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Jaedyn Shaw USWNT North Carolina CourageImagn/GOAL
Ryan TolmichApr 28, 2025AnalysisJ. ShawUSANWSLNorth Carolina CourageWOMEN'S FOOTBALLFEATURESUtah Royals vs North Carolina Courage

'You play better with a smile' - Jaedyn Shaw embraces soul-searching as wildly talented 20-year-old looks to revive form with USWNT and North Carolina Courage

The past year hasn't gone exactly to plan for the highly-rated attacker, but Shaw seems prepared to learn and respond

Through the early months of 2024, it became quite clear that the U.S. women's national team had something special on their hands. Jaedyn Shaw, then just a teenager, was banging in goals and smashing records with enthusiasm. Scoring in each of her first five starts for the USWNT, Shaw put the world on notice. Her time was coming, if it hadn't already arrived.

Now, one year on, the spotlight isn't shining quite as brightly on the now-20-year-old attacker. An untimely injury robbed her of what likely would have been a breakout run during the 2024 Paris Olympics. A trade to the North Carolina Courage left those who follow the NWSL shocked.

And the months since have been largely quiet. Newer young stars have risen for Emma Hayes' national team, claiming some of the attention that was so laser-focused on Shaw just one year ago.

Make no mistake - Shaw is still just 20, and far from a finished product. The Courage star is developing, and her ceiling remains just about as high as any player in the sport. Getting her there requires time, and time is still on Shaw's side - even if the last year, in full candor, hasn't quite gone to plan.

But it does beg the question: What happened? Why hasn't Shaw been a dominant player for USWNT, something she seemed so destined to be early in 2024? And as important, what's the realistic next step?

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    The breakthrough

    With a disastrous 2023 World Cup still lingering over everyone's heads, the USWNT were eager to turn the page. Emma Hayes was brought in as head coach, but she wouldn't arrive until May 2024, just months before the Olympics. In the interim, Twila Kilgore was in charge, and her task would be to integrate some new faces.

    Shaw was the best of them. She made it immediately clear.

    Her first USWNT appearance came in October 2023, and she scored just a few days later in her second cap, a 3-0 win over China. Then began the goalscoring run - she would strike in each of her first five starts. Along the way, she scored four goals at the CONCACAF W Gold Cup, winning the Golden Ball before then helping lift the team to a SheBelieves Cup triumph over Canada a few weeks later.

    “I think Jaedyn has always been a really good goalscorer,” Kilgore said ahead of that SheBelieves Cup final last year. “I think finding your niche in this team and being able to score consistently is quite a feat, especially as you’re being integrated. And I would actually say - even though she’s here, she’s doing a great job, we’re seeing great things from her and we’re really pleased - I’d say she’s still in the onboarding process. She is still working on all phases of her game."

    Success? Yes. But still, the need for patience.

    “She’s open to challenges, she’s very humble, she’s hardworking, she wants to be better," Kilgore continued, "And while the world is saying, ‘Yeah, she’s here and she’s arrived,’ and I agree she’s doing a great job, be patient because there’s more lot more for her."

    By the Olympics, there was no doubt that Shaw would be in the squad. The only question was how big of a role she'd play during the quest for gold.

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    An Olympic letdown

    The lasting image of the USWNT's Olympic run will be "Triple Espresso." An attacking unit so fearsome that they were nicknamed before the tournament even ended, Mal Swanson, Trinity Rodman and Sophia Wilson took the Paris Games by storm. It was that trio that provided the firepower to lead the USWNT to gold. Swanson, Rodman and Wilson had established themselves, with the world looking on.

    Shaw, however, could only watch. A leg injury ruled her out of the opener against Zambia. And then game after game, Shaw remained sidelined. While she was eventually somewhat cleared to play, she never featured. After taking such an active role leading up to the tournament, Shaw wasn't fit enough to play a single minute in France.

    It felt unfair. Shaw had earned her moment on that stage, having proven multiple times that she was ready. She won gold, yes, but this was certainly not the tournament she dreamed of on a personal level.

    The good news? There will be more tournaments and, given her age, Shaw will be an even better player by the time they arrive. The next World Cup is in 2027. The next Olympics are in 2028. Imagine how many more steps forward Shaw can take in that time?

    Yet the last eight months have been a bit unexpected, and it all started with that move on the club level.

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    The big trade

    When news broke, there was a collective sense of "What in the world just happened?" You don't often see 20-year-olds with world-class potential traded. But on Jan. 14, Shaw - one of the most talented young stars in American soccer - was the centerpiece of one of the NWSL's most significant trades.

    The North Carolina Courage acquired Shaw from the San Diego Wave FC. In exchange for the rising international star, the Wave received $300,000 in allocation money, an international spot for the 2025 and 2026 seasons, and $150,000 in intraleague transfer fees.

    According to reports, Shaw had requested the move away from the San Diego, a club clearly in rebuilding mode. After playing for three coaches last season, Shaw wasn't the only one on the way out - fellow USWNT star Naomi Girma left for Chelsea in a record transfer, just days after Shaw's departure.

    “For me, I just wanted to be playing a certain style,” Shaw said during a recent national team camp. “I think being in this [USWNT] environment has helped me see that, and know what parts of my game that I need to push. And I think, for me, that was kind of the biggest part, just knowing what part of my game that I wanted to continue to push and drive. Hopefully, that helps me in this environment. It’s kind of my mindset around it, so I think it was a lot of that. So, yeah, I’m really happy with my decision.”

    Her start to life with the Courage, however, hasn't gone particularly well. She's scoreless in her first six matches and has yet to resemble the version of herself that was a Best XI selection in 2023. The club, meanwhile, has collected just five points from six games, finally ending a winless start to the season with an upset of the Kansas City Current over the weekend.

    Shaw acknowledged that she's been struggling since making the move, in part because of pressure she's putting on herself.

    "I think, at least, recently I've struggled a little bit with just the expectation of being traded into a new environment," she told ESPN's Futbol W. "And now it's an environment where it suits you and you suit it, and you're going to be impactful and it's going to be great and all this stuff. And when it's not, it's just like 'Whoa, what happened?' And I think for me, it's allowed me to take a step back and be like, 'OK, well it's good people believe in you'. That's a way to take it.

    "Also just nothing has really changed ... I mean, you've changed teams, but it's also, like, you are still allowed to make mistakes and you're still allowed to grow and be the same person that you were before. It's not a complete identity change."

    That self-reflection, that grounding, is the base from which Shaw looks to build back to her standard for success.

    "I think that overcoming that, I'm still kind of working through it," she said. " But I think for me, just grounding myself and being like, 'Your team believes in you and you're in an environment where you're allowed to make mistakes.' So it's just letting those expectations go. And if you can't let it go, then turn it into something positive."

    The club level isn't the only challenge for Shaw. Her USWNT spot is also under threat in this new cycle.

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    Fighting for a USWNT position

    Since the Olympics, Hayes has made no secret of her immediate goals with the USWNT: to inject new players, and new energy, into the team. Younger stars are being given chances to prove themselves. They're also being given opportunities in meaningful games to familiarize themselves with expectations.

    Throughout the initial USWNT matches in 2025, Shaw has largely been a supersub. In February, she played 150 of the 270 minutes on offer against Colombia, Australia and Japan. She played just 52 of the 180 available minutes it a pair of friendlies with Brazil earlier this month. She's scored just once since that Olympic setback, netting against Iceland last October in what was her first appearance of this new cycle.

    The versions of Shaw pre- and post-Olympics have not been the same.

    There are other factors, of course, including the return of Catarina Macario. Shaw and Macario are different players, but both are "tweeners" in this USWNT system. They both can play as a striker or as a midfielder. They both can create and score. Neither has a defined position within the USWNT, but both can provide injections of creativity in ways that even Triple Espresso can't.

    With Wilson, Swanson and Rodman largely out of action thus far in 2025, the last few months seemed tailor-made for Shaw to step into the XI. That hasn't happened. Hayes has largely relied on Macario in that false nine spot, with rising stars Yazmeen Ryan, Alyssa Thompson and Ally Sentnor given chances to play out wide. Playing time will only be harder to come by once Triple Espresso are back.

    To earn more, Shaw has some work to do. Step one will be getting back into form at the club level. Step two will be defining a role with the USWNT and truly making a claim for it.

    Shaw is an infinitely talented individual surrounded by a group of, well, infinitely talented individuals. For any other country, she'd be the star. For the talent-rich USWNT, though, she's just one piece, and there are no guarantees going forward. Everything will need to be earned.

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    What comes next

    The USWNT won't convene again until the end of May. Shaw will theoretically play four more games for the Courage before jetting off to USWNT duty - Hayes' squad play China on May 31, then Jamaica on June 3. With each game, Shaw will likely be putting more pressure on herself to find that first goal.

    There's reason for optimism, though. The Courage are fresh off that incredible win over the previously unbeaten KC Current - they scored twice in stoppage time to come from behind and earn a 3-2 victory. It's the type of result that can kickstart a season and, while Shaw wasn't on the pitch for the furious late comeback, the Courage will no doubt head to Utah to face the Royals with an extra spring in their step.

    Speaking earlier this month, Shaw admitted that that was the big key for her: rediscovering the joy and confidence that, just a few short months ago, she had in abundance.

    "A goal for me is just enjoying soccer and enjoying whatever I'm doing at the moment," she said, "whether that's playing the nine, playing as a seven or playing center-back, who knows? I just want to enjoy it, have fun and get better in the meantime. I've been missing that little piece of it the last couple of games.

    "I think it's something for me to tap into. I wrote myself a note that says, 'You play better with a smile on your face, girl. You need to enjoy this because this is what you love.' "

    Shaw has some soul-searching to do, and she's been the first to admit it. Her progress hasn't been linear, but it rarely is. It seems she's realized that. The young star still has that limitless potential and, with a goal or two, confidence and the season can turn.

    For now, though, Shaw is still learning about herself - as most 20-year-olds are. The 2027 World Cup is still more than two years away, and Shaw is determined to be ready when it arrives.