Tag: NWSL

NWSL cites covid protocols in Gotham FC vs. NC Courage postponement

With a large number of players unavailable due to Covid-19 protocols, NWSL has announced that NJ/NY Gotham FC’s home opener against the North Carolina Courage has been postponed.

Citing a Covid-19 outbreak, NWSL has postponed Saturday’s scheduled match between NJ/NY Gotham FC and the North Carolina Courage.

Just one day after announcing a new policy regarding Covid-19 replacement players, the league was forced to act due to numerous players ending up unavailable after being placed in Covid-19 protocol by their teams. On Friday night’s pre-game availability report, the Courage listed seven players as out for that reason, while Gotham had four of their own.

In a club statement announcing the postponement, Gotham termed the outbreak as being “within the Courage’s tier one personnel.” Both teams and the league said that an announcement on when the game would be rescheduled would be made in the near future, with no details on that front available at the moment.

The remaining four games on the NWSL’s slate this weekend appear unaffected at this point. The teams playing in Saturday’s other games (Orlando Pride vs. Kansas City Current and Racing Louisville vs. Houston Dash) reported no players out for Covid-19 protocol reasons, while Washington Spirit head coach Kris Ward told reporters Saturday afternoon that his side had no worries on that front. Washington hosts Angel City FC Sunday evening, while San Diego Wave FC hosts the Chicago Red Stars as well. Sunday’s availability report has not, at this point, been sent to media by the NWSL.

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NWSL announces Covid-19 replacement player policy

After last year saw league matches forfeited, the NWSL announced a new policy to allow teams to make emergency replacement signings to avoid that fate in 2022.

The National Women’s Soccer League on Friday announced a new policy allowing teams to sign players to short-term contracts in the event of a Covid-19 outbreak putting a team’s ability to play a game in jeopardy.

NWSL’s new policy, which it says will run for 60 days before being re-evaluated by the league and the NWSL Players Association, will allow teams to operate within the same framework used for national team replacement players.

Previously, NWSL required teams to have a minimum of 14 players available and in uniform for a matchday roster. The new regulation will allow for teams to sign enough players to get up to what NWSL refers to as the “non-Covid minimum of 18 players.”

Last year, the Washington Spirit were forced to forfeit two games by the league, with NWSL saying that they broke Covid-19 protocols for September games against the Portland Thorns and OL Reign. In other instances, teams were barely able to put together a gameday squad, with the North Carolina Courage only having 15 players available for their visit to Kansas City on July 23, 2021.

The announcement came just minutes before the league’s latest availability report was released, and the timing ended up being very important. The Courage have 11 players unavailable after being placed in Covid protocol ahead of Saturday’s visit to face NJ/NY Gotham FC, while Gotham will be without four players for the same reason.

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The NWSL Challenge Cup final was ugly, and the league’s players noticed

The game was supposed to be a showcase, but instead it again revealed some of the NWSL’s player-safety challenges

The NWSL Challenge Cup final was supposed to be a showpiece event, but the league may not have been pleased that a national TV audience witnessed some of the ugliness in Saturday’s match.

The North Carolina Courage defeated the Washington Spirit 2-1 in the finale of the preseason tournament, but the final score seemed secondary after age-old issues of refereeing and player safety again stole the headlines.

The most prominent incident came near the end of the game when the Spirit’s Jordan Baggett scarily collided with an opponent and stayed down. With Spirit medical staff on the pitch, players took it upon themselves to get a stretcher out to their teammate quicker.

Spirit star Trinity Rodman was far from pleased after the game.

Two more incidents left Courage players fuming. Courage defender Abby Erceg was caught with a stud to the chest, but Erceg and goalkeeper Katelyn Rowland said the incident went unpunished because the referee (wrongly) determined it was the ball, not Ashley Hatch’s boot, that caught Erceg.

The Spirit again got away with a potentially serious challenge when Sam Staab’s tackle in the box on Kerolin was not deemed to be a penalty despite replays clearly showing Kerolin’s ankle being rolled up under Staab’s tackle.

Courage defender Kayleigh Kurtz, among others, was left fuming.

Unlike in most professional men’s leagues, NWSL referees do not have the ability to utilize VAR, which could have reversed the decisions in the incidents with Erceg and Kerolin.

NWSL players past and present weigh in

With player safety on the pitch clearly still an issue, a number of NWSL players, both current and former, took to social media after the game to voice their displeasure with what they saw.

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J.J. Watt shared a 7-year-old Twitter moment he had with Kealia Ohai Watt, and it’s so sweet

This is the cutest.

Sometimes, Twitter is a good thing and creates delightful, heartwarming interactions. The latest example of that is brought to you by J.J. Watt and Kealia Ohai Watt, but it’s a throwback moment from seven years ago.

Back in 2014 during the National Women’s Soccer League draft, the Houston Dash drafted Kealia out of UNC with the No. 2 overall pick. She was the then-expansion team’s first draft pick, and NFL tight end J.J. — who was playing for the Houston Texans at the time — tweeted at her, welcoming her to the city.

Most people likely forgot about this simple interaction from so many years ago, and that appears to be true for J.J.

In 2019, J.J. and Kealia got engaged, and they were married in February of 2020. As a major sports power couple, their quick 7-year-old Twitter moment is so sweet and wholesome, as one Twitter user pointed out in the replies, which caught the tight end’s attention.

In 2014, J.J. tweeted:

“Welcome to Houston @KealiaOhai! Great start for the new Dash franchise. #TeamHouston”

And Kealia responded:

@JJWatt thanks JJ! Excited to play in one of the best cities in the world

Of course, neither of them are in Houston anymore with J.J. now with the Arizona Cardinals, while Kealia plays for the Chicago Red Stars. But it’s so sweet to see this brief interaction and knowing how their story ends.

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Could J.J. Watt buy a National Women’s Soccer League team?

Could J.J. Watt join the group of athletes who own professional sports teams?

Could Houston Texans star J.J. Watt become the next athlete to become involved with ownership of a sports franchise?

The star defensive lineman took to social media Sunday to display interest in Utah Royals FC, of the National Women’s Soccer League.

Watt’s wife, Kealia Mae Ohai plays for the Chicago Red Stars.  She previously played for the Houston Dash from 2014–2019.

Watt’s interest was piqued after Real Salt Lake team owner put the Major League Soccer franchise as well as the NWSL team up for sale after being criticized for failing to support players calling for racial justice.

“Major League Soccer has been informed that Real Salt Lake Investor-Operator Dell Loy Hansen has decided that he will begin a process to sell Utah Soccer Holdings, the entity that owns Real Salt Lake (MLS), Utah Royals FC (NWSL) and Real Monarchs (USL),” MLS Commissioner Don Garber said in a statement.

“MLS will work with Mr. Hansen on supporting the sale efforts for the company and will work closely with the club’s executive staff to support the operations of the team during the transition period.

“I want to acknowledge Dell Loy Hansen’s significant efforts to build the sport of soccer in the state of Utah and for his commitment to Major League Soccer.”

Per ESPN.com:

Hansen has been under pressure since a report from The Athletic detailed his repeated use of racist language to and in front of team employees.

That report came on the heels of Hansen’s reaction to Wednesday’s MLS player-led walkout in protest of racial injustice. The protest led to the postponement of five matches, including Wednesday’s match between RSL and LAFC scheduled for Rio Tinto Stadium.

 

Former Buckeye Nichelle Prince and Houston Dash win NWSL Challenge Cup

Former Ohio State women’s soccer star Nichelle Prince helped lead the Houston Dash to the NWSL Challenge Cup Sunday.

Former Ohio State standout Nichelle Prince and her Houston Dash won the NWSL Challenge Cup Sunday by disposing of the Chicago Red Stars in the championship match 2-0.

Prince became instrumental in the final kick towards the championship. She started and played 71 minutes as Houston advanced on penalty kicks against Utah Royals FC July 17. before playing 89 minutes in a 1-0 win over the Portland Thorns July 22. She then went on to play another 87 minutes in the Dash’s 2-0 win over the Red Stars in the championship game.

Selected by the Dash with the 28th pick of the 2017 NWSL Draft, Prince has appeared in 53 career matches for Houston after leaving Ohio State fourth on the Buckeyes’ career assist list with 20. She was also sixth with 74 career points and tied for eighth with 27 career goals. At the international level, Prince has totaled 11 goals and 10 assists in 59 contests for the Canadian national team.

A 2017 Ohio State graduate, Prince helped Canada to a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympic Games and was part of the 2019 FIFA World Cup squad, scoring her first World Cup goal in a 2-0 victory over New Zealand.

 

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As part owner, James Harden celebrates NWSL title by Houston Dash

In July 2019, Harden joined the ownership group of the Houston Dash and Dynamo. In July 2020, the Dash won their first NWSL title.

Formed in 2014, the Houston Dash made history on Sunday by claiming their first National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) title in the championship game of the NWSL Challenge Cup.

Houston’s 2-0 victory over the Chicago Red Stars culminated NWSL’s month-long tournament, which was organized in a “bubble” environment in Utah after the league’s COVID-19 shutdown. In its seventh year in the league, the Dash had previously never made the playoffs.

Just over one year ago, Houston Rockets star James Harden acquired a minority stake in the ownership group of the Dash and Houston Dynamo (MLS). As such, “The Beard” was quite proud of their triumph.

“Beautiful sight,” Harden said when asked what he thought about Sunday’s accomplishment. “The adversity, with the coronavirus and everything else going on in the world… for them to win a championship, it’s amazing. It’s the beginning stages of our winning ways. I’m proud of them. We’ll continue to keep those winning ways going.”

Now 30 years old and in his eighth season with the Rockets, Harden has increasingly taken on a more active role of supporting the city and its other sports teams. Given his ownership stake with the Dash and Dynamo, that trend should only continue in the years ahead.

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Watch: Many NWSL players kneel during national anthem

Many NWSL players took a knee during the national anthem Saturday.

The National Women’s Soccer League returned to play Saturday. The first league — team sport — to do so since the COVID-19 pandemic struck.

This also marked the first playing of the national anthem before a game of a team sport. And with the call for social justice and equality reform, the national anthem figured to be a memorable moment.

It was as many members of the teams kneeled during the playing of the song before the match in Utah between the North Carolina Courage and Portland Thorns.

Check it out: