Soccer Monday: Gotham and the Spirit wrap up the 2025 season, Berman wraps up the state of the league

Along the way, there was the revival of Jaedyn Shaw, whose joy was clearly back following the trade from the North Carolina Courage, where she never quite found a fit. And then there was Midge Purce, back to triumphantly smoking a cigar after recovering from an ACL injury last year.

“I keep saying this was such a roller coaster of a season for us. We had injuries. We had a really daunting schedule with the amount of games that we were playing, the travel. I think just like the way that every single individual stepped up in the moments, did what they were asked to, was so huge. I think you learn the most about yourself in the toughest moments. And so, I think what we faced throughout the season really helped set us up,” Lavelle said after the game.

For the Spirit, it was a second straight year of disappointment. Last year it was a loss to the Pride, and this year it was Gotham.

“We’re devastated, obviously, We’re really sad. We’ve put in a lot this year. It’s been the hardest year for everybody on our team. We’ve gone through a lot, and again, like our coach, he couldn’t have said that much. He’s just very proud of us. At the end of the day, we don’t want to sit t”Fhere and hear a long speech. He doesn’t want to give a long speech after a result like that. We’ve already said everything we need to. We know where we stand and we’re proud of ourselves, but at this point in time we’re just sad,” Trinity Rodman said.

Asked about how tough the season was for her personally, she said she was grateful, but it was the hardest season she’s ever had. Then she started to get choked up, said “F*ck” sadly and was whisked away by a team staffer.

Of course, there were a lot of eyeballs on Rodman, as we mentioned last week, because she is a free agent now that the season’s over. Rodman’s last comments on the matter were that she was going to get through the final before making a decision.

Rodman’s situation was one of the issues that Jessica Berman addressed before the championship game in her annual “state of the league’ address.

She was pretty emphatic: “We want Trinity in the NWSL and we will fight for her.”

Berman acknowledged that there is the ability for the NWSL and its players’ association to revisit the salary cap at any time. Berman insisted, however, that team investment “has to have a rational relationship to revenue.”

“When we go through that process of reviewing the overall ecosystem and the value proposition that we’re offering to top talent and to our players, and we’re looking at the amount being invested in training facilities, in stadiums, in compensation for players, we have to look at it in the context of where our business is at,” Berman said. “And of course, we’ve made incredible strides in a very short period of time to drive commercial growth both at the league level and our clubs. But that is the lens that we consistently look at it through.”

In other words, it doesn’t sound like any changes in the salary cap will be made soon.

The state of the league address, as usual, hit on many topics.

Berman was asked by ESPN’s Jeff Kassouf about the possibility of moving the NWSL’s schedule in alignment with the international calendar, much like MLS recently announced.

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“Of course, we’ve been tracking this not only in terms of what MLS might do, but the global women’s international match calendar. And it’s a very complex matrix for us to analyze, as you know, I think you’ve been covering it long before I was in the seat. This has been discussed and debated for many, many years across our league, as well as Major League Soccer. There are certainly opportunities that can be created with us, not overlapping with Major League Soccer in that the schedule congestion for our summer calendar will be mitigated. On the other hand, there will of course be other challenges that it creates in terms of understanding and knowing stadium availability. And so we’re in the process of analyzing that. We will continue to analyze that and also analyze, as importantly, from a macro perspective, what makes the most sense for our league.”

She was also asked about the absence of a league trans-inclusive policy. It is a long answer, and I’m not fond of the consideration of the broader conversations about policy and testing happening around this country and internationally. The NWSL can, and should, take a stand here.

“I’ll start by saying that, the policy is always under review. All of our policies are always under review. We are always pushing ourselves to iterate and innovate and be the best that we possibly can. And that’s been a consistent theme in virtually every subject matter that I’ve addressed with the media and internally since I came in 2022. As it relates to that specific policy and issue, I want to make sure it’s clear to everyone, number one, that we support each and every player who plays in our league. We think that’s really important for everybody to know. Second, people have asked a lot about our policy and I want to be clear that our policy is essentially our practice and our practice has been that every single player that you see competing in the NWSL has been deemed to be eligible, and there should be no question about that.

“Of course, there’s broader conversations happening at a domestic, local and global level about all the different definitions and the different testing and other policies and protocols that have been eyed around both internationally and here within this country. We are continuing to monitor that. We are speaking with subject matter experts on that, and any changes that we make in that regard will be done in conjunction with and collaboration with our players and the players association. And so for the foreseeable future, and until anyone else is notified otherwise, our policy is our practice. And the players who compete in the NWSL are eligible, supported and welcome in our league.”

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There was one topic Berman touched on that I thought was interesting: Relocation. What happens if a market no longer supports its team?

“The league, like most professional sports leagues, has a policy that determines how we think about relocation. It needs to be, it should be initiated by the owner in the market or the league office. And right now there are no current markets that are being evaluated for relocation. We think it’s really important that in the event relocation, wherever it can be considered, that it is considered as a last resort. We think our clubs are assets of the community, and the fans and the players depend on our commitment to do everything we can to make a team successful in their market. And there is a trust between a team and a market that is critically important. That doesn’t mean that it wouldn’t be evaluated in extenuating circumstances, but as a default. And in general terms, we really do think of it as a last resort.”

Finally, there was a valid issue brought up about expansion to Atlanta, given the state’s abortion laws. (You’ll recall Georgia kept a brain-dead pregnant woman alive so that she could incubate her fetus until it was viable, so yes, it’s a concern.)

“When we make a decision about expansion, there a host of factors, we look at ownership facilities and the market. And in particular, when we think about a market, we look at the values of the community. It is one of the factors in terms of what the environment is for our players and whether they’re able to be supported, and we’re really confident in the last few years that any situations that we’ve needed to work with our players to make sure that their health and medical needs are addressed can be addressed with them individually, regardless of where our teams are located.”

LINKS

Just a few links here about the match, because I figure most folks watched.

Gotham rides moments to the championship, from ESPN

ESPN also had its annual GM survey last week

Rose Lavelle’s magic gives Gotham the title

USL teams offers Rodman a big contract, from The Athletic

Also from The Athletic, Tamerra Griffin’s longform piece on the challenges Berman faces.

Temwa Chawinga wins second straight MVP

Girma returns for final USWNT matches of the year

I wrote about the Black Women’s Player Collective hosting a cool event in Texas to develop young talent.

The USWNT will honor Christen Press at a January match against Paraguay

How Spanish managers are dominating women’s soccer in America

After tragedy, Washington women’s soccer is headed to the Elite Eight

BBC makes the case for equal FA Cup prize money

NY will celebrate Gotham’s championship

TNT is going to televise the World Sevens tournament in Florida next month.