NWSL Draft Recap and Mia Fishel Chelsea Banger

It’s Monday, January 15th. Give us four minutes, we give you everything The Women’s Game.

SENTNOR ASCENDS: From 2019’s SportsKid of the Year to NWSL’s No. 1 Draft Pick in 2024. In a video from her 2019 “Kid of the Year” award, Sentnor wore a 2019 USWNT World Cup Champion t-shirt, calling the USWNT back-to-back champs an inspiration. A few years later, she’s the fifth youngest draftee of all-time.  

1. The 2024 NWSL Draft ⚽

Last Friday evening in Anaheim, California, 56 formerly collegiate footballers joined the burgeoning professional ranks of the NWSL. 

With as much fanfare as is typical of the draft - high among America’s more unique sporting traditions - this year’s edition saw a class of talent and depth join one of 14 professional clubs across the nation. 

Ally Sentnor went first, picked up by the Utah Royals at just 19 years old, coming off her sophomore season at UNC where she was named ACC Midfielder of the Year. 

Speaking of the ACC, that lauded conference saw the most draft-picks by far last Friday, with 19 total players shuffled into the big leagues from their squads. The Big Ten and Big Twelve were closest behind them, each with nine. 

The University of North Carolina (a long time springboard school for national team fame) had the most players drafted with six, including three in the first-round. After UNC’s Sentnor went first, Savy King followed just behind, joining NWSL’s other expansion side of the season: Bay FC. With some observers predicting that the draft may lose relevance for a league looking to compete with the global game, this year's affair was notable for the age of top-selections, as three first-round picks (Savy King, Ally Lemos, Ally Sentnor) were drafted as teenagers, becoming the third, fourth and fifth youngest draftees of all-time.  

Naturally, though, draft-drama began before NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman set-off the first clock. As each club huddled together across the room, team leadership made moves to accrue higher draft slots, playing intricate games of decision-making, in pursuit of the players they thought they’d need. Nobody made bigger moves on this front than Washington Spirit (soon to be managed by former Barcelona Femeni boss of multi-trophy fame, Jonatan Giráldez), who announced a trade of Ashley Sanchez to North Carolina Courage in exchange for the number five draft pick in the first round, and traded Sam Staab for pick number three. 

Sanchez, who posted an emotional message to her social media, seemed caught off guard by the move, highlighting some of the heartbreak endemic to draft night. Trinity Rodman - former Spirit teammate and sidekick of Sanchez - posted a heartfelt goodbye as well. 

MORE: Making sense of Washington Spirit’s draft-night moves.

2. USWNT in WSL: Fishel scores, Fox debuts, Kristie Mewis launch TBD 🇺🇸 🤝 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

We’ll wait a few more months before NWSL sets off upon their new season, but fret not, football friends! England’s WSL picks up the second half of their season next weekend, after reconvening for the FA Cup the past few days. 

Good news for the USWNT-watching heart: there’s plenty to watch and root for, as clubs from top to bottom of the table feature Americans in their ranks, vying for English glory alongside some of the most talented stars across the globe. 

Chelsea, for now, sit at the top of things, with just a three point lead over their two closest contenders (Arsenal and Manchester City). Led by the USWNT manager-in-waiting, Emma Hayes, the Blues suffered heartbreak this winter as their star striker, Sam Kerr, tore her ACL. 

Yet as so often happens in sports, tragedy for a living legend of goal-scoring acclaim means opportunity elsewhere, as Kerr’s understudies get more of a chance. For the USWNT that may prove fortuitous: the USA’s newly capped Mia Fishel could see more minutes in Kerr’s absence.  

After joining Chelsea last summer, Fishel has appeared in eight WSL matches for a total of 276 minutes, averaging just over 34 minutes per game. Starting at striker in her regular season debut (covering for Kerr, who was still returning from World Cup injury), she scored her lone WSL goal in her first-ever match. 

Last weekend, Fishel subbed into Chelsea’s FA Cup match against West Ham for Fran Kirby in the 59th minute. Eleven minutes later, she scored. The smooth touch and turn of a natural striker is hopefully a harbinger of more to come. 

Elsewhere across the USWNT-in-WSL universe: the USA’s right back extraordinaire Emily Fox made her move from North Carolina Courage to Arsenal official. After starting every World Cup match last summer, the 25-year-old will look to grow her game further across the sea, where she slid right into Jonas Eidevall’s starting XI and has already earned herself a song. Pressure will be on for the American, as Arsenal are rife with talent and aiming for their first WSL title in five years. 

After winning NWSL Championship brass with Gotham FC this past November, Kristie Mewis also moved across the sea, joining a beleaguered West Ham side that’s staring relegation in the mirror. Mewis’ fight to counteract that fate is one many may be looking forward to, though her debut has yet to arrive. 

MORE: Emily Fox speaks to The Telegraph about her decision to join Arsenal

3. The Guardian’s Top 100: who’s in, who’s out, what do we learn from this list 📈📉

Lists of this nature are subjective amalgamations, compiling the estimations of various experts and analysts’ regarding the best players in the world. With that throat clear out of the way (alongside that I myself am a voter), The Guardian’s Top 100 Footballers of the Year can lend insight into rising stars, still-dominant legends, and trends in the global game. 

This year, this horrid year in which the USWNT floundered before the world in their earliest World Cup exit in history, there are seven Americans listed among the esteemed. The highest-ranked among them is Sophia Smith at 18, and the lowest is NWSL’s 2023 Rookie of the Year candidate and number one draft pick Alyssa Thompson, who comes in at 95. Between them, Lindsey Horan, Naomi Girma, Trinity Rodman, Alex Morgan, and Lynn Williams all rank. 

Compared to their peers, the USWNT feature two more names than the well-decorated Germans, who also had a dismal year. The French were just short of their count, with six. The Matildas, proud hosts of a successful semi-final run, earned just one more shout than the Americans with eight names listed. The runner-up to the World Cup champions in Spain- England’s Lionesses- came in near the top with twelve. And deservedly, La Roja themselves earned a resounding 15 names in the Top 100 at the end of a successful year for both Spain and Barcelona. 

With 12 names total playing in the NWSL, the overwhelming majority of nominated names playing across the Atlantic, in England’s WSL (31). 

4. News and Notes 📰

1. Naomi Girma is the USWNT Player of the Year, the first true defender to take the prize, and Olivia Moultrie is named Young Player of the Year

2. Gemma Grainger, the Middlesbrough-born former manager of Wales, has been named as the next head coach of Norway

3. Juventus Women beat Roma to claim the Italian Super Cup with a 2-1 victory

4. Washington Spirit hire former Barcelona Femeni manager 

5. Chelsea looking for a new coach, players want to work with a woman, and rumors swirl that Casey Stoney and Laura Harvey seem most likely

5. Parting Shots

VERY, VERY SMALL SHINPADS?: What’s your football ick? Chelsea’s women tell all, and somebody important to the USA doesn’t like small shinpads 😅