Rather than wallowing in the disappointment of being skipped for the U.S. Women’s World Cup squad, midfielder Sam Coffey was determined to become an Olympian.
Now she’s among the newcomers on a team in transition.
Coffey sees parallels between her path and the team’s. The Paris Games are a chance for redemption after heartbreak — Coffey for being passed over, and the United States for crashing out of the last year’s World Cup earlier than ever.
“I think we’re turning a page,” she said. “Like I’ve talked about on my own journey, the hard things that I’ve gone through are some of the most important moments of my career. I think it’s the same for the team. We’re taking hard lessons and hard experiences and turning them into resilience, turning them into strength, turning them into growth. And I think that’s ultimately what makes champions and championship teams.”
U.S. coach Vlatko Andonovski stepped down after the World Cup and he was replaced by Emma Hayes, who wrapped up the season with Chelsea in the Women’s Super League before joining the United States in May.
Hayes had just two in-person matches with the team before she had to name a tight 18-player roster. Including Coffey was a no-brainer.
“They don’t make players like Sam Coffey anymore,” said Hayes, adding that Coffey’s play as a defensive midfielder helps captain Lindsey Horan create further up the field.
Coffey was the 12th pick in the 2021 National Women’s Soccer League draft by the Portland Thorns. But she wasn’t quite done at Penn State, where she got an extra year of eligibility because of COVID-19. So she stayed put, helping lead the Nittany Lions to the round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament.
In 2022, Coffey’s first NWSL season, the Thorns won the league title and Coffey was nominated for rookie of the year. Last season, she was an MVP finalist.
Coffey caught Andonovski, Coffey wasn’t among the 23 players chosen for the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
“Ultimately I had a choice after that: I could feel bad for myself and kind of sulk my way through it, or I could pick myself up, continue to get after it, continue to grow and not let a setback or a failure define me,” she said.
The U.S. Olympic roster is the youngest for the team since 2008. Coffey, 25, is among four players making their first appearance in an international championship, joining Jaedyn Shaw, Jenna Nighswonger and Korbin Albert.
Coffey didn’t let go of her phone the day Hayes called players to break the news.
“I was so excited I feel like I blacked out, like I don’t remember a lot of it. I think more than anything I was overcome with emotion and excitement of this moment, being here and just the opportunity that is ahead,” Coffey said.
It won’t be Coffey’s first Olympics. She went to Turin in 2006 as a child with her father, author Wayne Coffey, who was then a sportswriter for the New York Daily News.
The United States has won four Olympic gold medals, more than any other team, but has not won gold since the 2012 London Games. The U.S. was eliminated by Sweden in the quarterfinals at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games before earning bronze in Tokyo.
The Americans open with Zambia on Thursday in Group B, which also includes 2016 Olympic gold medalist Germany and Australia.
“It’s hard to put into words. To reach the pinnacle of your sport and to be at this event that is so historic and so legendary and something I watched growing up as a kid — I come back to the word surreal,” Coffey said. “I think I’m just overcome with emotion and excitement and joy that I get to call myself an Olympian.”
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