Today’s announcement of allocated players for the 2015 NWSL season confirms what Mexico national team coach Leo Cuéllar alluded to during the CONCACAF Championship in October: the Houston Dash and Teresa Noyola have parted ways. Also not renewed for 2015 was the allocation of Kaylyn Kyle, a move that Kyle alluded to on her Instagram account recently.

The Dash did gain one allocation: Canadian fullback Allysha Chapman. Kyle was reallocated to Portland Thorns FC; no team picked up Noyola.

Allocated players in NWSL are guaranteed a roster spot and cannot be waived. However, at the end of the season there is a brief window for teams to decide whether or not to retain their allocations for the following season. The Dash made the decision at that point in time that the players would not be part of the team in 2015.

With Noyola not returning to the Dash and the trade of Ari Romero, the Dash have gone from two Mexican player allocations to none in a city that has a heavy Mexican population.

While the lack of a Mexican player on the roster in the Houston market is perhaps not an ideal situation, there are several key factors involved in the decision to not retain Noyola as an allocated player and to trade Romero.

In the case of Romero, as previously reported, the Dash needed high impact players who are going to be available during the World Cup. Niki Cross fit the bill, however the Dash could only trade what other teams were interested in. Washington wanted Romero, therefore the trade came together.

The Noyola decision was made long before trading Romero was a possibility. Noyola had her moments last season, but did not defend well enough to be a regular in Randy Waldrum’s 4-3-3 system and could not stay healthy. Even when healthy, rookie 4th round draft pick Jordan Jackson was preferred to Noyola, providing some indication of where she stood in the view of the coaching staff.

While allocated players may come at no cost to the Dash, causing some to perhaps wonder why the Dash would turn away an allocation, the players would have cost a roster spot. With only a maximum of 20 players allowed on the roster and a World Cup coming up, the Dash could not afford to use a roster spot on a player who would be away for up to half of the season and who would only be a role player when with the team.

Dash Coach Randy Waldrum notes that there was also an element of trying to be fair to both Noyola and Mexico national team coach Leonardo Cuéllar, “Knowing she would be missing for the World Cup and trying to be fair to those players – Mexico has made the commitment to bring them in and one thing Cuéllar has complained about is Mexican players are not getting the time he has hoped for – and knowing what we need to move forward and build the team, I just did not see her fitting in.

“We had the #1 pick and knew we were going to upgrade in the midfield. She was already a role player on an expansion team last year, so it was only going to get harder for her to get playing time.”

Kyle was a casualty for similar reasons. While the Canadian was a regular starter last season, her play was generally underwhelming and the expectation was that in a revamped midfield, Kyle was destined for the bench.

The Dash, not surprisingly, were not the only team to decide to not renew allocations. The challenges of roster management in a World Cup year make it difficult for teams to have allocated players on the roster who are not core to the team. As NWSL sought to place allocated players who were not renewed, the Dash were offered at least one additional allocation from Canada but declined.

As it stands, the Dash have 7 players who will potentially be at the World Cup and who can only be replaced by amateur players. Increasing the number of players who will be unavailable in the 1st half of the season is something the Dash have sought to avoid.

Between returning players and new additions, the Dash currently have just over 20 players (not to mention returning reserve players from last season). With Noyola and Kyle not returning, the Dash can use those roster spots to keep a player who will be available for the entire season, like Jordan Jackson, rather than being forced to release someone for lack of roster space then hoping the player is content to remain in Houston as an amateur player then play when players are away at the World Cup.