Alex Morgan helped her Portland Thorns teammate Mana Shim file an abuse complaint against their then-coach Paul Riley in 2015.

Now the U.S. women’s national team star is joining Shim on U.S. Soccer’s participant safety taskforce to help prevent abuse across all levels of the sport.

Shim is the chair of the taskforce, which was created as a direct result of a U.S. Soccer-commissioned investigation into abuse in the NWSL. The taskforce will seek “to drive change across the entire soccer ecosystem,” the federation said Friday in a news release.

Morgan will be joined on the 33-member taskforce by her USWNT teammates Tierna Davidson, AD Franch and Naomi Girma, as well as by NWSLPA president and Washington Spirit midfielder Tori Huster.

The NWSL also will be represented by Carlin Hudson, director of strategy for the league, and by Yael Averbuch West, general manager for Gotham FC.

The taskforce also includes one former member of the men’s national team, Tony Sanneh, though no current USMNT players, as well as representatives from professional, recreational and youth leagues, among others.

Former USWNT midfielder Shannon Boxx and Maryland youth association executive director Greg Smith will serve as vice chairs.

The priorities for the taskforce include supporting the recommendations that resulted from the investigation. The group also has been asked to identify “the biggest concerns regarding the risks around relationships with significant power imbalances,” in particular coach-player relationships, which NWSL Coach of the Year Casey Stoney called out in October as “power dynamic that should not happen.”

“There is much to do, but I am confident we have a team with a wide range of experiences and viewpoints to change the culture in soccer from the ground up,” Shim said in the release. “Together, we will be defining new standards, policies, reporting systems and educational programs with the goal of eradicating abuse altogether from our sport.”

In 2015, Shim reported then-coach Paul Riley for sexual harassment and coercion. Her report led to his dismissal from the club, but the reason for his departure was not made public.

“It was offensive,” Shim said. “They weren’t going to say anything about Paul unless they had to, right? Because it was at their expense. It would make them look bad.”

In September 2021, Shim and her former Thorns teammate Sinead Farrelly went public with allegations of abuse against Riley. Their whistleblowing led to investigations into systemic abuse in the NWSL, one by U.S. Soccer and one by the league and its players association.

The findings of the U.S. Soccer investigation, conducted by former U.S. attorney general Sally Yates, detailed a culture of abuse perpetuated by leaders in the NWSL and in the federation itself.

U.S. Soccer participant safety taskforce

• Mana Shim, former NWSL player (chair)
• Shannon Boxx, former USWNT and NWSL player (vice chair)
• Greg Smith, Maryland State Youth Soccer Association executive director (vice chair)
• Margueritte Aozasa, UCLA women’s soccer coach
• Nicole Arsenault, Idaho Youth Soccer technical lead
• Jessica Bartley, USOPC director of mental health services
• Paul Burke, former Utah Youth Soccer president
• Erin Chastain, University of Minnesota women’s soccer coach
• Margie Close, American Youth Soccer Organization secretary
• Anastasia Danias, Major League Soccer executive vice president and general counsel
• Tierna Davidson, USWNT and NWSL player
• Gloria Faber, U.S. Youth Soccer and New Mexico Youth Soccer executive director
• AD Franch, USWNT and NWSL player
• Lesle Gallimore, USSF coach educator and former USSF YNT coach
• Naomi Girma, USWNT and NWSL player
• Lauren Holiday, former USWNT and NWSL player
• Carlin Hudson, former NWSL player and current NWSL director of strategy
• Tori Huster, NWSL player and NWSLPA president
• Greg Hutton, U.S. Club Soccer chief operating officer
• Cynthia Labella, Institute of Sports Medicine medical director at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
• Ben Lindau, U.S. men’s Paralympic national team player
• Alex Morgan, USWNT and NWSL player
• Kim Oberle, former FIFA referee and current national referee coach
• Scott Oliaro, UNC associate director of sports medicine
• Jason Sacks, Positive Coaching Alliance president
• Amy Saltzman, abuse educator and Spot a Spider founder
• Tony Sanneh, former USMNT and MLS player
• Kwame Ofori Attah Sarkodie, former USYNT captain
• Shonna Schroedl, U.S. Adult Soccer Association Adult Council
• Renee Towles, USL senior director of safeguarding
• Kate Ward, U.S. Deaf Soccer WNT player
• Yael Averbuch West, former USWNT player and current NJ/NY Gotham FC general manager
• Corey Woolfolk, former MLS player

Unrivaled Basketball and trading card manufacturer Panini America are teaming up, bringing the 3×3 league's first officially licensed trading cards to market on Friday.

As part of a multi-year agreement between the two parties, Panini will debut the Instant Cards just hours before the first full weekend of play in the 2026 Unrivaled season tips off on Friday.

Panini also plans to launch a Rewind set of trading cards celebrating the 2025 inaugural Unrivaled season, among other future drops.

"Our partnership with Unrivaled is a great way to reinforce and showcase our support of the women's game and female athletes," said Panini America SVP of marketing Jason Howarth in the pair's Thursday announcement. "Unrivaled's 3-on-3 format makes for exciting and compelling game play and continuing to work with the best players in the world in this format made this partnership make perfect sense."

Following Monday's Season 2 tip-off, Unrivaled is continuing to form strategic partnerships as the offseason pro league grows in popularity.

"We want to meet fans where they are, and Panini's history in this space makes them an ideal partner to highlight the biggest moments for women's basketball's biggest stars," said Unrivaled president Alex Bazzell.

How to purchase Unrivaled Instant Cards

The full Unrivaled Instant Card set will release online at 3:08 PM ET on Friday at PaniniAmerica.net.

US women are lighting up the ice, performing record-breaking short programs at the US Figure Skating Championships on Wednesday as the nation's top skaters compete to represent Team USA at the 2026 Winter Olympics in February.

Currently atop the field is 26-year-old Amber Glenn, with the reigning back-to-back national champion posting the highest short program score in event history on Wednesday.

Glenn's 83.05-point performance surpassed the 81.11-point previous record set just minutes before by her 20-year-old teammate, reigning world champion Alysa Liu.

"I think that was one of my most enjoyable experiences competing ever," Glenn said afterwards.

With Liu and Glenn leading the charge, the US is aiming to end a 20-year Olympic medal drought in women's singles figure skating in Milan, Italy, this winter — and Team USA has even more depth on their side.

A full six of the world's Top-17 skaters hail from the US, with 18-year-old Isabeau Levito — who claimed third in Wednesday's short program competition — joining Glenn and Liu in the Top 5.

Team USA can send only three singles skaters to next month's Winter Games, with the national selection committee assessing each athlete's full season — not just their performances at this week's championships — before announcing the Olympic-bound trio on Sunday.

How to watch the 2026 US Figure Skating Championships

The women's singles competition will conclude with Friday's free skate, which kicks off at 3 PM ET before the top skaters in the standings take the ice at 8 PM ET on NBC and Peacock.

The 2026 US Olympic Figure Skating Team will then be announced at 2 PM ET on Sunday, live on NBC.

This month's USWNT roster featured one notable gap, as the absence of Portland Thorns midfielder Sam Coffey stirred up rumors that the 27-year-old is finalizing a move to the WSL to join the top-tier UK league's frontrunners, Manchester City.

First reported by The Guardian, ESPN added on Thursday that Manchester City will ante up a base transfer fee around $800,000 to add Coffey to the Citizens' roster — though the number could rise as negotiations continue and parties finalize a deal.

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The national team stalwart will reportedly travel to Manchester in the near future to ink a potential contract, but Coffey currently remains under contract with Portland until 2027, having signed an extension with the Thorns in 2024.

Coffey has been a mainstay for her NWSL club since Portland drafted the Penn State alum in 2021, but the UK league's pull could persuade her to join her USWNT teammates Alyssa Thompson (Chelsea), Emily Fox (Arsenal), Phallon Tullis-Joyce (Manchester United), and Naomi Girma (Chelsea) in making the leap to the WSL.

Currently sitting six points clear of six-time reigning champion Chelsea atop the 2025/26 WSL table, Manchester City has reportedly been searching for "the right defensive midfield option" as they pursue their first league title since 2016.

This weekend's SEC slate brings the heat, as the stacked NCAA basketball conference gears up for more than one high-profile ranked matchup on Sunday.

Undefeated No. 2 Texas will visit Baton Rouge to take on No. 12 LSU, with the Tigers looking to add to their 80-59 Thursday win over unranked Georgia as they continue battling back from a dismal 0-2 start in 2025/26 conference play.

"We think we're just going to go in there and out-jump, out-leap somebody," said LSU boss Kim Mulkey following last Sunday's loss to No. 7 Vanderbilt. "You're not going to do that in this league."

"This year, the [SEC] is every bit as good as last year — when you really think about it, it's probably way better," Longhorns head coach Vic Schaefer told the Austin American-Statesman on Thursday. "The big thing right now is we've got to get better."

Texas's clash with LSU opens a tough stretch for the Longhorns, as they face AP Poll headliners No. 3 South Carolina, No. 5 Oklahoma, No. 6 Kentucky, and No. 7 Vanderbilt in the coming weeks.

Sunday's other SEC blockbuster between the Sooners and the Wildcats is all about redemption, as Oklahoma aims to bounce back from their 74-69 upset loss to No. 18 Ole Miss on Thursday while Kentucky looks to put their 64-51 Thursday loss to unranked Alabama in the rearview mirror.

How to watch ranked SEC basketball on Sunday

No. 2 Texas will tip off Sunday's ranked SEC slate against No. 12 LSU at 3 PM ET, airing live on ESPN.

Then at 4 PM ET, No. 5 Oklahoma will visit No. 6 Kentucky, with live coverage on the SEC Network.