NWSL youth rat race

This line in the press release made me chuckle: "...We're excited to maximize her potential through the coming years, while being patient and deliberate in advancing her development while ensuring she retains some routine and normalcy of being a teenager..."

How does a teenager retain any sense of normalcy while being a teenager? She lost that the moment she put pen to paper. As a pro player, she's now open to the criticism and commentary that her teammates are subject to, in regular media and, worse yet, on social media. She loses the security and safety of being a normal child as she is thrust into the spotlight and under the microscope of scrutiny. Finally, she's no longer playing solely for the love of the game but is now a worker who has to answer to a hierarchy of bosses. This is the same regret that some of the AU Homegrowns have professed in private when they see their mates heading off to the excitement of the next phase of life with college and beyond, while they are stuck having to work. I wish her luck and I hope she is surrounded by good family, friends, and handlers who will guide her through this next phase of her life n career...