Jan. 11, 2013

UCLA alumnae Sydney Leroux and Lauren Cheney will play the inaugural National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) season in Boston and Kansas City, respectively, after 55 National Team players from the U.S., Canada and Mexico were allocated to teams on Friday. The season begins this Spring.

Leroux and Cheney were both members of the U.S. gold medal-winning team at the 2012 Olympics and teammates at UCLA in 2008 and 2009. Leroux was a three-time All-American (2009-11) and the No. 4 all-time leading scorer in UCLA history with 126 points. Cheney, who also won a gold medal at the 2008 Olympics, was a four-time All-American (2006-09) and is UCLA's all-time leading scorer with 173 points and 71 goals.

The NWSL is an eight-team league organized and administered by the U.S. Soccer Federation. The eight founding teams are the Boston Breakers, Chicago Red Stars, FC Kansas City, Portland Thorns FC, Seattle Reign FC, Sky Blue FC (New York/New Jersey), the Washington Spirit and the Western New York Flash.

The player allocation process was conducted with assistance from a panel of experts. Along with the panel's collective input on the technical ability of the players, in preparation for the allocation, players selected their preferred destinations. The clubs also provided their preference with regard to specific players and qualities of players desired. Based on the input from the panel of experts and the teams, players were assigned numerical values on quality and desirability.

Teams will further add to their rosters on Jan. 18 with the collegiate draft, which will take place in Indianapolis. UCLA seniors Zakiya Bywaters, Chelsea Cline and Lucretia Lee are eligible for the draft.