List of drafts held by the NWSL explained

The following is a list of drafts held by National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), with a brief description of each.

Preseason 2013 (inaugural)

• 2013 NWSL College Draft

Held January 18 at the annual NSCAA convention, this year in Indianapolis, the draft allowed all eight teams to draft four players who had completed their college eligibility. While they had originally announced that the draft would be in snake format with randomly determined order, NWSL announced several days before the draft that the order would be the same in each of the four rounds, with the order semi-randomly determined with weighting based on evaluation of the allocation results.

• 2013 NWSL Supplemental Draft

After a limited free agency period, NWSL pooled remaining players who were identified by the teams to be distributed via draft. Each team submitted 8–10 player names to the draft pool, with players picked over six rounds.

• 2013 Preseason Waiver Draft: Drafted players who were waived by their teams were made available for other teams. Six players were available: Casey Berrier, Whitney Berry, Heather Cooke, Tina DiMartino, Jaclyn Logue, and Lauren Alkek. The only selection was of Alkek, originally drafted by Boston, who was selected by Western New York.^[1]

Offseason 201314

• 2013 Postseason Waiver Draft: Players who were waived by their teams were available for other teams to pick up. Of the 11 players available, only Nikki Marshall (previously of Portland) was selected by Washington.^[2]
• 2014 NWSL Expansion Draft
• 2014 NWSL College Draft

Offseason 201415

• 2014 Postseason Waiver Wire: Players who were waived by their teams were available for other teams to pick up. Twelve players were made available, two-thirds of them coming from teams that finished in the bottom three.^[3] FC Kansas City selected Rafaelle Souza, Portland Thorns FC selected Danesha Adams, and the Washington Spirit selected Lydia Williams and Joanna Lohman.^[4]
• 2015 NWSL College Draft

Offseason 201516

• 2015 Postseason Waiver Wire: Players who were waived by their teams were available for other teams to pick up. Originally announced for October 12, the Waiver Wire process was delayed to October 21–22,^[5] presumably to allow for the October 20 announcement of expansion with the Orlando Pride, who were granted top tie-break in the process.^[6] Of the 8 players available, all from non-playoff teams, only Brittany Bock (an Illinois native previously of Houston) was selected by Chicago.^[7]
• 2015 NWSL Expansion Draft
• 2016 NWSL College Draft
• 2016 NWSL Distribution Draft: Players who were no longer allocated and whose former teams did not offer a new contract were made available in the Distribution Draft, held on March 31. Of the nine players whose NWSL rights were available, only Verónica Pérez and Arianna Romero were selected, both by Seattle Reign FC.^[8]

Offseason 201617

• 2016 Postseason Re-Entry Wire: Players who were waived by their teams, or whose contracts were allowed to lapse, were available for other teams to pick up on the re-entry wire (previously known as the waiver wire) on October 19.^[9] Of the 13 players available, the only player selected was Sinead Farrelly, who was left on the wire by the Boston Breakers and selected by Seattle Reign FC.^[10]
• 2017 NWSL College Draft

Offseason 201718

• 2017 Postseason Re-Entry Wire: Eight players were waived by their clubs; none were selected.^[11]
• 2018 NWSL College Draft
• 2018 NWSL Dispersal Draft

Offseason 201819

• 2018 Postseason Re-Entry Wire: Seven players were waived by their clubs; none were selected.^[12]
• 2019 NWSL College Draft

Offseason 201920

• 2019 Re-Entry Wire: 19 players were made available by their clubs on the Re-Entry Wire;^[13] five were selected.^[14]
• 2020 NWSL College Draft

Offseason 202021

• 2020 Re-Entry Wire: Eight players were available for selection;^[15] one was selected.^[16]
• 2020 NWSL Expansion Draft
• 2021 NWSL Draft

Offseason 202122

• 2022 NWSL Expansion Draft
• 2022 NWSL Draft

Offseason 202223

Per the collective bargaining agreement between the NWSL and the NWSL Players Association, the 2022–23 offseason included the first-ever free agency period in league history.^[17] Pending free agents could begin negotiating with teams on August 26, 2022, and signing new contracts on November 15, 2022.^[18]

• 2023 NWSL Draft

Offseason 202324

• 2024 NWSL Expansion Draft
• 2024 NWSL Draft

See also

• NWSL Draft
• NWSL federation players
• NWSL records and statistics

Notes and References

1. News: NWSL holds Waiver Draft; WNY Flash select defender Lauren Alkek. 8 April 2013. Scott . Lewis . Kareen . Drot . NWSLNews. 17 April 2023 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131029195438/http://www.nwslnews.com/nwsl-holds-waiver-draft-wny-flash-select-defender-lauren-alkek/ . 29 October 2013.
2. Web site: Washington Spirit add Nikki Marshall in Waiver Draft. 9 September 2013. 14 January 2017. The Equalizer.
3. Web site: National Women's Soccer League Clubs Waive 12 Players. Pitchside Report. 12 September 2014. 14 January 2017.
4. Web site: FOUR PLAYERS SELECTED OFF NWSL WAIVER WIRE. 15 September 2014. 14 January 2017. National Women's Soccer League.
5. Web site: EIGHT PLAYERS AVAILABLE ON WAIVER WIRE. 21 October 2015. 14 January 2017. National Women's Soccer League.
6. Web site: Orlando City to Launch the Orlando Pride NWSL Team; Announce Head Coach. 20 October 2015. 14 January 2017. Orlando City SC.
7. Web site: Red Stars Select Brittany Bock Off NWSL Waiver Wire. Chicago Red Stars. 22 October 2015. 14 January 2017.
8. Web site: TWO PLAYERS SELECTED IN NWSL DISTRIBUTION DRAFT. National Women's Soccer League. 17 March 2017. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20161223231346/http://nwslsoccer.com/news-2/two-players-selected-in-nwsl-distribution-draft. 23 December 2016.
9. Web site: THIRTEEN NWSL PLAYERS AVAILABLE ON THE RE-ENTRY WIRE. National Women's Soccer League. 19 October 2016. 14 January 2017. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20161020041008/http://nwslsoccer.com/thirteen-nwsl-players-available-on-the-re-entry-wire. 20 October 2016.
10. Web site: SEATTLE REIGN FC SELECT SINEAD FARRELLY OFF NWSL RE-ENTRY WIRE. National Women's Soccer League. 20 October 2016. 14 January 2017.
11. News: NWSL names eight players on the Re-Entry Wire. 29 January 2018. Vavel. 24 October 2017.
12. News: Purdy . Jacqueline . No players selected off Re-Entry Wire . 10 November 2018 . NWSL . 2 October 2018.
13. News: Levine . Matthew . Nineteen NWSL players available on the Re-Entry Wire . 4 November 2019 . NWSL . 4 November 2019.
14. News: Levine . Matthew . Five players selected off NWSL Re-Entry Wire . 6 November 2019 . NWSL . 5 November 2019.
15. News: Eight NWSL Players Available on the Re-Entry Wire . 29 October 2020 . NWSL . 29 October 2020.
16. News: Racing Louisville FC Acquires Cheyna Matthews Off Re-Entry Wire . 3 November 2020 . NWSL . 2 November 2020.
17. Web site: National Women's Soccer League Official Site | NWSL. www.nwslsoccer.com.
18. Web site: National Women's Soccer League Official Site | NWSL. www.nwslsoccer.com. August 25, 2022 .