BESTING BOYS

After going head to head with male players in an MLS youth academy, 2023 NWSL top draft pick and teenage phenom ALYSSA THOMPSON is carving a new path for girls in soccer

- GWENDOLYN OXENHAM

EVERY GAME, you could hear the same sideline rumblings, the same surprised observation: There's a girl on the other team.

A girl was playing for Total Futbol Academy in MLS Next, the top level of U.S. boys talent. Academy programs like this one produced men's national team stars Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams. Every guy on the field wanted to make it to the pros. And the girl? She'd already made it.

Earlier this year, NWSL's Angel City FC used the draft's No. 1 pick on 18-year-old Alyssa Thompson, making her the league's first player taken straight out of high school. Immediately, GM Angela Hucles described Thompson as "a generational talent"-but even that description fails to capture all that she represents. For many, it's hard to believe that a girl can compete with the physicality and speed of a top 18-year-old boys club. But Thompson doesn't just keep pace with the boys; she stands out among them. A two-sport senior at Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles, she is petite (5' 3"), strong and track-star fast. Last May she ran the 100 meters in 11.69 seconds, the sixth-fastest girls time in the state in 2022.

The slogan for MLS Next-which was formed in 2020 and now has 133 clubs across 31 states; Washington, D.C.; and Canada-is "The Future Starts Here," and Thompson, a teenage phenom shaking up the landscape of youth sports, feels like a glimpse ahead.

"To see Alyssa Thompson make it big?" says her TFA teammate Victor Corona. "It drives us. We're aiming for the top shop-the big leagues. Our dream is the same as hers."