The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) announced the process for the Supplemental Draft for the clubs to continue building their rosters on Thursday. The Supplemental Draft will be held Feb 7th and will consist of six rounds. The draft order has not been determined yet and will take place via conference call.
The clubs have been putting together their rosters since Jan. 9, when each team was allocated three players from the U.S. Women's National Team (with the exception of the Western New York Flash, which received two) as well as two players from the Canada and Mexico National Teams. Each of the clubs then added four players at the 2013 NWSL College Draft in Indianapolis on Jan. 18, bringing their rosters to 10-11 players.
Following the College Draft, there was a two-week period in which teams could sign four (in some cases five) additional players of their choice. In this case the term "additional players" means free agents. The teams allowed to sign five additional players during this period were the Chicago Red Stars, Seattle Reign, Washington Spirit and Western New York Flash due to injuries, pregnancies or late season arrivals of allocated players. The period to sign additional players (free agents) ended Thursday so teams should now be at 15 players.
Each of the eight NWSL clubs will now submit a list of 8-10 players who will be eligible for the Supplemental Draft. Domestic and international players are eligible for the Supplemental Draft. Each team is allowed two international players in addition that were allocated.
"The next week is crucial to team-building, as the additional signings and the Supplemental Draft picks will help to define each club," said NWSL Executive Director Cheryl Bailey. "At this point, the fans and media will begin to get a look at the diverse group of talented athletes who will play in NWSL's inaugural season."
Expect FC Kansas City to be looking for players to fill in the gaps. One need that they will be looking to fill is goal keeper. “We are hoping to have three goalies in camp,” FC Kansas City Head Coach Vlatko Andonovski explained. “We have Nicole (Barnhart) and we hope to add a keeper in the Supplemental draft and another from the tryouts.”
After the Supplemental Draft, clubs may claim up to four Discovery Players, securing the rights to sign those players heading into preseason training camps. Discovery Players may be either international or domestic. Players who were eligible for but not selected in the Supplemental Draft may be claimed as Discovery Players. The rights to Discovery Players will be allocated to a team on a "date of submission priority" basis. If two teams submit the same player, the team that submitted the player first will have the opportunity to sign that player.
Teams will be allowed to carry 18-20 players on their regular season rosters but can have up to 32 on their pre-season roster to be invited into camp.
NWSL Roster-Building Process
Jan. 9: USA, Canada and Mexico National Team Players are allocated to clubs
Jan. 18: NWSL College Draft
Jan. 18-31: Clubs can sign up to four additional players*
Feb. 1: Clubs submit up to 8-10 players for Supplemental Draft
Feb. 7: NWSL Supplemental Draft
Feb. 8: Discovery Players can be signed
*Western New York, Chicago and Seattle are allowed to sign up to five players
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