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To ‘win everything’ in 2021, the Portland Thorns are trusting in the process

Simone Charley celebrates a goal against the Washington Spirit earlier this season. (Randy Litzinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

When the Portland Thorns first decided that they wanted to win everything in 2021, it was something of a joke.

“In the beginning of the season, we have these goal meetings where we all get together as a team and write out our goals,” defender Emily Menges says. “And it’s pretty silly because any team, you’re going to write down ‘championship,’ you’re going to write down ‘win.’”

“And we were like, well, we want to win everything. Like, let’s get that out on the table because everybody wants to win everything. That’s why you’re here.”

The “win everything” mantra became something of a self-fulfilling prophecy. This year, the Thorns have won the Challenge Cup, the International Champions Cup and the NWSL Shield. Now, they enter the NWSL playoffs as the No. 1 seed and favorites to win the franchise’s third championship.

All of that success in one season might make it easy to look past Sunday’s semifinal game and toward the NWSL trophy. But the intention the Thorns players set at the start of the season has helped them focus on the little things.

“It’s not about looking at the big picture and checking off outcomes, but it’s just about being focused on the process,” forward Simone Charley says. “So I think tomorrow it’s just about winning the day and doing your best in training, and doing that the next day, and the next day, and just taking it day by day.”

The concept of focusing on process over outcome comes up frequently with Thorns players. While “trusting the process” isn’t new in sports, the Thorns have instilled confidence by understanding what is and isn’t out of their control, and that’s led to a sense of individual security and remarkable team consistency.

“If you had the right idea, even if you didn’t execute, you compliment the idea and you compliment the bravery,” Charley says. “And obviously you want to work on the execution, but it’s just about giving your best effort.”

Menges agrees: “Honestly, it’s better when you fail because everyone’s like, ‘OK, well I saw what she was trying to do.’ That’s what we’re trying to do as a team. And so you almost get applauded for failing, because you’re trying to do what the team is trying to do. And so that has created a culture of just growth from everywhere.”

Celebrating the bravery of risking failure feels radical in the current climate of the NWSL, where several coaches have been dismissed this year over accounts of abusive behavior. It hasn’t been uncommon in past years to see players freeze up on the field, overwhelmed with the anxiety of making a mistake and being punished for it. In Portland, different levels of execution instead foster conversations about ways to improve.

The Thorns organization as a whole, however, hasn’t been blameless this season, causing some disconnect. The club placed former general manager Gavin Wilkinson on leave after The Athletic’s Sept. 30 report implicated him in Paul Riley’s controversial departure from Portland in 2015. Thorns players and supporters had called on the club to address its failures in the Riley case. Since then, the club has hired Karina LeBlanc to replace Wilkinson, who remains the GM of the MLS’ Portland Timbers.

Inside the hurricane of the week following The Athletic report, players fell back on the lines of communication they’d established the year before, in the wake of widespread protests over racial injustice and police brutality.

“Culture is just a big part of who we are. I think, especially in the 2020 season, we had a lot of time off the pitch,” Charley says. “We had a lot of hard conversations about all our core values and things that we stand for, and what we want to hold each other accountable to.”

“Black Lives Matter, all the protests in Portland … we kind of started a culture of meeting as a team and talking about bigger things. And so it was not new,” Menges says. “We told Mark [Parsons] we need some time. And so that was nothing new, and we kind of sat down and opened it up. It’s a safe space for people to share things that they might not want to share publicly, or might not feel like it’s the place to share publicly.”

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Thorns players, including No. 5 Emily Menges, have leaned on each other during a challenging season. (Lewis Gettier/ISI Photos/Getty Images)

During those meetings in the first week of October, Thorns players opened the floor for anybody to speak. The team heard from players who were only just now learning of Riley’s history, to those who had been in Portland during his tenure, to those who were struggling with the memories of their own personal experiences with abuse.

Menges says it’s impossible to know if every person’s story got told, but coming to understand what their teammates were going through helped them manage their emotions in the weeks that followed.

“I think [Thorns players have] that kind of culture where we can kind of say, OK, this player had this going on that they shared with us, and now we’re going to go out and practice,” Menges says. “But you can approach those people slightly differently because you know they’re going through something.”

It’s probably reductive to call soccer a respite from the off-field chaos, but Thorns players have found some clarity in the ability to set a deadline for off-field work and then put their phones down to focus on the task at hand.

Menges tells the story of the Thorns’ game on Oct. 6, their first since the NWSL suspended games in the wake of the Riley report. Before kickoff that night, Portland’s players released a collective statement asking for Wilkinson to be placed on leave, among other demands. It had taken them days to get the statement to the point where all 28 players felt comfortable with it being released.

They finished the message at 4:30 p.m. local time, two and a half hours before their scheduled kickoff. As Menges remembers it, the team got to the locker room at 5, and the players decided the statement would go out around 5:15.

“Once we put that out, since we had done it so well as a team and everyone felt like they at least got their voice heard, we put our phones away and we’re like, ‘We did it. F–k yeah. Now it’s time to play,’” she says.

Even under the most extraordinary circumstances this season, the Thorns’ ability to fall back on their foundation as a group has given way to consistency on the field.

“I think everyone within the team, we trust each other,” Charley says. “And we know that we want to bring out the best in each other. So when someone comes to you and has ideas on how you can improve, you’re willing to listen because you know that they have your best interests at heart.”

The players have built that bond, but the coaching staff has helped reinforce it. Mark Parsons, Portland’s coach since 2016, announced earlier this year that he would leave the Thorns at the end of the season to manage the Netherlands — a move inspired as much by a desire to be closer to his family in England as by soccer reasons. Parsons’ decision will make it a bittersweet end to the season, whenever that comes, both in on-field success and off-field ties.

“I know he tries so hard to bring people around who are good people first, and so you have that culture of, we are good human beings who care about each other first,” Menges says. “And when he is doing his head coach thing, and kind of separates himself from the team a little bit, he always touches base at the right moments. When he knows that something’s going on, or when you need maybe a little bit of extra communication with him, he always pops in at the right time.”

This Thorns team could possibly end up being Parsons’ magnum opus. They’re a tight-knit group that’s proven they can execute when all of their stars are away and when they have World Cup champions and gold medalists in their midst. They’ve drawn talent and built a foundation over the years, focusing as much on personality fit as on natural ability.

That approach has paid dividends, especially after their 2019 season plateaued and the regular season was canceled in 2020. Second-year regular season rookies Sophia Smith and Morgan Weaver, who sit on the U.S. women’s national team bubble, have created some of the team’s most magical moments this year. Five-year Thorn Kelli Hubly stepped in for the injured Menges during the Challenge Cup, and then played alongside her while Becky Sauerbrunn was away at the Tokyo Olympics. Charley, a national team replacement player in 2019, has been essential to keeping the attack moving as both a starter and a late-game substitute.

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The Thorns took home the ICC trophy along with the Challenge Cup title and NWSL Shield in 2021. (Abbie Parr/Getty Images)

The team has relied on its culture when integrating new faces. It will be called upon again when Parsons makes way for a new manager, reported this week to be former Thorn and Canada international Rhian Wilkinson.

“Change is exciting, no matter what the circumstances,” Menges says.

Championship or bust this year, the players hope they can walk into the next chapter with their fans behind them. They know how important the Portland community is to their success, and being transparent with their most ardent supporters will be key going forward.

“What I learned this year specifically, because it kind of hit us so close to home, is that [Portland fans] are an army that’s ready to deploy at any time,” Menges says.

“I think the fans are a very powerful tool, not just during games, but when we need help. When we need help, they’ll show up for us, and when they need help, we show up for them. And so I think if we can better communicate what exactly our vision is and what their vision is, and kind of get on the same page that way, that is the ultimate goal.”

Portland fans have repeatedly held the club accountable, using signs and smoke and sending a list of their own demands to the front office. It’s a commitment borne from a deep passion, which the players have felt throughout the season and plan to embrace Sunday against the Chicago Red Stars, with a place in the NWSL final on the line.

“What makes Providence Park is the fans,” Charley says. “And I think that community aspect that the Thorns organization has, with the fans and with the community, I think it’s just who we are. And so I’m really excited to play in front of them one last time because when you put on the crest, you’re representing them.”

Claire Watkins is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports covering soccer and the NWSL. Follow her on Twitter @ScoutRipley.

EA FC 2025 Team of the Year Star Sophia Smith Is in the Game

Sophia Smith isn't much of a gamer. 

"It just does not come naturally to me," the Portland Thorns and USWNT forward tells Just Women's Sports with a laugh. "I think with more practice, I could get good."

Whatever skills Smith may lack on the virtual pitch are made up in full by her talent on the actual one. And that talent has ironically earned her an outsized on-screen role in the popular soccer video game EA Sports FC.

Earlier this week, the 24-year-old earned her second-straight spot on EA Sport's Team of the Year. The honor that places her alongside international heavyweights like Barcelona's Aitana Bonmati, Chelsea's Lauren James, and Lyon's Wendie Renard.

While gaming might not have been front of mind when Smith won Olympic gold in Paris last summer, she has noticed how FC 25 has become an essential way for soccer fans to get to know their favorite players. The franchise only started fully integrating NWSL teams in 2023, but Smith's rise to in-game prominence was swift. 

Her avatar is regularly featured in national TV commercials, scoring in both a Thorns and a USWNT jersey alongside men's soccer stars like Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham. It might be just a video game, but FC 25 feels increasingly like one of the few platforms that views both sides of the sport as having equal potential.

The phenomenon is not lost on Smith. She says that from time to time fans will recognize her not from the Olympics or an NWSL championship appearance, but from the video game. "When people have the ability to play with women in a game that they've played all their life, it opens a whole new door for us," she says.

"It's so great for women in sports, because it shows that we also deserve to be in a game," she continues. "We also deserve to have that platform, to have our names out there at the same level as the men."

USWNT and EA FC 2025 Team of the Year star Sophia Smith celebrates after scoring at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Smith scored the lone goal against Germany that put the USWNT in the Paris Olympics gold medal match. (Brad Smith/ISI/Getty Images).

EA FC levels the playing field

While the EA FC 25 Team of the Year is voted on by fans, the breadth of leagues in this year's lineup also calms some of the debates currently raging within the women's side. It's no secret that NWSL players sometimes have trouble gaining traction in top European awards. This is a tension that Smith herself has faced before her US national team breakout.

"I do think the NWSL isn't recognized enough," says Smith. "People have a lot of opinions on it, maybe people who don't even watch any games. That can be frustrating because it's a very challenging league to play in — every game is competitive."

To prove her point, she references the time it's taken for her USWNT teammate and fellow Stanford alum Naomi Girma to gain recognition on the international stage. If there were any player she could add to EA FC's Team of the Year, she adds, it'd be the San Diego Wave center-back — "and not just because she's my best friend." The growing global market for NWSL-based players like Girma and Smith likely won't silence critics promoting European-style football over American. But Smith sees differences across leagues as an asset for a player, not a problem.

"Either league could be good for any player for a number of reasons," she explains. "You can learn something in Europe that you can't learn here, and vice-versa. That's why players go back and forth."

"I believe that every league that exists can be challenging in its own way, and we're all just trying to figure it out," she continues. "FC having women in the game — women from the NWSL and European leagues — just puts us all as equals as we should be. It allows you to determine someone's game based off someone's game, not if they play in Europe or the NWSL."

Smith shares Team of the Year honors with fellow NWSL standout, Gotham goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger. (EA Sports).

Focusing on USWNT growth in 2025

Smith's game speaks for itself. Coming off a disappointing 2023 World Cup, the forward scored three goals and registered two assists during the USWNT's Olympic run, leading the team to their first major tournament trophy since 2019. Her club contributions were similarly impressive. She scored 12 regular-season goals alongside six assists despite Portland's failure to make it past the 2024 quarterfinals.

But the year took a toll, and Smith says that prioritizing rest has been essential to preparing herself for everything 2025 has to offer.

"I feel like this offseason was very much needed for me," she says. "While it was a great year, it was a long year — we just gave everything 110%, 24/7, so when we got to the offseason, it kind of just smacked us in the face."

Smith says she's physically bouncing back after a lingering ankle injury limited her playing time in the later half of 2024. "Most offseasons I'll take a few weeks and I'll start training," she says. "This offseason I took a little longer. I knew that in order to start this next year off right, I needed to give my body what it needed while I could."

With no major US tournaments set for 2025, Smith is looking forward to seeing the national team continue to gel and evolve. She's a big believer in USWNT manager Emma Hayes's "If it's not broken, break it" ethos. It makes her excited to push herself and her team to take things to the next level. 

Smith is eager to return Portland to their traditional place atop the NWSL table after a disappointing 2024 campaign (Photo by Soobum Im/Getty Images)

Bringing the EA FC Team of the Year energy back to Portland

Smith also has work to do in the NWSL. She's rejoining a Portland club that saw multiple legends of the game step away after 2024's uncharacteristic sixth-place finish. As a leader, she wants to see the Thorns back at the top of the table. And she hopes to carry on the legacy of retired stars like Christine Sinclair, Becky Sauerbrunn, and Meghan Klingenberg.

"Since I arrived in Portland, every year there's been change. I'm just used to it at this point," she says. "The best thing we can do as players is stick together, really just show up for each other every day. And work towards the same goal, which is to win."

"It's easier said than done," she admits. "I'm used to being one of the younger players on the team. I still am, but I have more experience. I feel like I can be a leader in a different way."

With 2024's triumphs behind her, Smith views the new year as an opportunity to improve without the intense pressure of a major tournament. As always, the goal comes down to one simple thing: growth.

"I'm not the loudest person," she says. "But I can lead by example and show up every day, trying to be the best version of myself and helping those around me get better, too."

Rendering of Sophia Smith's EA FC 2024 card.
Sophia Smith is one of the top-rated women's soccer players on EA FC. (EA Sports)

Making connections on and off the screen

One thing Smith can guarantee is that she'll continue to connect with fans. That goes whether it's signing autographs after a match or finding the back of the net in EA FC 25. 

"It wasn't that long ago that I was that little kid, watching people I grew up looking up to," she remembers. "If they took a minute out of their day to say hi or to sign something, that stuff means a lot." 

"So I try to be that person for people. If I can do that through FC, if I can do that in real life, I always take the opportunity."

European Clubs Eye NWSL Talent as 2025 Preseason Kicks Off

San Diego Wave defender Naomi Girma plays during the NWSL Challenge Cup.
Top European teams have their eye on NWSL defender Naomi Girma. (Howard Smith/ISI Photos/Getty Images)

Some of the NWSL's brightest stars made headlines this week, as the league's free agency transfer window continues to turn heads both at home and abroad.

Brazil forward Kerolin is officially departing North Carolina after spending all three of her NWSL seasons with the Courage, the club confirmed on Wednesday. The 2023 NWSL MVP will reportedly head to the WSL's Manchester City in a deal extending through 2028.

Sources are also linking two-time NWSL Defender of the Year Naomi Girma to the first $1 million transfer offer in women's soccer history, courtesy of French side Lyon and UK titans Chelsea and Arsenal. The 24-year-old USWNT star's current contract with the San Diego Wave runs through 2026, making a transfer fee a necessary part of any earlier deal.

The current record for a women's soccer transfer fee is $860,000, which Bay FC shelled out to receive Zambian forward Rachael Kundananji from Spain's Madrid CFF in February 2024.

More NWSL teams make moves to lock down contracts

NWSL preseason has already started for select clubs, with teams putting the final touches on solidifying both their rosters and front offices.

Angel City hired former Portland Thorns FC and Washington Spirit head coach Mark Parsons as the club's new sporting director on Wednesday. The franchise is still searching for a permanent head coach after parting with boss Becki Tweed in December.

The 2022 expansion team also signed veteran forward Christen Press to a new one-year contract, per a Friday morning press release.

Meanwhile, with Girma's possible departure dominating the rumor mill, the Wave announced the addition of 17-year-old UNC defender and 2024 College Cup champion Trinity Armstrong to the club's ranks on Thursday.

Though Girma's fate is yet to be confirmed, San Diego's decision to pick up a talented young center back — on a three-year contract, no less — supports the theory that the USWNT standout is on the move.

Offseason 3×3 League Unrivaled Basketball Tips Off Tonight

Unrivaled's official teal and white basketball rests on a black chair.
Four Unrivaled teams will tip off on Friday, with another two games on Saturday. (Unrivaled Basketball)

Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball tips off its inaugural season on Friday night, when four of the league's six clubs will take the court for the first time.

The Miami-based league's debut doubleheader begins with a co-founder face-off, as Breanna Stewart's Mist will first square off against 2024 WNBA Finals foe and fellow Unrivaled co-founder Napheesa Collier's Lunar Owls.

Shortly after that inaugural game, Rose BC, whose roster includes top-rated 2024 rookie Angel Reese plus WNBA Finals MVPs Kahleah Copper (2021) and Chelsea Gray (2022), will take the Unrivaled court. Facing them in Friday's nightcap will be Vinyl BC, a team headlined by WNBA Rookies of the Year Aliyah Boston (2023) and Rhyne Howard (2022).

The two remaining Unrivaled teams will debut on Saturday afternoon, when Phantom BC takes on Laces BC in another 3×3 doubleheader.

Led by All-Stars like Brittney Griner and reigning WNBA champion Sabrina Ionescu, the Phantom will start the season without guard Marina Mabrey due to a calf strain. Her recovery is expected to take two to four weeks, with an injury re-evaluation set for late January. In the meantime, the Phantom have added relief player Natisha Hiedeman to their short-handed roster.

Unrivaled stars prepare for their close-up

The innovative new league is launching with 36 of the WNBA's biggest stars, a brand new 3x3 format, and a product finely tuned for national TV broadcast. The goal is to bring fans even closer to their favorite athletes.

Subsequently, Unrivaled has teamed up with six US bars "dedicated to elevating women's sports" in an effort to promote official watch parties nationwide.

"The content piece and the TV piece of this is huge for us," Collier told The Athletic ahead of Friday's launch. "We want to make it the most interactive, fun, and exciting experience we can for people."

With a smaller court and cameras positioned closer to the action than in WNBA games, Unrivaled is aiming to bring a small-venue experience to a national audience.

"It’s definitely intimate, and you’re definitely going to hear a lot of stuff," Mist athlete Jewell Loyd told The Athletic. "But at the same time, that’s what you want, and it’s definitely going to make us play a little harder."

A rendering of the Unrivaled 3x3 basketball court in Miami.
Unrivaled tips off its debut season on Friday, January 17th. (Unrivaled)

How to watch Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball this weekend

The new 3x3 league will tip off with the Mist and Lunar Owls at 7 PM ET on Friday, with Rose BC and Vinyl BC following at 8 PM ET.

All Unrivaled games will air across TNT, truTV, and Max throughout the season, with Friday's tip off broadcast live on TNT.

College Stars Take Center Stage as 2025 NCAA Gymnastics Season Heats Up

Jordan Chiles celebrates her bar routine at UCLA's first NCAA gymnastics meet of 2025.
US Olympian Jordan Chiles is back for her junior NCAA gymnastics season with UCLA. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

With the 2025 NCAA gymnastics season in full swing, top collegiate athletes are already eyeing mid-April's national championship in Fort Worth, Texas.

Unlike elite gymnastics, where difficulty can outweigh execution, the college level values precision over big tricks, so Division I athletes all aim for perfect 10s in their competition performances.

Despite this difference, many of the world's most decorated elite gymnasts also compete in the NCAA. Two-time Olympian Jade Carey is back for her senior season with No. 14 Oregon State while her US teammate in both Tokyo and Paris, Jordan Chiles, is entering her junior year at No. 11 UCLA.

The Bruin, who took the 2024 NCAA season off to prepare for last summer's Olympics, will attempt to reclaim the national titles on uneven bars and floor exercise that she earned in 2023.

No. 2 LSU's Haleigh Bryant does a split leap in the air at a 2024 NCAA gymnastics meet.
2024 NCAA all-around champion Haleigh Bryant is back with LSU. (Reagan Cotten/University Images via Getty Images)

Top teams poised for the podium

After earning their first national title last spring, No. 2 LSU is hitting the 2025 mat armed with a stacked roster, headlined by 2024 all-around champion Haleigh Bryant and social media star Livvy Dunne.

Add in last year's freshman phenom Konnor McClain, whose prowess on the balance beam ultimately clinched LSU the NCAA trophy, and 2024 Olympic alternate Kaliya Lincoln, who opened her NCAA career with a 9.825 vault two weeks ago, and the Tigers are more than capable of a back-to-back run.

LSU isn't the only SEC team predicted to make a deep run this season, as the conference is once again flush with perennial contenders.

Elite US stars Kayla DiCello and early Freshman of the Year frontrunner Skye Blakely will join two-time US Olympic alternate Leanne Wong in trying to return No. 7 Florida to the NCAA championship meet. At the same time, new SEC team No. 1 Oklahoma, winner of seven of the last 10 NCAA trophies, could see senior Jordan Bowers de-throne Bryant for the 2025 all-around title.

Also causing early national championship chatter are 2024 finalists No. 5 Cal, who return two of the country's best all-arounders in senior Mya Lauzon and junior eMjae Frazier, and Big Ten champs No. 6 Michigan State, whose veteran-heavy lineup boasts stars Skyla Schulte and Sage Kellerman.

How to watch NCAA gymnastics this weekend

Some of the country's top NCAA gymnasts will take the mat when No. 7 Florida visits No. 2 LSU at 7:30 PM ET on Friday. Live coverage will air on ESPN2.

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