The NWSL transfer and hiring market is ramping up, with both the 14 existing clubs and two incoming expansion teams busy bolstering their 2026 ranks just weeks into the offseason.

Last week, Bay FC announced that England U-23 head coach Emma Coates will become the 2024 expansion club’s second-ever manager, with fellow England youth national team and WSL staffer Gemma Davies joining Coates’s NWSL crew as an assistant coach.

“I’m truly honored and super excited to build on the strong foundations that have already been established and to implement a clear identity both on and off the pitch,” Coates said in Thursday’s statement. “[Bay FC] shares my passion for people, performance, and culture, which I believe are fundamental to sustained success.”

“Emma is not only an excellent coach, but she also has a proven track record of developing players to compete at the highest levels of both the domestic and international game,” remarked Bay Collective CEO Kay Cossington. “Emma has consistently demonstrated an ability to bring players and teams to the next level with clarity, care and purpose. She understands what it takes to build environments where people thrive and perform at their best.”

“Bay FC is gaining not only a great coach, but also someone that understands women’s football and our athletes inside and out.”

While Coates will wrap up her nearly three years at England’s U-23 helm to join Bay FC in the coming days, three other NWSL teams are still searching for permanent sideline leaders this offseason, as the Kansas City Current, North Carolina Courage, and Portland Thorns continue to conduct coaching searches.

The Thorns joined the leaderless ranks in late November, parting ways with manager Rob Gale following the team’s NWSL semifinals exit.

🏈 Flag football quarterback Diana Flores grew up being told “no” over and over again. As a little girl, her dream to become a football player had nowhere to grow, but Flores and her big smile were undeterred — she broke down barriers anyway.

• In collaboration with our friends at Invisalign®, we’re sharing the deeper stories behind your favorite women athletes’ smiles, starting with Invisalign’s three Game Changers: Flores, women’s soccer star Croix Bethune, and NCAA basketball icon Flau’jae Johnson.

Flores’ smile gave her power — let’s tell her Game Changer story.

👋 Name: Diana Flores

💪 Occupation: Quarterback & Captain, Mexican Women’s Flag Football National Team

🎂 Birthday: September 28th, 1997

🏆 Accolades: Gold medal at World Games (2025), Gold medal and MVP at World Games (2022)

👏 Flores started playing football at just eight years old, falling in love with the game and competing on boys teams. When she was 16 years old, she joined Mexico’s Women’s Flag Football National Team, but it took her nine years to reach the position of her dreams: quarterback.

• By 2021, Flores was under center and crushing it. She led Team Mexico to the 2022 World Games gold medal with a 39–6 win over the U.S. — and she was named MVP.

• And this year, Flores ran it back, once again leading her squad to a gold medal win over Team USA at the World Games. She’s unstoppable.

💪 Flores is an Invisalign Game Changer because her football legacy extends far beyond the gridiron. By bringing more attention to women’s flag football, Flores is building a better sport for girls that come after her and standing tall as a role model. When you can see it, you can be it.

• Flores believes a smile can break down any barrier, which is why she started her Invisalign journey, ensuring she has the confidence to change the game wherever her journey takes her.

Watch Flores’ full Invisalign Game Changers video at the link above and if you’re curious about upgrading your smile, take the Invisalign Oral Health Scan today.

Emma Hamilton loves Gaelic Football and we love to share girls’ sports stories.

If you’ve never heard of Gaelic Football it’s a fast, physical Irish team sport that looks like a hybrid of football and rugby, played with a round ball that can be kicked, caught and hand‑passed. Two teams of 15 try to move the ball up a large grass pitch and score by sending it over or under the crossbar between H‑shaped posts.

Here’s why Emma loves it…

I love Gaelic football because of the friendships and bonds you build with people. You share the highs and the lows together. Sometimes you might not speak to a teammate for months, or even fall out over something silly (most likely a boy 🤣), but in the end you always find your way back to each other. That’s the beauty of it, the team you play on isn’t just a team, it’s a family. And that family includes not only the players, but also the coaches, helpers, and everyone who supports.

The GIST: The puck drops on the Olympic women’s hockey tournament in 57 days, but there’s a whole lot to sort out before then, including which athletes will earn a coveted spot on the 23-woman rosters.

🔥 It’s the sixth edition of the Rivalry Series: The four-game set, which continues tonight at 9 p.m. ET, might be one game shorter than last year, but the stakes are higher: The “friendly” tilts are part of the Olympic roster selection process. As the only teams to win gold at the Games, it’s no secret that both countries’ player pools are deep — but this fierce rivalry runs even deeper.

• Last month, the Americans outscored Canada 10–2 over the series’ first two games with two Team USA mainstays, Seattle Torrent captain Hilary Knight and Minnesota Frost forward Taylor Heise, combining for nine points. A true beatdown.

• But it’s worth noting that the Canadian roster was missing starting goalie Ann-Renée Desbiens of the Montréal Victoire (among a few other Team Canada regulars) as head coach Troy Ryan opted to experiment with a less experienced lineup.

🇨🇦 Team Canada’s roster should be more representative in Game 3: With Desbiens back between the pipes and the return of the Ottawa Charge trio of Brianne Jenner, Jocelyne Larocque, and Emily Clark, tonight’s lineup should be closer to the roster Canada intends to bring to Italy. And with national pride on the line, this is welcome news for Canucks.

🇺🇸 Team USA looks locked in: The American roster is loaded with talent from top to bottom. In addition to Knight and Heise, the Americans have an injection of youth with NCAA superstars Abbey Murphy and Laila Edwards, offering a well-balanced lineup of Olympic rookies and veterans. They’ll look to run it back with the same group tonight. Pop that corn.

The Big Ten showed off its depth in women’s basketball this week, as a record-tying nine teams from the conference made Monday’s AP Top 25 poll.

With three teams — No. 4 UCLA, No. 6 Michigan, and No. 7 Maryland — still in the Top 10, the Big Ten has tied its own record for ranked squads set in December 2024, as No. 24 Nebraska joined this week’s list following a 9-0 start to the 2025/26 NCAA basketball season.

“I’ve been honored to be a part of this league for the last 13 seasons, working on year 14, where I’ve watched the [Big Ten] just get better and better,” said Michigan head coach Kim Barnes Arico after Monday’s poll drop.

No Big Ten team had a more dramatic weekend than Maryland, who kept their season’s unbeaten streak alive with a furious comeback to defeat unranked Minnesota 100-99 in double overtime on Sunday.

Despite falling behind by nine points in the second overtime period, the Terrapins executed an 8-0 run in just nine seconds to put the game within reach, before guard Saylor Poffenbarger hit the game-winner with just 11 seconds remaining.

“Maryland has a standard,” Poffenbarger said after her team-leading 30-point, 10-rebound double-double performance on Sunday. “When you come to Maryland, you know the things that come with it.”

2025/26 AP Top 25 Women’s College Basketball Poll: Week 6

1. UConn (9-0, Big East)
2. Texas (10-0, SEC)
3. South Carolina (9-1, SEC)
4. UCLA (9-1, Big Ten)
5. LSU (10-0, SEC)
6. Michigan (8-1, Big Ten)
7. Maryland (11-0, Big Ten)
8. TCU (10-0, Big 12)
9. Oklahoma (9-1, SEC)
10. Iowa State (10-0, Big 12)
11. Iowa (9-0, Big Ten)
12. UNC (9-2, ACC)
13. Baylor (9-1, Big 12)
14. Vanderbilt (9-0, SEC)
15. Kentucky (10-1, SEC)
16. USC (7-2, Big Ten)
17. Ole Miss (8-1, SEC)
18. Tennessee (6-2, SEC)
19. Notre Dame (6-2, ACC)
20. Washington (8-1, Big Ten)
21. Ohio State (7-1, Big Ten)
22. Louisville (8-3, ACC)
23. Oklahoma State (10-1, Big 12)
24. Nebraska (9-0, Big Ten)
25. Michigan State (8-1, Big Ten)

No. 1 UConn honored one of the NCAA basketball program’s legends on Sunday, hanging up the No. 10 jersey of Hall of Fame guard Sue Bird in a retirement ceremony prior to the Huskies’ dominant 102-35 victory over DePaul — their ninth win of the 2025/26 season.

A two-time NCAA champion, Bird is now one of only three UConn women’s basketball players with a number in the rafters, joining Rebecca Lobo and Swin Cash — and soon-to-be Maya Moore.

“This is home,” said Bird. “This is where it started. So to see what we are about to see, my number up in the rafters next to these other legends, it’s an incredible, incredible honor. Hard to put into words.”

“The amazing thing about [Cash, Lobo, Bird, and Moore] was the incredible amount of success they had after they left here,” said UConn head coach Geno Auriemma during Sunday’s jersey retirement ceremony. “That as great as their accomplishments were here, what they’ve done since they left has been nothing short of incredible.”

Bird became UConn’s first-ever No. 1 WNBA draft pick in 2002, with the floor general winning four titles with the Seattle Storm plus five Olympic gold medals as part of Team USA before retiring in 2022.

How to watch No. 1 UConn in action this week

After honoring their past superstar, the reigning national champions are now looking to the future, with No. 1 UConn gearing up for a ranked matchup against No. 16 USC on Saturday.

The clash between the Huskies and the Trojans will tip off at 5:30 PM ET, with live coverage airing on FOX.

No. 1 UConn honored one of the NCAA basketball program’s legends on Sunday, hanging up the No. 10 jersey of Hall of Fame guard Sue Bird in a retirement ceremony prior to the Huskies’ dominant 102-35 victory over DePaul — their ninth win of the 2025/26 season.

A two-time NCAA champion, Bird is now one of only three UConn women’s basketball players with a number in the rafters, joining Rebecca Lobo and Swin Cash — and soon-to-be Maya Moore.

“This is home,” said Bird. “This is where it started. So to see what we are about to see, my number up in the rafters next to these other legends, it’s an incredible, incredible honor. Hard to put into words.”

“The amazing thing about [Cash, Lobo, Bird, and Moore] was the incredible amount of success they had after they left here,” said UConn head coach Geno Auriemma during Sunday’s jersey retirement ceremony. “That as great as their accomplishments were here, what they’ve done since they left has been nothing short of incredible.”

Bird became UConn’s first-ever No. 1 WNBA draft pick in 2002, with the floor general winning four titles with the Seattle Storm plus five Olympic gold medals as part of Team USA before retiring in 2022.

How to watch No. 1 UConn in action this week

After honoring their past superstar, the reigning national champions are now looking to the future, with No. 1 UConn gearing up for a ranked matchup against No. 16 USC on Saturday.

The clash between the Huskies and the Trojans will tip off at 5:30 PM ET, with live coverage airing on FOX.

The GIST: Upsets are rolling in, playoff spots are changing hands like it’s a game of hot potato, and the weather forecast wreaked havoc on pivotal showdowns. Rain, shine, or snow, here are the storylines that shaped Week 14.

🐴 Indianapolis Colts quarterback (QB) Daniel Jones suffers torn Achilles: Unfortunately, the signal caller will require surgery after exiting the team’s tilt with the Jacksonville Jaguars in the first quarter. To add insult to literal injury, the Colts fell 36–19 (their 11th straight loss in Florida), bumping them to second in a competitive AFC South…and leaving them without their starting QB. Oof.

💥 Two new division leaders in the North: The high-stakes divisional showdowns didn’t end there. First, the AFC North put on a show as the Pittsburgh Steelers dropped the Baltimore Ravens to 6-7 with yesterday’s (controversial) 27–22 dub. The hard-fought win gives the Steelers sole possession of the division with just four weeks remaining in the regular season.

👀 Buffalo Bills, QB Josh Allen orchestrate fourth-quarter comeback: Turns out Superman’s alter ego isn’t Clark Kent — it’s Allen, who threw for four touchdowns, including two on fourth down, to lift the Bills to a 39–34 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. Down by double-digits for much of the game, the Bills picked off Bengals QB Joe Burrow twice in the fourth quarter to fuel their comeback.

As WNBA CBA negotiations rage on, revenue sharing continues to be a wedge issue for both sides of the table, with the league office and the WNBPA eyeing the terms of the most recent proposal from differing viewpoints.

The Athletic reported on Wednesday that the WNBA believes it has offered the revenue-sharing salary model that the players have pushed for throughout the CBA talks, leaving athletes to claim 50% of the “sharable” portion of league revenue.

How the WNBA will determine the “sharable” cut is uncertain, though sources claim the compensation structure on offer will result in players taking home less than 15% of the league’s total earnings.

That percentage is likely to take a further hit over the lifetime of a new CBA, according to the league’s multi-year earning projections.

“I don’t feel like there’s any cultivation of a culture of trust [in the CBA talks],” WNBPA president and Seattle Storm star Nneka Ogwumike told The Athletic. “I feel like we’ve been heard, but not listened to, and I’m hoping that that changes in this 40-day extension, because what we want to do is get a good deal done.”

Parental leave, draft combine, and more enters the WNBA CBA talks

Along with the issue of revenue sharing, the latest WNBA offer also reportedly outlined other proposals, such as the institution of a required offseason draft combine, the elimination of team housing, and the possible extension of the competition calendar by starting earlier and/or finishing the season later.

As for the WNBPA’s Tuesday counteroffer, the players union is seeking to eliminate the core designation and shorten the current four-year rookie contract to three years.

The WNBPA is also asking to add non-birthing parental leave, retirement benefits, and reimbursements for mental healthcare.

The WNBA and WNBPA will meet again to negotiate sometime this week, with talks racing toward the second-extension deadline of January 9th, 2026.