Sarah Gorden on Motherhood, Money, and Making It Work

The Angel City captain on building a career — and a life — on her terms.

Fitness Apr 30, 2026 0 2 Add to Reading List

Sarah Gorden on Motherhood, Money, and Making It Work

Eleven seasons into her professional career, and Sarah Gorden finally has a career she can build a life around — on and off the pitch. As captain of the National Women's Soccer League's Angel City FC and mom to 12-year-old son, Caiden, Gorden's a multi-hyphenate: professional soccer player, fashion designer, and philanthropist.

Her latest project? Saera (pronounced like “Sarah”), her new fashion line. Picture pieces that work whether you’re heading out, staying in, or want to look cute while bedrotting. It all fits, and that’s a metaphor for Gorden’s own life.

That extends to HoodSpace, her nonprofit, which connects her love of yoga to something bigger: creating space for girls and women of color in her hometown of Chicago to tap into mindfulness, movement, and community. Through special events, she helps people find their flow.

And that’s partially due to the changes sweeping the NWSL allowing players to build a full, rich life. “The biggest change is the salary,” the Angel City FC defender says. “Being able to actually make a living and take care of my family — that’s everything.” That shift, along with better support for parents, from stipends to childcare resources, marks a very different reality from when Gorden first entered the NWSL in 2016. Back then, she had to figure out how to make pro soccer work at the same time she was becoming a mom.

“It really wasn’t sustainable,” she says. And yet, she did it anyway. Here, how she shows up authentically:

On wanting to be like Mia Hamm

“I remember being like 12 or 13 and saying I wanted to be a professional soccer player, like Mia Hamm. And someone told me to be realistic. It’s funny now, looking back, because this is what I do.”

On when it became real

“It wasn’t until my junior or senior year of college — after I had my son — that I realized this could actually be a career. I could get drafted. I could keep playing. But the pay, the structure — it just wasn’t built to support that kind of life. I think sometimes going in with a little bit of that naive energy ends up working out better in the long run.”

On what’s changed in the NSWL

“It’s not just salary. It’s the support. Especially as a mom. It’s night and day. Being able to actually make a living and take care of my family — that’s everything.”

On Saera and dressing for real life

“I’ve always loved fashion — from getting dressed in the morning to high fashion runways. I get inspired really easily — nature, people, my teammates, just being in LA. Everything I’ve experienced, good and bad, shows up in what I want to create.”

On HoodSpace and creating space for others

“I needed space in my life. I was really emotional and didn’t know how to process it. Yoga and meditation helped guide me through that. It’s about giving people access to something that helped me.”

On leadership

“You have to read the energy. Sometimes you speak. Sometimes you just show up in the way your team needs. When you’re really connected to your team, it makes those moments a lot easier.”