Croix Bethune created NWSL history. Now she is ready for the Olympics

TThe U.S. women’s soccer team faces familiar pressure to win gold at the Olympics. But for new manager Emma Hayes and a younger generation of talent, this tournament is as much about redefining their story and building for the future as it is about winning a title.

The 18-player roster has an average age of 26.8. That’s the fourth-youngest roster the U.S. has ever sent to the Olympics and the youngest since 2008. And few players embody the squad’s tenacity better than Washington Spirit midfielder Croix Bethune.

At 23, Bethune already rules the NWSL. Her ball skills are remarkable, matched only by her intelligence. And while her introduction to the senior national team is recent—her senior debut was in July—Bethune is sliding into the ranks of the four-time gold medalists with the same poise she displays in the final third of the court.

“I just say it’s natural. It’s just me,” Bethune says. “But I also just keep my head down and work. I don’t necessarily go looking for things. They come to me and when they come to me, I just feel like I’m doing what I’m supposed to do. So I just keep going.”

Bethune attended her first training camp in June. Interestingly, Bethune’s first session with the senior team was Hayes’ first camp under Hayes’ leadership.[It was] “A lot of positive energy, but also learned a lot,” Bethune says about the camp.

She immediately liked the new boss. [Hayes] has a lot of knowledge and she’s very smart. I would say she’s straight forward and just has a great personality.”

Those early training periods, combined with her record-breaking form in the NWSL, earned Bethune a reserve spot on the Olympic roster. She has now been promoted to the main roster as a replacement for Jaedyn Shaw. Changes to the tournament roster rules mean that a reserve can take the place of an injured player before returning to the reserve once the player returns. With Shaw struggling with a leg injury, Hayes has selected Bethune to fill the forward’s spot.

But the appointment of Bethune as replacement was itself a signal that Hayes had an eye on the future this summer.

Like her coach, Bethune’s story spans both sides of the Atlantic. She began playing soccer at just three years old in Atlanta. But two years later, her family moved to England, where Bethune blossomed into the technical midfielder we see today.

“When I started in England I realised that football was really my thing,” says Bethune.

The sparks started when Bethune, who says she was about 5 at the time, watched her brother practice. Even though he’s four years older and played on the boys’ team, Bethune stepped in when her brother’s team needed someone to help crunch the numbers.

“I was at training and they needed an extra player, and little Croix was just standing there,” Bethune says. “They asked me if I wanted to play. So I jumped in training and played with guys who were about four years older than me. And from there it really took off. I just trained with them until the girls’ team in England came up.”

Bethune says that over the course of a few years of playing on her brother’s team, she gained experience but also discovered how good she was. Despite the age gap between her and the older boys, she had no trouble keeping up. Bethune says her parents tell her stories about how “shocked” everyone was. She didn’t just fit in; she stood out.

The style she developed there still sets her apart. Bethune works in tight spaces, with the ball at her feet, and is a calm, creative conductor in midfield. She traces that back to her time in England, where she trained with the boys’ team in London in an indoor facility where she practiced bouncing the ball off a wall.

“You have the wall barrier, where you can play against the wall,” Bethune says. “I feel like it’s helped me realize that I have support, and then you can do a little wall pass to yourself, or a wall pass to someone else, just realizing where the spaces are.”

The work paid off. With a refined passing vision and deft touch in the final third, Bethune has become one of the game’s most innovative and effective creators. She leads the NWSL in assists as a rookie and breaks records as the fastest player in league history to notch eight assists in just 11 games. With just half of the regular season remaining, Bethune’s next assist will tie Tobin Heath’s record for most in a regular season.

But as much as she’s shined as a facilitator, Bethune’s game is still developing. She’s started adding goals to her games, scoring five this season for the third-place Spirit. Only Sophia Smith, Temwa Chawinga and Barbra Banda have more combined goals and assists in the NWSL this season. Bethune’s early production has earned her Rookie of the Month honors three months in a row, another mark she checked off early in her professional career.

As Bethune reflects on her game, it’s clear that her time in England isn’t just evident in her playing style. It’s also evident in the way she describes it. Bethune describes her deft handling of the ball as “cheeky” and says she’s developed a “high football IQ.” She adds: “I’m cheeky too. I like flair.”

But there are American intonations, too. When you hear her talk about how she views the court, it’s hard not to think of a WNBA star mapping the court and drawing a double team so they can throw an open bucket to a teammate. “Getting my teammates involved is key,” Bethune says. “Just understanding where there’s space, and if there’s two people pulling toward me, then clearly someone else is open.”

It’s tough for any attacking player to break into the U.S. starting lineup. But while Mallory Swanson, Lindsey Horan and Sophia Smith are natural finishers, Bethune is the type who can marshal an attack. Fans clamored for her inclusion in Hayes’ Olympic plans. But she was understandably held back initially, with the main roster limited to 18 players and Bethune’s lack of experience.

Shaw’s ongoing injury has now given Bethune the chance to get some minutes. Hayes made five substitutions in the team’s comfortable 3-0 win over Zambia in their opening match, but Bethune was kept on the bench. However, if Shaw continues to miss time, Bethune is likely to be the preferred choice as the coach continues to juggle a small squad. Should that happen, we can expect her to do so with the same flair and enjoyment that catapulted the Spirit midfielder to this lofty level.