On November 24th, 2024, Alyssa Naeher announced her retirement from the Chicago Red Stars and United States Women’s National Team. Alyssa Naeher is a 5’9”, 36 years old, and born on April 20th, 1988. She comes from Bridgeport, Connecticut. She is the daughter of John and Donna Lynn Naeher. Fun fact, Alyssa is a twin to Amanda, who also played soccer in college at Messiah University. To start her career, Alyssa played soccer for four years at Penn State University from 2006 to 2009. While there, she won many Big-10 awards, including First Team All-Big Ten, NSCAA First Team All-American, Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, and NSCAA First Team All-Great Lakes, and that is just a few of the many she won. A little while later, after her time at Penn State, she got recruited by the Boston Breakers from 2013-2015, where she won Goalkeeper of the Year in 2014. She later got signed by the Chicago Red Stars in 2016, where she played for 11 years with them. During her time with the Chicago Red Stars, Alyssa also played with the United States Women’s National Team.
One of her teammates on the U.S. Team, Naomi Grima, talked about her character many times in post-game interviews. She ultimately ran the field and made sure everyone knew it was all going to be alright. Grima stated, “She has made saves in the biggest moments even today. What I’ll remember (about) her as a teammate off the field is just how much of a humble leader she is, how she always puts the team in front of her, and how she has been the center of this team for so many years.”
Alyssa was an extremely respected player, and all of her teammates will miss her after retirement. They have made it very clear, the game will not be the same without her. She showed outstanding talent during these years and proved herself as the best many times over again. Alyssa is a 2x Olympic gold medalist, has 113 appearances with the U.S National Team, 7x She Believe Cup Champion winner, Golden Glove recipient, and she was the first GK to keep a clean sheet in both the Olympic games and World Cup Finals. In 2017, she became the number one GK for the U.S. National Team and kept that ranking until her retirement. Alyssa Naeher actually outplayed the typical length of a pro soccer career. It is around 5-6 years, and she almost doubled it.
After 15 years of playing, Alyssa said she decided it was time to retire. Alyssa said she just knew it was time. She was at peace, and it felt right. Alyssa stated, “Which I think also kind of let me be like… very at peace and very like… almost a little bit more free, um, even to start the year.” This concludes the impact that Alyssa Naeher left on the NWSL and the U.S. National Team. She left pro and international soccer with zero regrets and completed every personal goal and more than she had herself.
