RD Welch

U-17 WWC 2024: Official Squad Lists for All 16 Teams — Plus Superlatives and Known NCAA Verbal Commits for USA-Based Players

Edit (22-Oct-2024): Added verbal commit details for Caprice Chiuchiolo (Ecuador).

Last week, FIFA released the official squad lists for all sixteen teams participating in the 2024 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup.

I have converted those lists into a Google Sheets spreadsheets, adding columns for a player’s age and a player’s height in inches. Also, for USA-based players that are not currently a professional or not already playing collegiately, their announced verbal commits have been added.

Downloads:

Official FIFA Document: FU17WWC-2024-Squad-Lists-English.pdf
Google Sheets version: U-17 WWC 2024 – Squad Lists

At least five non-USA players have attended U.S. Soccer youth camps. Among those is England’s Lauryn Thompson, who is a Florida State verbal commit.

Three players from the recently concluded U-20 WWC have been named to their country’s rosters for this tournament. Most notably, Choe Il Son, who won the Golden Ball and the Golden Boot in Colombia, is set to play for Korea DPR in this tournament.

NWSL News of Note: Dash sign U-18 midfielder Zoe Matthews, Olivia Wade-Katoa on SEI List, Bay FC sign midfielder Catherine Paulson

Friday’s notables all involve midfielders:

The Houston Dash signed 6’2″ midfielder Zoe Matthews under the U18 Entry Mechanism. Matthews is eligible to play for both Jamaica and the USA.
The Portland Thorns placed rookie midfielder Olivia Wade-Katoa is out for the rest of the season and will undergo knee surgery.
Bay FC signed Catherine Paulson for the remainder of the season. Paulson had been a National Team Replacement Player during Savy King’s absence.

NWSL: San Diego Wave organization sued by five former employees, League also named as defendant [Updated]

Update (9-January-2025): On October 31st, a sixth former employee joined the lawsuit. She is designated as “Jane Doe 2”, with the first anonymous plaintiff now designated as “Jane Doe 1”. See the “Update” section below for a summary of Doe 2’s allegations.

This week, five former employees of the San Diego Wave filed a joint lawsuit in California state court against the Wave organization, asserting fifteen different causes of action. The National Women’s Soccer League was also named as a defendant on an additional claim of negligence.

The sports news website Defector was the first to report on the lawsuit and has an article, written by Diana Moskovitz and Lesley Ryder, that comprehensively summarizes the complaint: “San Diego Wave, NWSL Sued For Team’s ‘Abusive And Hostile Work Environment'”. Additionally, Jeff Kassouf has a brief article about the lawsuit on ESPN.com: “San Diego Wave, NWSL sued by five former employees”. The original complaint can be viewed and downloaded using the following link: https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25196836/sd-wave-complaint.pdf (via Defector).

NWSL News of Note: Andi Sullivan out with torn ACL, Frankie Tagliaferri leaves Royals, New role for Karina LeBlanc, Cleveland rumors

This week, the Washington Spirit placed midfielder Andi Sullivan on the season-ending injury list after she suffered a torn ACL in the Spirit’s match last Sunday against the Orlando Pride. In other player news, midfielder Frankie Tagliaferri is no longer with the Utah Royals.

Also, Portland Thorns general manager Karina LeBlanc will transition to a new position with RAJ Sports, which owns both the Portland Thorns as well as Portland’s new WNBA franchise.

Additionally, on Wednesday, NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman visited Cleveland, meeting with the Cleveland Pro Soccer organization and local leaders.

NWSL Referee Assignments: October 11 to 13, 2024

Friday, October 11th:

Thorns vs. Pride: JC Griggs (VAR: Corbyn May)

Saturday, October 12th:

Red Stars vs. Gotham: Greg Dopka (VAR: Alyssa Nichols)
Courage vs. Angel City: Eric Tattersall (VAR: Kevin Broadley)
Bay FC vs. Current: Danielle Chesky (VAR: Adorae Monroy)

Sunday, October 13th:

Spirit vs. Racing: Abdou Ndiaye (VAR: Greg Dopka)
Royals vs. Reign: Elvis Osmanovic (VAR: Elijio Arreguin)
Wave vs. Dash: Jaclyn Metz (VAR: Shawn Tehini)

Source: PRO

U-17 WWC 2024: Full Schedule with USA TV and Streaming Details for the 2024 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup

Update (2-Nov-2024): The USA-England Third-Place Match (November 3rd, 1:30 pm EST) will be shown live on Universo.

On Wednesday, October 16th, the 2024 edition of the FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup kicks off in the Dominican Republic. Viewers in the United States will be able to watch two of the USA’s group matches live on FOX Sports 2. Also, all of the tournament’s matches will be streamed live with Spanish-language commentary through the NBC Sports app and NBC.com.

This page will be updated throughout the tournament.

NWSL: Angel City salary cap investigation began after former ACFC player discussed supplemental agreement with their new club

On Tuesday, The Athletic published a write-up of a brief interview with NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman where she disclosed how the existence of Angel City’s “side letters” were initially discovered. According to the article, “one of [ACFC’s] former players signed with another team and brought up the existence of a supplementary agreement”, presumably with the new team. While The Athletic article does not have much in the way of new details, it does have some illuminating quotes from Berman.

Previously: Angel City FC fined $200,000 and docked 3 points for violating salary cap and other league rules

Regarding the “annual investigations and audits of player spending across clubs” mentioned in last week’s press release, Berman added that the league is “now going to proactively investigate and audit clubs on a random basis”. According to the article, in the past “the league routinely ask[ed] teams about their salary-cap compliance”, which, although not specified in the article, appears to be a reference to a requirement that multiple representatives from each team, including the “President”, “General Manager”, and “Head Coach” complete an annual “NWSL Team Player Compensation Compliance Affidavit”.*

In the interview, Berman reiterated that all player agreements must be disclosed to the league: “We have very clear rules… Any agreements that are not disclosed are by definition a violation of our rules.”*

NWSL: Angel City FC fined $200,000 and docked 3 points for violating salary cap and other league rules

Last week, the NWSL announced disciplinary actions against Angel City FC for violations of “multiple league rules”. According to the league, Angel City went over the salary cap “by approximately $50,000 for four weeks during the 2024 season”. Contributing to the salary cap overage were five “side letter” agreements with players which included some “excess benefits that were neither reported to the league nor included in the Standard Player Agreement”. The disciplinary actions announced by the league include a $200,000 fine, a deduction of 3 points in Angel City’s league standings, and partial suspensions for two members of Angel City’s front office: President/CEO Julie Uhrman and the general manager, Angela Hucles Mangano. (All quotes in this paragraph are from the league’s press release, which is reprinted later in this post.)

The NWSL’s disciplinary actions against Angel City should not be viewed as just for violating the salary cap. More significantly are the conclusions that Angel City failed to properly report the side letter agreements to the league.

NWSL News of Note, Teams Edition: Billionaire Marc Lasry expected to acquire controlling stake in Courage; Bay FC to build training facility, Current stadium to host 2025 NCAA College Cup

Leading this edition of notables is the news that Steve Malik, the primary owner of the North Carolina Courage is in formal talks to sell a 60% stake in the Courage to billionaire Marc Lasry. Should that deal go through retired NWSL player Lauren Holiday is expected to have “a very active role” in the Courage organization.

Also, Bay FC has announced plans to acquire a lease of land on Treasure Island, in the San Francisco Bay, for a permanent and dedicated training facility, which would also include offices for its sporting operations.

In head coaching news, the Houston Dash have officially parted ways with Fran Alonso who had been mysteriously absent from the team since the end of June.

Other notables include:

Angel City: MLS club Los Angeles FC acquires minority stake
Kansas City Current: CPKC Stadium will host 2025 NCAA Women’s College Cup
Gotham FC: Ali Krieger named Club Ambassador
Portland Thorns: RAJ Sports awarded Portland WNBA Franchise
Racing Louisville’s attendance woes — “We’d love to see more of you”

Angel City’s violation of the salary cap and other league rules is covered in a separate post: Angel City FC fined $200,000 and docked 3 points for violating salary cap and other league rules.

Additionally, SafeSports investigation into former Chicago Red Stars head coach Rory Dames has apparently been closed due to “insufficient” evidence. However, the root cause appears to be a blatantly deficient investigation.

NWSL News of Note, Players Edition: Christine Sinclair announces retirement, Contract renewals include Alyssa Naeher, Ann-Katrin Berger, Julie Doyle, and Tara McKeown

Leading the notables since the last update is the announcement by one of the all-time greats, Christine Sinclair, who will be ending her professional playing career at the end of the season.

Another retiring player, Gotham FC’s Kelley O’Hara was placed on the season-ending injury list due to “chronic knee degeneration”.

In other player-related news, three goalkeepers extended with their clubs: Alyssa Naeher of the Chicago Red Stars, Ann-Katrin Berger of Gotham FC, and Jordan Silkowitz of Bay FC.

Other players re-signing with their clubs include

Orlando Pride: Julie Doyle
Washington Spirit: Tara McKeown
Houston Dash: Sophie Schmidt
Utah Royals: Laura Flynn and Cristina Rogue

Additionally, the Washington Spirit have loaned defender Waniya Hudson to the Dallas Trinity of the USL Super League for the remainder of her contract.