Gary Gibson
For sports journalists and pundits there is no more fun time than covering drafts. They are so unpredictable. Trying to guess who goes where is extremely fun. Do you draft based on need or best player available? The National Women’s Soccer League draft is unlike many others due to the vast number of players for so few roster spots. There is very little science behind the NWSL draft. One of our favorite sites trying to fill in that gap is www. https://soccerdossier.com/. For contrast, the National Football League draft is big business. There is so much money being poured into data analysis, game films, psychology and personality exams. Even with that excruciating detail the NFL draft is wholly unpredictable. There is a saying in draft circles that it takes around three years to know if a draft pick or class works out. Instant grades are merely perfunctory exercises. Fun, but ultimately meaningless. So, I thought it would be an interesting exercise to look back at the 2018 draft and see if it was hit or miss.
For context, you need to know a couple things. Speaking to the unpredictability of drafts and the limited roster spots we will establish a baseline that if one player from the draft class makes an impact you had a pretty good draft. If you hit on two draft picks, then you did remarkably well. Three is astronomically good.
As an example, in 2017 Sky Blue drafted Mandy Freeman, Kailen Sheridan and Madison Tiernan. That's quite an impactful haul. All three had first team impacts. Tiernan retired due to injuries after being a regular starter. Sheridan was steady in net and is recognized as one of the best keepers in the world. Sheridan has moved on in the off season to the San Diego Wave but there is no one who can deny her impact on the first team. Mandy Freeman is a rising star and current anchor of a very good Gotham backline. I’d give 2017 an A-.
To understand this particular draft, we have to look back at where Sky Blue FC was as a club in 2018. For those who lived through it and are justifiably still scarred from it, feel free to skip to the down to the word “Continue”.
Sky Blue head coach Cristy Holly had just resigned from his post under dubious circumstances and Denise Reddy was installed as the new head coach of the team. There had been dark cloud hanging over the club at this time. Allegations of low pay, poor housing situations, toxic team environment, facilities that didn’t have showers, and uninterested and chaotic management under Tony Novo. The vibe around this club was at its lowest point. Gotham also had shipped all world all-star Sam Kerr and Nikki Stanton to Chicago. Kerr, after playing a game against Sky blue had this to say.
“I’m just going to say the girls deserve better and I’m just going to leave it at that. These girls are great girls. They give everything of themselves for this club and this league and they just deserve better,”
This led supporter group Cloud 9 to issue a public statement asking for change.
Continue:
Onto the draft: Gotham ended up with 5 picks. Three of which were back-to-back-to-back in the first round. Picks 4-5-6. Let’s go through each selection and see how they fared. Then we’ll give our overall thoughts and grades. Look for a poll to go up on @overgothampod on twitter for the fans take.
With the fourth pick of the first round Sky Blue selected forward Michaela Abam out of West Virginia. Michaela was signed to the first team, made 4 appearances and then was released in July that same year. Michaela went on to play at Paris FC 2018-2019 and then to Real Betis in 2019-2020. Finally returned to the NWSL where she now plays for her hometown club the Houston Dash.
With the 5th pick in the draft Sky Blue selected forward Imani Dorsey out of Duke University. Clearly the gem of this draft class as far as impact on the first team. Imani quickly showed off her talent to the league, scoring 4 goals and becoming the 2018 NWSL Rookie of the Year. Possessing a high soccer IQ she converted to an outside back seamlessly where she’s been a mainstay opposite Caprice Dydasco. The two form one of the best outside back pairings in the league. Imani has grown as a player and leader on and off the field. Her growth as a player is surely being recognized as she was selected into the USWNT camp this past off-season. Gotham FC head coach calls Dorsey “The moral compass of the team”. Dorsey represents everything this clubs stands for. Imani is as Gotham FC as it gets.
With the 6th pick in the first round Sky Blue selected defender Amandine Pierre-Louis from West Virginia. Amandine was signed to the first team and made 14 appearances over 2 seasons registering one assist, 3 yellow cards and a red. Has since played in Belgium, France and now in Switzerland.
In the second round, pick 13 Sky Blue selected goal keeper Casey Murphy out of Rutgers. Casey had already accepted an offer to play in Europe and elected to stay there. Possibly the aforementioned controversies and Sky Blue already having an established keeper factored in her decision to stay in Europ and get minutes. It is worth noting that this subsequent draft class saw both first round selections Halie Mace and Julia Ashley, not sign with the club. Friends and family stating that conditions around the club were reasons they did not sign (NorthJersey.com).
Lastly, in the 4th round, pick 35 Sky Blue selected forward Kiana Palacious out of University of California Irvine. Now Kiana Palacios-Hernandez, was ultimately not signed and headed west to Orange County California to start her professional career with LA Galaxy women's team. Kiana is currently playing for Club America in the Liga MX Feminil and has represented the Mexican Women’s National team, making 28 appearances.
Essentially Sky Blue made it out of this draft with one impactful player in Imani Dorsey. Most of these players made little to no impact on the first team considering the impact the 2017 draft class. However, considering the impact that Imani has made for this club on and off the field, that’s a pretty good draft. Imani represents everything Gotham FC claims to represent and Imani is a player representative for the NSWLPA and one of the founding members of the Black Women’s Player Collective. A very impactful organization. It is because of Dorsey and only Dorsey that I will grade this draft as a B-.
For further context and reading:
On the controversies surrounding 2018 Sky Blue FC:
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