On Thursday morning, the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) announced that it will allow Jaedyn Shaw to enter the NWSL through a discovery process that will take place on Thursday, July 7, 2022.
The 17-year-old midfielder has been playing her youth club soccer for Solar SC in Dallas, the very same club that produced prodigious Texas talents such as Trinity Byars, Lexi Missimo, Emj Cox and Messiah Bright in recent years.
In the spring of 2022, Shaw was invited to train with NWSL club the Washington Spirit as a preseason non-roster invitee. Now as numerous women's international tournaments are set to get underway this summer, many NWSL teams are adding to their rosters to make up for the national team players' absences.
The NWSL's youth policy would make Shaw eligible for the 2023 draft for entry into the NWSL. The policy also allows the NWSL to amend its rules at any time at the league's own discretion.
For a variety of reasons, including the fact that Shaw will turn 18 in November and has already taken the necessary steps to turn professional and forgo her NCAA eligibility, the NWSL has exercised its authority and amended its entry process to allow NWSL teams to select Shaw through the discovery process.
As part of this process, any team that seeks to participate in the discovery process would need to demonstrate a plan for how they would comply with the safeguarding rules related to minors until Shaw turns 18.
“I have spent the first two months of my tenure as commissioner of the NWSL reviewing all of our policies and procedures to ensure our league is set up for success, now and in the future,” said NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman.
“This is a special circumstance that I believe requires us to show flexibility in how we execute our policies, and as a practical matter, is part of our ongoing review of our age restriction policy. In the interim, we have determined that our best course of action is to allow Jaedyn Shaw to join the NWSL as part of this discovery process.”
The NWSL age restriction policy remains in place as the league continues to review and revise its policies and procedures and any future requests will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
Shaw returns to the U.S. after competing in the Sud Ladies Cup with the U.S. youth national team U20 squad. The USA won the tournament, and Shaw was named in the competition's Best XI.
𝙅𝙖𝙚𝙙𝙮𝙣 𝙎𝙝𝙖𝙬 𝙈𝙞𝙘’𝙙 𝙐𝙥 🎙
— U.S. Soccer YNT (@USYNT) June 22, 2022
The sights and sounds from #U20WYNT camp in France! 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/QM7VM0EnR0
Is Shaw the first player under 18 to feature in the NWSL?
No. During the 2021 season, Olivia Moultrie — who at the time was 15 — became the youngest-ever NWSL player. The ground-breaking case came after many months of legal battles between Moultrie's family and the NWSL. Moultrie signed for her hometown team the Portland Thorns in the summer of 2021.
It would seem the Moultrie case has helped change the way the NWSL intends to operate moving forward. Shaw's imminent arrival onto a professional roster shows that the avenue for talented youth players to make the leap directly from club soccer into the NWSL could soon be more normal.
Moultrie scored her first-ever goal as a professional against the Houston Dash at the Women's International Champions Cup in August 2021. In June 2022, she scored her first-ever NWSL goal. Coincidentally, the strike was also against the Dash.
"She's like Ashley Sanchez"
Speaking to the media ahead of this weekend's NWSL matches, Chicago Red Stars head coach Chris Petrucelli compared Shaw to Washington Spirit and U.S. women's national team player Ashley Sanchez.
"She is very smooth on the ball," Petrucelli told The Striker. "She's probably more of a 10 than a forward. With her ability to dribble and penetrate, she is like Ashley Sanchez. Of course, Sanchez is a lot further along in her career."
Jaedyn Shawpic.twitter.com/1NWXEt7dJf
— Melina Melinae (@melinae07) June 30, 2022
Petrucelli was the head coach of the SMU Mustangs NCAA women's soccer team for 10 seasons before taking up his current role in the NWSL in 2022. While in Dallas, he worked with Shaw during U.S. soccer youth camps. Petrucelli says she is one of the most talented players he has ever worked with in the Texas youth soccer hotbed.
The Chicago head coach also commented on what he thinks Shaw's entering into the discovery process could mean for the NWSL changing its rules around players under the age of 18.
"We are going to start seeing this more and more. There are a lot of younger players who can come in and make an impact. I'm happy the league is making these adjustments," said Petrucelli.
