Audrey's POV
"Whatcha doing Munchkin?" Ash asks.
"Just making sure I'm actually in the line up." I say then I check the line up for the umpteenth time.
1-Alyssa Naeher
5-Kelley O'Hara
7-Abby Dahlkemper
4-Becky Sauerbrunn
12-Tierna Davidson
8-Julie Ertz (C)
3-Sam Mewis
16-Rose Lavelle
17-Tobin Heath
23-Christen Press
14-Audrey Solo
"You're really on there Audrey."
"I'm so glad my Mom's here to see this." I mumble.
"You know she wouldn't miss it for the world" Ash says then she kisses my head. "Now go put your shirt on."
I nod then head to my locker and put my number 14 jersey on.
"Aww." Christen says.
"What?" Kelley asks.
"Look at Audrey's jersey." Christen says and points at my jersey.
"Aww." Ali says. "It says Mom."
We're playing England today in the first match of SheBelieves and we're doing that thing the team did last year during SheBelieves by putting names of women that inspire them and I put Mom on mine.
"Cute." Moe says.
"SUBS TO THE BENCH STARTERS TO THE TUNNEL." Someone shouts.
"Come on Little Solo." Tobin says so I follow her to the tunnel.
When I get into the tunnel I get in line behind Tierna then I wait for us to walk on the pitch. A minute later we are told to head onto the pitch so I follow my former conference rival onto the pitch then stand next to her as the anthems play. Once the anthems play we shake hands with England and the refs, take a picture of our jersey's then I head to the center circle.
As I wait for the game to start I look in the crowd and eventually find my Mom so I wave at her and she waves back.
"You ready Rugrat?" Christen asks and uses the nickname she and another of my aunt's has for me.
"Yep." I say as the whistle blows so I kick the ball back to Tierna then run up field with the rest of the team.
The first twenty or so minutes are sort of entertaining since both teams are trying to figure each other out, but no real chance occurs for either team.
In the 23rd minute we get a corner kick so I wait for Tobin to take the corner while I walk around the box. When the ref blows her whistle Tobin does her run up then she floats the ball into the box. As the ball floats into the box I lose my mark, who's Leah Williamson, then I jump up and head the ball past Mary Earps putting us up 1-0.
When the ball hits the net I run towards Tobin and as I run I kiss the tattoo of my Mom's name on my wrist which I've always done since I got the tattoo when I was 18.
"Nice goal Little Solo." Tobin says as I hug her.
"Nice cross Tobs." I say as the other girls join our hug.
Once I've hugged everyone Kelley grabs the ball throws it to the bench for them to keep since it's my first goal. We then all head to our side of the pitch and get ready for the restart.
The rest of the first half consists of us attacking the English goal, but nothing happens so when the first half ends we head to the locker room 1-0 up.
During half-time I sit in my locker and drink water then follow the rest of the starters back onto the pitch fifteen minutes later. Once both teams are on the pitch England kick off the second half.
In the 52nd minute Steph Houghton passes the ball up to Jordan Nobbs so I run towards the Englishwoman. When the ball gets to Nobbs I tackle the ball away from her then I run towards the ball as it rolls towards Williamson. Right before the ball gets to the centre back I get to it, roulette the ball around her, then run towards goal. The English keeper then comes out of her goal so I side foot the ball around her and into the bottom corner of the goal putting us up 2-0.
"YEAH AUDI." Sam says as I turn around and kiss the tattoo of my Mom's name.
My teammates get to me and hug me then we get back to our side a few seconds before the English restart the game.
In the 66th minute we earn a goal kick so Alyssa plays the ball to Kelley who then turns and jogs upfield. One of the English women pressure Kelley so she passes to Julie. Julie then crosses the ball over to Tobin so Christen and I run towards the ball. When Tobin gets the ball she runs towards the endline so I run towards the near post.
As I cross into the 18 yard box Tobin crosses the ball towards me so I volley the ball into the near post giving us a 3-0 lead and giving me a hat trick on my debut.
After the ball hits the net I turn around and run towards my Mom while kissing the tattoo of her name. When I get to My Mom I pull my self up into the stands then hug I my Mom.
"I'm so proud of you." Mom says then she kisses my head. "And I really like your jersey."
"I love you Mom." I say.
"I love you too Babygirl." Mom says. "Now I think you have a game to finish.
Mom kisses my head one last time then I jump out of the stands and run back onto the pitch.
Once on the pitch I get a yellow for my celebration, but I shrug and wait a few seconds for the English to restart the game.
In the 72nd minute there's a stoppage in play then the ref points to the sub board so I look and see my number up in red along with Mal's number, which is up in green.
When I recognize my number is on the board I walk over to Mal, hug her, then head towards the bench.
"Great Job Audrey" Vlatko says as he hands me a water bottle and a bib.
"Thanks." I say then I head to the bench and sit down
"Well Damn Munchkin." Ash says as I gulp down water. "What a debut."
"Thanks." I say as one of the trainers hands me my inhaler then I take a few pumps to alleviate my lungs.
The rest of the game I rest on the bench and once the whistle blows I shake hands with everyone then we do our post game team huddle. After the huddle we walk around the stadium and sign stuff then we all head towards the tunnel.
"SOLO, SAUERBRUNN, HEATH." Someone yells as I get into the tunnel. "You three have media duties."
I follow Tobin and Becky to the media room then I sit down in-between them and wait for my questions.
"Audrey your the first transgender player..." a reporter says but I cut him off.
"I apologize for cutting you off, but I'm not transgender." I say. "I'm just a girl who was born with a male appendage...and before anyone says it doesn't matter, yes it does matter. I don't want to steal the title of first transgender US Women's National Team player when someone who actually is transgender deserves that recognition."
"Um I mean no disrespect, but how do you know your a women?" Someone asks.
"Well for one I have a pretty impressive pair of boobs." I say causing everyone to laugh. "Also I've been tested as a child and I was tested by the NCAA before I started playing for the University of Washington and all my hormones and everything establish that I'm a female."
"Are your teammates comfortable with changing around you and being around you?" A lady asks.
"I think so." I say and look at Becky and Tobin. "I mean I grew up around them so they know me for me and a lot of them would baby me as a child and help me change into my clothes if my Mom was in a meeting or something."
"Anything else to add?" The reporter lady asks and looks at my Aunt Tobin and my Aunt Becky.
"We love Audrey." Becky says and Tobin nods.
"None of us have ever cared about the way she was born." Tobin says then she side hugs me. "She always has been and always will be my Little Solo and nothing can ever change that."
"Audrey you have the record in the NCAA for most goals scored so why do you think you weren't called up during college?"
"You really think Jill Ellis would call up another Solo after what happened with my Mom?" I question.
"Audrey with how things went with your Mom back in 2016 has that changed any of your relationships with the players on the team?"
"Most of the relationships are great, some are fractured and we're working on gluing them back together, and a few are broken and will most likely stay that way."