'The closure I needed' - North Carolina Courage star Ashley Sanchez on nightmare USWNT World Cup, shock Washington Spirit trade and hopes of a recall under Emma Hayes

It all started last summer when Sanchez was told by then-USWNT boss Vlatko Andonovski that, despite making the World Cup roster, she wouldn’t be seeing any gametime. As the team endured its worst-ever performance at a tournament it has won four times, exiting in the last 16, the 25-year-old’s exciting, match-winning qualities were unused. It was a surprise to say the least.

Then came the trade, which was even more of a shock. In her time with the Washington Spirit, Sanchez formed a deadly duo with Trinity Rodman, the pair helping to fire the club to its first NWSL Championship title in 2021, against all odds. But that partnership and her four years in D.C. came to an end with an unexpected phonecall during the NWSL Draft in January. Soon enough, she was moving to Raleigh and joining a roster which featured only one player she really knew, that being USWNT goalkeeper Casey Murphy.

“I was definitely really heartbroken when it happened,” Sanchez admits, but she caveats that with how “thankful” she is for what has turned into a really positive experience with her new team. When GOAL asks if that is one of the toughest things about the NWSL, that an unwanted trade can happen at the drop of a hat and take a player away from a team they love, Sanchez laughs. “It's definitely an interesting thing that we've got going on here!” she replies. “But in my case, it was definitely a blessing in disguise.”

That’s not to say it didn’t take the playmaking midfielder some time to process things. She did that in the off-season, in the weeks that followed her move to North Carolina, and got herself in a positive mindset ahead of her first year with the Courage. “I think that I just found peace in the thought that, if North Carolina was that excited to have me, then I should be excited to be there,” Sanchez explains.

“They wanted me so bad and I felt like I should just be as excited as they were and not look at the team that kind of didn't want me, you know? I feel like once I switched it from that, it was a lot easier because I was like, 'North Carolina really does want me and they value me, and that's where I want to be. I want to be with a team that values me'. Once I put it that way, it was a lot easier.”

Coming into a “kind and welcoming” group has helped, with standards so high that “the only thing I could really compare it to would be national team”. Sanchez fits into the style of play nicely, too.

“North Carolina is more of a possession-based team and Spirit was definitely more transitional, which I think, for the type of player I am, I didn't really fit into that exactly, and I felt like there were games where I'd get bypassed a lot,” she explains. “Whereas I feel like here at North Carolina, I'm actually getting on the ball and able to create and be [in] more of a possession team. I think that fits me as a player a lot better.”

That was certainly evident at the end of June when Sanchez returned to D.C. and scored the only goal of the game as the Courage beat the Spirit. Having never got to say a proper goodbye to many at the organization, there were wonderful moments for the 25-year-old with the fans and many of the staff and players, even if she came back to haunt them. It was an outing that further helped her process her departure, too.

“I was kind of dreading it at the beginning of the week and then as the days got closer to the game and we landed, I felt really at peace with everything,” she says. “After the game, I was like, 'That was exactly the closure that I needed'. I got to see all these staff and players and just different people that I didn't get to say bye to. It was just a really great experience, honestly, giving everyone hugs and seeing everyone again. I think that it definitely felt like closure for me and it kind of just made me feel more at home in North Carolina.”

That’s something you can see when Sanchez takes to the field, too, as no player on the Courage’s roster has more direct goal involvements in the NWSL this season than her seven (four goals, three assists). She’s adamant that there is even more to come as well, stressing the need for her to be “more consistent”.

Particularly exciting is the way she talks about Kerolin, the Brazil star who won the league’s MVP award last year. A cruel ACL injury struck the forward down before the 2023 playoffs could begin, but she is nearing a return now, just in time for North Carolina’s charge to make the 2024 post-season.

“Me and Kero haven't played together yet but we've been training together a lot now that she's coming back from injury and off the bat, we just understood each other's game really well,” Sanchez says, giving an answer sure to delight Courage fans everywhere. “I think it's going to be a really good partnership in the future. I'm so excited to play with her. After every single game, she comes up to me and she's like, 'I'm so excited to play with you'. We're just both really ready to get things going.”

In the back of Sanchez’s mind through it all is a return to the national team. Her focus is on the Courage, but that hope sits there too. After the disappointment of the World Cup, the 25-year-old was on the roster for friendlies in September and October, then dropped off and hasn’t been recalled since.

Asked if she has been able to process last summer’s tournament and move on from it, or if it is something that she instead uses to motivate her to get back on the team, she pauses and ponders. “I think that I've definitely processed it and I wouldn't say I'm over it necessarily, because obviously there are times where I'm like, 'Dang, that really did suck',” she says. “But I would just say that I do feel like everything that was meant to happen happened and I'm just hoping that I get another opportunity. I'm just trying to do everything I can to get another opportunity to play and do all the things that I wanted to do. That's pretty much how I'm looking at it.”

Asked if there has been any contact with the USWNT in those nine months away, a period which has seen Twila Kilgore’s interim spell come to an end and former Chelsea boss Emma Hayes take over, Sanchez says no. “I've had pretty much no contact really, whatsoever, which is definitely hard as a player,” she admits. “But hopefully, after the Olympics, we'll see what happens. I'm just focusing on what I can and hopefully getting another shot. I'm just going to try to do the best I can for my team. I think that if I do that, I will get another chance.”

That mission continues at the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup this month. North Carolina will face the Orlando Pride, Racing Louisville and Monterrey in the group stage, with there a chance that Sanchez – who is of Mexican descent – could face close friends at Club America or Tigres in the knockout stages. After that, the race for a playoff place resumes. There are eight spots up for grabs and the Courage sits sixth as the NWSL hits its mid-season break, knowing that Kerolin is likely to make her highly anticipated return when the league resumes.

“We’re getting a lot of great players back and players that we just added to our roster and I think they're going to be a really big help and really impact our team in the games,” Sanchez says. “I definitely think we're starting to put on some good performances at the right time and even after the Olympics, it's going to continue to get better.”

If North Carolina can shoot up the table and secure a top-two finish, or come out on top in the playoffs and win the Championship, it would guarantee a place in the new CONCACAF W Champions Cup tournament. Does Sanchez think this group is capable of something special like that? “Yeah, I definitely do,” she says, without hesitation. “I think we have everything we need to be able to do that and I think we're starting to put the pieces together, so I'm excited.”

At the heart of those chances is Sanchez, a talismanic talent, a player who feels like she has a point to prove and someone who has taken these difficult 12 months in her stride in order to mature, learn and improve.

“I don't think I would be where I am now if all these things hadn't happened to me,” she adds. “I have definitely gone through the most growth in the last year and I think it's just really going to help me in my future, whether it be soccer or not. It's definitely been a time period that's been hard but I wouldn't change it for anything.”