Leading the notables for the first day of the 2025 preseason window is an Angel City front office signing: Mark Parsons, who has over nine years of head coaching experience in the NWSL, has been named the club’s new general manager.
In player news…
- The Chicago Stars signed Santa Clara midfielder and Japanese youth international Manaka Hayashi through 2027.
- The San Diego Wave acquired midfielder Gia Corley from TSG Hoffenheim on a two-year contract.
- On social media, the North Carolina Courage confirmed that Brazilian forward Kerolin is pursuing free agency.
- In its preseason roster announcement, the Utah Royals revealed that the 2026 option on Brecken Mozingo’s contract has been exercised.
Angel City: Former Portland Thorns and Washington Spirit head coach Mark Parsons hired as Sporting Director
On Wednesday, January 15th, Angel City revealed Mark Parsons as its new Sporting Director. Per the press release, “Parsons will oversee all soccer operations, including the technical staff, the scouting and analytics department, sports medical, performance, nutrition, and player care.”
Ahead of the public announcement, Parsons gave interviews to The Athletic (free Yahoo! version) and The Equalizer.
This is not Parsons’s first time in a general manager role. During his first tenure with the Washington Spirit, Parsons had the dual titles of head coach and general manager from September 2013 to his departure in 2015.
Parsons’s professional head coaching career began during the first season of the NWSL, when he replaced the Spirit’s first head coach, Mike Jorden, in July 2013, and was also named as General Manager that September (archived Spirit press release). Ahead of the 2016 season, Parsons moved to the Portland Thorns, where he found the most success of his coaching career. Under Parsons, the Thorns qualified for the postseason all five seasons and won two NWSL Shields (2016, 2021) plus one NWSL Championship (2021), along with the 2021 Challenge Cup.
Parsons then served as head coach of the Netherlands Women’s National Team from May 2021 to August 2022. He stepped down after the 2022 Women’s EURO, where the Netherlands exited via a quarterfinal loss to France.
For the 2023 NWSL season, Parsons returned to the Washington Spirit. That season, the Spirit finished eighth, two spots below the playoffs line.
Chicago Stars: Manaka “Mana” Hayashi, Santa Clara freshman and Japanese youth international, signed to three-year contract
Also on Wednesday, the club formerly known as the Chicago Red Stars announced its first rookie-ish signing in the post-draft era: Santa Clara midfielder Manaka Hayashi has agreed to a three-year contract that runs through the 2027 NWSL season. (January 15th press release)
In 2023, as an amateur player, Hayashi played a half-season for INAC Kobe in Japan’s top-flight WE League. She appeared in four WE League Cup matches, where she scored one goal, and two regular season matches (INAC news item).
Earlier in 2023, Hayashi had a stint in the ECNL playing for MVLA (Instagram) and in the USL W League for the Oakland Soul (player page).
Manaka Hayashi (林 愛花)
- Positions: Midfielder (Defensive) / Defender (Center-back)
- Height: 5’5″ (164 cm)
- Age: 20 (born 16-Aug-2002)
- Hometown: Akashi, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan
- FIFA Nationality: Japan (U-20 profile)
- NCAA Team(s): Santa Clara (1 season)
- NCAA Career Stats: 9 matches (all starts), no goal contributions
- NWSL Contract Details: Signed through 2027
- Press Release: “Chicago Stars FC Signs Midfielder, Manaka Hayashi” (15-Jan-2025)
- U.S. YNT Experience: n/a
- January 2025 Futures Camp: n/a
- Notables: A regular call-up to Japan’s youth national teams. Captained Japan’s squad at the 2024 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup. Was also a member of Japan’s U-20 WWC squad. (In both U-20 WWCs, Hayashi was teammates with the Courage’s Manaka Matsukubo.) As an amateur, she played for INAC Kobe during the second half of 2023 (INAC news items: arrival, departure). For the Leonessa, she scored a goal in a WE League Cup match and had two regular season appearances plus four Cup appearances.
San Diego Wave: German-American midfielder Gia Corley acquired via trade from TSG Hoffenheim
On Wednesday, January 15th (press release), the Wave announced that midfielder Gia Corley had been acquired via a transfer from TSG Hoffenheim of the Frauen-Bundesliga. Corley’s contract runs through the 2026 NWSL season.
Corley, who was born in Washington state, has an American father (2016 German news article). According to Hoffenheim’s press release announcing the trade, part of the reason for Corley’s move is so that she could be closer to her sister, who lives in the United States.
The 22-year-old Corley was a standout youth international and was recognized as one of the best female youth players in Germany, but has yet to break into the senior Germany Women’s National Team.
At the youth international level, Corley served as captain of Germany’s U-15, U-16, and U-17 national teams, and played in the 2022 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup. Most recently, she has represented Germany as a U-23 international during the October and November-December windows.
In 2019, Corley was honored as the third-best female youth soccer player when she was awarded the bronze version of the Fritz Walter Medal. That year the gold and silver versions went to current German national team players Klara Bühl and Lena Oberdorf, respectively. The next year, in 2020, Corley was awarded silver, behind Oberdorf. (de.Wikipedia)
As a youth player, Corley moved to Bayern Munich in 2015 and made her professional debut at age 17 in an October 2019 Champions League match. After one season playing for Bayern’s first team, Corley moved to Hoffenheim.
In 73 Frauen-Bundesliga matches, Corley has tallied 13 goals. For the current season, Corley had two goals in nine matches (both scored against a struggling Turbine Potsdam).
For a comprehensive summary of Corley’s playing record, with basic statistics, see her DFB Datencenter profile.
North Carolina Courage: Club confirms Kerolin “intends to pursue free agency”
On Wednesday, the Courage announced via social media (Bluesky, Instagram) that Brazilian international forward Kerolin Nicoli “intends to pursue free agency”.
Context from journalist Rob Pratley (x.com post):
Think it’s important to note Kerolin’s camp did receive an offer from NCC to renew – which was a strong offer – but Kerolin’s camp wanted to explore other opportunities and want to be a key player wherever they go.
The 25-year-old Kerolin suffered an ACL tear in her right knee during North Carolina’s final regular season match of 2023 and missed the entire first half of the 2024 NWSL season (October 2023 press release, July 2024 press release).
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Kerolin appeared in five matches but only starting once, against Spain in the group stage. In the semifinal rematch against Spain, Kerolin scored Brazil’s final goal in their 4:2 triumph. She did not appear in the Gold medal match against the USA. (Paris 2024 – cumulative statistics for Brazil)
After the Olympics, Kerolin did not appear on a gameday roster for the Courage until September 21st, four weeks after the resumption of the regular season. She started three matches, including the second-to-last match of the season and the Courage’s quarterfinal loss to the Kansas City Current. (NWSL game log)
Kerolin had been the subject of significant transfer rumors, including to Manchester United in 2023 (x.com posts: #1, #2).
Presently, Arsenal, Manchester City, and PSG are potential suitors, according to journalist Rob Pratley (x.com post), who also noted that “at least [one] other NWSL club” also made an offer (x.com follow-up post). Update (16-Jan-2025): Manchester City looks to be the first-choice suitor (ESPN Brazil article, Anton Toloui x.com post).
Earlier this week, the Courage acquired USWNT attacker Jaedyn Shaw from the San Diego Wave, so the offensive hole left by Kerolin’s apparent departure looks to be already filled.
Utah Royals: Brecken Mozingo now under contract through 2026
In their preseason roster press release, which was published on Wednesday, the Royals mentioned that the 2026 option on Brecken Mozingo’s current contract had been exercised.
In the 2024 NWSL Draft, Mozingo was selected fourth overall by Utah and signed a two-year contract, with an option for 2026, in February 2024 (press release).
During her rookie season, Mozingo featured in 18 regular season matches, with 10 starts. Three of those starts were the final three matches of the season, after Mozingo missed all of August and September with a lower leg injury. In the Summer Cup, Mozingo scored a brace against Club Tijuana. (NWSL stats profile)
Before turning pro, the Salt Lake City native played five seasons of NCAA soccer, first as a freshman at UCLA (player profile), and then at BYU (player profile). As a Cougar, Mozingo tallied at least 10 goals and 10 assists in her final two seasons. Overall, she scored 36 goals and registered 37 assists in 87 total matches for BYU.
Utah’s full preseason roster is available here.
See also…
The Utah Royals were not the only team to publish its preseason roster on Wednesday. The Kansas City City Current and the Seattle Reign announced theirs as well. See “NWSL: 2025 Preseason Rosters, Part 1 — Kansas City, Seattle, Utah”.
Women's Soccer Express 