Olivia Moultrie
Soccer phenom Olivia Moultrie went pro at the young age of 13 when she signed a multi-year endorsement deal with Nike and when she signed with the sports and entertainment agency Wasserman. The agency represents A-list athletes. Her move to pro is evidence that women’s soccer is catching up to men’s.
In June 2021, Moultrie signed a multi-year deal with the Portland Thorns of the National Women's Soccer League, one of the world's premier women's professional soccer leagues. This made 15-year-old Moultrie the youngest player to ever sign with an NWSL squad.
In 2021, Moultrie successfully sued the NWSL for the right to sign a contract at age 15, which set the stage for the league’s youth movement. In less than three weeks, the court ruled in her favor. The NWSL has since adjusted its regulations, and most clubs now have several players younger than 18.
Moultrie was featured in an April 18 ESPN article talking about her role in the NWSL’s youth movement.
She earned her first call-up to the senior national team in October 2023. U.S. Soccer announced on January 11, 2024 that Moultrie was named U.S. Soccer's Young Female Player of the year. In her third professional season, 18-year-old Moultrie started in 12 of the 22 regular-season matches she played for the Portland Thorns. She recorded two goals and three assists in the over 1,200 minutes she played, according to the National Women’s Soccer League.[1]
“I’m just super exited and thankful to everyone who voted for me for this award, it’s really special,” she said in a statement, per U.S. Soccer. “To see the list of those players who have won it before, and what they’ve gone on to accomplish in their careers, is inspiring and motivating for me.”
In February 2024 she was also listed on the Gold Cup roster, which means she will be suiting up for the Women’s National Soccer Team during the 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup.
Moultrie became the third-youngest player to score multiple goals in a game for the national team, putting her in the elite company of U.S. soccer legends Mia Hamm and Cindy Parlow Cone. "Moultrie’s historic performance earned her Woman of the Match honors in the U.S. team’s first match of the 2024 CONCACAF W Gold Cup. The U.S. claimed a 5-0 victory over the Dominican Republic."[2]
Moultrie made soccer headlines when at the age of 11 she committed to play in the elite women’s college soccer program at the University of North Carolina. She was the youngest girls’ soccer player to publicly accept an academic scholarship offer, but then the youngest girls’ soccer player to officially forgo her college athletic eligibility by going pro.
She was featured in a Nike commercial that aired during the 2019 Academy Awards that also featured tennis star Serena Williams, Olympian Simone Biles, and Latter-day Saint football sensation Sam Gordon.
She has played in international competition and trained at the U.S. Soccer Development Academy. At age 12, she made multiple trips to Europe to meet and train with Olympique Lyon and Paris St.-Germain in France, and Bayern Munich in Germany.
Olivia is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Her family’s motto is “It’s faith. Then family. Then soccer.” Her mother was a college soccer player and her father played college basketball. Olivia started playing soccer when she was four years old. The Church News reported that “Even as Olivia navigates largely uncharted waters for a young athlete, the family plans to draw upon their faith and family bond for ongoing direction. They rely upon prayer and the gospel for strength and stability.”[3]
"Being a Latter-day Saint girl is a bit of a curiosity in the hyper-competitive world of elite soccer. Most of the people Olivia trains or competes with don’t have a full understanding of her faith. That offers unique opportunities."[4]
Her parents tell her, “You have two responsibilities: First, to love and be accepting and treat everyone with kindness. And second, never be afraid of what you believe.”[5]
