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A few weeks before Vlatko Andonovski was unveiled as Kansas City’s new head coach and athletic director in October 2023, he was already on a business trip. Andonovski was in South Africa for the COSAFA Women’s Championship, an annual competition for 14 national teams in the southern part of the continent. Malawi made history by winning a championship for the first time, thanks in part to the tournament’s top scorer, Tenwa Chawinga, who scored nine goals in five matches.
Such is the legend of Chawinga, whose Wikipedia page is full of staggering statistics, such as 55 goals in 57 games in Sweden with Kvarnsvedens IK and 84 goals in 83 games for Wuhan Jianghan University FC in China. She was one of many players in women’s football who charted impressive careers, but she did so on the fringes, playing in competitions with limited visibility, both at home and abroad. However, that does not mean that players like Chawinga are resigned to staying there.
Chawinga signed for the Current the following January, one of several players from a wide variety of international clubs to find their way to the NWSL this season. Many have also found success with their big breakthroughs – Chawinga scored 20 goals in the regular season, while fellow newcomer Barbra Banda is second on the list with 13. It reflects new strategies from the NWSL itself as it moves into an increasingly competitive women’s game . landscape, as well as an embrace by the league’s clubs.
“Soccer is the most global sport in existence right now, bar none,” Kansas City Current director of football Caitlin Carducci told CBS Sports. “[It’s a] It’s not a good idea that we have to look at every possible place to find the best players, and that’s the way you say we’re the best league in the world.”
NWSL’s spending spree
NWSL rosters have long been dependent on domestic talent, largely because there were few international roster spots. Teams were limited to just four international slots for years and while this was expanded to five ahead of the 2022 season, the league made a major call before the 2024 season to expand the allocation percentage to seven. They also introduced a new transfer fee policy with a $500,000 threshold that could be used for both domestic and international signings. Implementing these measures was key to the league’s strategy to remain competitive.
“When we talk about things we can do as a league to provide teams with more opportunities to attract and retain top talent, expanding international roster spots and adjusting parameters around team spending were key levers we knew we could do.” to provide teams with greater flexibility to invest in high-quality players from around the world,” said NWSL sporting director Tatjana Haenni. “The allocation of more international squad spots has also preceded an increase in international scouting and awareness of the global market, which in turn has introduced different playing styles and identities to clubs across the league.”
Teams from around the league could not only attract more international talent, but also spend money in the process. Expansion side Bay FC set the transfer fee record for women’s football last winter when they signed striker Rachael Kundananji from Madrid CFF for a reported fee of $862,000, while the Pride are currently second in the category for signing Banda from Shanghai Shengli after a reported $740,000 to have issued. .
“I think it has made the league more competitive globally,” Pride sporting director Haley Carter said. “To be able to spend those resources to bring in athletes like that, and that’s the direction the transfer market is going and it’s not something the NWSL can control, so we don’t want to be in a position where we’re reactionary.” I think I’m improving [by] with that transfer mechanism.”
The NWSL’s new rules coincided with several clubs significantly upgrading their scouting operations and spending money on recruitment and other measures to leave no stone unturned. For example, the Pride has hired a director of scouting and analytics, as well as a talent identification scout, who work with a group of other club employees to create position-specific profiles and talent pipelines. Spending money on travel plays a role, as does watching hours of footage of potential recruits.
Finding that footage is sometimes easier said than done, with the Chinese Women’s Super League acting as a hub for talented players who can be hard to spot. Relying on connections is the key to these players returning. For example, former Racing Louisville head coach Kim Bjorkegren had pre-existing knowledge of players in that league after working for Beijing Jingtan. Andonovski knew Chawinga’s agent and used that as a starting point for the negotiations. The Pride, meanwhile, called a friend while recruiting Banda, who made a name for herself after scoring two hat-tricks in three games at the 2020 Summer Olympics, as well as Grace Chanda.
“Honestly, scouting her is all about the international game and Lisa Cole, an American soccer coach, was the technical advisor for Zambia,” Carter said. “She was with them leading up to the 2023 [Women’s] World Cup and so of course we watched those games… We [also] looked [Chanda] in the run-up to the World Cup. Unfortunately she wasn’t able to participate in the World Cup, but at the same time we watch Barbra, we see Grace and then we talk to Lisa.”
“An easy sale”
The new and improved scouting activities around the NWSL reflect a broad increase in investment across the league. Teams can spend more on transfer fees and salaries than in years past, while ownership groups are eager to pour their money into training facilities, stadiums, medical staff, private chefs and more to improve player experience and performance. Combined with the level of competition, it makes it easy for clubs to pitch themselves to up-and-coming talent.
Each club obviously has its own selling points, especially the Current. They are one of the few NWSL teams with their own training facilities and are the first women’s sports team in the country with their own stadium.
“We are never second fiddle to anyone else,” Carducci said. “We never have to adjust our schedule because there is another team and everything is meant and intended for a professional women’s soccer team. So if you can look at someone and say, ‘Look at this stadium that is yours and no one else’s .’ You are always the priority in this building, and then to have an office every day in the training facility with two first class grass fields, everything you could wish for from modalities and an athletic training room and a meeting room and a locker room, Not to mention silent of a cafeteria and a full-time chef who teaches our players, knows what they want, makes things they want. Everyone knows everyone’s tendencies.
Carducci said that description helped convince Chawinga, who had never been to the US before joining the Current, while Carter said moving to the country was “a dream come true” for Chanda. The switch to the NWSL also brings financial benefits. Carter said the salaries are “better overall than any other league in the world” and can introduce players to other business opportunities. For example, Banda was a speaker at the Business of Women’s Sports Summit, hosted by Axios and Deep Blue, a sports and entertainment agency.
A calendar with a new look
The NWSL’s global focus this season was also not reserved for signing new players. Clubs took part in the inaugural NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup, which the Current won, while Concacaf also launched the W Champions Cup this season. International friendlies formed a large part of teams’ winter and summer schedules, with trips to Colombia and matches against opponents from England, Spain and South Africa on the calendar for several NWSL sides.
“The NWSL has become so much more advanced in terms of playing styles,” Carducci said. “There’s a reputation, rightly or wrongly, that ‘It’s just a big, fast, physical league,’ and that’s not the case. We have so much talent in the league, both coaches and players. … Other teams and seeing other leagues and then making yourself uncomfortable and seeing players you don’t see every week and the adjustments you have to make, that also helps with the weekly chess match that happens in the NWSL.
The array of international friendlies and global talent also allows the NWSL to expand its footprint abroad. The league now has broadcast deals with nine companies on six continents, with Carter saying people in Zambia are staying up until the early hours to watch Banda and Chanda play thanks to the NWSL’s Africa deal with ESPN.
It also offers staff at NWSL clubs the opportunity to network with their counterparts elsewhere, which can be helpful in building relationships useful in player scouting, as finding contact details for lesser known clubs can be a challenge, Carducci admitted. Chatting with international clubs also comes without the baggage of week-in, week-out competition, according to Carter.
Another aspect that is positive is that you have the opportunity to work with clubs from other leagues and exchange best practices. the same way,” Carter said. Topics of conversation range from “things like [organization] charts, job descriptions, player care and player affairs policies and team operations. Plan your pre-season, plan what you do during whatever break.”
The global approach the NWSL is embracing is in line with other recent policy shifts that reflect international soccer rather than American sports. The league simplified free agency in its new collective bargaining agreement, which was ratified in August, and notably eliminated the college draft. There are also suspicions that the league is considering a switch to the autumn-to-spring calendar common in Europe. according to reporting from The Equalizer in 2023.
A spokesperson for the NWSL told CBS Sports it had no comment at this time, although this would not stop Carter from talking to clubs in England about their calendar. Although Carter said she has “no idea” if a schedule change is imminent, she is working to gather as much information as possible.
“Another thing I’m working on with some clubs in England, for example the Women’s Super League clubs, is a possible calendar change,” Carter said. “The FA Women’s Super League changed their calendar a few years ago and there are implications associated with that. And if the NWSL ever decides to reverse the calendar, I want to make sure that we are prepared and that we know what we are getting into have to think.” , contractual considerations and should they play a shortened season? How did they deal with some of those things?”