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With new program, Angel City ensures retired players aren’t left behind

Saskia Webber addresses the crowd during a pregame ceremony for ACFC’s Players 22 Future Program. (Courtesy of Angel City Football Club)

LOS ANGELES — Saskia Webber and Angela Hucles Mangano combined for three Olympic gold medals and a World Cup title in 22 combined seasons of professional soccer. Yet, when the U.S. women’s national team players hung up their cleats and headed into the next phase of their lives, their career options were limited and the paths unclear.

Webber, a part-owner of Angel City FC, and Hucles Mangano, the organization’s vice president of player development and operations, are committed to providing opportunities so that today’s women’s soccer players avoid the pitfalls they faced in retirement.

In a Saturday night ceremony ahead of ACFC’s 3-2 loss to OL Reign that featured the retirement of jersey No. 22, Hucles Mangano announced a funding milestone for the club’s Player 22 Future Program. The initiative aims to support retired NWSL players interested in careers in the sports industry by providing funding for educational and professional opportunities. Announced in October 2021, the innovative program does not yet have a launch date provided by the California Community Fund (CCF), but Hucles Mangano expects the application process to open by the end of 2022.

“This isn’t just something Angel City is doing for Angel City,” Webber said. “We want the whole league to embrace it, and hopefully all sports will embrace it.”

According to Hucles Mangano, ACFC will play a “hands-off” role in applicant selection and allow CCF to oversee the process, while she and the team’s star-studded group of investors will be responsible for “outreach galore.” Raising awareness to the public and NWSL players, retired and active, will be critical to increasing the funding capacity of the program and allowing it to reach its intended beneficiaries.

The last thing retired players like Webber want to see is the next generation of athletes struggle in retirement as they did.

“I was out on the field for the ceremony, and I looked over and saw (OL Reign midfielder) Olivia Athens,” said Webber, who coached Athens at UCLA. “Knowing what a great woman she is and a great student she was, and that she decided that instead of going into the job market she’d follow her dreams and play pro, instead of her worrying about if that’s going to put her behind, she knows now she has a safe place to land when she retires.”

For Webber 20 years ago, the experience was markedly different.

“We put our hearts and souls into soccer,” Webber said of herself and her USWNT teammates. “We started the WUSA, and when I retired, for me personally, there was nothing. I was already 10, 15 years behind the people I went to college with. It was a reality check.”

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Retired players and Angel City FC investors present jersey No. 22 in honor of the Player 22 Future Program. (Courtesy of Angel City Football Club)

Webber described the program as one that embraces retiring women’s soccer players and tells them, “We’ve got you.” While P22 will give these women the opportunity to pay forward the gifts that pro soccer has given them, most crucially, it will help them sustain their lives after their playing days are over.

“Honestly, I’m still looking for that job,” said Webber, who was named the goalkeeping coach for USC women’s soccer in March. “It’s taken me over 20-something years, and I’ve bounced around from one thing to another because I was behind. People wouldn’t give me that chance. I found my way back to soccer, but it took a long time.”

Men’s professional athletes have historically earned significantly larger incomes than their female counterparts and are afforded much more visibility and additional opportunities, such as sponsorships. Despite the continued gender disparity, Hucles Mangano and Webber believe the tides are beginning to shift.

“We are seeing doors opening for women in sports and opportunities to place former professional female athletes in different careers,” Hucles Mangano said. “This program builds those pathways that never existed for female athletes before.”

Before this program, no professional sports league had offered such meaningful, hands-on career support to retired players, Webber says. If a retired NWSL player has played even just one minute in the league, she is eligible.

“We are going to take you under our wing and help guide you and place you whether you want to be a coach, in the front office or an owner,” Webber said. “We’re going to help you.”

“It provides the education and guidance to fill that gap between when you retire from soccer and when you’re going into your next career,” Hucles Mangano added.

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Angel Hucles Mangano speaks at the jersey retirement ceremony Saturday. (Courtesy of Angel City Football Club)

Webber emphasized that while some retired athletes quickly ascend to roles as a coach, general manager, broadcaster or even owner, these individuals make up one percent or less of retired players.

“What about the other 99 percent who aren’t going to roll out of this and get an agent and get a broadcasting job?” Webber asked. “We don’t want to forget them. We’re going to pay as much attention to the 22nd person on that field and give as much opportunity to you as we would the marquee player, and that’s what’s important. In a lot of sports, those are the people that get left behind.”

In addition to continued outreach, Hucles Mangano plans to dream up other ways of supporting retiring women’s soccer players and bring the ideas to the CCF to put into practice.

“What’s amazing is how everything has changed with women’s sports, and women’s soccer specifically, in giving us opportunities,” Webber said. “If you said 20 years ago that I would become an owner of a team, I would have told you that you’re crazy. All of this, it snowballs. (Player 22 Future) is an amazing program, and the sky’s the limit.”

Joshua Fischman is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports covering Angel City FC and the Los Angeles Sparks. He has covered basketball for Vantage Sports and Hoops Rumors and served as co-host of “On the NBA Beat” podcast. Joshua received his master’s in Sports Media from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Follow him on Twitter @SportsCommsJosh.

USC’s McKenzie Forbes: From Gap Year to the NCAA Tournament

As part of our 1-v-1 video series, USC’s India Otto sat down to interview her teammate McKenzie Forbes. 

Here are five things to know from our conversation with the graduate transfer from Folsom, California.

#1 Inspired by USC’s Head Coach, Lindsay Gottlieb, McKenzie wants to be a basketball coach or work in the front office in the future.

When weighing in on what makes a good coach, McKenzie said x’s and o’s are important but “Coaching is a lot of relationship managing and people managing. I think you have to be a good people person and be able to build those relationships, but also in that same breath, you can’t be afraid to have people dislike you in moments. I think that’s a big part of leadership.”

#2 McKenzie says the trajectory of her career changed when she made the decision to transfer from Cal to Harvard.

 In order to transfer, she was forced to take a gap year and spend a lot of time in the gym. “I completely transformed my body and, going into the Harvard season, felt like I was a completely different player. Going to Harvard and playing in a more mid-major conference, I had the ball in my hands a lot more than I might have if I transferred to another Power 5. It really developed other parts of my game.”

#3 How does McKenzie think USC will do in the Women’s College Basketball Tournament?

“I’m not going to give a typical interview answer. I want a Final Four. We have that potential and capability. Like why not? Why not us? I think we have all the pieces.”

#4 Her older brother, Marcus, was her biggest mentor growing up.

“He was basically my trainer from Elementary school on until he went to college.”

#5 Fun facts about Forbes:

She can juggle and she was the quarterback of her Pop Warner football team. “I was slow but I could throw it!”

Watch the full conversation on the Just Women’s Sports YouTube channel.

Christen Press back training with Angel City FC

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 15: Christen Press #23 of Angel City FC waves to fans following a game between the Portland Thorns and Angel City FC at BMO Stadium on October 15, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Katharine Lotze/Getty Images)

Christen Press continues to inch her way back to a return, having returned to training with her club team Angel City. 

Angel City FC coach Becki Tweed said on Wednesday that Press is back with the team full-time as she continues to make her way back from an ACL injury. While she’s still working on rehab, her being back with the team gives staff a better picture of her progress. 

"Christen [Press] is back with us full time which is amazing,” she said. “Having her in and around the team every day, continuing to work hard on rehab ... she's in a space where being in with the team is really important to her and her progression as well.”

The status update comes days after Press posted videos to social media that featured her doing lateral movement in cleats on grass. 

“Look out world she’s on the move !” Press captioned it. 

Press has been sidelined with an ACL injury since 2022, which caused her to miss the 2023 World Cup. She’s since had four separate surgeries to help repair her ACL.

Press told The Athletic a month ago that she’s been “relentless” in her optimism with her recovery despite it being a “slow process.”

“I have a bit of relentless optimism,” she told The Athletic. “I never, ever doubted that I would make it back on any of the timelines I’ve been on."

"Every single time I’ve heard, ‘You have to have surgery,’ I’m completely shocked,” she said. “When somebody asks me how it’s going, I’m like, ‘It’s going great. And it was going great every time. So I don’t know what to tell you anymore!’”

Sophia Smith re-signs with Portland on record deal

(Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports)

Sophia Smith is now the NWSL’s highest-paid player. 

The Portland Thorns announced on Wednesday that they have signed Smith to a new contract through the 2025 season, with an option for 2026. While the terms of the deal were not disclosed, the team did reveal that Smith is now the highest-paid player in the league on an annual basis.

It’s the latest in what has been a series of record-breaking contracts in the NWSL offseason. 

Chicago Red Stars forward Mallory Swanson, Bay FC forward Racheal Kundananji, and Orlando Pride forward Barbra Banda all signed multi-year deals worth between $2 million and $2.5 million in total. While Smith’s contract is shorter and not worth as much over the long-term, the annual worth is higher. 

“We are over the moon to have Soph commit again to the Thorns. She is a proven, world-class talent and one that we are excited to have contribute to the team’s continued success,” said head coach Mike Norris in a statement. “We look forward to working with her in a Thorns jersey as she continues to shine as one of the top strikers in the world.”

In just four seasons in the NWSL, Smith has led the Thorns to five trophies – including the 2022 NWSL championship – while winning league and championship MVP in 2022. In 61 appearances with Portland, she has 34 goals – including a brace to start this season against Kansas City. 

She’s also a member of the USWNT, having scored 16 goals in 44 international appearances.  Set to become a free agent at the end of this season, she told ESPN she “thought of all the options” but ultimately Portland felt like the right decision.

"There is no place like Portland," Smith said in a small roundtable interview that included ESPN. "I don't believe there's an environment like Portland to play in and it's a city that's so special to me and a city that I feel like I've grown up in almost and become who I am."

She also told ESPN that the team’s new ownership “changes everything.” The club is now led by the Bhathal family, who bought the club after Merritt Paulson was forced to sell it following his part in the NWSL’s abuse scandal. 

"Since I've been here there has been a lot of things going on with this club -- a lot of not-great things going on with this club -- and I have just been waiting for some stability and some reassurance that this club is headed in the right direction, and the Bhathal family coming in is doing exactly that, if not more,” Smith said. 

"Their vision for this club is so exciting, and you can just tell how passionate they are about making this what it should be and continuing to push the standard in women's soccer globally.”

Caitlin Clark offered $5 million to compete in Ice Cube’s league

IOWA CITY, IOWA- MARCH 25: Guard Caitlin Clark #22 of the Iowa Hawkeyes celebrates as time runs out in the second half against the West Virginia Mountaineers during their second round match-up in the 2024 NCAA Division 1 Women's Basketball Championship at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on March 25, 2024 in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)

Caitlin Clark has been offered $5 million to play in Ice Cube's Big3 league, he confirmed on social media Wednesday after the offer leaked.

"We intended the offer to remain private while Caitlin Clark plays for the championship," Ice Cube wrote on social media. "But I won't deny what's now already out there: BIG3 made a historic offer to Caitlin Clark. Why wouldn't we? Caitlin is a generational athlete who can achieve tremendous success in the BIG3."

While there has yet to be a women's player in the league, both Nancy Lieberman and Lisa Leslie have been part of the league as coaches and won championships.

"The skeptics laughed when we made Nancy Lieberman the first female coach of a men's pro team, and she won the championship in her first year," Ice Cube continued. "Then Lisa Leslie won it all in year two. With our offer, Caitlin Clark can make history and break down even more barriers for women athletes."

Ice Cube, whose name is O’Shea Jackson, says that the offer was made with the intention that Clark be able to compete in the WNBA “offseason.” Clark is largely expected to be the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft in April. But it’s unclear how the scheduling of the two leagues would work. 

The 2024 Big3 season is set to tip off on June 15, with 10 games spanning through mid-August. The WNBA regular season, meanwhile, begins on May 14 and ends on Sept. 19.

On “The Pat McAfee Show” on Wednesday, Jackson said that the league has yet to hear back from Clark. 

“We just need an answer, as soon as they are ready to give it to us,” he said. “It’s always 50-50 till we get a no. At the end of the day, it’s a generous offer.”

The offer – as well as the confusion on Jackson’s part about the timing of the WNBA season – caused some current WNBA players to react. 

"It's funny cause I be seeing his son at W games.. they don't talk?" wrote former No. 1 pick Rhyne Howard

"So no other women's basketball player has came to mind in the last 7 years?" wrote Lexie Brown, adding that she'd support if Ice Cube wanted to build a women's iteration of the league. She later discussed it on the Gils Arena Show, noting that his reasoning of wanting to “uplift and support WNBA players and women athletes” is a “cop out.”

Kalani Brown, meanwhile, told Clark to "take that money" and start a women's Big3.

WNBA salaries has been a talking point in recent months as more collegiate stars declare for the league. WNBA stars have often made more money playing abroad than they have in the WNBA. Clark is expected to be the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft on April 15, with a rookie salary of $76,535 for lottery draft picks (Nos. 1-4) that rises to $97,582 by her fourth season. But she also has an NIL valuation of almost $3.5 million.

Diana Taurasi famously skipped the 2015 WNBA season at the request of her Russian club, who paid her more to sit out than she would have made in the W. Her contract with the club was reportedly near $1.5 million per year.

Jackson also seemed to suggest that his league could be an alternative to going abroad

“America’s women athletes should not be forced to spend their off seasons playing in often dismal and dubious foreign countries just to make ends meet,” he wrote. Although it’s unclear whether or not the rapper intends to make offers to additional WNBA players. 

While the league does hold prioritization rules in its CBA, those typically apply only to players playing in overseas leagues. It’s unclear whether or not that would prevent Clark’s participation in the Big3 league.

WNBA players that don’t want to go overseas currently have the option of playing in Athletes Unlimited, which competes in the WNBA offseason.

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