Jacq’ed Up: NCAA could better use its resources to support professional U.S. women’s soccer

Soccer has never been America’s favorite sport, but on the women’s side, it could be.

Following the U.S. Women’s National Team’s 2019 World Cup win, the National Women’s Soccer League has seen increased support through television contracts and brand deals.

But if the expected outcome of Thursday’s 2020 NWSL College Draft is any indication of the state of the league, the future is bleak for soccer in America, largely because of the fact that NCAA women’s soccer only produces a few elite players each year, and few of those choose to stay in the U.S.

Collegiate soccer players only get about 20 games across a three-month season for four years of their careers and are then expected to be ready to move to a full-time position in a professional league come graduation.

The ones that are most prepared for the next level are those who receive additional training through national team call-ups while still in college – and they are unlikely to look to the NWSL as their next step.

UCLA senior midfielder Jessie Fleming, Stanford’s Catarina Macario and Florida State’s Deyna Castellanos, all of whom have international experience, have long been slated as the top three prospects for 2020 but none have entered the NWSL draft as of the most recent release on Dec. 30.

Fleming is expected to play in Europe, Macario to finish out her career in Palo Alto and Castellanos recently signed with Atletico Madrid. Just like that, the NWSL lost the best three players in the NCAA.

There has since been speculation that UCLA junior forward Ashley Sanchez or Stanford’s Sophia Smith may enter the pool and go as the No. 1 and No. 2 picks, since both were invited to the U.S. Women’s National Team camp in December, with Smith still in the running to head to the Tokyo Olympics.

But neither Sanchez nor Smith has expressed interest in forgoing her final year of college eligibility, and even if one does, there’s still the possibility one heads to the better-financed and more competitive European leagues.

The problem for the NWSL is if none of these elite NCAA players wish to join, the next tier of collegiate athletes is significantly less equipped to compete with the current NWSL stars.

The NCAA essentially creates three levels of players – those who are good enough to play on the USWNT and can therefore afford to play for the measly NWSL salaries in the national team’s offseason; those who aren’t good enough for the USWNT but are too good for the NWSL who end up abroad; and the remaining prospects who end up getting drafted to the NWSL.

This creates a huge disparity in talent between the USWNT players, who are compelled to play in the American league while fulfilling national team duties, and the lower level players coming out of college.

The gap makes for a less competitive league that is less likely to draw viewers.

Senior defender Kaiya McCullough, one of the two UCLA players to declare for this year’s draft so far, will be one of the many incoming players who is far from the skill level of the USWNT players.

McCullough was a star in Westwood, starting the final 76 games of her career and being named to the All Pac-12 Second Team, but she’s not the best the Bruins have to offer.

Fleming competed in the 2019 World Cup with Canada and has not expressed any interest in the NWSL, as she has no incentive to stay in the U.S. since she can compete internationally without ties to the USWNT keeping her local.

Former UCLA forward Hailie Mace was the No. 2 pick in the 2019 NWSL draft but ultimately decided to sign with FC Rosengard in Sweden instead.

And in a year like this one, in which the USWNT Olympic roster is as good as full following a World Cup year, there’s no opportunity for top draft picks who would play American club soccer while training with the national team.

So, the NWSL is left without incoming standouts.

A case can be made that the league could help its own retention rate with better resources to compete with European clubs that partner with the men’s teams to provide world class facilities.

A stronger financial footing would undoubtedly help the league, but as U.S. Soccer has already been subsidizing player salaries, it doesn’t seem likely that money is going to come in anytime soon.

Instead, the NCAA – which has built-in funding and fully equipped training fields – is partially responsible for improving the state of women’s club soccer in America.

Division I teams only play games about three months out of the year, which is not nearly enough to develop a significant pool of technical players prepared for the next level of soccer. And then the pool of elite players produced – largely because of additional training through national team call-ups – is divided between foreign and domestic leagues.

If the NCAA would adjust its schedule to allow soccer players more time to develop through competitive matches year-round, or even with friendlies against professional teams as done in NCAA women’s basketball, it could produce a more competitive pool – top to bottom – for the NWSL.

It would then be possible to bridge the gap between USWNT players in the NWSL and the rest of the roster-fillers, which would in turn draw the top foreign players to the U.S. instead of vice versa.

Until that happens, the most popular sport in the world won’t prosper in America, even with a World Champion national team.