FC Kansas City's Kristie Mewis is already one of the U.S. subsidized players. (Photo Copyright Thad Bell for www.womens.soccerly.com | http://www.tpbphoto.com/)
It has been widely assumed that FC Kansas City rookie Kristie Mewis would become an allocated player come the 2014 National Women’s Soccer League season. Turns out, she already had her status elevated earlier in the season
The more appropriate term would be “subsidized,” since players have already been allocated, but Mewis was received a U.S. Soccer pay bump earlier in the year, FC Kansas City confirmed.
Mewis, the No. 3 overall draft pick in January, was receiving the maximum rookie salary (amount still undisclosed) when at some point during the year, she began receiving an increased U.S. Soccer supplement in addition to her FC Kansas City salary. The news all but assures the obvious — that Mewis will be one of the U.S. players supplemented by U.S. Soccer in 2014.
Mewis has played in six games this year with the U.S. women’s national team after debuting in February.
“The players under contract to the (U.S.) WNT are determined by the head coach within the framework of the CBA (collective bargaining agreement),” NWSL director of communications Patrick Donnelly said Friday afternoon via email. “The number of players under contract can change at any time. Not all of the WNT contracted players were allocated to the NWSL, as several are playing for clubs in Europe.”
It’s important to note that: 1) FC Kansas City is still paying Mewis the same salary for which she signed. The additional compensation comes directly from U.S. Soccer. 2) It is highly, highly unlikely that any teams will have to give up players next season just because they have more subsidized players than other teams. Mewis would make four U.S. players for FC Kansas City, and if you didn’t notice, Erika Tymrak and Leigh Ann Robinson are in the upcoming U.S. camp. It’s still way too early to say that will amount to something as major as a subsidized spot, though. But the most likely scenario for players that get elevated to subsidized status is that teams will have to pay some portion of their salary against the cap, with the rest coming from the federation.
