NWSL allocation announced for 2014 season

The NWSL is gearing up for their second season of play in 2014 with one more team than they had in 2013 as the Houston Dash have joined the league.  As a result, there have been some changes to the allocation of international players including those from the Canadian Women's National Team.

CanWNT had 16 allocated players last season and that number remains the same for 2014.  What has changed is some of the names that are included.  In for 2014 are Chelsea Stewart, Rachel Quon, Melissa Tancredi, Jonelle Filigno, and Selenia Iacchelli taking up 5 of the spots.  That means five other players are no longer included in the allocated group as Rhian Wilkinson, Emily Zurrer, Melanie Booth, Bryanna McCarthy, and Jodi-Ann Robinson have all been left off the list for various reasons.

There are a few surprises in the group but a lot of the changes are in line with what was to be expected. Booth retired and was going to have to be replaced and Zurrer has moved over to Europe.  The big surprise might be seeing Quon take up a spot in the allocation despite playing in the league without one last season.  Quon is finally eligible to represent Canada now though as FIFA have approved her one time switch which could have played a role in her inclusion in the group.

The biggest discussion will revolve around the fact that both Desiree Scott and Lauren Sesselmann have been included in the allocation group despite the fact that they seem destined to wind up playing in England next season.  In fact, Notts County ladies already announced the capture of Scott for their next season but that seems to still be pending the approval of the CSA and NWSL.

If Scott and Sesselmann do make the move to England they will likely have to be replaced in the allocation pool which would raise some interesting questions about who should replace them in the group 0f 16.  With the 2015 World Cup approaching quickly it will be crucial for the CSA to ensure the absolute maximum number of players are playing competitive matches.

If the Kansas City duo do make the move to England there are a number of CanWNT who could well fill the spots they would leave vacant.  There is also a chance that further Canadians will be playing in the league without going through the allocation process as we saw last season.

The full list of allocated players from all three federations is as follows:

Boston

U.S.  -  Heather O'Reilly, Kristie Mewis, Meghan Klingenberg

Mexico  -  Dinora Garza

Canada  -  Chelsea Stewart, Kaylyn Kyle

Chicago

U.S.  -  Shannon Boxx, Amy LePeilbet, Christen Press

Mexico  -  N/A

Canada  -  Rachel Quon, Adriana Leon, Erin McLeod

Houston

U.S.  -  Whitney Engen

Mexico  -  Teresa Noyola

Canada  -  Melissa Tancredi

Kansas City

U.S.  -  Lauren Holiday, Becky Sauerbrunn, Nicole Barnhart, Amy Rodriguez

Mexico  -  Cecilia Santiago

Canada  -  Desiree Scott, Lauren Sesselmann

Portland

U.S.  -  Rachel Buehler, Alex Morgan, Tobin Heath

Mexico  -  Jackie Acevedo

Canada  -  Christie Sinclair, Karina leBlanc

Seattle

U.S.  -  Hope Solo, Megan Rapinoe, Sydney Leroux, Stephanie Cox

Mexico  -  Arianna Romero

Canada  -  Carmelina Moscato

Sky Blue

U.S.  -  Christie Rampone, Jill Loyden, Kelley O'Hara

Mexico  -  Monica Ocampo

Canada  -  Sophie Schmidt, Jonelle Filigno

Washington

U.S.  -  Ali Krieger, Ashlyn Harris, Yael Averbuch

Mexico  -  Renae Cuellar

Canada  -  Diana Matheson, Robyn Gayle

Western NY

U.S.  -  Carli Lloyd, Abby Wambach

Mexico  -  Veronica Perez

Canada  -  Selenia Iacchelli