People’s expectations of Ava Cook used to be as tiny as she was.

Family friend Todd Wells still has a team picture from when he coached Cook in U15 club soccer. In the photograph, he’s towering over Cook, a B-team player who dreamed of playing professional soccer but had received only a couple of offers from Division III schools.

Cook weighed less than 90 pounds at the time, and yet Wells could tell ever since she was in elementary school training with the high schoolers he coached with Cook’s dad that she was special. He believed in all of his players, but he was relentless with Ava, the closest thing he had ever had to a daughter. When Cook got to high school and played against Wells’ team, she had his vote for Player of the Year, while the other coaches in the conference chose a player who went on to sit on the bench for her career at Michigan State.

“Hey, you guys gotta understand that this girl is next-level good,” Wells told the coaches. “You just don’t know it.”

As everyone continued to doubt her, Wells kept promising, “Just wait, just wait, just wait.”

That patience paid off in a big way. As the Chicago Red Stars’ top pick in the 2022 NWSL Draft, Cook has been a key contributor to the 2021 finalists as they look to make the playoffs in the final weekend of the regular season. The forward has two goals and three assists across 18 matches played and nine starts for the No. 7 team.

Wells, who had coached at the youth, college, Olympic development and USL W League levels, wasn’t new to spotting talent. He knew what it took to play for the top NCAA Division II women’s soccer program in the country, Grand Valley, conveniently located in their home state of Michigan. Four or five of his youth players had gone there, and some of them had won national championships. Wells believed that Cook could achieve that, too, and maybe reach an even higher level than the others.

He relayed that to Grand Valley coach Jeff Hosler in a phone call, and Hosler agreed to take a look at Cook.

So, the sophomore went to the ID camp. Hosler saw the potential, but Cook wasn’t as polished as some of the other players. To him, she seemed uncoordinated, her touches weren’t clean and she wasn’t strong or fast enough.

“I just don’t see it,” Hosler told Wells afterwards.

Cook went home and worked on exactly what Hosler suggested, focusing on her strength, speed and agility every single day through her junior year to prepare for the next opportunity. The goal was just to be the best version of herself. She had no intention of going back to Grand Valley. The message that they didn’t want her had been loud and clear.

Throughout that year, though she might not have noticed it at the time, she was beginning to stand taller. At 5-foot-10, she was growing physically into her 17-year-old body while also becoming mentally tougher.

“She started to grow and it was like, watch. Now, watch what happens,” said Wells.

Cook was called up to play with the A team in a regional championship tournament. She scored in every game, and in the second match, her late goal saved the team from defeat.

Jeff Hosler was there. After Cook’s goal, Wells told Hosler, “I told you so.” The Grand Valley coach wasn’t convinced yet, but Wells could tell he was getting there.

Ahead of the next ID camp, in the winter of Cook’s junior year, Wells persuaded Cook to give it another go. When she finally agreed, he called Hosler: “I’m sending Ava back.”

That’s when everything changed. Hosler vividly remembers one play when Cook, with her back to a defender as she received a pass, effortlessly flicked it with the outside of her foot to get around her opponent.

“There’s not a lot of high school juniors at camps trying to pull that type of skill off,” he said.

Ten minutes into the camp, he called Wells. “I’m going to give this kid an offer tomorrow,” Hosler told him.

Cook and Hosler’s conversation at the end of that camp was completely different than their last. He had a vision for how she could fit into the program as a versatile forward who was dangerous in the air and could hit strikes from distance.

Grand Valley was the only school who gave Cook an offer, so she took it and set out to get even better.

Freshman year was about learning, mostly from a fellow striker named Gabby Mencotti, a senior who mentored Cook in reading the game and making decisions. By sophomore year, Cook was miles ahead of where she was in her first season, this time receiving Second Team All-American honors. As a junior, she helped the Lakers win a national championship while leading Division II in goals (29) and points (70) and being named a First Team All-American.

Cook had planned to play just four years of college. Going into her senior year, she was open to pursuing whatever professional opportunities presented themselves. Then COVID-19 hit, and the fall season of her senior year got moved to the spring. When the NCAA granted athletes an additional year of eligibility due to the canceled fall season, Cook began to have second thoughts about leaving school, especially since a fifth year would broaden her professional opportunities and maybe even open a door to the NWSL.

She thought about the choice for a long time.

When she finally settled on playing a fifth season, Hosler had taken a job at Michigan State, and Cook, who had developed astronomically under him, had another decision to make.

She reached out to Wells for advice.

“I’ve got a year of eligibility,” she told him. “Do I stay at Grand Valley or go to Michigan State?”

“That’s a dumb question,” Wells replied.

He sent her a text with exactly what she needed to do, numbering the steps one through four. Cook not only followed Wells’ advice, she manifested it, and made sure that every step along the way came true.

1. Transfer to MSU

Cook entered her name into the transfer portal and called Hosler.

“Hey, it’s me again,” she said.

Coming to Michigan State wasn’t something that Hosler was going to let just any of his former players do. But Cook had the blend of pace, athleticism, size and humility. Her determination to grow never seemed to let up.

“Ava is one of those special people that you don’t get an opportunity to work with very often because of who she is,” Hosler said. “I truly love this kid, with everything that she stands for and who she is. I’m super proud of her.”

After a long conversation, Cook decided to take her chances on the Big Ten.

2. Do what you do

Cook went on to help the Spartans to their first Big Ten tournament since 2011. Playing over 1,000 minutes during the 2021 season, she led the team in goals (seven), assists (three), points (17), shots (77) and game-winning goals (three).

Starting all but one game, Cook earned Second Team All-Big Ten and United Soccer Coaches All-Region honors.

“Ava just never knew how great she could be until she just went up against the players that were the best ,and she’s like, ‘I’m here, and I’m doing my thing. Look what I can do,’” said Wells.

3. Apply for the NWSL Draft

With her teammates still in college this past spring, Cook watched a lot of NWSL and U.S. women’s national team games. Knowing most of the national team players were in the league, Cook felt the NWSL featured “truly some of the best soccer out there.”

“To be able to even get the chance to play in a league like that, I knew that’s what I wanted to do,” she said.

Because of players like fellow Michigan native Bethany Balcer, who was the first NAIA player to sign with an NWSL club in 2019, she knew it was possible to carve out a successful professional career despite spending most of her college days outside of Division I.

“I think that not only me, but a lot of girls definitely look at her, especially in Michigan, and get a really good sense of hope,” Cook said of the OL Reign forward.

So, she applied for the 2022 draft but didn’t expect anything to come out of it. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe in herself; she just didn’t want to be disappointed.

On the day of the draft, Cook was eating a slice of pizza, surrounded by family and friends, when she saw her name and picture appear on the TV screen.

Ava Cook, 18th overall to the Chicago Red Stars.

Everyone screamed. Cook nearly choked on her pizza, as her phone began blowing up with texts and calls.

“That is something I will never ever forget,” she said of draft day. “I was so thankful for everyone who was there and that I got to share that moment with them and everyone who reached out. It makes me so happy to think about.”

Pugh ➡️ Cook. Right on the money 🎯

Ava Cook seals the win for Chicago 2-0. pic.twitter.com/T7ZkqGUujT

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) August 8, 2022

4. Play NWSL

Since joining the Red Stars, Cook has made nine starts and played 1,202 minutes in 22 games across all competitions. Her three assists led the league for the first half of the regular season, and she earned her first call-up to the U.S. U23 women’s national team in June.

Achieving the last item on Wells’ list only means that Cook is ready for a new set of goals. Right now, outside of making the playoffs with the Red Stars, she’s focused on improving her technical skills and soccer IQ and watching as many games on TV as she can. Her eyes are glued to players in positions that interest her. She watches their runs, what they do with the ball and how they move off of it.

Cook is 5-10 but still growing. Always growing. And other people’s expectations of her have increased accordingly.

“This is only the beginning for her because of the way she approaches things and the year-to-year growth she showed during my time with her,” Hosler said. “I know it will continue in the league.”

As Wells says, “Just wait, just wait, just wait.”

Jessa Braun is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports covering the NWSL and USWNT. Follow her on Twitter @jessabraun.

Seven-time Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, at a White House ceremony this afternoon. 

The Team USA standout is the most decorated women’s swimmer in the sport’s history. In addition to her seven Olympic golds, she’s also won a total of 21 gold medals at the World Championships, the most of any swimmer regardless of gender. 

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The esteemed award recognizes those who have "made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors," according to a White House press briefing. 

Ledecky is one of 19 medal recipients chosen by the Biden administration this year. She joins a class that spans the worlds of politics, sports, film, human rights, religion, and science. Her fellow 2024 awardees include Everything Everywhere All at Once actress Michelle Yeoh, pioneering Hispanic astronaut Dr. Ellen Ochoa, and former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, plus posthumous winners Jim Thorpe, the first Native American to win an Olympic gold medal for the US, and assassinated civil rights leader Medgar Evers. 

Olympic gymnast Simone Biles and USWNT legend Megan Rapinoe were among 2022’s class of Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients. Biles and Rapinoe were the fifth and sixth women athletes to be given the honor, making Ledecky the seventh.

After an illustrious career for both club and country, Gotham FC and U.S. Women’s National Team defender Kelley O’Hara announced today via Kelley on the Street that she will be retiring from professional soccer at the end of this year, making the 2024 NWSL season her last.

"I have always said I would play under two conditions: that I still love playing soccer, and if my body would let me do it the way I wanted to," O’Hara told Just Women’s Sports in the lead-up to her retirement announcement. "I realized a while back that I was always going to love it, so it was the physical piece that was going to be the deciding factor."

The 35-year-old will retire as a two-time World Cup champion, an Olympic gold medalist, and at least a two-time NWSL champion, depending on where Gotham finishes this season. Her legacy as a player is hard to fully encapsulate, and will forever run through some of the biggest snapshots in USWNT and NWSL history. 

In 2012, O’Hara played every minute of the USWNT’s Olympic gold medal run, after having recently converted into a defender. Her soaring goal off the bench in the 2015 World Cup semifinal is the stuff of legend. And her return from lingering injury to play in every knockout match of the national team’s 2019 World Cup win cemented a storybook international career. 

It was O’Hara who scored the overtime goal in 2021 to earn the Washington Spirit their first-ever NWSL championship, and O’Hara who returned to help see Gotham earn a title in 2023 after years spent in the trenches with the club’s previous iteration, Sky Blue. Her 15-year career spanned two professional women’s soccer leagues in the U.S. (she earned her first professional title in 2010 with WPS’s FC Gold Pride), as well as sweeping changes to the sport both on and off the pitch.

On the field, O’Hara has always been known for a motor that never quits, making the right flank her domain in attacking possession and defensive transition. In recent years, she’s also been celebrated for a competitive fire that raises the level of her teammates, whether she’s in the starting XI or supporting from the bench.

But injuries take a toll, a reality not always seen by the fans watching from home. "I've never taken anything for granted, and I feel like I've never coasted either," O’Hara said of her late-career success in the NWSL despite battling injuries. "I've always been like, 'I gotta put my best foot forward every single day I step on this field' — which is honestly probably half the reason why I'm having to retire now as opposed to getting a couple more years out of it. I've just grinded hard."

Recently, O’Hara has been sidelined at Gotham with ankle and knee injuries, and the situation motivated her to really prioritize listening to her body. "To get injured and come back, and get injured and come back, and just keep doing it, it really takes a toll on you.

"People don't see the doubt that's associated with injury,” she continued. "As athletes we feel a certain way, we perform a certain way, our body feels a certain way, we're very in tune with our bodies. And there's always so much doubt surrounding injury. It’s like, 'Can I feel the way I felt before?' The reality is sometimes you don't."

O’Hara didn’t arrive at the decision to move on from her playing career lightly. But once she began seriously considering making 2024 her final year during the last NWSL offseason, it felt right. "Once I was like, 'Alright, you know what, this will be my last year,' I have had a lot of peace with it," she said. "Truly the only thing I felt was gratitude for everything that my career has been, all the things I've been able to do and the people I've been able to do it with."

She said she’ll miss daily interactions with her teammates and all the amazing memories they’ve created, though she feels lucky to have formed relationships that go beyond sharing a locker room. "You're basically getting to hang out and just shoot the shit with your best friends every day," she reflected. "Which is so unheard of, and I just feel very lucky to do it for so long."

The Stanford graduate also mentioned that the NWSL’s suspension of regular season play in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic made her realize how much playing allowed her the space to simply be creative every day. The tactical elements of soccer provided O’Hara an outlet for problem solving and made use of her naturally competitive edge.

She’s now gearing up to channel her on-field intensity into her post-playing career full time, which is a new chapter she’s excited to begin. "I don't know if the world's ready for it, like the fact that I'm not going to be putting all of my energy into football all the time," she said with a laugh. 

O’Hara said she would like to stay connected to the game in some fashion, whether it be as an owner, coach, or member of a front office. She’s also interested in the growing media space surrounding women’s sports, having provided on-camera analysis for broadcasters like CBS Sports in addition to starting a production company with her fiancée.

"I just feel like I have a lot of passions, and things that excite me," she says. "And I do want to stay as close as I can to the game, because I feel a responsibility — and I'm not sure in what capacity — to continue to grow it."

A sense of responsibility to grow the game has been a consistent refrain for the USWNT and NWSL players of O’Hara’s era, who ushered in a new age of equal pay for the national team and collectively bargained protections for those in the league. The landscape for new players looks different than it did 14 years ago, in large part due to this pivotal generation.

"I feel an immense sense of pride around that, because I don't know if any of us knew that was gonna happen," she said. "We kind of, as things unfolded, took the next step towards changing what women's football looks like in this country and around the world.

"I'm really grateful to have been part of this era with the players that I was [with], not backing down and pushing and knowing that was the right thing to do."

Whatever the future holds, O’Hara is going ahead full throttle. It’s a piece of advice she’d also give to the next generation of professionals looking to make their own impact.

"Whatever you do in life, do it because you love it, and the chips will fall in place," she said. "If you love something, you're willing to do what it takes. You're willing to make the sacrifices, you're willing to handle the roller coaster.

"To me, it's simple. Don't do it for any other reason but that, and I think you'll be alright."

The Phoenix Mercury center spoke with Robin Roberts about her 10-month incarceration, reflecting on her poor living conditions and shaky mental state ahead of her May 7th memoir.

"The mattress had a huge blood stain on it. I had no soap, no toilet paper," Griner told the ABC News anchor in last night’s 20/20 special. "That was the moment where I just felt less than a human." 

She also detailed some of her lowest moments during that time, saying with tears in her eyes that she went so far as to consider taking her own life on more than one occasion. However, the thought of Russian officials not releasing her body back to her family made her reconsider.

"I just didn't think I could get through what I needed to get through," said Griner.

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In February 2022, Griner was arrested and charged with drug possession and smuggling by a Russian court after Sheremetyevo International Airport police found vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage. The cartridges were prescribed by Griner’s doctor for chronic pain back in Arizona, where medical marijuana is legal. In the interview, the two-time Olympic gold medalist said she had a "mental lapse" while packing, and never intended to bring the cannabis products with her when she returned to play for UMMC Ekaterinburg.

"It's just so easy to have a mental lapse," Griner said. "Granted, my mental lapse was on a more grand scale. But it doesn't take away from how that can happen." 

She was later sentenced to nine years behind bars after her Russian attorneys advised her to plead guilty the following July. Griner was then sent to a remote penal colony where she was forced to spend her days cutting cloth to make military uniforms. From there, it only got worse.

"Honestly, it just had to happen," she said when asked about her decision to cut off her signature long locks. "We had spiders above my bed making nests.

"My dreads started to freeze," she added. "They would just stay wet and cold and I was getting sick. You've gotta do what you've gotta do to survive."

Shortly after Griner’s initial arrest, the U.S. State Department classified her case as wrongfully detained, escalating its urgency within the government and calling even more attention to the situation. On December 8th, she was freed in a prisoner exchange negotiated by the Biden administration.

While she told Roberts she was "thrilled" when she got the news, she was also very upset about having to leave fellow wrongful detainee Paul Whelan behind. She also continues to carry guilt about her arrest, saying "At the end of the day, it's my fault. And I let everybody down."

Griner’s memoir, Coming Home, hits shelves on May 7th.

"Coming Home begins in a land where my roots developed and is the diary of my heartaches and regrets," Griner told ABC News in an exclusive statement. "But, ultimately, the book is also a story of how my family, my faith, and the support of millions who rallied for my rescue helped me endure a nightmare."

Longtime USWNT fixture Carli Lloyd took to Instagram Wednesday morning to announce that she’s pregnant with her first child. 

"Baby Hollins coming in October 2024!" she wrote. The caption framed a collaged image of baby clothes, an ultrasound photo, and syringes indicating what she described as a "rollercoaster" fertility journey.

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In a Women’s Health story published in tandem with Lloyd’s post, the Fox Sports analyst and correspondent opened up about her struggles with infertility and the lengthy IVF treatments she kept hidden from the public eye.

"Soccer taught me how to work hard, persevere, be resilient, and never give up. I would do whatever it took to prepare, and usually when I prepared, I got results," Lloyd told Women’s Health’s Amanda Lucci. "But I found out that I didn’t know much about this world. I was very naive to think that we wouldn’t have any issues getting pregnant. And so it began."

Lloyd went on to discuss her road to pregnancy in great detail, sharing the highs and lows of the process and expressing gratitude for the care and support her family and medical team provided along the way. She rounded out the piece with a nod toward others navigating the same challenges, encouraging people to share their own pregnancy journeys, painful as they may be.

"My story is currently a happy one, but I know there are other women who are facing challenges in their pregnancy journey. I see you and I understand your pain," she said. "My hope is that more and more women will speak up about this topic, because their stories helped me. I also wish for more resources, funding, and education around fertility treatments. There is much to be done, and I hope I can play a role in helping."

The 41-year-old New Jersey native retired from professional soccer in 2021, closing out her decorated career with 316 international appearances, the second-most in USWNT history, in addition to 134 international goals. A legend on the field, Lloyd walked away from the game with two World Cups, two Olympic gold medals, and two FIFA Player of the Year awards.