Maren McCrary is retracing her professional soccer steps in Lexington Forrest Tucker — WTVQWTVQ

LEXINGTON, Ky. (ABC36 NEWS NOW)- If Maren McCrary is dreaming then she doesn’t want anyone to wake her up.

A Super Chance for Soccer

For the first time in United States soccer history, two top tier women’s professional leagues are kicking a ball. McCrary is a part of the action as Lexington SC is playing in the inaugural season of the United Soccer League Super League (USLSL).

“I never could have imagined that we’d have two professional leagues in this country with soccer specific stadiums being built for women,” said McCrary, the assistant coach for Lexington Sporting Club’s women’s professional soccer team.

“It’s an incredible opportunity and that’s one reason why I took advantage of the opportunity when I had the chance to come. I got to be a part of history as a player,” said McCrary.

While her players are taking every step into uncharted territory, their coach seems to be retracing hers. Maren’s story begins back in a dorm room at Brigham Young University in the summer of 1999.

One Kick Changed Everything

Women’s soccer has been on a rollercoaster ride since the legendary moment Brandi Chastain slotted her 1999 Women’s World Cup winning penalty kick past China’s Gao Hong.

Chastain, who then won the U.S. Women’s National Team its second World Cup, is an inspiration for female footballers. You can count McCrary as one of them.

“I remember watching the 1999 World Cup and 18 months later playing with those women,” McCrary, who was a senior at BYU. “I thought we had made huge strides at that point.”

The Women’s World Cup win snowballed into the creation of the nation’s first professional soccer league for women. In 2000, McCrary was drafted by the Carolina Courage as the Women’s United Soccer Association (WUSA) began play.

“We loved every aspect of it. I loved every moment of ‘Oh my gosh. I’m getting paid money to play the game that I love.’” said McCrary.

Maren later played for the San Jose Cyber Rays until she medically retired as the league folded in 2003.

20 Years of Ups and Downs

The end of the WUSA was just the beginning of countless peaks and valleys in the women’s game across the U.S.

In 2008, the Women’s Professional Soccer league (WPS) was formed, but only lasted until 2012 when it folded. The same year, the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) was developed.

To date, the NWSL is the longest running women’s professional league in the country and has 14 teams including Racing Louisville FC.

The league has reached several positive milestones (landmark collective bargaining agreements, building soccer specific stadiums and attracting investments from billionaires) and experienced some damaging events including findings of sexual harassment and teams folding.

The NWSL stood alone as the top league in the women’s pro soccer landscape until USLSL came into the picture in 2024. The mission of the new league is to expand opportunities for women to play professional soccer and grow the game.

A Full Circle Moment

Throughout that time period, McCrary was coaching. College, U.S. national team and sports ambassador roles lined her resume before Lexington came calling.

In the Bluegrass, Maren mentors players who are wearing the shoes she once wore. The hands on and always enthusiastic coach has no shortage of street cred with the Gals in Green.

“She leads by example. She’s been out on the field playing with us, slicing and dicing, scoring goals, hitting us,” said midfielder and forward Madi Parsons. “She goes hard when she plays with us and it definitely encourages us to play hard.”

Every moment Maren spends with the team is a reminder that women’s soccer is rising to heights no one has seen before.

“To see the growth we’ve had with women’s soccer in this county in the last 20 years has been phenomenal,” said McCrary.

It doesn’t seem like you’ll need to pinch her anytime soon.