area that participates in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It is a continuation of the D.C. United Women of the W-League and cont ...
selected
Lydia Williams
Lydia Grace Yilkari Williams (born 13 May 1988) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Women's Super League club Brighton & Hove Albion and the Australia national team.
Williams previously played for Melbour ...
and
Joanna Lohman
Joanna Christie Lohman (born June 26, 1982) is a retired American professional soccer midfielder/ defender who last played for the Washington Spirit of the American National Women's Soccer League. She previously played for the Washington Freed ...
.
*
2015 NWSL College Draft
The 2015 NWSL College Draft was the third annual meeting of National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchises to select eligible college players. It was held on January 16, 2015 at the NSCAA Convention in Philadelphia, PA.
Format
*Draft order wa ...
Offseason 201516
*2015 Postseason Waiver Wire: Players who were waived by their teams were available for other teams to pick up. Originally announced for October 12, the Waiver Wire process was delayed to October 21–22, presumably to allow for the October 20 announcement of expansion with the
Orlando Pride
The Orlando Pride is a professional women's soccer team based in Orlando, Florida. The team joined the National Women's Soccer League, the top level of women's soccer in the US, for the 2016 season. It became the tenth team to be added to th ...
, who were granted top tie-break in the process.
Of the 8 players available, all from non-playoff teams, only
Brittany Bock
Brittany Christine Bock (born April 11, 1987) is an American soccer midfielder.
Early life
Bock was born in Naperville, Illinois and attended Neuqua Valley High School. In 2009, she was enrolled in the Mendoza College of Business
The Mendoz ...
(an Illinois native previously of
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
) was selected by
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
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, subdivision_name ...
.
*
2015 NWSL Expansion Draft
*
2016 NWSL College Draft
* 2016 NWSL Distribution Draft: Players who were no longer
allocated and whose former teams did not offer a new contract were made available in the Distribution Draft, held on March 31. Of the nine players whose NWSL rights were available, only
Verónica Pérez and
Arianna Romero were selected, both by
Seattle Reign FC
OL Reign is an American professional women's soccer team based in Seattle, Washington. Founded by Bill and Teresa Predmore in 2012 as Seattle Reign FC, it was one of eight inaugural members of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). In 2020, ...
.
Offseason 201617
* 2016 Postseason Re-Entry Wire: Players who were waived by their teams, or whose contracts were allowed to lapse, were available for other teams to pick up on the re-entry wire (previously known as the waiver wire) on October 19. Of the 13 players available, the only player selected was
Sinead Farrelly
Sinead Louise Farrelly (born November 16, 1989) is an American former soccer player who played as a midfielder. She previously played for Boston Breakers of the National Women's Soccer League. In 2011, she played for the Philadelphia Independen ...
, who was left on the wire by the
Boston Breakers
The Boston Breakers were an American professional soccer club based in the Boston neighborhood of Allston. The team competed in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). They replaced the original Breakers, who competed in the defunct Women's ...
and selected by
Seattle Reign FC
OL Reign is an American professional women's soccer team based in Seattle, Washington. Founded by Bill and Teresa Predmore in 2012 as Seattle Reign FC, it was one of eight inaugural members of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). In 2020, ...
.
*
2017 NWSL College Draft
Offseason 201718
*2017 Postseason Re-Entry Wire: Eight players were waived by their clubs; none were selected.
*
2018 NWSL College Draft
*
2018 NWSL Dispersal Draft The 2018 NWSL Dispersal Draft was held by the National Women's Soccer League on January 30, 2018, after the Boston Breakers ceased operations on January 28, 2018. The draft order is determined using a random weighted draw based on teams' playoffs q ...
Offseason 201819
*2018 Postseason Re-Entry Wire: Seven players were waived by their clubs; none were selected.
*
2019 NWSL College Draft
Offseason 201920
*2019 Re-Entry Wire: 19 players were made available by their clubs on the Re-Entry Wire; five were selected.
*
2020 NWSL College Draft
The 2020 NWSL College Draft was the eighth annual meeting of National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchises to select newly eligible college players for the 2020 NWSL season. It was held on January 16, 2020 in conjunction with the United Soc ...
Offseason 202021
*2020 Re-Entry Wire: Eight players were available for selection; one was selected.
*
2020 NWSL Expansion Draft
The 2020 NWSL Expansion Draft was a special draft held on November 12, 2020, by the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) for Racing Louisville FC, an expansion team, to select players from existing teams in the league. Louisville would be able to ...
*
2021 NWSL Draft
Offseason 202122
*
2022 NWSL Expansion Draft
The 2022 NWSL Expansion Draft (formerly named the 2021 NWSL Expansion Draft) was an expansion draft held by the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) on December 16, 2021, for two expansion teams, Angel City FC and San Diego Wave FC, to select pla ...
*
2022 NWSL Draft
Offseason 202223
Per the collective bargaining agreement between the NWSL and the
NWSL Players Association
The National Women's Soccer League Players Association (often known as NWSL Players Association or NWSLPA) is the officially recognized union of players in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL).
History
The NWSLPA was formed in May 2017 und ...
, the 2022–23 offseason included the first-ever free agency period in league history. Pending free agents could begin negotiating with teams on August 26, 2022, and signing new contracts on November 15, 2022.
*
2023 NWSL Draft
The 2023 NWSL Draft presented by Ally was the eleventh annual meeting of National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchises to select amateur players above the age of 18 playing in the United States who exhausted, lost, or renounced any remaining ...
See also
*
NWSL Draft The NWSL Draft is an annual event which takes place in January of each year where the teams of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) select players who are in their senior season in college or have exhausted their collegiate eligibility. Prior ...
*
NWSL federation players
The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) federation players were players whose salaries for playing in the NWSL were paid for by their respective national federations from 2013 to 2021. American federation players were contracted to the United Sta ...
*
NWSL records and statistics The following is a compilation of notable records and statistics for teams and players in the National Women's Soccer League, which started in 2013.
Statistics for the NWSL Challenge Cup, a competition originally created in place of the 2020 sea ...
References
{{NWSL drafts
Drafts
Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to:
Watercraft dimensions
* Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel
* Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail
* Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vessel ...
National Women's Soccer League drafts