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Sydney, Sierra Romero are rediscovering love of softball with AU

Sydney (right) and Sierra Romero have teamed up with Athletes Unlimited Softball. (Jade Hewitt/Athletes Unlimited)

Sydney and Sierra Romero have enjoyed getting to play on the same field again through Athletes Unlimited Softball.

After growing up in an athletic family — younger sister Sophia is an outfielder at Vista Murrieta High School and brother Mikey was a first-round draft choice of the Boston Red Sox this year — the sisters separated in college. Sierra, 28, went off to the University of Michigan, where she became the first player in NCAA history to record 300 runs, 300 hits and 300 RBIs and left as the NCAA’s all-time leader in career grand slams (11) and runs (302). Sydney, 25, starred at Oklahoma, winning two NCAA championships in 2016 and ‘17 and finishing as the Sooners’ all-time leader in at-bats (853) and second in hits (320).

The two reunited on the USSSA Pride in 2019, but Sierra was injured while Sydney earned All-NPF honors during the Pride’s run to a championship. Now, a year after Sydney joined Athletes Unlimited for her first season, she and Sierra are finally back on the softball diamond together with two weeks left in the 2022 AU campaign.

“I feel like AU has provided just such a professional background when it comes to being a professional athlete,” Sydney says. “I think it’s really important just for the future of softball, specifically because they’re hearing us out and they’re applying it to the next year.”

Sierra is grateful to be back playing after spending over a year rehabbing ACL and meniscus injuries. Used to having Michigan’s athletic resources at her fingertips in college, Sierra sought out treatment on her own and ended up having three different surgeries to repair her knee.

“I was kind of going in blind,” she says. “I had to do it all by myself. That was definitely the hardest part just because I didn’t know what I was looking for.”

She put the knee to the test earlier this summer during AUX, Athletes Unlimited’s shortened softball season in San Diego, just over an hour’s drive from the Romero family’s hometown of Murrieta, Calif.

“We just so happened to get drafted to the same team for the first weekend at AUX, which was just luck,” Sierra says. “I feel like it’s a full-circle moment, just being able to come back, play with her and be around her 24/7.”

Sierra and Sydney, after enjoying remarkably successful college careers, have leaned on each other through the challenges of the often unreliable and unsustainable professional and international softball landscape. As dual Mexican-American citizens, they both tried out for the Mexican national softball team ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, with Sydney representing the team during its run to fourth place.

For Sierra, in her seventh year as a pro, Athletes Unlimited has reignited her love of the game. Having briefly contemplated retirement before the season, she no longer plans to do so this year.

“I feel like I’ve seen it at a lot of different levels and stages. After joining AU this year for the first time, I definitely think that we’re on the right path,” Sierra says.

Still, professional softball salaries don’t typically allow for year-round dedication to the sport. In the fall, Sydney will start as an assistant softball coach at Duke University after spending two seasons as a student assistant at her alma mater.

“I couldn’t think of a better place to honestly start out, going out there and meeting Coach [Marissa] Young and meeting the girls,” she says. “Taking this route, I think, is not only helping me as a coach, but helping me as an athlete myself. Being able to continue to play softball and play Athletes Unlimited for the five weeks in the summer, and then going into my coaching job it works out perfectly. I feel like it’s a dream job. I’m living in the best of both worlds.”

Before that, she and Sierra will finish out the Athletes Unlimited regular season. Sydney currently ranks 29th with 704 points, while Sierra sits in 42nd with 618 points. Sydney is also tied for third with nine runs on the season, two behind league leader Haylie McCleney. Sierra has four runs off six hits so far and, in the infield, has recorded 15 assists, 15 putouts and three double plays.

Both admit they are very competitive, especially in the batter’s box. But that doesn’t mean they’ve taken the same approach to AU’s unique points system.

“I don’t know the point system because I don’t look at it. I couldn’t tell you where anybody’s at on the leaderboard ever,” Sierra says. “My focus is just winning. And I feel like if I keep that mindset, then everything will fall into place.”

Sydney, meanwhile, has learned how not to let the leaderboard affect her mindset. Instead, she views each week as a different challenge.

“It makes you appreciate the little things a little bit more in the game, and really put the game into perspective,” she says, heading into Week 4 of the five-week season. “Because all of these things mean something like, a walk means something, a hit by pitch. Those little things that we kind of take for granted, in a game they all matter.”

Emma Hruby is an Associate Editor at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @EHruby.

2025 WNBA Season Tips Off with Action-Packed Friday Lineup

The Golden State Valkyries and LA Sparks tip off a 2025 WNBA preseason game.
The Valkyries play their first-ever official league game in Friday's 2025 WNBA season tip-off. (Supriya Limaye/ISI Photos/Getty Images)

The 2025 WNBA season is finally here, with Friday's official tip-off leading an opening weekend full of tough competition and simmering storylines.

The reigning champion New York Liberty enter as odds-on favorites, but results are nearly impossible to predict after a very active offseason across the league.

This weekend's slate features new builds, regional rivalries, and plenty of fresh faces as top 2025 draft picks log their first pro minutes.

  • Minnesota Lynx vs. Dallas Wings, Friday at 7:30 PM ET (ION): This year's No. 1 draft pick Paige Bueckers makes her official WNBA debut as revamped Dallas tests itself against a Minnesota team still stinging over last year's title loss.
  • Los Angeles Sparks vs. Golden State Valkyries, Friday at 10 PM ET (ION): The Valkyries play their first-ever regular-season game, looking to form an identity against downstate rivals LA, led by new Sparks addition Kelsey Plum.
  • Las Vegas Aces vs. New York Liberty, Saturday at 1 PM ET (ABC): The 2023 champs meet the 2024 title-winners in a heavyweight clash that sees 2024 MVP A'ja Wilson take on a confident New York team led by guard Sabrina Ionescu.
  • Chicago Sky vs. Indiana Fever, Saturday at 3 PM ET (ABC): Last year's rookie headliners Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese meet again in Indiana, with the regional rivals relying on both incoming vets and young cores to write their next chapters.

Packed with great matchups, this weekend is the ideal tip-off for a 2025 season that promises to be a wild ride — no matter which WNBA team you follow.

No. 1 Kansas City Faces No. 2 Orlando in Top-Table NWSL Weekend Match

Orlando's Marta dribbles the ball past Kansas City's Nichelle Prince during the 2024 NWSL semifinals.
Orlando ousted Kansas City in the 2024 NWSL semifinals. (Dustin Markland/Getty Images)

The NWSL is back in action this weekend with a top-table match, a bicoastal battle, and some middle-of-the-pack clashes as the 2025 season enters its ninth matchday.

Parity is riding high these days, with just three points dividing the No. 1 Kansas City Current and No. 3 Washington Spirit in the NWSL standings — while only three more separate the No. 4 San Diego Wave from the No. 8 Seattle Reign.

With competition remaining tough as nails, don't expect much more daylight between teams following this weekend's tense lineup:

  • No. 7 Gotham FC vs. No. 4 San Diego Wave, Friday at 7:30 PM ET (NWSL+): Coming off a two-game winless streak, Gotham is still searching for consistency as they take on a confident San Diego side that hasn't lost in four games.
  • No. 9 Racing Louisville vs. No. 8 Seattle Reign, Friday at 7:30 PM ET (NWSL+): All tied up with 11 points each, Seattle will look to hold off Louisville as Racing continues to hunt the club's first-ever playoff berth.
  • No. 2 Orlando Pride vs. No. 1 Kansas City Current, Friday at 8 PM ET (Prime): There's little love lost between these NWSL titans, as the reigning champion Pride takes on hosting duties in an attempt to leapfrog current top-dog Kansas City in Friday's marquee match.

In a season dominated by topsy-turvy results, the pressure to secure points week-over-week weighs heaviest on the teams who know they have the talent to rise above the rest.

Esther Extends Gotham Contract Amid MVP-Quality NWSL Season

Gotham forward Esther celebrates a goal during a 2025 NWSL match.
Gotham FC's Esther currently leads the 2025 NWSL Golden Boot race. (Hannah Foslien/NWSL via Getty Images)

This season's NWSL Golden Boot leader Esther González is sticking with Gotham, with the Spanish international extending her contract with the NJ/NY club through 2027.

After helping Gotham to a first-ever NWSL championship in 2023, González earned the league's Best XI Second Team honors last year before launching a red-hot campaign this season.

The 2023 World Cup winner has tallied seven goals in nine games for Gotham in 2025, showcasing a blistering rush of form that has her sitting two goals ahead of the next Golden Boot race contender.

"Above all, it's about how I've felt during these two and a half years with Gotham FC," González said in Thursday's team announcement. "Continuing to be happy both on and off the field is really important. To keep enjoying myself and representing Gotham's colors, which I truly identify with, is something really incredible."

Gotham's continued investment underlines the 32-year-old's case for 2025 MVP candidacy, as award frontrunners start to emerge one-third of the way through the 2025 NWSL season.

González leads the NWSL in shots on target while sitting fourth in expected goals per 90 minutes, with her scoring outpacing many of her peers.

Other players crafting strong 2025 NWSL MVP resumes include Kansas City's 2024 MVP Temwa Chawinga and comeback star Debinha, Angel City wunderkind Alyssa Thompson, and Orlando sharpshooter Barbra Banda.

FA Cup Finalist Chelsea FC Heads to Wembley with Historic Treble in Sight

Chelsea defender Lucy Bronze heads the game-winning goal past Manchester United goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce in a 2025 WSL match.
Chelsea will aim for the domestic treble in Sunday's 2025 FA Cup final. (Molly Darlington - The FA/The FA via Getty Images)

Following a dominant 2024/25 campaign, Chelsea FC will look to cap their historic run by completing a domestic treble on Sunday, when they'll battle Manchester United for a third season trophy in the 2025 FA Cup final.

After securing the 2024/25 League Cup in March amidst an unbeaten run to a sixth-straight WSL title, the Blues will close out their season against the league's third-place finishers, the Red Devils, in London's iconic Wembley Stadium.

Should Chelsea secure the 2025 FA Cup, they will add a second domestic treble to their resume after clinching their first trio of trophies in the 2020/21 season. This time, however, they could do so in undefeated fashion.

"We are in a really good place, just the fact that we won the league being unbeaten," said first-year Blues manager Sonia Bompastor. "To end the season with an FA Cup final at Wembley against Man United is maybe the perfect way to end the season."

The 2023/24 Manchester United team and staff celebrate their first-ever FA Cup championship.
Manchester United seeks to defend their 2024 FA Cup title. (Visionhaus/Getty Images)

Manchester United hunts second straight FA Cup trophy

Standing between Chelsea and the treble are 2024 FA Cup champions Manchester United, who will take aim at their only trophy of the season partly behind the play of 2024/25 WSL Golden Glove winner and USWNT goalkeeper prospect Phallon Tullis-Joyce.

Man United enter as the game's undisputed underdogs, having dropped both their WSL regular-season matches against Chelsea in narrow 1-0 defeats.

Even more, the Red Devils must overcome a particular tough stretch of play, facing more than a month without a victory on their schedule.

Man United's last win was their 2-0 FA Cup semifinal victory over Manchester City on April 13th, with the Red Devils suffering a pair of losses and recording two draws to close out WSL play.

That said, United has experience downing the Blues on the FA Cup stage, ousting Chelsea from last year's semifinals en route to a club-first FA title.

Remarking that Manchester United "are a really strong team," Bompastor pointed out that the Red Devils "don't concede a lot of goals, and we need to remember that."

"You only get the trophy if you win, so we need to make sure going into the game we have the best preparation and we perform on the day."

How to watch Chelsea play Manchester United at the FA Cup final

The 2025 FA Cup final between Chelsea FC and Manchester United will kick off at 8:30 AM ET on Sunday.

Live coverage of the match will begin at 8:20 AM ET on ESPN+.

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