We recently caught up with Jaedyn Shaw, the youngest member of the gold medal-winning USWNT Olympic squad, and took the opportunity to talk with her about her Olympic experience, what constitutes success, and what it’s like being a role model amongst a host of other topics.
Having recently followed in the footsteps of U.S. Women’s National Team mate, Trinity Rodman, in signing with Red Bull, we were offered time to speak with San Diego Wave forward, Jaedyn Shaw – an opportunity we leapt at. Shaw is one of those players for whom success seems to come so easily, but be under no illusions – it's all come through hard graft. At just 17 years old she made her professional debut for San Diego Wave, just 13 days after signing with the club, and she went on to be named the 2022 U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year. In October 2023 she made her debut for the USA, and has since gone on to score seven goals and recorded one assist in her 16 national team appearances. And now she’s an Olympic Gold Medallist. Sure, the latter may not have gone quite according to plan, having suffered an injury that ruled her out from playing in the tournament, but that’s something we were eager to talk to her about, along with diving into her journey in the game in a wider sense, her interests in beauty and how that plays into football, and much more.
Interviewing someone who’s on the other side of the world always throws up an interesting perspective – often I’m ending my day right as the subject is starting theirs. And so it was when I jumped on a Zoom call with Shaw – I was tired from a long day, while she was tired having only recently woken up. “I love my sleep, which is crazy because I’m up at 9am,” she explains. I’m quick to say I’ll take the blame for that, but she bats it away with a jovial nature that seems completely natural. Despite being 19 years old, and therefore well entitled to be moody about being up so early, it’s quite the opposite and her charm just shines through for the entirety of our conversation. “It’s all good, I need to get my butt up anyways,” she says, that infectious smile spreading across her face. And I swear, it barely ever leaves for the rest of our conversation. Tired she may be, but it certainly never showed as we chatted across a range of topics, made all the more easy thanks to just how fluidly she converses.
Red Bull may well give you wings, as the commercials say (could explain why she's so perky at 9am), but Shaw is already flying high as a superstar of the game, and her answers feel so genuine. "I think people love authenticity," she says in response to a question about being a role model. "That's what makes people unique." It wasn't the first time that she hit the nail on the head, and I couldn't help but return that smile of hers throughout. The sky isn't the limit here...feels like it's just the beginning.
You’ve already experienced so much so young. How did your love of football start?
I started out watching my older sister play; I went to her games and started to kick a ball around at half time, play on the field. I always had a ball with me. I think I really fell in love with it when I started playing futsal though, and I would go to Brazil and Barcelona and play in these cool tournaments, train with Santos and all that. I really got to experience different cultures of soccer, seeing how passionate people are about the sport, and I was like, OK, I really, really love this. I played only one other sport when I was younger, I played basketball, but soccer was always home to me. It felt more natural. And I was better at it!
How did the experience of going to Santos come around?
It was through my futsal programme. Our coaches were Argentinian and Brazilian and they had connections to Santos in Brazil. So we would be able to go and play. I played with the Santos boys team, I'd go and train with them, I’d go and stay by myself – there were no parents, just us and our coaches. We would’ve been like nine or 10 years old. I met Rodrigo one time – he won't remember it – but I have a picture of him signing my bag when he was like 15, still playing futsal for Santos.
Who were your role models growing up?
I'd say Marta, Neymar, Ronaldinho. I think they're in my top three. I'd watch Neymar highlights before every game on the car ride. That was one of my rituals that I did when I was younger. But I always loved the fancy dribbling, doing something that just really caught my eye. I felt like it just made the game really fun to watch. Also Tobin Heath. I feel like from the US national team, she was someone that I watched a lot too.
Olympic Gold Medallist, Jaedyn Shaw – how does that feel?
It feels crazy, it's hard to fully wrap my head around it, especially not playing. I didn't play any minutes, so it was kind of like, what do you mean I've got a gold medal? But after going through all the emotions I’m now seeing that I deserve it; I contributed to the team in other ways. So yeah, I think it's a crazy knowing that I'm a gold medallist. It doesn't make any sense to me. My medal’s right there, but it still makes no sense. It's insane. I'm really grateful for the experience.
Tell us about the whole Olympic experience?
France is one of my favourite countries, but we were kind of all over the place, so we were still isolated. It didn't really feel like the Olympics until we got to the knockout rounds. We weren't really in Paris, we were in Marseille, Nice, Lyon. It was an amazing experience though, just being able to have the Olympics on at all times; every meal there was something playing on the TV. What random sport is going to be playing out? Break dancing? OK. That was crazy.
But it was really cool to just be there and see how many other athletes were there. The closing ceremony was sick; we were there with a bunch of track athletes, and we were able to put the pieces together: oh, you were the one that ran that race and won. Putting faces with names, and interacting with people, it was a really cool experience, for sure.
Has that experience made you hungry for more?
Yeah, I definitely think that it's made me want to dig in more because I know now what that feels like to get a gold medal, and I want that again. I want to know that I really, really put in the work and was able to contribute in the ways that I also want to. Of course, no one wants to get injured right before a tournament – it sucks. But I think that it drove me to learn about my body and take care of myself and be smarter going into big tournaments. I'm still new to this pro environment and this pro career, so I'm still learning as I'm going.
How do you personally measure success? Not just in terms of the Olympics, but more holistically – what is success to you?
That's a good question… I guess the first thing you say is winning, but that's so temporary. Once you win, you literally celebrate that night and the next morning you’re like, OK, on to something else. What's next? I think something that I do hold close to me is my faith. I feel like success to me is fulfilling my purpose in that.
My purpose is bigger than just playing and I know that I want to continue to live by that even when I hang my boots up. I want people to know me for that and for leaving the game better than I found it. These things are all in my mind now because Alex Morgan has just retired, and literally last night was her last night. She left the game so much better than she found it and I want to do that for my generation.
How do you fill your down time? Do you have a creative side away from football?
Usually, it's me resting. Recently I've been trying to build a foundation for my life off the field. So, I've been filling my time with that, trying to do all the right things with my platform, trying to leave the game better than I found it, working on avenues that are unique to me and what I love and what I’m passionate about. Beyond that, I still live with my family and I have a younger brother, so I go to a lot of his baseball stuff and try to support him.
Support is obviously very important to how you perform. If you're feeling confident and happy off the pitch, you'll likely play well on the pitch. Who do you look to for support off the pitch?
Definitely. My family was super, super close. They moved to San Diego to literally just be with me when I signed. We’re from Texas, so when I signed it was a big jump, but they were like alright, we'll go. And we all live in the same house. My older sister, she's like 30 now, she lives a little bit further downtown, but we're all pretty close.
A lot of people will focus on your age, and how you burst onto the scene, but what’s your personal view on it – have you surprised yourself with how much you’ve achieved so far, and what have you learned about yourself in that time?
I don’t think I’d say I’ve surprised myself. I know that my entire journey, my entire career I’ve been of the mindset that if you put in the work, you'll see the rewards on all the things that you control. I've had to be really resilient this last couple of years; I've been bounced around a lot position-wise and have played probably every attacking position on the field. I think for me, I love playing the 10, it's always been my home position, but I played the nine, I've played false nine, I've played seven-11, I've played eight-10. I've kind of been all over the place and I think that's really taught me how versatile I can be and it’s helped me see the field from different perspectives. So when I am in my true position I can be even better.
I think for me, I haven't surprised myself with what I've achieved. I think that for me and my aspirations they'll just continue to go up from here. I believe in myself that way and I know that I'm going to put in the work to have that be the outcome. My goal this year was to make the Olympic roster, be a key part of the team, contribute to the team, all those things. It doesn't always work out that way, but I know that I've put in the work to get there and I deserve to be there and to contribute to the team.
Do you feel that you have to constantly alter your goals because you're achieving so much?
No, I don't think I've really thought about it that way. It's kind of a never-ending cycle. Once the Olympics ends, when's the next one? When's the next tournament? When's the next camp? Honestly, you’ve still got to make the next camp, even after a major tournament. So just doing well in the club environment will help you continue to be there and to be a part of that team. I don't really think I alter my goals necissarily, I just find new ones when I get there. It builds itself.
That shift from having role models to being one, how does it feel to have the power to change people's lives and inspire people?
It feels like a lot of pressure when you initially think about it. I think people love authenticity though – that's what makes people unique. Just being yourself, even if you're inspiring one little girl instead of millions, it’s still you and you've left it better than you found it.
For me, I love knowing that I can represent different cultures, different backgrounds. My Asian heritage, my African-American heritage, my hometown, those things I hold really close to my heart; all those things they kind of push me forward. Initially it's nerve-wracking but then it's more of a motivation now. Now I'm not playing for just me, I'm playing for all the little girls that maybe look like me or have similar backgrounds, or come from broken backgrounds. Or even live a great life! Just knowing that I can inspire young girls I think is very motivating. I know that when I'm out there, in front of the camera, I'm just being myself and it's cool to see that that inspires people to be themselves.
You recently mentioned on a panel that you love makeup and that wear tinted SPF, mascara, and brow product when you play. How important is it to highlight this side of the women’s game to normalise it for the next generation?
The beauty industry – hair and makeup – they’re such a passion for me off the field, and I do want to dive into that at some point, maybe after the boots are hung up, maybe before, who knows. But it’s cool.
There are other athletes like Sha’Carri Richardson, like Jordan Chiles, they're all uniquely themselves. They have on cute makeup, or a wig, or really long nails. Those things don’t make you less of an elite athlete, they're just ways that you can express yourself, and I think that's really cool and a different way of representation. It's also just fun, just doing what you want.
For me, I know that if I'm looking good and feeling good, I'm going to play good and I'm going to perform. I'm starting to figure out what my style is and get into that a little bit, have a little bit of fun and creativity in that industry. It's cool just being able to represent yourself and your personality. Personalities on the national team are great, too. We’re all pretty cool personalities and we’re all so different and it's really cool to see everyone mesh together.
San Diego’s home kit this year is really vibrant. Do you think kit design has any impact on a team in terms of how they perform?
I feel like it definitely can to a certain extent. It can affect the vibes of the team, even the fans, it can affect the atmosphere as a whole. I feel like with our new jersey, the Del Sol one, I've seen so many more jerseys in the stands or even in the away ends and I think people buy them because they like the jerseys, not necessarily because they’re San Diego Wave fans – the jersey is just sick and it helps us with our atmosphere, us looking good, feeling good. It’s a certain level of swag and confidence that can carry over to performance and ultimately bring us together as a team. So yeah, I think that should be something that is taken seriously throughout.
You talked about yourself being a creative person on the pitch, but when you get off the pitch does that creativity carry across? Do you have an interest in fashion, for example, and how you put a fit together?
I think I'm very new to that. I don't think that I'm a fashion icon or anything – I'm definitely not – but I'm putting my toes in the water there, just trying to figure out what I'm most confident in and what suits my body well in the way that I want to be represented. I feel like I have so many clothes but no outfits! I don't know if that’s just a girl thing or if that’s universal, loads of clothes but nothing to wear. So I work with people that can help me and guide me to find my style and I think that's something that I'm really excited to figure out.
Even hair stuff; I just recently chopped my hair, it's really short now. But that’s part of me representing my African-American culture. I've never worn my natural curls before so me chopping it off and really wearing my natural hair, it was big for me. I don’t know if it was big for anyone else, but it was big for me! [Laughs] I love knowing I look cute or something, doing little twists in the front, it's just being creative in different ways. I think it's cool.
With support in mind, we wouldn't be here without Red Bull. How would you like to explore that relationship? And why are they such a good fit for you specifically?
I think that the biggest thing that stood out to me with this partnership was that they wanted this to be more of a partnership over an endorsement. They wanted to work with me around things I like and cater to that and help me build my brand instead of me just having a product and just being like "drink Red Bull. It gives you wings." That’s something that's really unique in the brand-deal industry. Athletes a lot of the time, are told "hey, post this here, do this appearance, do that and then we'll pay you and send you products." But it feels like it gets a bit boring. I feel like Red Bull has really taken into account all of their athletes, all of the people that they represent, and made sure that we have all of the top facilities, the top media people.
They've allowed me to have a creative space to voice things that I like, things that I want to do and represent and be a part of, and that's very cool.
Finally then, what's the greatest thing about being Jaedyn Shaw right now?
Oh wow…hmmm… I don't have a clever answer for this one. I guess…I get to play the sport I love for a living, and I'm just so happy doing it.
Photography by Jared Martinez.
Jaedyn Shaw wears the adidas F50, which you can pick up at prodirectsport.com/soccer
