2026-11-01, 08:54 PM - Word count:
It was a bit of a busy run up to the SSL draft for Alyssa Barnes, who was a pretty high ranked prospect. She heard from lots of teams ahead of the draft, with many scouts reaching out to her agent to set up pre-draft meetings. Her play on the field in the academy had done lots of talking, but there's more than just on field action that will make an SSL career. While a lot of teams reached out, Alyssa had never gotten a meeting with the team holding the #1 pick, so she did not get her hopes up too high of being at the top of the class.
There ended up being a trade between Casablanca and Dakar for the 1st overall pick, and though she had good conversations with the Casablanca scouts, it was still unlikely to be for her. With Dakar now at 3rd, Alyssa could figure that her earliest chance at being drafted was 4th overall to Schwarzwalder. She had great conversations with SFV, but it ultimately wasn't the fit for them. Then Xelaju at 5th, again had good scouting meetings, and a connection through the academy in Jakarta, but it wasn't a fit there either. Which brought us to Reykjavik at 6th overall. Alyssa had great meetings with the Reykjavik team ahead of the draft, and with prior connections between GM Rashford and Alyssa's agent, there was mutual excitement for this to happen if the cards fell right. I don't think either side was expecting it to happen ahead of the draft, but here we are today, and Alyssa is ecstatic to start next season for North Shore United.
There ended up being a trade between Casablanca and Dakar for the 1st overall pick, and though she had good conversations with the Casablanca scouts, it was still unlikely to be for her. With Dakar now at 3rd, Alyssa could figure that her earliest chance at being drafted was 4th overall to Schwarzwalder. She had great conversations with SFV, but it ultimately wasn't the fit for them. Then Xelaju at 5th, again had good scouting meetings, and a connection through the academy in Jakarta, but it wasn't a fit there either. Which brought us to Reykjavik at 6th overall. Alyssa had great meetings with the Reykjavik team ahead of the draft, and with prior connections between GM Rashford and Alyssa's agent, there was mutual excitement for this to happen if the cards fell right. I don't think either side was expecting it to happen ahead of the draft, but here we are today, and Alyssa is ecstatic to start next season for North Shore United.
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280 words![[Image: symmssl.gif]](https://sig.grumpybumpers.com/host/symmssl.gif)
Isabela Cortez || S4 || RM || Retired Alyssa Barnes || S28 || RWB || Academy (Jakarta)
