2021 NWSL Draft

The 2021 NWSL Draft was the ninth annual meeting of National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchises to select eligible college players. It was held on January 13, 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was the first NWSL Draft to be held virtually via videoconferencing and web streaming.

2021 NWSL Draft
General information
Sport	Soccer
Date(s)	January 13, 2021
Time	7:00 PM ET
Network(s)	Twitch
Overview
40 total selections in 4 rounds
League	National Women's Soccer League
First selection	Emily Fox, Racing Louisville FC
Most selections	Kansas City NWSL and Racing Louisville FC (6 picks)
Fewest selections	OL Reign (1 pick)
← 2020 2022 →

Format

• All 10 teams of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) take turns making their selections over four rounds, with 10 picks per round. Draft order in each round was determined by the reverse order of standings after the preliminary stage of the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup, with the exceptions being Racing Louisville FC taking the first selection as an expansion team and Orlando Pride slotting into the fourth spot as decided by the board of governors after the team was unable to participate in the Challenge Cup.^[1]
• The Kansas City expansion team took over all player-related assets (including draft picks) of defunct team Utah Royals FC.^[2]
• The draft was broadcast live via the NWSL's official Twitch channel.
• Final list of players who registered was released on January 12, 2021.^[3]

COVID-19 pandemic

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NWSL made the following changes to the draft regulations that apply only to the 2021 NWSL Draft:

• Due to the disruption of college soccer and resulting NCAA D-I spring season in 2021, the NWSL applied for and received a waiver from the NCAA so that D-I players who are drafted could choose to report immediately for the 2021 NWSL season and forfeit their remaining collegiate eligibility, or remain with their collegiate teams until the conclusion of the NCAA D-I spring season in May 2021.^[4]
• The NWSL waived registration requirements so that all D-I players who had exhausted three years of collegiate soccer eligibility prior to the 2020–21 academic year were automatically eligible to be drafted.^[5]
• The NWSL playing rights of drafted players will be held until the start of the 2022 preseason rather than the end of the 2021 season as was the case previously.^[6]

Results

Key

+	Denotes player who has been selected as NWSL Most Valuable Player
*	Denotes player who has been selected for an NWSL Best XI or NWSL Second XI team
^	Denotes player who has been selected as NWSL Rookie of the Year
#	Denotes player who has never appeared in a competitive NWSL game (regular season, playoff, or Challenge Cup)

Picks

Round	Pick	Nat.	Player	Pos.	NWSL team	Notes	College
Round 1	1		Emily Fox *	D	Racing Louisville FC		North Carolina
	2		Trinity Rodman *^	F	Washington Spirit	[R1 trade 1]	Washington State
	3		Brianna Pinto	M	Sky Blue FC		North Carolina
	4		Kiki Pickett	D	Kansas City NWSL	[R1 trade 2]	Stanford
	5		Emina Ekic	M	Racing Louisville FC	[R1 trade 3]	Louisville
	6		Yazmeen Ryan *	M	Portland Thorns FC	[R1 trade 4]	TCU
	7		Madison Haley #	F	Chicago Red Stars	[R1 trade 5]	Stanford
	8		Tara McKeown *	F	Washington Spirit	[R1 trade 6]	USC
	9		Viviana Villacorta	M	Orlando Pride	[R1 trade 7]	UCLA
	10		Deanne Rose #	F	North Carolina Courage		Florida
Round 2	11		Taylor Otto	M	Racing Louisville FC		North Carolina
	12		Sam Coffey*	M	Portland Thorns FC		Penn State
	13		Kirsten Davis	F	Racing Louisville FC	[R2 trade 1]	Texas Tech
	14		Mikayla Colohan	M	Orlando Pride		BYU
	15		Victoria Pickett	M	Kansas City NWSL	[R2 trade 2]	Wisconsin
	16		Lucy Parker #	D	Kansas City NWSL		UCLA
	17		Addie McCain	M	Kansas City NWSL	[R2 trade 3]	Texas A&M
	18		Kelsey Turnbow	F	Chicago Red Stars	[R2 trade 4]	Santa Clara
	19		Anna Heilferty	F	Washington Spirit		Boston University
	20		Alyssa Malonson	D	North Carolina Courage		Auburn
Round 3	21		Parker Goins	F	Racing Louisville FC		Arkansas
	22		Amirah Ali	F	Portland Thorns FC		Rutgers
	23		Taryn Torres	M	Sky Blue FC		Virginia
	24		Kerry Abello *	D	Orlando Pride		Penn State
	25		Brianna Alger #	D	Chicago Red Stars		Washington State
	26		Joelle Anderson	M	Houston Dash	[R3 trade 1]	Pepperdine
	27		Makamae Gomera-Stevens	F	Houston Dash		Washington State
	28		Jimena López	D	OL Reign		Texas A&M
	29		Sydney Schneider #	G	Washington Spirit		UNC Wilmington
	30		Myra Konte #	D	North Carolina Courage		Vanderbilt
Round 4	31		Emily Smith #	D	Racing Louisville FC		California
	32		Channing Foster	F	Chicago Red Stars	[R4 trade 1]	Ole Miss
	33		Delanie Sheehan	D	Sky Blue FC		UCLA
	34		Kaylie Collins	G	Orlando Pride		USC
	35		Alissa Gorzak #	F	Chicago Red Stars		Virginia
	36		Alex Loera	M	Kansas City NWSL		Santa Clara
	37		Hannah Betfort	D	Portland Thorns FC	[R4 trade 2]	Wake Forest
	38		Brookelynn Entz #	M	Kansas City NWSL	[R4 trade 3]	Kansas State
	39		Mariana Speckmaier	F	Washington Spirit		Clemson
	40		Tess Boade	F	Sky Blue FC	[R4 trade 4]	Duke

Notable undrafted players

Below is a list of undrafted rookies who appeared in a competitive NWSL game in 2021.

Nat.	Player	Pos.	Original NWSL team	College	Notes
	Amber Marshall	M	Houston Dash	Utah State
	Parker Roberts	M	Orlando Pride	Florida
	Karina Rodríguez	D	Washington Spirit	UCLA

Trades

Round 1:

1. Portland Thorns FC → Sky Blue FC → Washington Spirit. Washington Spirit received a first-round pick in the 2021 NWSL Draft as well as the No. 4, No. 13 and No. 17 picks in the 2020 NWSL College Draft from Sky Blue FC in exchange for Mallory Pugh.^[7] Sky Blue FC had acquired Portland Thorns FC's natural first-round pick from in exchange for Raquel Rodríguez.^[8]
2. Orlando Pride → Chicago Red Stars → Sky Blue FC → Kansas City NWSL. Kansas City NWSL acquired the No. 4 pick in the 2021 NWSL Draft from Sky Blue FC in exchange for $175,000 in allocation money.^[9] Sky Blue FC had acquired the No. 4 and No. 8 picks in the 2021 NWSL Draft, a conditional first round pick in the 2022 NWSL Draft, and an international slot for 2021 and 2022 from Chicago Red Stars in exchange for Mallory Pugh and Sarah Woldmoe.^[10] Chicago Red Stars had previously acquired the natural first-round pick in the 2021 NWSL Draft, the No. 19 pick in the 2020 NWSL College Draft, Rachel Hill and $50,000 of allocation money from Orlando Pride in exchange for the No. 3 and No. 26 picks in the 2020 NWSL College Draft.^[11]
3. Chicago Red Stars → Racing Louisville FC. Racing Louisville FC acquired the natural first-round pick in the 2021 NWSL Draft as well as forwards Yuki Nagasato and Savannah McCaskill, and an international roster spot for both the 2021 and 2022 seasons from Chicago Red Stars in exchange for full roster protection in the 2020 NWSL Expansion Draft.^[12]
4. Utah Royals FC → Chicago Red Stars → Portland Thorns FC. Portland Thorns FC acquired the No. 6 pick in the 2021 NWSL Draft from Chicago Red Stars in exchange for the No. 7 and No. 32 picks in the 2021 NWSL Draft and an international slot in 2021.^[13] Chicago Red Stars had acquired the natural first-round pick in the 2021 NWSL Draft as well as the No. 4 and No. 13 pick in the 2020 NWSL College Draft and two first-round picks (No. 1 and No. 7) in the 2019 NWSL College Draft from Utah Royals FC in exchange for the rights to Christen Press and Samantha Johnson.^[14]
5. Houston Dash → Portland Thorns FC → Chicago Red Stars. Chicago Red Stars acquired the No. 7 and No. 32 picks in the 2021 NWSL Draft and an international slot in 2021 from Portland Thorns FC in exchange for the No. 6 pick in the 2021 NWSL Draft.^[13] Portland Thorns FC acquired the 7th and 37th picks in the 2021 NWSL Draft from Houston Dash in exchange for Emily Ogle and Gabby Seiler.^[15]
6. OL Reign → Chicago Red Stars → Sky Blue FC → Washington Spirit. Washington Spirit acquired the No. 8 pick in the 2021 NWSL Draft from Sky Blue FC in exchange for $100,000 in allocation money and Washington's natural second-round pick in the 2022 NWSL Draft.^[16] Sky Blue FC had acquired the No. 4 and No. 8 picks in the 2021 NWSL Draft, a conditional first round pick in the 2022 NWSL Draft, and an international slot for 2021 and 2022 from Chicago Red Stars in exchange for Mallory Pugh and Sarah Woldmoe.^[10] Chicago Red Stars had previously acquired the natural first-round pick in the 2021 NWSL Draft and natural third-round pick (No. 24) in the 2020 NWSL College Draft from OL Reign in exchange for a first-round pick (No. 9) in the 2020 NWSL College Draft.^[17]
7. Washington Spirit → Orlando Pride. Orlando Pride acquired the 9th pick in the 2021 NWSL Draft, a first-round pick in either the 2022 or 2023 NWSL Draft (TBD), $140,000 in allocation money and Meggie Dougherty Howard from Washington Spirit in exchange for Emily Sonnett.^[18]

Round 2:

1. Sky Blue → Racing Louisville FC. Racing Louisville FC acquired the No. 13 pick in the 2021 NWSL Draft and $35,000 in allocation money from Sky Blue FC in exchange for Jennifer Cudjoe.^[19]
2. Chicago Red Stars → Utah Royals FC. Utah Royals FC acquired the natural second-round pick in the 2021 NWSL Draft from Chicago Red Stars in exchange for Makenzy Doniak.^[20]
3. Houston Dash → Utah Royals FC. Utah Royals FC acquired the natural second-round pick in the 2021 NWSL Draft and natural second-round pick in the 2020 NWSL College Draft from Houston Dash in exchange for Utah Royals FC's third-round pick in the 2020 NWSL College Draft and Katie Stengel.^[21]
4. OL Reign → Orlando Pride → Chicago Red Stars. Chicago Red Stars acquired the lowest second-round pick in the 2021 NWSL Draft held by Orlando Pride under the terms of a June 21, 2020 trade. Orlando Pride had acquired the natural second-round pick in the 2021 NWSL Draft from OL Reign in exchange for Dani Weatherholt.^[22]

Round 3:

1. Utah Royals FC → Houston Dash. Houston Dash acquired a third-round pick in the 2021 NWSL Draft from Utah Royals FC in exchange for the rights to Aminata Diallo.^[23]

Round 4:

1. Portland Thorns FC → Chicago Red Stars. Chicago Red Stars acquired the No. 7 and No. 32 picks in the 2021 NWSL Draft and an international slot in 2021 from Portland Thorns FC in exchange for the No. 6 pick in the 2021 NWSL Draft.^[13]
2. Houston Dash → Portland Thorns FC. Portland Thorns FC acquired the 7th and 37th picks in the 2021 NWSL Draft from Houston Dash in exchange for Emily Ogle and Gabby Seiler.^[15]
3. OL Reign → Kansas City NWSL. Kansas City NWSL acquired the 38th pick in the 2021 NWSL Draft, Darian Jenkins, and the rights to Meg Brandt from OL Reign in exchange for Tziarra King and a second-round pick in the 2022 NWSL Draft.^[24]
4. North Carolina Courage → Sky Blue FC. Sky Blue FC acquired a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2021 NWSL Draft and McCall Zerboni from North Carolina Courage in exchange for the rights to Hailie Mace.^[25]

Summary

In 2021, a total of 28 colleges had players selected. Of these, five had a player drafted to the NWSL for the first time: Boston University, Kansas State, Louisville, UNC Wilmington, and Vanderbilt.

Schools with multiple draft selections

Selections	Schools
3	North Carolina, UCLA, Washington State
2	Penn State, Santa Clara, Stanford, Texas A&M, USC, Virginia

Selections by college athletic conference

Conference	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Total
ACC	3	1	1	4	9
Big Ten	0	2	2	0	4
Big 12	1	1	0	1	3
Colonial	0	0	1	0	1
Pac-12	5	1	2	3	11
Patriot League	0	1	0	0	1
SEC	1	2	3	1	7
West Coast	0	2	1	1	4

Selections by position

Position	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Total
Goalkeeper	0	0	1	1	2
Defender	2	2	4	3	11
Midfielder	4	5	2	2	13
Forward	4	3	3	4	14

See also

• List of drafts held by the NWSL
• List of National Women's Soccer League draftees by college team
• 2021 National Women's Soccer League season