Jaelene McKenzie Daniels (; born May 28, 1993) is an American professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

defender.

Early life

Daniels attended Valor Christian High School in Highlands Ranch, Colorado (a suburb of Denver) where she played soccer and basketball. In 2009, she was awarded the league's Player of the Year and was named to the all-conference team, first team all-state and All-Colorado team by The Denver Post. During her senior year in 2010, she was the league's top scorer and named to the all-conference team, first team all-state and All-Colorado team by the newspaper for the second consecutive year. The same year, she received Parade All-American honors. Daniels played club soccer for Real Colorado for four years and captained the team during the 2010–11 season. She helped the team win the state championship in 2007. She was a member of the Olympic Development Program (ODP) team that advanced to the regional championship in 2006.

Club career

Western New York Flash, 2015–2016

Daniels was selected seventh overall during the

2015 NWSL College Draft The 2015 NWSL Draft, NWSL College Draft was the third annual meeting of National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchises to select eligible College soccer, college players. It was held on January 16, 2015 at the NSCAA Convention in Philadelphia, ...

by the Western New York Flash. During her first season with the team, she started in all 20 matches and scored a goal while playing in the defender position. The Flash finished in seventh place during the regular season with a record. Daniels played in 15 games and scored one goal during the 2016 NWSL season. She was in the starting lineup for the Flash in their semi-final game against the

Portland Thorns The Portland Thorns FC is an American professional women's soccer team based in Portland, Oregon. Established in 2012, the team began play in 2013 in the then-eight-team National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), which receives support from the Unit ...

. Western New York secured an upset victory over the Shield winners. Daniels was once again in the starting lineup for the Championship Game. The game went to penalties, she converted her penalty, helping the Flash win the 2016 NWSL Championship.

North Carolina Courage, 2017–2020

In January 2017, the Flash were sold and relocated to North Carolina and re-branded as the North Carolina Courage. Daniels started in 22 games for the Courage in 2017. North Carolina won the 2017 NWSL Shield, but lost in the NWSL Championship game 1-0 to Portland. Daniels was named to the NWSL Team of the Month for March & April 2018. She was an important part of North Carolina's backline which broke the record for fewest goals conceded, and won the NWSL Shield for the second straight year. She played every minute of North Carolina's play-offs games, as the Courage won the 2018 NWSL Championship. On November 4, 2020, Daniels announced her retirement from soccer.

Return from retirement

On December 19, 2021, North Carolina Courage announced they have signed Daniels on a one-year deal, with an additional one-year option, marking her return from retirement. The signing was widely scrutinized at the time, leading the Courage to release a statement defending it. On October 17, 2022, the Courage announced that they had declined their contract option on Daniels for the 2023 season, making her a free agent.

International career

In October 2015, Daniels was called into camp for the senior national team in preparation for games against Brazil during the team's victory tour following their win at the

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the ...

in Canada. She earned her first cap with the national team during a friendly match against Brazil in Seattle on October 21 which resulted in a 1–1 tie. In 2016 Daniels was named to the roster for the

2016 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Championship The 2016 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Championship was the 4th edition of the CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament, the quadrennial international football tournament organized by CONCACAF to determine which women's national team ...

, she appeared in three games for the U.S., as they won the tournament and qualified for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

. She was also called up for the

2016 SheBelieves Cup The 2016 SheBelieves Cup was the inaugural edition of the SheBelieves Cup, an invitational women's football tournament held in the United States. It took place between March 3 and 9, 2016, before the 2016 Summer Olympics. Teams Squads For ...

but did not appear in any games. The U.S won the inaugural edition of the SheBelieves Cup. In June 2017, Daniels was called into camp for international friendlies against Sweden and Norway but did not attend, citing "personal reasons." In a May 2018 interview with '' The 700 Club'', Daniels revealed that she withdrew from the team for the June 2017 friendlies because she did not want to wear the US Soccer jerseys honoring LGBT Pride Month, saying "I just felt so convicted in my spirit that it wasn't my job to wear this jersey." In July 2018, Daniels received a call-up to the

USWNT The United States women's national soccer team (USWNT) represents the United States in international women's soccer. The team is the most successful in international women's soccer, winning four Women's World Cup titles (1991, 1999, 2015, and ...

training camp for the

2018 Tournament of Nations The 2018 Tournament of Nations was the second Tournament of Nations, an international women's association football, football tournament, consisting of a series of exhibition game, friendly games. It was held in the United States, from July 26 to ...

, which marked her first call-up to the national team since withdrawing from camp in 2017. She was not named to the Tournament of Nations final roster. Daniels has failed to receive consistent call ups to the national team since then.

Personal life

Daniels has spoken publicly about her

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

faith and views. On June 26, 2015, after

same-sex marriage in the United States The availability of legally recognized same-sex marriage in the United States expanded from one state (Massachusetts) in 2004 to all fifty states in 2015 through various court rulings, state legislation, and direct popular votes. States each ...

was established in all 50 states, Hinkle tweeted "This world is falling farther and farther away from God... All that can be done by believers is to continue to pray." In May 2018, shortly after she revealed her decision to not wear the U.S. team jersey honoring LGBT Pride Month, Hinkle was booed several times by some

supporters during an

NWSL The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federatio ...

match with the Courage. On July 29, 2022 she declined to play in the Courage's "Pride Night" match that night against the Washington Spirit, after a spokesperson confirmed she refused to wear the club's Pride flag-themed jersey. The club noted "While we're disappointed with her choice, we respect her right to make that decision for herself". She is married to Matthew Daniels. Formerly known as Jaelene Hinkle, Daniels began using her married name in 2020. She gave birth to a daughter, Zoe, in August 2021.

Honors

Club

Western New York Flash * NWSL Champions:

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

North Carolina Courage * NWSL Champions:

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

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 ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

References

External links

* *
Western New York Flash player profile

United States player profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Daniels, Jaelene 1993 births Living people American women's soccer players National Women's Soccer League players Western New York Flash players Women's association football defenders Parade High School All-Americans (girls' soccer) Texas Tech Red Raiders women's soccer players United States women's international soccer players Western New York Flash draft picks North Carolina Courage players African-American women's soccer players Soccer players from Denver African-American Christians Christians from Colorado 21st-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American women