Mallory Swanson was just 21 years old when she celebrated a Women’s World Cup championship with Team USA in 2019. She scored a goal in the tournament opener against Thailand that summer, and it made her the third youngest U.S. Women’s National Team member ever to score in the Women’s World Cup.
Fast forward to last spring, when Swanson was getting ready to help Team USA defend its title at the 2023 Women’s World Cup. She was playing some of the best soccer of her career, and ready for another chance to compete on the world’s biggest stage. But during a friendly against Ireland on April 8, 2023, everything changed in an instant.
“I just remember my teammates around me, when I was laying on the floor,” Swanson remembers. “The trainer came out and I was just like, ‘Can you put my kneecap back in place?’ because I knew something was wrong.”
Swanson was right. Something was wrong. She’d torn her left patella tendon, dashing her hopes of playing in the 2023 Women’s World Cup and keeping her out of almost the entire 2023 Red Stars season. Unable to play the game she loves, the now-25-year-old said she felt like she’d lost something, and she had to grieve that loss. Eventually, though, the star forward reframed her thinking.
“I can’t go back and change time,” Swanson said. “So the only thing I can really do is control what I can control, and that is basically to wake up every day, go to PT, get needles, your knee cranked, this and that -- the whole thing. It’s not an enjoyable process, but I do think there was a lot I learned.”
What did she learn?
“That I can endure a lot of pain along the way,” she said with a laugh, “and also how much support I have around me.”
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Now, after months of intense rehab work, Swanson is fully healthy and ready for the Red Stars 2024 season opener on March 16. That day, she’ll play her first match since the injury. It’ll also be her first match since signing the most lucrative contract in NWSL history. In January, Swanson agreed to a deal that keeps her in Chicago through the 2028 season and pays her $400,000 each year.
“It’s a great honor,” Swanson said. “The fact that Laura (Ricketts) and the ownership group have belief in me is an honor in itself as well. I hope that this game keeps evolving, and I do hope you’re starting to see what players deserve to be paid."
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Growing up outside Denver, Swanson always dreamed of being a pro soccer player. Now, two decades later, she hopes young girls everywhere look at her and see how talent, hard work and determination can help them achieve their dreams too.
“I think having that mindset of, ‘If you want to be something in life and you want something in life, just go do it,’” Swanson said when asked about her message to young girls. “Push forward and push the boundaries. If you want to be something in life, go do it.”
That motto has helped Swanson become an elite goal scorer, a champion, and a role model. At 25 years-old, with so much of her career ahead of her, it’s a motto that figures to help her accomplish even more in the future.
