Gotham FC make Whitham, 13, youngest contracted player in NWSL (2024)

NJ/NY Gotham FC has signed 13-year-old phenom McKenna Whitham to a historic four-year deal, making her the youngest contracted player in the NWSL.

Whitham’s guaranteed contract, announced on the eve of her 14th birthday, will be effective beginning January 1, 2025, through 2028. The club also announced it has signed Whitham as a national team replacement player, with the teen available for selection at Gotham’s upcoming matches during the Olympic window.

“I am really excited to sign and begin my professional career with Gotham FC,” Whitham said in a club statement. “Gotham FC is a great place for me to continue to push myself as a player. I can’t wait to get to work and to continue to grow as a player with the great players, coaches and staff at Gotham FC.”

Whitham could join the squad as soon as Sunday when Gotham faces the Washington Spirit during the ongoing Summer Cup tournament at Subaru Park in Chester, Penn. Seven of Gotham’s players are in Paris for the Olympics representing the U.S. (Tierna Davidson, Jenna Nighswonger, Emily Sonnett, Crystal Dunn, Rose Lavelle, Lynn Williams) and Germany (Ann-Katrin Berger).

The teen is the first player Gotham has signed using the league’s U18 Entry Mechanism, established in 2022. The rules created a pathway for underage players like Whitham to enter the league which, in 2021, prohibited minors from participating.

Whitham, who goes by Mak, has been training with Gotham since February.

That’s when the 13-year-old first joined NWSL’s NJ/NY Gotham FC for preseason, debuting with the team at the Women’s Cup in Colombia, where she’d score her first goal in a professional setting after subbing on for captain Kelley O’Hara. Whitham’s game-winning goal propelled Gotham to the tournament final, which Gotham later won.

While Whitham’s minutes were limited to training sessions in the months that followed, she remained a quiet and steady presence on Gotham’s sidelines. She’d cheer from the player’s suite at Red Bull Arena, or cheer them on pitchside in one of her signature tracksuits. The California native would regularly travel to New Jersey for training.

It was a slow and intentional process that, on Friday, culminated with her historic signing.

“It’s obviously a big moment for the club and for Mak,” Yael Averbuch West, the club’s general manager and head of soccer operations, told The Athletic on Thursday. “Personally, I think the most important thing is that she’s earned this. Mak has been with us since preseason, and she has earned this opportunity every single day in training with us.”

The dynamic forward has previously trained with the Kansas City Current and Washington Spirit, as well as the LA FC 2010 boys academy. She played for the Slammers FC HB Køge, and, earlier this month, won a United Women’s Soccer National Championship with Santa Clarita Blue Heat. Still, Whitham found time to train with Gotham.

Over the last six months, Averbuch West said, the team has worked closely with Whitham and her family. Together they decided it was best for Whitham to join the team in January. The Summer Cup game also allowed Whitham the opportunity to ease into the NWSL.

“It’s really important to us that we take things slowly, and we make sure that we are prepared, and Mak is prepared, to embark on this journey,” Averbuch West said. “At the same time, we had the opportunity to add her to our roster for the Summer Cup games, which we felt was a really good opportunity to give Mak some of the experience of what it feels like to be in an NWSL game, and allow us to see her in that new environment.” Averbuch West called it “the perfect scenario.”

Because a national team replacement designation expires once an international window closes, there remains the possibility of Whitham returning to the team during a future window. Gotham said it had not decided how they’d proceed between then and January.

Delaying signing, like the team did with Whitham’s contract, can also offer a team some respite, as some player contracts may expire at the end of the year. The main caveat is that Whitham’s contract be guaranteed and run through the season that she turns 18, as per the league’s U18 entry mechanism guidelines.

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A post shared by Mckenna Whitham (@makwhitham)

The two-year-old mechanism is constantly evolving. Gotham said the rules recently expanded to include additional provisions around pediatric medical evaluations, facilities and safety assessments. The goal is to establish a long-term development plan for minors, the club said.

It wasn’t always like this, though. Everything changed when a young Olivia Moultrie forced her way onto the pitch in 2021, by suing the NWSL for her right to play soccer. The prodigy had been offered a scholarship to play soccer for the University of North Carolina when was 11. But she dreamed of playing pro, like Whitham, and later turned professional at 13. Moultrie was only able to sign with a club when she was 15.

A youth movement has since been underway in the league, with Moultrie’s records in the NWSL broken numerous times as the “youngest ever” headlines grow younger and younger.

“(The) NWSL is evolving, in general, to be able to accommodate and help develop younger players,” Averbuch West said. “We are looking, as a league, and especially at our club at Gotham, how do we create a true professional player pathway.

“It’s a big area of focus,” she continued. “It’s not just (about) winning this year in NWSL, which is a focus of ours, but it’s also how do we prepare for the future, and how do we identify and develop players who will be ready to represent our club.”

(Top photo courtesy of NJ/NY Gotham FC)

Melanie Anzidei is a Staff Writer for The Athletic covering soccer. Before joining The Athletic, she was an enterprise sports reporter for The Record newspaper and NorthJersey.com, where she was for nearly a decade. She’s a graduate of Columbia Journalism School in New York City. Follow Melanie on Twitter @melanieanzidei