Players such as Carli Lloyd and Alex Morgan have chosen to pursue spells in Europe. But it’s not just money that proves an attraction

Women’s soccer players might be lured to Europe by money or the occasional tweet by Lyon’s Jean-Michel Aulas, who has signed athletes such as USA striker Alex Morgan (on loan) and young Canadian defender Kadeisha Buchanan.

But most of the players who head to Europe or Australia for all or part of the year are doing so for a much simpler reason. They want to get better.

Self-improvement was the goal for Toni Payne, the 13th overall pick in this year’s NWSL draft before deciding to sign with Ajax instead. After finishing her coursework at Duke earlier this month, she flew to the Netherlands hoping to get on the field in the Eredivisie’s playoff stage. Ajax are on the verge of clinching the league title and a Champions League berth with two weeks (plus a cup final) to play. The Champions League would be nice, but she’s thinking longer-term than next season.

“I think what drew me is that I knew they were very good at developing players,” Payne said. “I decided that was the environment I wanted to be in going into my pro career.”

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Payne has chosen an option that didn’t exist for players who are now in their late 20s – Ajax only launched their professional women’s operation in 2012. And she did plenty of research to figure out where she might best develop. “I asked a lot of rookies about their first years,” Payne said. “Their experiences might have pushed me in the direction of playing overseas.”

Players without pro experience typically struggle in the NWSL, and time spent playing overseas experience can help bridge the gap. More than half of the players in the NSWL 2016 Best XI have played in Europe, Australia or both.

Consider Casey Short, who was drafted in 2013 but suffered multiple knee injuries. She wound up spending a year in Norway with Avaldsnes, then returned to Chicago in 2016 to earn second-team Best XI honors and a prolonged spell with the US national team. Lindsey Horan skipped college to sign with Paris Saint-Germain before moving back to the USA with Portland.

For proven marquee players like the ones Aulas courts on Twitter, a salary exceeding typical NWSL pay might be more of a lure than the chance to develop. But Lyon with its ranks of well-paid players is an exception in European football.

“Here in Iceland, the only players paid a living wage are the professionals [usually the foreigners and internationals],” said Natasha Anasi, who was drafted in 2014 but opted for the island nation and is now starting a family there. “It is considered to be a semi-professional league as many of the Icelandic girls have outside jobs, are in school, or just simply playing for fun. Most teams typically have three to five professional players, give or take.”

For some European clubs, a temporary roster improvement is more practical. Cyprus club Apollon Limassol generally borrows three or more NWSL players to boost its squad for the Champions League. Bayern Munich, Fortuna Hjorring, Glasgow City and Kristianstad also have taken multiple players on loan over the years.

Houston defender Camille Levin chose an unusual destination for NWSL loans: Italy, where she played for Fiorentina. She enjoyed being part of an effort to professionalize the women’s game in Italy and work on her game. “Overseas experience is so beneficial for development on the field and off the field,” Levin said. “I wouldn’t change the way I did it.”

Even when Levin did not go overseas, her decision was driven by her own developmental needs. “This offseason [2016-17] was the first from NWSL that I chose to not go overseas and take a little bit of time off and focus on some personal aspects of my game that you don’t necessarily get to when you’re in a season,” Levin said.

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And the relatively short NWSL season sometimes leaves players wanting more. “The break between season can be daunting when a season is short,” Anasi said. “It puts the pressure on yourself to keep fit and can be difficult to replicate that true ‘game’ fitness feeling.”

Player agent Dan Levy sees plenty of players looking for game fitness: “The players actually feel like they need more year-round training and games.”

Still, European loans are relatively rare. Levy doesn’t expect to see a lot of national teamers following in the footsteps of Carli Lloyd and Alex Morgan, especially in years with World Cup or Olympic competition. The schedule simply doesn’t work unless clubs are willing to go without players when the NWSL and European schedules overlap.

So Europe will more typically be a gateway to the NWSL. Australia, on the other hand, is a revolving door. The W-League plays a condensed schedule in the Southern Hemisphere’s summer. For each of the past two seasons, NWSL teams have loaned at least 20 players to W-League teams.

And again, the lure is development. “I didn’t have a chance to forget about soccer,” said Washington’s Tori Huster, who has spent a couple of seasons in Australia. “I didn’t have a chance to think about my future without soccer. Even though I was playing a lot of games, it helped keep me fresh.”

In women’s basketball, the incentive to play year-round – as many, if not most, WNBA players do – is financial. The money is often better overseas. Add that to a WNBA salary, and players can often make a good living. Women’s soccer is not yet to that point. The NWSL’s minimum salary roughly doubled this year, putting every player into five figures. Will that raise keep players from going to Australia?

“I don’t think so,” Huster said. “I think the ones who have been over there – girls want to go and have that opportunity, soccer and lifestyle-wise. I don’t think there will be a dip in that at all.”

The tradeoff for NWSL in this global market – some players, such as Payne and Anasi, will choose to go elsewhere at least in the short term. And some players can get hurt while on loan. The upside: a league full of players with experience all over the world. And for players, while most of these opportunities are still not particularly lucrative, the choices have never been better.