Tuesday, September 16, 2008
NEW YORK -- Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) announced the allocations of the U.S. Women’s National Team to its seven franchises Tuesday during a ceremony at the Sports Museum of America in downtown Manhattan.
The announcement was hosted by NBA All-Star and WPS part-owner Steve Nash and presided over by WPS Commissioner Tonya Antonucci. Each of the seven teams set to begin play in WPS for the 2009 season were allocated three players apiece from the U.S. Women’s National Team pool.
Sky Blue FC, the professional WPS affiliate of the W-League Jersey Sky Blue, received the team's first three players, including a pair of former W-League players from the area, in Christie Rampone, Heather O'Reilly and Natasha Kai.
"We're delighted and I think we've got a great combination - we've got great character, great leaders, and exciting players," said Sky Blue FC Head Coach and General Manager Ian Sawyers. "To have two of the New Jersey girls able to come play in their home state is phenomenal and getting a lightning rod kind of player like Kai is exciting."
An East Brunswick, NJ native, Heather O'Reilly grew up just a few miles down the road from Sky Blue FC's home stadium of Yurcak Field in Piscataway, NJ. The former University of North Carolina All-America selection is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and has been a member of the USWNT for six years, since the age of 17. O'Reilly just recently celebrated her 100th appearance with the national team serving as team captain for the occasion against Ireland in a 2-0 victory this past Saturday. She helped guide the New Jersey Wildcats to the W-League championship in her second season with the club in 2005.
Rampone is a USWNT mainstay after joining the team in 1997. The Point Pleasant, NJ native played every minute of every game at the Beijing Olympics serving as team captain for the gold medalists while also earning her 200th cap to make her one of only six US players to achieve the feat. Rampone - formerly known as Pearce - starred at Monmouth University before becoming a founding member of the WUSA. She played all three seasons for the New York Power in the former women's pro league. Rampone previously played for the now defunct New Jersey Lady Stallions (1998) and Central Jersey Splash (1997).
Returning to the Washington Freedom was former W-Leaguer Abby Wambach, who missed the Olympics with a broken leg, was originally selected second in the 2002 WUSA draft by the Freedom and played in Washington in 2002 and 2003. The Freedom advanced to the Founder’s Cup both years, winning it all in 2003.
Also returning to Washington is defender Ali Krieger, who played for the Freedom’s W-League team in 2006 and 2007. The Freedom won the W-League championship in 2007.
Joining Wambach and Krieger will be defender Cat Whitehill, who also missed this year’s Olympics because of injury. Whitehill will bring experience to the Freedom defense as she has 129 caps with the Women’s National Team and has played in two World Cups.
“Overall I think we comprehensively had a good allocation,” Freedom Head Coach Jim Gabarra said. “We’re obviously happy but we didn’t expect to get the allocation that we got.”
WPS Player Allocations – U.S. Women’s National Team
WPS Team & Allocated Players
Bay Area: Nicole Barnhart, Rachel Buehler, Leslie Osborne*
Boston Breakers: Angela Hucles*, Kristine Lilly*, Heather Mitts*
Chicago Red Stars: Carli Lloyd*, Kate Markgraf, Lindsay Tarpley*
Los Angeles: Shannon Boxx*, Stephanie Cox, Aly Wagner
Sky Blue FC: Natasha Kai, Heather O’Reilly*, Christie Rampone*
St. Louis: Lori Chalupny, Tina Ellertson*, Hope Solo
Washington Freedom: Ali Krieger*, Abby Wambach*, Cat Whitehill*
* Denotes W-League experience (see list [+])
“The number of close games during the Olympics were a fantastic showcase of how the women’s level of competition continues to grow globally,” continued Nash. “And here in the United States, we’re lucky to have such talented players to call our own. As a soccer fanatic and father of twin girls, I personally feel fortunate to be here at the ground level, playing a role in launching the League that will set the standard for women’s play around the world.”
Following this week’s U.S. Women’s National Team allocation will be the international draft of top global stars the week of September 22nd which will assign teams the rights to negotiate with four premiere international players. That will be followed by a draft of remaining players in early October and again in January. The order of the international draft will depend on the weighted rankings voted on by teams following the U.S. Women’s National Team allocation with the weakest-rated team selecting first and the strongest-weighted team selecting last.
“The allocation process was developed to give players the chance to provide their input on where they wanted to play, allow for dialogue between league and teams about marketing potential and to give the best opportunity for a level playing field among teams come April 2009 and the start of the WPS Season,” said Antonucci.
For more on the allocation process [+]
