#nwsl

#nwsl

When the National Women's Soccer League settled with three separate attorneys general earlier this year-following investigations by all three into the league's years of failure to prevent or adequately respond to player reports of harassment and sexual misconduct-the agreement came with several requirements. One was that the league would pay $5 million to players who were abused. Another was a mandate for the league to submit regular reports to the three AGs about what it was doing to keep the abuse from happening again,

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Kansas City Current forward Temwa Chawinga won the National Women's Soccer League's Most Valuable Player award for the second straight season on Wednesday, becoming the first player in league history to win back-to-back MVP awards. Chawinga received the award at the San Jose Civic Center as part of the NWSL's first formal awards show in its 12-season history.

positioning the Pride among the NWSL's and world's elite clubs.

Louisville and North Carolina entered Sunday's NWSL Decision Day as the two teams fighting for the eighth and final playoff spot, and Racing Louisville had to defeat Bay FC if North Carolina also won due to the Courage's superior goal difference, which is the first tiebreaker. The North Carolina Courage defeated Gotham FC 3-2 on Sunday in a simultaneous match.

Seattle Reign FC head coach Laura Harvey said she used ChatGPT for tactical advice this past offseason, which ultimately led her and her staff to test out a new formation with five defenders. Harvey, who is a three-time NWSL Shield winner and three-time NWSL coach of the year, told the "Soccerish Podcast" that she had not previously played in a back-five or heavily researched it.

The Current fell 1-0 to the Houston Dash on Saturday, but it's star Temwa Chawinga that may go down as the far more impactful loss. After suffering a non-contact injury in the first half, the forward was carried off the field. While the severity of the injury isn't known, Kansas City head coach Vlatko Andonovski said after the game that Chawinga's injury was in the "upper leg" rather than the knee. Even so, plenty of folks in Kansas City will be holding their breath.

The NWSL still lacks a unified academy system, but with the college draft being abolished and combines -- including a youth combine to scout talent as young as 13 -- age is not holding recruitment back as it did in years past. Now, more teams are increasingly identifying young players who can make a difference -- and several already are, in big ways.

"I think the biggest thing for me and just taking those conversations and soaking everything in that I can from all the coaches that I have, is mostly the consistency piece," Sears said. "I think that I have been a lot more intentional with the way that I'm playing, and I think that has ultimately benefitted my game. "I feel like I've found myself in a little bit more of a flow state in games and

The Portland Thorns will retire the No. 12 jersey of longtime forward Christine Sinclair in a ceremony at Providence Park on Oct. 4. Sinclair will also be the first player inducted into the team's Hall of Fame. Sinclair retired in 2024 as the world's leading international goal scorer with 190 goals for Canada. She was one of the first players in Thorns history, joining the team ahead of the inaugural NWSL season in 2013.

She's an extremely talented player that can do things that probably no other can,