NWSL Player Allocation

The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) Player Allocation distributed the national team players that would be paid for by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF), the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA), and the Mexican Football Federation (FMF) to the eight founding teams of the NWSL. The initial allocation list was announced on January 9, 2013, with the results for the 55 national team players announced two days later. From tweets concerning the first trade in the league between Seattle and Chicago, the allocations looked to be effective for at least the first two NWSL seasons, though this was later shown to be not true as Keelin Winters, who was involved in said trade, was signed as a free agent in the 2013-14 offseason. The 2014 Allocation was reduced to 50 players, Mexico dropping eight slots and the United States adding three.

For the initial allocation, each of the eight teams submitted which players they desired, ranking all players in each national team pool, and all the eligible players submitted which four teams they wanted to play for, as well as one team they didn't. The results were then matched by a third party.

The initial player allocation was held on January 9, 2013, with each team's allocation announced on January 11. The USSF initially chose to fund 23 player salaries, while CSA and FMF both funded 16 players. Each team, except for the Western New York Flash, received three U.S., two Canadian, and two Mexican internationals; the Flash received two U.S. internationals.

Italic designates players who did not participate in the season
* designates player who was traded during the season

Heather Mitts retired before the season started, Amy LePeilbet was out with injury all summer, and Amy Rodriguez took the season off due to pregnancy.

In the month leading up to opening day, the FMF withdrew funding for several of its players, removing them from the NWSL:

On March 1, Chicago sent Winters and a fourth-round 2014 draft pick to Seattle in exchange for a first-round 2014 draft pick and a return of one of Seattle's allocated players to Chicago after the season was complete. It was later revealed that Seattle would not send an allocated player to Chicago, with Winters losing her allocation status and Chicago getting a new allocated player.

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Wikipedia