Meleana Lokahi "Mana" Shim (born September 25, 1991) is an American former

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 ...

player and current athlete advocate. Shim played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, spending most of her senior career with

Portland Thorns FC 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 Uni ...

of the

National Women's Soccer League 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 ...

(NWSL). After the revelations of the

Yates Report The ''Yates Report'', officially titled ''Report of the Independent Investigation to the U.S. Soccer Federation Concerning Allegations of Abusive Behavior and Sexual Misconduct in Women's Professional Soccer'', is the official report documenting ...

, Shim was named chairperson of a new Participant Safety Taskforce at U.S. Soccer.

Early life

Shim grew up in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, where she attended Kamehameha Kapalama High School and helped the soccer team to three ILH championships. In 2007, the team won the state championship. Shim also played for the club soccer team, Ho'okalakupua. In 2003 and 2005, the team was Region IV Finalists. In 2004, 2006, and 2007, the team was Region IV semi-finalists. In 2008, they won gold at the Surf Cup U19 Championship.

Santa Clara Broncos

Shim attended

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university's campus surrounds the historic Mis ...

from 2009 to 2012 where she was a three-year starting midfielder for the

Broncos A bucking horse is any breed or either gender of horse with a propensity to buck. They have been, and still are, referred to by various names, including bronco, broncho, and roughstock. The harder they buck, the more desirable they are for rod ...

. As a freshman in 2009, she played in 20 of the squad's 23 matches. She finished the year with 21 shots, including seven during the Broncos' three NCAA Tournament matches. During her second year, Shim played in all 22 games, one of only four Broncos to do so, starting 18 matches for a total of 1,660 minutes played. She scored one goal and added three assists and was named an All-

West Coast Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting of ...

honorable mention. As a junior in 2011, she started all 21 games and tallied four goals and four assists. She was named to the All-WCC Second-Team.

Playing career

Portland Thorns

Shim signed with the Portland Thorns as a discovery player for the inaugural season of the

. She made her debut for the team during a match against the

Washington Spirit The Washington Spirit is an American professional soccer club based in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area that participates in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It is a continuation of the D.C. United Women of the W-League and cont ...

on May 4, 2013. She scored her first professional goal on June 16, 2013 at

Jeld-Wen Field Providence Park (formerly Jeld-Wen Field; PGE Park; Civic Stadium; originally Multnomah Stadium; and from 1893 until the stadium was built, Multnomah Field) is an outdoor soccer venue located in the Goose Hollow neighborhood of Portland, Oregon ...

in a match against

Seattle Reign FC OL Reign is an American professional women's soccer team based in Seattle, Washington. Founded by Bill and Teresa Predmore in 2012 as Seattle Reign FC, it was one of eight inaugural members of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). In 2020, ...

. After receiving a through ball from teammate

Angie Kerr Angela Beth Woznuk Kerr (; born March 29, 1985) is an American former soccer midfielder who played professionally through October 21, 2014. Her career culminated with Portland Thorns FC of the National Women's Soccer League and she played as a ...

near the penalty spot, Shim finished with a left-footed shot past the goalkeeper. She also served her first assist during the match after stealing the ball off a bad pass and passing it to forward Danielle Foxhoven, who was making a run into the left side of the penalty box. She was the Thorns' lone scorer in a 1–1 draw with the

Western New York Flash The Western New York Flash (WNY Flash) was an American soccer club based in Elma, New York that competed in the United Women's Soccer league. They have won league championships in four different leagues: the USL W-League in 2010, Women's Profess ...

on July 14, 2013 which began a scoring streak in which she scored a goal in four consecutive matches. In 2015, Shim went on loan to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese football team Iga Kunoichi FC but did not appear in a domestic match. On January 10, 2014, it was announced that Shim was drafted by the

Houston Dash The Houston Dash is a professional women's soccer team based in Houston, Texas. It joined the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in the 2014 season, and is affiliated with the MLS team Houston Dynamo FC. History Establishment On November ...

with the fourth pick in the 2014 NWSL Expansion Draft. She was traded back to the Thorns one week later during the

2014 NWSL College Draft The 2014 NWSL College Draft was the second annual meeting of National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchises to select eligible college players. It was held on January 17, 2014, at the NSCAA Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was ope ...

Växjö DFF

In 2017, Shim signed with Swedish side Växjö DFF of the

Elitettan Elitettan ( en, The Elite First) is the second highest division of Swedish women's football. Contested by 14 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are ...

. She appeared in two matches as Växjö earned promotion to the

2018 Damallsvenskan The 2018 Damallsvenskan was the 30th season of the Swedish women's association football top division, Damallsvenskan. It began on 14 April 2018 and ended on 27 October the same year. Linköpings FC were the defending champions, having won the compe ...

Houston Dash

Shim returned to the NWSL in 2018, signing with the Dash.

Personal life

Shim self-identifies as

Kanaka Maoli Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, First Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians) ( haw, kānaka, , , and ), are the indigenous ethnic group of Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaii ...

. Shim publicly came out as a lesbian on August 30, 2013 in an interview with ''

Outsports ''Outsports'' is a sports news website concerned with LGBT issues and personalities in amateur and professional sports. The company was founded in 1999 by Cyd Zeigler, Jr. and Jim Buzinski. ''The Outsports Revolution'' (Alyson Publications), by ...

'', the day before the Portland Thorns FC entered the National Women's Soccer League Championship. In 2017, as part of an effort to lower the stigma of mental health issues among athletes, Shim revealed she had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Activism

In 2021 Shim publicly accused her former manager Paul Riley of sexual misconduct and abuse to ''

The Athletic ''The Athletic'' is a subscription-based sports website that provides national and local coverage in 47 North American cities as well as the United Kingdom. ''The Athletic'' also covers national stories from top professional and college sports ...

'' in a story that resulted in Riley being fired from his then-current position with the

North Carolina Courage The North Carolina Courage is a professional women's soccer team based in Cary, North Carolina. It was founded on January 9, 2017, after Stephen Malik acquired National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchise rights from the Western New York F ...

, and the NWSL to seek further investigations. She is now enrolled in law school in Hawaii. Her anti-harassment advocacy led to her being named one of the 2022 "Law Students of the Year" by ''National Jurist''. On October 31, 2022, following the revelations of the

, Shim announced she was joining U.S. Soccer as the chair of a new Participant Safety Taskforce.

References

External links

Santa Clara University player profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shim, Meleana 1991 births Living people American women's soccer players Santa Clara Broncos women's soccer players National Women's Soccer League players Portland Thorns FC players Soccer players from Honolulu LGBT association football players American LGBT sportspeople LGBT people from Hawaii Kamehameha Schools alumni Women's association football midfielders Houston Dash players Lesbian sportswomen Växjö DFF players Expatriate women's footballers in Sweden American expatriate women's soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Sweden People with bipolar disorder