Alex Morgan said that her role after football is still to be determined but that her future lies “in investing in women’s sports”, after announcing that she is pregnant and will end her professional playing career after Sunday’s game against North Carolina Courage.
Asked whether she might be considering a coaching career, the San Diego forward said: “I have not taken any coaching licenses. I’ll just say that: I don’t think coaching is in my future.
“I think that I’ve found my calling in just investing in women’s sports, doing as much as I can to give as big of a platform to women’s sports as possible. I do that through my media company, Together. I’m doing that through my foundation, the Alex Morgan Foundation, that I launched last year here in San Diego, and through other various businesses and investments, personal investments that I have, one being Unrivalled, the new women’s basketball [three-on-three] league. So, I see that that’s where I will make the most impact.”
In a packed press conference, there were some surprise guests there to listen to the two-time World Cup winner. “I am overwhelmed and just so grateful to have my [San Diego Wave] teammates here,” she said. “I had no idea at all. It’s incredible to just see the support that they’re showing me today … I was driving in here, of course late and rushing in, and the security at the loading dock was like: “Oh, are you one of the players?’ And I was like: ‘I’m the player.’ He was like: ‘OK, yeah, park right there’. And then I walked in and I was like: ‘Oh, OK, one of the players, yes, it’s not just me,’ but it just was incredible to see my teammates here … some of them are closer in age to my daughter than me.”
Morgan said she had made the decision to retire at the start of 2024, but that her pregnancy had brought forward the end of her playing career.
“I’m so grateful that I have such clarity in the decision that I made at the start of this year to retire at the end of the season. Yes, it’s cut short, but it was a year that I am so grateful for, regardless of all the ups and downs,” she said.
Those ups and downs have been testing, but she regrets nothing. “I have always been an advocate of betting on yourself, of trying and not giving up,” she said. “Looking back at this year it’s in no way what I imagined, through the Olympics, through the season that we’re having here, but in no way would I ever regret playing one more year, because I’ve always told myself that if you don’t try, you can’t succeed … that’s all that I’ve tried to do, giving as much as I can even though this year has been difficult, mentally, physically, with injuries, [being] left off an important roster [for the Olympics].
“It’s all part of the character that I’ve built, to be able to respond to things and to overcome adversity. This isn’t the first time in my career that things like this have happened and I’ve always been able to overcome them, and I’ve always leaned on teammates, on family, on my support system.”
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Now, there is one more game. When did she decide this game would be the last? “A few weeks ago,” she said. “I found that I was pregnant and as unexpected as it was I was so happy because this was what our family wanted. A couple months sooner than expected, but, nonetheless, we were very overjoyed.
“The last couple of weeks were very stressful. It was consulting with my doctor, talking with my husband, understanding when I could play up until safely, when the final game would be, when I would announce and, finally, be able to tell my teammates and the world. It just felt like this was the time. I felt in the last couple of weeks I sort of lost a step, playing, and I felt that for my body, my mind and my heart, this was the right decision at this time.”