SAN FRANCISCO, July 10 /PRNewswire/ --
- U.S. Women's National Team allocation week of September 15, immediately followed by International Player Draft and WPS General Draft
- Combines, Post-Combine Draft and local tryouts conclude player selection process
Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) announced today the details of its player selection process leading into the kickoff of its inaugural season in April 2009. WPS teams will build their rosters through an allocation of U.S. Women's National Team stars, a draft of international players, combines, additional League drafts and local team tryouts.
WPS will begin securing domestic talent with the post-Olympics allocation of the U.S. Women's National Team (WNT) and U.S. WNT Player Pool in mid-September, to be immediately followed with a draft of the top international players. In October, WPS will conduct a general draft for both domestic and international players, followed by east and west coast combines in December and a post-combine draft in January. WPS Teams for the inaugural 2009 season -- Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New Jersey/New York, St. Louis, and Washington D.C. -- will then complete their rosters via local tryouts.
"The player allocation and draft process has been the top priority for the League office and Team owners since first announcing the League's formation last September," said Tonya Antonucci, WPS Commissioner. "WPS will be the ultimate showcase for the world's best female soccer talent and, for those athletes competing in the Beijing Olympics, the next stage in their careers. As a North American league, our first priority is the U.S. Women's National Team players, whose skills will be complemented by the world's top players, as well as the domestic players who have the talent and dedication required of professional athletes."
Addendum 1: The complete WPS player timeline is as follows: Advancement of player contract discussions between July 8 - Week of WPS and U.S. WNT / U.S. WNT Player Pool; contracts Sept. 15 to be finalized prior to post-Olympics allocation. Note: U.S. WNT Players / U.S. WNT Pool Players have already submitted their WPS market preferences. July 8 - Aug. 5 WPS teams may enter discussions with international players, in advance of International Players' post-Olympics draft August 5 - 23 Beijing Olympics quiet period; no WPS communication with any Players competing in the Olympics September 2 WPS Teams submit U.S. WNT Player preferences to the League Week of September 15 U.S. WNT domestic allocation Week of September 22 Draft of top International players (2 per WPS team) October 6 WPS General Draft of Domestic and International players December 10 - 13 WPS West Coast Combine December 17 - 20 WPS East Coast Combine Week of January 14 WPS Post-Combine Draft Beginning WPS Tryouts in Team's local market may begin any February 1 time after January 31, with exact dates to be posted on both League and Team websites March 1 WPS Pre-Season begins April 4/5 (TBD) WPS Regular Season begins
About Women's Professional Soccer (WPS)
The mission of Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) is to be the premier women's soccer league in the world and the global standard by which women's professional sports are measured. Play kicks off in the spring of 2009, with WPS teams based in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New Jersey/New York, St. Louis, and Washington, D.C. The league will expand to eight teams by 2010 with the inclusion of Philadelphia. For more information, visit http://www.womensprosoccer.com.
Web site: http://www.womensprosoccer.com
Jennifer Peters of Fleishman-Hillard Sports Business, +1-314-982-9167, jennifer.peters@fleishman.com, for Women's Professional Soccer (WPS). NOTE TO EDITORS: COMPLETE WPS ALLOCATION TIMELINE AVAILABLE IN THIS PRESS RELEASE AS AN ADDENDUM OR BY E-MAILING JENNIFER.PETERS@FLEISHMAN.COM.
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