The San Diego Wave’s offseason churn continues, and the latest player to leave may be the most surprising one of them all.
San Diego is trading 20-year-old midfielder Jaedyn Shaw to the North Carolina Courage for allocation funds, a source confirmed Saturday. An announcement is expected in the coming days. Shaw had been seeking a trade for nearly a year, a source said.
A native of Frisco, Texas, Shaw signed with the Wave at age 17 after forgoing her college eligibility to turn pro. She appeared in seven matches that summer, scoring three goals, and was in the starting lineup for the club’s first two playoff games.
In August 2023, Shaw signed a three-year contract extension designed to keep her in navy and pink through 2026. At the time of the g, she had begun to show glimpses of stardom. Shaw started 18 matches in 2023, scoring five goals and logging three assists as the Wave won the NWSL Shield for having the best regular-season record in the league.
However, as the 2024 season began, a source said, Shaw expressed a desire to be traded. Trade requests in the National Women’s Soccer League are relatively common. In the last year alone, the Wave dealt midfielder Taylor Flint to Racing Louisville and defender Abby Dahlkemper to Bay FC after both players requested trades.
The trades were far from the only moves made during a chaotic 2024 season.
American goal-scoring legend Alex Morgan retired late last summer after announcing she was pregnant with her second child. The Wave dealt Dahlkemper, Flint and Christen Westphal and released veterans Emily van Egmond and Sofia Jakobsson.
The 2025 club will feature a new coach (Jonas Eidevall) and ownership group (the Levine Leichtman family) as well as a general manager, Camille Ashton, who’s in her first full season after being hired from the Kansas City Current midway through the 2024 season. The team is operating without a club president after Jill Ellis took a job with FIFA earlier this offseason.
The trade of Shaw, MVP of last spring’s Concacaf W Gold Cup and one of the most talented and marketable young players in the sport, may as the most surprising move of them all. Shaw started 12 matches for the Wave last season, notching three goals and an assist. She scored a third-minute goal in the team’s Nov. 3 season finale, a 3-1 win over Racing Louisville in Kentucky. It would be her final one with the Wave.
Forwards María Sánchez and Melanie Barcenas and defender Naomi Girma remain in San Diego, and should make up the core of the 2025 Wave team. Last summer’s acquisition of forward Dephine Cascarino and defender Perle Morroni from could prove big for the Wave as they aim to return to the playoffs after going 6-13-7 a year ago.
