WPS Free Agency Opens: Off-season Player Transactions Underway
by WPS - Press Release
09/30/2009 - 11:51 a.m.
Carli Lloyd and Leslie Osborne are among the players who are now free agents.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA (September 30, 2009) – With the option period expiring and the free agency period for Women’s Professional Soccer beginning on Wednesday, September 30, the league’s nine franchises announced which players’ options were exercised by this past Tuesday, followed by today’s posting of the free agent list on the transactions page on the WPS league website.
Notable internationals who have become free agents for this off-season include Brazilian forward Cristiane, who played this season for the Chicago Red Stars, and her countrywomen Formiga (FC Gold Pride) and Daniela (Saint Louis Athletica). Notable U.S. national team players who are free agents (2009 team in parentheses) include Carli Lloyd (Chicago Red Stars), Leslie Osborne (FC Gold Pride) and Heather Mitts (Boston Breakers) among others.
Free agents are free to negotiate and sign with any WPS team. Developmental players all automatically become free agents and can be signed to a full player contract at any time. The first formal pre-season team rosters will be announced in February just prior to training camp. WPS rosters during the regular season include 18 players and up to four additional developmental players.
A full listing of the free agents and other off-season WPS transactions can be found on the transactions page at: http://www.womensprosoccer.com/Home/news/transactions-09.aspx.
About Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS)
Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) is the premier women’s soccer league in the world and the global standard by which women’s professional sports are measured. The Inaugural Season kicked off in March 2009 with seven WPS teams based in the Bay Area, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New Jersey/New York, St. Louis, and Washington, D.C. The league’s eighth and nine franchises, Philadelphia and Atlanta, will begin play in the 2010 WPS Season, which begins March 2010. For more information, visit www.womensprosoccer.com.