If there’s one possible takeaway from the first quarter of the 2023 NWSL season, it’s that the next generation of stars may have arrived a little early. With both salaries and endorsement opportunities rising to make professional soccer an increasingly viable career move, more and more players are forgoing college to jump right into life as a pro.

Up until 2021, the NWSL had barred players under 18 years old from signing with a club. Since then, the league has seen multiple teenagers join the league, including Thorns midfielder Olivia Moultrie, who took the NWSL to court over the age rule when she was 15.

These NWSL teenagers are doing more than just getting acclimated to their surroundings — they’re some of the most exciting performers in the league, and could be the foundation of the future of the U.S. women’s national team.

Alyssa Thompson, 18, Angel City FC

Alyssa Thompson isn’t the first player to forgo college to enter the NWSL draft, after Trinity Rodman did so in 2021 when she was 18 years old. Though Thompson never ended up playing for Stanford, the program she committed to, she was selected by Angel City FC as the No. 1 overall pick in 2023.

Thompson’s decision to make the jump to the pros has been an early example of opportunity meeting preparation. The teenager looks poised to earn a spot on the USWNT roster for the 2023 World Cup in the absence of Mallory Swanson, who tore her patella tendon last month.

Thompson possesses blistering speed with the ball at her feet and has looked comfortable as the center-point of the Angel City attack, having been thrown into the role as the team awaits the return of a number of veterans from injury. Her ability to finish is far beyond her years, as exemplified with her goal from a tight angle in Los Angeles’ 3-2 win over the Kansas City Current this past weekend.

ALYSSA THOMPSON 🤯

Ridiculous goal from the 18-year-old 💥 pic.twitter.com/K1P9VEg8uW

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) May 8, 2023

Olivia Moultrie, 17, Portland Thorns

The avenues that currently exist for teenagers to enter the NWSL likely wouldn’t exist if Olivia Moultrie hadn’t pushed the league forward in the first place. Moultrie made waves in 2019 when she gave up her college eligibility to sign with Nike and train with the Thorns at the age of 13.

Her road to playing league games for the Thorns was a bit longer, as Moultrie successfully sued the NWSL to allow her to join Portland’s roster in 2021. Since her debut, the midfielder has grown accustomed to the league’s physicality, becoming a player who can break lines with a single pass. She’s also become more trusting of her own field vision, trying higher risk passes and shots. That skill was on full display against the North Carolina Courage on Saturday, when she scored a fantastic equalizer from distance to salvage a point in a 3-3 draw.

🚨Olivia Moultrie banger alert🚨

Thorns tie it for the third time this match... if you're not watching on Paramount+, tune in NOW! pic.twitter.com/WDYw0cxpAR

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) May 7, 2023

“I think by the point that I was finally able to play, I just kind of felt ready for that moment,” she said after Saturday’s match. “I had been building and preparing for so long that I just didn’t even need to think about it anymore.”

Jaedyn Shaw, 18, San Diego Wave

Jaedyn Shaw also took a unique path to playing professional soccer, requiring an exception to the NWSL’s discovery rules to join the Wave in the middle of the 2022 season. Shaw had been training with the Washington Spirit for seven months before San Diego exercised a discovery bid to send the then-17-year-old to the West Coast.

Providing versatility to the San Diego offense, in tandem with the scoring prowess of Alex Morgan, Shaw scored a goal in each of her first three games as a professional in 2022 and has already matched that total in 2023. Shaw grew up playing futsal, the small-side indoor version of the sport that prioritizes technicality, and it shows in her innate ability to make defenders miss.

JAEDYN SHAW IS THE TRUTH 😱pic.twitter.com/SRJ7F1LwcL

— San Diego Wave FC (@sandiegowavefc) March 26, 2023

Shaw can play as a No. 10, a false No. 9 or a straight-up central attacker, and her interplay with her teammates is as underrated as her scoring ability is obvious. On numerous occasions, she’s earned praise from Wave head coach Casey Stoney, who noted her as a player to watch before the season even began.

Chloe Ricketts, 15, Washington Spirit

Ricketts signed a three-year contract with the Washington Spirit roster after training with the team in the 2023 preseason. Ricketts was the first player to sign with an NWSL club under the league’s new U-18 entry mechanism, which allows NWSL teams to sign players under the age of 18 with the consent of a parent or guardian.

Rather than deferring to discovery rights, which could subject a player to traveling across the country or an entry draft of some kind, current U-18 signees have a certain amount of protection from the NWSL’s parity rules. They can’t be traded or waived as a minor without parental consent, and they’re immune from any expansion drafts before they turn 18.

Youngest signed player in NWSL history 🤯

The Washington Spirit has signed 15-year-old midfielder Chloe Ricketts to a three-year deal.

📸 @WashSpirit pic.twitter.com/jwC4PZgeOr

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) March 3, 2023

Those protections are key, as the NWSL has reckoned with player safety measures for a number of years. U-18 players must also live with a parent or guardian during the duration of the season with their NWSL club. Ricketts has thrived in the Spirit’s system as a creative midfielder, looking strong in multiple substitute appearances.

Melanie Barcenas, 15, San Diego Wave

Barcenas is currently the youngest player to ever see the field in an NWSL game, beating out Ricketts by a number of days after entering the league through the same U-18 mechanism. The Wave have made it clear that they don’t want to place undue pressure on the 15-year-old, who so far has made two regular-season appearances as a late-game substitute.

Barcenas’ development with the Wave is fitting for the San Diego native, who spoke at the team’s launch announcement as a 13-year-old.

“I think it’s really awesome to see opportunities for girls my age and generations after to have an opportunity to represent their own hometown team,” she said in 2021.

“She’s creative and she’s an exceptional talent. She’s still obviously only 15, so we need to look after her,” Casey Stoney said after her debut on April 29. “I think she’s a player that’s going to get people off their seats and a player that people want to come watch. It’s an exciting future for her.”

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

Welcome to another episode of Sports Are Fun!

Every week on Sports Are Fun! presented by Amazon Business, 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, the Sports Are Fun! crew is joined by retired NWSL star Darian Jenkins. And with the WNBA season tipping off last weekend, women's basketball naturally dominated conversation.

Firstly? The Caitlin Clark flagrant foul heard around the league — and the fallout that subsequently followed it.

"First game that we want to go over is Fever vs. Sky," O'Hara introduced. "Caitlin Clark had a triple-double. Angel Reese had a double-double. And the Fever won. But what everyone's been talking about is the foul that Caitlin Clark committed on Angel."

"The flagrant," corrected BJ.

"Excuse me," O'Hara said. "So Caitlin Clark had a foul on Angel Reese under the basket. It got upgraded to a flagrant one. Aliyah Boston came to her defense, because Reese got up and was kind of going for Caitlin. A lot of chatter around this, and I liked the spice."

"It's the game," Diaz said, jumping in. "It was a basketball play, as they both said. However, it was flagrant. It happens in basketball. I think it was the reaction that we saw on social media that really elevated it."

"This is a rivalry, everyone," quipped BJ. "This rivalry feeds families. We love it."

"She's a spicy player. I love seeing the passion," Jenkins said of Reese. "We should be excited about that, especially in women's sports."

"I feel like it's always, 'We'll play nice, be proper, don't swear,'" she continued. "You never see that in the men's game. They're heated all the time."

"At the end of the day, these are physical players," echoed Diaz. "Caitlin Clark is physical. She was physical last year, she's physical this year. It's a grown woman's game."

Along with Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, the Sports Are Fun! hosts additionally cover WNBA tip-off, the surging San Diego Wave, the PHWL Finals, and so much more!

'Sports Are Fun!' condemns allegedly hateful remarks from Indiana fans

The rivalry between second-year WNBA stars Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese was on full display at the Indiana Fever's opening weekend game against the Chicago Sky. But it was the crowd's response to it that hit a nerve with the Sports Are Fun! hosts.

"It was a foul, flagrant foul, obviously," BJ said. "But I would be remiss if I didn't say that what is unacceptable is the Fever [fans'] behavior — bad statements, bad sportsmanship, bad slandering on Angel."

"There's no space for that sort of behavior," Diaz agreed. "There are kids at that game... It's unacceptable."

"You can you can heckle, we're all for that," O'Hara chimed in. "But if there's somebody saying hateful things, racist things, it's got to be reported."

"Just on a human level. You can be a fan of the game, but you see something wrong, check it," Jenkins said. "These women worked so hard to get where they are. If you're stooping that low, you should not be allowed at a game."

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.

Another USWNT roster arrived on Tuesday, with head coach Emma Hayes tapping 24 players for the world No. 1 team's upcoming early summer friendlies against No. 17 China PR and No. 40 Jamaica.

Featuring both mainstays and prospects, the lineup showcases Hayes's interest in developing young standouts while also highlighting returning regulars — and one unexpected favorite.

USWNT staples like Crystal Dunn, Emily Sonnett, Lindsey Heaps, and Lynn Biyendolo are back, balancing out less experienced players like forwards Michelle Cooper and Emma Sears, midfielder Claire Hutton, and defender and first-time call-up Kerry Abello.

One uncapped invitee doesn't fit the US's ongoing youth movement mold, with 32-year-old Kansas City captain and celly queen Lo'eau LaBonta earning her first national team nod.

"First of all, she's deserving of the call-up," Hayes told reporters on Tuesday morning, praising the midfielder's NWSL play. "She’s being consistent in everything that she has done. And with the volume of young players or less experienced players we're bringing in, I think we have to get that balance right."

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Angel City sister duo Alyssa and Gisele Thompson also made the cut, with Hayes shifting Gisele from defender to forward ahead of the younger Thompson's possible fourth senior cap.

European club players also returned to the spotlight, with Ajax's Lily Yohannes, Chelsea's Naomi Girma and Catarina Macario, Arsenal's Emily Fox, and Manchester United's Phallon Tullis-Joyce heading to camp alongside Dunn (PSG) and Heaps (OL Lyonnes).

Hayes also noted that former call-ups Jaedyn Shaw (North Carolina), Mia Fishel (Chelsea), and Korbin Albert (PSG) will spend the break with the USWNT U-23 squad, calling time with the youth team "what I felt has been really missing for a lot of players."

USWNT goalkeeper competition continues

Tullis-Joyce as well as Utah's Mandy McGlynn and Seattle’s uncapped Claudia Dickey will feature in goal, as the search to replace retired USWNT legend Alyssa Naeher continues.

"The data don't lie — Claudia Dickey's probably the best performing goalkeeper in the NWSL this season," Hayes said of the US newcomer.

Notably, Houston's Jane Campbell will not be joining the team, despite the longtime reserve keeper's 10 caps and six clean sheets for the USWNT.

All in all, Tuesday's roster marks one of Hayes's more diverse lineups, with this window's friendly opponents allowing her the freedom to test out new configurations.

Expect the US boss's next roster to be a bit less experimental, as the stakes will raise with late June's three-match slate against No. 26 Ireland and No. 7 Canada.

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The May/June 2025 USWNT roster

• Goalkeepers: Claudia Dickey (Seattle Reign FC) Mandy McGlynn (Utah Royals), Phallon Tullis-Joyce (Manchester United)
• Defenders: Kerry Abello (Orlando Pride), Crystal Dunn (Paris Saint-Germain), Emily Fox (Arsenal FC), Naomi Girma (Chelsea FC), Tara McKeown (Washington Spirit), Avery Patterson (Houston Dash), Emily Sams (Orlando Pride), Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC)
• Midfielders: Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns FC), Lindsey Heaps (OL Lyonnes), Claire Hutton (Kansas City Current), Lo’eau LaBonta (Kansas City Current), Olivia Moultrie (Portland Thorns FC), Lily Yohannes (Ajax)
• Forwards: Lynn Biyendolo (Seattle Reign FC), Michelle Cooper (Kansas City Current), Catarina Macario (Chelsea FC), Emma Sears (Racing Louisville), Ally Sentnor (Utah Royals), Alyssa Thompson (Angel City FC), Gisele Thompson (Angel City FC)

How to watch the upcoming USWNT friendlies

The 24-player USWNT roster will kick off their upcoming friendlies by taking on China PR at 5:30 PM ET on Saturday, May 31st, in St. Paul, Minnesota. Live coverage of the match will air on TBS.

Then on Tuesday, June 3rd, the US will face Jamaica in St. Louis, Missouri, with the 8 PM ET match airing live on TNT.

Dallas rookie Paige Bueckers took charge on Monday, with the 2025 WNBA Draft's No. 1 overall pick proving her worth in the Wings' 79-71 loss to Seattle.

The only Wing to log more than 29 minutes in Monday night's home-opener, Bueckers spent 37 minutes on the Dallas court, tallying a team-leading 19 points, eight assists, five rebounds, and two steals in just her second pro game.

She also joined Mystics newcomer Sonia Citron as the only 2025 rookies to score more than 18 points in a single game so far this season.

On the flip side, 2025's No. 2 pick Dominique Malonga did not feature in the Storm's starting lineup, finishing her night with just one minute of playing time.

The 19-year-old French phenom made the most of her brief appearance with a speedy two points, despite Seattle head coach Noelle Quinn taking a conservative approach to integrating the WNBA's youngest player into the league.

While rookies make headlines, veterans still run the WNBA, with Quinn relying heavily on her experienced starting core to notch Seattle's first victory of 2025.

Leading the Storm was 2016 MVP Nneka Ogwumike with a 23-point, 18-rebound performance — her 110th career double-double — while Skylar Diggins (21 points, nine assists) and Gabby Williams (17 points, five assists, five rebounds) followed closely behind.

"I love how our vets showed up and willed us through possessions," Quinn said after the win. "I think that there's a lot to build and grow from this game."

How to watch WNBA games on Tuesday

The 2025 WNBA season continues at 7 PM ET on Tuesday, when the Atlanta Dream take on the Indiana Fever while the Las Vegas Aces visit the Connecticut Sun.

Both game will stream live on WNBA League Pass.

For the second straight year, the 2025 PWHL Finals are down to the postseason's underdogs, with the No. 3 seed Ottawa Charge and the No. 4 seed Minnesota Frost facing off in the best-of-five championship series after ousting the league's top teams.

Minnesota booked their Finals spot with a 3-1 series victory over No. 2 seed Toronto last Wednesday, before Ottawa ousted top-seeded Montréal by the same series margin on Friday.

While the Frost gear up to defend their 2024 Walter Cup title this week, first-time playoff team Ottawa will aim to make even more history by securing Canada’s first-ever PWHL trophy.

This year's PWHL Finals pits Minnesota's red-hot offense, which netted 18 goals across four semifinal games, against Ottawa's shutdown defense.

Led by rookie goaltender Gwyneth Philips — a 2025 Goaltender of the Year finalist — the Charge allowed just six pucks into the net through four playoff games.

Philips's top save percentage and low 1.14 goals-against average will be put to the test by the Frost, who claim seven of the PWHL's Top-8 postseason players, led by forward Taylor Heise and her seven playoff points.

How to watch the 2025 PWHL Finals

The puck drops on the 2025 PWHL Finals tonight at 7 PM ET, as Minnesota hits the ice against Ottawa live on YouTube.