Melanie Barcenas: U.S. Soccer’s Rising Star
From a young age, Melanie Barcenas has been a role model and a revolutionary soccer player admired by the United States. Barcenas had a fascinating upbringing in her successful international and professional soccer career.
Growing Up
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Barcenas grew up in San Diego, California, playing for San Diego Surf since U-7’s. At nine, she was on the cover of TIME Magazine, featuring an article about youth sports. She played club soccer in the ECNL until her high school years when she shocked the soccer community by signing a contract with the San Diego Wave.
Professional Career
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What was especially unique about her decision to go pro was her age. At 15 years old, Barcenas was the youngest player ever to sign professionally. Following Olivia Moultrie’s precedent, Barcenas did so through the NWSL U-18 Mechanism that allows players under 18 to play professionally given certain qualifications. During this time, Barcenas additionally signed an NIL deal with Nike.
Across the 2023 regular season and Challenge Cup, Melanie Barcenas appeared in twelve matches with the San Diego Wave, where she made two starts and assisted one goal. She is a standout player who can keep composure on the ball when the pressure is high and find her way out of difficult scenarios. Additionally, her ball distribution is super accurate, and her shots have proven dangerous on goal, recording eight shots on target.
U.S. Youth National Team
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Barcenas has played as a forward for both Mexico and the United States youth national teams. In 2022, Barcenas attended a training camp for the Mexico U-17 national team. She has made 11 appearances with the USYNT and has recently been a part of the U-17 CONCACAF roster, where the team won the championship. Barcenas scored a goal against Canada in the group stage.
Melanie Barcenas has a promising future with the USYNT and San Diego Wave, as she will be playing with them for the next three years per her contract. As the off-season has ended and training has recently begun, we are excited to see Melanie Barcenas’ second season as a professional player.
Featured image via @mel.barcenas on Instagram
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