Alyssa Thompson needed to speak with her younger sister. It didn’t matter that Gisele was asleep halfway across the globe. Alyssa had learned she was about to live out a dream — a dream she and her sister, Gisele, cultivated and worked toward for years — and this news could not wait.

At 17 years old, Alyssa had been called up to the U.S women’s senior national team, the youngest player to earn a call-up in five years. The two sisters, teammates most of their lives, have relied on each other throughout their soccer journey, and Gisele knew as well as anyone the sacrifice and work that led to this point.

That path has included playing with and against girls four or five years older — the sisters were underclassmen in high school when they played on the same team as then-college stars Ashley Sanchez and Savannah DeMelo — and being the only girls on the field when competing against some of the top boys talent in MLS Next matches.

Alyssa and Gisele have been together through it all, balancing school work, soccer and a social life. When they knew no one else on the team, they could talk to each other. Away from the field, they shared a room and imagined playing for the U.S.

They just didn’t expect it to happen so soon.

“It was definitely a dream come true,” 16-year-old Gisele said recently from Dubai, where she was training with her U.S. teammates for the U-17 World Cup. “We talked about this stuff a lot, especially doing it together. That was both of our dreams.

“Having both of us accomplish these big dreams is such an amazing thing.”

Gisele thought her father, Mario, was joking — his reputation for playing tricks didn’t help — when she awoke to texts and calls from him and Alyssa.

“Alyssa and I felt that this time was going to come,” Mario said about the call-up. “It was more of when. It’s sooner than we all expected.”

Being ahead of schedule is nothing new for the Thompson sisters, who have quickly risen through the U.S. youth system. This past summer, Alyssa was the only high school player on the U-20 World Cup roster, and she scored a goal in the opener.

“There are times when I sit back and watch her play,” said their mother, Karen, “and I’m always struck by even for how young she is, how much she can compose herself on the ball and how patient and how skillful she can be.”

Alyssa and Gisele are pioneers off the field, too, becoming the first high school athletes to sign Name, Image and Likeness deals with Nike, putting pen to paper this May.

Mario and Karen have focused on making sure Alyssa and Gisele live a balanced lifestyle. They attend Harvard-Westlake School, where they dominated in soccer two years ago and also run track. They find time to attend Friday night football games and hang out with friends, playing board games, Twister or just relaxing outside.

“It’s a priority for us to make sure the girls get to appreciate and experience life,” Karen said.

‘I always envision Gisele being there with me’

Getting a teenager to admit they miss their younger sibling is often a fruitless task. But as Alyssa lounged about her Southern California home one August afternoon, she needed no prodding. She felt a little lonely with Gisele in Spain, playing on the U-17 national team.

“I always have someone with me, and that’s Gisele,” Alyssa said. “When she’s gone, it’s kind of weird.”

Born 13 months apart, the Thompson sisters were separated by grade level but did pretty much everything else together. Gisele could have played with girls her own age, but it was easier for Mario and Karen to drive their kids to the same games and practices instead of ferrying them back and forth between separate games.

“I really liked it because it was a built-in friend,” Gisele said. “Whenever we would play soccer at different clubs, it was easier because she was there.”

It helped that Gisele’s silky-smooth passing and defensive ability perfectly complemented Alyssa’s nose for the goal, and the two often preferred playing on the right side of the field.

“It’s so much easier to play with her,” said Gisele, now primarily a right back. “We’re sort of like twins, so we know what our next move is.”

“She was always giving me the final pass or through-ball,” Alyssa added.

Nike has signed sisters Alyssa & Gisele Thompson to multi-year deals. This marks Nike's first High School NIL deal.

Both sisters are members of the US National Team system and are committed to @StanfordWSoccer

via @NickDePaula pic.twitter.com/NDyigwn4js

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) May 17, 2022

When Gisele and Alyssa weren’t playing basketball and volleyball or competing in gymnastics and track, they were usually together, whether on a family beach trip or a park picnic.

“We could say, ‘Hey, go in the backyard and go play with each other,’ and we knew they were entertaining each other,” Mario said.

That bond remains strong even as they see less of one another due to different national team commitments. Next year, Alyssa plans to attend Stanford while Gisele finishes high school. Gisele’s college of choice? Stanford.

“Any team I’m on, I always envision Gisele being there with me,” Alyssa said. “I love having her as a teammate.”

In a league of their own

The sisters thought their time playing against boys was over.

In 2020, as COVID-19 wreaked havoc on youth soccer in southern California, the Thompson sisters were left in limbo. Their club teammates for the last several years had moved on to college. But they were still in middle and high school and had few training opportunities.

So Mario reached out to Paul Walker, director of Total Futbol Academy, which does not field girls teams. Gisele and Alyssa had played with TFA for several years, starting at 8 and 9 years old when Walker recognized their talent at a training session. Unlike most youth soccer clubs in the U.S., TFA does not rely on the pay-to-play model, providing Walker flexibility to bring in the Thompsons without ruffling feathers.

Mario credits that experience with improving his daughters’ all-around game.

But that was years ago, and the boys were now much faster and much stronger.

“You could get hurt because they’re really big and basically men now,” Alyssa said.

Alyssa and Gisele were accustomed to competing against bigger players. They played up four and five years, respectively, with their club team Real So Cal, and starting in eighth grade, Alyssa and then Gisele joined Santa Clarita Blue Heat of the second-division United Women’s Soccer League.

They faced off against college stars, like current U.S. international Taylor Kornieck. And the sisters were deemed good enough to share the field with teammates like Sanchez and DeMelo, who joined Alyssa on the U.S. roster for this international break.

“The only two players that were in high school were Alyssa and Gisele,” Santa Clarita Blue Heat sporting director Carlos Marroquin said. “I had never had high school players before. I didn’t want them.”

It didn’t take long for Walker to extend an offer for the Thompsons to join TFA’s MLS Next teams, a chance to compete against some of the top boys talent in the country.

Mario just had one question for his daughters: Did they want this? The answer: a resounding yes. It was a challenge they relished.

“I have had a parent ask me, ‘Why are they playing in MLS Next?’” Karen said. “It’s what they thought they needed to work on and what they thought they were capable of and confident in doing.”

Alyssa and Gisele credit the last few years with improving their first touch and decision-making.

“The speed of play is very different,” Walker said. “Being able to execute your thought and your decision, with or without the ball.”

When Alyssa was young, she sometimes struggled to fit in at TFA. Used to being the primary goal-scorer, she had to learn other roles. In her second stint at the club, she has been embraced by teammates.

When she scored her first goal after rejoining TFA, she was nonchalantly jogging back to midfield when her teammates called her over to the corner flag. They all wanted to celebrate with her.

“They are competing and now being impact players on their current team,” Mario said. “When they don’t show, their coach is like ‘Hey, where are they? We need them.’”

United for the next challenge

On Tuesday, the same day Alyssa and the U.S. women’s national team face Spain in an international friendly, Gisele will be in India for the Americans’ opening game of the U-17 World Cup.

But they still lean on each other. That’s why Gisele was the first person Alyssa thought to call when she got off the phone with Mario, U.S. coach Vlatko Andonovski and general manager Kate Markgraf.

“Everyone used to say they’re like twins,” Mario said. “They relate to what they’re going through. There’s very few friends that can relate to their experiences.”

When Gisele and Alyssa connected, Gisele’s message was simple: You belong. Now show everyone what you can do.

She plans to watch Friday’s game against England on the plane ride to India. But Alyssa will have some familiar faces in London. Both Mario and Marroquin plan to be there.

“For her first call-up, I have to make it,” Mario said.

When Mario and Karen signed their daughters up for soccer, this was not the plan. Even when Gisele and Alyssa turned heads as youngsters, the family viewed soccer as a fun hobby, perhaps an avenue to a college scholarship.

It took Marroquin just a few minutes to realize the Thompsons were elite players as middle schoolers. Walker immediately recognized that talent when they were 8 and 9 years old. Years later, so did scouts for the Mexican boys’ youth teams.

Now, the Thompson sisters will look to impress on the world stage.

“People ask me all the time, ‘Is Alyssa ready for the women’s national team,’” Mario said. “Yeah, she’s ready. … Alyssa and Gisele are training with 17- and 18-year-old (boys) on a daily and weekly basis. I know how difficult it is.

“I know when they do play with women at a high level, they’ll be fine.”

Phillip Suitts is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports. He has worked at a variety of outlets, including The Palm Beach Post and Southeast Missourian, and done a little bit of everything from reporting to editing to running social media accounts. He was born in Atlanta but currently lives in wintry Philadelphia. Follow Phillip on Twitter @PhillipSuitts.

The Chicago Sky showed up in a big way on Tuesday night, taking down 2023 WNBA Finals runners-up New York Liberty by an impressively wide margin. 

The Sky walked away with a 101-53 win, boasting a 48 point swing that still looms large despite the fact that it's only preseason. Perhaps the team felt extra pressure to perform — not only did WNBA League Pass follow through on their promise to stream the game for free, but Chicago Bears rookies Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze also happened to be watching on from the stands.

“I’m gonna just say — it’s about time," said Sky guard Dana Evans in response to the star-studded turnout at Wintrust Arena. "Everybody wants to watch women’s basketball. I feel like we’ve been doing a really good job of doing stuff on the court and off the court. So just having them support us is great — but keep bringing them out."

Chicago's Marina Mabrey was lights out with four threes and 20 points on the night, while training camp addition Chennedy Carter racked up 11 points and two steals. 

Sky rookie Angel Reese proved that she can do it all, putting up 13 points, five rebounds, and two steals in 19 minutes — all less than 24 hours after she walked the Met Gala red carpet in New York. The 6-foot-3 top draft pick out of LSU even knocked down a layup over 2023 WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart in one of the night's many highlights.

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"So now yall can delete them drafts & tweets saying i shouldn’t have gone to the met gala & i can’t do both," she later wrote on social media. 

While some may chalk it up to preseason coaching choices and the fact that it was the Liberty’s first real game outside of training camp scrimmages, New York head coach Sandy Brondello still voiced disappointed in her team’s result.

"We just got our butts kicked, everywhere. I mean everything. It’s an embarrassing effort, I don’t care that it’s preseason," she said in a postgame press conference. "Our starters didn't get us off to a good start. We missed a lot of layups early, but they just took us out of everything."

On a lighter note, the third-year Liberty coach had some kind words for undrafted rookie Jaylyn Sherrod, who showed real effort on defense.

"She has speed," remarked Brondello. "She could guard Dana Evans. No one else could."

As the WNBA plans to implement league-wide charter flights, the NWSL is struggling with some travel issues of its own. 

Missed flights, inclement weather, and a stretch of midweek games have spurred workload and logistical concerns for a number of NWSL teams. Last week, three games were played Wednesday night, while another three games are set to be played tonight. 

"You can't play your best XI right now because of the amount of games you have," said Red Stars head coach Lorne Donaldson after last Wednesday's 4-2 loss to Washington. Donaldson emphasized the importance of rotating through the team’s depth so as to avoid injury.

"You have to get to about 16 deep where you can," he continued. "Or else your best XI is going to be injured or walk off the field and they can’t finish the season."

Kansas City has faced some of the league's most extreme turnaround times this season. On Sunday, the Current missed an evening flight to Seattle due to a multi-hour rain delay in Houston, throwing off their training schedule ahead of their midweek match against the Reign. The NWSL eventually gave them the green light to charter a plane, but not before frustration spread throughout the team.

"We lost the whole day of the opportunity to recover," said Current head coach Vlatko Andonovski after the Current's weekend draw against the Dash. "So the schedule, it's already challenging to begin with. We have by far the worst schedule in the league, and this just made it even worse.

"We don't have a hotel, we got to figure out a hotel. We don't have flights for tomorrow, we got to figure out flights. We had trainings for some players that we believe needed training time to be able to perform on Wednesday.”

While the team was given permission to charter a plane, navigating such approvals has proven difficult in the past. This past July, the NWSL fined Kansas City $55,000 over the unauthorized use of a charter flight.

Recently retired WNBA superstar Candace Parker has her next gig lined up: president of women’s basketball at Adidas.

Parker announced her retirement at the end of April, bringing a close to a 16-year professional career spanning three WNBA championship titles with three different teams. And now, she’s stepping into a slightly different role — this time off the court — with longtime sponsor Adidas.

"The brand and I have grown together, and we’ve done some amazing things," she told Fast Company in an exclusive interview published Wednesday morning. "I’m excited about what the future holds on this side of things, because I’m so passionate about growing the game of basketball."

Parker initially signed with Adidas at the end of her first professional season in 2008, going on to spend the vast majority of her illustrious WNBA career linked to the German athletic brand. In 2010, she became the first woman to receive a signature Adidas shoe: the ACE Commander.

Her most recent Adidas collaborations include basketball sneakers Exhibit B (2022) and Exhibit Select (2023) in a variety of different colorways, as well as limited edition off-court apparel.

In 2022, Parker led a mentorship program for the brand’s first class of NIL-sponsored college athletes, a stacked roster that involved the likes of rising star Hailey Van Lith, among others. In her new position, she’ll be "overseeing pretty much everything" when it comes to the brand’s women’s basketball operations.

That "everything" includes weighing in on shoe and clothing design, navigating new and existing athlete partnerships, and taking control of Adidas' grassroots growth strategies. She’ll also help with "how we actually speak to the women’s basketball consumer," Eric Wise, who leads the brand’s global basketball business, told Fast Company.

According to Parker, the decision to accept the offer hinged on her desire to be more than just "the face" of Adidas women’s basketball.

"I said to [Adidas], 'I don’t want to be a mascot,'" Parker said. "'I really want to be in the meetings, and I want to be a part of making decisions.'"

Charter flights are on the horizon for the WNBA, with commissioner Cathy Engelbert saying on Tuesday that the league will provide teams with full-time private travel services beginning as soon as this season. 

The move is set to address years of player safety concerns, among other issues. Engelbert told AP Sports Editors that the league aims to launch the program "as soon as we can logistically get planes in place."

The initiative is projected to cost around $25 million per year over the next two seasons.

The WNBA has previously provided charter flights on a limited basis, including during the postseason and when teams were scheduled to play back-to-back regular season games. Individual owners seeking to independently provide their teams with private travel — such as the New York Liberty’s Joe and Clara Wu Tsai back in 2022 — faced significant fines for using unauthorized charters.

While players and team staff have been calling for league-wide charters even before Caitlin Clark and other high profile rookies joined the league, Engelbert has routinely cited steep year-to-year costs as the reasoning behind sticking to commercial flights. 

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However, the WNBA's surging popularity means increased visibility, and a subsequent uptick in security concerns — especially when it comes to big name newcomers like Clark — has Englebert reconsidering her previous decision. 

WNBA Players Association president Nneka Ogwumike called the move "transformational," and credited the WNBPA as well as the league for its implementation. 

"Our league is growing, the demand for women's basketball is growing," Ogwumike told ESPN. "That means more eyes on us, which is what we want, but that means more protection from the organization that we play for, the whole W that we play for.

"Chartering flights not only is a safety measure, the biggest thing, and then obviously what it means to be able to play a game and go home and rest and recover and be the elite athletes that we try to be every single night when we step out onto this court."

Aces coach Becky Hammon called the immediate response to the charter announcement "great" but noted that there are still kinks to be worked out. 

"What it all looks like, we’re still gathering information, we don’t know," she said Tuesday.

Several players emphasized the importance of safety, highlighting how last season the Phoenix Mercury’s Brittney Griner was harassed in an airport while traveling commercial.

"All these players and these faces are becoming so popular that it really is about that as much as it as about recovery," Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier said.

"Above everything else, I think it's the safety of our players," Mercury player Natasha Cloud added. "We have a prime example with BG on our team that needs to be safe. At airports, it's like a madhouse. You see Caitlin Clark walking through airports, people following her, people trying to touch her, get pictures with her. It's just a safety measure, through and through. You would never have an NBA team walk through an airport."

Prior to Tuesday's announcement, the league had said it would charter flights for the playoffs and back-to-back games via a program introduced last year. The latest news, however, promises that teams will also be provided charters to and from all regular season games.

"Our safety is being taken seriously now, finally. In no world should our security not be a priority," Griner told ESPN. "If we want to be the league that we want to be and have the respect that we have, it comes with some risks. Sometimes people want to get close to you and it's not people you want, so I'm just glad that we don't have to deal with that anymore."