The Women’s Super League season begins Friday after delaying kickoff by a week to honor Queen Elizabeth II after her death on Sept. 8.

Tabbed by Arsenal star Leah Williamson as “the best league in the world” in terms of competitiveness, the WSL has seen a wave of attention (and ticket sales) after England’s triumph in the UEFA Women’s EURO in July.

While the league has seen some key departures in Georgia Stanway and Keira Walsh, others such as Rachel Daly are sure to wow fans.

Just Women’s Sports has five players to watch as the action kicks off.

Sam Kerr

Club: Chelsea
Key Stats from 2021-22: 23 goals

Kerr spent last season atop the Super League, winning the Golden Boot as the league’s top scorer for the second straight season and helping Chelsea take the WSL title for the third straight season.

She notched a brace in last year’s FA Cup final against Arsenal, winning Player of the Match as she helped the club secure the domestic quadruple – the first English women’s club to do so.

Her efforts earned her third place in the 2021 Ballon d’Or standings, behind Barcelona’s Jennifer Hermoso and winner Alexia Putellas.

Beth Mead

Club: Arsenal
Key Stats: 72 chances created, 11 goals, 8 assists

One of the top players in WSL history, Beth Mead is coming off a season in which she led the league in assists and became the all-time assists leader.

She also was named Player of the Season for Arsenal after breaking the record for most chances created in a season (72) – a number that was more than double the second-place total (48).

The 27-year-old also led the league in most big chances created (13), most key passes (65) and most goal-creating actions (18).

😮‍💨 @bmeado9 pic.twitter.com/nJsG5zCIpa

— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) September 6, 2022

Vivianne Miedema

Club: Arsenal
Key Stats: 14 goals, 8 assists

While many thought a departure from Arsenal could be in Vivianne Miedema’s future after the 2021-22 season, she opted to re-sign with the club on a one-year deal, which made her the highest-paid women’s player in England.

The top goalscorer in Women’s Super League history, Miedema is the only player to score against every team she’s faced in the league. Twice she’s won the Golden Boot, and she has finished as the runner-up to Kerr in the past two seasons.

She’s good on the assist as well, tying with teammate Beth Mead and Manchester United’s Ella Toone for the most assists last season with eight.

Rachel Daly

Club: Aston Villa
Key Stats: 9 regular-season goals in NWSL

Rachel Daly arrives back in the WSL after spending the summer with the Lionesses. She opted to leave the NWSL and remain in England in order to be closer to family.

Daly spent the past seven years with the Houston Dash, where she served as captain and scored a franchise-high 33 regular season goals during her tenure. She’s no stranger to the WSL, having spent time with Leeds United, Lincoln Ladies and West Ham United.

Her move should have no small impact on Aston Villa, as USWNT and Portland Thorns defender Becky Sauerbrunn called her transfer “such a loss” to the NWSL.

“She’s definitely one of those players that I know I hate going up against because she is that good and some players think they’re that good and that’s also super irritating to me, but she is actually that good,” Sauerbrunn said. “So, in a weird way, I am gonna miss her.”

Love it, @RachelDaly3! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/XB7ePfcELy

— Aston Villa Women (@AVWFCOfficial) September 6, 2022

Mary Earps

Club: Manchester United
Key Stats: 10 clean sheets

Fresh off a stellar summer with the England national team, Mary Earps will step back into net for Manchester United. She had the second-most clean sheets last season and was one of the league’s best goaltenders all season long, only allowing 21 goals through 21 games.

While Ann-Katrin Berger earned WSL Goalkeeper of the Year honors, Earps certainly deserved to be on the shortlist. And her stellar summer, which only cemented her place as one of England’s top goalkeepers, puts her on this list as one to watch as the WSL season gets underway.

This is a Mary Earps appreciation post ❤️

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 #Lionesses #MUWomen || #WEURO2022 pic.twitter.com/Pon5Coei95

— Manchester United Women (@ManUtdWomen) July 27, 2022

The world No. 1 USWNT ruled the pitch on Wednesday night, shutting out North American rivals No. 8 Canada 3-0 to finish the international window on a high note.

Catching the Canada backline sleeping, US midfielder Sam Coffey opened the scoring at the 17-minute mark before 19-year-old Claire Hutton claimed her first-ever USWNT goal by heading in a Rose Lavelle corner kick in the game's 36th minute.

Houston Dash forward Yazmeen Ryan then padded the US tally in the waning minutes of the match, finding the back of the net just eight minutes after subbing onto the field.

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Despite fielding a young roster, the US overpowered a veteran-heavy Canada side in almost every category, topping their Northern neighbors in shots, shots on target, possession, and — most notably — set pieces.

Canada ultimately couldn't match the game's mental pace or physical battle, as the USWNT scored all three goals off dead ball situations — a free kick, a corner kick, and a throw-in.

"It's not about the opponent," US head coach Emma Hayes said after the match. "It's about what we do, and I felt that was extremely dominant."

With Wednesday's contributions, the USWNT finishes the summer window with 11 goals scored across the three friendlies — and zero goals conceded.

The US now enters an extended break before reconvening for another as-yet-unannounced friendly series in October — but players will be expected to perform in the meantime.

"I said to the players in the end in the huddle, if you want to compete to win the biggest things, it's not what you do here that matters," said Hayes. "It's what you do when you go back to your club."

The 2025 WNBA regular season returns on Thursday night, with teams at the top of the league standings looking to prove their mettle against close competition across the long holiday weekend.

The No. 5 Seattle Storm have arguably the toughest weekend assignments, taking on the No. 4 Atlanta Dream on Friday before tackling the No. 3 New York Liberty on Sunday.

Four middle-of-the-pack teams will look to close in on a double-digit season win tally while the league's frontrunners strive to maintain their advantage in this weekend's slate:

• No. 7 Las Vegas Aces vs. No. 8 Indiana Fever, Thursday at 7 PM ET (Prime): Though still without star Caitlin Clark, the Fever hope to harness their 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup victory momentum against an Aces side tied with Indiana with an 8-8 season record.

• No. 5 Seattle Storm vs. No. 4 Atlanta Dream, Thursday at 7:30 PM ET (WNBA League Pass): Seattle will look to make strides against a strong Atlanta side while putting last Sunday's stinging 84-57 loss to up-and-comer Golden State in their rearview.

• No. 6 Golden State Valkyries vs. No. 1 Minnesota Lynx, Saturday at 8 PM ET (WNBA League Pass): The rising Valkyries must face a Lynx side hunting redemption, as the league-leaders look to bounce back from their stifling Tuesday Commissioner's Cup upset loss.

• No. 5 Seattle Storm vs. No. 3 New York Liberty, Sunday at 1 PM ET (CBS): With injured Liberty center Jonquel Jones still sidelined, the Seattle Storm will have a chance to steal a weekend game against the reigning champs, as New York struggles to re-find their footing.

With the 2025 WNBA All-Star break looming, early top performers must keep standards high if they want to hold the line when the season crosses the midway point.

Even with the 2025 regular season on a break, the NWSL is staying busy, announcing its 2026 schedule framework on Wednesday as the league eyes its first-ever 16-team season.

With both expansion clubs Denver and Boston Legacy FC hitting the pitch, the NWSL plans to expand the regular season from its current 26 matches to 30 games per team, ensuring each club plays one home and one away match against each of the league's squads across the 2026 season.

The 2026 campaign will kick off on March 13th and run through November 1st, before the eight-team playoff field battles through the postseason, all aiming to lift the NWSL Championship trophy on November 21st.

Like previous seasons, next year's NWSL play will begin with a preseason appetizer, as the 2025 league champion and 2025 Shield-winner will face off in the 2026 Challenge Cup on February 20th.

Notably, the NWSL will pause regular-season play for nearly entire month of June, in part because the North America-hosted 2026 FIFA Men's World Cup will be using league venues across seven NWSL cities.

The league will also fulfill its CBA-mandated summer break, meaning each team's 30-game 2026 season will take place across 27 total weeks of competition.

Including the Challenge Cup and postseason play, the 2026 NWSL season will include 248 matches.

The league will release more scheduling details at a later date.

Set to debut in 2026, the Women's Professional Baseball League (WPBL) announced Wednesday that it will hold its first-ever tryouts this summer, with the event kicking off on August 22nd in Washington, DC.

The WPBL currently has more than 600 attendees registered for the August tryouts, which will take place across a four-day camp.

For the first three days, players will participate in drills and performance testing at the Washington Nationals' Youth Baseball Academy.

Those evaluations will determine the select group to advance past the first cuts, with those players then competing in live game-play at MLB's Nationals Park on August 25th.

Following that final round, a total of 150 successful athletes will earn invites to the league's inaugural draft in October.

Leading the tryouts will be WPBL EVP of player relations and Team USA baseball star Alex Hugo.

"We are really excited to see all of the players at tryouts this summer and see their incredible skills," Hugo said in the WPBL's tryouts announcement. "We're building a future where girls and women who love baseball can dream as big as they want and now, finally, have a league to call their own."

Co-founded by the first woman to coach in MLB, Justine Siegal, the WPBL plans to launch with six teams in spring of 2026.

When it begins play, the WPBL will become the first US women's pro baseball league since the World War II-era All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, which folded in 1954 following 12 seasons of play.