The WUSA waiver draft, held before Women's United Soccer Association's initial 2001 season, distributed up to four additional players to the league's eight inaugural teams.
The draft occurred on March 20, 2001. This took place after each team had already been allocated three national team players, two foreign players, had each made 15 selections from the main draft held on December 10 and 11, 2000, and four selections from the supplemental draft for recent graduates and late entrants to the draft pool.
| Pick | Player | Pos. | New WUSA team | Previous WUSA team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amber Reynolds | DF | Bay Area CyberRays | Bay Area CyberRays |
| Pick | Player | Pos. | New WUSA team | Previous WUSA team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Danielle Dion | GK | Philadelphia Charge | Boston Breakers |
| 2 | Stephanie Loehr | DF | New York Power | Washington Freedom |
| 3 | Janine Szpara | GK | Bay Area CyberRays | Bay Area CyberRays |
| Pick | Player | Pos. | New WUSA team | Previous WUSA team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Laurie Pells | GK | Bay Area CyberRays | Philadelphia Charge |
| 2 | Beth Keller | FW | Carolina Courage | Philadelphia Charge |
| 3 | Nicole Williams | GK | New York Power | New York Power |
| 4 | Melissa Ribaudo | DF | San Diego Spirit | San Diego Spirit |
| 5 | Erica Iverson | DF | Philadelphia Charge | New York Power |
| Pick | Player | Pos. | New WUSA team | Previous WUSA team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gayle Smith | FW | Philadelphia Charge | Washington Freedom |
| 2 | Holly Broome | DF | San Diego Spirit | San Diego Spirit |
| 3 | Kara Brown | MF | New York Power | San Diego Spirit |
| 4 | Carlene Stenson | FW | Carolina Courage | New York Power |
| 5 | Kelly Wilson | FW | Bay Area CyberRays | Bay Area CyberRays |
Teams were required to cut their pre-season rosters to a maximum of 24 players by March 18, 2001 (with an additional slot for one injured player). Only teams with fewer than 24 players could participate in this draft, to bring their roster back up to the 24-player cap for training camps from 22 to 31 March, after which a final cut to 20-player rosters (with three additional reserve players) would be made. [1] Washington Freedom coach Jim Gabarra declined to take part.
On 18 March Atlanta waived Bryn Blalack, Kim Engesser, Melissa Roth, Wynne McIntosh and Abby Gillard. They still had 24 players on their roster, so were unable to participate in this draft.
Bay Area waived Amber Reynolds, Janine Szpara, Tami Pivnick, Lindsay Nohl, Christina Harsaghy, Kelly Wilson and Iliana Moskoff. This reduced their roster to 20 players, making them the only team allowed to participate in all four rounds of this draft. They used three of the four picks to reclaim players they had released two days earlier.
Boston waived Ashley Berman, Holly Pierce, Danielle Dion, and Ally Wagner, but still had a 24-player roster and were therefore unable to participate in this draft.
Carolina had waived Kelly Berrall, Tracy Grose, Ásthildur Helgadóttir, Megan Jeidy, Jessica Post, Staci Reynolds and Erica Westrich. With 22 remaining players they were permitted two picks in this draft.
New York waived Becky Hornbacher, Nicole Williams, Melissa McBean, Carlene Stenson, Erica Iverson, Jessica Larsen and Vanessa Rubio. With 21 players they were permitted to take three more in this draft.
After waiving Holly Broome, Erica Strey, Kara Brown, Michelle Maitland, Melissa Ribaudo and Sara Streufert, San Diego had 22 players. They participated in two rounds of this draft, which they used to bring back Ribaudo and Broome.
Philadelphia waived Laurie Pells, Angela Harrison, Tracey Spinelli, Beth Keller and Courtney Saunders. They had 20 players going into the draft but since Laurie Hill had retired rather than been waived they officially had 21 and could only participate in three rounds.
Washington Waived Stephanie Loehr, Robin McCullough, Rikki-Ann Serrins and Tanya Vogel. They had 23 players but decided not to use their permitted one pick in this draft.
