UW soccer standout from Tri-Cities expected to be drafted in national league’s 1st round
Summer Yates always dreamed she could play soccer for money.
Now the Chiawana High School graduate will see that dream come true on Thursday, when she expects to hear her name called at the National Women’s Soccer League draft.
The NWSL was started in 2012 and is the top women’s professional soccer league in the country. The Portland Thorns and the OL Reign of Seattle are two of the league’s 12 teams.
The latest projections have Yates going in the first round, from as early as the fifth overall pick, to as late as the 10thoverall selection.
Playing soccer is what she’s wanted to do since she was 5.
“Oh yeah. Since Day 1 my dream has been to play on the field with the national team and play professional soccer,” said Yates in a phone interview on Saturday. “My family knew possibly before I knew. They always told me I could be anything I want. I just started to believe.”
And Yates, who graduated from the University last month, wants to share her good fortune with the Tri-Cities.
There will be a draft watch party at the The Hub food truck complex in Kennewick at 6481 West Skagit Ave., next to Chuck E. Cheese, with the actual draft beginning at 3 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 12.
“But we’re inviting people to come at 2 p.m. to get settled in,” said Yates. “The draft will go pretty fast. Each team gets just 5 minutes for each of their picks.”
Yates decided not to attend o the draft in Philadelphia.
“I wanted to spend it here to celebrate with the community,” she said. “I’ll be there.”
So will her family and friends.
Women’s pro league
Yates becomes the first Tri-Citian since Richland’s Hope Solo to likely play in the highest women’s professional league based in the United States.
Solo, who also played collegiately at the University of Washington, was the keeper for many U.S. women’s soccer teams in both the Olympics and World Cups. She played professionally in the U.S., as well as Europe, and later this year she’ll be inducted into the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame.
For Yates, Thursday’s draft is the culmination and reward for the last five years, as the 5-foot-4 forward dominated on the pitch for the University of Washington women’s soccer team.
UW soccer
Yates is UW’s all-time leader in games played at 93.
She finished as the No. 3 player in career points with 77, and in goals scored at 27.
Her 23 assists rank her fourth among all Huskies.
She has made the Pac-12 Conference all-conference team at some level in four of her five seasons with the Huskies, including the first team this past fall.
Yates was the Huskies’ first All-American since 2004 when she was named second-team All-America in her junior season.
This past season, she led the 10-6-3 Huskies in scoring with 20 points (7 goals, 6 assists), was No. 1 on the team in shots (55) and shots on goal (30).
In fact, last year, she could have likely been drafted had she filed her papers.
But instead, she stayed at UW for a fifth season.
“College was so fun playing with my teammates,” she said. “I didn’t feel it was a key time to leave for the draft. I wasn’t done. I wasn’t quite ready. And a number of my teammates decided to stay for a fifth year.”
It didn’t help that the 2020 season was wiped out by COVID. The Huskies would eventually get a limited season the following spring.
“The COVID year took its toll on the players,” said Yates. “It was so weird. There were no fans at the few games we had (in the spring). Two parents could come. Then we were all told to go home and work out on our own.”
She felt that lost year stifled her growth.
That growth is important to keep getting better.
“From Chiawana to the University of Washington, the play was faster, the competition gets harder between high school and college,” Yates said. “And I’m sure it’s harder from college to professional play.”
Getting ready for the draft
Yates finally put her name in to be eligible to be drafted just before Christmas.
“I wanted to take more time to put together my profile,” she said.
She has hired an agent, and Yates herself has had conversations with the Portland Thorns and the Washington Spirit.
“Both conversations have been good,” she said. “But all of the teams are feeling me out.”
Yates said her agent is working behind the scenes, talking to all NWSL teams to let them know what kind of player she is.
Most soccer aficionados already know Yates’ resume.
“I think I’m creative out there. I love to be creative on offense,” she said. “Messi and Marta are the players I’ve always idolized. Being able to play fast is what I’m good at. I love playmaking and scoring goals.”
So Thursday’s draft will be a realization of one dream, and it should help her get to the next dream: playing in a World Cup or the Olympics for the USA.
To play with the national team, “it depends on how I perform at the next level.”
She’s already been part of the U.S. program.
She’s been a member of the U.S. Youth National Team since 2014, and has played for her country in tournaments in Italy, Netherlands, England, Australia, China, Spain, Switzerland, and the Dominican Republic.
Most recently, she has played for the USA U-23 team.
“But it was last March when the team played in a competition,” said Yates. “And we haven’t had many camps since then, since we were busy with our college teams.”
Her time may still come.
We’re coming into a Golden Age for women athletes from the Tri-Cities, and Yates could be the start of it.
It wouldn’t surprise me one bit to see Tri-Cities Prep grad and soccer standout McKenna Martinez — now starring at Oregon State — in this position in a few years.
Or Chiawana grad Talia von Oelhoffen looking at the WNBA in a few more years.
Or Southridge grad Therese Warner, now toiling on a minor tour, teeing it up on the LPGA Tour in these next few seasons.
And there could be more to come.
“I want to show these kids that it’s possible to do this,” said Yates.
Thursday’s draft watch party is free to the public.
▪ Before Hope Solo, Kamiakin grad Meotis Erikson played professionally for the Boston Breakers of the Women’s USA (WUSA) league in 2001-02, the the country’s top women’s league.
Erikson played collegiately at Notre Dame, scoring a career 59 goals and 46 assists to put her among the all-time best Irish players.
This story was originally published January 9, 2023 at 12:00 PM.