Trinity Byars has signed with the San Diego Wave, becoming the first active NCAA soccer player to sign directly to the NWSL, the team announced Thursday.
As a University of Texan Longhorn, Byars scored 52 career goals, and led her team in game-winning goals with 17. She was named Big 12 Forward of the Year in 2023 and Big 12 Conference Offensive Player of the Year in 2022.
At just 21 years old, she has represented the U.S. Youth National Team from the U-14 level until U-22 level, helping the team win gold at the Concacaf U-20 Women’s Championship in 2022.
The league and players association announced in August the elimination of the college draft, allowing teams to sign college players directly, and establishing the grounds for this signing.
The NWSL is the only major American professional sports league to eliminate the college draft and allow players to be signed directly by teams. The move gives players more autonomy over their playing futures by granting them full free agency.
The new collective bargaining agreement also included a new team base salary cap that will start at $3.3 million in 2025 and increase to $5.1 million by 2030. With this also comes a raise in minimum player salary from $48,500 in 2025 to $82,500 by 2030.
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