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Kelley O’Hara embraces Gotham’s evolution from Sky Blue days

Kelley O’Hara returns to New Jersey after playing for Sky Blue FC from 2013-17. (Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)

Across sports, it’s not unusual to see athletes consider returning to their original teams later in their careers. Players often take the opportunity to build on first experiences and re-mold personal legacies while etching their names in team lore. But for Kelley O’Hara, a move back to New Jersey would probably surprise her past self.

“I would have never considered coming back a couple years ago,” said the two-time World Champion defender, speaking to the media in her introductory press conference after officially signing with Gotham FC in her first year of free agency.

While the first free agency announcement (though not quite the first signing, since the deal was finalized this week) in NWSL history made unprecedented waves, O’Hara is no stranger to New Jersey.

“I was driving out to the facility yesterday, going to PT and just being in Jersey just felt so good. I was like, dang, it’s good to be back here,” she said.

O’Hara played for Sky Blue FC from 2013-17, but she says that her new club bears little resemblance to the one she left in turmoil, even beyond the team’s 2020 rebrand to Gotham FC. Sky Blue in 2017 was a troubled club in the final year of disgraced former manager Christy Holly’s tenure as coach, with conditions later exposed in 2018 as being consistently below the standard of a professional sports organization.

“I loved playing for this club and the teammates that I had, but there were a lot of issues that we had to deal with as players, which is ultimately why I left. Because I was just like, this isn’t up to the standard that we deserve as players,” she said.

While playing first for the Utah Royals, and then winning the 2021 NWSL championship with the Washington Spirit, O’Hara kept tabs on her first NWSL club, and the changes are noticeable.

In the years since O’Hara left, Gotham has undergone major changes both on and off the pitch. They relocated their home games from Rutgers’ 5,000-seat Yurcak Field to Red Bull Arena, brought in high-profile investors like Eli Manning and Sue Bird, and rebranded both in team name and logo. O’Hara said she wants to be a part of the club’s journey toward winning its first NWSL championship.

“The sales pitch was, ‘Come back, and be part of getting this club to where you wanted it when you played here before,’” she said, likening the free agency process to her experience with college recruiting. And while her memories of Sky Blue aren’t all positive, she fell in love with the area during those five years, saying it has a soft place in her heart.

“I lived in Brooklyn for two years, I lived at the [Jersey] Shore for three years,” O’Hara said. “I loved being in Jersey. I love being in New York City.”

O’Hara is still rehabbing a hip injury that has kept her off the pitch in recent months, but she says she is hopeful to be ready to go for the team’s first regular season match in March. She’ll join a Gotham team in transition, looking to improve upon their last-place finish in 2022 with a new coach and a revamped roster that now includes USWNT teammate Lynn Williams.

And while O’Hara is looking forward to the upcoming season, coming back to New Jersey is a full-circle moment for the 34-year-old.

“It’s exciting to watch, like as a player, to see how much has changed from the first day that I showed up for Sky Blue, to now coming back and being at a media day for Gotham,” O’Hara said. “It’s crazy.”

Claire Watkins is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @ScoutRipley.

LPGA Stars Tee Off at Scottish Open as Lottie Woad Makes Pro Debut Splash

England's Lottie Woad tees off during the 2025 Evian Championship.
Amateur sensation Lottie Woad will make her professional debut this week. (Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)

The 2025 LPGA Tour is teeing off across the pond, as the 144-strong player field hits the Dundonald Links for the Scottish Open on Thursday.

Co-sanctioned with the Ladies European Tour (LET) since 2017, this year's Scottish Open will see top LPGA and LET golfers gear up for next week's AIG Women's Open — the final Grand Slam tournament of the season.

Currently sitting in an 11-way tie for seventh place, world No. 1 Nelly Korda is leading the US contingent alongside No. 139 Jenny Bae, as Korda continues to hunt a first tournament win in 2025.

Sitting one stroke ahead in a five-way tie for second place is former top-ranked amateur Lottie Woad, with the No. 62 rookie making her highly anticipated professional debut in Thursday's opening round after excelling at the 2025 Evian Championship.

"I will definitely take it, there was some good and some bad, but overall it was pretty fair," said Woad after her Thursday performance.

The 21-year-old England star will likely see her first-ever winnings when the Scottish Open wraps, as the new LPGA Tour member is now eligible to collect on the tournament's $2 million purse.

While Woad came out swinging with a five-under-par first round, it was fellow Englishwoman and world No. 1184 Charlotte Laffar who began with the biggest bang.

The 32-year-old LET pro — returning to the circuit this season after four and a half years away from the sport to start her family — skyrocketed to an outright first-place Thursday finish behind a six-under performance.

With three rounds still to play, the early leaders will face fierce competition from contenders like defending 2024 Scottish Open champion No. 14 Lauren Coughlin and 2025 Ford Championship winner No. 10 Hyo Joo Kim, both of whom sit tied for 17th place after Thursday's first round.

How to watch the 2025 Scottish Open

The 2025 Scottish Open runs through Sunday, with live coverage on the Golf Channel.

Tennis Icon Venus Williams Logs First Singles Win in 709 Days at DC Open

Venus Williams reacts to her 2025 DC Open first-round win over world No. 35 Peyton Stearns.
Williams earned her first singles win in just under two years on Tuesday. (Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)

US tennis icon Venus Williams has turned back the clock, scoring her first singles win in almost two years at the 2025 DC Open hardcourt tournament this week.

With her straight-set Tuesday victory over fellow US pro and world No. 35 Peyton Stearns, the 45-year-old Williams became the oldest player to win a WTA singles match since then-47-year-old Martina Navratilova did so at Wimbledon in 2004.

"I'm here with my friends, family, people I love, and the fans, too, who I love and they love me, so this has been just a beautiful night," the seven-time Grand Slam winner said after the match.

Williams's DC Open run also saw her snag an opening two-set doubles victory alongside fellow US partner Hailey Baptiste on Monday, though the pair fell in a three-set battle to the No. 2-seed duo of US star Taylor Townsend and China's Zhang Shuai on Wednesday.

Next on the tennis legend's DC Open docket is a Round of 16 clash with No. 5 seed and world No. 24 Polish contender Magdalena Fręch, as Williams takes her comeback push one match at a time.

"It doesn't matter how many times you fall down. Doesn't matter how many times you get sick or get hurt or whatever it is," she said. "If you continue to believe and put in the work, there is an opportunity, there is space for you."

How to watch Venus Williams at the 2025 DC Open

Williams will hit the court against Fręch at 7:30 PM ET on Thursday, airing live on the Tennis Channel.

US Olympic & Paralympic Committee Issues Ban on Transgender Women Athletes

The Olympic rings sit on Eiffel Tower Stadium during the 2024 Paris Games.
Team USA's trans athletes will no longer be eligible to compete in the women's categories at the Olympic and Paralympic Games. (Oscar J. Barroso/Europa Press via Getty Images)

The US Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) announced an official policy change this week, issuing a ban on transgender athletes from competing for Team USA in the women's categories at the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The new policy cites President Trump's recent anti-trans athlete Executive Order 14201 alongside 1998's Ted Stevens Olympic & Amateur Sports Act.

"As a federally chartered organization, we have an obligation to comply with federal expectations," USOPC president Gene Sykes and CEO Sarah Hirshland said in an internal memo on Wednesday.

The USOPC oversees some 50 national governing bodies across sports, including at the youth and masters levels, as well as Team USA's participation in all official Olympic and Paralympic competitions.

The new ban effectively overrides any and all guidelines previously set by various sport governing bodies in the US, and joins the growing number of prohibitive policies affecting primarily transgender women athletes worldwide.

The revised segment — part of the larger USOPC Athlete Safety Policy — does not explicitly use the word "transgender," nor does it explain the ban's function, scope, or application to men's sports.

Notably, only one openly trans athlete has ever competed for the US at the Olympic Games: Nonbinary runner Nikki Hiltz, who was assigned female at birth, participated in 1500-meter track event at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

"By giving into the political demands, the USOPC is sacrificing the needs and safety of its own athletes," National Women's Law Center president and CEO Fatima Goss Graves said in a statement condemning the policy change.

"This rule change is not in response to new research or new guidelines from medical experts in sports," posted advocacy nonprofit Athlete Ally. "Instead, it is the result of mounting political pressure and government hostility toward one of the smallest minorities in society, let alone sports."

Spain Sneak Past Germany to Book First-Ever UEFA Women’s Euro Final

Spain midfielder Aitana Bonmatí celebrates her game-winning goal during the 2025 Euro semifinals.
Aitana Bonmatí's extra-time strike sent the reigning World Cup champs to their first-ever Euro final. (Maja Hitij - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

World No. 2 Spain clinched their first-ever UEFA Women's Euro final berth on Wednesday, when the 2023 World Cup champions handed eight-time title-winners No. 3 Germany a narrow 1-0 extra-time defeat in their 2025 semifinal.

"I'm proud because we deserve it," winning goal-scorer Aitana Bonmatí told reporters afterwards. "We had a tremendous championship. It was the first time we beat Germany, and on top of that, we reached the final."

Entering the match with a 5-0-3 (W/L/D) all-time record against La Roja, Germany arrived shorthanded, as both injuries and suspensions forced them to start every available defender.

The squad's famed football mentality prevailed for more than 110 minutes in a 0-0 deadlock, with Spain struggling to break down a committed German defense led by reigning NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year Ann-Katrin Berger.

As the clock ticked down in extra time, however, an audacious 113th-minute strike from Bonmatí caught the Gotham FC keeper off-guard, earning La Roja both a first historic win over the Germans as well as a shot at their second major tournament trophy in three years.

The once-improbable 2023 World Cup final rematch is now a reality, as familiar foes Spain and No. 5 England gear up for another championship battle.

"I know what they can do," said Spain and Arsenal midfielder Mariona Caldentey of the defending Euro champs. "It will be a hard game."

How to watch the 2025 Euro final

No. 2 Spain will next look to unseat 2022 champion No. 5 England when the UEFA Women's Euro 2025 final kicks off at 12 PM ET on Sunday.

The 2025 Euro grand finale will air live on Fox.

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