Olivia Katoa

Olivia Katoa
Katoa with the Portland Thorns in 2024
Personal information
Birth name Olivia Jo Wade
Date of birth (1999-12-28) December 28, 1999 (age 26)
Place of birth Kaysville, Utah, United States
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Position Midfielder
Youth career
La Roca FC
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018–2023 BYU Cougars 120 (25)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2024–2025 Portland Thorns 5 (0)
International career
United States U17
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 04:53, December 3, 2025 (UTC)

Olivia Jo Katoa (née Wade; born December 28, 1999) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a midfielder. She played college soccer for the BYU Cougars before being selected by the Portland Thorns in the 2024 NWSL Draft.

Early life

Katoa was born in Kaysville, Utah,[1] into a family of five children. She attended Davis High School and played club soccer for La Roca FC.[2] In 2016, Katoa was named Gatorade's Utah Player of the Year and The Salt Lake Tribune's player of the year in 2016.[3][4] She is also a 5-time State Cup champion and won the 2016 UYSA National Championship Golden Ball.[2]

College career

Katoa played college soccer for the BYU Cougars. She scored her first collegiate goal in September 2018, tallying a last-minute game-winner in a match against the Utah Utes.[5][6] After her freshman season at BYU, Katoa took time away from soccer in order to serve as a missionary in Houston, Texas.[7][8]

She returned to BYU in 2021 and scored only 43 seconds into her first game back.[3] The Cougars would eventually make it to the NCAA championship game, which culminated in a penalty shootout. Katoa converted her spot-kick, but Florida State prevailed to secure the victory.[9][10]

In her final two seasons of college soccer, Katoa started all of BYU's games.[2] She was named to the All-WCC Second Team[11] and the NCAA Third Team All-Region in 2022.[12] In her 2023, she co-captained BYU alongside teammate Jamie Shepherd.[13] Katoa was named to the Big 12 All-Tournament team and to the All-American third team[14] as a senior and helped BYU reach the NCAA semifinals.[15] She finished her career at BYU having played in 120 games and scored 25 goals.[2]

Club career

Katoa was selected in the 2nd round of the 2024 NWSL Draft by Portland Thorns FC as the 23rd overall pick.[16][17] In March 2024, she signed her first professional contract with the Thorns.[18] She made her professional debut in the Thorns' season-opener, coming on as a substitute in a 5–4 defeat to the Kansas City Current.[19] On July 21, 2024, Katoa recorded her first professional start and goal in an NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup victory over Club Tijuana.[20][21] She later had her rookie season curtailed early after picking up a season-ending knee injury in a CONCACAF W Champions Cup fixture in October 2025.[21][22]

Katoa did not feature for the Thorns at any point in 2025, with maternity leave prolonging her absence from the field. She watched on from the sidelines as Portland secured third place in CONCACAF play and made it to the semifinals of the NWSL playoffs.[23][24] At the end of the year, Katoa departed from the Thorns upon the expiration of her rookie contract.[25]

On December 31, 2025, Katoa announced her retirement from professional soccer.[26]

International career

Katoa has represented the United States at the U17 level.[2] She was named to the United States' squad for the 2015 NTC Invitational tournament in Carson, California.[27][28][29] The USA would go on to win the tournament, securing the title for the second consecutive year.[30]

Personal life

Born into a basketball-geared family, both of Katoa's parents are former collegiate players, while her grandfather was a coach.[2][31] Katoa's brother, Jesse Wade, also played sports for BYU.[32][33]

In June 2023, she married former USC Trojans football player Tayler Katoa.[34][35][36] In September 2025, the couple welcomed their first child, a son.[37]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup[a] Playoffs[b] Continental[c] Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Portland Thorns FC 2024 NWSL 5 0 — 0 0 2 0 1[d] 0 8 0
2025 0 0 — 0 0 0 0 — 0 0
Career total 5 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 8 0

References

  1. ^ "Olivia Wade-Katoa - Portland Thorns". www.thorns.com. Archived from the original on December 13, 2024. Retrieved December 28, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Olivia Wade-Katoa - Women's Soccer 2018". BYU Athletics - Official Athletics Website - BYU Cougars. Retrieved December 28, 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Olivia Wade provides instant impact in return to BYU soccer | Davis County News". www.davisjournal.com. Retrieved December 28, 2024.
  4. ^ "Olivia Wade Gatorade 2016 - 2017: Player of the Year Girls Soccer - Utah PLAYER OF THE YEAR". playeroftheyear.gatorade.com. Archived from the original on August 8, 2024. Retrieved December 28, 2024.
  5. ^ "Olivia Wade leads BYU to victory over Utah in final minutes". Deseret News. September 18, 2022. Retrieved December 28, 2024.
  6. ^ "Olivia Wade's game-winner leads Cougars to a 2-1 victory over Utah". BYU Cougars. Archived from the original on December 28, 2024. Retrieved December 28, 2024.
  7. ^ "Returned missionaries help fuel the only BYU team ranked No. 1 in the country". Deseret News. September 8, 2023. Retrieved December 28, 2024.
  8. ^ Swensen, Jason (October 14, 2020). "How 'rival' returned missionaries/BYU-Utah soccer stars are withstanding COVID-19 disruptions". Church News. Retrieved December 28, 2024.
  9. ^ "BYU women's soccer goes the distance, falls just short in national championship on penalty kicks". BYU Daily Universe. December 7, 2021. Retrieved December 28, 2024.
  10. ^ Walker, Sean (December 6, 2021). "No tears, just pride: BYU falls to No. 1 Florida State on penalty kicks in first NCAA title bout". www.ksl.com. Retrieved December 28, 2024.
  11. ^ "West Coast Conference Announces 2022 Women's Soccer Honors". wccsports.com. November 9, 2022. Retrieved December 28, 2024.
  12. ^ Seeman, Brenna. "Four Cougs Named to All-Midwest Region Team". BYU Athletics - Official Athletics Website - BYU Cougars. Retrieved December 28, 2024.
  13. ^ Walker, Sean; Aug. 4, KSL com | Posted-; P.m, 2023 at 7:17. "No. 13 BYU women's soccer enters 2023 with veteran confidence, big expectations". www.ksl.com. Retrieved December 28, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ "Mozingo, Vaka and Wade-Katoa receive All-America honors". BYU Athletics - Official Athletics Website - BYU Cougars. Retrieved December 28, 2024.
  15. ^ "BYU falls to Stanford 2-0 in College Cup Semifinal". BYU Athletics - Official Athletics Website - BYU Cougars. Retrieved December 28, 2024.
  16. ^ "Notebook: Portland takes Northern Utah players Kaufusi, Wade-Katoa in NWSL professional soccer draft". standard.net. Retrieved December 28, 2024.
  17. ^ "Five Cougs Drafted in 2024 NWSL Draft". BYU Athletics - Official Athletics Website - BYU Cougars. Retrieved December 28, 2024.
  18. ^ "Portland Thorns FC sign 2024 NWSL Draft pick Olivia Wade-Katoa - Portland Thorns". www.thorns.com. Retrieved December 28, 2024.
  19. ^ "Portland Thorns fall at Kansas City Current - Portland Thorns". www.thorns.com. Retrieved December 28, 2024.
  20. ^ Meagher, Sean. "Portland Thorns vs. Club Tijuana: July 21, 2024 - oregonlive.com". oregonlive. Retrieved December 28, 2024.
  21. ^ a b "This soccer player found peace from general conference after season-ending injury". Deseret News. October 14, 2024. Retrieved December 28, 2024.
  22. ^ "Portland Thorns midfielder Olivia Wade-Katoa placed on Season Ending Injury list - Portland Thorns". www.thorns.com. Retrieved December 28, 2024.
  23. ^ Sepich, Scott (May 24, 2025). "Portland Thorns end Mexico trip with third-place finish in CONCACAF W Champions Cup". The Oregonian. Retrieved December 2, 2025.
  24. ^ NWSL (November 10, 2025). "Portland Thorns advance to record 10th semifinal, sending the Wave packing". NWSL. Retrieved December 3, 2025.
  25. ^ "Portland Thorns Announce End-of-Season Roster Updates". Portland Thorns FC. December 2, 2025. Retrieved December 3, 2025.
  26. ^ Katoa, Olivia [@oliviakatoa]; (December 31, 2025). "With so much love and gratitude in my heart, I am officially retiring from soccer". Retrieved January 24, 2026 – via Instagram.
  27. ^ The Equalizer Staff (January 27, 2015). "U-17 USWNT readies for invitational tournament – Equalizer Soccer". equalizersoccer.com. Retrieved December 28, 2024.
  28. ^ "Davis High's Olivia Wade called up for tournament with U.S. U-17 squad". The Salt Lake Tribune. January 28, 2015. Retrieved December 28, 2024.
  29. ^ "U.S. Soccer to host second annual U-17 Women's NTC Invitational". SoccerWire. Retrieved December 28, 2024.
  30. ^ "U-17 WNT Wins 2015 NTC Invitational". SoccerToday. February 17, 2015. Retrieved December 28, 2024.[dead link]
  31. ^ Phibbs, Trevor (December 7, 2016). "Girls' soccer: Davis High's Olivia Wade named 2016 Tribune Player of the Year". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved December 28, 2024.
  32. ^ "Jesse Wade - Men's Basketball 2018-2019". BYU Athletics - Official Athletics Website - BYU Cougars. Retrieved December 28, 2024.
  33. ^ Harper, Mitch (April 26, 2021). "Former BYU Guard Jesse Wade Will No Longer Continue Basketball Career". KSL Sports. Retrieved December 28, 2024.
  34. ^ Wade-Katoa, Olivia [@oliviakatoa]; (April 27, 2023). "Mr. & Mrs. Katoa coming June 2nd 🤍" – via Instagram.
  35. ^ "Tayler Katoa - Football". USC Athletics. Retrieved December 28, 2024.
  36. ^ Sayles, Damon. "Redefining 'Do-It-All Athlete': Meet 4-Star LB-DE-QB Tayler Katoa". Bleacher Report. Retrieved December 28, 2024.
  37. ^ Katoa, Olivia [@oliviakatoa]; (September 6, 2025). "Our everything is here and we could not be more in love with him 🧸". Retrieved January 24, 2026 – via Instagram.
allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivia_Wade-Katoa