WPS Chicago Stars FC

Chicago Red Stars Acquire Lloyd, Tarpley and Markgraf

September 16, 2008 - Women's Professional Soccer (WPS)
Chicago Stars FC News Release


NEW YORK (September 16, 2008) - Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) announced the allocations of the U.S. Women's National Team to its seven franchises Tuesday during a ceremony at the Sports Museum of America in downtown Manhattan.

The announcement was hosted by NBA All-Star and WPS part-owner Steve Nash and presided over by WPS Commissioner Tonya Antonucci. Each of the seven teams set to begin play in WPS for the 2009 season were allocated three players apiece from the U.S. Women's National Team pool. The allocation followed an extensive process in which the players and teams submitted their preferences to the league and a committee then examined the lists to give its recommendations. The WPS Board of Governors met on September 14-15 to consult with players, teams and the league to determine the best possible dispersal for all parties with the following allocation results:

WPS Player Allocations - U.S. Women's National Team

WPS Team Players Listed in Alphabetical Order

Bay Area Nicole Barnhart Rachel Buehler Leslie Osborne

Boston Breakers Angela Hucles Kristine Lilly Heather Mitts

Chicago Red Stars Carli Lloyd Kate Markgraf Lindsay Tarpley

Los Angeles Shannon Boxx Stephanie Cox Aly Wagner

Sky Blue FC Natasha Kai Heather O'Reilly Christie Rampone

St. Louis Lori Chalupny Tina Ellertson Hope Solo

Washington Freedom Ali Krieger Abby Wambach Cat Whitehill

"The excitement for WPS allocation has been building for months as fans, coaches and even the players have been speculating about which athletes will be dispersed to each WPS market," said Antonucci. "This is a big day for Women's Professional Soccer, as teams now have Olympic gold medalists from Beijing allocated to their home cities along with other talented national team players. These are the first building blocks for the teams as the league begins the countdown to the inaugural 2009 WPS Season.

Following this week's U.S. Women's National Team allocation will be the international draft of top global stars the week of September 22nd which will assign teams the rights to negotiate with four premiere international players. That will be followed by a draft of remaining players in early October and again in January. The order of the international draft will depend on the weighted rankings voted on by teams following the U.S. Women's National Team allocation with the weakest-rated team selecting first and the strongest-weighted team selecting last.

"The allocation process was developed to give players the chance to provide their input on where they wanted to play, allow for dialogue between league and teams about marketing potential and to give the best opportunity for a level playing field among teams come April 2009 and the start of the WPS Season," said Antonucci."

"The Chicago Red Stars have taken a huge step toward building our championship team today," said Head Coach Emma Hayes. "I couldn't be happier with the players we acquired today. Carli Lloyd gives us a dynamic presence in the midfield, while Kate Markgraf provides us with veteran leadership in our defense, and Lindsay Tarpley is one of those special players whom you can rely upon to score big goals in big games."

The newly allocated players were thrilled by the prospects of playing in Chicago and for Coach Emma Hayes, in particular.

"Emma really gets the game," said Lloyd, "She supports the way I play and what I can bring to the team. She's really going to help me grow as a player."

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