Get ready for the 2023 NWSL Championship with the Just Women’s Sports Super Show, hosted by Sarah Gorden and Christine Williamson.

The two break down the matchup between OL Reign and Gotham FC while also recapping a hectic 2023 season. Special guests include San Diego Wave’s Jaedyn Shaw, Gotham FC’s Kelley O’Hara and Allie Long, Angel City FC’s Sydney Leroux and Ali Riley, Kansas City’s Lo’eau LaBonta, and Just Women’s Sports’ own Claire Watkins.

It’s the funnest, rowdiest NWSL Championship preview you’ll find anywhere.

The NWSL has announced its expansion draft for Bay FC and Utah Royals FC, but there appears to be an important loophole: unsigned free agents aren’t available for selection.

The 12-round draft, which will be held at 7 p.m. ET Friday, Dec. 15, features rules similar to past expansion drafts, with teams permitted to protect nine players. Players with a “no trade” clause are required to be protected by their club — and if one of the expansion teams selects a player from a team’s roster, that team is allowed to protect one additional player.

With free agents exempt from the draft, though, teams could wait to sign players until after Dec. 15. Top unrestricted free agents include Rose Lavelle of OL Reign, Crystal Dunn of the Portland Thorns and Sarah Gorden of Angel City FC. By waiting to sign a new contract, their teams would not have to protect them.

Several teams have a large number of free agents. The Chicago Red Stars and Houston Dash have 10 free agents each, while Gotham FC has eight, as do the Portland Thorns and Angel City FC.

There are 75 total players eligible for free agency this offseason.

Top unrestricted free agents include:

  • Tierna Davidson, Chicago Red Stars
  • Crystal Dunn, Portland Thorns
  • Sarah Gorden, Angel City FC
  • Casey Krueger, Chicago Red Stars
  • Savannah McCaskill, Angel City FC
  • Rose Lavelle, OL Reign
  • Emily Sonnett, OL Reign
  • Mallory Swanson, Chicago Red Stars

Top restricted free agents include:

  • Emina Ekic, Racing Louisville
  • Emily Fox, North Carolina Courage
  • Madison Hammond, Angel City FC

If any question remained about whether Becki Tweed deserves to have the interim tag removed from her head coaching title, it may have been answered Sunday when Angel City FC secured its first-ever playoff appearance.

Angel City FC did so with a resounding 5-1 win over the Portland Thorns, who have been one of the league’s best teams all season long. The win put an exclamation point on one of the greatest turnarounds in the NWSL.

After starting the season with a 2-3-6 record (W-D-L), the team fired head coach Freya Coombe and elevated assistant coach Tweed to interim head coach in her place. Since then, Tweed has proven she deserves a shot at a more permanent role, leading the team to the No. 5 seed in the NWSL playoffs.

Tweed started her tenure with an 11-match unbeaten streak across all competitions, and she finished with a 6-4-1 record in the regular season. Tweed spoke after Sunday’s win about the buy-in from players, and she shouted out her assistant coaches and her “incredible group of staff.”

“We’ve won games in these moments that haven’t just come down to the head coach or the player,” she said. “It’s a bigger squad than that. We say every day in the film room and at training, it’s not about 11 players, it’s about 26 people. We have players that graft and grind every day and don’t make a squad, but they keep going and they believe in the team.

“I can’t speak highly enough of how the group has come together. … I think the buy-in comes down to everybody being on the same page and having the same goal. I can’t speak highly enough about the team, the players and the staff that we have in and around every day that continue to push all the standards and the boundaries.”

For Angel City players, though, much of the success leads back to their head coach.

“I mean, Becki has done, can I say the eff word? Becki has done f—ing fantastic,” defender Sarah Gorden said. “She’s done a great job at holding us accountable, pushing us, knowing when to just manage players.

“She’s done great. I mean, you’ve seen the difference.”

In recent weeks, players have spoken about wanting to see Tweed take over the head coaching job on a permanent basis, noting that she has established a winning mentality and has given Angel City an edge they didn’t have before.

On Sunday, defender M.A. Vignola echoed that sentiment.

“She knows how we work. She knows the things [like], how she can say things to us and how each different player works,” she said. “You can even just tell at training that she’s very in tune with everyone individually and that kind of helps as a collective. Because it helps us be able to talk to each other in certain ways or push each other, get through s–t – the nitty and gritty – and that’s what she does best.”

August was a disjointed month in the NWSL, as the league took an extended regular season break to finish the Challenge Cup group stage and make room for World Cup absences. With only two regular season games throughout the month, sample sizes for top performers have been small, while World Cup players have had variable availability.

Within that context, for the first time this season, our Player of the Month is a defender — and one who was not destined for international duty in 2023. A number of teams are making strong playoff pushes based on their ability to hold onto leads and grit out results, placing extra importance on defenders.

Here are our top performers for the month of August in the NWSL, beginning with our choice for Player of the Month.

Sarah Gorden, D, Angel City FC

Angel City FC is unbeaten in nine games across all competitions, with six of those wins coming in the regular season. Two of those games were in August, as the Los Angeles club makes a surge toward the playoffs.

Angel City’s newfound attacking tenacity has been critical to their success, but they’ve also been adept at turning close games into results. The player at the center of those efforts is center-back Sarah Gorden, who’s been remarkably steady in her first full season with the club.

Gorden is in the top five in American Soccer Analysis’ g+ metric for the August regular season, due to her excellent 1v1 defending and closing speed that allows her to interrupt opponents’ attacks. The Angel City defense gave up just two goals in two regular season games in August, securing a draw and the club’s first win ever against OL Reign.

In a season without many defensive stalwarts, Gorden has stood out, and now Angel City is finding the success it’s been looking for. Gorden surely has to be on the shortlist for 2023 NWSL Defender of the Year, as she gives her team a shot at its first-ever playoff berth.

Honorable Mentions

Morgan Weaver, F, Portland Thorns

Weaver notched a goal and an assist in two regular season games in August, as Portland went undefeated to regain the top spot on the NWSL table. Weaver is overshadowed at times by higher-profile teammates, such as Golden Boot leader Sophia Smith, but she serves as the motor that helps Portland’s attacking machine run.

Messiah Bright, F, Orlando Pride

Speaking of end-of-the-year shortlists, Messiah Bright’s case for Rookie of the Year is getting stronger by the game. The Pride dominated a struggling Chicago Red Stars team in their first regular season game of the month, with Bright scoring a brace in just 60 minutes played. The 2023 second-round pick now has six goals on the season, launching herself into the Golden Boot conversation as a rookie.

Abby Dahlkemper, D, San Diego Wave

Abby Dahlkemper made a welcome return to the NWSL in August, after a back injury had held her out of competitive play for almost a year. Slotting back into San Diego’s starting defense, the World Cup champion helped seal two much-needed regular season wins as the Wave surged into third place. She capped her return month with a goal, opening the scoring in San Diego’s 2-1 win over Orlando on Friday.

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

Angel City FC’s first season in the NWSL was a rousing success by almost every metric off the pitch. The team hosted sold-out crowds, sold sponsorships, connected with the community and more.

On the field, the results were slightly less conclusive, as a number of key players suffered injuries and the team’s plans hit bumps in the road. An expansion team taking some time to find its footing in its inaugural season is understandable, but the Los Angeles club will need to take steps forward on the pitch in 2023 to keep pace with the rest of the league.

2022 Review: Baby steps

Angel City made a handful of splashy moves prior to their inaugural season. The team swapped their first-round draft pick for USWNT superstar Christen Press and benefitted from smart deals and player wishes to compile what looked like a competitive starting XI.

The team’s best-laid plans never quite came to fruition, in part due to an influx of injuries. Angel City lost center-back Sarah Gorden for the year with an ACL tear as well as star striker Christen Press to an ACL tear in June. After trading for Orlando’s Sydney Leroux later in June, the forward’s availability was limited the rest of the season. Winger Simone Charley dealt with lingering Achilles issues in the latter half of the summer, and midfielder Julie Ertz took time away from the sport entirely after the club acquired her rights before the season.

Angel City’s availability issues made it difficult to gauge their roster construction. The team became a gritty unit of starters who withstood the ebbs and flows of possession to try to grind out results. Angel City’s depth was put under a microscope by necessity, and the toll at the end of the season showed as the expansion side faded to eighth after a season-ending loss to the Chicago Red Stars.

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Christen Press has been slowly working her way back from an ACL injury suffered last season. (Katharine Lotze/Getty Images for Angel City FC)

Offseason moves: Betting on the future

After an inaugural season involving many factors outside the club’s control, Angel City took the two-pronged approach of running it back and planning for the future. The club traded for the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NWSL draft, selecting local teenage talent Alyssa Thompson. Thompson will get significant minutes in her first year as a pro as Press and Leroux continue to work their way back from injuries.

The assets L.A. dealt to acquire Thompson, in addition to the assets used to pick up Press and others in 2022, left the club with little room for more moves. As a result, Angel City needs to rely on their current team taking steps forward in 2023. Canada international Vanessa Gilles remains on loan to Olympique Lyon, but Gorden has made a full recovery and appears ready to run the backline in 2023.

“We didn’t necessarily get where we were looking to in the first season but were able to establish a foundation and a training facility,” general manager Angela Hucles Mangano said at the beginning of preseason. “We are looking at how we’re rounding out our entire roster, for the immediate and long term. We really want to make sure that we can provide depth in different positions. That is where you see how those players can be additive.”

While Angel City eagerly awaits the returns of Press and Leroux, the club made no moves to shore up the frontline that will likely be commanded by Thompson and Charley. Former North Carolina outside back Merritt Mathias should walk into a defensive role if she’s available, and former San Diego Wave forward Katie Johnson can also connect the attack to the midfield with her connective passing.

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Savannah McCaskill led Angel City with seven goals in 2022. (Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)

2023 outlook: Patience for the payoff

It’s difficult to gauge how head coach Freya Coombe plans to manage Thompson’s high ceiling while also getting the most out of the rest of her squad. A preseason friendly against Club América showed both the strengths and the weaknesses in Angel City’s roster construction.

While Thompson showed off her electric speed and poise to score her debut goal, the team started defender Madison Hammond at defensive midfielder and center back Paige Nielsen at outside back. Angel City never quite addressed the positional needs in the offseason that would allow the club to control the pace of play without requiring as much off-the-ball defending to pick up points. Jun Endo and Savannah McCaskill’s playmaking will be the key toward unlocking opposing defenses, and reliability at the less flashy positions might be what Angel City needs more than a brand-new star.

Angel City could be one of the biggest boom-or-bust propositions in the NWSL. They have the on-the-ball quality and speed of play to put opponents on their heels, but they might find that living dangerously gets in their way during a punishing regular season.

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

After years of waiting, and then an extra week’s delay, the NWSL finally debuted Wednesday in the popular “FIFA 23” video game. But almost immediately, NWSL players began to voice their displeasure with their digital likenesses.

Angel City FC forward Sydney Leroux called out the game regarding her player avatar and those of other players. And while she injected humorous disbelief into her critiques, she made clear that the issue cuts deeper than surface-level jokes.

“I know you expect women to just be thankful and grateful that you’ve given us a little sliver of publicity but please stop wasting our time,” Leroux tweeted. “Some of us are bald.”

The bald player included in Leroux’s post seems to be Canada women’s national team goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan — who at least sports her usual full head of hair in her San Diego Wave avatar, if not in her Canada avatar, as she noted on her own Twitter account.

Leroux’s Angel City teammate Madison Hammond also took issue with her representation in the game.

“Somebody please lmk when they find me, Madison Hammond #99 from Angel City!” she tweeted. “Because this … is simply not it!”

Houston Dash defender Caprice Dydasco posted a photo of herself alongside a screenshot of her avatar to present a stark comparison.

“I’m grateful EA Sports is finally including the NWSL but this does not represent me,” she tweeted.

Dydasco is among a small group of Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander players in the NWSL, which makes her avatar even more disappointing.

With so few AAPI players in the league, “it’s really important to be that much more thoughtful and deliberate about appearances,” The Athletic’s Steph Yang tweeted.

Incongruous avatars and player ratings can leave NWSL players feeling like they remain on the outskirts of the soccer community, despite what has been marketed as a milestone for inclusion.

“When EA Sports didn’t put me in the top 10 for speed I was mad but I was like eh we will show them,” Angel City FC defender Sarah Gorden tweeted. “But when they gave me a 48 rating in speed I realized they have never and will never actually watch a NWSL game.”

Angel City FC defender Sarah Gorden has suffered a knee injury “that will keep her out of competition for a period of time,” the club announced Monday.

The 29-year-old joined ACFC in the offseason following a trade with the Chicago Red Stars, where she helped anchor the Red Stars’ back line. During the 2021 season, she earned Chicago’s first Iron Woman title after playing every minute of every game – 2,160 minutes through 24 games – and was a nominee for NWSL Defender of the Year.

She was traded alongside Julie Ertz, who is not expected to join the club this season.

Both trades came on the heels of the resignation of head coach Rory Dames, who quit the club ahead of verbal and emotional abuse allegations. The trades appeared to be requested, as a release by the Red Stars at the time said that the moves “prioritize and honor the wishes of select players.”

In a post on Instagram, Gordon can be seen with a full knee brace, with a caption that says “I feel it looks better on me than OBJ.” Los Angeles Rams star Odell Beckham Jr. tore his ACL in the Super Bowl.

“We are saddened that Sarah has experienced this injury. The team, our staff, and the whole Angel City organization is here to fully support her on her road to recovery,” said head coach Freya Coombe in a team statement.

Angel City already has a somewhat small roster relative to the rest of the NWSL, inviting just 25 players to training camp, which players said was “great” for building trust and confidence amongst team members. However, with the loss of Gorden for the foreseeable future, the club is left with just five defenders in Vanessa Gilles, Paige Nielsen, Ali Riley, Allyson Swaby and M.A. Vignola.

The club will begin its inaugural season with the start of the NWSL Challenge Cup on March 19.

When talking about Chicago Red Stars defender Sarah Gorden’s Iron Woman year, one has to begin further up the field than might be expected for an NWSL center back.

“We talk about this a lot,” USWNT defender and Gorden’s center-back partner, Tierna Davidson, says with a laugh. “Sarah’s taking people on 1v1 from the backline.”

“In the box, preferably,” Gorden interjects.

Gorden and Davidson have an easy rapport on and off the field, one that was tested early this season on Chicago’s backline. After losing Julie Ertz for the year in their first regular season game (a 5-0 loss to the Portland Thorns), the Red Stars started giving up goals they weren’t accustomed to conceding. It took the unit some time to recalibrate and become the tight-knit group that Gotham FC will have to contend with when they meet in the NWSL quarterfinals on Sunday afternoon.

Much of the defense’s growth during the regular season can be attributed to Gorden’s steady presence. She earned Chicago’s first Iron Woman title after playing every minute of every game — 2,160 minutes in 24 games, to be exact. (For this accomplishment and more, Gorden was named to Just Women’s Sports’ Best XI.)

Gorden is not only the anchor of the unit but also a fierce defender when caught in isolation. She jokes that her defensive responsibilities haven’t kept her from getting forward with the ball, though it’s frequently a work in improvisation.

“It’s actually really fun, like a moment of freedom since center backs don’t really get much freedom,” she says. “But I will say there are times where that’s not actually my plan. I don’t really see a path. … In my head, I take the first person on and I’m like, ‘Oh s–t!’ And then the next [person] and I’m like, ‘Oh, s–t!’ So I’m yelling that the whole time. But there’s other times where it really is open, so I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m gonna go.’”

Detours up the pitch notwithstanding, Davidson thinks one of the stabilizing factors of their partnership is Gorden’s ability on the ball, which complements her own strengths.

“Sarah obviously has quick dribbling abilities. Me, not as much — I’m more on the passing side, not dribbling people as much. But I think that we just offer very different problems for teams to have to solve,” Davidson says. “If you want to force it to Sarah’s side, great, you have to deal with her taking the ball up the field. And if you force it to my side, great, you have to deal with passing distribution. It really is kind of a ‘pick your poison.’”

Gorden, a third-round draft pick of the Red Stars in 2016, originally broke into the team’s starting XI as an outside back, despite playing some center back at DePaul University. During Chicago’s second-place run in 2019, she spent parts of the season in the central defense with current Houston Dash starter Katie Naughton, becoming indispensable even as Ertz and Davidson returned from the World Cup. Gorden finished that season at fullback, where she’d also anticipated playing this year.

With the injury to Ertz factoring into the lineup shuffle, however, Gorden has stayed in the middle and held the spine of the team together through every game, including when Davidson was away at the Olympics.

Gorden is a natural 1v1 defender, and often the fastest person on the field. When Davidson (or backup center back Kayla Sharples) pushes forward for Red Stars set pieces — from which they’ve scored 10 goals this season — Gorden can be found standing at the halfway line in acres of space to cover for any possible counterattacks.

Gorden relishes the opportunity.

“Those few times we were playing in a three-back throughout the year, we would always joke like, ‘This is crazy!’ But we loved it because we got to defend 1v1 so often,” she says.

Teammate Casey Krueger, who also has experience swapping roles in the outside and central defense, laughs that Gorden has “saved our butts so many times in the backline.”

“She can play honestly any position in the back. It’s tough,” Krueger adds. “Even though it’s from center back to left back to whatever it is, it doesn’t seem like it is, but it’s a totally different position, totally different mentality, totally different responsibilities, types of running. I can go on and on. And the fact that she can do it seamlessly speaks volumes to how great of a player she is.”

Chicago has relied on both the steadiness of the backline and the excellent play of central midfielders Morgan Gautrat and new addition Sarah Woldmoe to support an attack that is still finding its identity. This has required Gorden to handle the nuances of central defense while also maintaining a connection with the midfield in front of her.

“You have to constantly communicate with your midfielders, and you’re still trying to assess the game and check your shoulders and drop and stuff. So it can be difficult,” Gorden says.

“We’ve learned to find that connection with each other both defensively and offensively, knowing what pockets we’re going to be in when we have the ball, and to be able to talk to them when we don’t have the ball. It took a while to form that connection.”

Communicating on the field has been a work in progress, but off the field it comes naturally to Gorden, who describes herself as having a big personality. She’s become the Red Stars’ ambassador in many ways — including fashion — and the resident hometown kid for a team that sometimes feels removed from its namesake city while playing out in the suburb of Bridgeview, Ill.

“I feel like I am a true Chicagoan,” Gorden says. “I chose to go to college in Chicago, and I feel like my personal story and my adversity — what I’ve been through — really represents the city well, and I’m pretty much obsessed with my city.”

Davidson, in her third NWSL year, says having Gorden as a close friend has been key to her connecting with the area.

“Coming to a new city and having someone who’s grown up in the city and is kind of the definition of the city be one of my closest friends has really been a treasure,” she says.

“And then, of course, I’ve learned to like children.”

Davidson isn’t the only Red Star to bring up Gorden’s son, Caiden, unprompted.

“I always joke that Caiden is closer to every single person on the team than anyone else,” Gorden says.

Gorden, 29, has realized how special it is to have him grow up around soccer, and especially the women’s game. Now, he goes to his own soccer practices and brags about his mom’s team. Caiden’s presence also helps her teammates let their guards down.

“I think he brings out everyone’s softer side and can really just make people feel comfortable,” Gorden says.

For Halloween, the 23-year-old Davidson went trick-or-treating with the Gordens. After a last-minute costume decision, Davidson ended up walking around Chicago as a ghost in a sheet, with Gorden dressed up as Lara Croft from Tomb Raider.

The bond clearly goes both ways. When asked to talk about Davidson, Gorden responds with an effusive “yes” and jokes that she can see the newspaper headline reading, “Tierna and Sarah, best friends!”

“I actually look up to her even though she’s younger than me,” Gorden says. “Playing next to [Davidson], I know I can count on her, off the field and on the field, to rein me in when I need to be reined in and to push me when I need to be pushed.”

“I think that part of learning how to be a good defender is learning from different types of defenders, and Sarah is a very unique type of defender that you don’t see very often,” Davidson adds. “So I’ve been able to learn so much from her, just in terms of … ”

“When to let loose?” Gorden chimes in.

It’s that kind of banter that has helped Gorden and Davidson form one of the most reliable central backlines in the league. It’s also just another example of one of the many things Sarah Gorden is good at as a teammate and ambassador of the game.

Last year, when NWSL teams demonstrated in support of Black Lives Matter during the Challenge Cup, Gorden was outspoken about what the protests meant to her. In September, she founded the Chicago nonprofit Hoodspace to “help girls/women of color find their space of flow through mindfulness activities.”

“I feel a lot of responsibility on my shoulders to do these things,” she says. “To kneel before games, to work with the community, like I just wouldn’t feel good if I wasn’t doing something. Although it can be a lot, I was kind of made this way, doing a million things at once.”

Gorden relies on self-care, breaks when she can take them and the occasional 20-minute cry to keep her going when everything starts to feel like too much. Whatever the future holds, whether it’s a trophy with the Red Stars or something even bigger, Gorden is committed to remaining an open book.

“I just feel like for soccer, my goal has been and will continue to be to reach my ceiling, and I feel like I’m not there yet,” she says. “I feel like every year I continue to add more to my game. And so soccer-wise, I just want to be the best player I can be. Wherever the hell that gets me is fine with me.”

Claire Watkins is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports covering soccer and the NWSL. Follow her on Twitter @ScoutRipley.

The NWSL announced on Tuesday that no disciplinary action would be taken following an independent investigation into Red Stars defender Sarah Gorden’s allegations of racial profiling by a security guard in Houston.

The league initiated the investigation on April 13 after Gorden tweeted that she and her boyfriend, who are Black, were “targeted” by security after the Red Stars’ game against the Houston Dash on April 9.

The NWSL said it conducted the investigation based on the protocols set forth in its Anti-Harassment Policy for a Safe Work Environment.

“Following multiple interviews with witnesses and a review of the venue security footage, the investigation was closed,” the league said in a press release.

The NWSL’s public statement confirmed it would have no further comment on the matter.

Some on social media compared the Houston investigation to a 2020 league inquiry into Utah Royals owner Dell Loy Hansen after reports of him making racist comments emerged.

Women’s soccer writer Steph Yang hit on a point of concern for many following the NWSL’s statement — the league’s perceived secrecy on internal matters.

As Meg Linehan of The Athletic pointed out, perhaps there is a legal policy that restricts the NWSL from speaking further, but the consistent lack of transparency from the league has manifested in a lack of trust among fans.

This investigation and the league’s subsequent response have renewed questions about NWSL policy that, to many, remains opaque and unclear.

Sarah Gorden is a defender for the Chicago Red Stars of the NWSL. She spoke with Just Women’s Sports about the ongoing protests and what needs to change.

What has your reaction been to all of the events of the last few weeks? 

That’s a full question. It goes without saying that initially the reaction was just sadness and fear, fear for family, friends. And then now with the protests, it’s overwhelming… It’s hard for people to have these conversations, it’s really difficult, but it’s necessary. Being mixed, being light skinned, I don’t necessarily go through the same things that darker skinned people go through, but this is my son’s future, this is everything. So this week has just been depressing, and exhausting. How long has this been going on? When will things change? A little bit of hope comes from how many people have reached out, friends, teammates, family, saying ‘I’m here, how are you? How is it going?’ And it feels good to see so many white people at protests and all that stuff. So there is hope, but then there’s fear, and it’s scary.

Why do you think that it’s so important to speak out? 

For me, it’s so important to speak out because I have a black son, I have a black boyfriend. These are people I know and love, and it’s in my blood, too. And enough is enough. I can’t stand it anymore, and a lot of people can’t. Before, I’ve been timid about speaking about my experience just because I’m light skinned, I’m mixed. I grew up around white people, I don’t have the same experience. And in the past, I think I’ve tiptoed around the conversation with my white friends because I wanted to make them comfortable. But it’s absolutely not okay anymore. I want this world to change. I want my son to grow up in a world where he’s not eight-years-old being profiled by the police.

Why do you think it’s important that athletes in particular be vocal about this issue?  

I think it’s important because so many people look up to you as an athlete. That makes our voices important, because when we speak out on these things, we’re educating a lot of people. As a mixed woman with a black son, it’s important for me to speak out because when other people see that they learn, they find ways to help, they see ways in which we’ve all failed as a society — ways in which we all could do better. People need to see that we, as athletes, believe in this movement. It’s been great to see a lot of my white teammates speak up, and say these things, and get uncomfortable. That’s exactly what we need.

Looking specifically at the soccer community, what do you think needs to change? How do we improve? 

The first thing we can do is break stereotypes of black soccer players. I’m so sick of hearing the same things said about every black girl, that, oh, she’s so fast, she’s so strong, she’s so aggressive, she’s so athletic. We are so much more than that. But it feels like, as a black girl, you have to work twice as hard to be called a ‘technical’ player. It’s going to be difficult to change this, because a lot of it is unconscious. But starting to break those stereotypes is the first thing. And then the second is bridging the gap between the black community and soccer. We need to bring the sport to the community, and have black players training younger girls, showing them there’s a way for them to do this. I think giving those opportunities to black girls is going to be huge.

I called the owner of our club and talked to him about this earlier. We’re in the soccer world, we’re a soccer club, so how can we change things here? If we all focus on changing our own area, the world will start to change.

Is there anything else you’d like to add? 

I know a lot of people feel guilty, a lot of white people feel guilt. I feel that same guilt because I know that because I’m lighter skinned I have privilege, too. But it’s just so important to, even with that guilty feeling or whatever you’re feeling, to continue to speak, and to continue to act, because that’s how we’re going to change things. And just because you feel guilty or uncomfortable isn’t an excuse to be quiet anymore.