Mckenna Whitham (born July 27, 2010) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a forward for NJ/NY Gotham FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She signed with Gotham the age of 13 in 2024, becoming the youngest player in (NWSL) history. She also broke the record of the youngest player to feature in a NWSL league game at 14 years old on March 15th, 2025. She has represented the United States at the youth international level.

Early life

Whitham grew up in Granite Bay, California, the daughter of Joni and Josh Whitham, and was homeschooled by her mother.[2] Her father was an alternate for the United States Ski Team at the 1998 Winter Olympics as a high schooler.[3] Whitham played ECNL club soccer for MVLA Soccer Club and Slammers FC HB Køge.[4][5] She led MVLA to the under-13 national finals in July 2023, finishing runners-up to Slammers.[4][6] She signed a name, image, and likeness contract with Nike in February 2024 at age 13, becoming the youngest athlete to sign with the company.[7]

Club career

Gotham FC

At age 13, Whitham trained as a non-roster invitee with National Women's Soccer League clubs Kansas City Current, Washington Spirit, and NJ/NY Gotham FC in the 2024 preseason. She became the youngest person to play for an NWSL team when she appeared in an exhibition game for Gotham at the Women's Cup in Colombia, even scoring the last-minute game winner against Deportivo Cali.[2][8] Gotham general manager Yael Averbuch West said Whitham "is clearly very ready, not just to handle this level, but to excel in our sessions".[1] She continued to train with Gotham throughout the year and also trained with the boys' Los Angeles FC Academy of MLS Next and played for Santa Clarita Blue Heat of United Women's Soccer (UWS).[1][9] The youngest player in UWS history at 13, she scored the opening goal for Santa Clarita in the national semifinals and converted her penalty kick in the team's championship shootout victory in July 2024.[10][11]

Gotham announced on July 26, 2024, that they had signed Whitham to a four-year under-18 contract effective January 1, 2025, making her the youngest signing in NWSL history, one day before her 14th birthday. She reached an additional short-term deal which allowed her to debut for Gotham two days later. When she appeared as a substitute for Katie Stengel and logged 17 minutes during a 2–1 win against the Washington Spirit in the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup group stage, she became the youngest player in top-division American soccer history.[3][12] She made two further appearances during the year, including as a 66th-minute replacement for McCall Zerboni in the Summer Cup final, which Gotham lost 2–0 to the Kansas City Current.[13][14]

Whitham made her NWSL regular-season debut on March 15, 2025, as a stoppage-time substitute for Esther in the season opener, a 1–1 draw against the Seattle Reign.[15] This made her the youngest player in league history at 14 years, 8 months, surpassing Melanie Barcenas.[16]

International career

Whitham was called into training camp with the United States national under-15 team at age 13 in October 2023.[17] The next year, she helped the team win the 2024 CONCACAF Girls' U-15 Championship, scoring the second goal in a 3–0 win against Mexico in the final.[18]

Career statistics

Club

As of March 23, 2025
Club Season League Playoffs[a] Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
NJ/NY Gotham FC 2024 NWSL 0 0 0 0 3[b] 0 3 0
2025 1 0 — — 1 0
Career total 1 0 0 0 3 0 4 0
  1. ^ Includes NWSL playoffs
  2. ^ NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup

Honors

Santa Clarita Blue Heat

United States U-15

References

  1. ^ a b c Anzidei, Melanie (April 11, 2024). "Gotham FC's 13-year-old trainee Mak Whitham is scoring goals and readying to go pro". The Athletic. Retrieved April 11, 2024.
  2. ^ a b Ingemi, Marisa (March 11, 2024). "13 years old with a Nike deal and NWSL goal: S.F. teen's fast track to pro soccer". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on March 11, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Kassouf, Jeff (July 26, 2024). "Gotham signs Whitham, 13, youngest in NWSL". ESPN. Retrieved July 26, 2024.
  4. ^ a b Olorunfemi, Victor (December 27, 2023). "23 Female Players That Dominated 2023". TopDrawerSoccer. Retrieved April 11, 2024.
  5. ^ "USYNT ID Center – Girls 09 Norco". United States Soccer Federation. September 26, 2023. Retrieved April 11, 2024 – via TopDrawerSoccer.
  6. ^ "Game-by-Game Recaps from the 2023 ECNL Girls Finals". SoccerWire. July 20, 2023. Retrieved April 11, 2024.
  7. ^ Gibson, Charlotte (February 16, 2024). "U.S. soccer phenom Whitham, 13, youngest to ink Nike NIL deal". ESPN. Retrieved April 11, 2024.
  8. ^ Gibson, Charlotte (February 28, 2024). "Whitham, 13, scores preseason game winner for NJ/NY Gotham". ESPN. Retrieved April 11, 2024.
  9. ^ Baxter, Kevin (February 20, 2024). "Olivia Moultrie's fight for the right to play kicked off a U.S. soccer youth movement". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 7, 2024. Retrieved April 11, 2024.
    Santa Clarita Blue Heat [@scblueheatfc] (January 3, 2024). "Let me introduce ..." Retrieved April 11, 2024 – via Instagram.
  10. ^ Vigil-Zuniga, Justin (July 23, 2024). "Blue Heat bring home third national championship". The Santa Clarita Valley Signal. Retrieved March 17, 2025.
  11. ^ a b Ward, Jonathan (July 21, 2024). "UWS National Championship Final: Santa Clarita Blue Heat vs. New England Mutiny". United Women's Soccer. Retrieved March 17, 2025.
  12. ^ Anzidei, Melanie (July 28, 2024). "McKenna Whitham, 14, becomes youngest to appear in top-level American soccer with NWSL debut". The Athletic. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
  13. ^ Mak Whitham at Soccerway Edit this at Wikidata
  14. ^ "Temwa Chawinga lifts Kansas City over Gotham to win inaugural Summer Cup". The Equalizer. October 26, 2024. Retrieved December 10, 2024.
  15. ^ Andersen, Julia (March 17, 2025). "McKenna Whitham, 14, becomes youngest player in NWSL history in substitute appearance for Gotham". CNN. Retrieved March 17, 2025.
  16. ^ Vincent, Taylor (March 16, 2025). "Mak Whitman becomes youngest player to debut in the NWSL". Spotrac. Retrieved March 17, 2025.
  17. ^ "U.S. Under-15 Women's Youth National Team Heads to Training Camp in Portland, Ore". United States Soccer Federation. October 6, 2023. Retrieved April 11, 2024.
  18. ^ a b "U.S. U15 GNT Wins Concacaf Championship". TopDrawerSoccer. August 13, 2024. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mak_Whitham
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