Beverly Yanez joined Reign FC during the second season of the NWSL. She went on to play six seasons for the club, having previously played abroad for INAC Kobe Leonessa in Japan. After a decade of professional soccer, Yanez announced this week that she was retiring from the sport. She sat down with JWS to discuss her hopes for the future, why now is the time to step away, and how much the league has grown since she joined.

How have the last few days been since you announced your retirement?  

It’s been emotional, just seeing the outpouring of love. I’m very grateful for the amount of people that have reached out, whether it be on social media or to me personally. It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster knowing that I’m finished doing something that I’ve done for so long, something that has brought me so much happiness and structure to my life. Soccer has been such a big part of my identity that it feels weird to ask what I’m going to do without it, because it’s all I’ve known since I was a kid. But I’m also very excited for the future.

Why is now the right time to step away? 

There was a lot of thinking that went into the decision. In part, I started to feel that, though I love the sport so so much, my body just isn’t recovering like it used to. I feel like I’m getting a little bit older. I’m also very excited at the thought of starting a family. And I knew that I wanted my career to end on a positive note. I wanted to walk away still loving the game, which I do. To step away is tough, but I’m incredibly grateful for everything that it’s brought to my life. And I’m thankful to be able to walk away on my own terms, having had such a positive experience and with so many good memories. I can honestly say in my heart of heart that I gave it everything I have.

What are you most looking forward to about retirement? 

I think it’s easy for people to overlook how much you have to sacrifice to consistently play at the highest level. Every single day of my career I woke up asking how I could be the best version of myself in order to help the team. Every single thing in my everyday life revolved around the fact that I needed to perform at my best. That meant I ate at a certain time every day, and I ate certain things the day before a game and the day of a game. It meant I couldn’t walk my dogs on game day because I could never be sure how long they’d want to go. I had to manage my body on a consistent basis and obsess over every little thing. I loved it, and that’s how I chose to live, but that kind of life can also be very, very draining after a long period of time. So I’m excited to now just get up and ask myself, like, what do I want to eat today? Do I want to walk the dogs twice today? Having that kind of daily flexibility is honestly what I’m most excited about. That and getting to spend more time with my husband, of course.

What was it like getting to play for Reign FC throughout your NWSL career? 

I’ve said it a million times, and I’ll say it a million more, but to be able to start and end my NWSL career with Reign FC has been a true honor. The club has just been so incredible during my entire time there. They take such good care of their players. They give them the maximum that they can, not just financially, but with whatever they can do to make sure players are comfortable and enjoying their experience. It’s a fun and competitive environment where athletes can thrive. They really care about you as a person, which was a huge reason why I stayed there for so long.

You’ve been in the league since almost the beginning. How has it changed in your time? 

I have seen the league grow immensely over the course of my career, which is one reason I’m so at peace walking away now. I’ve been able to witness and be a part of the growth, and now I step away with so much hope that it will continue to grow. The difference between how many boys and girls come up to ask us for autographs at airports now versus six years ago is just incredible, and it shows you that our efforts have made a real difference. Even in retirement, I’m still going to do what I can to give back to the younger players and use my knowledge and my experience to empower those who are fighting for more recognition and equality. What the national team did this past summer was beyond amazing, and I’m in complete support of them and all other women who are standing up for more equality across the board. I got to experience that fight firsthand and now I’m going to be able step away and continue to encourage those who are working to grow and improve the league.

Looking back, how are you different now than you were at the beginning of your career?

It’s been an incredible journey. The game has taught me things that I will carry with me the rest of my life. It’s taught me how to improve myself, how to be organized and healthy, how to be there for my teammates, how to come together and find commonalities with people I might have never talked to if I passed them on the street. It’s made me look at life differently, and I’m going to take that with me into my new everyday reality. I want to get to know people, I want to get to share my experiences with people. I want to hear about what other peoples’ lives are like. And that’s because soccer showed me how to be more outgoing, how to be more of an extrovert, how to open up and get to know people. It’s let me travel the world and meet the most amazing people who I will call friends for the rest of my life. There’s so many stories I hope to tell my kids someday about the people I met and the journey I had.

Stakes are sky-high for Wednesday night's Cy-Hawk Series clash, as undefeated No. 10 Iowa State welcomes unbeaten No. 11 Iowa to Ames for the highest-ranked NCAA women's basketball matchup in the cross-state rivalry's history.

"[If] you grew up in the state, just there's nothing like it," Iowa head coach Jan Jensen said of the historic series. "You've dreamed, you've watched those big football matchups when you're little, you watched the basketball games when you were little, and to get to be in one — boy, it doesn't get much better."

"[It's] one of those things where it truly is a rivalry, because teams [go] back and forth and have their streaks and wins and losses," echoed Cyclones boss Bill Fennelly.

The red-hot Hawkeyes enter Wednesday's game with the head-to-head advantage having won three straight against the Cyclones — and eight of the last nine in the series.

That said, the Cyclones have the nation's leading scorer on their side, with junior center Audi Crooks's 27.6 points per game showcasing unmatched efficiency in the 2025/26 NCAA season.

"Audi's tough," Jensen said about the Iowa State star. "She's just really, really incredible…. When you let her get it, she's pretty accurate."

How to watch Iowa vs. Iowa State in the 2025 Cy-Hawk Series

The No. 11 Hawkeyes will visit the No. 10 Cyclones in the 2025 edition of the Cy-Hawk Series at 7 PM ET on Wednesday, with live coverage airing on ESPN.

The Washington Spirit are all in on forward Trinity Rodman, with club GM Nathan Minion telling reporters that the 2025 NWSL runners-up are working "pretty much daily" to re-sign the free agent despite salary cap concerns.

"I think everyone's trying to work together to get a deal in place," said Minion, acknowledging that the NWSL and the Spirit are actively working with each other to retain the 23-year-old star. "[We're] trying to figure this out and trying to get a resolution that can hopefully keep Trinity here with us for a long time."

"The reality is our current salary cap structure — it was built for a different era of women's soccer," said the DC club's recently hired president of soccer operations Haley Carter. "We're going to need mechanisms that allow NWSL clubs to compete for not only players from overseas, but our own players."

The NWSL vetoed the multi-million dollar offer from the Washington Spirit to keep Rodman last week, with the NWSLPA subsequently filing a grievance claiming the league violated the USWNT attacker's free agency rights by blocking the deal.

"These are nuanced conversations, and I would love to just toss the salary cap out the window and pay the players," said Carter. "But we also have to appreciate that, pragmatically, it isn't always payroll that's going to keep our athletes here. It's investment in other things as well."

"We are going to have to start getting creative, I believe, because it's bigger than just one team," continued Carter. "It's bigger than just one player. It's about the league's ability to keep its best players in this league as we continue to grow."

The NWSL transfer and hiring market is ramping up, with both the 14 existing clubs and two incoming expansion teams busy bolstering their 2026 ranks just weeks into the offseason.

Last week, Bay FC announced that England U-23 head coach Emma Coates will become the 2024 expansion club's second-ever manager, with fellow England youth national team and WSL staffer Gemma Davies joining Coates's NWSL crew as an assistant coach.

"I'm truly honored and super excited to build on the strong foundations that have already been established and to implement a clear identity both on and off the pitch," Coates said in Thursday's statement. "[Bay FC] shares my passion for people, performance, and culture, which I believe are fundamental to sustained success."

"Emma is not only an excellent coach, but she also has a proven track record of developing players to compete at the highest levels of both the domestic and international game," remarked Bay Collective CEO Kay Cossington. "Emma has consistently demonstrated an ability to bring players and teams to the next level with clarity, care and purpose. She understands what it takes to build environments where people thrive and perform at their best."

"Bay FC is gaining not only a great coach, but also someone that understands women's football and our athletes inside and out."

While Coates will wrap up her nearly three years at England's U-23 helm to join Bay FC in the coming days, three other NWSL teams are still searching for permanent sideline leaders this offseason, as the Kansas City Current, North Carolina Courage, and Portland Thorns continue to conduct coaching searches.

The Thorns joined the leaderless ranks in late November, parting ways with manager Rob Gale following the team's NWSL semifinals exit.

Reigning WNBA champion A'ja Wilson picked up yet another honor this week, as TIME crowned the four-time league MVP its 2025 Athlete of the Year on Tuesday.

The Las Vegas Aces center became the first player in WNBA history to win a championship, Finals MVP, league MVP, and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season, with the 29-year-old sweeping the league's awards this year.

"This year, I collected everything," Wilson said in her TIME interview. "I don't really talk much sh-t — I mean crap. I kind of let my game do it."

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Wilson described the Aces' midseason slump as a focusing agent in her 2025 TIME Athlete of the Year feature, with the skid launching the team on course to their third championship win in four years.

"I think 2025 was a wake-up call that I needed, to let me know that I can't be satisfied with anything," said Wilson. "There's somebody out there that's going to try to take your job. You need to make sure you're great at it, every single day."

Wilson also spoke to the strained relationship between players and WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert, whose leadership came under fire in October as CBA negotiations kicked into high gear.

"I only know Cathy by when she hands me trophies," Wilson said. "If that's her true self, thank you for showing that. Thank you for saying those things. Because now we see you for who you are, and now we're about to work even harder at this negotiation."

With the latest CBA extension expiring on January 9th, Wilson promised that the players are all-in on negotiations through the holiday season.

“All of us are going to be at the table, and we're not moving until we get exactly what we want."