There was a “what might have been” vibe to Jaedyn Shaw’s return Sunday night to Mission Valley, when the ex-San Diego Wave star and Olympic gold medalist, now with the North Carolina Courage, faced her former NWSL team for the first time.
Not long ago, it appeared Shaw, 20, had a chance to become a longtime at levels of exposure few women athletes have had on a San Diego team.
Fans embraced the teenager, appreciating her smooth soccer and youthful energy. Teammates such as Alex Morgan forecast a bright career.
At 17, just two months into her professional career, Shaw delivered one of the bigger moments by a woman athlete performing for a San Diego club.
She scored the first soccer goal in newly opened Snapdragon Stadium, then ran to a corner and pantomimed a surfer as San Diego Wave teammates surrounded her.
A National Women’s Soccer League-record crowd of 32,000 roared its approval.
The following fall, a bigger moment arrived.
When Shaw notched an assist and a goal as a newcomer to the U.S. Women’s National Team, the crowd of 16,000 in Mission Valley serenaded the 18-year-old with a chant, punctuated with staccato clapping.
“Jae-dyn Shawww (clap-clap, clap-clap-clap) … Jae-dyn Shawww (clap-clap, clap-clap-clap).”
Popular at youth clinics as well, it seemed possible Shaw might become the most recognizable female athlete to spend the bulk of lengthy career in San Diego (in part because San Diego’s history of prominent women’s sport teams isn’t very good).
It wasn’t meant to be, and that’s fine.
Seeking a new challenge, Shaw requested a trade early last season. At the time, the Wave were going through turmoil off the field and offensive stagnation on it.
Trade requests aren’t stunning within the NWSL. Though the league can’t provide most of its players huge salaries, it tries to accommodate athletes’ requests to relocate.
On Jan. 14, one week after it announced it had hired a new coach in Jonas Eideval, the Wave announced a trade of Shaw in return for $300,000 in allocation money, $150,000 in intra-league transfer fund and a pair of international slots.
Shaw said she’d looked forward for awhile to Sunday’s return match, which the Wave won 5-2. Before facing the Wave., she spoke to the team’s ers group, the Sirens.
“They seem excited to see me, so I’m just happy to be back,” she said Saturday.
What led to her ending up with the Courage?
“The main thing was that I wanted a new challenge for myself and something different,” she said. “I always loved the way that the Courage played, and I just really wanted to be a part of that – just try something new for myself to push myself and raise my level.
“That was honestly the main reason, just wanting to challenge myself in a different way.”
In all three seasons under coach Sean Nahas, the Courage finished first in ball possession and in the NWSL’s top half in goal scored. The emphasis on ing, spacing and dribbling seems a good fit for Shaw, who has good ball skills and play strength but isn’t a speedster.
Under Wave coach Casey Stoney, a former English National Team center defender and captain, a defense-first style prevailed. The Wave and Shaw had much success together, advancing to a pair of NWSL semifinals and winning a regular-season title. Building upon her first two years under Stoney, Shaw won a spot with the 2024 U.S. Olympic team that would win gold in Paris last summer as Shaw recovered from an injury.
Shaw, who turned 20 in November, can expect to face high-level competition in her attempts to retain a spot on the U.S. national team this years and in years ahead. If her game doesn’t continue to improve, other candidates for the World Cup and the Olympics will her up.
What Shaw couldn’t have known is that the Wave would fire Stoney last June and ultimately hire their own ball-control expert in Eideval of England’s Arsenal club.
Almost unrecognizable on offense compared to last year’s club, the revamped Wave entered Saturday night first in ball possession among the 14 NWSL clubs. They’re similar in style to the Courage.
Shaw, who grew up in Greater Dallas, said she’s pleased by how the Courage have improved in recent weeks, though she went into Sunday without an assist or a goal.
Against the Wave, she started as one of two attacking midfielder in the Courage’s 3-4-2-1 formation. She was on the field when her teammates took a 1-0 lead on a high-caliber goal in the 16th minute.
The jersey number, 19, worn by Shaw was different from her Wave number, 11. If a Tony Gwynn-length run in San Diego wasn’t in the cards for her here, Shaw still enjoyed her time here, saying she’s “extremely grateful” for the of Wave fans before and after the trade.
“I always feel like this place, San Diego, is part of me,” she said. “I definitely loved my time here.”
