This week, we talk with Washington Spirit head coach Richie Burke about the new women's indoor league (NISL) which is starting this winter and whether he sees it as an off-season option for NWSL players, as well as his thoughts on long-term roster planning as the country opens up after the COVID pandemic.

We also discuss Racing Louisville's two new English internationals and the international powerhouses that they will play this summer in Louisville's first international invitational tournament, as well as the third edition of the International Champions Cup in Portland, the winner of which is being touted by their presenting agency as the Club World Champion. TribalFootball.com received Portland Timbers/Portland Thorns General Manager/President of Soccer Gavin Wilkinson's thoughts on the award of the summer event.

With Olympique Lyon of France coming to the Portland tourney, we have news on the head coaching front for Lyon as well as a Lyon player coming to OL Reign in Tacoma on loan for 2021—both very familiar names to followers of the women's game. We then look at a second future Australian national team identification camp this year, involving W-League players from 2020/21. We also focus on two W-League players and Matildas who are moving abroad.

Washington Spirit head coach Richie Burke provides his thoughts on the New Professional Soccer Opportunity for NWSL players with the new Indoor (NISL) League and on Roster Building during the COVID Pandemic.

Washington Spirit head coach Richie Burke, who played professional soccer indoors and outdoors in the States, talked with TribalFootball.com about the new professional National Indoor Soccer League (NISL)—which will begin with men's and women's leagues this December in the Southeastern U.S.—and whether he views it is an option for NWSL players to consider during their offseason or whether the transition between codes is too different (see: The Week in Women's Football: Ferroviara wins Libertadores Cup Femenina; NISL launches new league; Addo returns to Sweden; - Tribal Football).

In part due to COVID but also because of calendar changes ahead of the 2020/21 seasons for the Australian A-League (men's) and W-League (women's) league so that both could begin at the same time, only one NWSL player was able to go on loan down under in 2020/21—Mallory Weber of Kansas City NWSL to Adelaide United—compared with about two dozen in previous years. We asked Coach Burke if the new NISL could then become an off-season replacement option for NWSL professionals, particularly given his past playing experience with the indoor game. Burke said that, "Some players who are great outdoor are not great indoor and some players who are superb indoor players do not translate to the outdoor game. Having walked with a foot on both sides of the fence, I think it is very niche for certain players." Burke, who played with the Washington Warthogs of the long defunct Continental Indoor Soccer League in the 1990's and is in his third season as head coach of the Washington Spirit, was focused on the very physical style of play in indoor soccer, plus the added impact of playing on hard surfaces which are surrounded by hockey boards. He explained, "My issues [are that] the game is very tough on the body. I played indoors for a little bit before playing outdoor most of the time and finished with indoor [in his professional career after playing collegiately at American University in D.C.] It really takes a toll on your body so I would say to any players who want to play in the indoor league, just be careful of the impact it has on your body. The indoor game is very tough on the spine, lower back, groin area, right across the pelvic platform; it's difficult, even if you do two minute shifts in and out [which is typical in that game—with substitutions on the fly, like in hockey]—you're pounding and it's very tough on your body."

On the point of off-season loans of players, Burke talked about the fact that, "These players have to go and play again to get more money." His solution is to increase the minimum wage level in the league. To coach Burke's point, despite playing most games in an extremely shortened 2020 season due to COVID without fans, for the 2021 season the NWSL increased the salary cap per team to $682,500—an increase of 5%, with the maximum player salary increasing by 5% to $52,500 and the minimum salary—which Burke was primarily concerned about—up 10% to $22,000. The league season is longer now as preseason training began on February 1^st rather than in mid-March, with the Challenge Cup ending earlier this month and the regular season starting last week, with the championship game set for November. There are exceptions to the salary cap for U.S. and Canadian internationals, whose salaries are covered by their respective federations or allocation money, in which teams can pay above the maximum salary—typically to internationals. Players also receive healthcare coverage, a housing allocation of up to $3,000 a month; a new vehicle could also be supplied (of a value of less than $50,000—which still allows quite a few options on the combustible engine vehicle side and even within a few of the growing offerings of Electric Vehicles).

Burke said passionately, "Why don't we up front pay them enough money in the first plaee? Instead of taking the season off to relax and recuperate and get ready for the new [NWSL] season, they have to go to play another season in their off-season, which is madness. My stand would be, let's pay female players the same as the men [NISL model] or a living wage [so] that they can play professional football without doing something in their offseason. Those who can't get into the NWSL, they can go make good money in the indoor league rather than having players play in two separate leagues. I'm sure Neymar [Brazilian men's international who plays for Paris St. Germain] is not interested in going in the off-season to play in the indoor league." Burke concluded by saying, "I hope we can continue to elevate our pay for the NWSL players—the minimum wage should be significantly higher than it its right now, and that's more in line with what I would advocate rather than playing two seasons." His take on dual seasons is quite interesting as the NWSL has always been a loan friendly league, certainly over the years to Australia's W-League but recently with full internationals like Sam Mewis, Alex Morgan and Rose Lavelle going to England's WSL and, during COVID, off-season loans to France and even Cyprus.

We also have talked recently with Richie Burke about his general, long-term roster planning process—including his current squad (with some that he inherited three seasons ago), other domestic players in the league, internationals, college players and free agents, particularly as the world emerges from the COVID upheaval since early 2020. He explained, "When I first came in, I set up a 36-month strategic plan. I set a number of draft picks and acquisitions, etc. and have more or less followed that. Nonetheless COVID has forced us to build it out until 2023, particularly for projected acquisitions [domestic and internationally]." He said that most coaches do their strategic plans on a two, three or four year cycle but COVID has disrupted that for everyone.

A former women's head coach on the professional club side in Europe and national team side in CONCACAF told me recently that he felt that they were similar processes, but that roster planning was more in-flux on the club side, particularly monitoring other potential acquisitions within the league and abroad. At the international level, there is the occasional scouting and assessment of diaspora who could qualify to play, but that it was more about assessing current playing performance and future projections for each individual, particularly on the youth development side, as typically a national team coach has a good understanding of the best 20, 50, 100 players in their pool, particularly for smaller or developing countries.

Racing Louisville brings in English internationals

Two English internationals have recently signed for expansion side Racing Louisville in the NWSL. Twenty-year-old Ebony Salmon came up through the Aston Villa Academy and had an outstanding 2020-21 FA Women's Super League season with Bristol City, being named their Player of the Year and leading the side in scoring with 6 goals. Bristol City unfortunately finished at the bottom of the 12-team table on 12 points from 22 games and was relegated to the second tier Championship for next season. Bristol City did make it to the FA Women's League Cup this campaign before falling to Chelsea 6-0.

Salmon has also played at the senior level for Villa, Manchester United and FA Women's Championship side Sheffield United (one loan). At the international level, she has represented England at the U-17, U-19 and won her first full cap in February for England against Northern Ireland in a friendly. She said about her move overseas: "I am so excited to be joining Racing Louisville. After several conversations with Christy [Holly—Racing Louisville head coach], it is clear to see the huge ambitions of this club, and I can't wait to be a part of it. A move to the NWSL is going to be completely different to what I am used to, but at this point in my career I think it is the right opportunity and environment for me to push on and thrive." Salmon signed a two year deal.

Salmon joins former Manchester City defender Gemma Bonner, who signed late in April with Racing Louisville. Bonner (29) signed a two-year contract plus an option for a third year. Bonner has played for Leeds United, Chelsea and Liverpool, which she captained to consecutive WSL titles in 2013 and 2014. She has been at Manchester City since the 2018-19 season. Bonner has 11 caps and one goal for England in the SheBelieves Cup in the States in 2019 that England won over the U.S., Japan and Brazil. She said about her move to the States, "It's definitely a different challenge, a different league. But it's something for me as a player that I want to help take my game to the next level, and I think coming to Louisville is the place for me to do that."

Summer International Women's Football Club Tournaments News

In other Racing Louisville news, the team said that they will host FC Bayern Munich and Paris St. Germain along with fellow NWSL side Chicago Red Stars in their previously announced Women's Cup from August 18-21. PSG currently has a one point advantage over Olympique Lyon with three games left in the French Championship while Bayern has a 2 point advantage over Wolfsburg with two games left in the 2020-21 Frauen Bundesliga season.

Across the country in Portland, the recently crowned 2021 Challenge Cup Champions Portland Thorns will host the third edition of the Women's International Champions Cup, along with the 2020 Challenge Cup Champions Houston Dash. 2020-21, UEFA 2020-21 Women's Champions League title holders FC Barcelona Femeni—who smashed Chelsea 4-0 in last week's final in Gothenburg Sweden (unfortunately with no fans and very limited media)—and the previous WCL champions (for five consecutive seasons Olympique Lyon of France. The games will also be staged from August 18-21. According to the press release from the tournament organizer, "The four top champions from around the world will participate in the premier women's international club tournament for the chance to be called the world's best club team." Houston Dash head coach James Clarkson said, "Everyone is very excited about the tournament and it's a great reward for our achievements last season. It's another opportunity to win a trophy and compete against the best clubs in the world."

Gavin Wilkinson, a former New Zealand international who is the long-time General Manager/President of Operations for the MLSPortland Timbers and the Thorns, told TribalFootball.com on May 20, "I think it's a great opportunity for the club, for the fans, for the players to showcase what we are and who we are. For many, many years, I have stated that I believe that the Thorns are the best women's professional team in the world and that's across all sports and that's based on proven metrics relative to attendance, social media presence; and now it gives up the opportunity on the field to showcase ourselves, and hopefully get a few results, and prove that we are one of the better teams in the world with professional women's sports. It's a great opportunity, playing against great opponents….We haven't had exhibitions as part of the Thorns experience in the past [other than preseason matches against other NWSL sides and U.S. age-group national teams]—[but] we've had it on the Timber's side. It will also start to open us to see how much more we can do in this area. It's an international tournament that is recognized, that has quality teams; we will showcase the team, the individual players and the organization." He was also excited that it was on a weekend with no league games scheduled and fits in well and won't "jeopardize our league games…we are looking forward to it."

The Thorns will host the tournament and qualified as winners of the 2020 NWSL Fall Series. Olympique Lyonnais qualified as winners of the2019-20 UEFA Champions League and 2020 D1 Féminine while Barcelona was included as winners of the 2020 Primera División and the 2020-21 UEFA Women's Champions League. Lyon will be looking to defend their WICC title, having defeated host North Carolina Courage in 2019 1-0, after losing by the same score to the Courage in the inaugural tournament final in 2018 in Miami. The other three clubs are first time participants in the Women's ICC.

The tournament will consist of four matches played as two doubleheaders. In the first doubleheader, Olympique Lyonnais will face off against FC Barcelona in an "all-European clash" and the Portland Thorns will play against the Houston Dash in an "All-American battle." This will set up a European vs. U.S. final on August 21, as the winners of the first doubleheader meet, while the clubs that lose the first day will play in the third-place match on the same day. The WICC matches will be broadcast live on ESPN in the States.

The clubs feature a number of outstanding players, including: United States Women's National Team stars Crystal Dunn (Portland), Lindsey Horan (Portland), Becky Sauerbrunn (Portland), Sophia Smith (Portland), Adrianna Franch (Portland), Kristie Mewis (Houston), Jane Campbell (Houston) and Catarina Macario (Lyon). International stars include France's Wendie Renard (Lyon), Amandine Henry (Lyon), Amel Majri (Lyon) and Delphine Cascarino (Lyon), Spain's Damaris Egurrola—who was born in the U.S.—(Lyon), Lola Gallardo (Lyon), Alexia Putellas (FC Barcelona), Jenni Hermoso (FC Barcelona), Mapi León (FC Barcelona), and Marta Torrejon (FC Barcelona), Canada's Christine Sinclair (Portland) and Sophie Schmidt (Houston), England's Rachel Daly (Houston), the Netherland's Lieke Martens (FC Barcelona), Nigeria's Asisat Oshoala (FC Barcelona) and Norway's Ada Hegerberg (Lyon) and Caroline Graham Hansen (FC Barcelona).

Tournament organizers Relevent Sports Group plans to expand the tournament to six teams in 2022 and eight in 2023.

Sonia Bompastor named as head coach of France's Olympique Lyon.

When Lyon comes to the Portlandfor the 2021 ICC Tournament in August, they will have a new head coach—and a name familiar to long term followers of the American professional women's game—as Sonia Bompastor was named last month to replace Jean-Luc Vasseur. She is Lyon's first ever women's head coach. She has impeccable credentials while Vasseur lost his job in part because Lyon fell to PSG in the UEFA Women's Champions league quarterfinals this spring. Bompastor (40), a former France midfielder and defender, played six seasons at Lyon and also with the Washington Freedom of Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) in 2009, scoring four goals and six assists in 19 games. Bompastor signed a contract with Lyon through June 2023. She was director of Lyon's women's academy for the past eight years. This move could be a platform for her, if successful, to move into a national team head coaching role in Europe, even possibly for France.

French forward Eugenie Le Sommer has joined OL Reign on loan from Olympique Lyon for the 2021 NWSL season.

High-scoring forward Eugenie Le Sommer (31) is joining OL Reign in Tacoma, Washington for the 2021 season, on loan from parent organization Olympique Lyon in France. Sommer has played internationally for the French Women's National Team at the U17, U19, and U20 levels before making her senior national team debut in 2009 as a substitute against the Republic of Ireland. Le Sommer has 175 appearances for France with 86 goals; she played in the 2009, 2013 and 2017 UEFA Women's European Championship, 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games, and the 2011, 2015 and 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup for her nation. In September 2020, Le Sommer scored two goals for her country in France's decisive Finals spot clinching 7-0 win over North Macedonia in the UEFA Women's Euro 2021 Qualifiers, taking her to the top of France's all-time goal-scorers list with 82 goals.

Le Sommer began her professional career with Stade Briochin in D1 Féminine for the 2007-2008 season, where she quickly became a standout player. She played in all 22 league matches and scored 4 goals in her rookie season, going on to make 71 appearances total for Stade Briochin from 2007-2010, scoring 38 goals across all competitions. For the 2009-10 season, she was awarded the UNFP Female Player of the Year honor. Le Sommer moved to Olympique Lyonnais for the 2010-11 season and has become a club legend. In her 11 seasons with OL, Le Sommer won the Division 1 Féminine 10 times, won the Coupe de France Féminine trophy eight times, and has won the UEFA Women's Champions League seven times. She has scored a total of 274 goals for OL across all competitions, making her the club's all-time leading goal-scorer. She recently re-signed with OL for two more seasons, until 2023, extending her contract with the club for the fourth time. Le Sommer is expected to join OL Reign after the June FIFA international window, when she will meet up with current Olympique Lyonnais teammates Dzsenifer Marozsán and Sarah Bouhaddi, who will also join on loan for the 2021 NWSL season.

Australia Talent Camp

Australia held a second Women's Talent Identification Camp from May 4-7 2021, with the first being held late last year, just before the start of the 2020/21 W-League season. Former Brisbane Roar W-League head coach and now Matildas assistant coach directed the camp. Andreatta explained, "Last November we expressed a commitment to craft more opportunities for Australian-based players to demonstrate their ability to enhance the national team and I am delighted that we are able to deliver on this commitment." The 26 invitees included repeats from the November 2020 camp, players who impressed during the past W-League campaign and new players spotted through scouting around the country at the different age-group levels.

Andreatta further discussed the purpose of the program, "From a coaching perspective we need to concentrate on finding players that can step up to the international standard…finding those players that can help assist the team in showing that attacking, entertaining, hard defending style of football that we want as our identity, and that we know helps us to win games." The invitees included some with Matilda appearances with Lisa De Vanna from 2020/21 W-League Champions Melbourne Victory leading the way (150 caps), along with Alex Chidiac of Melbourne City (17), Caitlin Cooper (10) and Georgia Yeoman-Dale (5) of the Western Sydney Wanderers, Jenna McCormick of Melbourne City (4), Tara Andrews of the Newcastle Jets (2), Emily Condon of Adelaide United (1) and Rachel Lowe of Sydney FC (1). The full list of invitees include:

Teagan Micah returns to Norway; Tameka Yallop joins West Ham United

Teagan Micah, who was on the 2019 Women's World Cup Finals team with Australia, is returning to Norway to play for IL Sandviken in the Toppserien this season. She spent the 2020 season with Arna-Bjornar but missed a third of the games there through injury. She had a phenomenal season in goal with struggling Melbourne City this past W-League season and previously played collegiately in the U.S.

Tameka Yallop is joining West Ham United in the FA WSL for the 2021-22 season. Yallop had a fine 2020/2021 Westfield W-League season with Brisbane Roar, who made the semifinals after missing the playoffs in the previous season. The Matilda will join her former Roar teammate and current fellow international MacKenzie Arnold—who was voted the best goalkeeper in the league this season after posting 4.06 saves per 90 minutes (second in the WSL) and saving 100% of the penalties that she faced (first in the WSL) over 16 matches—as well as another former Roar in Emily Van Egmond at the London side. Yallop (29) has played for Australia 87 times, featuring in FIFA Women's World Cups, AFC Women's Asian Cups, and the squad for the 2016 Rio Olympics. She has played club football at Melbourne City as well as having stints in Norway, America, Germany, Japan and Sweden. West Ham finished tied for ninth in the WSL in 2020-21 with a 3-6-13 (W-D-L) record for 15 points.

Tim Grainey is a contributor to Tribal Football. His latest book Beyond Bend it Like Beckham on the global game of women's football. Get yours copy today.

Follow Tim on Twitter: @TimGrainey