The 2023 NWSL Draft offered sure bets, surprises and several interesting trades Thursday night in Philadelphia.

Angel City FC telegraphed its choice for the No. 1 overall pick last week when it orchestrated a blockbuster four-team trade for the prime spot. But the draft class runs much deeper than presumptive top choice Alyssa Thompson.

Just Women’s Sports tracked every pick from every team, while staff writer Claire Watkins provided live coverage from the draft floor.

First round

1. Angel City FC: Alyssa Thompson, F, Harvard-Westlake Prep

The 18-year-old California native made her debut for the U.S. women’s senior national team in 2022 in front of a near-sellout crowd at London’s Wembley Stadium.

2. Kansas City Current: Michelle Cooper, F, Duke

The Current swapped star forward Lynn Williams for the opportunity to take Cooper with the second overall pick. After a season in which she led the Blue Devils with 19 goals and 11 assists, the 20-year-old won the MAC Hermann Trophy, which recognizes the best player in college soccer.

3. Orlando Pride: Emily Madril, D, Florida State

The 23-year-old starred for Florida State during its 2021 title run, then signed a contract with the NWSL to maintain her draft eligibility while she played for Swedish club BK Häcken FF in 2022.

4. NJ/NY Gotham FC: Jenna Nighswonger, M, Florida State

In her senior season, the 22-year-old started all 22 games for the Seminoles, notching six goals and 16 assists.

5. Portland Thorns FC: Reyna Reyes, D, Alabama

Reyes scored a career-high eight goals in 2022. The 21-year-old also led the Crimson Tide defense to 12 shutouts in 2022 en route to the SEC Defender of the Year award.

6. North Carolina Courage: Olivia Wingate, F, Notre Dame

In her fifth year with the Irish, Wingate more than doubled her career goals total, notching 14 in the 2022 season. She finished her career at Notre Dame with 26 goals and 11 assists.

7. Chicago Red Stars: Penelope Hocking, F, Penn State

Before she scored seven goals and recorded 11 assists for the Nittany Lions in 2022, she starred for four years at USC.

8. North Carolina Courage: Sydney Collins, D, California

The team captain for the Bears in 2022 anchored the team’s backline for four seasons.

9. North Carolina Courage: Clara Robbins, M, Florida State

The redshirt senior played 110 games in college, the second most in women’s college soccer history, and she won the ACC tournament MVP award in 2020 and 2021.

10. Kansas City Current: Alexa Spaanstra, F, Virginia

A versatile winger, Spaanstra made a name for herself as a pass-first player but contributed eight goals and five assists for the Cavaliers in 2022.

11. North Carolina Courage: Haley Hopkins, F, Virginia

Hopkins joined the Cavaliers from Vanderbilt as a graduate transfer in 2021, and she stuck around in 2022. Across two seasons with Virginia, she had 22 goals and 14 assists.

12. Portland Thorns FC: Izzy D’Aquila, F, Santa Clara

D’Aquila finished second in scoring in the NCAA with 19 goals in 2022. She posted 50 career goals in 78 games across three seasons for the Broncos.

Second round

13. San Diego Wave: Sierra Enge, M, Stanford
14. Chicago Red Stars: Grace Yochum, M, Oklahoma State
15. Kansas City Current: Gabby Robinson, D, West Virginia
16. Racing Louisville FC: Kayla Fischer, F, Ohio State
17. Racing Louisville FC: Brianna Martinez, D, Notre Dame
18. Kansas City Current: Jordan Silkowitz, G, Iowa State
19. OL Reign: Shae Holmes, D, Washington
20. Houston Dash: Sophie Hirst, M, Harvard
21. Orlando Pride: Messiah Bright, F, TCU
22. Houston Dash: Jyllissa Harris, D, South Carolina
23. Chicago Red Stars: Ally Schlegel, F, Penn State
24. Portland Thorns FC: Lauren DeBeau, F, Michigan State

Third round

25. Orlando Pride: Tori Hansen, D, North Carolina
26. Washington Spirit: Nicole Douglas, F, Arizona State
27. Angel City FC: Angelina Anderson, G, California
28. Washington Spirit: Lyza Bosselmann, G, Gonzaga
29. Racing Louisville: Jadyn Edwards, M, New Mexico
30. Washington Spirit: Riley Tanner, F, Alabama
31. Racing Louisville FC: Riley Mattingly Parker, F, Alabama
32. Portland Thorns: Lauren Kozal, G, Michigan State
33. San Diego Wave: Lauren Brzykcy, G, UCLA
34. Washington Spirit: Lena Silano, F, Long Beach State
35. Kansas City Current: Mykiaa Minniss, D, Washington State
36. Houston Dash: Lindsi Jennings, D, LSU

Fourth round

37. Washington Spirit: Civana Kuhlmann, F, Colorado
38. Kansas City Current: Ella Shamburger, D, Vanderbilt
39. Orlando Pride: Summer Yates, M, Washington
40. Washington Spirit: Delaney Graham, D, Duke
41. Orlando Pride: Kristen Scott, F, UCF
42. Kansas City Current: Rylan Childers, M, Kansas
43. Chicago Red Stars: Sophie Jones, M, Duke
44. Houston Dash: Iliana Hocking, M, Arizona
45. San Diego Wave: Giovanna DeMarco, M, Wake Forest
46. OL Reign: Natalie Viggiano, M, Wisconsin
47. Kansas City Current: Ashley Orkus, G, Ole Miss
48. Portland Thorns FC: Madelyn Desiano, D, UCLA

Read more:

• What every team needs in the 2023 NWSL draft
• NWSL 2023 mock draft: Projecting every first-round pick
• Alyssa Thompson: Get to know No. 1 pick in NWSL draft
• Sophia Smith and the 2020 draft class that reshaped the NWSL

Welcome to another episode of Sports Are Fun! presented by TurboTax.

Every week on Sports Are Fun!, co-hosts soccer legend Kelley O'Hara, sports journalist Greydy Diaz, and JWS intern BJ serve up their hottest takes on the biggest women's sports headlines.

This week, Sports Are Fun! talks all things NWSL with Gotham FC goalkeeper — and O'Hara's fellow Stanford alum — Ryan Campbell.

"We're five games in at this point and now I feel like things are starting to take shape — we can talk about them," O'Hara opens, referencing the start to the 2025 NWSL season. "I'm excited... the settling's happened, now we can get into season."

"So we're going to talk about what happened this weekend," she continues. "First on the list: Gotham FC. Thankfully we have our very own Gotham FC player in the house."

"I feel like what you're saying is like totally correct — the first three games, I think we scored not very much — a bit of a drought," says Campbell. "But, I mean, I practice with these girls every day. I know Ella Stevens can hit it upper-90, I know Esther's chipping me at practice. I know we have scoring power."

"We all had the sentiment and didn't really get discouraged and I don't think the staff was discouraged at all," she adds. "The resounding sentiment was, 'The rain's going to fall, like it's going to drop for us.' And I think you saw that against Angel City."

In addition to this weekend's NWSL action, Sports Are Fun! also tackles the WNBA Draft's viewership, the NCAA Gymnastics Championship, and so much more.

'Sports Are Fun!' reflects on former USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski

Then, Sports Are Fun turned to coaching. The headline? Angel City bringing on new manager Alexander Straus from Germany's Bayern Munich.

What makes a good coach? What do players look for in a coach? O'Hara knows one thing — playing under USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski wasn't exactly a learning experience.

"Hollywood's got a new hitman you guys," Campbell quips about Straus. "He has piercing blue eyes. They rival Leo DiCaprio."

"But can he coach a soccer team to a championship?" asks O'Hara.

"I've always wondered this," says BJ. "You played at the college level. You play now professionally, you played for the national team — how are you listening to a coach?"

"I think a good coach is going to go in and take a player as experienced as Christen Press, Sydney Leroux, and say, 'This is what I see. This is what I think you can bring to the team. This is how I'm going to utilize you in the system that I want to play,'" O'Hara answers.

"What is funny is — this is going to sound bad. I feel like I shouldn't say this. I don't feel like I learned anything new from Vlatko," she says, subsequently referencing the former USWNT coach. "And, actually, post-having him as a coach, I was like, 'Wow, is that on me? Did I stop learning or did he not coach me?"

"I had conversations with other other players about it. They were like, 'No, no, no, that was on him.' Because I feel like I was always open. I was like, 'I want to be coached, tell me how I can.' Because as a player, yes, you become the type of player you are, but you're never perfect."

About 'Sports Are Fun!' with Kelley O'Hara

'Sports Are Fun!' is a show that’ll remind you why you fell in love with women's sports in the first place.

Join World Cup champ, Olympic gold medalist, and aspiring barista Kelley O'Hara as she sits down with sports journalist Greydy Diaz and a revolving cast of co-hosts and friends. Together, they're talking the biggest, funnest, and most need-to-know stories in the world of women’s sports.

From on-court drama to off-field shenanigans, to candid (and silly) chats with the most important personalities in the space, this show screams "Sports Are Fun!"

Subscribe to Just Women's Sports on YouTube to never miss an episode.

The Women’s Premier Soccer League (WPSL) announced a plan to launch a Division II pro arm in 2026, providing a domestic stepping stone for players aspiring to top-flight leagues like the NWSL and USL Super League.

The same Cleveland ownership group that recently fell short of securing an NWSL expansion team is backing the venture, making good on their promise to bring professional women's soccer to Northeast Ohio.

The league will launch with a shortened season following the 2026 men's World Cup, before beginning its first full-fledged campaign in April 2027.

With 15 teams already confirmed, WPSL Pro intends to field clubs in an initial 16 to 20 markets.

Along with Cleveland, the inaugural WPSL Pro season will include teams in Austin, Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Fargo, Houston, Oklahoma City, Sioux Falls, Wichita, and the Bay Area, among others. Each franchise will pay a $1 million fee to enter the league.

The WPSL has a history of fostering high-level amateur competition, currently housing over 100 clubs and boasting a roster of former players that includes USWNT icons Brandi Chastain, Alex Morgan, and Rose Lavelle. WPSL Pro, however, will become the US soccer pyramid's first-ever second-tier league.

"WPSL Pro is the bridge that's been missing — not just for players, but for the communities, investors, and brands ready to be part of the next chapter in women's sports," league co-founder Sean Jones said in a statement.

The No. 22 kit of Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark weighed in as last fall's second best-selling basketball jersey in the US according to sports outfitter Fanatics, with the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year trailing only NBA superstar Steph Curry on the top sales list.

Clark's merch dominance is nothing new, however. Her Indiana jersey sold out less than an hour after the Fever drafted her as the overall No. 1 pick in April 2024, making Clark the top seller of any draft night pick in the company's history.

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Even more, Clark's merchandise led last season's record-shattering WNBA sales, with Fanatics reporting that 2024 sales of player-specific gear earned a jaw-dropping 1,000% year-over-year increase by last summer's All-Star break — in large part thanks to the 2024 WNBA rookie class.

Fellow 2024 WNBA debutants Chicago Sky standout Angel Reese and then-Las Vegas Aces guard Kate Martin — Clark's NCAA teammate at Iowa — trailed the Fever star with the league's second- and fourth-most merchandise sales, respectively.

This year, a new WNBA rookie could give Clark a run for her money, as the No. 5 Dallas Wings jersey for 2025's No. 1 draft pick, Paige Bueckers, is already doing numbers at retailers across the country.

Already a brand mogul in her own right, Bueckers topped the 2024 NIL list as college basketball’s biggest earner via endorsement deals and merchandise sales prior to going pro.

Kenyan runner Sharon Lokedi shattered the women’s course record at the 2025 Boston Marathon on Monday, finishing the 129th edition of the race in 2:17:22 — more than two and a half minutes faster than the previous record set by Ethiopia's Buzunesh Deba in 2014.

The victory marked the 31-year-old runner's second major marathon championship following her 2022 New York City Marathon win.

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After finishing second in the 2024 Boston Marathon behind fellow Kenyan Hellen Obiri, Lokedi avenged her runner-up status by overtaking the back-to-back defending champion in the final kilometer of Monday’s race.

"I'm always second to her and today I was like, 'There’s no way,'" Lokedi said of her rivalry with Obiri. "I just have to put it out there and fight 'til the end and see how it goes. I'm so glad I ran that fast and she was right behind me. We all fought and wanted this so bad."

All of this year’s top three finishers broke through the course record pace, with Obiri and Ethiopia's Yalemzerf Yehualaw joining Lokedi both at the finish line and in the Boston Marathon's record book.

Along with her $150,000 winner's check, Lokedi will pocket an additional $50,000 for claiming the fastest women's time in Boston Marathon history.