Columbus
April 2026
Columbus has officially been awarded an NWSL expansion franchise and will become the league’s 18th club. The team is set to begin play in spring 2028 alongside Atlanta. The league confirmed the new club will be owned by the Haslam family through Haslam Sports Group, the same organisation behind the Columbus Crew, Cleveland Browns and Milwaukee Bucks. The announcement was made at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field.
Rose Lavelle
January 2026
Lavelle won U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year for the first time after returning from ankle surgery and delivering major national team and club impact. She returned in late June, produced goals and assists in her starts for the USWNT, then drove Gotham’s late surge and scored the NWSL Championship winner against Washington Spirit, also taking Championship MVP.
Laura Harvey (Seattle Reign)
November 2025
Harvey said ChatGPT helped stress-test tactical ideas, including selective back-five usage against specific NWSL opponents. The prompt-driven exercise broadened scenario planning and catalyzed defensive tweaks that underpinned a jump from 13th to fourth and a playoff berth. AI outputs served as brainstorming seeds; staff validated with film, data, and training-ground rehearsals before match adoption. Harvey emphasized AI as a supplement, not a substitute, for scouting and coaching intuition. The five-at-the-back became a flexible phase tool, not merely a late-lead lock.
