These longtime friends from Montco have played soccer against each other from youth to the pros

Although there aren’t any players from the Philly area on the U.S. women’s soccer team right now, there are many natives of the area across the nation’s professional leagues.

A lot of them know each other well — and have since their youth days. But there might not be a tighter tandem than Mackenzie Pluck and Giovanna DeMarco.

They grew up in nearby Montgomery County towns, Pluck in North Wales and DeMarco in Gwynedd Valley. They played against each other in youth clubs (Players Development Academy and Match Fit Academy), high school (Germantown Academy and Penn Charter), and college (Duke and Wake Forest).

They turned pro at the start of 2023, and both ended up on West Coast NWSL teams: Pluck as an undrafted free agent at Los Angeles’ Angel City FC, DeMarco drafted in the fourth round by the San Diego Wave.

Though neither caught on long-term, they landed short-term contracts with NWSL teams this summer, Pluck with Gotham FC and DeMarco with the North Carolina Courage. Then they switched to the new USL Super League, with Pluck joining Brooklyn FC in New York and DeMarco the Charlotte, N.C.-based Carolina Ascent.

They even have family homes in rival Shore towns. Pluck is a third-generation Sea Isle City-goer, while the DeMarcos are in Avalon.

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“I feel like it just shows our level of closeness, and I think it just comes from how much we both like care about soccer,” DeMarco, 25, said in a joint interview with Pluck, 24. “We’ve just had so many similar experiences that have brought us together throughout the years that we’ve been rooting for each other and want it to work out for each other.”

Their bond became especially important when their short times in the NWSL ended, before the Super League launched and they found new homes.

“Going through the stages of life, we’ve always, no matter where we were, we come back,” Pluck said. “And when we do come back, it gives me confidence to know that ‘Gi’ is still going and Gi is pushing — because if she can do it, I can do it. Because we know each other, and we always have each other’s backs in that regard.”

Families with youth soccer players that have read this story closely might have noticed something about Pluck and DeMarco’s backgrounds. Though they played for prestigious youth clubs, neither is based in Pennsylvania. The players felt they had to go to New Jersey to reach a level that would attract high-level colleges’ attention.

“We started at FC Bucks, and there was so much talent at that club, but we all were told it wasn’t a big enough club to go the extra mile and get recruited by big-time schools,” Pluck said. “That’s what the college teams asked of us. They were like, ‘You need to play at a higher-level club,’ and in order to do that, they were all in Jersey. When they see the talent and you’re staying in Philly, they want you to go to a bigger club.”

That could change in any number of ways, from local youth clubs investing more to the Union launching — or, really, relaunching — programs for girls. The old Union Juniors program had girls’ teams back in the day, and Pluck played on one with West Chester native Phoebe McClernon. (Former Union manager Jim Curtin was one of the coaches, in fact.)

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“If they actually took something and made something for the women, a lot of talent would be from Philly instead of considered ‘Jersey,’” Pluck said, adding that “Most of the girls I know that are from Jersey are actually from Philly, but they don’t say it because they train in Jersey.”

It doesn’t help that the landscape of national and regional youth leagues resembles a farm maze at times. Teams change leagues, leagues come and go, U.S. Soccer changes its mind about how it wants to do things, and players are left to figure it all out.

“There were a lot of girls on my club team who either didn’t want to play in college or were [headed for] playing at low-level D-I or D-II or D-III schools,” DeMarco said. “So when I was a [high school] freshman, I decided to switch to Match Fit because I wanted a more competitive environment, and I wanted a good opportunity to be able to go to a good school for college.”

DeMarco has seen the Ascent do things in a way she thinks makes sense. Its manager, former U.S. national team assistant Philip Poole, regularly invites local youth clubs to training sessions. The USL Super League also is building out the kind of academy structure that MLS teams have but NWSL teams don’t yet.

“He’s big about disrupting the system, and he thinks the U.S. system, at least on the girls’ side, is kind of broken,” DeMarco said, and Poole is far from alone in thinking that.

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After a while, Pluck let out what was really on her mind. She and DeMarco both want to come home but can’t.

Of course, in a literal sense, they could visit their families and friends whenever they want. But they can’t play for the Philadelphia team they dream of because there isn’t one — and it doesn’t look like there will be any time soon. A USL Super League bid launched by Heather Mitts never got far, and an NWSL bid led by ex-Eagle Connor Barwin fell short of the latest final round.

Pluck and DeMarco watched all that happen and decided they were done keeping quiet. Though they’re just two voices, they know how many fellow area natives share their dream: McClernon, Havertown’s Sinead Farrelly, Sellersville’s Marissa Sheva, New Hope’s Amber Brooks, Gilbertsville’s Nicole Barnhart, Williamstown’s Brittany Ratcliffe, Sicklerville’s Tziarra King, and Voorhees’ Amirah Ali, just among players.

They also know fans who attended Independence and Charge games back in the day, who go up to Gotham or down to Washington these days, and who are first in line when the U.S. women come to town — which they used to regularly but now haven’t for 2½ years.

Pluck got a taste of it when Gotham brought an NWSL Summer Cup game to Subaru Park in July. Though she played only the last few minutes as a late substitute, her many family and friends in the stands let out a big cheer when she entered.

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“I had, like, 55 people come, and they had the time of their life,” Pluck said. “I felt so grateful to have that experience, because I have little girls call and email me asking if I’m ever going to Philly again. I played for five minutes at the end of the game, and I didn’t touch the ball once, and they had the time of their life. I want that to happen for future Philly girls.”

So she and DeMarco are doing what their roots taught them to: speaking up. Bluntly.

It might not be enough to get someone to start pushing the boulder uphill again, from Mitts to Barwin or anyone in town with institutional wealth. They know that, and they especially know that wealth — from companies or individuals — has made it clear that there’s little interest in spending on women’s sports here.

It might take the players lobbying NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman or perhaps even their players union to understand why Philly matters as much as other cities without teams. Only Philadelphia and Atlanta had teams in the two previous leagues but aren’t in this one, and now momentum is elsewhere. Denver, for example, is the home of U.S. stars Sophia Smith, Mallory Swanson, and Lindsey Horan and is now on track to get the next expansion team.

If nothing else, Pluck and DeMarco are done being quiet, and they wanted to make sure their hometown paper knew it.

“I still get people texting me, ‘When will you be back in Philly?’” Pluck said. “And I’m like, ‘Never. We don’t play there.’”

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