List of drafts held by the NWSL

The following is a list of drafts held by National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), with a brief description of each.

Preseason 2013 (inaugural)

NSCAA convention, this year in Indianapolis, the draft allowed all eight teams to draft four players who had completed their college eligibility. While they had originally announced that the draft would be in snake format with randomly determined order, NWSL announced several days before the draft that the order would be the same in each of the four rounds, with the order semi-randomly determined with weighting based on evaluation of the allocation
results.

2013 NWSL Supplemental Draft

: After a limited free agency period, NWSL pooled remaining players who were identified by the teams to be distributed via draft. Each team submitted 8–10 player names to the draft pool, with players picked over six rounds.

2013 Preseason Waiver Draft: Drafted players who were waived by their teams were made available for other teams. Six players were available: Casey Berrier, Whitney Berry, Heather Cooke, Tina DiMartino, Jaclyn Logue, and Lauren Alkek. The only selection was of Alkek, originally drafted by Boston, who was selected by Western New York.^[1]

Offseason 2013–14

2013 Postseason Waiver Draft: Players who were waived by their teams were available for other teams to pick up. Of the 11 players available, only
Portland) was selected by Washington.^[2]

2014 NWSL Expansion Draft

2014 NWSL College Draft

Offseason 2014–15

2014 Postseason Waiver Wire: Players who were waived by their teams were available for other teams to pick up. Twelve players were made available, two-thirds of them coming from teams that finished in the bottom three.^[3] FC Kansas City selected Rafaelle Souza, Portland Thorns FC selected Danesha Adams, and the Washington Spirit selected Lydia Williams and Joanna Lohman.^[4]
2015 NWSL College Draft

Offseason 2015–16

2015 Postseason Waiver Wire: Players who were waived by their teams were available for other teams to pick up. Originally announced for October 12, the Waiver Wire process was delayed to October 21–22,^[5] presumably to allow for the October 20 announcement of expansion with the Orlando Pride, who were granted top tie-break in the process.^[6] Of the 8 players available, all from non-playoff teams, only Brittany Bock (an Illinois native previously of Houston) was selected by Chicago.^[7]
2015 NWSL Expansion Draft
2016 NWSL College Draft
2016 NWSL Distribution Draft: Players who were no longer allocated and whose former teams did not offer a new contract were made available in the Distribution Draft, held on March 31. Of the nine players whose NWSL rights were available, only Verónica Pérez and Arianna Romero were selected, both by Seattle Reign FC.^[8]

Offseason 2016–17

2016 Postseason Re-Entry Wire: Players who were waived by their teams, or whose contracts were allowed to lapse, were available for other teams to pick up on the re-entry wire (previously known as the waiver wire) on October 19.^[9] Of the 13 players available, the only player selected was Sinead Farrelly, who was left on the wire by the Boston Breakers and selected by Seattle Reign FC.^[10]
2017 NWSL College Draft

Offseason 2017–18

2017 Postseason Re-Entry Wire: Eight players were waived by their clubs; none were selected.^[11]
2018 NWSL College Draft
2018 NWSL Dispersal Draft

Offseason 2018–19

2018 Postseason Re-Entry Wire: Seven players were waived by their clubs; none were selected.^[12]
2019 NWSL College Draft

Offseason 2019–20

2019 Re-Entry Wire: 19 players were made available by their clubs on the Re-Entry Wire;^[13] five were selected.^[14]
2020 NWSL College Draft

Offseason 2020–21

2020 Re-Entry Wire: Eight players were available for selection;^[15] one was selected.^[16]
2020 NWSL Expansion Draft
2021 NWSL Draft

Offseason 2021–22

2022 NWSL Expansion Draft
2022 NWSL Draft

Offseason 2022–23

Per the collective bargaining agreement between the NWSL and the

NWSL Players Association, the 2022–23 offseason included the first-ever free agency period in league history.^[17] Pending free agents could begin negotiating with teams on August 26, 2022, and signing new contracts on November 15, 2022.^[18]

2023 NWSL Draft

Offseason 2023–24

2024 NWSL Expansion Draft
2024 NWSL Draft

References

^ Lewis, Scott; Drot, Kareen (8 April 2013). "NWSL holds Waiver Draft; WNY Flash select defender Lauren Alkek". NWSLNews. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
^ "Washington Spirit add Nikki Marshall in Waiver Draft". The Equalizer. 9 September 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
^ "National Women's Soccer League Clubs Waive 12 Players". Pitchside Report. 12 September 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
^ "FOUR PLAYERS SELECTED OFF NWSL WAIVER WIRE". National Women's Soccer League. 15 September 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
^ "EIGHT PLAYERS AVAILABLE ON WAIVER WIRE". National Women's Soccer League. 21 October 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
^ "Orlando City to Launch the Orlando Pride NWSL Team; Announce Head Coach". Orlando City SC. 20 October 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
^ "Red Stars Select Brittany Bock Off NWSL Waiver Wire". Chicago Red Stars. 22 October 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
^ "TWO PLAYERS SELECTED IN NWSL DISTRIBUTION DRAFT". National Women's Soccer League. Archived from the original on 23 December 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
^ "THIRTEEN NWSL PLAYERS AVAILABLE ON THE RE-ENTRY WIRE". National Women's Soccer League. 19 October 2016. Archived from the original on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
^ "SEATTLE REIGN FC SELECT SINEAD FARRELLY OFF NWSL RE-ENTRY WIRE". National Women's Soccer League. 20 October 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
^ "NWSL names eight players on the Re-Entry Wire". Vavel. 24 October 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
^ Purdy, Jacqueline (2 October 2018). "No players selected off Re-Entry Wire". NWSL. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
^ Levine, Matthew (4 November 2019). "Nineteen NWSL players available on the Re-Entry Wire". NWSL. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
^ Levine, Matthew (5 November 2019). "Five players selected off NWSL Re-Entry Wire". NWSL. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
^ "Eight NWSL Players Available on the Re-Entry Wire". NWSL. 29 October 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
^ "Racing Louisville FC Acquires Cheyna Matthews Off Re-Entry Wire". NWSL. 2 November 2020. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
^ "National Women's Soccer League Official Site | NWSL". www.nwslsoccer.com.
^ "National Women's Soccer League Official Site | NWSL". www.nwslsoccer.com.

[1] Lewis, Scott; Drot, Kareen (8 April 2013). "NWSL holds Waiver Draft; WNY Flash select defender Lauren Alkek". NWSLNews. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 17 April 2023.

[2] "Washington Spirit add Nikki Marshall in Waiver Draft". The Equalizer. 9 September 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2017.

[3] "National Women's Soccer League Clubs Waive 12 Players". Pitchside Report. 12 September 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2017.

[4] "FOUR PLAYERS SELECTED OFF NWSL WAIVER WIRE". National Women's Soccer League. 15 September 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2017.

[5] "EIGHT PLAYERS AVAILABLE ON WAIVER WIRE". National Women's Soccer League. 21 October 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2017.

[Orlando-6] "Orlando City to Launch the Orlando Pride NWSL Team; Announce Head Coach". Orlando City SC. 20 October 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2017.

[7] "Red Stars Select Brittany Bock Off NWSL Waiver Wire". Chicago Red Stars. 22 October 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2017.

[8] "TWO PLAYERS SELECTED IN NWSL DISTRIBUTION DRAFT". National Women's Soccer League. Archived from the original on 23 December 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2017.

[9] "THIRTEEN NWSL PLAYERS AVAILABLE ON THE RE-ENTRY WIRE". National Women's Soccer League. 19 October 2016. Archived from the original on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2017.

[10] "SEATTLE REIGN FC SELECT SINEAD FARRELLY OFF NWSL RE-ENTRY WIRE". National Women's Soccer League. 20 October 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2017.

[11] "NWSL names eight players on the Re-Entry Wire". Vavel. 24 October 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2018.

[12] Purdy, Jacqueline (2 October 2018). "No players selected off Re-Entry Wire". NWSL. Retrieved 10 November 2018.

[13] Levine, Matthew (4 November 2019). "Nineteen NWSL players available on the Re-Entry Wire". NWSL. Retrieved 4 November 2019.

[14] Levine, Matthew (5 November 2019). "Five players selected off NWSL Re-Entry Wire". NWSL. Retrieved 6 November 2019.

[15] "Eight NWSL Players Available on the Re-Entry Wire". NWSL. 29 October 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2020.

[16] "Racing Louisville FC Acquires Cheyna Matthews Off Re-Entry Wire". NWSL. 2 November 2020. Retrieved 3 November 2020.

[17] "National Women's Soccer League Official Site | NWSL". www.nwslsoccer.com.

[18] "National Women's Soccer League Official Site | NWSL". www.nwslsoccer.com.

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