Soccer Monday: Sam Meza moves on, NWSL addresses Savy King
The IX: Soccer Monday with Annie Peterson, May 12, 2025
Last week I wrote for The Associated Press about the growing options that players have in North America for professional careers in soccer. There’s the NWSL and the USL Super League, both on the top tier of the U.S. soccer pyramid.
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There’s the new Northern Super League in Canada, which I detailed last week in the IX’s Soccer Monday, and Liga MX Femenil in Mexico, now in its eighth season. There are two second division leagues in the works, including one proposed by the NWSL, which, if sanctioned, could start next year.
I’m of the mind that more professional options for players is better. It creates an expanding player pool for the region’s national teams. And it also gives young players more opportunities to develop.
One of the players who has benefitted is Seattle’s Sam Meza.
Meza was a draft pick by the Reign in 2024. She appeared in just one game with the team, a Summer Cup match last summer, before the coaches approached her with a proposal. The Reign wanted to loan Meza to the Dallas Trinity in the USL Super League.
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Meza was crushed at first, wondering if it meant the end of her NWSL career. But rather than sulking, Meza tried to embrace her new squad. She was named the USL Super League’s player of the Month for November.
The hard work was noticed, and the Reign brought back Meza before the start of this season. She has started in six games, filling in while Jess Fishlock nurses a knee injury. She had a stunning assist on Jordyn Huitema’s goal against Bay FC last month. She’s consistently disrupted the opposition’s attack, and leads the league in total tackles.
“She’s a great example of how loans can be really good, and sticking with it, sticking to the journey, because last year was really challenging for her going on loan,” Reign coach Laura Harvey said. “She wanted to do it in the end, but I’m sure she would have preferred to be with us the whole time.”
Meza is a great example of persistence. And, because of her journey, she’s an interesting case study of the different ways young players can launch pro careers. Riley Tiernan was a non-roster invitee for Angel City before she was signed, and several players have jumped to the league straight from high school without the benefit of college. Rising star Claire Hutton came to the league through the under-18 entry mechanism, which Olivia Moultrie spurred by suing the NWSL to play as a teenager.
You can check out excerpts from my conversation with Meza below.
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Savy King
Angel City’s Savy King collapsed in a Friday night match against the Utah Royals and was hospitalized. The scary incident not only elicited concern for King, but also questions about whether the game should have continued.
King collapsed in the 74th minute. She was prone on the field for as many as 10 minutes while trainers attended to her. There were reports that she received CPR on the field, but it was unclear on the TV broadcast.
She was carted off the field and whisked by EMTs to the hospital, where she was in stable condition on Saturday. The team said she was with family and team staff.
King remained in stable condition on Saturday, but out of patient privacy laws there wasn’t much additional information released.
The NWSL offered this:
Unfortunately, there wasn’t much clarity about why the game was continued. NWSL rules state that the league “recognizes that emergencies may arise which make the start or progression of a game inadvisable or dangerous for participants and spectators. Certain event categories automatically trigger the League Office into an evaluation of whether delay or postponement is necessary.”
Those event categories include “serious incident, injury or fatality to a player, coach, official, team representative, spectator or other medical concern.”
Links
Rodman criticized the decision on Instagram
My story on the growth of North American pro leagues for women.
Mikaela Shiffren joins Denver NWSL team’s ownership group
ESPN with a look at Michele Kang’s growing soccer empire.
The Equalizer ponders the Reign’s rebound
The Women’s World Cup is expanding to 48 teams
The sites have been selected for the 2027 World Cup in Brazil
Players on inclusive clubs protest FA’s transgender ban.
FIFA pledges to create Afghanistan refugee team
Five at The IX: Conversation with Sam Meza
Here is an excerpt from my conversation with Sam Meza, part of a project I’ve worked on about the different options young players have in pursuing and developing pro careers.
Annie: Can you kind of tell me about that journey last year and how it made you a better player?
Meza: I think initially the idea of going on loan with a completely new league and team was very scary. I wasn’t sure if it was the right move for me to do. So that was really difficult. But ultimately my biggest concern is my development. And just personally, I do the best and I get in my best flow when I’m playing, when I’m getting minutes. So, honestly, the opportunity to go on loan, at the end of the day, was spectacular for me. It gave me a grace period to develop, not only on the pitch, but more specifically, off the pitch.
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In my time in Dallas, I was surrounded by a great organization in Dallas Trinity, and from Day 1, they did a great job. I think sometimes it could be a little scary when you are first starting, a new league, with a new team, so there can be a lot of ups and downs within that. But I will say that I think they did an excellent job. Obviously it wasn’t perfect, but in the grand scheme of things they did an excellent job and I was surrounded by teammates who were great people who just wanted to get better as well. The coaches and staff were also amazing. They supported me in whatever I needed, whatever I wanted to do.
Ultimately the work that I did on my loan was more so mental work. That ultimately is what prepared me for this phase. And honestly, getting minutes, you can’t replicate minutes. So obviously getting 14 games, 90 minutes, that’s amazing. And that helped me kind of get back into my flow of who I am and how I can bring that to the Reign.
Annie: Did it give you extra motivation to get back to the NWSL?
Meza: Absolutely. Technically, I was stepping down a lower level, that’s how I felt. In the moment, it just didn’t feel nice. It did hit my ego, naturally, just made me kind of question myself even more. But ultimately, it was an opportunity for me to learn to prove to myself, which is the most important, and to prove to everybody else, that I was a player that I’ve always been. It just took me a little bit more time to get to where I wanted to be.
Annie: Now you enjoying the impact of being able to get those minutes and being able to work on your craft a little bit more. So I’m kind of wondering how you feel about your start this season?
Meza: Honestly, I wasn’t expecting to just start this soon. Obviously, you always have to be prepared to kind of step in and do well and do your job. It’s always tough, I don’t ever want anybody to get hurt but when you do have players that get hurt it offers the opportunity for somebody else to come in, and when that door opens hopefully to fly through it. I’m just super grateful for the Reign and my teammates and the staff for giving me the opportunity and also the belief that I could help the team. That’s really all anybody ever wants, especially somebody so young, right? Last year was my rookie year. This is technically my second year. I didn’t know what to expect. I just wanted to do my job well. I wanted to help my team. Obviously not having Jess was a big loss. I just want to help my team in any way that I can.
| Mondays: Soccer |
| By: Annie Peterson, @AnnieMPeterson, AP Women’s Soccer |
| Tuesdays: Tennis |
| By: Joey Dillon, @JoeyDillon, Freelance Tennis Writer |
| Wednesdays: Basketball |
| By: Howard Megdal, @HowardMegdal, The Next |
| Thursdays: Golf |
| By: Marin Dremock, @MDremock, The IX |
| Fridays: Hockey |
| By: @TheIceGarden, The Ice Garden |
| Saturdays: Gymnastics |
| By: Lela Moore, @runlelarun, Freelance Writer |
