National Women's Soccer League

NWSL expansion draft 2021: the last chance for San Diego Wave FC and Angel City to pluck talent from their future rivals

By Wilian Estrella

December 16 will be the date on which new teams in the women's league will be able to obtain reinforcements for their teams. 

December 16 will be the date on which new teams in the women's league will be able to obtain reinforcements for their teams. 

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The time has come and the last chance for San Diego Wave FC and Angel City to pluck talent from their future rivals will be next Thursday, December 16 at the NWSL expansion draft 2021

These teams, newcomers to the league, will have the opportunity on that date to strengthen and have a better chance to compete for the 2022 tournament. 

These new teams, Angel City FC and the San Diego Wave FC expansion team, will be able to select up to nine players each from the available clubs to integrate into their squads. 

This is in order for both squads to arrive ready for their inaugural seasons next year.

Other great news for NWSL teams is that starting next season, each club will get an additional international berth, for a total of five per team.

This will be a great resource for teams that are just about to play their first games in the league, as they will be able to bring in more experienced players from other leagues. 

What are the rules of the NWSL expansion draft?

Yesterday the NWSL announced the rules for the NWSL expansion draft 2021 and among the changes will be the opportunity for each team to have one more international slot. 

This time each existing team will have the ability to protect up to 9 players, including one player assigned by the USWNT. This is the largest change to the draft when compared to what happened in 2020. 

At that time, up to 11 players could be protected and Racing Louisville was included; even up to two USWNT-assigned players could be protected. 

As far as is known, the only team exempt from the draft will be Kansas City due to the agreement they negotiated with the league, when they joined and took the Utah Royals FC roster later last year. 

On the other hand, Angel City FC and the San Diego Wave FC, will only be able to select one player from each team. 

But not only that, they will also have the opportunity to select 1 player who has not been protected by the USWNT, but if they choose not to do so, they will be eligible for a league grant in the amount of $150,000. 

But, if they select a player from one of the existing teams in the tournament, that player's former team will be the recipient of the $150,000 sponsored by the NWSL. 

These are not the only changes contemplated in this year's draft, which aims to make team managers make smarter decisions when it comes to protecting their players. 

Field positions will now be used to protect players in the draft

In the most interesting twist to the NWSL draft, teams will now have the ability to protect their players by assigning them to the group of positions they play on the field, such as goalkeeper, defender, forward, etc. 

The goal is that they can only lose 1 player from that position group. For example, if a team wishes to have 2 strikers from another club, they will not be able to access this option as they will only be able to have 1 of those 2 strikers. 

And finally, each of the nine draft-eligible teams will be allowed to lose up to two players. And the only way this might not happen would be if one of the expansion teams decided not to use their slot to pick 1 player.


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