(July 11, 2008) -- Will Kate Markgraf return to the Boston Breakers? Or will she wind up in the Midwest, closer to her alma mater, Notre Dame? Will Lori Chalupny be one of the first female pro soccer stars in her native St. Louis? Or will she make her professional debut on one of the coasts?
(Brad Smith/isiphotos.com)
Kate Markgraf is looking forward to player allocation and finding out what WPS teams the National Team players will be playing for.
The answer to these and many other questions will not be known for some time, but the timeline for player distribution announced by Women’s Professional Soccer on Tuesday set the wheels in motion for an exciting fall during which the seven founding clubs will assemble rosters for next April’s launch.
The first timeframe to circle is the week of September 15. Sometime that week, members of the United States Women’s National Team will be allocated to WPS clubs. They will become the first players for each team and the faces of women’s soccer in each city.
“I’m definitely excited,” National Team captain Christie Rampone said. “It’s a major step in getting the league started.”
“It’s great to have a plan in place because that means we’re moving forward,” Markgraf added.
Rampone and Markgraf were Christie Pearce and Kate Sobrero respectively when they were allocated to WUSA teams eight years ago, and are the only members of this summer’s Olympic team with that distinction. Both have married and become mothers since then, and when WPS kicks off they will be counted on as veterans.
“We are all excited to find out where we are going to be playing,” Markgraf said. “After the Olympics, that will be our main goal, to get into the markets, get to know the community, and start promoting our league while continuing to grow the love of soccer in America.”
The excitement will only build from there. One week after the initial allocation, each team will add the rights to a pair of International players by means of a draft. On October 6, a general draft of domestic and International players will be conducted. Later in the year, two combines—one on each coast—will give any remaining undrafted players a chance to show off their skills for another draft scheduled for mid-January.
Right now though, the focus will be on which National Team players will end up in which cities.
“A few weeks after we come home from Beijing we’ll be allocated to WPS Teams,” said an excited Abby Wambach, who played two seasons for the Washington Freedom in the WUSA. “I’m eager to learn which team I’ll be playing for and to connect with the fans in that market.”
National Team players have already submitted their preferences to the league, and while most of the players are keeping their selections to themselves, there is at least one exception.
“I would love to be allocated to New Jersey,” said Rampone, who was born and raised in the Garden State and played her college soccer at Monmouth, less than an hour’s drive from where the New Jersey/New York WPS entry will play its home matches at Rutgers University. “If not, I know I’ll get back there a few times a year.
“I just want to be able to contribute to the team and the new league and set a solid base for the league to grow in a positive direction.”
Dan Lauletta is a freelance writer and can be reached at thirtymtp@aol.com . The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author's, and not necessarily those of Women’s Professional Soccer or womensprosoccer.com.
