Alex Morgan is more than just a soccer player.

While she remains a star on the field, she also has sought to create change off the field as her career has progressed, for the U.S. women’s national team and for the NWSL.

For example, when her then-Portland Thorns teammate Mana Shim sought to file an abuse complaint against their coach Paul Riley in 2015, Morgan helped her ensure that her voice was heard. After Shim and Sinead Farrelly went public with their allegations in 2021, Morgan continued to serve as an ally and as a voice for change. She also has joined Shim on U.S. Soccer’s new participant safety taskforce to help prevent abuse across all levels of the sport.

Morgan’s latest venture is the Alex Morgan Foundation, which aims to support girls and women both in and outside of soccer.

“I feel like that’s such a testament to the power that you have when you lend your voice or your time to a cause. Whether it was about the league, the anti-harassment policy, now this foundation,” co-host Sam Mewis told Morgan on the latest episode of Snacks. “We know you’re involved in the company Togethxr. Being so involved in equal pay in the lawsuit, like you’re lending your voice and it’s so powerful that these situations get resolved and then you can move on and kind of give that power elsewhere.”

To Williams, Morgan’s power has helped make the NWSL what it is.

“I think that a lot of people see you as like amazing Alex Morgan, amazing goal scorer, beautiful woman, but they don’t necessarily always see all the things that you do behind the scenes,” she said. “Like I don’t think our league has an anti-harassment policy without you, which is incredible. I don’t even know if there is an NWSL without you’ve fought and pushed for that so much.

“So I think that I just wanna take this time to say thank you so much for using your platform and realizing that you have it and saying, you know what, I’m gonna help. Obviously you do all the cool stuff. You still have to do the stuff to get this platform, but you’ve really decided to put people who don’t have a voice in front of you sometimes. So I think that’s very cool.”

For Morgan, it’s “worth it” to be a part of what she views are “really important causes.” And part of that, she says, is in due part to what she has learned during her time on the USWNT.

“It is so worth it and I feel like the national team, like growing up on it kind of, has really taught you to use your voice and just be confident in what you speak, in what you say and standing behind that,” she said. “And I feel like I feel even more confident off of the field than on the soccer field because of the teammates that I’ve been surrounded by.

“I think that that’s definitely a positive thing from being on the team for so long because a lot of times it feels like you’re just in this never ending like groundhog day or vicious cycle that you feel like you’re in a pressure cooker all the time. And it’s nice to know that there’s a lot of positives that come out of it.”

Both Mewis and Williams have experienced that energy themselves. Once they had the opportunity to play the USWNT “a couple times, you realize it’s not just about soccer,” Williams said.

“There’s so many women who are like, no, we’re gonna be badass on the field, but we’re also gonna fight for all of these things that we need and deserve and have to fight for,” said Williams. “And so you have this sense of, okay, I’m more confident as a human being, I’m more confident as a woman, but now I need to also fight for all these things.”

Cameron Brink already has her rookie of the year pick for the upcoming WNBA season, and it’s Indiana-bound star Caitlin Clark. 

In the latest edition of Kelley on the Street, host Kelley O'Hara caught up with Brink in New York hours before the Stanford phenom went No. 2 overall to the Los Angeles Sparks at the 2024 WNBA Draft. When O’Hara asked who would win the WNBA's rookie of the year, she answered without pause.

"Caitlin Clark," she said, while a fan commented that she thought Brink would take home the award. Brink later added that the extra foul granted to WNBA players will be "good for me."

"I hope it’s me," Charisma Osborne, who was later drafted by the Phoenix Mercury, said when asked her ROY prediction. "But, I don’t know — we’ll see."

Watch more of Kelley on the Street:

Maria Sanchez issued a statement on Thursday, confirming recent reports that she has requested a trade from the Houston Dash. 

In it, she revealed that the club has been aware of the request "since late March."

"This has all taken a toll and isn’t an easy thing to talk about, but I want to confirm that I’ve requested an immediate trade," she wrote. "My expectations and reasons have been clear. I trust that my current club’s management will honor my decision in a timely manner and proceed with accepting a trade."

"I’m eager to refocus and dive back into what I love most: playing football," she concluded.

Thank you, everyone, for the outpouring of kindness and support. pic.twitter.com/gcnN7dhCJU

— Maria Sanchez (@Maria17_7) April 19, 2024

Reports of Sanchez's trade request first surfaced on ESPN last week, and were later confirmed by multiple sources. 

In December of last year, Sanchez signed a three-year contract with the Dash valued at $1.5 million including bonuses and an option year. It was the largest contract in NWSL history at the time — a figure that would be eclipsed by multiple contracts in the following months. 

Sanchez spent the offseason as a restricted free agent, meaning that Houston could match any other team's offer to retain her rights. Should the Dash trade Sanchez, her current contract terms would remain intact, limiting potential buyers to teams able to afford to take on an inking of that size.

The Dash has yet to address the trade, instead reiterating to ESPN that Sanchez is "under contract, a choice she made in free agency at the end of 2023." 

Both the NWSL trade window and transfer window close tonight, April 19th, at 12 a.m. ET. The window will stay closed through the next 11 regular season games, reopening on August 1st, 2024.

The four-time league champion Seattle Storm unveiled their new practice facility on Thursday, with Storm co-owner Lisa Brummel dubbing Interbay's Seattle Storm Center for Basketball Performance the team’s "new home."

"It's just such a special space," Brummel told Fox 13 Seattle. "I think when the players get here, it's gonna be overwhelming."

The sprawling 50,000-square-foot, $64 million property is just the second designated practice facility to be designed and built expressly for a WNBA team, with the Storm further noting that 85% of all design and engineering team members involved in the project's construction were women and people of color. The finished product holds two professional indoor courts, two 3x3 outdoor courts, a state-of-the-art locker room, and players' lounge, plus designated areas for strength and conditioning, kitchen, dining, and nutrition, and recovery. 

"This facility reflects our commitment to providing our athletes an exceptional environment that supports their growth, health, and performance," said Storm co-owner Ginny Gilder in an official team release. "It’s built for women, by women, embodying our dedication to leading the way in professional women’s sports."

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For their part, the team can't wait to make the faciilty their own.

"It's amazing," Storm guard Jewell Loyd told Fox 13. "Not having to drive everywhere around, knowing you have access anytime of the day to get into the gym, to workout." 

Head coach Noelle Quinn said she predicts the team is "never going to leave this building."

"Which is a good thing for me," she continued. "You talk about having an edge in performance. We want our athletes to not only perform on the court, but get whatever they need."

All of the Storm's staff and operations will now live under one roof, and the team also has plans to launch a youth basketball program operating out of the building.

The Caitlin Clark effect is quickly making its mark on the big leagues, as WNBA host teams around the country rush to upgrade their Fever games to larger arenas in order to accommodate surging ticket sales.

With Clark mere weeks away from her Indiana Fever debut, both the Las Vegas Aces and Washington Mystics have officially relocated their scheduled home games with head coach Christie Sides' squad. On Thursday, the Mystics became the latest to adjust their plans, moving their June 7th matchup from Entertainment & Sports Arena in Southwest DC to the more centrally located — and much larger — Capital One Arena "due to unprecedented demand."

The Mystics home court's capacity taps out at 4,200, while Capital One Arena — home to the Wizards, Capitals, and Georgetown Hoya's Men's Basketball — can fit nearly five times that crowd at some 20,000 spectators.

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"The move to Capital One Arena will allow for additional fans in the stands as well as premium hospitality options, including Suites and the all-new all-inclusive courtside Hennessy Lofts," the team announced via Thursday's press release.

The Aces were one of the first teams to switch venues, aiming to take on the Indiana Fever in front of as many as 20,000 fans inside T-Mobile Arena on July 2nd. That’s a sizable a boost from their home venue, which holds just 12,000.

For those still planning to face the Fever in their home arenas, ticket prices have skyrocketed. Previously scheduled construction has already forced the LA Sparks to relocate their first five games — including their May 24th clash with the Fever — to Long Beach State's Walter Pyramid. The temporary venue is quite the downsize, holding just 4,000 in comparison to Crypto.com Arena's near-19,000. As of Friday, the get-in price for that game started around $400.

Despite fans launching a Change.org petition urging relocation, the Chicago Sky say they're unable to move their June 23rd Fever meeting from Wintrust Arena's 10,000-seat facility to the 23,500-seat United Center due to a concert. Tickets for that game start around $325 as of Friday.