NWSL’s Washington Spirit to announce first professional women’s players Friday

Washington Spirit  |   January 10, 2013
NWSL’s Washington Spirit to announce first professional women’s players Friday Featured Image

GERMANTOWN, MD. – The Washington Spirit, the newest professional women’s soccer team in the nation’s capital, will soon announce which United States, Canadian, and Mexican international players have been allocated to the club from the National Women’s Soccer League’s 55-player allocation list.

The club encourages fans who wish to be the “First to Know” about player signings and other milestones in the club’s first year as a professional franchise to sign up for text alerts and emails at www.washingtonspirit.com.

“Yesterday’s release of the NWSL allocation list marks another proud milestone in the development of our new league,” said Spirit owner Bill Lynch. “We can hardly wait to share with our fans the identity of our first official players — the ones that will spearhead the club’s drive for an NWSL championship.”

All 18 U.S. players on the gold medal-winning 2012 Olympic team are included in the allocation, while 13 of the Canadian players were part of the bronze medal-winning team.

The allocation process will be conducted with assistance from a panel of experts familiar with the player pool, including individuals from the collegiate level, recent professional and semi-professional clubs, and the youth and senior national team level in North America.

Along with the panel’s collective input on the technical ability of the players, in preparation for the allocation, players have selected their preferred destinations and the clubs have provided their preference with regard to specific players and qualities of players desired. Based on the input from the panel of experts and teams, players will be assigned numerical values on quality and desirability.

“Confirming our list of allocated players is just one element of constructing a successful team,” said Spirit head coach Mike Jorden. “But these internationals bring world-class quality and experience both on and off the field. We look forward to them anchoring our club for years to come.”

With 23 U.S. players available for the allocation, all but one of the eight teams will receive three U.S. Women’s National Team players. Each club will also be assigned two Canadian National Team and two Mexican National Team players.

ABOUT THE WASHINGTON SPIRIT
The Washington Spirit are a women’s professional soccer team based at the Maryland SoccerPlex in Germantown, Md. Launched in 2012, the Spirit play in the National Women’s Soccer League, the premier women’s soccer competition in North America. For more information about the Spirit, visit www.washingtonspirit.com, follow the club on Twitter @WashSpirit and on Facebook at: www.Facebook.com/washingtonspirit.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL WOMEN’S SOCCER LEAGUE
The NWSL is an eight-team league organized and administered by the U.S. Soccer Federation that will begin play in the spring of 2013. The eight founding clubs are the Boston Breakers, Chicago Red Stars, FC Kansas City, Portland Thorns FC, Sky Blue FC (New York/New Jersey), Seattle Reign FC, the Washington Spirit and the Western New York Flash.

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