The NWSL and national teams have long had a complex relationship, sometimes symbiotic and sometimes at odds, with players having to balance playing for both club and country.

Now, international players are calling on the league to amend the 2022 schedule to honor FIFA windows and improve the NWSL calendar.

Snacks host Lynn Williams recently stopped by The Athletic’s Full Time with Meg Linehan podcast to discuss the Challenge Cup with the Houston Dash’s Rachel Daly and Orlando Pride’s Alex Morgan.

Williams tells Snacks co-host Sam Mewis that the trio talked about how “the NWSL continues to play through FIFA windows and how hard it is for internationals to feel sometimes a part of the NWSL as well a part of the National Team and being pulled in two different directions.”

Williams admits that splitting time between a club and national team can create interesting dynamics in the locker room.

“Sometimes the club team, you get this bad reputation of like, ‘you don’t want to be here, you are always with your National Team.’ In reality you do, it’s just so hard because they continue to play and you’re just pulled all over the place,” says Williams.

Mewis says she’s also felt divided between representing the USWNT and her NWSL team, the North Carolina Courage.

“I think it’s hard to do both when they conflict. Obviously, you can’t be there 100 percent of the time for your club team even though in the rest of the world the schedules are just made in a way that clubs and the leagues respect the FIFA windows so that international players aren’t missing 25 percent of the games in a season.”

“You always hear coaches say ‘you’ll get your shot when the national team players go away,’” Williams adds. “And I feel like they say that trying to make it a positive, but in reality it’s kind of a negative because it’s like, ‘Oh you only value me when they’re gone’ — so, it’s a very interesting dynamic that is so unique to the NWSL.”

Going forward, Williams and Mewis hope the NWSL will shift the schedule — including moving the NWSL Challenge Cup. Mewis points explicitly to next summer when there is a “big FIFA window” for international qualifying tournaments as a potential place for the NWSL Challenge Cup.

“Doing the Challenge Cup during that window, I feel like, makes so much sense. Instead of having a break or just continuing with games, I think it makes sense to put a different kind of competition in that big window and to kind of get used to doing that in the summers when there are these big tournaments.”

This would mean the Challenge Cup would be without international players. But as someone who has experienced both sides of that playing dynamic, Williams says this could be a change that would benefit all NWSL players.

“I’ve been on both sides. I’ve been where I just played in the NWSL and not with the National Team and then having to do both. And I also think it’s not fair [in terms of the regular season] to the players when all the internationals leave because some teams have more internationals, then you’re trying to figure out formations and player personnel while your players are away.”

Williams adds that placing the Challenge Cup during the Summer could provide players who aren’t typically awarded minutes more time on the pitch while allowing international and club players to get back on the same schedule and avoid missing crucial regular season games.

The Challenge Cup was initially played as a replacement tournament for the 2020 NWSL season, with teams competing within a single bubble. This season, the league moved the Challenge Cup to the beginning of the year and used it as a kick-off tournament. The Houston Dash won last year’s tournament in memorable fashion, while the Portland Thorns won this years, claiming their first trophy in a season that’s been full of them.

Listen to the latest episode of Snacks for more on Williams and Mewis’ thoughts on the NWSL schedule.

No. 3 South Carolina basketball suffered a blow this week, as top transfer Ta'Niya Latson exited the Gamecocks' 96-55 win over Providence with a lower leg injury on Sunday.

"She's smiling," South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said of Latson immediately following the game, offering an optimistic injury update. "She got treatment all through the second half."

The star senior guard, who turned 22 years old last Friday, joined South Carolina after leading Division I in scoring with Florida State last season.

This year, Latson's 16.9 points per game trails only sophomore forward Joyce Edwards's 21.4-point average on the Gamecocks' scoresheet.

While the full extent to Latson's injury and her potential time off the court is still unknown, any absence exacerbates the team's injury woes, as South Carolina lost standout forward Chloe Kitts to a season-ending injury before the 2025/26 campaign tipped off — with the Gamecocks battling additional availability limits throughout their roster all month.

That said, with the recent returns of forward Madina Okot and guard Agot Makeer from concussion protocol, the Gamecock bench is significantly less sparse, with both returnees impacting Sunday's South Carolina victory with a double-double.

Even more, Staley's squad will see additional roster relief when 18-year-old French center Alicia Tournebize joins the team midseason.

How to watch South Carolina basketball this week

The No. 3 Gamecocks will open the new year by tipping off their SEC slate on Thursday, when South Carolina hosts unranked Alabama at 2 PM ET.

The clash with the Crimson Tide will air live on SEC+.

The world's tennis stars are preparing to open 2026 play in Australia this weekend, with top WTA and ATP leaders on Team USA gearing up to defend their United Cup title starting this Friday.

The two-time champion US enters as the No. 1 seed in the fourth edition of the hard-court tournament, bolstered by the return of world No. 3 Coco Gauff to lead Team USA's six-player United Cup contingent.

With each tournament bout consisting of one WTA singles match, one ATP singles clash, and one mixed-doubles competition, Gauff notably claimed a straight-sets victory over Polish phenom No. 2 Iga Świątek to secure the 2025 title for the US.

"I'm super excited," the 21-year-old star said prior to this year's United Cup. "I had such a good time in my first year playing with the team, and I'm looking forward to going back."

With the 2026 Australian Open beginning in less than two weeks, the United Cup pits 18 national teams against each other as players from both the women's and men's tours tune up for next year's Slams.

Fellow WTA Top-10 stars Świątek and Italy's No. 8 Jasmine Paolini will join Gauff on the 2026 United Cup court, while fan favorite No. 16 Naomi Osaka will feature for tournament debutant Japan.

Also battling for national pride will be two winners of last season's WTA awards, with 2025 Newcomer of the Year No. 18 Vicky Mboko joining Team Canada and 2025 Comeback Player of the Year No. 11 Belinda Bencic competing for Switzerland.

How to watch the 2026 United Cup

The 2026 United Cup runs January 2nd through 11th, with live coverage airing on the Tennis Channel.

The No. 3 Minnesota Frost are looking to skate up the PWHL table, as the reigning back-to-back champs hope to make up ground before the third-year league breaks for the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Eight games into the 2025/26 season, the Boston Fleet top the PWHL standings with 19 points, trailed by the No. 2 Toronto Sceptres with 14, while the No. 4 Montréal Victoire sit one point behind the Frost with 11.

"Our league is good. Every game is going to be close," Minnesota head coach Ken Klee said last week. "It's just about getting better and keep accumulating points."

With the league's original six teams largely off to a hot start, there's only a few weeks left before players hang up their PWHL jerseys for February's Winter Games.

Teams outside the current playoff chase are also making a statement, as New York Sirens forward Casey O'Brien scored her first pro goals to power the sixth-place squad past the No. 5 Seattle Torrent 4-3 on Sunday — becoming the first rookie to record a hat trick in PWHL history in the process.

"We've been putting in a lot of work in practice and video, focusing on the little things," O'Brien said postgame. "Tonight felt like the payoff."

How to watch this week's PWHL action

The puck drops on the final 2025 PWHL matches on Tuesday, when the No. 3 Minnesota Frost visit the No. 2 Toronto Sceptres at 7 PM ET, airing live on Prime.

Closing out the year on Wednesday, the No. 6 New York Sirens will host the No. 7 Vancouver Goldeneyes at 1 PM ET, with live coverage airing on MSG Network.

San Diego made roster waves this week, as the 2022 NWSL expansion team announced on Monday that founding goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan is leaving the franchise in a mutual contract termination.

Sheridan joined the Wave ahead of the club's inaugural year, making 87 appearances over four seasons while registering nine shutouts in the team's 2023 Shield-winning campaign.

"Kailen has been an integral part of this Club since day one," Wave sporting director Camille Ashton said in a Monday statement. "We thank her for the contributions to this Club and this city and wish her the best in the next chapter of her career."

While San Diego hunts for a new starting keeper, they pointed to the future by also announcing the signing of Florida State defender Mimi Van Zanten on Monday.

Van Zanten is fresh off her second NCAA championship in three seasons, building youth experience with the USWNT before joining the Jamaica senior women's national team.

"Her championship experience and ability to contribute on both sides of the ball make her a strong addition to the Wave," Ashton remarked about the 20-year-old.

Ultimately, while San Diego has long had an aggressive transfer market approach, the move away from their 2023 Shield-winning core raises questions about the future of the Wave roster.