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Crystal Dunn wants to set an example for athlete mothers

Crystal Dunn hopes to return to the field with Portland by late August or early September. (Brad Smith/ISI Photos/Getty Images)

These days, Crystal Dunn splits her time between soccer, naps and bopping to old Disney songs in French with her smiling 5-week-old son, Marcel Soubrier.

The mother-athlete balance is a journey the Portland Thorns star was ready for after taking a month away from work to get used to her new identity as a parent. Still, there were many challenges she couldn’t prepare for until she gave birth to Marcel on May 20.

After catching about six hours of sleep, during which she and her husband, Pierre Soubrier, take turns calming down a crying Marcel, Dunn begins her day around 8 a.m. At 9:30, she leaves for the stadium to do physical therapy, catch up with teammates in the locker room, attend team meetings and watch their training sessions. In the afternoons, she returns home to look after Marcel, sometimes calling up Heather O’Reilly for parenting advice.

Dunn has been juggling parenting and soccer since June 15, as she works to return to NWSL action by late August or early September.

“It really gave me the full feel of, OK, I’m kind of back now. This is kind of cool,” Dunn told Just Women’s Sports. “I’m back as a new mother and as an athlete still. Getting into the rhythm has been really nice.”

Her return to play has been thoughtfully planned out by Portland’s high performance team, in conjunction with her doctor, pelvic floor specialists and physiotherapists.

“Crystal is, as she always does, blowing all expectations out of the water,” said Thorns head coach Rhian Wilkinson. “It’s exciting to watch. She can already outrun me and outlift me, which is just a testament to what an incredible athlete, but also professional, she is.”

Dunn knew this year was the right time to become a mother when she felt mental and emotional burnout in 2021. Her body needed rest in a different kind of way.

It didn’t mean the decision to become a parent was easy. She worried about the lack of support she’d get as she figured out how to find her way back to the pitch while also caring for a baby.

Women, in most fields of work, have a hard time envisioning successful careers and motherhood. For professional athletes, their body is their work, and for about a year during pregnancy and after giving birth, they’re unable to compete in top form. Being forgotten in the run of competition is a common fear.

Perhaps the most versatile player on the U.S. women’s national team, Dunn has been an instrumental part of their success in the past decade, most recently helping them win the 2019 FIFA World Cup title and 2020 Olympic bronze medal. A year from now, she hopes to play at the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. The 2021 Concacaf Player of the Year won’t let the show go on without her.

The stigma around women athletes becoming mothers has motivated Dunn to partner with Modern Fertility, an organization that educates women on their bodies and their reproductive health, and provides them with resources to make the best decisions for their own journeys with motherhood.

Everybody’s path is different. To Dunn, that is the most important message for aspiring and current mothers.

“They’re understanding that you can be a parent. You can start thinking about being a mom and not sacrificing your career. You can do both. … Obviously Modern Fertility has been incredible because I just think everyone needs to be educated on their reproductive health. I think it’s something, especially as women, we’re not really taught a lot of that growing up.”

Dunn became affiliated with the organization to be a part of the conversations that will help normalize athlete pregnancy. Sydney Leroux, Kelley O’Hara, Candace Parker and other elite athletes have also partnered with the campaign.

In the NWSL, seven players have babies due this year, including Dunn’s USWNT teammates Julie Ertz, Allie Long and Casey Krueger.

“It needs to be celebrated more when women do take that journey to motherhood alongside being an elite athlete,” Dunn said. “Any way I can be involved to help push, help change that narrative that, ‘Oh, women should only kind of do this.’ Like, no, it’s 2022. Keep up, people.

“I’m not the first female athlete to be pregnant and give birth and have my career and be a mother at the same time, but I feel the more and more that we can speak out about our experiences and push for the next generation to feel like they have the option to do so as well is how you set up the future.”

Dunn didn’t think that, at nine months pregnant, she’d still be able to train with the Thorns. But there she was at practice, juggling and taking part in passing drills. The same week before she gave birth, she was doing volleys with Pierre, who’s also the Thorns’ head athletic trainer.

“My coaching staff was like, ‘Come as often as you want. We want you here.’ I think hearing that message really allowed me to feel valued,” Dunn said. “Once you’re pregnant, you know that you can’t play at the highest level anymore and so you start to feel left out. You start to feel like you’re not as valued anymore.

“I think my coaching staff and my teammates really did a good job of keeping me included. I was in the meetings, I was engaging with players all the time, and it really was exactly what I needed to step into now this new role that I’m in.”

As Dunn prepares to return to the pitch, she keeps in touch with members of the national team and has productive conversations with head coach Vlatko Andonovski every few weeks.

As the national team heads off to Mexico for the first game of World Cup Qualifying on Monday, Dunn will remain in Portland with her family.  Andonovski said in a press conference in early June that Dunn would have been on the squad had she been able to play, and there are certainly moments when Dunn wishes she could be at the Concacaf championship with her teammates.

But, as she reminds herself, being a mother is pretty darn cool, too.

“I’m exactly where I need to be right now,” she said.

Jessa Braun is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports covering the NWSL and USWNT. Follow her on Twitter @jessabraun.

‘Sports Are Fun!’ Rates the NWSL with Gotham FC’s Ryan Campbell

Cover image for Sports Are Fun! with Kelley O'Hara featuring the Washington Spirit.
'Sports Are Fun!' talks NWSL in the latest episode. (JWS)

Welcome to another episode of Sports Are Fun! presented by TurboTax.

Every week on Sports Are Fun!, co-hosts soccer legend Kelley O'Hara, sports journalist Greydy Diaz, and JWS intern BJ serve up their hottest takes on the biggest women's sports headlines.

This week, Sports Are Fun! talks all things NWSL with Gotham FC goalkeeper — and O'Hara's fellow Stanford alum — Ryan Campbell.

"We're five games in at this point and now I feel like things are starting to take shape — we can talk about them," O'Hara opens, referencing the start to the 2025 NWSL season. "I'm excited... the settling's happened, now we can get into season."

"So we're going to talk about what happened this weekend," she continues. "First on the list: Gotham FC. Thankfully we have our very own Gotham FC player in the house."

"I feel like what you're saying is like totally correct — the first three games, I think we scored not very much — a bit of a drought," says Campbell. "But, I mean, I practice with these girls every day. I know Ella Stevens can hit it upper-90, I know Esther's chipping me at practice. I know we have scoring power."

"We all had the sentiment and didn't really get discouraged and I don't think the staff was discouraged at all," she adds. "The resounding sentiment was, 'The rain's going to fall, like it's going to drop for us.' And I think you saw that against Angel City."

In addition to this weekend's NWSL action, Sports Are Fun! also tackles the WNBA Draft's viewership, the NCAA Gymnastics Championship, and so much more.

'Sports Are Fun!' reflects on former USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski

Then, Sports Are Fun turned to coaching. The headline? Angel City bringing on new manager Alexander Straus from Germany's Bayern Munich.

What makes a good coach? What do players look for in a coach? O'Hara knows one thing — playing under USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski wasn't exactly a learning experience.

"Hollywood's got a new hitman you guys," Campbell quips about Straus. "He has piercing blue eyes. They rival Leo DiCaprio."

"But can he coach a soccer team to a championship?" asks O'Hara.

"I've always wondered this," says BJ. "You played at the college level. You play now professionally, you played for the national team — how are you listening to a coach?"

"I think a good coach is going to go in and take a player as experienced as Christen Press, Sydney Leroux, and say, 'This is what I see. This is what I think you can bring to the team. This is how I'm going to utilize you in the system that I want to play,'" O'Hara answers.

"What is funny is — this is going to sound bad. I feel like I shouldn't say this. I don't feel like I learned anything new from Vlatko," she says, subsequently referencing the former USWNT coach. "And, actually, post-having him as a coach, I was like, 'Wow, is that on me? Did I stop learning or did he not coach me?"

"I had conversations with other other players about it. They were like, 'No, no, no, that was on him.' Because I feel like I was always open. I was like, 'I want to be coached, tell me how I can.' Because as a player, yes, you become the type of player you are, but you're never perfect."

Sports Are Fun! graphic featuring soccer legend Kelley O'Hara.
'Sports Are Fun!' places Kelley O'Hara at the intersection of women's sports and fun. (Just Women's Sports)

About 'Sports Are Fun!' with Kelley O'Hara

'Sports Are Fun!' is a show that’ll remind you why you fell in love with women's sports in the first place.

Join World Cup champ, Olympic gold medalist, and aspiring barista Kelley O'Hara as she sits down with sports journalist Greydy Diaz and a revolving cast of co-hosts and friends. Together, they're talking the biggest, funnest, and most need-to-know stories in the world of women’s sports.

From on-court drama to off-field shenanigans, to candid (and silly) chats with the most important personalities in the space, this show screams "Sports Are Fun!"

Subscribe to Just Women's Sports on YouTube to never miss an episode.

WPSL to Launch First-Ever 2nd Division U.S. Pro Women’s Soccer League

The new WPSL Pro league logo on a red-to-blue ombre gradient background.
The new WPSL Pro league is set to launch in 2026. (WPSL Pro Soccer)

The Women’s Premier Soccer League (WPSL) announced a plan to launch a Division II pro arm in 2026, providing a domestic stepping stone for players aspiring to top-flight leagues like the NWSL and USL Super League.

The same Cleveland ownership group that recently fell short of securing an NWSL expansion team is backing the venture, making good on their promise to bring professional women's soccer to Northeast Ohio.

The league will launch with a shortened season following the 2026 men's World Cup, before beginning its first full-fledged campaign in April 2027.

With 15 teams already confirmed, WPSL Pro intends to field clubs in an initial 16 to 20 markets.

Along with Cleveland, the inaugural WPSL Pro season will include teams in Austin, Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Fargo, Houston, Oklahoma City, Sioux Falls, Wichita, and the Bay Area, among others. Each franchise will pay a $1 million fee to enter the league.

The WPSL has a history of fostering high-level amateur competition, currently housing over 100 clubs and boasting a roster of former players that includes USWNT icons Brandi Chastain, Alex Morgan, and Rose Lavelle. WPSL Pro, however, will become the US soccer pyramid's first-ever second-tier league.

"WPSL Pro is the bridge that's been missing — not just for players, but for the communities, investors, and brands ready to be part of the next chapter in women's sports," league co-founder Sean Jones said in a statement.

Caitlin Clark Scores 2nd Best-Selling Jersey Across WNBA and NBA Sales

Fans clamor to buy Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark jerseys before a 2024 WNBA game.
Caitlin Clark sold the second-most basketball jerseys in the US in 2024. (Dylan Buell/Getty Images)

The No. 22 kit of Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark weighed in as last fall's second best-selling basketball jersey in the US according to sports outfitter Fanatics, with the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year trailing only NBA superstar Steph Curry on the top sales list.

Clark's merch dominance is nothing new, however. Her Indiana jersey sold out less than an hour after the Fever drafted her as the overall No. 1 pick in April 2024, making Clark the top seller of any draft night pick in the company's history.

Even more, Clark's merchandise led last season's record-shattering WNBA sales, with Fanatics reporting that 2024 sales of player-specific gear earned a jaw-dropping 1,000% year-over-year increase by last summer's All-Star break — in large part thanks to the 2024 WNBA rookie class.

Fellow 2024 WNBA debutants Chicago Sky standout Angel Reese and then-Las Vegas Aces guard Kate Martin — Clark's NCAA teammate at Iowa — trailed the Fever star with the league's second- and fourth-most merchandise sales, respectively.

This year, a new WNBA rookie could give Clark a run for her money, as the No. 5 Dallas Wings jersey for 2025's No. 1 draft pick, Paige Bueckers, is already doing numbers at retailers across the country.

Already a brand mogul in her own right, Bueckers topped the 2024 NIL list as college basketball’s biggest earner via endorsement deals and merchandise sales prior to going pro.

Kenyan Runner Sharon Lokedi Shatters Boston Marathon Record

Kenya's Sharon Lokedi raises her arms in triumph as she crosses the 2025 Boston Marathon finish line.
Kenya’s Sharon Lokedi beat the Boston Marathon course record by over two minutes. (Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Kenyan runner Sharon Lokedi shattered the women’s course record at the 2025 Boston Marathon on Monday, finishing the 129th edition of the race in 2:17:22 — more than two and a half minutes faster than the previous record set by Ethiopia's Buzunesh Deba in 2014.

The victory marked the 31-year-old runner's second major marathon championship following her 2022 New York City Marathon win.

After finishing second in the 2024 Boston Marathon behind fellow Kenyan Hellen Obiri, Lokedi avenged her runner-up status by overtaking the back-to-back defending champion in the final kilometer of Monday’s race.

"I'm always second to her and today I was like, 'There’s no way,'" Lokedi said of her rivalry with Obiri. "I just have to put it out there and fight 'til the end and see how it goes. I'm so glad I ran that fast and she was right behind me. We all fought and wanted this so bad."

All of this year’s top three finishers broke through the course record pace, with Obiri and Ethiopia's Yalemzerf Yehualaw joining Lokedi both at the finish line and in the Boston Marathon's record book.

Along with her $150,000 winner's check, Lokedi will pocket an additional $50,000 for claiming the fastest women's time in Boston Marathon history.

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