NWSL Contracts: U18 Entry Mechanism

Any player 17 years old or younger can enter the NWSL via the U18 Entry Mechanism. The league maintains a non-public U18 Entry List. Each team is limited to four players between their U18 Entry List and Roster. Once a player turns 18, they no longer count towards that total of four. These spots are not tradeable and a player must be signed to a guaranteed contract within 30 days of being placed on the Entry List.

Fun rules:
U18 players can not be waived or traded until the player turns 18 (or with player and parent/guardian consent)
Contract length must run through the season in which the player turns 18
U18 Players are not eligible to be selected in the Expansion Process

Filtering & Sorting...
Player (13) Pos Team Signed With Age At Signing Start End Yrs Guaranteed Signed Date
McKenna Whitham F NJNY 13 2025 2028 4 Jul 26, 2024
Chloe Ricketts M WAS 15 2023 2025 3 Mar 03, 2023
Melanie Barcenas F SD 15 2023 2025 3 Mar 21, 2023
Alex Pfeiffer F KC 15 2024 2026 3 Oct 30, 2023
Casey Phair F ACFC 16 2024 2026 3 Jan 18, 2024
Kennedy Fuller M ACFC 16 2024 2026 3 Mar 06, 2024
Kimmi Ascanio M SD 16 2024 2026 3 Mar 22, 2024
Ainsley McCammon M SEA 16 2024 2028 5 Jul 19, 2024
Riley Jackson M NC 17 2023 2025 3 Jul 28, 2023
Gisele Thompson D ACFC 17 2024 2025 2 Nov 28, 2023
Claire Hutton M KC 17 2024 2026 3 Dec 14, 2023
Emeri Adames F SEA 17 2024 2027 4 Mar 13, 2024
Jordyn Bugg D SEA 17 2024 2026 3 Jul 19, 2024

Discovery

Prior to the creation of the U18 Entry Mechanism, there was no way for minors to join the NWSL. Olivia Moultrie paved the way for these young players by suing the NWSL on antitrust grounds and was able to enter the league via the discovery process. Shaw followed suit the following year, forcing the league to take a deeper look into their policies and application to players under the age of 18

Player (2) Pos Team Signed With Age At Signing Start End Yrs Guaranteed Signed Date
Olivia Moultrie M POR 15 2021 2023 3 Jun 30, 2021
Jaedyn Shaw F SD 17 2022 2023 2 Jul 18, 2022
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