July 30 – At the age of just 14 and one day, McKenna ‘Mak’ Whitham became the youngest player to feature in any major professional soccer league in the USA when she came on in the 80th minute for NWSL team NJ/NY Gotham FC.
Whitham, a striker, made her debut in the Summer Cup (NWSL’s inaugural mid-season tournament against Lig MX Femenil teams) and Gotham’s 1-0 win over Washington Spirit.
Although not named in the Gotham squad for the season, she was available to play due to the national team replacement player contract that allows her to join the team while international fixtures are in play.
Gotham have six players at the Olympic women’s football tournament.
Whitham, from California and whose family are in the process of moving from the west to the east coast to support her football career, is a member of the US U-15 team.
She has signed a four-year deal with Gotham last Fridays that runs from 2025 to 2028, before making her debut on Saturday.
She already has a name and image likeness deal with Nike that she signed in February, the youngest player from any sport to sign with the sports clothing and footwear giant.
Whitman is the second 14-year-old to debut in a professional US league in the last two weeks. Cavan Sullivan broke the MLS record for youngest professional player at 14 years, 293 days on July 17.
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