Mark Your Calendars

By: Melissa | July 8th, 2008

Today, WPS announced the USWNT allocation draft will happen after the Olympics – in September – with a number of drafts and combines to follow:

WPS will begin securing domestic talent with the post-Olympics allocation of the U.S. Women’s National Team (WNT) and U.S. WNT Player Pool in mid-September, to be immediately followed with a draft of the top international players. In October, WPS will conduct a general draft for both domestic and international players, followed by east and west coast combines in December and a post-combine draft in January. WPS Teams for the inaugural 2009 season – Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New Jersey/New York, St. Louis, and Washington D.C. – will then complete their rosters via local tryouts.

And USL announced on Monday it’s first ever W-League Combine will take place in September:

United Soccer Leagues announced Monday that with the upcoming launch of Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS), it will be conducting the inaugural USL W-League Combine in Tampa September 4-7 of 2008. The combine will feature 128 elite players showcasing their talent for WPS and other professional scouts and coaches.

So September is the drop down date for all the teams participating in 2009 to – I say – at least have a GM and a head coach. I hope this gives San Diego and The Bay Area enough time to secure financing as well as, uh, Los Angeles, Dallas, and St. Louis to, um, do something. At least in the WPS press release, we have a quote from the chairman of St. Louis WPS. Hello Jeff Cooper! Time to get busy.

Included in the WPS press release is the very useful player timeline. Keep it handy. Refer to it often:

July 8 – Week of Sept. 15 Advancement of player contract discussions between WPS and U.S. WNT / U.S. WNT Player Pool; contracts to be finalized prior to post-Olympics allocation. Note: U.S. WNT Players / U.S. WNT Pool Players have already submitted their WPS market preferences.

July 8 – Aug. 5 WPS teams may enter discussions with international players, in advance of International Players’ post-Olympics draft

August 5 – 23 Beijing Olympics quiet period; no WPS communication with any Players competing in the Olympics

September 2 WPS Teams submit U.S. WNT Player preferences to the League

Week of September 15 U.S. WNT / U.S. WNT Player Pool domestic allocation

Week of September 22 Draft of top International players (2 per WPS team)

October 6 WPS General Draft of Domestic and International players

December 10 – 13 WPS West Coast Combine

December 17 – 20 WPS East Coast Combine

Week of January 14 WPS Post-Combine Draft February 15 WPS Tryouts in Teams’ Local Markets

March 1 WPS Pre-Season begins

April (date TBD) WPS Regular Season begins

My guess is, any of these dates are subject to change and likely will shuffle a bit as the year progresses. Either way, it’s great news to get a schedule and it certainly feels like, for perhaps the first time, there is for realsies going to be a league next year.