Mak Whitham made history Saturday night as the youngest player to appear in a NWSL regular-season match. The 14-year-old forward entered as a stoppage-time substitute for NJ/NY Gotham FC during a 1-1 draw against Seattle Reign at Lumen Field.
Whitham, who signed with Gotham through the league’s Under-18 Entry Mechanism, reflected on her debut as a significant moment in her young career.
“It’s been a dream come true what I’ve been doing, and I’m really proud of myself to have done it,” Whitham said, as reported by Alexa Philippou of ESPN. “But I still have many things in my future, and I know I can do it.”
The forward took the field in the third minute of second-half stoppage time with the match tied.
“Standing on the sideline and waiting to get on the pitch was pretty exciting,” Whitham said. “What was even better was when Coach Juan (Carlos Amorós) came up to me and said, ‘Enjoy the game and just be you.’ And that was what I did.”
Whitham’s debut came after over a year of training with Gotham. Though her contract officially took effect on Jan. 1 of this year, she participated as a non-roster invitee throughout 2024, joining the team for preseason in Florida and later traveling to Colombia, where she scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Deportivo Cali.
She became the youngest signing in league history last year and was also the youngest athlete across all sports to sign a NIL deal with Nike.
During Saturday’s match, Gotham’s Gabi Portilho scored the opener before Seattle’s Emeri Adame equalized in the second half. Gotham played the final minutes with 10 players after Mandy Freeman received a red card.
Whitham, now four appearances into her professional career, said her goal is to contribute when called upon.
“I just went in there to work really hard to make an impact and to help my team close out the game,” she said.
Gotham returns home next week for its home opener against reigning NWSL champions Orlando Pride, where Whitham may make her first appearance in front of the club’s home fans.
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