New Women's Pro Soccer League Unveils Roster Selection Process

By Tripp Mickle, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal

Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) today announced how it will select players for its inaugural season beginning in April '09. WPS team rosters will be made up of U.S. women's national team players, international players, combines and local tryouts. "It's a well thought-out plan that's been a lot of time in the making," WPS Commissioner Tonya Antonucci said. "We took a lot of constituents into account -- players, markets, owners, GMS, marketing. This gives us the confidence that we will put the best competition on the field in April 2009." The players submit their preferences for markets, and teams will submit their preferences for players following the Olympics. Those team and player preferences will be reviewed by the league, which will recommend three players per team from the U.S. women's national team program to owners in September. After that, teams will be weighted for strength, which will determine the draft order for the selection of international players (two per team). Following that there will be a superdraft in October and then a combine in early '09 that will complete each team's roster. The process has been in development since October '07. The league signed a Marketing Services Agreement with the U.S. Women's National Team Players Association this spring. The process is similar to what the WUSA did following the '99 World Cup; that league folded in '03.