NWSL Notebook: The Washington Spirit Are Once Again A Destination Team

New member of the Washington Spirit Kelley O’Hara remembered watching the Washington Spirit earlier in 2020, and she didn’t just see a team, under head coach Richie Burke, that was competitive. She saw a team she wanted to join.

“I just remember this summer in the Challenge Cup, watching the team play and being almost envious and excited for them because of the way they were playing, the energy on the field, just the style of soccer,” O’Hara said during her introductore press conference last week. “So I think that Richie has done a very good job. And the ownership here is putting the pieces together to get this club to where it needs to be to win an NWSL championship.”

Whether the offseason plan the Spirit have undertaken will work or not remains to be seen. O’Hara will matter a great deal for 2021, but the loss of Rose Lavelle won’t be easy to overcome overnight, and Japanese international Saori Takarada, one of the key new players brought in to help on the attacking front, is still just 21.

But from a league perspective, a tentpole national team member like O’Hara asking into playing with the Spirit reflects a larger buy-in for Washington as a destination and a franchise concept. With 2021 comes more uncertainty, but ultimately, a chance to play more at Audi Field and for a team that seems to be on the rise.

This matters in NWSL terms because a league is only as good as its weakest link, even though a league’s potential can be measured by its strongest franchise. And that’s never been truer than in the NWSL, where we’ve seen teams like the Spirit and Sky Blue FC suffer through self-inflicted wounds that affected their abilities to keep and even acquire players who preferred to play elsewhere.

Notably, O’Hara asked out of Utah just ahead of Utah itself ceasing to be an NWSL franchise, with ownership transferred from Dell Loy Hansen to a Kansas City group headed by Angie and Chris Long. Hansen’s own problems as owner helped force this change, and it is worth noting that the league quickly moved to fix this, a far cry from the extended periods with problems we’ve seen at other outposts through the years.

The limitations, business-wise, to a fledgling league when there are franchises failing to compete at a minimum level are stark, not least of which because there is outsized media attention on those who are failing.

So sure, O’Hara got the chance to go home. But she could have asked for that opportunity for years. That she did so now is telling.

“It’s the best Yuletide present I think I’ve ever received,” O’Hara said of the trade. “So I’m just thankful that it finally got to a place where I can now call D.C. my home off the field, but now on the field as well.”

Other news and notes around NWSL

OL Reign took care of a few pieces of business, signing Dani Weatherholt and Kristen McNabb to two-year deals and Sam Hiatt to a three-year contract, locking in some of the 2020 performers long-term. But the big upside for 2021 comes in a trade of Taylor Smith and the rights to Jodie Taylor for Ally Watt, the electric attacker selected sixth overall in the 2020 draft. Watt was blocked in North Carolina and missed most of the season with a torn ACL, but Watt is a deeply dangerous player with upside who could make OL Reign more potent after a Fall Series and Challenge Cup where the team finished eighth and sixth, respectively, in goals scored…

…Sky Blue FC is holding open tryouts January 7-8, with Racing Louisville FC following on January 9-10. No better time to chase your dream than the present…

…Longtime national team member Crystal Dunn has signed with Disrupt The Game, an agency headed by Allison Galer. She joins a group that includes WNBA stars Chiney Ogwumike, Liz Cambage and Amanda Zahui B.