Naomi Girma is a name to know for the U.S. women’s soccer team’s future, and its present

The 22-year-old centerback has long been hailed as a big-time prospect, and is showing why in her first year as a pro.

Naomi Girma (center) working out at a recent U.S. women's soccer team's practice.Read moreJonathan Tannenwald / Staff

Published June 27, 2022, 5:00 a.m. ET

SALT LAKE CITY — If you’re only a casual follower of the U.S. women’s soccer team, you might not know the name Naomi Girma yet.

You might want to do something about that soon.

Girma, who turned 22 earlier this month, is as big-time a centerback prospect as the U.S. program has had in a while. The San Jose, Calif., native played for U.S. youth teams from the under-17s on, captained the under-20s, and got her first senior call-up in December 2019. In 2020, she won U.S. Soccer’s young female player of the year award.

She went to college down the road at Stanford, helping the Cardinal win a national championship in 2019 with an outrageously talented squad that included Catarina Macario, Sophia Smith, and many other future pros.

Few people were surprised that Girma was the No. 1 pick in this year’s NWSL draft by the expansion San Diego Wave. She became an immediate starter, playing in every game so far and starting all but one of them.

Girma’s step up to the pros was helped by starting next to U.S. veteran Abby Dahlkemper until the latter player suffered broken ribs in late May. That raised the pressure further, but Girma kept stepping up. San Diego is in first place in the standings, with eight goals allowed in 10 games.

Now Girma looks set for her big turn on the national team. With Dahlkemper sidelined and Tierna Davidson out long-term with a knee injury, Girma could get a lot of playing time this summer.

A month after her pro debut with San Diego, Girma earned her first U.S. cap when she started on April 13 at Subaru Park against Uzbekistan. She might earn her second on Tuesday when the Americans finish their two-game series against Colombia at Rio Tinto Stadium, where the NWSL’s former Utah Royals played.

“It was, like, surreal — it was such an awesome moment to have my first cap, but also my first start, in the same game,” Girma told The Inquirer. “I feel like I had a lot of time to prepare, and had a lot of information going in so that I could play at my best.”

It also helped to line up next to another Stanford-bred centerback, Alana Cook, who was a senior with the Cardinal when Girma was a freshman.

“She was a big role model and influence for me,” Girma said. “Playing next to her in my first [national team] camp, I feel like it was great. We kind of know each other’s tendencies, and it helped to have her guiding me throughout the game as well.”

In reflecting on her rise, Girma said early expectations “can obviously add pressure.” But her own standards are also nothing new.

“We have a lot of great players, and all of us are shooting for the national team,” she said. “So to get here is amazing. I have high expectations for myself as well, so I listen to them [the outside expectations] but I also try to stay focused on what I’m trying to do, what my current goals are.”

She has shown with her play that she hasn’t needed much help getting used to the big-time. But it sure doesn’t hurt that her first months as a pro have come playing with Dahlkemper, Cook, and U.S. captain Becky Sauerbrunn.

On top of that, between club and country she is overseen by the last two U.S. national team coaches and a marquee manager from the world stage: Andonovski and San Diego’s president Jill Ellis and coach Casey Stoney, coincidentally a former centerback.

“I feel like first year in the league, it’s a big adjustment, and there’s so much to learn. I’m so grateful that one, I get to play next to Abby, and also just having Casey, who has played centerback for many years, there guiding us is just awesome. I feel like I’m learning things that I’ll take with me for my whole career in my first year.”

Sauerbrunn, Girma said, “is just so experienced, and has so much knowledge and wisdom about the game, that I feel like I can learn so much from her.”

Don’t be surprised if the U.S. team’s activist streak rubs off on Girma, too. She plans to use her voice off the field as much as on it.

“One hundred percent,” she said. “We should use our platform to speak out on things that matter to us. Growing up and seeing a lot of the stars on this team fighting for equal pay, Black Lives Matter, and all these other issues, yeah, that’s been a huge inspiration to me, and I think a huge inspiration to all athletes in general.”