Every NWSL offseason comes with player movement, but the months leading up to the 2023 season reflected a new era of player choice. The league’s first free-agency period saw many top players leaving for new environments and teams making a few surprising moves themselves.

Almost every NWSL roster will look different in 2023, with the potential for dramatic returns as teams meet for the first time in the regular season.

Don’t look now, but revenge season might be upon us. Here are the games to circle on your calendar.

March 25: Kansas City Current at North Carolina Courage

The first game of the NWSL regular season wastes no time in getting into one of the most dramatic narratives of the offseason. The Kansas City Current were the big winners of the league’s free-agency period and feature heavily on this list as players take on their former teams.

First up, two-time NWSL champion Debinha returns to the home of the North Carolina Courage in her first game after a high-profile move to Kansas City. Courage head coach Sean Nahas said at the 2023 draft that they had made serious overtures to the Brazilian superstar to try to convince her to stay with her club of five years, and her playmaking ability will surely be missed in North Carolina.

The Current come into the season with high expectations. Debinha appeared to pick up a knock in preseason that might limit her availability for this game. Regardless, the opening match against her former teammates (and current Brazil teammate Kerolin) will be a battle that sets the tone for Kansas City’s ceiling in 2023.

March 26: OL Reign at Washington Spirit

OL Reign travels to Washington D.C. on opening weekend, with a few chips on their shoulder to shake off. The Spirit famously ended the Reign’s postseason dreams in 2021 before going on to win the club’s first NWSL Championship. Prior to that, Rose Lavelle found her NWSL rights abruptly sent to Seattle from Washington while playing for Manchester City, a move she said surprised her at the time.

More recently, Washington unexpectedly sent another USWNT mainstay to the Pacific Northwest, completing a draft-day trade that dealt Emily Sonnett to OL Reign. The trade came about quickly, with new Spirit head coach Mark Parsons making a move to address what he referred to as a “structural” imbalance to his roster. This is the second time Parsons has traded Sonnett to a new team, first sending her to the Orlando Pride when he was the head coach of the Portland Thorns.

The Reign had a consistent partnership between Alana Cook and Sam Hiatt in the central defense in 2022, so it will be interesting to see how Sonnett is deployed. No matter, the potential revenge factor in this one is sky high.

April 15: Kansas City Current at Chicago Red Stars

There’s nothing like facing your former captain at home. Vanessa DiBernardo was a Chicago Red Star for eight years, and most recently their captain, before leaving for the Current in her first year of free agency. She was joined by former Chicago teammate Morgan Gautrat, who had played for the Red Stars for five years.

Both midfielders played in multiple NWSL finals with Chicago but decided to sign with a stacked Kansas City roster still in search of their first piece of hardware. The Red Stars team they left behind is now rebuilding around star striker Mallory Swanson after a tumultuous few years behind the scenes. Chicago will want to prove themselves against one of the deepest teams in the league and show what life looks like after the departure of a number of their veterans.

April 30: Gotham FC at Kansas City Current

Lynn Williams never registered regular-season minutes for the Current, but this matchup has the potential for revenge nonetheless. Kansas City traded Williams to Gotham FC right as she made her return to the field with the USWNT, after a serious hamstring issue kept her sidelined in 2022.

Relinquishing Williams likely freed up salary cap space for the Current’s stacked midfield and also for rookie Michelle Cooper, whose prowess at Duke made her a clear target for Kansas City with the No. 2 pick in the draft. Cooper is untested at the professional level, meaning this particular game could become a referendum on veteran experience over rookie ceiling.

Gotham will likely be in revenge mode as a team, looking to improve upon their league-worst finish in 2022 and showcase their own offseason moves. If Kansas City is the standard, Gotham will want to rise to meet it.

May 27: North Carolina Courage at Racing Louisville

The offseason’s other surprising trade also involved North Carolina, with the Courage sending Carson Pickett and longtime captain Abby Erceg to Louisville in exchange for rising USWNT outside back Emily Fox. In soccer terms, the trade made some sense for both teams, but the unceremonious end to Erceg’s time at the club where she won multiple championships wasn’t lost on the center back.

Both teams will be eager to show off how they’ve honed their roster in the offseason, with North Carolina attempting to rise back to the upper echelon of the NWSL and Racing Louisville pushing for their first-ever playoff spot. The addition of Erceg and Pickett radically changes the outlook of Louisville’s defense, and they’ll have extra motivation to keep the Courage off the scoresheet. At the other end of the field, Fox is working her way into an assured U.S. roster spot for the 2023 World Cup and will want to excel with the same freedom on the pitch that she had in Louisville.

Claire Watkins is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @ScoutRipley.

Nike is sending Team USA to Italy in style, with the sportswear giant's ACG (All Conditions Gear) brand releasing the designs for a special 2026 Winter Olympics collection this week.

Branded with Nike ACG badges alongside Team USA patches, this year's collection builds off a traditional red, white, and navy color scheme to outfit the country's Olympic and Paralympic athletes, as well as fans, ahead of the 2026 Games' February 6th opening ceremony in Milan.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

The designs include a long-sleeved T-shirt displaying an animated, winter sports-bound bald eagle and a zipped fleece sherpa and Therma-Fit skirt, both emblazoned with a bald eagle soaring over mountains.

Additionally, the collection boasts multiple T-shirts, long-sleeved sweat-wicking shirts, Polartec® jackets, and accessories including a baseball cap and winter beanie.

Nike is just one of many major brands outfitting Team USA for this year's competition, with the athletic corporation joining J.Crew in inviting fans to gear up for the Games after the fashion retailer dropped its own Winter Olympics capsule collection earlier this month.

How to purchase items from the Nike ACG x Team USA collection

The Nike ACG x Team USA line will hit shelves on Friday, January 23rd, with fans able to snag pieces prior to the 2026 Winter Olympics.

The collection will be available for purchase via nike.com.

Stars of the 2025 Euro stole the EA FC 26 spotlight this week, as the video game giant's fan-voted 2026 Team of the Year recognized some of international soccer's top achievers on Thursday.

Champions England fielded four honorees as forward Alessia Russo joined a trio of Lioness defenders — Leah Williamson, Millie Bright, and Team of the Year captain Lucy Bronze — on the 11-player list.

"Being named the first-ever Women's EA Sports FC TOTY Captain is an honour," Bronze said in a statement. "2025 was an amazing year — winning the Euros again and picking up my first BWSL with Chelsea — so much of that success is thanks to our fans, and it's great to see them recognize my efforts with this award."

The rest of the EA FC 26 Team of the Year also favored European titans, as Euro runners-up and Nations League winners Spain also saw a quartet of players make the roster. La Roja fully owned the Team of Year midfield as stars Aitana Bonmatí, Mariona Caldentey, and Alexia Putellas joined forward Clàudia Pina on Thursday's lineup.

Rounding out the squad were three other European club standouts as EA FC 26 also tapped Chliean goalkeeper Christiane Endler (OL Lyonnes), French defender Selma Bacha (OL Lyonnes), and Polish forward Ewa Pajor (FC Barcelona).

The first Grand Slam of 2026 has arrived, as the main draw of the Australian Open hits the court on Saturday evening, promising some early-round fireworks.

World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka enters as the tournament favorite, though the rest of the WTA Top 10 promises to give her a run for her money — as No. 2 Iga Świątek chases the only major tournament title still eluding her.

Meanwhile, No. 9 Madison Keys will attempt to defend her 2025 crown, as fellow US products No. 3 Coco Gauff, No. 4 Amanda Anisimova, and No. 6 Jessica Pegula also locked down top seeds.

Another US superstar will return this weekend, with 45-year-old Venus Williams following up her impressive 2025 performances by accepting a wild-card entry to her first Australian Open in five years.

"Even though I've been on tour for a long time, this is also still my first experience as [reigning champion]," Keys said. "I'm really just trying to soak in all of the really cool fun parts."

How to watch the 2026 Australian Open

The 2026 Australian Open begins at 7 PM ET on Saturday, with Williams as well as top-seed Sabalenka and world No. 7 Jasmine Paolini set to face their first opponents on the first day of the Slam's main draw.

The second day of first-round matches will see the rest of the WTA elite in action, as No. 2 Świątek, No. 3 Gauff, No. 4 Anisimova, No. 6 Pegula, and No. 9 Keys — as well as No. 5 Elena Rybakina, No. 8 Mirra Andreeva, and No. 10 Belinda Bencic — will hit the hardcourt in Melbourne starting at 7 PM ET on Sunday.

All matches in the 2026 Australian Open — from the first round through the women's final on Saturday, January 31st — will air live across ESPN platforms.

Monday's NCAA basketball action will put two of the nation's top guards to the test, as No. 10 TCU faces No. 14 Ohio State in Newark, New Jersey's Coretta Scott King Classic — part of a stacked MLK Day slate.

Buckeye sophomore Jaloni Cambridge is on a tear in this season, averaging 21.8 points per game — good for No. 10 in the country — and tallying 102 points, 20 rebounds, and 20 assists across Ohio State's last three games.

At the same time, TCU has seen similar stylings from Notre Dame transfer Olivia Miles, with the senior putting up a career-high 19.2 points per game while sitting at No. 9 in the nation behind her 7.3 assists average for the Horned Frogs.

Even more, Miles is lapping her collegiate cohort in triple doubles on the season, posting four of the elite stat-sheet performances while all other NCAA players have a maximum of one.

Both teams are meeting expectations head-on this season, impressing following 2025 NCAA tournament exits that spurred significant offseason roster changes.

Ohio State star forward Cotie McMahon transferred to Ole Miss after the Buckeyes' second-round ousting, while TCU graduated standout starting guard Hailey Van Lith and center Sedona Prince.

With Miles and Cambridge leading the charge, however, both squads are flourishing: TCU faltered just once in their 2025/26 campaign so far — a January 3rd overtime loss to unranked Utah — while Ohio State's two season losses came at the hands of titans No. 1 UConn and No. 3 UCLA.

"Ultimately, [TCU forward] Marta [Suarez] and Miles are two of the best players in college basketball," Horned Frogs head coach Mark Campbell said after Sunday's win over Arizona State. "But for our team to reach our full potential, we need these other players to show great growth. And I think we have."

How to watch TCU vs. Ohio State basketball on Monday

The No. 10 Horned Frogs will take on the No. 14 Buckeyes at 12 PM ET on Monday, airing live on FOX.