2021 NWSL Draft explained

2021 NWSL Draft
Sport:	Soccer
Date:	January 13, 2021
Time:	7:00 PM ET
Network:	Twitch
League:	National Women's Soccer League
First:	Emily Fox, Racing Louisville FC
Fewest:	OL Reign (1 pick)
Most:	Kansas City NWSL and Racing Louisville FC (6 picks)
Overall:	40
Rounds:	4
Prev:	2020
Next:	2022

The 2021 NWSL Draft was the ninth annual meeting of National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchises to select eligible college players. It was held on January 13, 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was the first NWSL Draft to be held virtually via videoconferencing and web streaming.

Format

• All 10 teams of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) take turns making their selections over four rounds, with 10 picks per round. Draft order in each round was determined by the reverse order of standings after the preliminary stage of the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup, with the exceptions being Racing Louisville FC taking the first selection as an expansion team and Orlando Pride slotting into the fourth spot as decided by the board of governors after the team was unable to participate in the Challenge Cup.^[1]
• The Kansas City expansion team took over all player-related assets (including draft picks) of defunct team Utah Royals FC.^[2]
• The draft was broadcast live via the NWSL's official Twitch channel.
• Final list of players who registered was released on January 12, 2021.^[3]

COVID-19 pandemic

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NWSL made the following changes to the draft regulations that apply only to the 2021 NWSL Draft:

• Due to the disruption of college soccer and resulting NCAA D-I spring season in 2021, the NWSL applied for and received a waiver from the NCAA so that D-I players who are drafted could choose to report immediately for the 2021 NWSL season and forfeit their remaining collegiate eligibility, or remain with their collegiate teams until the conclusion of the NCAA D-I spring season in May 2021.^[4]
• The NWSL waived registration requirements so that all D-I players who had exhausted three years of collegiate soccer eligibility prior to the 2020–21 academic year were automatically eligible to be drafted.^[5]
• The NWSL playing rights of drafted players will be held until the start of the 2022 preseason rather than the end of the 2021 season as was the case previously.^[6]

Results

Key

^+	Denotes player who has been selected as NWSL Most Valuable Player
	Denotes player who has been selected for an NWSL Best XI or NWSL Second XI team
^^	Denotes player who has been selected as NWSL Rookie of the Year
	Denotes player who has never appeared in a competitive NWSL game (regular season, playoff, or Challenge Cup)

Picks

!Round!Pick!!Player!!NWSL team! class="unsortable"

Notes	College
Round 1	1		^*	D			North Carolina
	2		^*^	F			Washington State
	3			M			North Carolina
	4			D			Stanford
	5			M			Louisville
	6			M			TCU
	7		^#	F			Stanford
	8			F			USC
	9			M			UCLA
	10		^#	F			Florida
Round 2	11			M			North Carolina
	12			M			Penn State
	13			F			Texas Tech
	14			M			BYU
	15			M			Wisconsin
	16		^#	D			UCLA
	17			M			Texas A&M
	18			F			Santa Clara
	19			F			Boston University
	20			D			Auburn
Round 3	21			F			Arkansas
	22			F			Rutgers
	23			M			Virginia
	24			D			Penn State
	25		^#	D			Washington State
	26			M			Pepperdine
	27			F			Washington State
	28			D			Texas A&M
	29		^#	G			UNC Wilmington
	30		^#	D			Vanderbilt
Round 4	31		^#	D			California
	32			F			Ole Miss
	33			D			UCLA
	34			G			USC
	35		^#	F			Virginia
	36			M			Santa Clara
	37			D			Wake Forest
	38		^#	M			Kansas State
	39			F			Clemson
	40			F			Duke

Notable undrafted players

Below is a list of undrafted rookies who appeared in a competitive NWSL game in 2021.

	Player		Original NWSL team	College	Notes
		M
		M
		D

Trades

Round 1:

Round 2:

Round 3:

Round 4:

Summary

In 2021, a total of 28 colleges had players selected. Of these, five had a player drafted to the NWSL for the first time: Boston University, Kansas State, Louisville, UNC Wilmington, and Vanderbilt.

Schools with multiple draft selections

Selections	Schools
3
2	Penn State, Santa Clara, Stanford, Texas A&M, USC, Virginia

Selections by college athletic conference

Conference	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Total
ACC	3	1	1	4	9
Big Ten	0	2	2	0	4
Big 12	1	1	0	1	3
Colonial	0	0	1	0	1
Pac-12	5	1	2	3	11
Patriot League	0	1	0	0	1
SEC	1	2	3	1	7
West Coast	0	2	1	1	4

Selections by position

Position	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Total
Goalkeeper	0	0	1	1	2
Defender	2	2	4	3	11
Midfielder	4	5	2	2	13
Forward	4	3	3	4	14

See also

• List of drafts held by the NWSL
• List of National Women's Soccer League draftees by college team
• 2021 National Women's Soccer League season

Notes and References

1. News: NWSL Opens Player Registration and Announces Current Selection Order for the Renamed 2021 NWSL Draft . 1 December 2020 . NWSL . 1 December 2020.
2. News: Kansas City Returns to the NWSL as Expansion Team in 2021 . 7 December 2020 . NWSL . 7 December 2020.
3. Web site: NWSL Announces List of Players Registered for the 2021 NWSL Draft . www.nwslsoccer.com.
4. Web site: Player Registration Guidelines . NWSL . 17 December 2020.
5. News: NWSL eliminates draft registration requirement, expands eligible athlete pool . January 6, 2021 . NWSL . January 6, 2021.
6. News: Hamlin . Steve . 2021 NWSL Draft Preview: All you need to know before the first pick . 11 January 2021 . NWSL . January 11, 2021.