Jaedyn Reese Shaw, OLY (born November 20, 2004) is an American professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for the

North Carolina Courage The North Carolina Courage are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Cary, North Carolina, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It was founded on January 9, 2017, after Stephen Malik acqui ...

of the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...

(NWSL) and the

United States national team The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

. A gold medal winner at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics with the national team, Shaw previously represented the United States on the under-17, under-19 and under-20 national teams. She was named U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year in 2022. Shaw previously played for

San Diego Wave FC San Diego Wave Fútbol Club is an American professional soccer team based in San Diego, California, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The team plays its home games at Snapdragon Stadium. Founded on June 8, 2021, the Wav ...

and won the team's first-ever

NWSL Shield The NWSL Shield is an annual award given to the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) team with the best regular season record as determined by the NWSL points system. The NWSL Shield has been awarded annually since 2013 and is recognized as a ...

and

NWSL Challenge Cup The NWSL Challenge Cup is an annual supercup competition organized by the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), a division 1 women's league in the United States soccer league system. The current (2025) cup holder is the Washington Spirit, who ...

in 2024. She was named to the

NWSL Best XI NWSL Best XI and Second XI are annual awards presented to the best and second-best eleven players in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). the teams of the season awards are voted on by players (40%), owners/general managers/coaches (25%), ...

in 2023.

Early life and education

Born and raised in Frisco,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, Shaw, her older sister, and younger brother were born to their Vietnamese-born mother, Ann and Black father, Lance. As a two-year-old, she would try playing while attending her older sister's games. Jaedyn had goals of becoming a professional soccer player from a young age. Her parents sacrificed a lot in order to support Jaedyn's goal. Her mother noted, "Just being really transparent, there was a year or two where all four of us lived in a one bedroom apartment to be able to afford for her to go out of town, out of state, out of the country. My husband and I set our lives on the backburner - no vacations, no honeymoon, no nothing - in order for us to be able to handle the financial burdens that came with the opportunity. I knew this was God's purpose for her so a lot of it, as well, came with trainers, elite trainers, that charged us nothing because they knew she was so special. They knew that she would eventually build their business rather than take away from it.

t was T, or t, is the twentieth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is d ...

a mix of a lot of people's kindness and a mix of our sacrifices, financially." For part of her youth, she lived two blocks away from Toyota Stadium where the United States Soccer Hall of Fame resides and

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The franchise be ...

plays and has many memories of the stadium. Shaw played for ECNL club, Solar Soccer Club, from age five to eight. She later played for FC Dallas’ youth academy team and helped the club win the under-15 championship in 2018. Shaw also played

futsal Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch. Its rules are based on the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game of association football, and i ...

and credits it for a lot of growth in her game, "I played strictly futsal until I was pushing maybe 12. I think that it helped me a lot technically and being able to see the game differently."

Club career

Early career

In April 2019, at the age of 14, Shaw verbally committed to joining the

Tar Heels Tar Heel (or Tarheel) is a nickname applied to the U.S. state of North Carolina and its people. It is also the nickname of the University of North Carolina athletic teams, students, alumni, and fans. The origins of the Tar Heel nickname trace ba ...

of the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

starting in the 2024 season. At the age of 15, Shaw was also invited to train with the French first-division club,

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

. At the youth level, she played for FC Dallas and

Solar SC Solar Soccer Club is an American youth soccer club based in the Dallas suburb of Allen, Texas. It is a member of the Elite Clubs National League (ECNL). History Solar was founded in 1976. In 2010, its chairman since 1996 resigned after being ac ...

. In 2022, Shaw was rated as the second ranked top prospect for the high school class of 2023 by

Top Drawer Soccer TopDrawerSoccer.com (TDS) is an American soccer website that is dedicated to youth soccer in the United States. Specifically, the website focuses on Academy soccer, high school soccer, and college soccer in the United States. The website was lau ...

. In spring 2022, she joined

Washington Spirit The Washington Spirit are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It is a continuation of the D.C. United Women of the USL W-League (1995� ...

for pre-season and was named in the club's initial preseason roster.

San Diego Wave

In July 2022, Shaw signed for

(NWSL) club

after she was permitted to enter the NWSL through a discovery process which allowed for an amendment of the leagues age restrictions. Thirteen days after signing with the club, on July 30, Shaw started the Wave's NWSL match against

Chicago Red Stars Chicago Stars Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in the Chicago metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). A founding member of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league as the Chic ...

. She was the second-youngest player to compete in NWSL at the time at the age of 17 years, eight months. After scoring the game winner for her team in the 27th minute, she became the youngest NWSL player to score in their debut. Shaw went on to score goals against the Washington Spirit and Angel City in September, bringing her tally to three goals in three matches. She became the second player in NWSL history to score in each of their first three league appearances. Shaw finished off her first season with 3 goals in 7 matches. In August 2023, Shaw signed a multi-year contract with the Wave through the 2026 season. During the 2023 season, Shaw scored the most goals as a teenager in NWSL history and helped the Wave win its first-ever

North Carolina Courage

The

announced on January 14, 2025, that they had acquired Shaw in a trade by sending San Diego $300,000 in allocation money, $150,000 in intraleague transfer fees, and an international spot in the 2025 and 2026 seasons, along with further possible allocation money and transfer fees.

International career

USWNT training at 2025 SheBelieves Cup 03

Shaw was part of the U-15 team at the

CONCACAF Girls' Under-15 Championship CONCACAF Girls' Under-15 Championship is a CONCACAF football competition. The competition took place for the first time in 2014, with subsequent tournaments being held every two years. Results Successful teams Awards Golden Boot Golden B ...

in 2018. She played a key role in helping the team to the title and winning the golden ball award as the best player of the tournament. She scored two goals in the final of the tournament leading the team to a 3–0 victory over Mexico. In early 2020, Shaw became a starter for the U-20, where she scored two goals in three matches to help the squad to win the

Sud Ladies Cup The Sud Ladies Cup (officially the Sud Ladies Cup – Tournoi Maurice Revello) is a women's football tournament. The tournament was named after Maurice Revello, who started the Toulon Tournament in 1967 and died in 2016. It is held in the region o ...

Aubagne Aubagne (; according to the classic norm or according to the Mistralian norm) is a Commune in France, commune in the southern French Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône. In 2020, the commune was awarded three flowers by the ...

, France. Afterwards, Shaw was named to the USA U-20 roster for the

2022 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The 2022 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup () was the 10th edition of the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, the biennial international women's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its ...

. She was one of two NWSL players to play for the U20 USWNT in the U20 World Cup. Shaw received her first call up to the senior team in September 2023 and made her debut a month later on October 26, 2023, in a friendly against

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Sandy, Utah Sandy is a city in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, located in Salt Lake County, Utah, United States. The population was 96,904 according to the 2020 United States census. Sandy is home to the Shops at South Town shopping mall; the Jord ...

. A few days later she scored her first goal for the

USWNT The United States women's national soccer team (USWNT) represents the United States in international women's soccer. The team is governed by the United States Soccer Federation and competes in CONCACAF (the Confederation of North, Central Ameri ...

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, California, in her second cap on October 29, 2023, in another friendly against Colombia which ended in a 3–0 victory. She scored her second goal in her hometown of Frisco, Texas a month later on December 5, 2023, which was a game winner in a comeback against

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

that finished as a 2–1 victory. Shaw was named to the 23-player roster for the inaugural

2024 CONCACAF W Gold Cup The 2024 CONCACAF W Gold Cup was the inaugural edition of the CONCACAF W Gold Cup, an international women's soccer competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the member associations of CONCACAF. The tournament was contested b ...

. During the tournament Shaw played in all 6 matches and scored 4 goals, becoming the first player in the USWNT's history to score in their first four starts for the team. Her performance earned her the Golden Ball, given to the best player of the tournament as the USWNT defeated

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

1–0 in the final and lifted the first Gold Cup in San Diego on March 10, 2023. On March 26, 2024, Shaw was called up for the

2024 SheBelieves Cup The 2024 SheBelieves Cup, named the 2024 SheBelieves Cup Presented by Visa for sponsorship reasons, was the ninth edition of the SheBelieves Cup, an invitational women's soccer tournament held in the United States. Featuring national teams from Br ...

and scored the first goal, an equalizer in a 2–1 comeback victory against

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

on April 6, 2024, extending her record to become the first player to score in their first five starts. Shaw also started the final against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

who the team defeated after a penalty shootout to win their 7th title at the SheBelieves Cup. On June 26, 2024, Shaw was named to the United States roster for the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

. The United States defeated

1–0 in the Olympic final on a goal from

Mallory Swanson Mallory Diane Swanson (; born April 29, 1998) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a forward for the Chicago Stars FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the United States women's national soccer team (USWNT). Aft ...

Style of play

Shaw has played across all attacking roles, including as a winger, center forward, and attacking

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

, and prefers to play as a forward. She is known for seeking and recognizing openings to receive the ball and for her creativity under pressure, possessing both the physical strength and technical control to protect possession as well as the agility to turn defenders. Her signature move is to drag the ball back under her foot to force defenders off balance. Shaw is also an ambidextrous passer. For the Wave under

Casey Stoney Casey Jean Stoney (born 13 May 1982) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who currently serves as the head coach of the Canada women's national soccer team. A versatile ...

, Shaw has featured as a hybrid 10 or as a center forward capable of rotating to either wing with

Sofia Jakobsson Eva Sofia Jakobsson (born 23 April 1990) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays for London City Lionesses in the FA Women's Championship. She made her debut for the Sweden women's national football team in 2011 and won her 100th cap in ...

Personal life

Shaw's father and mother are

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

and

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overseas Vietnamese, Vietnamese people living outside Vietna ...

respectively. She is the first

Vietnamese-American Vietnamese Americans () are Americans of Vietnamese people, Vietnamese ancestry. They constitute a major part of all overseas Vietnamese. As of 2023, over 2.3 million people of Vietnamese descent live in the United States, making them the fourth ...

to ever represent the United States Women's National Team.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list United States's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Shaw goal.''

Honors

San Diego Wave *

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

United States U15 *

: 2018 United States U20 *

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

United States *

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The 1896 Summer Olympics, inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, ...

Gold Medal:

CONCACAF W Gold Cup The CONCACAF W Gold Cup is an international women's football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the member associations of CONCACAF, the regional governing body of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. ...

SheBelieves Cup The SheBelieves Cup is an invitational women's association football, women's soccer tournament held in different cities in the United States in late February or early March. In its first three years (2016, 2017, and 2018), it was contested by t ...

Individual *

Golden Ball: 2018 *

Best XI:

* US Soccer Young Female Player of the Year: 2022 *

Golden Ball:

Best XI:

References

;Match reports

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shaw, Jaedyn Living people 2004 births African-American soccer players American women's soccer players United States women's international soccer players United States women's under-20 international soccer players San Diego Wave FC players Women's association football forwards National Women's Soccer League players Women's association football midfielders Soccer players from Texas United States women's youth international soccer players American sportspeople of Vietnamese descent 21st-century American sportswomen 21st-century African-American sportswomen Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in soccer Footballers at the 2024 Summer Olympics North Carolina Courage players