As we look ahead on the eve of the 2026 NWSL season, I’m filled with gratitude and excitement as I write this note to you.
It has been an absolute honor to celebrate the 2025 NWSL Championship with you. Moments like that belong to all of us. They belong to the players who committed to something bigger than themselves, the staff who poured into every detail, and the supporters who showed up, believed, and carried us forward when the margins were thin.
This year, we also had the opportunity to compete on the global stage in the FIFA Women’s Champions Cup. While a third-place finish wasn’t what we set out to achieve, those matches tested us in new ways. They exposed areas to sharpen and reinforced the standards required to compete internationally. We left that tournament better than we entered it, and that matters.
Now we go again.
In a league designed for parity, sustained success is one of the hardest things to achieve. Every year resets. Every opponent improves. There are no guarantees, no shortcuts. We have to do the work to ensure continued progress.
One of our goals is to be a perennial top-four NWSL team and a true Shield contender. We want consistency. We want to be playing our best soccer in the playoffs, and we want our regular season performance to reflect the championship standards we hold. Winning a couple times is special. Building something that endures is different. That is the work in front of us.
You’ll notice we have retained the core of our roster. That was intentional. We believe deeply in this group. At the same time, we have been meticulous about the additions we have made, players who elevate the environment, raise the competitive level, and align with who we are and where we are going.
We are refining our preparation and strengthening the structures that support winning now and winning in the future. We want to be a championship team with regular season bona fides to match. We want our identity to be clear, our standards to be high, and our consistency to be undeniable.
One thing that continues to define us is our relentlessly competitive nature. Our players are never satisfied. Our staff is never satisfied. And you should never be satisfied, either. That edge, that constant push for more, is what drives growth and sustains excellence.
Thank you for believing in us, for holding us to a high standard, and for standing with us. We are proud of what we have accomplished together. And we are even more motivated by what is still ahead.
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