Balancing being a teenager and the next up-and-coming star for the U.S. women’s national team can be difficult. Luckily, Alyssa Thompson has some help.

The USWNT has called up the 18-year-old a handful of times in the past year, including as an injury reserve in April when Mallory Swanson went down with a patella tendon tear. With a spot on the U.S. World Cup team this summer a strong possibility, Thompson has focused on adjusting to the international environment.

Playing with Angel City in the NWSL, the 2023 No. 1 draft pick has a number of national team stars to help her along, including Christen Press, Sydney Leroux and Julie Ertz, who signed with the team in April. New Zealand defender and ACFC captain Ali Riley is also a great resource.

“All the players on my team have been super helpful with just trying to help me know what to expect with international play,” Thompson said. “They really helped me just know what my goal is and tell me what it takes to get there and all the extra details that it takes.”

Angel City has also prioritized setting Thompson up for success in her rookie season. That means making sure she isn’t falling behind in school or missing out on being an 18-year-old.

“For us, it’s about putting her in the best position for success,” head coach Freya Coombe said. “I think it’s about how we use her in games to keep her fresh and to keep her enjoying the moment, enjoying the sport.

“I think it’s also about working collectively with her support network and managing her school schedule versus training when we’re putting meetings in the week, when we’re asking her to do extra, limiting the amount of additional activities that are non-essential for the club. I think that so far, we’re doing a good job of being able to manage that as a collective group.”

So far, Thompson has thrived in the pro environment. She leads Angel City with three goals in six games, having started five of them.

“She’s been playing really well. I think that we are seeing some variations of her game in terms of the spaces that she’s attacking and where she’s looking threatening,” Coombe said.

“I think that we are seeing her develop in a defensive capacity and seeing her both sides of the ball and her defending increasing and being better as the weeks go on.”

Being in consideration for the USWNT’s World Cup roster meant Thompson skipping the U-20 Concacaf championship, where her younger sister Gisele will represent the U.S. beginning May 24 in the Dominican Republic.

“There is obviously conversation. But right now, while she’s playing as many minutes as she is for us, we’d like to think that she’s still being considered for the senior team,” Coombe said. “I think the decision was made for all of us that she stays in the club environment.”

Thompson isn’t the only teenager to miss the tournament. The San Diego Wave also held back 18-year-old forward Jaedyn Shaw after a “very open conversation” with head coach Casey Stoney. Shaw has started all six of the Wave’s regular season games and is second on the team with three goals.

“It’s my choice not to release her,” Stoney said. “She’s wanted by the national team. Unfortunately, they don’t run through FIFA windows. And even if they did, the FIFA windows here aren’t even respected. We’ve got six key players out with injuries. It’s my job to look after the club.

“We just can’t release her right now. She’s a starter for us, she’s a main feature. She’s been a key player for us this season and we can’t afford to miss her during this period.”

A report released by analytics company Nielsen Sports and beverage corporation PepsiCo this week indicates that women's soccer is on track to amass upward of 800 million fans by 2030 — eventually making it the fifth largest sport in the world.

Nielsen estimates that women's soccer currently has the world's 10th biggest fanbase, but the study's prediction of a 38% increase in reach over the next five years would have the sport eventually rivaling top spectator draws like pro tennis and Formula One.

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Already a powerhouse in the US, the rise of the European women's game has been particularly significant.

For example, the UK-hosted 2022 Euro saw fan interest in the women's game double in England, with that growth beginning well before the Lionesses' historic title win.

The report also notes that women's soccer still lags behind in terms of corporate sponsorship, highlighting increased opportunities for brands as the fanbase expands.

"We see women's football as more than just a sport," said PepsiCo EVP and chief marketing and growth officer Jane Wakely. "It's a cultural force with the power to connect, inspire and grow our brands."

"From media rights to sponsorship and fan engagement, this is no longer a case of future promise but present value," said Nielsen Sports head of international Samantha Lamberti.

Ultimately, the current trajectory of women's soccer is seeing the sport carve out a more powerful place in the global market — so long as investors also see the vision.

"We have long believed in the potential of women's football," added Lamberti. "Today, we're no longer just tracking progress, we're witnessing a breakthrough."

The Women's Super League (WSL) is growing, with the UK league's top two flights deciding in a Monday expansion vote to enlarge its top tier from 12 to 14 teams ahead of the 2026/27 season.

The number of matches played each season will also balloon from 22 to 26 games to accommodate the incoming clubs, as will established cup competitions.

Monday also saw the WSL vote down a prior proposal to temporarily suspend the relegation and promotion process to accommodate this expansion, deciding instead to adopt a "two up, one down" model for the second-tier WSL2 next season.

As such, the top two finishers of the 2025/26 WSL2 season will automatically join the higher-tier WSL, while the WSL's last-place team will battle the WSL2's third-place club in "a high-profile, high stakes match" for the final spot in the top flight.

After reaching 14 teams, both leagues will return to relegating the last-place WSL finisher while promoting the WSL2's top team for the following season.

Along with the increased investment in club infrastructure, a 14-team WSL keeps pace with the global women's game — most notably, the NWSL, which will become a 16-team league in 2026.

"Our priority was to find a route that would benefit the whole women's game pyramid, and we believe this next evolution of women's professional football will raise minimum standards, create distinction, and incentivize investment across the board," said WSL Football CEO Nikki Doucet.

With EuroBasket set to tip off on Wednesday and injuries mounting league-wide, WNBA teams are filling out dwindling rosters with more short-term contracts — and calling back some familiar faces along the way.

While some European standouts withdrew from EuroBasket consideration — including Phoenix's Satou Sabally and Seattle's Gabby Williams — others, like New York's Leonie Fiebich and Golden State's Temi Fagbenle, will join their national teams for the regional FIBA tournament through the end of June.

Due to these planned absences, WNBA teams temporarily suspend their EuroBasket players' contracts, allowing squads to add others to their rosters.

Players signed due to temporary absences are technically on rest-of-season deals, though the agreements can end whenever the missing athletes return.

In contrast, the league requires that teams release any hardship signings due to injury once squads tally enough healthy original players to satisfy the WNBA's 10-athlete roster minimum.

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Featuring a lineup stacked with international talent, Golden State made the most transactions this week, temporarily suspending four regular contracts as 2025 EuroBasket stars departed for the annual competition.

To bolster their depleted bench, the Valkyries brought back 2025 WNBA Draft Cinderella pick Kaitlyn Chen and recent training camp participant Laeticia Amihere on short-term contracts, in addition to guard Aerial Powers and forward Chloe Bibby.

Elsewhere, after losing forward Maddy Siegrist to injury and temporarily suspending the contracts of centers Teaira McCowan and Luisa Geiselsöder, Dallas acquired center Li Yueru from Seattle — with the Wings possibly needing additional hardship signings in the coming days.

The Storm snagged two future draft picks in the Saturday deal — a second-round selection in 2026 and a third-round pick in 2027.

Ultimately, teams are striving to find a balance between stocking up and maintaining consistency, all while operating under the WNBA's roster constraints — with further league expansion fast approaching.

The 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup will wrap up its conference play on Tuesday, as both Eastern and Western teams battle for a ticket to the in-season competition's championship game — and a cut of the $500,000 prize pool.

With 12 of the league's 13 teams facing off across Tuesday's WNBA courts, the results will set the stage by minting the two squads who will battle in the July 1st final showdown.

Reigning Commissioner's Cup champs Minnesota have the West's easiest path, as a win over the Las Vegas Aces will send the Lynx to a second straight final.

Should the Lynx fall to the Aces, however, Seattle can grab the Western Conference berth by beating the Los Angeles Sparks.

Meanwhile in the East, a surging Atlanta could land a trip to the final by topping New York, while the Liberty need both a win over the Dream plus a loss by the Indiana Fever to clinch their own return ticket to the Cup's grand finale.

If New York does take down Atlanta, the Fever could advance to the team's first-ever Commissioner's Cup final by beating the struggling Connecticut Sun.

How to watch Tuesday's 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup games

All of Tuesday's six WNBA games count toward the 2025 Commissioner's Cup tally.

The action begins with the Atlanta Dream tipping off against the New York Liberty while the Indiana Fever battles the Connecticut Sun at 7 PM ET, live on WNBA League Pass.