Alyssa Thompson is a woman of many talents. The NWSL No. 1 draft pick spent years as a model, but she’s also a college graduate who made the jump from soccer to football at the age of 23. Now that she has found success in both arenas, Thompson is using her platform to help other women get into sports as well.
She was a model. She was a student at Stanford. She is from Los Angeles and played for the U.S. National Team, where she was captain of the team in 2021 and 2022. In 2023, with an eye toward life after football, Thompson decided to take her talents to Angel City FC in the NWSL Draft.
Alyssa Thompson Reaches The Summit
Thompson feels like she’s found her second act with the Angels and hopes they’ll be able to win it all this year so she can finally hold up that trophy over her head again after being on top as a young player just seven years ago when she led Stanford to four national championships during her time there.
Thompson, who has been a model and actress for years, was the No. 1 pick in the NWSL draft. She previously played football in high school and at UCLA, where she was the backup quarterback for three seasons. Thompson also appeared in an NFL commercial with New York Giants star Odell Beckham Jr., who got her started as a model.
She was diagnosed with scoliosis at age 13 and, like many young women with the condition, was forced to quit modeling. But she didn’t let it end there. Instead of modeling or running a fashion blog as she did in high school and college, she turned to football.
Thompson played soccer while at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo but switched to football when she transferred to UCLA after her sophomore year. She ended up playing for the U23 Women’s National Team before making her debut for the USWNT during their World Cup campaign last summer.