# 2024 Racing Louisville FC season

The 2024 Racing Louisville FC season was the team's fourth as a top-tier professional women's soccer team in the National Women's Soccer League.
The club finished the 2024 National Women's Soccer League season in ninth place and failed to qualify for the NWSL playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. It also finishied second in Group E during the 2024 NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup and failed to advance to the mid-season tournament's knockout stages.

## Background
### Hirings

After Racing Louisville announced head coach Kim Björkegren would not return for the 2024 season, the club hired former NWSL standout player Bev Yanez as its new coach. The 35-year-old spent the 2023 season as Racing's assistant coach after two years in the same role at NJ/NY Gotham FC.
Yanez added former UANL Tigres coach and Canada Women's National Football Team star Carmelina Moscato to her staff as assistant coach. Former men's collegiate coach Mitch Sowerby was also hired as an assistant coach.

### Kit changes

As part of the NWSL's new collaboration with Nike, Racing Louisville announced two new kits for the 2024 season and beyond. The primary kit has an argyle pattern "inspired by traditional jockey silks." The secondary kit is a midnight violet gradient.

## Stadium and facilities

Racing Louisville plays its home games at Lynn Family Stadium, a soccer-specific stadium it shares with brother club Louisville City FC. The team trains at the Lynn Family Sports Vision & Training Center about two miles away from the stadium.

## Broadcasting

In November 2023, the NWSL announced its largest media rights deal in league history, worth a reported $240 million. The new broadcast agreement includes ABC, CBS, CBS Sports Network, ESPN, Prime Video and Scripps Sports. The NWSL also announced its new in-house streaming service, NWSL+.
For its local broadcast rights, Racing renewed its deal with WAVE, the NBC affiliate in Louisville. The club also started a new radio broadcast deal with iHeartMedia in Louisville, with games primarily carried by Sports Talk 790AM and News Talk 1080 AM.

## Technical staff

    As of November 26, 2024
| Position | Staff |
| General manager | Ryan Dell |
| Head coach | Bev Yanez |
| Assistant coach | Carmelina Moscato |
| Assistant coach | Mitchell Sowerby |
| Goalkeepers coach | Sergio Gonzalez |
| Performance coach | Julie Twaddle |
| Video analyst | Charlie Tuley |
* ↑ Dell served as the club's general manager through the 2024 season until Dell and Racing Louisville FC mutually ended his tenure on November 26, 2024.

## Players

    As of November 3, 2024
| No. | Pos. | Player | Nation |
| 1 | GK | Katie Lund | United States |
| 2 | DF | Lauren Milliet | United States |
| 3 | DF | Arin Wright | United States |
| 4 | DF | Elli Pikkujämsä | Finland |
| 5 | DF | Ellie Jean | United States |
| 7 | MF | Savannah DeMelo | United States |
| 8 | MF | Ary Borges | Brazil |
| 9 | MF | Kayla Fischer | United States |
| 10 | FW | Linda Motlhalo | South Africa |
| 11 | DF | Courtney Petersen | United States |
| 13 | FW | Emma Sears | United States |
| 14 | MF | Marisa DiGrande | United States |
| 15 | DF | Ángela Barón | Colombia |
| 16 | FW | Janine Beckie | Canada |
| 17 | DF | Maddie Pokorny | United States |
| 18 | FW | Milly Clegg | New Zealand |
| 19 | MF | Jordan Baggett | United States |
| 20 | DF | Abby Erceg | New Zealand |
| 21 | FW | Parker Goins | United States |
| 22 | FW | Kirsten Wright | United States |
| 23 | FW | Elexa Bahr | United States |
| 24 | GK | Jordyn Bloomer | United States |
| 26 | MF | Taylor Flint | United States |
| 29 | FW | Uchenna Kanu | Nigeria |
| 88 | FW | Bethany Balcer | United States |
Players rostered during the season and loaned out :
| No. | Pos. | Player | Nation | Destination |
| 99 | GK | Olivia Sekany | United States | Brisbane Roar FC |
| 77 | GK | Madison White | United States | Dallas Trinity FC |
Former players rostered during part of the season :
| No. | Pos. | Player | Nation |
| 6 | MF | Jaelin Howell | United States |
| 11 | MF | Yuuka Kurosaki | Japan |
| 16 | DF | Carson Pickett | United States |
| 66 | FW | Reilyn Turner | United States |

## Transactions
### 2024 NWSL Draft

Draft picks are not automatically signed to the roster.
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Status |
| 1 | 6 | Reilyn Turner | FW | UCLA | Signed |
| 2 | 28 | Emma Sears | FW | Ohio State | Signed |
| 3 | 48 | Sam Cary | DF | Iowa | |
| 4 | 54 | Madison White | GK | Texas Tech | Signed |

### Transfers in

| Date | Player | Position | Previous club | Fee/notes |
| Dec. 18, 2023 | Ellie Jean | DF | NJ/NY Gotham FC | Trade via Bay FC |
| Dec. 21, 2023 | Marisa DiGrande | MF | Houston Dash | Free agent |
| Jan. 4, 2024 | Yuuka Kurosaki | MF | KuPS | Out of contract |
| Jan. 12, 2024 | Arin Wright | DF | Chicago Red Stars | Trade |
| Jan. 17, 2024 | Linda Motlhalo | FW | Glasgow City F.C. | Transfer |
| Jan. 18, 2024 | Elexa Bahr | FW | América de Cali | Transfer |
| Jan. 22, 2024 | Taylor Flint | MF | San Diego Wave FC | Trade for $150,000 in NWSL allocation money |
| Jan. 22, 2024 | Milly Clegg | FW | Western Sydney Wanderers FC | Out of contract |
| Aug. 19, 2024 | Bethany Balcer | FW | Seattle Reign FC | Trade for Jaelin Howell |
| Aug. 21, 2024 | Janine Beckie | FW | Portland Thorns FC | Trade for Reilyn Turner |

### Transfers out

| Date | Player | Position | Destination club | Fee/notes |
| Nov. 9, 2023 | Emina Ekic | FW | Melbourne City FC | Out of contract |
| Dec. 15, 2023 | Paige Monaghan | FW | Utah Royals | 2024 NWSL Expansion Draft |
| Dec. 20, 2023 | Thembi Kgatlana | FW | Tigres UANL | $275,000 transfer fee |
| Dec. 31, 2023 | Alex Chidiac | MF | Melbourne Victory FC | Out of contract |
| Dec. 31, 2023 | Taylor Aylmer | MF | | Out of contract |
| Dec. 31, 2023 | Nadia Nadim | FW | AC Milan | Out of contract |
| Dec. 31, 2023 | Rebecca Holloway | DF | Birmingham City W.F.C. | Out of contract |
| Dec. 31, 2023 | Jessica McDonald | FW | | Out of contract |
| Jan. 8, 2024 | Hillary Beall | GK | San Diego Wave FC | Trade |
| Jan. 24, 2024 | Julia Lester | DF | Seattle Reign FC | Trade |
| Aug. 15, 2024 | Yuuka Kurosaki | MF | DC Power FC | Transfer; undisclosed fee |
| Aug. 16, 2024 | Carson Pickett | DF | Orlando Pride | Trade for $75,000 in NWSL allocation money |
| Aug. 19, 2024 | Jaelin Howell | MF | Seattle Reign FC | Trade for $50,000 in NWSL allocation money and Bethany Balcer |
| Aug. 21, 2024 | Reilyn Turner | FW | Portland Thorns FC | Trade for Janine Beckie |

## Competitions
### NWSL standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Orlando Pride (C, S) | 26 | 18 | 6 | 2 | 46 | 20 | +26 | 60 | NWSL Shield, playoffs |
| 2 | Washington Spirit | 26 | 18 | 2 | 6 | 51 | 28 | +23 | 56 | Playoffs |
| 3 | NJ/NY Gotham FC | 26 | 17 | 5 | 4 | 41 | 20 | +21 | 56 | Playoffs |
| 4 | Kansas City Current | 26 | 16 | 7 | 3 | 57 | 31 | +26 | 55 | Playoffs |
| 5 | North Carolina Courage | 26 | 12 | 3 | 11 | 34 | 28 | +6 | 39 | Playoffs |
| 6 | Portland Thorns FC | 26 | 10 | 4 | 12 | 37 | 35 | +2 | 34 | Playoffs |
| 7 | Bay FC | 26 | 11 | 1 | 14 | 31 | 41 | −10 | 34 | Playoffs |
| 8 | Chicago Red Stars | 26 | 10 | 2 | 14 | 31 | 38 | −7 | 32 | Playoffs |
| 9 | Racing Louisville FC | 26 | 7 | 7 | 12 | 33 | 39 | −6 | 28 | |
| 10 | San Diego Wave FC | 26 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 24 | 35 | −11 | 25 | |
| 11 | Utah Royals | 26 | 7 | 4 | 15 | 22 | 40 | −18 | 25 | |
| 12 | Angel City FC | 26 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 29 | 42 | −13 | 24 | |
| 13 | Seattle Reign FC | 26 | 6 | 5 | 15 | 27 | 44 | −17 | 23 | |
| 14 | Houston Dash | 26 | 5 | 5 | 16 | 20 | 42 | −22 | 20 | |
* ↑ Angel City FC were deducted three points for breaching spending cap rules.