In The Journey to the Cup, The Athletic tells the stories of players and teams as they work towards a place in the 2023 Women’s World Cup. Follow along as we track their progress as they prepare both mentally and physically for a chance to shine on the game’s biggest stage.
The Portland Thorns opened their 2023 campaign and championship defense with a big statement win at Providence Park last weekend. The 4-0 win over the Orlando Pride made it look more like a continuation of last season’s success, rather than the start of a brand new project, despite all the changes the team has gone through this offseason.
“Orlando, for us, was really a complete performance,” Sam Coffey told The Athletic on Wednesday, a day before the team was due to fly out to Kansas City for their first road trip of the season and a rematch of last year’s NWSL Championship against the Current. Coffey played a full 90 minutes on Sunday, completing 47 of her 51 passes, and she had the most touches of any of the starting midfielders. “It was a great way to start off the year. I feel excited about where the team is at, where I feel like I’m at personally.”
Coffey’s potential path to the World Cup took an unexpected turn this week, with Julie Ertz on April’s training camp roster ahead of the USWNT’s two friendlies against Ireland. Ertz hasn’t played since the Olympics, now over 600 days ago. Head coach Vlatko Andonovski spoke at length about Ertz’s return, how she has to find a professional club, and how she has to earn back a roster spot.
The door isn’t closed to Coffey by any stretch. And with so much depth beyond Andi Sullivan that can fill in at the No. 6 (though generally it’s central attacking midfielders being shifted back, like Kristie Mewis or Taylor Kornieck), the best way she can make her case is continuing to excel week in and week at her position with the Thorns.
In this week’s media call after the USWNT roster was announced, Andonovski mentioned the many weeks of the NWSL ahead that will be used to evaluate players.
“There will be a good opportunity for anyone to showcase their abilities and get a spot on the team. (It) doesn’t mean that if you are on this roster right now that you will be on the World Cup roster, and at the same time, it doesn’t mean that if you’re not on the roster right now that you’re not going to have a chance to get a roster spot. Now, is it going to be a little bit harder? Yes. But there is a chance.”
All of this is happening outside of Coffey’s emphasis on her process. Nothing has changed for her since last month. The mission is still the same: to stop focusing on the end result.
“Nothing has changed in terms of my goal, searching every day and trying to be my best self, trying to be intentionally in the details and things on the field and off the field, that focus has remained the same,” she said. “That’s obviously easier on some days and harder on others.”
There is still plenty of joy on the pitch — a 4-0 win certainly never hurts on that front — but away from the field, as well. Coffey said the temptation could be there, as a competitive athlete, to get into a mindset where because something didn’t go to plan, “you can’t have any fun, you just kind of make yourself miserable.” Instead, balance is a priority, so is embracing the time she has at home.
“I just moved into a new place, a house in Portland, and I’ve had so much fun setting it up and making it homey and working in the garden, just making it my own,” she said.
There’s hanging out with friends, going out to dinner, all the normal things someone truly settling into a city might do, and Coffey is also intent on taking full advantage of the Pacific Northwest.
“I am all about picking up and just going, whether it be somewhere around Mount Hood or on the coast or if there’s a cool trail I’ve heard of. I mean, obviously, post-training I’m not going on a hike,” she said, laughing.
There’s no shortage of places to see or things to do, and while it might be easy for her to just stay at home due to the demands of a professional career, the easy call isn’t the right one for her.
“Holding a good balance of who I am off the field and what I love off the field helps me bring my best self every day, because I think it is a part of that intentionality that really needs focus, as well as prioritizing my joy, what makes me happy. Right now for me, that is being outside. It’s sunny and 50 or 55 degrees here, and I’m going to have dinner with a friend and go on a way and just be outside and enjoy the day,” Coffey said. “This is a place that feels more like home every day, and I’m continuing to figure out what makes me feel that way, what makes this place feel like home.”
First, it’s the people. It’s her teammates, but it’s also people in the community, but those relationships have opened up more. Thorns goalkeeper Bella Bixby, for instance, is helping her learn how to knit. (“Right now I have no agenda. I’m knitting just to knit.”) She’s thinking more of her whole self these past few months, of the process she’s refining on and off the field.
“The work-life balance, if you will,” she said, “I think it’s hard for athletes to strike. I try to be diligent and have fun and enjoy this time being in one place, and being in the best place that I can be for our trainings and games.”
A discussion about hiking out in the Portland area and beyond lit her up.
“Oh my gosh, I could literally talk about this for hours,” she said. “Being outside and being amongst nature is a way that I feel very close to God, I feel very connected in my faith and rooted — for me, that is such a draw of it.”
And while she was very clear that she meant no insult to her native New York, her first trips out to places like Mount Hood and Cannon Beach left her in awe. It’s not just about the big moments either, but about the smaller ones. The little parks across Portland, taking a walk in her neighborhood and meeting her neighbors, even just sitting outside on a bench. All of these moments count to Coffey in making sure she’s prioritizing herself as a whole person, not just a soccer player.
“I love being a part of a new community. Even just doing a walk around the block, it’s like, ‘Okay, I live here, this is my home. These are now my neighbors that I will know and commune with. It gives me a really good perspective on what soccer is and how important it is to me and how much I love it. But then, (it’s) also the necessary boundary to: ‘this isn’t who I am.’ This is a piece of the puzzle that makes me up, and it is the one I cherish the most. But it’s not my identity, it’s not all of what makes me me.”
She’s not downplaying the goal of making the World Cup roster. She’s been in contact with Andonovski, she said the conversations have been good. And she’s not downplaying the emotions of disappointment and frustration, either. But for her, the overwhelming emotion is being proud of the progress she’s made.
Becky Sauerbrunn gave her some advice she’s been leaning on. The two had a chat before Sauerbrunn departed for SheBelieves Cup.
“She stressed the importance of not settling and not accepting whatever any fate might be,” Coffey said. “Whether that means going to a camp, don’t settle. Not going, don’t settle. Be relentless in this pursuit of being your best sense.”
Coffey carries that advice with her every day.
“It definitely keeps me going and makes me excited about the challenges, instead of defeated by them, which I think is a new step forward for me and I feel really excited about.”
The past few months have been challenging, she said, “in a good way.” She feels enabled to focus on the next two months of her time with Portland, to enjoy being at home. All of that comes back to that one major shift in her thinking.
“It’s not my why, it’s more my what. Making that distinction has been really key for me, because again, it takes my focus away from the result or the outcome, and it’s set to the process and what my why actually is. That’s: I love soccer, I love playing, I love being a teammate, I love getting better every day, I love the process of pouring my whole self into this craft.”
The Journey to the Cup series is part of a partnership with Google Chrome. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.
(Photo: Amanda Loman/Getty Images; Design: Sam Richardson)
