Mark Francis has been head coach of the Kansas soccer team long enough — try 24 seasons — to remember a time when professional women’s soccer offered far fewer opportunities than it does today.
“There were years when we had really good players, All-Americans, graduate out of our program, there was nowhere to play,” he said in a recent interview.
But between the growth of the sport in the United States (where it is now shepherded by the National Women’s Soccer League) and worldwide, plus the recent success of the KU program and its 2019 NCAA Tournament run, there are suddenly Jayhawks scattered on professional rosters worldwide.
Last year’s team saw midfielder Rylan Childers go 42nd overall to the Kansas City Current in the NWSL Draft.
“Rylan did the right things every day,” Francis said. “She showed up every day, and her work ethic was second to none.”
The 2022 team also yielded defender Kaela Hansen, who kicked off her professional career in Serbia, then promptly won a pair of championships. That’s to say nothing of other recent alumnae like Childers’ Current (and current) teammate Addisyn Merrick, or Ceri Holland at Liverpool, or Sophie Maierhofer in Austria, and so on.
Kaela Hansen (middle row, third from left) and her ŽFK Spartak Subotica teammates celebrate their Serbian Cup win, completing their “double crown,” in this photo from June 7, 2023.
This all has the effect of inspiring current players to reach the same heights.
“Our teammates that we (played) with on the same level are doing that now, and they’re capable of that — it also kind of gives us motivation to be like, OK, we know our abilities and we know what we’re capable of too,” senior defender Moira Kelley told the Journal-World.
Added senior forward Shira Elinav: “It’s really nice to see some of your friends fulfilling their dreams and playing at the highest level in the world.”
Defender Moira Kelley of the Kansas Jayhawks during a game between the TCU Horned Frogs and the Kansas Jayhawks at Rock Chalk Park in Lawrence on Sept. 25, 2022.
Forward Shira Elinav of the Kansas Jayhawks during the game between the Purdue Boilermakers and the Kansas Jayhawks at Rock Chalk Park in Lawrence on Sept. 1, 2022.
Beyond those immediate effects, though, a greater level of pro representation for KU soccer can have further-reaching consequences as the program builds for the future.
“It’s massive,” Francis said. “I mean, recruiting-wise, now, the kids that we’re talking to, I would say 99% of them when you ask them what they want to do after college, they want to keep playing professionally … If players are looking to do that after their college careers, we’ve obviously had a history of doing that and helping players going on, and I think it’s awesome.”
KU successfully retained first-time coach and NWSL veteran Jaycie Johnson as a full-time assistant after the NCAA eliminated assistant coach designations, which could help it continue to mold raw athletes into professional prospects. As Francis put it, if a player isn’t putting in the requisite effort, Johnson can “call them out on it because she’s been there.”
“Especially with being a female and having reached the levels that a lot of our players have aspirations of playing at, she’s already been there, done that,” Francis added. “I think in that sense, she can really help and advise them on kind of what it takes.”
If Elinav and Kelley accomplish their goals, they could be part of the next class of Jayhawk pro prospects and keep feeding into the cycle — inspired by their predecessors.
“It kind of pushes us to see, OK, if they’re doing it, we can too, I would say,” Kelley said.
Midfielder Raena Childers of the Kansas Jayhawks and Head Coach Mark Francis of the Kansas Jayhawks during practice at Rock Chalk Park in Lawrence on Aug. 8, 2022.
Courtesy of Kaela Hansen
Aiden Droge/Kansas Athletics
Missy Minear/Kansas Athletics
Aiden Droge/Kansas Athletics