The run-up to the start of the 2023 National Women's Soccer League season is a time for the organization, its teams and its players to take a deep breath. The marathon -- and one that's being sandwiched around the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup -- is about to begin. The preseason preparations have been completed, and the time is now to see the extent to which those will pay off for each of the NWSL's 12 teams.
But the upcoming campaign is also a chance for the players to exhale. Over the course of the past two seasons, the NWSL has been rocked by multiple player abuse scandals that were investigated in excruciating and traumatizing detail.