The American has already broken several NWSL records and is now poised to star for the U.S. at the U20 Women’s World Cup.
When Olivia Moultrie was just seven years old, she sat down, created a list of goals and effectively planned out the rest of her life. At the time, he looked a lot like any seven-year-old throwing a ball and had the same ambitions as many his age.
Number one: I wanted to be a professional soccer player. Number two: win championships. Number three: win a World Cup.
And number four: to be the best player in the world.
Somehow, the day he made that list and set those goals, Moultrie’s childhood ended. Every moment, every choice, every lawsuit, every training session and every match has been geared towards this fourth goal.
Now, at 16 years old, Moultrie can already say that he has fulfilled his main goal of turning pro.
In fact, he completed it three years ago, when he signed his first professional contract and thrust himself into the spotlight as the latest prodigy in American football.
Soccer in the United States has never met a player like Moultrie, a girl so singularly determined and passionate, yet kind and thoughtful. She’s probably the most atypical 16-year-old athlete on the planet, and more than likely the most self-conscious.
Nothing about Moultrie is normal because normal kids don’t become the best football players in the world; extraordinary ones do.
“I’m just living this life as a professional football player,” Moultrie says GOAL in an exclusive interview, “and sometimes other people have to pull me back and say, ‘What you’re doing is crazy.’ My dad stops me all the time and says it’s amazing.
“I’m so caught up in the moment of it, I just want more and more and more, and that’s why I work every day.
“Sometimes I have to have family members pull me back and say, ‘Liv, you’re only 16.’
“It’s crazy, but I want everything to happen so fast.”
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Fast is an understatement.
In the years since she made the list, Moultrie has become the youngest person to accomplish nearly everything there is to accomplish in American soccer without playing for the senior national team, establishing herself as a trailblazing prodigy who he has fans of all generations who hail him as a role model. .
He committed to the University of North Carolina at age 11 and quickly retired to turn pro at age 13.
At age 15, she and her family had sued the NWSL, alleging that the league violated the Sherman Antitrust Act with the age limit that prevented her from playing.
Before he turned 16, he had won that lawsuit, made his NWSL debut, made his first start and scored his first professional goal.
Now, in a year where she should be focusing on getting her driver’s license, Moultrie is focused on what she can do to help the Portland Thorns win an NWSL title.
He has made a total of 19 appearances for the Thorns and is now preparing for the U20 World Cup, where he will join the United States as the youngest member of the squad.
“I don’t want the normal 16-year-old life,” she says. “That’s why I chose this path. I don’t want to really think like, ‘Oh, I’m missing out’ because, no, this is all I’ve ever wanted.
“And now I’m ‘living the dream.’ I love what I’m doing and that’s why I chose to go into it and jump all the way.”
Moultrie, however, understands that he is missing out on some fundamental experiences, the ones that define life for most people his age.
She misses the weekend get-togethers, the school dances, the pep rallies, those quiet moments where she can be just like any other 16-year-old.
His family, however, tries to give him some normality.
“I love being a sister,” she says. “I have two younger sisters and that’s a big part of my life too. That’s my view of how, the norm, you know?
“Seeing them in their lives and emailing colleges and working for what they want, I’ve really enjoyed seeing that.
“I have an amazing family that supports me and that’s always a great thing that I love to tell the world because they deserve so much love for that. They’ve been behind me and I really appreciate it.”
Moultrie also appreciates the help she’s received along the way from teammates who, like it or not, were thrust into big sister roles the moment she showed up in Portland.
Christine Sinclair, Lindsey Horan, Tobin Heath, Emily Sonnett, Meghan Klingenberg… Moultrie rattles off the names of those who, at one point or another, have taken her under her wing.
“I wanted to grab myself and take in all the experience they had and just ask all these questions,” he says. “What’s that kind of life like for them? Because that’s what I want.”
Like his teammates, Moultrie has quickly become a role model. It is a somewhat unusual phenomenon.
A look at Moultrie’s social media pages yields a variety of responses, most of which would normally be aimed at World Cup winners, not teenagers.
“My daughters adore you,” says one. “Thank you for being such a great role model,” says another. One last: “The young woman who changed women’s soccer in the USA”
It can be overwhelming, but in the age of social media, it’s not something Moultrie can necessarily avoid, even if he wanted to.
Not that he does. She likes to be an example, a leader, a role model, like the women she grew up idolizing.
“I never went into this thinking that or expecting people to look at me and I’m going to be a role model,” she says. “You don’t believe this, but obviously this has become a side effect of everything I’ve done.
“It’s really cool for me. I definitely wanted to be someone who was able to inspire the younger generation, not just women, but men as well.
“All I’ve been fighting for is equal opportunity. We should have the same, the same opportunities that men have and we should be able to do the same things.
“We are capable of this and the world should allow it.”
Right now, though, Moultrie is still focused on those four main goals, though she’s adding a few more to the list.
“I want to be able to feel like I have the experience of a 25-year-old when I’m 18,” she says. “I’m trying to get everything together as quickly as possible.
“I want to win championships with the Portland Thorns. I would love to win the NWSL MVP. I think going to Europe is very realistic for me at some point.
“You grow up watching the Champions League and watching this and I would love to be able to compete in one of these and win one. It’s like a childhood dream. The Champions League, that’s the best thing in the world!
“The World Cups, the Olympics, all the international stuff is obviously very important, both with the Under-20s and then hopefully one day with the full team.
“My ultimate goal is to be the best player in the world, and that’s what I try to do every day.
“I know it sounds like a lot, but it’s just this exciting journey that I have to go on every day. I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
Big dreams for a girl who has already achieved unprecedented things. Can anyone or anything stop them from getting them? There is nothing so far.
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