2024 NWSL Draft: Washington Spirit preview, time, and how to watch
It’s been a busy week for the Washington Spirit with the signing of a new head coach and some free agents, but things are in no danger of slowing down, as one of the most chaotic events of the NWSL calendar approaches. Tonight in Anaheim, CA, they and 13 other teams will select the league’s newest players in the 2024 college Draft.
To help you navigate the event, The District Press presents: a very practical guide to the 2024 NWSL Draft.
What is the draft?
The NWSL Draft works like most American sports drafts. Each team will have the opportunity to select a college player who has registered to enter the league in an order based on their position in last season’s final rankings, with expansion teams Utah Royals FC and Bay FC alternating first and second picks in each round. This year, there will be 4 rounds of 14 picks. Of course, teams are able to freely trade draft slots for players, other slots, or allocation money, so the list is ever-changing. You can find an updated list of the order on the NWSL’s website.
Washington Spirit currently have four picks in the draft, with two in the first round, picks 7 and 13. They traded their two second-round picks to Utah Royals FC in exchange for protection in the expansion draft but will be back with the 35th and 49th picks later in the evening.
When is the draft?
The draft begins at 8 p.m. ET tonight. Easy enough.
When it ends is a different story. Each of the 56 selections is allotted 3 minutes, and teams also have the option to take 3 3-minute time-outs during the event. Add about 20-30 minutes for introduction and hype-up at 8 p.m., and you’re looking at a draft night that could go past 1 a.m. Bring snacks.
How can I watch the draft?
This year’s draft, one of the first events in the NWSL’s new media deal, will air on ION until 10 p.m. and ION Plus until the end of the event. It’s not exactly a big name network, but ION can be found on most cable providers, and ION Plus is available through several streaming services, including Freevee, fubo, Tubi, and Roku Channel. Find more information here.
On a related note: NWSL fans would do well to figure out how to find the channel now. ION will be airing at least two matches each Saturday this season.
What should I expect from the Washington Spirit?
It’s basically impossible to predict what will happen in an NWSL Draft. Last year, for example, Washington started the night with two draft picks and came out with six draftees, having spent $160,000 and traded away Emily Sonnett in the process. Still, we can speculate a little bit about what players they might have their eyes on.
The Spirit have a full set of goalkeepers on the roster and are pretty well-stocked on forwards as well, with Trinity Rodman, Ashley Hatch, Ouley Sarr, and newcomer Brittany Ratcliffe, as well as some younger players, all fighting for starting spots. The team has a perennial need for defenders, though, and the impending (likely) switch to a more European-style of play under coach Jonatan Giráldez will also have them looking for midfielders with a strong passing game who can help the team retain the ball.
Speaking of Giráldez, although he’s been selected as the team’s next coach, he doesn’t start until the summer and will not be participating in the draft. That leaves the selection process up to President of Soccer Operations/General Manager Mark Krikorian, who will need to balance his own preferred types of player with the playstyle the team intends for their new coach.
Given Krikorian’s penchant for players from Florida State University, where he was the longtime coach, it would surprise no one if he is angling for Leilanni Nesbeth, a midfielder with 15 goals and 14 assists whose ability to maintain possession could suit Giráldez’s style. She’s also demonstrated a capability for the kind of long-distance stunner Spirit fans love:
On the defensive side, consider Lauren Flynn, another Seminole and an Arlington, VA, native. Flynn is a center back and passing specialist, who was named Defensive Most Outstanding Player of the 2023 NCAA Tournament after helping her team to a 5-1 victory in the final. She can score too:
Other options include Kennedy Wesley, who can play both left and center back to give the team some depth, and midfielder Talia Gabarra, another DMV(ish) local who participated in the now-defunct Washington Spirit Development Academy.
Is this everything I need to know?
No, probably not! There are well over 100 students registered for the draft and plenty of chances for teams to swap things around both before and during the event. Whatever happens, we’ll be here in the comments to talk you through it and back this weekend with some coverage of what went down. Good luck, everyone!
Good stuff and fair speculation Annie. A question for you (as you prepare for a LONG evening): based on Krikorian’s drafts so far, what does it tell us about the kind of players he looks for, what he values? Based on last year (especially since Sonnett) was shocked to be traded and didn’t expect it, it seems like Krikorian perhaps overvalues college talent a bit. He seems willing to take a flier on someone who was great in HS and then got hurt. Or got in to a program where she wasn’t a good fit. I also wonder how well he’ll doing at picking players who are more of a “tika-taka” style of play. possession heavy, in to positional play, less likely to play “direct” or vertically. Your thoughts about any of this?
I was thinking about a response along the lines of not being sure how much was Krikorian vs. Parsons last year, but with the Sam Staab-to-Chicago trade announcement, I’m seeing some trends I don’t like that can probably be accredited to Krikorian. I think overvaluing college talent could be right.
I hate to see Sam Staab being traded. Don’t like it at all.
It’s baffling! Who can do what she does with long balls and at CB?
Plus, she’s an “iron-man” and she’s no worse than one of the best defenders in NWSL. Again, the only way I can really see these two deals making sense is if Giraldez looked at tape and said “I don’t think these two players (Staab and Sanchez) fit what I want to do” or “I have better options overseas in mind.” You would know better than me but I never got any whiff that either wanted to be moved out of DC.
I have not heard anything along about them wanting to move
Spirit already introducing maximum chaos by trading SAM STAAB to Chicago for the third pick of the draft. I don’t even have words for this one. Truly shocked.
I’m shocked and so sad 😢
Now seeing reports that Ashley Sanchez has been traded to NCC for the 5th overall pick and allocation money. No matter who’s drafted, tonight may end up feeling like a loss for Spirit fans.
Trade confirmed. Spirit get 5th pick and $250,000 for Ashley Sanchez.
Wow. The only thing I can say is that I hope this trade was driven by Giraldez and concluded he had a better fit of some sort. In other words, a coach who looked at film, has a master plan, and decided he had a better option. Otherwise, if it’s Krikorian driving this–I hate it. Carolina is a tika-taka team, big on possession. If they want Sanchez, they’re saying they think she’s a great fit for their scheme. And should have meant she’d have been a big plus for Giraldez/a possession-based scheme. I really think this is a bad decision–especially for just the 5th pick and a few dollars. Maybe Giraldez has an overseas signing he wants to make happen?
With the 3rd pick of the draft, Spirit select Croix Bethune. Andre wrote about her for his newsletter earlier today: https://btvc.beehiiv.com/p/croix-bethune-is-the-truth
With the 5th pick, Spirit choose another midfielder Hal Hershfelt. And they’re back on the clock for 7th
7th pick is outside back Kate Wiesner. No FSU students yet!
With pick 13, Spirit select Makenna Morris, a right back from Clemson (who can also play mid or forward?). This should be their final pick of the first round.
“No FSU students yet”–hah! I can only sort of laugh at that point. This draft is a real test of Krikorian. Interesting, btw, that all 4 picks are from the East Coast. That kind of implies that the focus and scouting was “local” (either from Krikorian’s contacts in Florida or the conferences that will play near DC–like Penn State and Clemson. And the SEC tournament–for Georgia–was in Florida). It makes it seem (false or not) that players in the California schools just didn’t get scrutiny.
It sounds like they’ll have four first round picks. That’s an awful lot of inexperience you’re putting in likely starting or key roles. Ugh. I like adding talent. But this is some major subtraction (Staab and Sanchez).
What was this about Krikorian overvaluing picks over known players?
As Annie pointed out, last year it’s a little unclear how much of the draft was Krikorian and how much was Parsons (though I tend to think it was all or mostly Krikorian since Parsons was coming from a couple of years overseas). What last year’s draft suggested was that Krikorian was willing to trade versatile quality and experience (Sonnett) in order to get a 3rd round pick and a 2024 first round pick and focused on picking 6 players in the last 2 rounds of the draft–a lot of bodies but not sure they got a lot of future there. Then this draft, with a coach coming in who likes to play a possession game you trade Sanchez (to a team that is the most possession-oriented team in NWSL–Carolina) and one of the top central defenders in the league (Staab).
We’ll see how these picks turn out. I think Krikorian is going to be ecstatic. The Spirit will add a lot of players. But they’ll need to do a lot of growing.
I guess one positive is the number of players potentially missing this summer for the Olympics will likely be less–probably just Rodman and Sullivan.
Wow! Sam Staab AND Ashley Sanchez. Staab was one of my three favorite Spirits. I thought that every time that stepped up to deliver a direct kick, that we had a chance to score.
I’ve got to believe that in May-June Jonatan Giraldez already has some top Barcelona talent to bring with him whom he judged better than Staab and Sanchez.
To me, that’s the only explanation that makes these good trades. That or both players secretly told the team they wanted “out” (which I don’t believe was the case).
After a long break, Spirit make their only 3rd round pick, Arkansas forward Anna Podojil
And with their 4th round pick, the Spirit select Courtney Brown from Utah. Is that it for the night?