Gotham FC’s 13-year-old trainee Mak Whitham is scoring goals and readying to go

McKenna Whitham scored against Deportivo Cali in added time at the Women’s Cup in Colombia in February, finding her footing in a sea of defenders and tucking the ball away to send Gotham FC to the finals of the four-day preseason tournament.

The goal was the 13-year-old’s first in a professional environment, and it came after weeks of preseason training with the NWSL defending champions. Whitham, who goes by Mak, was unfazed.

“It’s just been spectacular,” she told The Athletic following her preseason debut. “I’ve always kind of been playing up at a high level, so I’ve just been motivated to be the best and just give 100% effort, and, I mean, just because they’re older, it doesn’t scare me.”

The teen has made a name for herself already, garnering headlines for being the youngest women’s soccer player to sign an NIL deal with Nike. In doing so, she joined a roster filled with well-established college stars, like Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, and followed the path forged by Angel City’s Alyssa and Gisele Thompson, who in 2022 became the first high schoolers to sign an NIL deal with the sportswear giant.

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Whitham continued training with Gotham as the team prepared for its 2024 season and, on the eve of the Challenge Cup, was back at Red Bull Arena. Dressed in the team’s warm-up kit, she trained alongside her veteran teammates, joining World Cup winner Esther Gonzalez in a drill. Whitham’s passes were clean, with lots of power behind them. When coaches stopped a drill to instruct her, she quickly adjusted.

Whitham was one of three under-18, non-roster invitees asked to join the team for preseason training, which kicked off at IMG Academy in Florida in February and continued in Colombia for the Women’s Cup. Though she practiced with the team ahead of the Challenge Cup, she was in the stands for Gotham’s 1-0 defeat by San Diego Wave.

Whitham, however, was with Gotham during the postgame ceremony and though Whitham did not travel to Gotham’s season opener in Portland, she rejoined the team again this month. A Gotham FC spokesperson confirmed to The Athletic Whitham has since continued with the team as a training player.

A Gotham FC spokesperson told The Athletic ahead of the Challenge Cup that Whitham was welcome to join the team for training. At that time, the team had 25 active players and one player on an excused absence. With veteran forward Midge Purce suffering a season-ending ACL injury last week, the team can call up a player in her absence.

Ever since a young Olivia Moultrie forced her way onto the pitch in 2021, a youth movement has been underway in the league. It gained more steam last year when the league introduced a U-18 entry mechanism, creating a structured path for young players who want to go pro.

Though Whitham has not yet publicly signed with an NWSL team, her preseason debut with Gotham signals her potential to become one of the…