Okay, I’ll admit that the title is a little dramatic. There are still plenty of soccer players that I love playing currently: Sam Coffey, Sophia Wilson, Naomi Girma, Lynn Biyendolo, I could go on. But the players I grew up idolizing have all basically retired.

I played soccer for approximately 13 years of my life. As a young girl from the U.S. who played the sport, it was unspoken that I adored the United States Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT). While major soccer tournaments and games had been on my TV before, the first event I remember watching was the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup. I was 11 years old, and even though my family was on vacation for half the event, I made sure to watch every game that the USWNT played in.

I was hooked. On Alex Morgan, who I had a t-shirt for, on Megan Rapinoe, on Tobin Heath. After that World Cup, I was finally a soccer fan. 

I made sure to keep watching and following in the years after. The USWNT and professional women’s soccer as a whole were frequent conversations before, during, and after my own soccer practices. I went to games for my local NWSL club, the Portland Thorns, and got to see the players I idolized in person. Morgan and Heath both played for the Thorns for a time, and getting to watch these people play was magical. Christine Sinclair, a Canadian soccer player and one of the greatest of all time, also played for the Thorns. 

At the time I was playing soccer, seeing all these players moving the game of professional women’s soccer forward was everything to me. Many players from the 2015 USWNT World Cup Team were also involved in the lawsuit against US Soccer for equal pay. Part of the reason I admire these players so much is how much they pushed for equality in the sport in all aspects. Many current players signing landmark contracts would not be where they are without the trailblazers who I grew up with. Their influence on the game is huge. I love women’s soccer, and getting to see it grow because of these players is so special. 

But people can’t be professional athletes forever. While many of the players from that 2015 World Cup team have long since retired, there were quite a few still playing until recently.

Rapinoe and Ali Krieger both retired at the end of the 2023 NWSL season. I was lucky enough to be able to attend one of Rapinoe’s last games with the Seattle Reign and of her career. I remember standing on the field holding back tears, watching one of my idols say goodbye to this game and city that she loved so dearly. I couldn’t help but feel that this was the end of an era. I didn’t expect how much that would continue to be true.

In this past 2024 NWSL season, Morgan, Sinclair, Kelley O’Hara, Becky Sauerbrunn and Alyssa Naeher have all retired. I was also unexpectedly at Naeher’s second-to-last professional game. While studying abroad, I decided on a whim to spend a little too much money to see a USWNT v. England friendly at Wembley Stadium. While it didn’t end up being the most exciting game, I am glad I was able to see another one of my idols in one of her last matches. 

It is hard to put into words just how much these players have meant to me. I didn’t realize how much it would affect me until I watched the recent USWNT games in the SheBelieves Cup. The names and faces out on the pitch were all new. And the players I idolized for so long aren’t there anymore. It’s a little bittersweet in all honesty. 

Knowing how important the players on the USWNT are to me, it made me sad for a while that young soccer players don’t get to have those people to look up to. But then I reminded myself that there are still amazing athletes on the team. 

This past summer in my job working at a summer camp, I would often ask kids who their favorite soccer player was when they told me they liked the sport. More often than not, they would tell me it was Sophia Wilson. They may not be growing up with the same people I admire, but there are so many players still to look up to. 

Heroes change from generation to generation. I’m glad that the 2015 USWNT World Cup Team got to be mine.