Turning Pro at 13

It will be interesting to see how many 15 to 17 year old girls will make it to the pro’s in the next 5 Years. This ruling is definitely viewed as equal opportunity for women. I just don’t think you will see too many players/parents willing to make that jump to pros at such a young age. The money doesn’t make sense, injuries will happen, and you miss out on being a teenager and/or going to college.
 
A lot of talk about OM matching physicality with older players, but there’s also the mental maturity to factor in as well. She’s been the best on every pitch all this time, but when she’s no longer the best, does she have the mental fortitude to press on, or will that get under her skin and make her lose her mental toughness.
My daughter guested for a coach once- players we’re all college age and older. She was still a freshman in HS at the time. Playing keeper. While she enjoyed the experience, I remember her saying it was really hard because, as she put it, “it felt like they didn’t want to listen to some dumb high schooler telling them what to do from the goalie spot.” Everywhere else she had played, her team would listen to her direction as a keeper. But put her on a team where there was a huge age gap, she started questioning herself and clamming up.
I wish OM well. I am hopeful that these kinds of moves allow young women to have multiple options to higher level sports- not just through the college system. But in addition to the physical matchup disparities, I wonder how she’s going to fare mentally. Just my $.02.
 
SoccerLocker said:
This is exactly the point. As more money comes into women's soccer, it's inevitable. It's really moot if she is a generational talent or not (Freddy Add anyone?), more that she is advancing the opportunities for girls behind her.
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Freddy Adu wasn't a total bust as his long pro and international career can attest. But he also wasn't the miracle player that was going to win us the World Cup.

Pointless aside -- I was at Torero Stadium at USD the day he got into his first MNT game in a friendly against Canada, coming in as a late substitution. He assured his place on the game report by promptly picking up a yellow card.
 
MacDre said:
I have never seen OM play in person but I am familiar with a few of the Mexican girls that she played against in the 2018 U15 CONCACAF championship. I think several of those Mexican girls have a comparable skillset (although Jaedyn Shaw is probably a little better) to OM. Those Mexican girls are struggling to get minutes in a supposedly inferior league ( Liga MX Femenil) and I have been informed that inferior/lower leagues are being established to correct the problem.

So if the Mexican girls can’t get minutes, how the hell is OM going to get meaningful minutes in the supposedly best women’s league in the world?
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Precisely
 
She did it!! I just looked at ESPN for the first time in over a month and she is front page news. Trinity R got the game winner the other night. Luis dd next? Blues developed both of these girls when the were young players and deserve some compensation as well. Sharing can go a long way. My dd had the honor to battle both every week for two years. Pro is right around the corner now for any female who puts in the hard work. She did it at 15. Congrats 100% :)
 
crush said:
She did it!! I just looked at ESPN for the first time in over a month and she is front page news. Trinity R got the game winner the other night. Luis dd next? Blues developed both of these girls when the were young players and deserve some compensation as well. Sharing can go a long way. My dd had the honor to battle both every week for two years. Pro is right around the corner now for any female who puts in the hard work. She did it at 15. Congrats 100% :)
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If you're paying an arm and a leg for your daughter to potentially make less than a barista at Starbucks (and have less education than the hypothetical barista), then God bless you. Lucky for this young lady her parents have some money, because the worst case scenario is that she washes out of the pros before she's even a legal adult. This isn't similar to a Freddy Adu situation where he bounces out of MLS, but can then go make a living overseas; the money already sucks in women's pro soccer. I'm hoping this young lady succeeds and doesn't become a cautionary tale.
 
Soccer43 said:
Sooo, curious if anyone watched the debut and if it was as exciting as everyone hoped for?
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It was a relatively uneventful debut for the rookie, as late-game debuts often are.

At one point she received a pass and was immediately closed in by two Louisville defenders and she passed it back. Later, she dribbled into the box and slipped a pass to Sophia Smith, who then had a cross blocked. She made a trailing run on a counterattack and was open to get the ball, but the play died before she could.

www.oregonlive.com

15-year-old Olivia Moultrie finally makes NWSL debut as Thorns beat Racing Louisville FC

The Thorns won and teenage phenom Olivia Moultrie made her pro debut.
www.oregonlive.com www.oregonlive.com
 
I wish her whatever success she can achieve. What I don’t like is the hype about it all and the idea that she is a trail blazer for all young female soccer players. That is not the dream for my daughter. I want my daughter to go to college and play professionally after college. I don’t see being a professional soccer player at 15 as some big dream. Why do I want my teenager skipping high school and not having relationships with her peers? Why would I want my teenage daughter spending all her time with adult women that have adult lives that my teenager is not living? Why would I want my player to be striving to make the small salary that most professional female soccer players make? This argument would be 100% different for me if the salary potential was like men’s professional sports? all great things require risk but to have the risk of being a 19 or 20 year old with no college degree and a soccer career that didn’t pan out as expected doesn’t appeal to me. I am most proud of my player choosing college and having that be part of her dream and her future, not chasing a professional contract at this age. Stop making it like this is the holy grail. This is a dream for her and her family but it is not the dream for everyone.
 
Soccer43 said:
I wish her whatever success she can achieve. What I don’t like is the hype about it all and the idea that she is a trail blazer for all young female soccer players. That is not the dream for my daughter. I want my daughter to go to college and play professionally after college. I don’t see being a professional soccer player at 15 as some big dream. Why do I want my teenager skipping high school and not having relationships with her peers? Why would I want my teenage daughter spending all her time with adult women that have adult lives that my teenager is not living? Why would I want my player to be striving to make the small salary that most professional female soccer players make? This argument would be 100% different for me if the salary potential was like men’s professional sports? all great things require risk but to have the risk of being a 19 or 20 year old with no college degree and a soccer career that didn’t pan out as expected doesn’t appeal to me. I am most proud of my player choosing college and having that be part of her dream and her future, not chasing a professional contract at this age. Stop making it like this is the holy grail. This is a dream for her and her family but it is not the dream for everyone.
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Not everyone thinks like you and your dd. Let me help you out bro. First off, freedom of choice is the key here. Freedom to choose full time soccer and get paid under 18 years old for a female or full time soccer + full time school and no pay=full time soccer in college and full time study for 99.9% of the rest of the girls. My dd is all in for four years of college and is now looking to set up two more official visits. Personally, it would be my dream if she skipped college all together and got paid to play soccer. However, it's her life, not mine :) My dd and I have personal experience with OM when she was becoming the best 2023 in the country ((according to some scouts. I think AT is the best 2023 and 100% could handle pro right now)) at the Blues for two years back in the day. She LOVES to play soccer and train 24/7. I'm serious. She is a trailblazer for all female soccer players under 18 that want to go pro and get some dough. I have a friend who has a dd who is 13 and home schooled and all she does is soccer soccer and more soccer. She is so good they are thinking of moving to Spain to train. Lot's of choices for anyone with a dream. Happy 4th of July Soccer43.
 
Soccerhelper said:
Not everyone thinks like you and your dd. Let me help you out bro. First off, freedom of choice is the key here. Freedom to choose full time soccer and get paid under 18 years old for a female or full time soccer + full time school and no pay=full time soccer in college and full time study for 99.9% of the rest of the girls. My dd is all in for four years of college and is now looking to set up two more official visits. Personally, it would be my dream if she skipped college all together and got paid to play soccer. However, it's her life, not mine :) My dd and I have personal experience with OM when she was becoming the best 2023 in the country ((according to some scouts. I think AT is the best 2023 and 100% could handle pro right now)) at the Blues for two years back in the day. She LOVES to play soccer and train 24/7. I'm serious. She is a trailblazer for all female soccer players under 18 that want to go pro and get some dough. I have a friend who has a dd who is 13 and home schooled and all she does is soccer soccer and more soccer. She is so good they are thinking of moving to Spain to train. Lot's of choices for anyone with a dream. Happy 4th of July Soccer43.
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Being good is a given, in this situation good/talent didn’t really matter did it. What really mattered was money, power and resolve. Her parents have the means to do things most won’t and honestly can’t. Right now there are 10-15 players in the 05-03 age range who could be training and maybe earn a roster spot with a NWSL team. All can’t because in reality they don’t have the power to do so. Wasserman is not going to be their agent, Nike is not behind them, and most parents are not hiring a legal team. Getting an good agent, lawyer, accountant, PR, and team around you costs money. Moving to Spain costs money. FIFA is going to stop you there also. Even with a EU passport. Training yes maybe, no way you ever play a real game. No club right now risks it. Even if the kid is good. Clubs already have good and most don’t need to import it from America. In the end my point is, good for this girl for getting in the game and doing her thing. But I don’t think this moves the needle at all for other players this season or next, just her. This fight was her fight alone and is less about trail blazing for others and more for her to be first. The next player who try’s is also in for fight as well.
 
suzysoccer1 said:
Being good is a given, in this situation good/talent didn’t really matter did it. What really mattered was money, power and resolve. Her parents have the means to do things most won’t and honestly can’t. Right now there are 10-15 players in the 05-03 age range who could be training and maybe earn a roster spot with a NWSL team. All can’t because in reality they don’t have the power to do so. Wasserman is not going to be their agent, Nike is not behind them, and most parents are not hiring a legal team. Getting an good agent, lawyer, accountant, PR, and team around you costs money. Moving to Spain costs money. FIFA is going to stop you there also. Even with a EU passport. Training yes maybe, no way you ever play a real game. No club right now risks it. Even if the kid is good. Clubs already have good and most don’t need to import it from America. In the end my point is, good for this girl for getting in the game and doing her thing. But I don’t think this moves the needle at all for other players this season or next, just her. This fight was her fight alone and is less about trail blazing for others and more for her to be first. The next player who try’s is also in for fight as well.
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The court order applies to the NWSL as a whole. They aren't allowed to enforce the age limit against anyone.

But it is moot. Most parents see more value in a Stanford scholarship or Harvard admission than in an NWSL contract.

And they are right. A female soccer player can't make real money without cracking the long term WNT roster. And, even if you are a top 10 player, your odds of doing that are less than 10%.
 
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