Emma Hayes is back in the United States after leading the U.S. women’s national team to an Olympic gold medal at the Paris Games. The trip is very much about business ahead of a trio of October friendlies against Iceland and Argentina.

After a whirlwind introduction that included a sprint through the Olympics, Hayes finally has the luxury of time and can dig into some of the larger projects that excited her about the job. The USWNT boss also faces big questions, three years out from the next Women’s World Cup in Brazil. Maybe not as big as choosing to leave Alex Morgan off the 18-player Olympic roster, defensible as that choice was in the moment, but crucial nonetheless and aimed at the future.

On Sunday, Hayes traveled back to the home of her former employer, the Chicago Red Stars, to watch the team take on the North Carolina Courage. During a half-time interview with CBS Sports, Hayes said she and the rest of the program were reflecting on recent successes beyond just the Olympics. But there is little rest for a head coach who took one of the most high-profile jobs in soccer less than five months ago.

Hayes’ build starts with this trip and continues…

The U.S. women’s national team assistant coach Twila Kilgore is departing the program to “pursue other coaching opportunities”, US Soccer announced on Tuesday.

Kilgore was interim head coach of the USWNT from August 2023 —  after former head coach Vlatko Andonovski resigned following the team’s round-of-16 exit at the 2023 World Cup — until May 2024, when new head coach Emma Hayes arrived. In that time, Kilgore saw the team through a 10-1-3 record, which included winning the Concacaf Gold Cup in 2024.

“Being a part of this storied program as both an assistant and interim head coach has been both a privilege and rewarding experience. What this group has accomplished during a time of transition is a testament to all involved and I believe an indication of continued success to come,” Kilgore said via USSF’s release.

Kilgore’s tenure as interim head coach was an unusual one, as she was expected to guide the USWNT through a much longer than average transition period following the World Cup while still maintaining the team’s high standards of success, particularly after the team’s last-16 elimination against Sweden. During this period, Kilgore was also in communication with Hayes in order to prepare the team for the former Chelsea manager takeover just two…

The full list of 2025 free agents in the National Women’s Soccer League is out and it features plenty of heavy hitters and fan favorites, including Gotham FC forward Midge Purce and Houston Dash midfielder Sophie Schmidt.

While it’s exciting to see big names enter free agency, it doesn’t necessarily mean similarly big movement — especially for players who have landed at clubs close to home or near the end of their careers.

While it might encourage clubs to re-negotiate better contracts with players to keep them in-market, in other cases there may also be leverage on the club side knowing that a player wants to stay. Alyssa Naeher, Marta or Christine Sinclair, so closely identified with their current clubs and probably carrying hefty base salaries were they to move, might not actually be priority signings for other clubs, especially managing their salary caps at this point in the season.

The NWSL Players Association shared an initial list of free agents on August 26 — in part to celebrate Women’s Equality Day — but it did not include any players who had contract options (enforceable or not) for the 2025 season. Some potential free agents have already agreed to new deals with their teams, such as Paige Nielsen with the Houston Dash.

The list released on Friday now…

Over 10 months and more than 20 bargaining sessions, the National Women’s Soccer League and the NWSL Players Association have hammered out a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Bargaining committees from each group met in person in Philadelphia from July 8 through July 11 to finalize the deal.

It was supposed to be time off for players as the league took a break before the Olympics. But five athletes forewent vacation to join the PA’s bargaining committee in person: Brianna Pinto (North Carolina Courage), Ashley Hatch (Washington Spirit), Dani Weatherholt (Courage), Haley Hopkins (Courage), and Nicole Barnhart (Spirit). Including those five, 43 players served on the bargaining committee, with those unable to make it to Philadelphia joining virtually. NWSLPA executive director Meghann Burke, NWSLPA president Tori Huster, two labor counsels, Deborah Willig and Jessica Caggiano, and an economist, Dr. Beth Paulin from La Salle University rounded out the team.

“We had dozens more (players) on the Zoom dipping in and out at all hours of the day and night,” Burke told The Athletic. “We were working till 2 a.m. I think our bodies ascended to another plane at one point… caffeine was having no effect on me.”

Those caffeine-fueled marathon days were just the tip of the…

The Houston Dash have traded María Sánchez to the San Diego Wave for an undisclosed return.

Earlier this week, Sánchez publicly stated on her social media that she had requested a trade in late March. The NWSL trade window closes on April 19 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

A source briefed on the transaction said that there was more than one offer for Sánchez’s rights. According to a report by Theo Lloyd-Hughes at Pro Soccer Wire, Houston will receive a transfer fee but no players from the Wave.

Thank you, everyone, for the outpouring of kindness and support. pic.twitter.com/gcnN7dhCJU

— Maria Sanchez (@Maria17_7) April 19, 2024

Sánchez signed a blockbuster $1.5 million contract with the Dash in December 2023 that was supposed to keep her in Houston through 2026, with an option to extend through 2027. But after four games with the Dash in which Sánchez played 348 minutes, generating one assist and two shots, she will leave for the Wave, who are currently in seventh place and were last year’s NWSL Shield winners.

Sánchez’s contract is technically with the league, so the Wave must take on the remainder of that $1.5M contract, which counts total compensation including bonuses and an exercised fourth-year option.

Sánchez has played as a left winger for the Dash with varying degrees…

Houston Dash goalkeeping coach Matthew Lampson has been dismissed by the team for violation of NWSL’s anti-fraternization policy and coach code of conduct, the league said in a statement on Thursday.

The league has also suspended Lampson from future employment in the league for the rest of the 2024 season as a result of the violations and also what the league called a “lack of full cooperation” in the investigation.

The statement says that Lampson was fired on March 18 following an investigation that “examined third-party reports of Lampson crossing professional boundaries with a Dash player,” adding that the results found him to be in violation of regulations that “require coaches to maintain strict adherence to professional boundaries.”

The investigator, an attorney hired jointly by the Dash and the league, “did not find a violation of the NWSL Anti-Harassment Policy which is focused on preventing abusive, discriminatory, or harassing behavior,” the league said.

On Wednesday, The Equalizer first reported that Lampson was fired due to an inappropriate relationship.

Lampson joined the Dash in May 2022 and signed a new contract with the club in January 2023. He was still working for the Dash as of the 2024 NWSL draft, which Equalizer reported he attended on Jan….

The NWSL will spend its break during the 2024 Olympics playing a tournament with teams from Mexico’s Liga MX Femenil, the leagues announced today.

The NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup will feature all 14 NWSL clubs and six Liga MX Femenil teams with the highest points earned in the 2023 Apertura and Clausura tournaments.

It will feature a group stage commencing on July 19 with a semifinal round ending the week of Aug. 4. The championship match will take place on the weekend of Oct. 25.

The tournament will feature five groups, with the top four teams in terms of points advancing to the semifinals.

A quick look at the NWSL x LIGA MX Femenil Summer Cup tournament groups and format. pic.twitter.com/TztnU0udEO

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) March 20, 2024

How does this impact the NWSL schedule?

Analysis by Meg Linehan

We always knew the NWSL was planning a summer tournament to overlap with this summer’s Olympic Games, and while the league deserves credit for tapping crossover appeal with Liga MX Femenil, the Summer Cup definitely feels like the 1.0 version of a standalone summer tournament.

To be fair, this has been in the works before CONCACAF announced its new qualifiers for the first FIFA Club World Cup, but three NWSL teams are about to have to pull double…

Alex Pfeiffer became the youngest goalscorer in NWSL history in a thriller Saturday, finishing the KC Current’s fifth goal in the team’s inaugural match at its new stadium., a dramatic 5-4 win over the Portland Thorns.

Pfeiffer came on as a second-half substitute and pounced on a chested-down layoff at the top of the box in the 68th minute to make the score 5-1 Kansas City.

At 16 years, 3 months and 20 days old, Pfeiffer beats the previous record for youngest goalscorer set by the Thorns’ Olivia Moultrie in 2022 by about five months.

Another bit of history today

Alex Pfeiffer becomes the youngest goalscorer in league history at 16 years, 4 months! pic.twitter.com/XgjQmumn7t

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) March 16, 2024

“It’s huge for any player in her generation,” Current head coach Vlatko Andonovski said after the game. “She’s proved that it’s possible, we proved that all together that it’s possible.”

Portland made things very interesting in the closing stages, scoring three unanswered to make things 5-4, but KC was able to hold on.

Who is Alex Pfeiffer?

A native of St. Louis, Mo., Pfeiffer became the fourth-youngest player to sign in the NWSL when she joined the Current last year, inking her deal at 15 years and 338 days old.

She came to…

By Jeff Rueter, Meg Linehan, Melanie Anzidei and Steph Yang

Welcome to the 2024 season of the National Women’s Soccer League. This season, which kicks off with four matches on Saturday, is different from its predecessors in a few ways — primarily with the addition of two expansion teams, and the league’s biggest broadcast deal to date. The Olympics are also happening, which has prompted the league to take a midseason break and host an international club tournament while the U.S. women’s national team competes in Paris.

How you can watch the NWSL is changing in a major way this season, too. So we’ve put together this preview with everything you’ll need ahead of the regular season kickoff (and Friday night’s Challenge Cup match) from how to watch to major storylines, plus the USWNT and international connections across the 14 teams.

To keep following The Athletic’s NWSL coverage, don’t forget to follow the league and your team(s) of choice by managing your feed. And to make sure you don’t miss any of our coverage, subscribe to our women’s soccer newsletter Full Time. It’s our biggest stories paired with Full Time exclusive insights delivered straight to your inbox every week. With the season starting, we’ll be sending out each edition on Monday to make…

The San Diego Wave will soon be under new ownership, and at a record-breaking price.

Principal owner Ron Burkle has agreed to sell the club to the Levine Leichtman family for an eventual total of $120 million – easily a record outlay for an NWSL club, at nearly double the previous record of $63 million paid by the Bhathal family for the Portland Thorns in a deal finalized earlier in 2024.

Burkle will remain as the principal owner through the end of the 2024 season as part of the deal, which will be completed over the course of two transactions, according to a source briefed on the sale who was not authorized to speak publicly about an ongoing deal.

The source added that the sale was voted on by the NWSL board earlier this week.

The new ownership group is comprised of Lauren Leichtman and Arthur Levine, who jointly manage the investment firm Levin Leicthman Capital Partners.

Sportico was first to report news of the Wave’s sale.

“We’re thrilled to welcome the Levine Leichtman family to the ownership group of the San Diego Wave,” NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman said in a statement to The Athletic. “As longtime supporters of the women’s game, Arthur and Lauren know well the impact that our league can have in our society, and as savvy investors, understand the…