Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 36:53 — 32.2MB) | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Email | RSS | More
Alyssa Thompson ’23 is a member of both the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) and Chelsea FC in London. In this episode, Alyssa describes growing up playing AYSO in Sherman Oaks, before finding club and national team success while at Harvard-Westlake, to then committing to Stanford at age 15. But the next few years would change Alyssa’s trajectory. In 2021, she was named national Gatorade Player of the Year. In 2022, she and her sister Giselle (who is also on the USWNT) signed Nike’s first-ever NIL deal for high school athletes. And then in 2023, Alyssa was drafted #1 overall out of high school to her hometown Angel City. Aside from these accolades, however, Alyssa speaks most endearingly about her family—her father Mario, an elementary school principal, mom Karen, a therapist for children with special needs, and the great joy of sharing a field with her sister Giselle. Alyssa references Harvard-Westlake soccer coach Jordan Roseboro as having a profound influence on her soccer career and love of the game.