On a beautiful fall day at Lake Eola in Orlando, OCSC’s Founder and President Phil Rawlins addressed a crowd filled with mayors, commissioners, and soccer fans. “The time is right for women’s professional soccer here in Central Florida, and we are excited to launch this new team for 2016.” Rawlins was announcing the formation of the newly formed Nation Women’s Soccer League team, Orlando Pride.
Building the roster and technical staff will be a complex and extensive process that will be drawn-out by newly appointed Pride Head Coach, Tom Sermanni, as well as Orlando City and Orlando Pride General Manager, Paul McDonough.
“We are starting from scratch,” admitted McDonough. “We need everything. We are talking, and we will use every mechanism possible in order to build the squad.”
However, McDonough and Sermanni solidified the foundation of the roster less than a week after the announcement of the team. Orlando Pride acquired Canadian International, Kaylyn Kyle, and U.S. Internationals, Sarah Hagen and Alex Morgan.
These highly notable acquisitions prove one thing, Orlando is building a dominant roster from the very start. “Alex Morgan will be the best striker in the world for some time to come,” Adamantly expressed Coach Sermanni. “She is just now getting into her prime. She had a couple of unfortunate injuries, however even considering that, she has still managed to have good form. She is now looking as healthy as I have seen her in two years. If she can remain healthy, she will be stellar.”
Being able to bring in Morgan was a significant acquisition for Orlando Pride, however, Orlando brought in two exquisite pieces with the signings of Kyle and Hagen. “She is a winner,” affirmed McDonough when speaking about Kyle. “She plays in the holding midfield, and it is tough to find good holding midfield players…It was an important piece for us.”
McDonough continued on speaking about Hagen. “Sarah is a young striker and she needs a chance. The important thing is that when Alex was really successful, she played with somebody like Abby [Wambach] who is a big kind of striker, who offset her pace which she could play off of. We believe Sarah presents that, and with the attention that Alex may draw, we believe Sarah will score goals. She will be a great piece.”
There are more mechanisms in place that will be used in continuing to build the core of the roster. The rules and process of building a team via expansion in NWSL are quite similar to the expansion process that Orlando City and McDonough went through when they were building their expansion team in MLS.
Through mediums such as the expansion draft, and the signing of players through discovery signings, as well as the 2016 NWSL college draft, and player trades, Orlando Pride will continue to build their roster through the coming months.
“It’s hard to say right now,” stated Sermanni when asked about what specific players he will be looking at in the coming weeks. “There isn’t a free marketplace so we are waiting to know what players will be available.” However, Sermanni does know what type of players he is looking for to help build a winning culture. “Ideally you are looking for players who will fit our management style, our style of play, and will fit into the culture we are trying to build within the club.”
With many decisions left to be made before the Pride take the pitch for the first time next April, one thing is for sure, Sermanni, McDonough, and the rest of Orlando Pride organization will be looking to build a team that will be successful in Orlando, and maintain the winning culture that was set when Orlando City originally came to Central Florida five years ago.
