Barcelona coach Jonatan Giráldez has confirmed his departure from the club amid reports that he will be making a move to the NWSL in 2024.

In announcing his departure, Giráldez said that he had received an offer from “outside of Europe.” The 32-year-old will remain in charge of reigning Champions League titleholder Barcelona until the end of the team’s current campaign, which is when his contract is set to expire.

“I communicated to the club a few days ago my intention to not renew my contract,” Giráldez said in a news conference. “I wanted the timing of the decision to allow the club the most time possible to plan for the good of the team. Also, on a personal level, I wanted to avoid the focus being on [my future] when we get to March, April-time when we are usually competing for titles.

“Since [sporting director] Marc Vivés came in, we had been negotiating [a renewal]. There were things left to negotiate, relating to my staff, and during that impasse I received another offer which I decided to accept.”

Giráldez would not confirm his next move, although reports pointed to an offer from an NWSL club. Relevo reported Monday that the offer came from the Washington Spirit, who parted ways with Mark Parsons in October after missing the playoffs this season.

Giráldez would not confirm the reports but said it was a “difficult” decision to make.

“I can only say it’s outside of Europe,” he said. “I would not want to compete against Barça.”

Giráldez denied the pressure of the Barcelona role taking a toll, and noted that he would have continued if not for the alternate offer that made him reconsider. He also denied making the move solely based on money.

“If I was only deciding based on that, I would have left before,” he said. “When I make a decision, I look at many aspects. I have received much bigger offers than the one I have now.

“I assess many different things, not just money: the challenge, the sporting project and my family. It’s a professional and a family decision. It is to do with the objective of developing personally.”

Giráldez has led Barcelona since 2021, when he took over for Lluís Cortés. He had been an assistant under Cortés for the previous two seasons. In his time as head coach, Barcelona has won Liga F in each of the last two seasons, including winning all 30 league games in the 2021-22 season. They also reached the Champions League finals in both seasons, and they won the 2023 title.

He was named to the shortlist for the Best FIFA Women’s Coach award last week, alongside Chelsea’s Emma Hayes and England’s Sarina Wiegman.

Nebraska volleyball dominated throughout the season, but in the national championship match, Texas flipped the script.

The second-seeded Longhorns defeated the Huskers, who entered the NCAA tournament as the No. 1 overall seed, in a three-set sweep (25-22, 25-14, 25-11) to win the title for the second year in a row.

Before Sunday’s final at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, Nebraska (33-2) had lost just one set during its tournament run. The Huskers had lost just one match all season, to Big Ten rival Wisconsin in November.

Before Sunday’s final, Texas (28-4) had just one clean sweep during the tournament, a 3-0 win against SMU in the second round. The Longhorns needed to save a match point against Tennessee in the round of 16.

After that, though, battle-tested Texas bested the top three ranked teams in the country, defeating Stanford, 3-1, in the quarterfinals, Wisconsin, 3-1, in the national semifinals, and then a young but powerful Nebraska squad in the title match.

Texas outside hitter Madisen Skinner won Most Outstanding Player for the national semifinals. She posted match highs of 16 kills and five digs in the championship match.

🏆🤘 𝐓𝐖𝐎 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐓𝐈𝐓𝐋𝐄𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐄𝐗𝐀𝐒 🤘🏆

(2) @TexasVolleyball repeats as National Champions after sweeping (1) Nebraska 🧹#NCAAWVB pic.twitter.com/bLWkbUYK9m

— NCAA Women's Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) December 17, 2023

HOW ABOUT THAT FOR A TEXAS TWO-STEP?! 🏆🏆#NCAAWVB x @TexasVolleyball pic.twitter.com/sbkCa0C2lz

— NCAA Women's Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) December 17, 2023

Yet another UConn Husky will be sidelined for an extended period of time after a serious injury. This time, it’s Ayanna Patterson. 

Patterson will be out for the remainder of the 2023-24 season after undergoing surgery on her left knee for patellar tendonitis that she’d been experiencing since high school. The sophomore hasn’t appeared in any games for UConn so far this season, but last season she made 30 appearances for the squad. Patterson averaged two points and two rebounds per game during her freshman season. 

“Ayanna’s been dealing with patellar tendonitis since high school. She’s been rehabbing and undergoing treatments and decided with our medical staff that it was time to take care of the issue,” Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma said in a statement on Friday. “We’ll support Yanna through her rehab process and we anticipate she’ll make a full recovery. We look forward to having her back with the team on the court.”

Patterson’s injury predates her time with the Huskies, but this is not the first of UConn’s injury woes. Most notably, Paige Bueckers missed an entire season with a torn ACL in 2022-23. In fact, Bueckers has missed so much playing time that she only has 56 college games under her belt as a senior.  

This season, Azzi Fudd’s ACL and MCL injuries are the biggest hit to UConn’s roster. Fudd appeared in two games for the Huskies in 2023 before injuring her knee at practice in November. 

UConn is off to one of its worst starts to a season in recent memory, and while there could be multiple factors at play to cause the relatively poor start, the quantity and severity of injuries on the team could be the biggest contributor.

For the U.S. women’s national team, the path to the Paris Olympics will include the debut of the Concacaf W Gold Cup and the return (and revamping) of the SheBelieves Cup.

The 2024 schedule kicks off in February with the inaugural Gold Cup tournament, which brings together teams from the North and South American federations. The USWNT will play three group-stage matches, and then could advance to the three-round knockout stage.

April brings the SheBelieves Cup, which will take a different format due to the Gold Cup taking its usual place on the calendar. Rather than four teams competing in a six-match round-robin format, the four teams will compete in a bracket, with two semifinals on April 6, and a championship match and a third-place match on April 9. The participants joining the USWNT have yet to be announced, but all will have participated in the 2023 World Cup.

The first half of 2024 also will feature two weeklong international breaks, starting May 27 and July 8. All of these competitions will lead up to the 12-team tournament at the Paris Olympics, which will run from July 25 through Aug. 10.

The end of the year will feature two more weeklong international windows, starting on Oct. 21 and Nov. 25.

Feb. 17–March 10: Concacaf W Gold Cup

April 6–9: SheBelieves Cup

• Semifinals — Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta
  • April 6: USWNT vs. TBD — 12:30 p.m. ET
  • April 6: TBD vs. TBD — 3:30 p.m. ET
• Third-place match — Location TBD
  • April 9: Semifinal losers
• Championship match — Location TBD
  • April 9: Semifinal winners

Phallon Tullis-Joyce has been hard at work with Manchester United after making the move to the English club earlier this year.

Tullis-Joyce started 2023 as the starting goalkeeper for OL Reign before making the move to the Women’s Super League. Now she’s the backup for England starter Mary Earps, who was named the best goalkeeper at the 2023 World Cup in August. Earps, though, could be on the move at conclusion of the 2023-24 WSL season, which would put Tullis-Joyce in line for the starting spot.

As Manchester United head coach Marc Skinner told Chris Brookes, he’s been happy with how the 27-year-old American (and U.S. women’s national team prospect) has adapted since her move from the NWSL.

“She’s having to adapt to shorter passes, medium, and obviously some longer-range to make sure we mix up the opponent – but I think it’s about the speed in which she does that,” Skinner said, noting the increased ball possession in the English compared to the U.S. league.

Skinner is no stranger to the NWSL, having coached the Orlando Pride from 2019 to 2021.

“I’ve been to the NWSL and there’s a lot of quality there, a lot of individual dribbling quality, a lot of high-speed energy,” he continued, noting that the WSL is “a little bit more tactically designed,” which Tullis-Joyce is learning.

Even still, it isn’t taking much for her to adjust. Skinner likened the process to “sharpening her tools.”

“I’ll be very clear: she has all of the foundations,” Skinner said. “I’ve never seen a goalkeeper make the saves that she makes, honestly. … She’s so athletic. I think it’s just making sure she can make those in big moments.

“She’s such an astute learner, she literally takes a notepad into everywhere she goes. So, you’re going to see a real character that, I think after this season once she’s had these kind of games, I think you’re going to see a world-class goalkeeper. I really do. She’s got all of the qualities she needs.”

Spain has topped the FIFA rankings for the first time, with the World Cup champions ascending to the the No. 1 spot.

Following the 2023 World Cup, Sweden topped the world rankings. But Spain followed up its World Cup win with a string of impressive performances in the Women’s Nations League to finally move into the top spot. The first-time World Cup winners are just the fourth team to ever hold the No. 1 spot after the USWNT, Germany and Sweden.

Spain took five wins in the Nations League – including two over Sweden – to qualify for the Nations League semifinals in February, when they will face the Netherlands.

The USWNT, meanwhile, is up to No. 2 in the rankings after falling to No. 3 in the aftermath of a disappointing World Cup run. France took moved into the third spot.

After missing out on the Olympics and finishing third in their Nations League group, Sweden dropped to fifth. Similarly, European champion and World Cup runner-up England – also out of the Olympics – dropped to fourth.

A record 192 nations now have been featured in the rankings, with Central African Republic and Macau appearing for the first time in the latest edition. North Korea, American Samoa, Madagascar and Bahamas have made a reappearance on the list.

The NCAA volleyball final is set, with Nebraska and Texas set to face off at 3 p.m. ET Sunday. Sunday’s match at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, will be the first volleyball national championship televised on ABC.

This marks Nebraska’s 11th trip to the NCAA final, with the Huskers having won five national titles to this point. They defeated fellow No. 1 seed Pitt in a 3-0 sweep, 25-20, 25-23, 25-17. Nebraska will face defending national champion Texas, a No. 2 seed, after the Longhorns upset No. 1 seed Wisconsin in four sets in the other semifinal.

For the Longhorns, Sunday will be their 10th NCAA final appearance. They have won three titles and will be going for their fourth. This will be the two teams’ third matchup in the national championship, with Nebraska beating Texas in 2015 and in 1995.

From 1996 to 2010, the two were conference rivals when Nebraska was still a part of the Big 12. Nebraska currently holds the series’ edge, 33-24. It’s a storied rivalry, with the first match between the programs coming in 1981. The latest match was the 2021 NCAA regional finals, which was won by the Huskers.

“There’s such a rich tradition of alumni, All-Americans, people that have won national championships on both sides,” Texas coach Jerritt Elliott said. “It’s Celtics vs. Lakers.”

Angel McCoughtry is returning to basketball, joining Athletes Unlimited for its third season.

The No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 WNBA Draft and a two-time Olympian with USA Basketball, McCoughtry has played in just three WNBA games since 2021 due to injuries. But she will take the court again with Athletes Unlimited, with the season set to run from Feb. 29 through March 23 in Dallas.

“As the newest member of the AU family, I am beyond excited to start this journey. Basketball has always been a passion that drives me,” McCoughtry said in a release. “My focus is clear: I just want to hoop again, to be on the court where I feel most alive. I can’t wait to show the world what I got.”

The 37-year-old is feeling good, she told ESPN, and has been progressing well in both her rehabilitation and workouts.

A former star at Louisville, McCoughtry spent her first 10 WNBA seasons with the Atlanta Dream. While there, she won the 2009 Rookie of the Year award, made the All-Star game five times and was a member of three WNBA Finals teams. Twice she led the league in scoring and steals.

Since becoming a free agent in 2020, McCoughtry has bounced around, helping the Las Vegas Aces to the WNBA Finals in 2020 but missing the 2021 season with a right knee injury. She played two games for the Minnesota Lynx in 2022 before being waived.

“It’s been hell,” she told ESPN. “You go over 10 years never getting hurt. But then you get hurt, you have a surgery, and it changes things. It’s been like a domino effect.”

In November, she visited the USA Basketball camp. While there, she spent time with former Olympic teammates Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner.

McCoughtry says that she still has “something left,” and she hopes that Athletes Unlimited might help her get back to the WNBA.

“I look forward to showing that I still have ability,” she told ESPN. “I feel like playing AU can help me get back in the WNBA. I know the narrative is, ‘She hasn’t played, she’s older.’ I just want to prove basketball still exists in my world.”

Other WNBA players, including Kelsey Mitchell, Lexie Brown, Allisha Gray and Sydney Colson, have signed back on for another season with Athletes Unlimited.

The NWSL is hosting its newest iteration of a two-team expansion draft at 7 p.m. ET Friday, as Bay FC and the revamped Utah Royals look to add to their growing rosters in preparation for their inaugural seasons in 2024.

Expansion drafts are unpopular affairs, both among the players bearing the brunt of the process’s uncertainty and among existing clubs not eager to part with the talent they’ve developed. So it’s not shocking then that this year’s draft has been somewhat defanged, with exemptions for free agents and U18 players and many trades for draft protection.

To summarize, only OL Reign and the Chicago Red Stars made no deals for at least partial protection prior to Tuesday’s transaction freeze, but a flurry of activity saw seven clubs bow out of the proces entirely. The San Diego Wave, Racing Louisville and North Carolina Courage all have protection from one of the two expansion sides, though each could still lose two players in the draft.

As a result, just five protection lists were released to the public, with a few with limitations on who can be selected. (Full rules can be found here.)

Ahead of expansion draft, here are a few players that stand out as possible targets for Bay FC and the Royals, both in fit and in upside:

Bay FC: Kelsey Turnbow, San Diego Wave

Turnbow has college ties to the Bay Area, as she won an NCAA title in 2021 with the Santa Clara Broncos. Coming into the NWSL as a proven goalscorer at the collegiate level, Turnbow has featured for the Wave as both a forward and as more of a playmaker in a deep-lying attacking role. But Turnbow played most of her soccer for the Wave in 2022, and she saw her minutes dwindle significantly in 2023 as other players shined in the attack. If she is looking for a fresh start, Bay FC might be a good landing spot.

Utah Royals: Sarah Griffith, Chicago Red Stars

The Red Stars leaving Griffith unprotected is somewhat puzzling considering her steady integration into the team as a rookie in 2022. But her inability to find the pitch in the latter stages of 2023 could indicate that she’s ready for a new challenge. Griffith is a versatile attacking player who played in a box midfield for the Red Stars in 2022 and even occasionally filled in at wingback. With the Royals looking for midfield options to complement Mikayla Cluff, Griffith could be a great addition.

Bay FC: Brianna Pinto, North Carolina Courage

Pinto has the tools to be a very consistent NWSL midfielder despite finding herself on the outside looking in during the second half of North Carolina’s 2023 season. The 23-year-old is a player that can aid a midfield in hold-up, possession-style football, as well as look for the final ball to break open a defense. She also isn’t afraid to turn towards goal herself, playing forward at times in college at North Carolina.

Utah Royals: Elyse Bennett, OL Reign

If Bennett is selected in the expansion draft, she’ll be moving to her third club in as many years in the league, which is more of a reflection that she’s a talent that deserves a space to get consistent playing time. Bennett was used as a game changer first in Kansas City as a rookie and then again in Seattle in 2023, and she has a tenacity in front of goal that not many young players share. Utah could use Bennett as a wide player or as a focal point at center-forward, where she could link up with wingers like Michele Vasconcelos to create a potent attack.

Bay FC: Sam Hiatt, OL Reign

Bay FC already have one piece to their center-back pairing, acquiring Emily Menges from Portland in exchange for draft protection for the Thorns. A good partner for Menges could be Hiatt, who started many matches for the Reign during their Shield-winning campaign in 2022 but moved to the bench after the club brought in Lauren Barnes as a center-back in the second half of 2023. A Stanford graduate, Hiatt has college ties to the area, and she has experience putting together staunch performances in the central defense.

Utah Royals: Paige Monaghan, Racing Louisville

Monaghan has showcased an impressive amount of versatility with both Gotham FC and then Racing Louisville, playing primarily as a winger but also showing the willingness to slot in at outside back. A steady league veteran, the 27-year-old can play wide on all three positional lines competently, with experience and a work ethic that is obvious on both sides of the ball. With the inevitable positional imbalances that can take shape for a first-year expansion team, a player with her qualities could be invaluable.

Bay FC: Kyra Carusa, San Diego Wave

Carusa has been something of a revelation since signing with San Diego in August 2023. She was used as both a starter and as a reserve off the bench throughout the second half of the Wave’s Shield-winning season. Carusa can play centrally and would interplay well with wingers such as already-signed Scarlett Camberos in the Bay FC attack. The only possible question mark for Carusa would be her desire to leave her hometown of San Diego and her possible desire to return to play in England.

Utah Royals: Thembi Kgatlana, Racing Louisville

Kgatlana being available for selection in this draft is so surprising that it makes me wonder if she has other plans than the NWSL for 2024. But the forward’s talent upside is so high it’s impossible to leave her off this list even if she isn’t ultimately destined for Utah. The 27-year-old is an excellent goalscorer both at the domestic and international level, with a willingness to run long lengths of the pitch for service if necessary. She can fool any defender, and with the right midfield behind her, she could be a consistent scoring threat for years to come.

Bay FC: Amanda Kowalski, Chicago Red Stars

Kowalski is another strong contender for defensive depth, with experience playing both at outside back and in a three-back system. She was signed by the Red Stars in 2022 after the team lost Tierna Davidson to an ACL tear and stepped in admirably while growing into her new role as the season progressed. Depending on the system that Bay FC wants to run, Kowalski could be a player who pushes the starters in front of her or slots into multiple roles in a pinch.

Bay FC: Olivia Wingate, North Carolina Courage

What Bay FC could find in Wingate is a young player that has shown flashes of NWSL-level brilliance in one year as a professional. The 23-year-old got the bulk of her minutes in North Carolina in the middle of the 2023 season, showing an ability to create chances for both herself and her teammates. If Bay FC took a swing at a player without as much experience, what they could get in return is an attacker that can grow with the organization — and who already looks well on her way.

Sabrina Ionescu’s signature shoe hit the market in 2023 as an instant hit, including among NBA players.

But for the New York Liberty guard, the sneaker was a long-held secret. In an essay for Boardroom, Ionescu writes about keeping that secret – and also what it has been like since the launch of the Nike Sabrina 1s.

Among the more startling experiences since the release was seeing a woman wearing the shoes in the grocery store.

“It was the first time I saw someone outside my team or my family repping Sabrina gear,” Ionescu wrote. “The feeling was just surreal. It made this whole journey toward getting a signature line that people all over could get their hands on feel … real.”

Just 11 WNBA players had signature shoes before Ionescu. So when Nike announced the deal, it made headlines.

Before that, Ionescu had to keep the secret of the shoe for an entire year – including from her own family. That made debuting the Sabrina 1s, and wearing them in a WNBA game, feel all the better.

“That day, and every day since, there’s just this feeling of awe, to be honest, of being able to play a game in my own sneaker,” she continued. “I felt rooted in the shoe, knowing what it stood for and the story I wanted to tell.

“Trust me: Keeping a signature shoe — one of your biggest dreams — a secret from your family for an entire year was hard.”

Even still, Ionescu had to explain the importance of a signature shoe to her family, including how having her name on the box and the details – some which are important to her Romanian heritage – set a signature shoe apart.

“It’s been funny these last couple of months because there is nobody from my family or my fiancé’s family that is not in Sabrina gear or Sabrina shoes … to everything that we go to,” she wrote. “It’s like a 30-person Romanian mob that walks around, all reppin’!”

Ionescu has watched as Nike decked out its first floor in New York City, as kids at her camp donned the shoes, and as NBA players including Jrue Holiday, Mikal Bridges and Jordan Poole started wearing them. It’s a testament to the nature of the shoe, which was designed for people of all genders and as a push for equality and bridging the gap in basketball.

Holiday was one of the first players, which Ionescu says is a testament to “where his heart is at in supporting women’s sports.”

“I’m not gonna lie – every NBA game that’s on, that’s all I’m watching for. Who’s wearing my shoes? Who’s got ’em on?” she wrote. “Every game, I just look for the vertical Swoosh that’s on the inside of the shoe.

“It’s crazy to think about now, but the vision that Nike and I had together has really come to life. The fact that the Sabrina 1 is existent now in the NBA, in college basketball, and in high school is what we were going for all along.”