The NWSL announced more details around November 22nd’s second annual Skills Challenge on Thursday, including competition rules and eight participating athletes.
Beginning at 6 PM ET the evening before November 23rd’s 2024 NWSL Championship match, two teams of league stars will compete in a trio of skills contests. The winning squad will split a $30,000 check from sponsor CarMax — up from $25,000 last year.
Retired NWSL and USWNT icon Sam Mewis will host the event.
Three events await Skills Challenge contenders
The 2024 edition of the Skills Challenge returns two events — Player Shootouts and the Crossbar Challenge — while replacing last year’s 2-on-2 TeqBall competition with a new contest called the Gauntlet.
Meant to highlight athletes’ agility and dribbling skills, the Gauntlet places a player within a starting circle surrounded by five mini-goals of various sizes. The smaller the goal, the more points it is worth.
The athlete will have 60 seconds to score as many points as possible, but must exit the circle to take a shot. At the same time, the other team’s…