The NWSL Draft was an annual entry draft for the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) which took place in December or January of each year. Prior to 2021 it was known as the NWSL College Draft , and was renamed to reflect that selections were no longer limited to collegiate players.
69-515: Unlike other nations' leagues, which often use an academy model or free agency to allow players to solicit contract offers and choose which team they play for, the NWSL restricted player entry and distributed players to teams through a variety of mechanisms, including the NWSL Draft for players ages 18 and older with active or potential NCAA eligibility . This was driven in part by NCAA amateurism rules and
138-410: A discovery claim on that player until after the completion of the following season. If an eligible player registered but withdrew prior to the draft, they could register for a future NWSL Draft. If an eligible player registered and was not selected, the league made them available to teams via discovery . An undrafted player could choose to retain any remaining collegiate eligibility within 72 hours of
207-492: A housing chain , generating much media interest. Steve Coppell , former manager of Reading in England's Premier League , and others have called for the transfer window to be scrapped in favour of the previous system, under which transfers could take place throughout the season other than in the closing weeks. Coppell said that the transfer window breeds panic and encourages "scurrilous" transfer activity adding that "I cannot see
276-571: A transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA . "Transfer window" is the unofficial term commonly used by the media for the concept of "registration period" as described in the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players. According to the rules, each national football association decides on the time (such as the dates) of the 'window' but it may not exceed 12 weeks. The second registration period occurs during
345-417: A "snake" order, with the order of the second round reversed from the first round. Due to the nature of NWSL roster rules, when a team selects a player in the draft, the team acquires only the right to offer a player an NWSL contract, with exclusivity limited to within the NWSL and for a limited period of time. A drafted player that does not intend to play in the NWSL is not obligated to report to or remain with
414-422: A conflicting discovery claim by a team they didn't want to play for. NWSL teams can waive their right to sign a player, including their rights to a draft selection. Waived players enter the league's waiver wire, where teams can choose to acquire the player's NWSL rights and take on their contract if signed to one, similar to a free transfer but without a direct transaction between teams. The waiver wire also has
483-446: A contract. Players who have been bought out of league standard contracts may have restrictions within that league, such as not being able to sign with the buy-out club for a period of time in the NHL, but are otherwise not restricted. The specific rules of restricted free agency vary among the major professional sports, but in principle it means that a player is currently signed to one team but
552-453: A deadline which occurs approximately a week prior to the NFL Draft (for 2010 the deadline was April 15), at which time their rights revert to their original club. If a player accepts an offer from a new club, the old club will have the right to match the offer and retain the player. If the old club elects not to match the offer, it may receive draft-choice compensation depending on the level of
621-545: A free agent. Any player who is not entry-level, but does not meet the qualifications of unrestricted free agency becomes a restricted free agent when his contract expires. Players eligible for free agency are 24 years of age and older with five MLS service years and are out of contract or have had their option declined. Free agency has been available in the National Women's Soccer League since 2023; players eligible for free agency are required six years of service within
690-596: A given year will be ineligible to play in the National Hockey League for the balance of that season. However, other leagues (such as the National Basketball Association ) have no such restrictions on signing periods in season, despite having a moratorium in the offseason. In Europe, players can only move during transfer windows —during the close season and halfway through the league season. There are exceptions for unsigned professional players in
759-473: A global scale. Deyna Castellanos , Twitter Players who played collegiate soccer in the United States have publicly criticized the lack of free agency in the NWSL. In 2021, United States national team player and former NWSL player Heather O'Reilly called for the end of the draft and unrestricted free agency for players. Deyna Castellanos , who played for Florida State but declined to register for
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#1732848318525828-477: A league's annual draft of amateur players are considered to be unrestricted free agents and are free to negotiate contracts with any team. In most American professional sports, players are drafted by sequencing each team from worst to best (according to the teams' win–loss records the previous season, sometimes invoking a draft lottery factor to avoid having teams intentionally lose their last games to gain higher draft position) and allowing said teams to claim rights to
897-454: A player whose contract with their current club has expired and is thus free to join any other club under the terms of the Bosman ruling . Free agents do not have to be signed during the normal transfer window that is implemented in some countries' leagues. If they are signed by a team, the team signing them does not have to pay any fees – sometimes this is known as "a free transfer". If a player
966-500: A specific selection order, using the same logic as the draft order, and at the end of an NWSL season also includes players whose contracts have expired. At the 2016 NWSL College Draft , the league announced the addition of a new entry process for NWSL federation players who otherwise weren't eligible for the NWSL Draft or other entry mechanisms. This was initially expected to facilitate the entry of Mallory Pugh , then 17 years old and had not yet reported to UCLA , to an NWSL team. Pugh
1035-493: Is "unfair" in its current form. He cited Newcastle United transfer activity as an example. The following year, Wenger hit out at Manchester United 's £37m purchase of Juan Mata from rivals Chelsea . Wenger argued that the transfer was unfair because United and Chelsea had already played each other twice during the season, but United would still have to play Arsenal, and said that "the rules should be adapted more for fairness". Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini backed
1104-440: Is free to solicit contract offers from other teams; however, this player cannot sign with the competing club if the current club matches (or in some leagues, comes within 10% of) the terms of the offered contract. For a restricted free agent, some leagues require the comp team to offer to the original team one or more draft picks, when an offer is not matched, as compensation for losing the player. Players who are not drafted in
1173-514: Is released from their club when the transfer window is closed, they cannot sign for another team until the window reopens. A notable case of this being Sol Campbell who in September 2009 was released from Notts County , just after a month from signing on a free transfer . He signed for his former club Arsenal in January 2010 during the winter transfer window, after spending a few months training with
1242-411: Is right to have a window, it was easier when it was open all the time and perhaps fairer for the players. I am sure much of the business being done on the last day is a little bit desperate and that is not right. I think it was better before, but then I am old". In January 2013 Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger asked for the January transfer window to be limited to two transfers per window and claimed it
1311-625: The 2020 NWSL College Draft and instead signed with Atlético Madrid of Spain's Liga F , stated in November 2019 that NWSL rules "do not favor international talent." She again stated her desire on July 6, 2022, for the NWSL to provide players with "full autonomy of their careers." At the 2023 NWSL Draft , NWSL Players Association executive director Meghann Burke suggested the league would have to adopt unrestricted free agency to remain globally competitive. In response to criticism and increased competitive pressure from European leagues with free agency,
1380-527: The European Commission . The system had been used in many European leagues before being brought into compulsory effect by FIFA during the 2002–03 season . English football was initially behind the plans when they were proposed in the early 1990s, in the hope that it would improve teams' stability and prevent agents from searching for deals all year around, but by the time it was eventually introduced they had to be persuaded that it would work. However,
1449-644: The NFL draft but were not selected; they can sign with any team. Plan B free agency was a type of free agency that became active in the National Football League in February 1989 to 1992. Plan B free agency permitted all teams in the NFL to preserve limited rights of no more than 37 total players a season; if a player was a protected Plan B free agent, he was incapable of signing with another team without providing his old team
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#17328483185251518-610: The National Football League (NFL), where rookies enter directly into the NFL and do not play in a minor league system. It can also occasionally be seen in the National Hockey League (NHL), which increasingly uses college hockey as a source; the NHL entry draft usually drafts players of high school age (i.e., junior leagues ), which allows overlooked players who excel at the college level or in European professional leagues to bypass
1587-516: The National League division . If the last day of a transfer window is on a weekend, the deadline can be extended to the following Monday at the request of those involved for business reasons. The first shift of the deadline since its inception took place in summer 2008, when the deadline was extended by 24 hours to fall on Monday 1 September at midnight. The transfer deadline in England was similarly extended to 5 pm 1 September 2009, due to
1656-453: The Webster ruling allowed players the opportunity to move between nations, though it does not allow free players to move within the national league in which they currently play. A free agent bust is a highly touted or highly signed free agent who does not meet expectations. This can be for a variety of reasons such as being unable to adjust to the team's more demanding role, system or scheme of
1725-468: The August Bank Holiday. The German football league announced an extension of the January 2009 deadline to 2 February. Free agents can be signed by a club at any time during the season, if they had been released by their previous club before the end of the transfer window. A club can request to sign a player on emergency basis, e.g. if several goalkeepers are injured at the same time. Outside
1794-571: The English leagues (including the Premier League) cannot be made until the window has opened on 17 May. Outside the transfer window, a club may still sign players on an emergency basis, usually if they have no goalkeeper available. Special dispensation from their competition's governing body, for example the Premier League, is required. The transfer window restriction does not apply to clubs in or below
1863-440: The NWSL Draft, respectively, from 2022 to 2024. Previous editions of the draft streamed on Twitch , the NWSL website, Facebook , and YouTube . With the exception of the 2021 NWSL Draft , players had to register to be selected in the NWSL Draft. As of November 2022, the league defined an eligible player as one who is: If a collegiate player was eligible to register for the draft but declined to do so, NWSL teams cannot make
1932-453: The NWSL in 2023 hired Tatjana Haenni , who previously led women's soccer for FIFA and UEFA , and NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman stated that Haenni would have influence over the draft's future direction. Prior to the 2021 NWSL season , the NWSL prohibited players under the age of 18 from entering the league. On July 30, 2021, 15-year-old Olivia Moultrie and NWSL club Portland Thorns FC settled an antitrust lawsuit they filed against
2001-419: The NWSL team that selected them, and the league can void a discovery claim if the team fails to act upon it. However, if the selecting team makes a bona fide contract offer to the player, then the NWSL prohibits any other team from making a discovery claim on that player for the rest of the season. This has prevented players in other leagues, such as Elise Kellond-Knight , from signing with an NWSL team due to
2070-402: The NWSL. In Major League Rugby , a player can be signed by any team as a free agent at 18 years old as long as they don't enroll in college. In case they do, they have to wait for MLR Draft at 21 years old. In some leagues, free agency has deadlines . For example, under the most recent NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement , restricted free agents who do not sign contracts by December 1 of
2139-492: The United States. Under-18 entry list slots aren't team assets and can't be traded. The NWSL has a system of discovery in which teams can acquire the right to sign players not under an NWSL contract, whose rights to sign an NWSL contract are not controlled by an NWSL team, and who are at least 17 years old, not eligible for an NWSL Draft, and not part of the United States women's national soccer team player pool. Teams can use
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2208-443: The age of 18, which established requirements and limitations on such signings. Teams are limited to two under-18 players, must keep the player under contract until they turn 18, can't waive or trade the player until they turn 18 or have consent from both the player and their parent or guardian, cannot be selected in an expansion draft, must live with a parent or guardian until they turn 18, and must be citizens or permanent residents of
2277-436: The age of unrestricted free agency declined from 31 to 27. Under the old collective agreement, which expired in 2004, draft picks were awarded as compensation when a team lost an unrestricted free agent; however, under the current CBA teams losing unrestricted free agents do not receive any compensation. In addition, any player at least 22 years of age who has not been selected in the NHL entry draft can sign with any team as
2346-450: The breadth of NCAA Division I women's soccer in the United States, both unique factors not replicated in other nations. On August 22, 2024, the NWSL announced the elimination of its draft and discovery systems as part of its renegotiated collective bargaining agreement with the National Women's Soccer League Players Association . NWSL teams could pursue and sign any prospective collegiate and international players as free agents, bringing
2415-521: The conclusion of the NCAA Division I spring season in May 2021. The NWSL waived registration requirements so that all Division I players who had exhausted three years of collegiate soccer eligibility prior to the 2020–21 academic year were automatically eligible to be drafted. The NWSL playing rights of drafted players were held until the start of the 2022 preseason rather than the end of the 2021 season as
2484-429: The discovery process to acquire the rights to draft-eligible players who registered but weren't selected. NWSL teams can also acquire via discovery the right to sign players from other leagues, including transfers from other leagues, with limits on the claim's length and the potential for competing requests by multiple teams for the right to sign the same player. Players selected via discovery aren't obligated to sign with
2553-523: The draft and sign directly with the NHL. In the European Union , the 1995 Bosman ruling by the European Court of Justice established the right of free agency for association football players in all EU member nations. The Bosman ruling has since been extended to cover other professional sports and players from Eastern Europe. Players were still tied to their clubs unless their contract ran out until
2622-415: The draft is also considered a team asset and can be traded with other NWSL teams for any combination of other assets, including picks in the current or next three NWSL Drafts, for NWSL players already under contract to other teams, for NWSL-specific rights to players not under contract, for allocation money in the current or next three seasons, or for international slots . Trades can also be conditional, and
2691-466: The draft, but couldn't enter the league via a future NWSL Draft. Due to the disruption of college soccer and resulting 2021 NCAA Division I spring season , the NWSL applied for and received a waiver from the NCAA so that Division I players who were drafted could choose to report immediately for the 2021 NWSL season and forfeit their remaining collegiate eligibility, or remain with their collegiate teams until
2760-413: The exact regulations and possible exceptions are established by each competition's governing body rather than by the national football association. FIFA regulates in general that there shall be two windows, a longer one (max. twelve weeks) in the break between seasons and a shorter one (max. one month) in the middle of a season. The specific periods depend on the league's season cycle and are determined by
2829-435: The first opportunity to sign him again. The rest of the players were left unprotected, liberated to negotiate contracts with the rest of the teams in the league. Eight players sued the NFL in U.S. federal court, stating that Plan B was an unlawful restraint of trade. In 1992, a jury found that Plan B violated antitrust laws and awarded damages to these players. In the National Hockey League (NHL), between 2005 and 2008,
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2898-537: The first overall pick in the inaugural draft. Most NWSL Draft events took place at the annual United Soccer Coaches Convention , previously called the NSCAA Convention, which changes venue each year. The 2021 NWSL Draft held via videoconference, and 2022 NWSL Draft hosted remotely by CBS Sports , were the sole exceptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic . CBS Sports Network and Paramount+ broadcast and streamed
2967-399: The free agent's options are limited by league rules. Free agency was severely restricted in many sports leagues, instead clubs had a reserve clause which allowed them to retain players indefinitely. In professional association football , a free agent is either a player that has been released by a professional association football club and now is no longer affiliated with any league, or
3036-506: The league calls "draft rights". Draft rights can be waived, allowing other NWSL teams to make a discovery claim , or traded to other NWSL teams. However, the selection does not automatically offer the player a contract, nor does it obligate the player to sign with the team nor to play in the NWSL. Draft rights prohibit the selected player only from signing with any other NWSL team. Multiple players have been selected in NWSL drafts but opted to play in other leagues. The selecting team must invite
3105-463: The league closer in line with global standards within the sport. The first NWSL Draft was announced on December 21, 2012, and held on January 18, 2013, at the NSCAA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana , a few months prior to the start of the league's inaugural season on April 13, 2013, and one day after the 2013 MLS SuperDraft in the same venue. Chicago Red Stars selected Zakiya Bywaters with
3174-418: The league determines the results of all conditions between the day after the prior season's championship match and before the following NWSL Draft. The league must approve all trades. The draft is composed of four rounds in which each club has one natural selection. As of 2023, the league had 12 teams, resulting in 48 total selections. The selection order is determined in reverse order of the teams' positions on
3243-534: The league table at the end of the previous regular season, with the last-placed team selecting first. If teams were tied, the league follows tie-breaking procedures. The two teams that played in the NWSL championship are exceptions; the runners up select second-to-last, and the champions select last, regardless of their positions on the regular season table. In seasons where the league has added new teams, those expansion teams select first. Selections in an expansion draft can generate compensatory picks in an NWSL Draft for
3312-430: The league to allow her to play. The settlement was limited in scope to Moultrie, but the league subsequently created an ad-hoc system for individually approving clubs' requests to sign minors as players. The first application of this case-by-case policy was the signing of Jaedyn Shaw , for which the league used its existing discovery process . The 2023 NWSL season introduced a formal entry list process for players under
3381-442: The logic in a transfer window. It brings on a fire-sale mentality, causes unrest via the media and means clubs buy too many players" adding that "The old system, where if you had a problem you could look at loans or make a short-term purchase, was far better than this system we have at the moment". Former England Manager Sven-Göran Eriksson has also questioned the value of the transfer window, commenting: "You do wonder at times if it
3450-406: The lower divisions. Unrestricted free agents are players without a team. They have either been released from their club, had the term of their contract expire without a renewal, or were not chosen in a league's draft of amateur players. These people, generally speaking, are free to entertain offers from all other teams in the player's most recent league and elsewhere and to decide with whom to sign
3519-653: The national football authorities. Most major European leagues commence in the second half of the year (e.g. August or September) and stretch over two calendar years to the first half of the next year (e.g. May), resulting in a close season window in the summer ending in August, and a mid-season window in January. The periods are different when a league runs throughout a single calendar year, as in most Nordic countries due to weather constraints, Major League Soccer due to both weather and competition from other locally popular sports (notably basketball and American football ), or as
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#17328483185253588-519: The order, acquired via trade with the Boston Breakers , who finished the 2016 NWSL season in last place. Free agency In professional sports , a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises ; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is allowed to solicit offers from other teams. In some circumstances,
3657-622: The player to preseason, and has 60 days from the date the player reports to either offer the player a contract, or trade or waive the player's NWSL playing rights. If the team offers the selected player a contract, the team retains the right to sign that player until either January 30 of the third year following the draft in which they were selected, or until the offered contract's terms would have expired, whichever comes first. Domestic draft selections can be signed outside of transfer windows , but international players might be subject to transfer window and work permit restrictions. A team's position in
3726-440: The qualifying offer made to the player. Exclusive-rights free agents (ERFAs) are players with two or fewer seasons of service time and whose contracts have expired. If their team tenders a qualifying offer (a one-year contract usually at league-minimum salary) the player has no negotiating rights with other teams, and must either sign the tender with the team or sit out the season. Undrafted free agents are players eligible for
3795-431: The season and may not exceed four weeks. The transfer window of a given football association governs only international transfers into that football association. International transfers out of an association are always possible to those associations that have an open window. The transfer window of the association that the player is leaving does not have to be open. The window was introduced in response to negotiations with
3864-450: The second half of the season, until 5.00pm on the fourth Thursday in March. An existing loan deal can be made permanent at any time outside the transfer window. The day upon which a window closes is known as transfer deadline day , and is usually one of the busiest days of the window, generating a flurry of transfers, often because a number of interdependent transfers are completed resembling
3933-412: The sentiment of Wenger, disagreeing that a player "can go from one team to another team in the same league at this part of the year" and also said that the winter transfer window was unbalanced in favour of big clubs, saying "a club with money can take the best players from the other teams". Former Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew questioned why the Premier League transfer window remains open after
4002-429: The team losing players. A team found to have tampered with a player or staff member of another team might be required to forfeit or defer draft selections as punishment. The only NWSL Draft to use a different ordering mechanism was its inaugural draft. With no prior season's results to use, the league applied a weighted draw based on NWSL federation allocation strength as determined by a panel. Subsequent rounds used
4071-574: The team or if their time with team was affected by injuries. In the NFL, numerous of notable highly touted free agents have signed with other teams, with the tenures being busts. One example is Larry Brown , most known from his two interception game which earned him a Super Bowl MVP award and championship in Super Bowl XXX , signed a five-year, $ 12.5 million free-agent deal with the Oakland Raiders . Brown played just 12 games with Oakland and then
4140-489: The team to maintain his fitness. The Australian Football League introduced free agency at the end of 2012, after having had a brief "ten-year rule" in 1973 (when it was known as the Victorian Football League). Out-of-contract players who are not within the top 25% paid players at their club will become unrestricted free agents after eight seasons of service at one club. Out-of-contract players who are within
4209-446: The team, but drafted players are prohibited from signing with other NWSL teams by the league's lack of free agency for new entrants to the league. Notable examples of players who registered for and were selected in an NWSL draft but declined to report and instead signed for teams in other leagues include Mia Fishel and Julia Ashley . A league that is able to control players' rights without their consent does not align with football on
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#17328483185254278-457: The top 25% paid players at their club become restricted free agents after eight seasons, then become unrestricted free agents after ten seasons. Clubs receive compensation in the form of draft picks for the loss of out-of-contract free agents, but players who are delisted become unrestricted free agents, regardless of length of service, and clubs are not compensated for the transfer of such free agents. The NFL's current free agency system
4347-410: The top players entering the league that year. Players that pass through an entire draft (usually several rounds) without being selected by any of the league's teams become unrestricted free agents, and these players are sometimes identified simply as an undrafted free agent (UDFA) or undrafted sportsperson and are free to sign with any team they choose. The term "undrafted free agent" is most common in
4416-526: The traditional season in the Southern Hemisphere. The first window generally opens from 1 March until midnight of 30 April, followed by the in-season window from 1 to 31 August. Although, in England, transfers between clubs in the same league can take place as soon as the last competitive fixtures for the season have been played, many transfers will not be completed until 1 July because many players' contracts expire on 30 June. International transfers into
4485-598: The transfer window in England , once seven days have passed following the end of a transfer window, clubs from the English Football League (Regulation 53.3.4) and (provided the player is not registered with a club from any league below the National League division) National League division (Rule 6.6.4) can loan in players i) in the first half of the season, until 5.00pm on the fourth Thursday in November and ii) in
4554-421: Was designated an "unattached subsidized individual" who would enter through a distribution ranking order, using the same logic as the NWSL college draft order, with teams able to trade ranking order as assets. However, Pugh instead reported to UCLA, then in May 2017 relinquished her collegiate eligibility and entered the league via distribution after the order had reset. Washington Spirit had the first selection in
4623-435: Was introduced on March 1, 1993. Unrestricted free agents (UFAs) are players with expired contracts that have completed four or more accrued seasons of service. They are free to sign with any franchise. Restricted free agents (RFAs) are players who have three accrued seasons of service and whose contracts have expired. RFAs have received qualifying offers from their old clubs and are free to negotiate with any club until
4692-457: Was the case previously. The NWSL uses a system of assigning teams the right to sign new players to an NWSL contract. As of 2023, only players with certain tenure within the league are eligible for free agency and can choose which team they can sign a contract with. A team that makes a draft selection acquires the NWSL-exclusive right to sign the selected player for time-limited basis, which
4761-548: Was waived after two seasons with the team. Another well known example is Albert Haynesworth . The highly coveted defensive tackle signed with the Redskins for a seven-year, $ 100 million deal which ultimately busted with his laziness and ineffectiveness on the team. He was let go after two years. Transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such
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