At only 14 years and one day old, McKenna Whitham became the youngest soccer player to play for a top-tier professional soccer league in the United States on July 28.
Earlier in the week, Whitham became the youngest player to be signed to a club in NWSL at 13 and was also the youngest athlete to sign a deal with Nike. Whitham was subbed on in the 80th minute for NJ/NY Gotham against Washington Spirit in her debut in the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup in a 1-0 win.
In an interview with ESPN after signing with Gotham, Whitham said, “I’m not going to be cocky about it. I’m going to stay humble, and I’m still going to keep developing. My goal is to be a top player in the NWSL, and I know that Gotham will help me become that player.”
She topped the recent American soccer phenomenon Cavan Sullivan’s record when he became the then-youngest player to play in May, debuting for the Philadelphia Union at 14 and 293 days old. The youth movement within American soccer is working.
Gotham’s head coach, Juan Carlos Amorós, claimed that substituting Whitham into the game had nothing to do with creating a record. In the post-game press conference, he explained that “the team needed her at that point and that’s when she came on. Whenever it was, it was going to be a special moment for her that she was going to remember forever.”
In 2021, then-15-year-old Olivia Moultrie sued the NWSL for the right to play despite the league’s age restrictions. Without the lawsuit, Whitham would have never been able to create this momentous record. Moultrie debuted for the Portland Thorns and many others like Jaedyn Shaw, Gisele Thompson, and Chloe Ricketts under 18 followed.
Ayah Al-Masyabi, (she/her) is from Aurora, Colorado, and is an artist, writer and journalist who covers culture and sports. Follow her on Instagram @ayahalmart or YouTube @AyahSoccer.
Edited by Nykeya Woods