The NWSL was dealt a blow yesterday, as F Abby Wambach announced that she is "not to going to play professionally" for the Western New York Flash this season so she can prepare for this summer's FIFA Women's World Cup, according to Jeff DiVeronica of the ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE. Flash coach and GM Aaran Lines said the club "exhausted every avenue" to convince Wambach to play but "it wasn't possible." Discussions "started in late January, poor timing because it was after the NWSL College Draft." Lines said the club as late as Tuesday night was still trying to "solve this." DiVeronica notes Wambach was unavailable for comment, but risking injury by playing in the NWSL "was a major concern." A broken leg suffered weeks before the start of the '08 Beijing Games "cost Wambach a chance at gold, and an injury-riddled 2014 season with the Flash also had to weigh on her mind." It is "unclear whether she'll return to the NWSL in 2016, an Olympic year," though the Flash "still own her rights." An NWSL spokesperson said that the league and Flash are "working to 'find a solution' to compensate WNY for losing one of its two U.S. team players" (ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE, 3/19). DiVeronica notes this year is the 34-year-old Wambach's "last chance to win the World Cup." She has been on third-place teams in '03 and '07, and a runner-up squad in '11. This is a "smart decision and any soccer fan, even the ones who bleed red and yellow (Flash colors), would hate to see an injury suffered in April or May playing in insignificant NWSL matches ruin Wambach's last shot at a World Cup." DiVeronica: "Is she putting herself and her legacy above the Flash? Absolutely. But she's also putting the hopes of a lot more American soccer fans ahead of Flash fans because a World Cup means a heck of a lot more than an NWSL title. Who could blame her for that?" (ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE, 3/19).
