February 2025 - National Squash League

The 2025 NSL Draft is upon us! The final player pool is set and teams across the league have been doing their due diligence ahead of Draft Weekend March 14-16 at Boar’s Head Resort in Charlottesville, VA. The NSL has conducted a lottery among the the expansion teams to determine the pick order at the top end of the draft, and on the men’s side the remaining picks will follow by reverse order of finish last season. The draft will proceed in a snake draft format (the defending champion New York Knights will pick last in round 1 and first in round 2, and so on).

An important feature of this year’s draft for the returning Men’s teams is that owners will have to determine which of their players to keep for the 2025 season. For each player they keep on the roster, they will lose that corresponding pick in the draft; for example, if the Atlanta Tornados decide to keep their first round pick Youssef Ibrahim, they will pass on the first round of the draft this year. The official Keeper List will be released to the public on March 1 as owners and team coaches mull over these important decisions.

PICK ORDER:

MEN’S DRAFT

Greenwich Panthers
Philadelphia Lightning
Lake Erie Beacons
Chicago Grizzlies
Newport Dragons
Derby City Colts
Atlanta Tornados
Nashville Crushers
New York Knights

WOMEN’S DRAFT

Philadelphia Freedom
DC Inferno
SoNo Sharks
Lake Erie Beacons

Official 2025 Player Pool

It comes as no surprise that the strength and depth of the NSL has skyrocketed in year 2. Below, we are listing out the top 10 draft entries by world ranking for the 2025 season for both the Men’s and Women’s league. A complete list of the Player Pool can be found below as well. Remember, owners will have to construct their teams not just by absolute ranking, but by player style and how their roster works together. Last season, we saw players like Matias “The Spin Bender” Knudsen and Ronald “El Parcero” Palomino be some of the most valuable weapons in the league, despite both being ranked outside the World Top 50. Here we go!!!

Click below for:

Public Player Pool MEN’S NSL 2025

Public Player Pool WOMEN’S NSL 2025

MEN’S TOP 10 ENTRIES BY RANK

WOMEN’S TOP 10 ENTRIES BY RANK

Tune in for Draft Weekend March 14-16 LIVE on the NSL Youtube Channel @nationalsquashleague, or follow our instagram @nsl.sport for updates. Friday night at 6pm ET will feature two pre draft exhibition matches for both men and women, and Saturday night the live draft commences at 5:30pm ET, commentary done by crowd favorites Jackson Bragman of the Bragman Breakdown & Squash U Podcast, and Sean Choi of the Rally Report.

The National Squash league is thrilled to announce The Philadelphia Freedom as the final women’s team of the 2025 season, joining the Cleveland Beacons, SoNo Sharks, and DC Inferno. They will be placed in the South Division with DC, competing in a home and home series during the regular season. The Freedom is owned and operated by Sunil Desai, U.S. Naval Academy class of 1991 and head girls squash coach at Conestoga High School. Desai also has served 20 years in the U.S. Marine corps and is now the president of The Bindi Project, a nonprofit that fosters love and respect for women and girls in India by engaging men and boys through educational media. The NSL welcomes Sunil to the league and looks forward to seeing his continued positive impact in the squash community and beyond!

The Freedom will play out of the Arlen Specter US Squash Center, sharing their home with The Philadelphia Lightning. This state-of-the-art center is perfect for NSL matches, with all the audio and visual capabilities for a top-notch live squash production. Keep your eyes out for their home match date later this spring, the Freedom are hoping to soar into the playoffs!

Sunil Desai, Owner of the Philadelphia Freedom, on the NSL:

“I believe the National Squash League, and in particular its novel format for team competition, will prove to be one of the most important developments for squash in the 21st century to ensure that the first Olympics to include squash as an official sport in 2028 are not the last. As with other professional sports leagues, I am confident the women’s teams newly formed this year will garner as much fan attention as the men’s teams. And that the NSL has both the women’s and men’s teams operating under one combined league is an added point of pride for the squash.”

DRAFT PICK ORDER AND 2025 PLAYERS ANNOUNCED!!!!

Team Announcement: The Philadelphia Freedom