The times are definitely changing in the NWSL, and few things make that more clear than the burgeoning youth movement around the league.
The latest move on that front has seen the Washington Spirit signing 15-year-old forward Chloe Ricketts to a three-year contract (the deal includes an option year in 2026). Per the Spirit, Ricketts signed her contract on Thursday aged 15 years and 283 days, making her three days younger than Portland Thorns midfielder Olivia Moultrie was when she signed her first professional contract in 2021.
“We remain very focused on building a roster that can help us succeed now while also investing in the future,” said head coach Mark Parsons in a team release announcing the move. “Chloe has shown great quality with and without the ball and has an incredible intensity in everything she does. The vision and infrastructure of our club make this signing possible, and we are look forward to Chloe developing and becoming an important player and teammate for our team.”
Spirit signs youngest-ever player to NWSL contract!
— Washington Spirit (@WashSpirit) March 3, 2023
“The opportunity to join the Washington Spirit on a professional contract is a dream come true,” added Ricketts. “I’m looking forward to continuing my development as a player and individual with the great resources here in the District.”
Ricketts, who hails from Michigan, played for AFC Ann Arbor in the USL W-League in 2022, scoring two goals and adding two assists as one of the two 14-year-olds in the entire pre-professional league. In 2021, she played on an Ann Arbor Tigers boys team that won the Michigan State Cup and on a girls team that went to the ECNL national final.
The Spirit’s initial preseason roster included Ricketts and another teenager, U.S. Under-17 midfielder Melina Rebimbas, as the club has made youth development a clear priority. In 2022, Washington brought USYNT attacker Jaedyn Shaw in during their preseason, keeping the then-17-year-old around to train with the team while hoping for a path to sign her.
NWSL, with no mechanism in place to allow for a youth player to sign without waiting for the next college draft, ruled that Shaw had to go through the league’s discovery process. The San Diego Wave were atop the priority list for that mechanism, and despite overtures from the Spirit — sources told Pro Soccer Wire that Washington offered $250,000 in allocation money, or $150,000 and a first-round draft pick — they opted to offer Shaw a deal.
That proved to be a smart choice, as Shaw scored on her professional debut and has already emerged as a consistent starter for a playoff-caliber team.
NWSL Under-18 Entry Mechanism in action
Ricketts’ signing is far less of an ordeal than previous teenagers have experienced when trying to join a team in the league. Portland tried to move mountains to sign Mallory Swanson in 2016, only for NWSL to leave no avenue to do so. Swanson ended up signing with the league in 2017, ending up with the Spirit via a convoluted distribution ranking order process.
Moultrie, meanwhile, ended up taking the league to court after her attempts to sign with Portland were initially rebuffed by NWSL rules. Even after the league relented, it still required a discovery process akin to the one Shaw went through in 2022, with OL Reign claiming her league rights. The Reign then traded those rights to the Thorns for a third-round pick so Moultrie could play where she’d wanted to all along.
Commissioner Jessica Berman was asked about these stumbling blocks at a press conference before the league’s 2022 championship game, and said that sorting out its policy for players in Ricketts’ situation was a priority.
“Virtually every policy and rule, at the league office, is being reviewed,” said Berman. “We are taking a closer look at everything and figuring out what are the most important things we need to address, and [youth player entry] is definitely one of the areas that we’re focused on, to try to make sure we balance all different interests — and there’s a lot of competing interests — and get the most right for the future of the league.”
Ricketts is the first player to put those changes into practice. NWSL announced a new Under-18 Entry Mechanism in November 2022, detailing what standards had to be met for a team and player to qualify.
Among the requirements are provisions that require teams to offer a guaranteed contract once they place a player on their Under-18 Entry List, and must have the consent of both the player and their parent or legal guardian to do so. Players entering the league this way can’t be waived or traded until after turning 18 unless the player and their guardian have given consent, and are ineligible to be selected in any expansion draft while under 18 years old.
Teams are limited to two players per season between both their Under-18 Entry List and players signed via that mechanism. So for the Spirit, signing Ricketts and having Rebimbas on their list means they are currently maxed out within the parameters of the new process for the 2023 season. Under-18 Entry Mechanism spots cannot be traded, so a team can’t hoard them as with other tradable assets.
Washington’s press release noted that Ricketts “will continue her education virtually throughout the season,” though there are no publicly-stated requirements on that front from the league.
[lawrence-related id=5442,5218,4852]