Madeline Allburn races down the field. Women’s soccer is currently ranked #4 in the country. (Bri Nitsberg | Student Life)

Last spring, talks for new transfers for the Washington university women’s soccer team began. With three new transfer players from D1 schools, the Bears team is hopeful for a great upcoming season and hopes to reach nationals with the addition of these graduate athletes.

The process to get transfer athletes is often unpredictable as during the transfer period, the soccer team’s coaches and WashU’s admission office must settle with not only the best athletes but also those who are a good fit for the school academically. “The transfer portal is something very new with the NCAA that we don’t see that often,” says Coach Conlon, head coach of the women’s soccer team. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many graduate students have been looking to these transfer periods for an extra year of eligibility to play for college soccer teams. 

During the transfer process, many considerations must be made for players to be eligible to transfer to new institutions. Specifically, the new school’s Dean has to approve the decision. As the transfer period does not necessarily overlap with recruiting windows, the school must approve of these players before they can be considered for the team. 

For the three new D1 transfers for the women’s soccer team, Ally Hackett, Madeline Allburn, and Sam McKibben each had a unique transfer process. Since all three applied for different windows for the MBA degree from the Olin School of Business. One of the most important was the transfers and other team members’ chemistry. In soccer, as in many other sports, a vital part of the team’s success is how well players get along. Coach Conlon said he thinks “these three women are good people, great students, and can positively contribute [to the whole team’s success].” 

The three players met with the team a few months ago for a trial run of how the group would work with new members. Due to them getting along well with the team, Coach Conlon is confident they will succeed this season. The team’s goals this season are to not only protect WashU’s home turf, Francis Field, but also to win the conference championships to qualify for nationals. 

With the addition of these three new D1 transfers, the team hopes to improve on playing different positions and roles. Coach Conlon hopes to maximize the team’s potential through improved collaboration and connection this season. “We’ve got a lot of incredible students [and student athletes] at this university, and I don’t think they show up just to be average. [Our players] show up to be great.”