Mak Whitham
|
File:Mak Whitham Gotham FC Bay FC 6.21.2025-032 (cropped).jpg Whitham with Gotham FC in 2025 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mckenna Rae Whitham[1] | ||
| Date of birth | July 27, 2010[1] | ||
| Height | 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Gotham FC | ||
| Number | 17 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2022–2023 | MVLA | ||
| 2024 | Slammers FC HB Køge | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2024 | Santa Clarita Blue Heat | 5 | (9) |
| 2025– | Gotham FC | 6 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2024– | United States U15 | 5 | (6) |
| 2025– | United States U17 | 2 | (1) |
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of June 21, 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals as of October 18, 2025 | |||
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Mckenna Rae Whitham (born July 27, 2010) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a forward for Gotham FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She signed with Gotham the day before turning 14 in July 2024 and made her regular-season debut in March 2025, becoming the youngest player in NWSL history. She is a youth international for the United States.
Early life
[edit | edit source]Whitham grew up in Granite Bay, California, the daughter of Joni and Josh Whitham, and was homeschooled by her mother.[2] Her father was an alternate for the United States Ski Team at the 1998 Winter Olympics as a high schooler.[3] Whitham played ECNL club soccer for MVLA Soccer Club and Slammers FC HB Køge.[4][5] She led MVLA to the under-13 national finals in July 2023, finishing runners-up to Slammers.[4][6] She signed a name, image, and likeness contract with Nike in February 2024 at age 13, becoming the youngest athlete to sign with the company.[7]
Club career
[edit | edit source]When she was 13 years old, Whitham trained as a non-roster invitee with National Women's Soccer League clubs Kansas City Current, Washington Spirit, and NJ/NY Gotham FC in the 2024 preseason. She became the youngest person to play for an NWSL team when she appeared in an exhibition game for Gotham at the Women's Cup in Colombia, even scoring the last-minute game winner against Deportivo Cali.[2][8] Gotham general manager Yael Averbuch West said Whitham "is clearly very ready, not just to handle this level, but to excel in our sessions".[9] She continued to train with Gotham throughout the year and also trained with the boys' Los Angeles FC Academy of MLS Next and Santa Clarita Blue Heat of United Women's Soccer (UWS).[9][10] The youngest player in UWS history at 13, she scored the opening goal for Santa Clarita in the national UWS semifinals and converted her penalty kick in the team's championship shootout victory in July 2024.[11][12]
Gotham announced on July 26, 2024, that they had signed Whitham to a four-year under-18 contract effective January 1, 2025, making her the youngest signing in NWSL history, one day before her 14th birthday. She reached an additional short-term deal which allowed her to debut for Gotham two days later. When she appeared as a substitute for Katie Stengel and logged 17 minutes during a 2–1 win against the Washington Spirit in the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup group stage, she became the youngest player in top-division American soccer history.[3][13] She made two further appearances during the year, including as a 66th-minute substitute in the Summer Cup final, which Gotham lost 2–0 to the Kansas City Current.[14][15]
Whitham made her NWSL regular-season debut on March 15, 2025, as a stoppage-time substitute for Esther González in the season opener against the Seattle Reign.[16] This made her the youngest player in league history at 14 years, 8 months, surpassing Melanie Barcenas.[17] On September 2, she made her first professional start and played 45 minutes until being substituted for Katie Stengel in a 2–0 win over Alianza in the 2025–26 CONCACAF W Champions Cup group stage.[18]
International career
[edit | edit source]Whitham was called into training camp with the United States under-15 team at age 13 in October 2023.[19] The next year, she scored three goals in three games at the 2024 CONCACAF Girls' U-15 Championship, including in the semifinals against Canada and the final 3–0 win against Mexico.[20][21] At 15, she was the youngest player named in Katie Schoepfer's roster for the 2025 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in Morocco.[22]
Career statistics
[edit | edit source]Club
[edit | edit source]- As of June 21, 2025
| Club | Season | League | Playoffs[a] | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Gotham FC | 2024 | NWSL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3[b] | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 2025 | 6 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 0 | ||||
| Career total | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 0 | ||
- ^ Includes NWSL playoffs
- ^ NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup
Honors
[edit | edit source]Gotham FC
Santa Clarita Blue Heat
United States U-15
References
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External links
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