by JJ Duke
Earlier today, the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) announced the names of the National Team players from the United States, Canada and Mexico who will be allocated to the eight teams in the league. These 55 players will have their salaries will be subsidized by their national team federations. Leading up to this announcement, the USWNT were going to name 24 players to the league while Canada and Mexico will each name 16 players to play in the league this season. However, the US decided on naming 23 players when the final list came out, while Canada and Mexico each named their full allotment of 16 players.
“The allocation will provide each club with a foundation of talent to build a competitive roster,” said NWSL Executive Director Cheryl Bailey. “Ultimately, the goal is to pair the teams and players in such a way that we achieve a fair distribution of talent across all eight teams. This is another important step as we continue to build towards the inaugural season of the National Women’s Soccer League. We are looking forward to sharing this news with our fans in the coming days.”
The list of the players to be allocated are as follows (with former college if applicable):
USA:
GK Nicole Barnhart – Stanford
M Shannon Boxx – Notre Dame
D Rachel Buehler – Stanford
M Lauren Cheney – UCLA
GK Ashlyn Harris – UNC
M Tobin Heath – UNC
D Ali Krieger – Penn State
D Amy LePeilbet – ASU
F Sydney Leroux – UCLA
M Lori Lindsey – Virginia
M Carli Lloyd – Rutgers
GK Jill Loyden – Villanova
D Heather Mitts – Florida
F Alex Morgan – California
D Kelley O’Hara – Stanford
M Heather O’Reilly – UNC
D Christie Rampone – Monmouth
M Megan Rapinoe – Portland
F Amy Rodriguez – USC
D Becky Sauerbrunn – Virginia
GK Hope Solo – Washington
F Abby Wambach – Florida
M Keelin Winters – Portland
Mexico Players
D Alina Lisi Garciamendez Rowold – Stanford
M Veronica Raquel Perez Murillo – Washington
M Teresa Noyola Bayardo – Stanford
F Maribel Dominguez Castelan
F Monica Ocampo Medina
GK Aurora Cecilia Santiago Cisneros
M Lydia Nayeli Rangel Hernandez
F Renae Nicole Cuellar Cuellar – Arizona
M Teresa Guadalupe Worbis Aguilar
F Anisa Raquel Guajardo Braff – Pepperdine
M Dinora Lizeth Garza Rodriguez
D Jennifer Marie Ruiz Brown – UNLV
D Luz del Rosario Saucedo Soto
D Rubi Marlene Sandoval Nungaray
GK Pamela Tajonar Alonso
D Marylin Viridiana Diaz Ramirez
Canada Players
D Melanie Booth – Florida
D Robyn Gayle – UNC
M Kaylyn Kyle
GK Karina LeBlanc – Nebraska
M/F Adriana Leon – Notre Dame/Florida
M Diana Matheson – Princeton
D/M Bryanna McCarthy – West Virginia
GK Erin McLeod – Penn State
D Carmelina Moscato – Penn State
M/F Jodi-Ann Robinson – West Florida
M Sophie Schmidt – Portland
M Desiree Scott
D Lauren Sesselmann – Purdue
F Christine Sinclair – Portland
D Rhian Wilkinson – Tennessee
D Emily Zurrer – Illinois
Overall, the list didn’t contain any real surprises, though it seems that the Mexican National Team decided to lean towards giving many of the younger players an opportunity to play in this league, which will only benefit the side in the long term. The USA allocated all 18 of the players who were on the 2012 Summer Olympic squad and Canada included 13 players who played in the 2012 Summer Olympics. Also of note, with Canada’s Adriana Leon signing onto the NWSL, she will be foregoing her senior year at the University of Florida.
The next step in the process comes on Friday January 11 when the players will find out which teams they will be playing for. After that day, the next opportunity that the teams will have to add players to their rosters will be next Friday, January 18 at the NSCAA Convention in Indianapolis. Each team will have the opportunity to select four players that have completed their collegiate careers this past fall.
Also, If you want to discuss the events from today’s allocation, join Yael Averbuch and Ella Masar on Twitter for #WSoccerChat tonight at 8pm. Their agenda includes discussion about what does it take to make a start-up league sustainable and how will NWSL will differ from WPS.