Recently, the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) announced that they will be moving forward with a second division of the league by submitting the petition to US Soccer. Let’s take a deep dive into the available information and see what a D2 league for the NWSL could potentially look like.

In a statement to ESPN, the NWSL said “As a global leader in the women's soccer landscape both on and off the pitch, the NWSL and its member clubs are committed to growing our sport in meaningful ways,” 

“The demand for professional soccer has never been higher. We look forward to working to build a strong foundation for future generations of players, officials and coaches and ensure the continued advancement of the women's game.”

The division to launch is meant to be a place where player growth is fostered and potentially is meant to be seen as a feeder league into the NWSL. This can be like into the minor-league baseball leagues or even the youth programs for U.S. Soccer, like the U-17 and U-23 teams. The idea is to give players a space to develop before going fully professional.

There are eight teams slotted that are current NWSL teams to have division two teams under the same team name and branding. These teams are Bay FC, Kansas City Current, North Carolina Courage, NJ/NY Gotham FC, Orlando Pride, Racing Louisville, Seattle Reign and the Washington Spirit. The teams would play in a style similar to the NWSL division one where it is round Robin style. This means each team plays each team twice, one home and one away. The league would also have playoffs for the division two teams, similarly to their division one counterparts. 

In a statement to CBS, the NWSL said the following “The National Women's Soccer League has formally submitted an application and supporting documentation for a new Division II league to the United States Soccer Federation. As a global leader in the women's soccer landscape both on and off the pitch, the NWSL and its member clubs are committed to growing our sport in meaningful ways. The demand for professional soccer has never been higher. We look forward to working to build a strong foundation for future generations of players, officials and coaches and ensure the continued advancement of the women's game."

The division 2 league of the NWSL is set to begin in 2026, which is only six months away. 

A second division is the start to, hopefully, building a platform for young players to build skills to perform in division one of the NWSL. It is interesting, considering Olivia Mountie and her family fought hard to change the rules regarding age caps in the NWSL. Would this eliminate players in division one like Moultrie? 

In May of 2021, Moultrie filed a lawsuit against the NWSL for having an age limit to when players can be on a team. The limit was 18 years old. The MLS, major league soccer, allows players under 18 as well as many European teams. Moultrie’s argument was not for a roster spot or an automatic contract, but an opportunity to be seen as a viable player for the league. 

In the spring of 2021 she filed an antitrust case alleging that the league, as the “only acquirer of talent in the market,” violated antitrust laws with its age limit. The court needed less than three weeks to rule in her favor. But will the creation of a division 2 allow the NWSL to back track on the changes Moultrie fought hard for? 

There is also San Diego Wave’s Melanie Barcenas, who debuted at age 15 and 181 days old, as well as another Wave player Kimmi Ascanio, at age 16. Both Barcenas and Ascanio have performed well in the youth teams for US Soccer, including the U-17s Championship and qualifiers for the U-17 World Cup.

Some have raised their concern regarding youth playing alongside adults, and a second division league may be the answer to supporting the youth movement that is currently sweeping the NWSL. 

The second division league also may be a move to cover the lack of a college draft. The NWSL draft, which included college and current players, was ended in 2024 as part of the negotiated collective bargaining agreement with the National Women’s Soccer League Player’s Association (NWSLPA). 

By eliminating the draft and replacing it with a division two league, the goal is to help more young players have access to a transitional space and build a space for building roster depth. It could be said that even inter division transfers could become popular, though the details of how that will work have yet to be revealed.

The application also comes shortly after the WPSL announced that they would be seeking division two status for WPSL PRO. This was after Cleveland Pro Soccer lost their bid for an NWSL team to Denver and sought investment in the WPSL PRO. The WPSL PRO will also be launching in 2026.

It cannot be ignored that the NWSL’s push for a division two could be correlated to the WPSL filing for their own division two league, but no statements have been made to corroborate the correlation. 

As details trickle out from the NWSL and U.S. Soccer, we will certainly have to track the differences between the two division two leagues and see if more details match up. Overall, the fans seem to be interested but it is hard to know when the NWSL keeps the cards so close to their chest.