SAN DIEGO — Before making waves in the NWSL with the San Diego Wave and earning a call-up with the U.S. women’s national team, up-and-coming attacker Jaedyn Shaw first needed a reliable stream of family support.
“I owe everything to my parents for the sacrifices that they made for me,” the 18-year-old Texas native told ESPN. “I know that we didn’t always have a lot to work with, and they always made sure that I had what I needed to be able to play the game that I love.”
It’s no secret that youth soccer in the U.S. is a costly undertaking — a 2022 survey from Project Play highlighted that households were spending an average of $1,188 per soccer season — more than on basketball, baseball or American football in their analysis — and committing to Shaw’s ambitions meant at one point her family living in a one-bedroom apartment.
“Me and my brother shared a bed in the living room, my parents had the [one] room and all four of us shared one bathroom,” she said. “It was chaotic, but I think that it brought us so close as a family and it allowed us to just be grateful for each other’s presence, even in the midst of hard times.
“They sacrificed absolutely…
