Playing for 90
Fansided

Nicole Barnhart joins long list of soccer greats retiring in the last year

In 2025, for the first time since its inception, the NWSL will begin without Nicole Barnhart on a team's roster

ByMarjani Taylor|
USWNT's Nicole Barnhart makes a save in warm-ups v Sweden
USWNT's Nicole Barnhart makes a save in warm-ups v Sweden | Norm Hall/GettyImages

Nicole Barnhart is soft-spoken but fiercely competitive, level-headed, and born to win. She has two Olympic gold medals with the USWNT, a WPS championship trophy, two NWSL league trophies (need I go on?) and at 43 years old she has still been giving immensely to the game as a leader on the field and an off-field advocate as Secretary of the NWSL Players Association.

So yeah, she's good.

While her retirement announcement isn't a shock, I don't think anyone's thrilled to see her go. The league has never existed without her. She's always been there ruining forward's days and taking care of business.

An NWSL with no Nicole Barnhart? I don't like it, I don't want it, but boy has she earned the trip to Greece she's long desired and a nice quiet studio filled with drawing pencils and endless time.

Nicole Barnhart's influence goes beyond her awards and accolades

Now one might argue her time as volunteer assistant coach at Stanford was clearly a close second to the Olympic golds. I'm that one arguing. Just me. But having her at Stanford was an invaluable gift.

For all four years of my college career, I had her phenomenal soccer mind in the locker room and on the sidelines. And these weren't just any four years. For Barnie, these were career-defining years that included a league championship and an Olympic gold medal.

Imagine rolling up to practice to give Nicole Barnhart and Kelley O'Hara congratulatory hugs and touch their gold medals. A normal day at Stanford, and a privilege to have unrestricted access to that much talent.

Barnie was never expletive or judgmental in her advice or criticism. As an alum, she had an ingrained pride for the school. She'd been in our shoes and had extraordinary success. She was exactly the kind of person whose advice and opinion we eagerly sought.

Barnie is a legend. Her stats and awards tell the world she's one of the best goalkeepers to ever play the game. Yet as someone who could easily have been unrelatable to a teenage college kid with a lot of growing left to do, she was entirely approachable, kind, and human, and that's the Nicole Barnhart that has made the soccer world a better place.