Tobin Heath will miss rest of NWSL season after knee surgery
Tobin Heath signed with OL Reign in June. (Stephen Brashear/USA TODAY Sports)
Tobin Heath will miss the remainder of the NWSL season after undergoing surgery on her left knee Monday.
OL Reign announced Friday that Heath has been placed on the season-ending injury list, with her recovery timeline expected to extend beyond the 2022 campaign.
Forward Tobin Heath Placed on Season Ending Injury List
“Although this wasn’t an easy decision, we know this was the right decision,” OL Reign coach Laura Harvey said. “We always want to be mindful of our athletes and their health, so we wanted to be sure that Tobin will have the proper time needed to fully prepare for a successful return on the pitch. Despite missing time this season, Tobin has helped our younger players tremendously with her veteran mindset and experience.”
Heath had missed the last two OL Reign matches. She posted a photo and message to her Instagram on Tuesday after her surgery. “No one said it would be easy,” her caption read.
A mainstay for the U.S. women’s national team through the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo, Heath received an outpouring of support from fellow stars, including USWNT teammates Ashlyn Harris, Rose Lavelle and Sofia Huerta.
Since joining OL Reign in June, Health has appeared in five games with the club, notching one goal.
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Angel City FC Unveils New Dedicated Training Facility
Angel City officially opened its new performance center on Tuesday. (Kiyoshi Mio/Imagn Images)
Angel City officially cut the ribbon on their new training facility on Tuesday, showing off their expanded performance center as NWSL preseason gets underway.
The nine-acre Thousand Oaks site boasts 1.5 full-sized pitches and 50,000 square feet of indoor space, making it the league's largest NWSL-specific practice ground.
Top facilities could help recruit athletes to Angel City. (Angel City Football Club)
The center also houses a 5,400-square-foot gym, multiple locker rooms, medical offices, an outdoor lounge, an onsite content studio, a children's playroom, and rehab, hydrotherapy, and nutrition areas.
Having practiced at Cal Lutheran University since the expansion franchise's 2022 debut, ACFC later relocated across campus to the former home of the NFL's LA Rams. They then transformed the site into their record-setting performance center after completing a multi-million dollar remodel.
"Today we get to celebrate an extraordinary milestone for Angel City. Our new performance center reflects our commitment to the future of ACFC to its sustained excellence, and to providing our players with the best possible environment to train, to recover, and to thrive," said ACFC controlling owner Willow Bay in a statement. "My husband Bob Iger and I know how important it is, and how essential it is to ensure that our players have everything they need to be successful both on and off the pitch. This state-of-the-art performance center, let's be clear — it sets the bar, but it really should be the norm."
Angel City's new state-of-the-art gym is part of a plan to enhance team recruitment. (Angel City Football Club)
An unmatched tool for the new NWSL recruitment era
Offering a record-setting performance center to Angel City players could have the unexpected benefit of attracting and retaining future talent for LA.
With the abolishment of NWSL college and expansion drafts and the requirement to gain player permission for all trades taking effect under the league's new CBA, clubs now face a new era of athlete recruitment.
The new Angel City performance center includes plenty of room for team meetings. (Angel City Football Club)
Rather than benefitting from the previous and arguably more passive system, NWSL franchises must now take a decidedly more active approach to roster-building by wooing potential players and impressing those currently on their squads. Adding top-tier facilities is a major way to sweeten the deal, giving Angel City a potential leg up over other clubs.
"This facility, when people have been here and seen this, I don't know how you're going to want to leave," incoming Angel City sporting director Mark Parsons told reporters at yesterday's unveiling event.
"My job has just got much, much more easy with this facility," Parsons continued. "This is unlike nowhere else. I’m excited to be a part of an organization that cares that much. But I’m also excited that my skill set just got a bit easier, because everyone’s going to want to be here."
JWS Staff
Jan 22, 2025
Chelsea Nears Record $1.1 Million Transfer Deal for San Diego Star Naomi Girma
Naomi Girma's transfer fee will be the highest in women's soccer history. (Karen Hickey/ISI Photos/Getty Images)
USWNT star Naomi Girma will reportedly become the first women's soccer player to garner a transfer fee of over $1 million, as the decorated young center back narrows her overseas suitors down to WSL side Chelsea FC.
The 24-year-old defender is currently under contract with the San Diego Wave until 2026, and reported to the NWSL club's first day of preseason training as expected on Tuesday.
While Girma's contract is still in negotiations, San Diego and the UK titans have agreed upon the deal's $1.1 million terms — by far the highest sum in the history of pro women's football. The previous record is held by Rachael Kundananji, for whom Bay FC shelled out $860,000 to Spain's Madrid CFF to roster the Zambian forward in February 2024.
Chelsea, who currently stands unbeaten in the WSL halfway through the league's 2024/25 season, is keen to bolster their back line after losing star Canadian center back Kadeisha Buchanan to an ACL injury last November.
France's Olympique Lyonnais also threw their hat in the the million-dollar ring for Girma, only to fall out of contention alongside Chelsea rival Arsenal.
Assuming the transfer goes through, Girma will be one of several high-profile players exiting the 2023 NWSL Shield-winning San Diego club ahead of the 2025 season. Girma joins the NC Courage-bound attacker Jaedyn Shaw in making a SoCal departure.
In response, the Wave has been actively filling roster spots, signing 17-year-old defender Trinity Armstrong off of her 2024 College Cup-winning freshman season with UNC last week before adding seasoned goalkeeper and free agent Didi Haračić as well as Nigerian midfielder Favour Emmanuel on Monday.
Inking Armstrong to a three-year deal seems particularly strategic in the wake of Girma's likely departure. It signals that the Wave are again looking to young defensive talent to replace the 2022 NWSL Draft No. 1 pick.
Ultimately, a transfer fee of this magnitude solidifies Girma's reputation as one of the world's top defenders. While still accounting for less than 1% of spending in the men's game, her historic fee is further proof that the global women's market is growing at breakneck speeds.
JWS Staff
Jan 22, 2025
NWSL Releases Complete 2025 Match Schedule
The 2025 NWSL season begins with a 2024 Championship rematch in the March 7th Challenge Cup. (Bill Barrett/ISI Photos/Getty Images)
The NWSL released its full 2025 schedule on Wednesday morning, locking in 190 league contests across all competitions.
The 2025 Challenge Cup will set the stage on Friday, March 7th with a 2024 NWSL Championship rematch between the title-winning Orlando Pride and runners-up Washington Spirit.
One week later, the official 2025 NWSL Kickoff weekend will see all 14 teams in action as the 182-game regular season gets underway. Each club will play a total of 26 regular-season matches, split equally between home and away contests, before the league's eight top teams will battle through seven playoff games in November.
A mid-summer break begins in late June with a CBA-mandated week-off. The pause extends one month through July to allow for international play. That's when certain national team players will compete for their countries in confederation tournaments while clubs will be free to schedule friendlies. No additional NWSL tournaments will occur during that window.
In one minor adjustment from the league's earlier calendar announcement, the 2025 regular season will be played over 26 weeks (rather than 25) to mitigate the need for midweek games.
The shift also accommodates for the return of Decision Day, which is making a comeback for the first time since 2023. In the popular format, all teams will compete simultaneously to close out the regular season on Sunday, November 2nd.
Angel City launched themselves into the playoffs on NWSL Decision Day 2023. (Katharine Lotze/Getty Images)
Moves up season excitement
With playoff positioning often coming down to the wire, capping the regular season with a Decision Day can dramatically up the stakes and increase excitement for the impending playoffs.
In another move to capitalize on fandom enthusiasm, the NWSL has added a dedicated rivalry weekend to its 2025 calendar. From August 8th through 10th, old feuds like the Portland Thorns and Seattle Reign's Cascadia Clash will share the spotlight with newer grudges like Angel City and San Diego's SoCal Classic.
NWSL Championship foes Orlando and Washington with meet again in March's 2025 NWSL Challenge Cup. (Fernando Leon/ISI Photos/Getty Images)
How to watch the 2025 NWSL season
Entering the second year of the league's blockbuster broadcast deal, 160 total games will air across Prime Video, ION, ESPN, and CBS platforms this season, with the remaining 30 matches streaming on NWSL+. International distribution is still in negotiations.
Starting the NWSL's 2025 action is the Challenge Cup between Orlando and Washington, which begins at 8 PM ET on Friday, March 7th, streaming live on Prime Video.
Two concurrent matches will kick off the 2025 regular season at 8 PM ET on Friday, March 14th: Houston will face Washington on NWSL+, while Orlando takes on the newly branded Chicago Stars FC on Prime Video.
Dee Lab
Jan 21, 2025
South Carolina Coach Dawn Staley Signs Blockbuster Contract Extension
Dawn Staley is now the highest-paid coach in women's college basketball. (Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)
South Carolina boss Dawn Staley became the highest-paid coach in women's college basketball history on Friday, when the three-time national champion inked a contract extension worth over $25 million to remain with the Gamecocks.
At an annual salary of $4 million — plus a $500,000 signing bonus and a yearly $250,000 escalator — the deal locks in Staley through the 2029/30 season.
A significant bump from her previous $3.2 million annual payday, the new contract sees Staley leapfrog over UConn legend Geno Auriemma and LSU's Kim Mulkey to top the league in compensation.
Calling her "a once-in-a-generation coach," athletic director Jeremiah Donati noted that Staley "has elevated the sport of women's basketball on the national level and here on campus, and I am excited that she will be representing our University for many years to come."
Since taking the helm in 2008, Staley has led South Carolina to 630 wins, 16 SEC titles, and 12 straight NCAA tournament appearances including five Final Fours and three national championships.
After taking South Carolina to an 128-4 record since her previous contract extension in 2021, this new agreement all but squashes any rumors about the coach's departure.
Despite a clause releasing Staley from an early departure penalties should she exit for a WNBA or NBA job, the legendary college leader has no intentions to leave Columbia.
"I will never leave here to go take another college job," Staley told reporters after the No. 2 Gamecocks' Sunday win over then-No. 13 Oklahoma. "[And] I don't have a passion for the next level. I don't. I would've been gone."
As the Hall of Famer continues setting the on-court NCAA standard in her 17th season with South Carolina, Staley's record-breaking contract both reflects the sport's overall rising stock and pushes for even more investment in the game.
Pledging to prove the impact of supporting both her and the game itself, Staley committed "to continuing to be an example of how an investment in women’s basketball is one that will pay off for everyone."
