The Pixie division does not hold tryouts, and players in the Pixie division are directly assigned to teams.

For all other divisions, WUSA uses an open draft process to form teams for the Spring season. Tryouts are held in early January, and the tryouts give all division managers the opportunity to observe and evaluate all players for the WUSA open draft drocess. All players must attend tryouts in order to be eligible for the open draft. There are no make-up tryouts for players who are absent. Players who do not attend tryouts are randomly assigned to teams at the end of the draft process.

The WUSA open draft process occurs following tryouts. The draft process consists of a series of rounds and during each round each manager picks in turn. Managers are free to select any available player when it is their turn. The draft order is reversed each round providing an even distribution of selection order. The draft order is determined randomly prior to the start of the draft. Managers contact players following the draft to announce team selections.

There are no tryouts for any division in the Fall Ball season. All girls who register for WUSA Fall Ball will be randomly assigned to a WUSA Fall Ball team.