We keep rolling along with our 2020 roundup and focus in on OL Reign and the NWSL. Joining us this week are Susie Rantz (@susierants), Sounder at Heart contributor and co-host of the Coffee & Valkyries Podcast, and Andrew Harvey (@soccervox), communications manager for OL Reign and broadcast voice for the Tacoma Defiance, Tacoma Stars, Seattle Pacific University Men’s Team, Seattle University Men’s Soccer, and University of Washington’s Men’s and Women’s Soccer Teams.
We start off by speculating on the now official loan of Jordan Morris to Swansea City A.F.C. of the English Championship (currently 2nd) and what that might mean not only for Jordan’s career and USMNT exposure, but also for the Sounders are they are set to begin the 2021 MLS campaign in the near future and will have to address Morris’ short term (or perhaps long term) absence from the team. We also discuss the departure of Sounders sporting director Chris Henderson to Inter Miami CF where he will assume the mantle of Chief Soccer Officer and Sporting Director for the second-year MLS club. In addition to the loan fee for Jordan Morris, the Sounders may be seeing a decent cash influx due to Henry Wingo’s continued career progression as he makes a move from Swedish side Molde to Hungarian side Ferencvaros TC. MLS continues to engage in discussions with the MLSPA through the media in an attempt to negotiate an updated CBA, much to the collective frustration of everyone.
After taking last season off due to Covid-19 concerns and to recover from some lingering injuries, Megan Rapinoe has returned to the USWNT in their January camp and ideally OL Reign once the NWSL season starts later this spring. The USWNT played two fixtures against a scrappy and young Colombian side this week winning the first 4-0 and the second 6-0. The USWNT head coach is former OL Reign coach, Vlatko Andonovski. While there is no official start date for OL Reign and the rest of the NWSL, plans seem to be to replicate the Challenge Cup format to kick the season off, which logistically may be difficult to do in the same fashion with the Utah Royals returning to Kansas City under new ownership.
What does the roster look like for OL Reign heading into the 2021 season? While it may be a little early for full roster analysis, the team looks to be strong at all positions as they look to head into training camp in the coming weeks. We discuss the recent trade of Darian Jenkins to Kansas City for Tziarra King, who had a very strong rookie season in Utah for the Royals not only on the field but also in taking a lead on speaking out on social and racial justice issues. We also discuss FCKC coming back into the NWSL fold and how Jenkins can make an impact under a new ownership group. Potential expansion back into the Utah market in the future could happen again though that prospect is complicated due to the current infrastructure of Utah’s professional soccer teams is still controlled by a horrible person. We keep on that topic and discuss upcoming league expansion and the possibility of other European ownership groups entering into the league in the same fashion as Olympique Lyonnais.
Will we still have a soccer specific stadium in Tacoma? Pre Covid-19 pandemic support for the stadium was high across the board. Should more funding come from the teams that will be playing in a future stadium to take more pressure off of the city? Does the continued existence of OL Reign in Tacoma hinge on the stadium being built in the same time frame? We talk about the fall out of Tony Parker’s off the cuff comments about wanting to move the team to Miami and OL’s commitment to having two players come play for OL Reign for the 2021 season (Wendie Renard anyone?). OL Reign are set to begin training camp on February 1st here in the Tacoma area to prepare for the Challenge Cup. We talk about their training environment and available facilities to them.
We close it out with some listener questions.
Regular featured cast:
@muffintopmodel Tim Hamilton
@podfish Steve Ketelsen
@jm_murf John Murphy
@nate_bowling Nathan Bowling (emeritus & occasional)
@cm_peterson Cat Peterson (hiatus)
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