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Naomi Girma steps into the soccer spotlight with ‘quiet leadership’

(Jenny Chuang/ISI Photos/Getty Images)

Editor’s Note: To close out the year, we are recognizing our best stories of 2022. This is the second in that series, originally published on April 9. The first featured the NWSL’s journey to a historic CBA.

When NWSL No. 1 draft pick Naomi Girma isn’t on the soccer pitch or finishing her Masters in Management Science and Engineering, she’s watching sunsets, trying coffee shops or eating the best Mexican food she’s ever had at La Perla.

A bubbly, giggly San Jose, Calif. native who likes to be friends with everyone, she often recruits her San Diego Wave FC teammates to join in on the adventures.

“Naomi’s kind of the social chair for our team, so she plans all the team bonding,” said Girma’s roommate and teammate, Kelsey Turnbow.

Girma, 21, has always been a natural leader. Off the field, she’s the social glue. On the field, she quietly sets the example that others strive to match. The former Cardinal is known to always do the right thing and carry such wisdom that people stop and listen every time she speaks.

It’s why those who know her are confident that someday she’ll be one of the top players in the NWSL and a key contributor to the United States women’s national team.

“When she steps on the field, everyone wants to play a little harder and be a little sharper because they care so much about her and they know how much she cares and how much she values the relationships she’s creating with everyone, so it’s really contagious,” said Stanford head coach Paul Ratcliffe.

Leadership was the first trait San Diego head coach Casey Stoney cited when asked why the club selected Girma at No. 1.

The center back helped the Wave to their first-ever victory last Saturday in front of 456,000 viewers on CBS, one of the largest audiences in NWSL history. Girma has been an important part of San Diego’s starting lineup, recording an 83.3 percent success rate in duels, 70 percent in aerial duels and 81.3 percent in passing accuracy. More than half of her passes have made it into the opponents’ half of the field, which has been critical to San Diego’s long-ball strategy.

“I think her ceiling is very high, and I’ve been so impressed with her as a character and her as a player,” Stoney said.

A former defender for the English national team, Stoney was a big attraction for Girma at San Diego. Stoney’s film analysis and backline tactics have helped prepare Girma for opportunities with the senior U.S. national team.

For the first time since October 2020, Girma was called back into USWNT camp in January before being named to the April roster for two friendlies against Uzbekistan this Saturday and Tuesday. USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski has been watching her closely in the NWSL, impressed with the progress she’s made since 2020.

“Very happy for her,” he said. “She has a very bright future and we’re excited to see her now in the NWSL environment.”

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(Brad Smith/ISI Photos/Getty Images)

Since she started training with the Wave in preseason, Girma has learned the most from fellow center back Abby Dahlkemper and goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan. They’ve spent a lot of time together over the past couple of months getting used to each other’s individual tendencies and how they can weave them together to perform as a unit. Stoney sees the three of them as an important foundation for the Wave in their first year.

Back in the fall, when Stoney was consulting college coaches on the top prospects in the 2022 draft, most highlighted Girma. Even at the pro level, Girma is exceedingly calm and composed for a rookie. Through her first three games with the Wave, she showcased her masterful one-v-one defending, quality on the ball and distribution skills, while making few mistakes.

“I think that is just so important as a defender,” Dahlkemper said. “She has this quiet leadership role already.”

Playing for CV Crossfire, De Anza Force and CA Thorns Academy in the early years, Girma developed her drive and consistency from a young age. Her former coach, Mark Carr, now the head women’s soccer coach at the University of Oklahoma, recognized those qualities in her at youth national identification camps when Girma was just 15 years old.

“I think [leadership] starts with talent,” said Carr. “What I always knew was that she had a special talent in terms of her athleticism, her technical ability, her ability to read the game. That was kind of the starting point.”

Turnbow took part in those youth identification camps with Girma. One of the first things she noticed about the defender was the high standard she held herself to at the center back position. At that age, national players only get the occasional opportunity to showcase their talents. To succeed, they need to make their mark right away.

“I think in terms of first impression, leadership is huge, especially whenever you’re playing in the youth national team system,” said Turnbow. “Also she has an infectious smile and humor and laughs at everything and people just feel comfortable being around her.”

Girma’s teammates and coaches respected her leadership qualities so much that she was named a captain entering her sophomore year. That 2019 season was the height of Girma’s college career. She was fearless in the Final Four of the College Cup, dominating bigger and older players to lead the Cardinal to the national title. She also learned to be more decisive, communicative and demanding of her teammates as a leader.

The NCAA championship in 2019 was the last match Girma played before tearing her ACL in training the following season. The COVID-19 pandemic made her recovery period even more challenging, as the Pac-12’s strict protocols prevented players from passing a ball with more than one teammate.

“Finding ways that I could still inspire the group and keep a positive mindset was like the biggest challenge,” said Girma.

Every day, she focused on the small wins, like being able to lift her leg. And while she was watching her teammates from the sideline, she stayed positive.

“She showed her real character coming back from that injury,” Ratcliffe said.

At Stanford, Girma learned that even when positions and roles change, the way you treat others doesn’t.

She’s carried that over into her rookie season with San Diego, where many relationships had to be built from scratch because few players knew each other on the first day of preseason.

While tactics and systems on the field have also required time to develop, Stoney has been intentional about getting everyone on the same page and building the club from the ground up in all aspects, including players’ self-care. That support was important when, just a month into Girma’s professional career, she lost her best friend and former Stanford teammate, Katie Meyer, to suicide.

As co-captains, Girma and Meyer complemented each other’s personalities and grew together in their leadership. While Girma led quietly by example, Meyer rallied her teammates with energized pep talks and helped Girma think more decisively.

Meyer’s impact lives on in Girma and Turnbow’s new apartment in San Diego, where she helped them decide on their color scheme of white and mauve with a touch of silver. Every week, Girma and Turnbow go to Trader Joe’s for a bouquet of flowers to brighten their place just a little bit more.

“Everything looks so cohesive and nice in here. It’s gorgeous. We get compliments all the time on it,” Turnbow said.

Girma says living in SoCal is quite a contrast to NorCal, where she’s spent her whole life. The weather and beaches are different, and the cross-state rivalry is more intense.

“It feels weird because people down here hate on NorCal and I’m like, ‘Oh,” she says with a laugh. “But still, deep down, that’s my roots.”

Girma admitted, though, that San Diego is the place to visit in California. The soccer energy is unmatched. Her goal for her first year in the NWSL is to give SoCal more reason to rally around the 2022 expansion team.

“I’m excited to, hopefully, go out and try to win the first trophy ever for San Diego Wave,” she said.

As the Wave set out to build a women’s soccer community in San Diego, Girma, the ultimate connector, is just the person to lead the way.

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

Oklahoma Wins 2025 NCAA Gymnastics Championship Title

Oklahoma gymnast Danae Fletcher lifts the 2025 NCAA championship trophy with her teammates.
Oklahoma has three of the last four NCAA gymnastics titles. (C. Morgan Engel/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

No. 2-seed Oklahoma won their third NCAA gymnastics championship in four years on Saturday, topping fellow finalists No. 4 Utah, No. 5 UCLA, and No. 7 Missouri with an overall score of 198.0125.

With seven titles since 2014, Oklahoma regains its reputation as the sport's current dynasty, finishing atop the podium after falling short of a three-peat last year.

"Our theme wasn't redemption this year at all," Oklahoma head coach K.J. Kindler told reporters after Saturday's victory.

"Does it make it sweet? Yes, but this team was capable of this last year. We just failed. And people fail all the time. They fail every day. And we talk about [it] all the time that the glory is in getting back up again."

Freedom allowed Oklahoma to reclaim NCAA gymnastics crown

Last year, the then-defending champion Sooners stumbled in a shocking loss in the national semifinals, a fate the 2024 champion LSU squad similarly suffered last Thursday, when the top-seeded Tigers failed to advance to the final meet of 2025.

Between overcoming the semifinals hurdles themselves and seeing LSU ousted — arguably Oklahoma's biggest competition entering the weekend — the Sooners were able to breathe easier and enjoy their last competition of the season.

"After advancing, and we got to today, we were free," said senior Audrey Davis. "We had no weight on our shoulders. We were free to do our best gymnastics."

That freedom had the Sooners leading the charge, finishing their first rotation on beam tied with eventual runners-up UCLA before taking full control of the meet — Oklahoma grabbed a second-rotation lead on the floor and never relinquished it.

As for the rest of the field, Missouri earned a program-record third-place finish in their first-ever NCAA final, while nine-time champions Utah closed their season in fourth.

For Oklahoma senior Jordan Bowers, the final weekend of her collegiate career was one for the books.

In addition to the team title, Bowers won the individual all-around competition during Thursday's semifinals — a day that also crowned LSU’s Kailin Chio (vault), Missouri’s Helen Hu (beam), and UCLA's Jordan Chiles (uneven bars) and Brooklyn Moors (floor) as national apparatus champions.

"Just truly a fairytale ending," Bowers said on the ABC broadcast. "I'm so freaking proud of this team, and I'm so proud to be a Sooner."



Stanford Breaks NCAA Softball Attendance Record with ‘Big Swing’

An NCAA record crowd watches Stanford softball host Cal in the school's football stadium on Saturday.
Stanford welcomed over 13,000 fans to their record-setting Saturday game against Cal. (Eakin Howard/Getty Images)

Stanford shattered the NCAA softball attendance record this weekend, welcoming 13,207 fans inside the university’s football stadium for Saturday's "Big Swing"  game against Cal.

In the most-attended non-football contest in Stanford Athletics' history, the Cardinal softball crowd surpassed the sport's previous attendance record of 12,566, set on the first day of the 2024 Women's College World Series (WCWS) in Oklahoma City.

The history-making game also blew past the NCAA softball regular-season record of 9,259 fans, a feat reached less than two weeks ago when reigning champions Oklahoma defeated local rivals Oklahoma State on April 9th.

"It was kind of like a mini College World Series experience," Stanford junior outfielder Kyra Chan said after the game.

Despite dropping the record-breaking matchup 10-8 to their new ACC rivals, No. 16 Stanford ultimately secured the three-game series against the Golden Bears with wins on Thursday and Friday.

Friday's 9-3 victory was particularly impactful, clinching the Cardinal a spot in their first-ever ACC championship tournament next month — the first postseason stop as Stanford hunts a third-straight appearance in the WCWS semifinals.

Nebraska volleyball lines up on the court for the August 2023 Volleyball Day in the university's football stadium.
Nebraska volleyball broke the overall US women's sports attendance record in 2023. (Steven Branscombe/Getty Images)

Stanford softball fuels argument for larger women's sports venues

Softball isn't the only sport leading the recent surge in record-breaking NCAA women's sports crowds.

After shifting a volleyball match into its football stadium in August 2023, Nebraska welcomed not just the sport's biggest crowd, but the largest to ever attend any women's sporting event in the US.

Shortly thereafter, Iowa's "Crossover at Kinnick" blasted through the NCAA women's basketball attendance mark by moving an exhibition game featuring the Caitlin Clark-led Hawkeyes into the university's football venue.

Though the move to massive football stadiums was intentional to snag both Nebraska's and Iowa's respective records, Stanford's venue shift was not initially an attendance-hunting move.

The Cardinal's entire 2025 softball season is being played on the gridiron as the team's new $50 million stadium and state-of-the-art training facility is under construction.

Taking advantage of that added capacity was a no-brainer, with Stanford specifically branding and marketing their rivalry "Big Swing" game to capitalize on their temporary digs — and to continue making the overall case for expanding women's sports' venues.

"I think that you see a consistent theme that there aren't big enough venues for women's sports to be able to draw the fans that they can draw," Stanford softball head coach Jessica Allister pointed out.

"Hopefully, a lot of people who showed up to Stanford for the first time to watch a softball game will come back and see us in our beautiful stadium."

Missing Rodman, Injury-Struck Washington Downs 2024 NWSL Champ Orlando

Washington Spirit forward Makenna Morris celebrates striker Gift Monday's game-winning goal against Orlando on Saturday.
Gift Monday scored the lone goal in Washington's Saturday. win over Orlando. (Rich Storry/NWSL via Getty Images)

The Washington Spirit scored another unlikely victory on Saturday, snapping the Orlando Pride's 22-game home unbeaten streak with a narrow 1-0 win — fueled by newly signed Nigerian striker Gift Monday's debut NWSL goal.

"We knew it was going to be a fight," Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury said after the game. "We know they're physical, so we came [and] we matched that."

Washington continues to eke out wins despite a depleted roster, with a full 11 players unavailable for Saturday’s 2024 NWSL championship rematch due to injury.

At the top of that injury list is star forward Trinity Rodman, with the 22-year-old's agent telling The Washington Post that she's "taking time away from team activities" to meet with a club doctor in London about her lingering back issues.

Other noteworthy absences to the Spirit's current lineup include 2024 NWSL Rookie and Midfielder of the Year Croix Bethune (hip), defensive midfielder Hal Hershfelt (ankle), veteran defender Casey Krueger (knee), and French forward Ouleye Sarr (SEI – back).

Washington, however, continues finding ways to win, with the Spirit sitting third in the league standings, where they're tied with second-place Orlando on points.

That said, despite flipping the script against the reigning champs, the Spirit's roster woes — and, in particular, Rodman’s uncertain timeline — casts a shadow over the club's 2025 redemption tour.

Kansas City's Kayla Sharples celebrates a goal with her teammates on Saturday.
Kansas City is the only remaining unbeaten team in the 2025 NWSL season. (Jamie Squire/NWSL via Getty Images)

Kansas City rises atop the NWSL

Also benefitting from the Spirit's win was the Kansas City Current, who used both Washington's victory and their own comfortable 2-0 result against the 10th-place Houston Dash on Saturday to leapfrog the Pride and claim first place on the NWSL table.

With five wins in as many matchdays, the Current are now the league's only undefeated team remaining this season.

Angel City Falls to Gotham, Ends NWSL Unbeaten Streak

Alanna Kennedy and her Angel City teammates react to their first 2025 NWSL loss on Friday.
Angel City fell to Gotham in their first loss of the 2025 NWSL season on Friday. (Harry How/NWSL via Getty Images)

After a red-hot start to the 2025 NWSL season, Angel City saw their unbeaten streak squashed by a Gotham side that defeated the LA club 4-0 on Friday.

Failing to register a single shot on target against the NJ/NY club, ACFC's loss dropped their goal differential to -1, dropping the team to fifth on the NWSL table despite sitting tied with the now fourth-place Gotham on points.

Angel City's unexpected moonshot in the season's first four matchdays is still a strong sign for the 2022 expansion club, but Friday’s stumble underlines just how much more progress they’ll look to make under incoming manager Alexander Straus.

"We have a really young squad right now," said Angel City captain Sarah Gorden following the game. "And we just played a really experienced team. This is part of the process, and it's part of a long season."

Gotham's Esther and Jessica Silva high-five after defeating Angel City 4-0 on Friday.
Esther notched a brace in Gotham's 4-0 Friday victory. (Harry How/NWSL via Getty Images)

Gotham snags momentum with second major 2025 win

Bolstered by star forward Midge Purce's return — not to mention a brace from striker Esther — Saturday's win returned 2024 NWSL semifinalist Gotham to the league's upper echelon following an offseason roster overhaul and a mediocre 2025 season start.

Along with a victory over North Carolina last week, the NJ/NY club now holds significant season momentum with their two straight statement wins.

"We've been working very hard in training, and it's showing in the matches," said Esther. "Everyone is giving their all, and we're really united as a group."

Ultimately, while Angel City’s growing pains were perhaps inevitable, Gotham’s sudden surge after a slow start is shaking up the NWSL standings.

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