San Diego Wave FC’s rebuild in full effect: How NWSL side adjusts without Alex Morgan and Naomi Girma

When San Diego Wave FC gets on the field for the regular season 2025 NWSL, they are two years away from their NWSL Shield victory from 2023 and their last Playoff performance. It is hardly the longest drought ever for a sports team, but for the four -year franchise that set a winning standard in 2022, it is a new territory. The club now finds its first steps in a rebuilding after a pressure outside the season.

It is not something that the franchise of Schuwts with General Manager and former NWSL player Camille Ashton Levin who tells CBS Sports during the pre -season: “It’s no secret”, but there are several circumstances that the club has had to juggle since its own arrival to San Diego.

“Ultimately, you want to be in a place where we compete for championships. Not in one -off years, but year after year, and have something that is sustainable,” she said.

Missesons Showeups

The spiral to a rebuilding began in 2024 in the middle season, a surprising resignation of former head coach Casey Stoney by former club president Jill Ellis. The movement came after a seven-game Windless Streak through the Golf where they struggled to produce a meaningful offensive football and struggled in front of the goal, sitting in ninth place at the time of her departure.

The move, made in part to save the mediocre season, had the opposite effect when the player’s game fell, the fight continued to exist and they crashed from the play -off statement. Later the national team of the American ladies Alex Morgan went in the middle season with a double announcement of her pregnancy in September, and in October the Levine Leichtman Family Office completed the acquisition of the club of the previous owner, Ron Burkle.

Ashton joined the club during the middle of the summer turnover, which also included allegations from former club employees of a toxic work culture. In July, Ellis brought a resilient procedure against a former golf employee who had accused Ellis of creating a poisonous working environment. An investigation (via an external company) took place earlier this year and did not find the Golf NWSL policy violated. Ellis has since called the allegations ‘false’.

Moreover, several former employees have since filed a lawsuit against the Golf and NWSL, although Ellis is not mentioned as a suspect. The lawsuit contains accusations of sexual harassment, retribution, racial discrimination and unlawful termination. The former club president eventually left her position for a newly established women’s football role at FIFA in December.

Acquisitions out of season

With so many different circumstances of constant change, Ashton and the club had few options, but to lean in the rebuilding for the Golf. The turnover took place in the winter and Ashton and the club cooperated Naomi Girma to arrange a now historical transfer costs with Chelsea FC And eventually negotiated a trade for Jaedyn Shaw to North Carolina after the player had asked for the move in the spring of 2024. The Golf also had to find out their head coach position after three different managers in one season.

After the resignation of Stoney, Paul Buckle was a trainee who left after the summer, and former American national team player Landon Donovan was eventually mentioned as an interim by the rest of the year. During his introductory press conference, he said that the door was “open” for conversations for the permanent role of head coach, but when the Golf season threw away, Ashton knew that the club should go on a larger hunt for a manager.

“When we came in situations like that, it was really important that we did not rush the decision of the head coach, that we have undergone a very thorough process that would take time,” she said.

They landed on Jonas Eidevall in a little event because he was not an available option when San Diego’s search began. His departure from Arsenal changed things, and after prolonged interview processes and conversations, the Golf found that he was the candidate to lead the team at their time of transition.

“We have had many conversations … about how we see an environment and the things that are important, and what, what the non-negotiables are and what we take care of people, what we look like to develop the individual and then take care of it [all] Those things, “Ashton explained.

The reconstruction of San Diego was good when they announced Eidevall as head coach in January. They signed the first player in the post-Draft era in the NWSL when they welcomed the University of Texas for Trinity Byars in November. Shortly after the winter deviation of Shaw and Girma, the Golf announced the signing of defender Trinity Armstong from the University of North Carolina.

The Golf also signed Nigerian internationals for Emmanuel and Chiamaka Okwuchukwu. In February the Canadian international and NWSL veteran Adrianna Leon arrived at the club of Aston Villa, which contributed to the long journey of the club of the schedule building.

“You have to understand the individual player and understand what is important for them, because every player is different, and every player is in a different part of his career or place and has different ambitions or things that more or less resonate. So it is really very important to gain insight into those things in every individual player,” Ashton said about the recruitment and rebuilding process.

“And then look in ourselves and understand:” Is this actually the best place for this person? ” It is great if you really want a player as a club, but it must be both ways fit, if that makes sense.

Being able to present, of course, all the great things about San Diego and about the club, but also make sure we really understand what is important for the player. The other, we want to bring players to this organization who want to win, who want to compete. That is that it is really important with the players we recruit to get here. “

Players who write a new chapter

Ashton recognized the challenges of a younger selection, but expressed confidence in the rise of new leaders within the team. “If there is a change, you always have emerging leaders,” she said, pointing to the mix of the team of remaining veterans and young players as a source of optimism. Trusting unproven leaders to guide a team through a rebuild, however, is a gamble, and the wave’s ability to promote a coherent team culture will be crucial for their success.

Goalkeeper Kalien Sheridan is such an example of leadership that the group will trust. She is a former NWSL goalkeeper of the year and an Olympic gold medal winner at Canada.

“I think at the end of last season, there [were] Absolutely some anxiety factors where we all felt and were nervous, “Sheridan explained.

“I think coming in with a like, fresh perspective, and not forgetting about the past, because that’s not helpful either. I think you have to remember where you came in order to grow and not allow backtracking. Forward, Instead or Child or Working Back [or] Working a bit on doing something again is not useful. We just have to go on and again, remember what we have done, but we have to go on. And we currently have an incredible group of players that I am really happy to work with. There is so much talent in the room. We just have to control it and now structure it. So it’s about how we do that, “she said.

Despite all the complexities around the trajectory from the Golf to a rebuilding of just three years after their expansion to the competition, the experienced goalkeeper believes that their selection has the talent to compete and that players will be the next wave of leaders in the team in their second season in NWSL.

“I think [defender] Kennedy Wesley is an incredible talent, and she has not received the opportunities she deserves, or gets the spotlights she has to grow and bloom. Within six to eight months after they can actually play and train with her, the growth I have seen is remarkable, and I am just very enthusiastic to keep seeing her journey. I don’t have to be part of it all the time, but I am really lucky that I am, “Sheridan said.

Look forward

The decision of the club to prioritize the youth and long -term growth over immediate results, could position them as a future powerhouse or have difficulty competing in a rapidly evolving competition. With the 2025 season on the horizon, the attention will be to see San Diego to see if their gamblels are bearing fruit outside season – or whether it makes them drift in a sea of ​​unpleased potential.

For now, the future of the Golf remains a question mark. While the club navigates this crucial moment, the pressure to deliver will only intensify. The deployment is high and the error margin is small. Will the rebuilding of the Golf push them to new heights, or will it have them looking for answers in another season? Only time will learn it.