You’d be hard-pressed to find someone with a soccer journey quite like Samantha Rosette’s.
After finishing her NCAA career at Villanova University, Rosette, a Bronx native who goes by “Sam,” got a call from her agent. Her childhood dreams of playing professionally were finally coming true, and she had a contract offer on the table to play abroad—in Kazakhstan. After looking it up on a map, Rosette, being the natural trailblazer she is, accepted.
It was a crucial step in a career that defies easy categorization. Shortly after signing, she was making her debut in the UEFA Women’s Champions League, the most prestigious club competition in professional soccer. A season later, she was plying her trade in Lithuania. By the next year, she found herself in France, still chasing her dream of being the best player she could be.
Now, two years on from returning home to captain the newly founded Brooklyn FC, Rosette’s dreams have changed. As she put it in the recent, surprising announcement of her retirement, “I spent the last 24 years of my life getting better at the game, and this next chapter will be about bettering the game.” For Rosette, bettering the game is about leaving the world of women’s soccer in a stronger place than she found it—especially here in New York City. To do that, Rosette helps today’s pros through The Players Network and shapes tomorrow’s stars through her local She Can Play clinics.
For someone who’s sought to improve the women’s soccer scene from top to bottom in the City, it’s fitting that her playing journey, which started as a kid up in Van Cortlandt Park, ended down in Coney Island at Brooklyn FC’s Maimonides Park. From here on out, Rosette’s focus lies in all things women’s soccer.
Youth players from South Bronx United Academy practice at Macombs Dam Park during the Bronx edition of the She Can Play Subway Series, a girls' soccer clinic hosted by Samantha
What was it like growing up in New York City?
Samantha Rosette: I stand by the fact that New York City is one of the best places to grow up. You can’t learn about the world and the diversity of people like this anywhere else. I think that’s so special, and it gave me such an incredible viewpoint into community, why it’s so important, how to foster it, and also how to mesh with so many different cultures all around you, and how beautiful that is.
Left, Samantha at Van Cortlandt Park. Photo: Sara Messinger. Right, a childhood photo of Samantha. Courtesy, Samantha Rosette
Courtesy, Samantha Rosette
How did you first get into soccer? What was your experience like playing here as a kid?
SR: As a kid, just by playing pickup in Van Cortlandt Park with a bunch of old men and my dad. Honestly, I think that was when my parents and I knew that I was gung ho on soccer, because I wanted to be playing with 45-year-old dudes on a Sunday morning at 9am. I was this little thing, like six years old or something, but I just loved it. Half the time, I didn’t know what anyone was saying because they were speaking four other languages on the same pitch, and I thought that was just awesome. Growing up, there weren’t any high-level girls’ soccer teams here in New York City. That’s a big reason why I’m doing my She Can Play clinic. It’s changed a lot now, but there was nothing that was going to get you to a Division I school, really. So, I had to play on a team out in New Jersey, the Stallions. I really credit my parents, because I was taking two buses and a train to get there. Then, my dad took a job in New Jersey so that he wouldn’t have to pay the toll twice, because we couldn’t afford that. He would pick me up on the side of the road in New Jersey once I crossed the George Washington Bridge and drive me the rest of the way.
Girls from South Bronx United Academy working on fundamentals during Samantha's She Can Play clinic
What are the She Can Play clinics?
SR: I am partnering with youth clubs in [the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn]. They reach out to the girls within their team and within their community, and get them out to the clinic. I put on the clinic in collaboration with some of their youth coaches on their home pitches. That was the piece that was really important to me because I spent so much time leaving to go play at a high level, or to see a professional player or to see a professional game. As a professional player, I wanted to go to their pitches so that it was something within their community, their home, so they felt like this was achievable for them. That creates a connection that is really special and tangible for kids to pick up on.
What was your experience like playing abroad?
SR: I got to see parts of the world that I never would have seen otherwise, and I got to meet really incredible people along the way, in my teammates. Honestly, I think that being from New York made it easier for me, because I had a very international experience playing soccer growing up. When you go abroad, you’re no longer playing in your native language most of the time, so I already had this experience of soccer being a universal language—even if you can’t communicate with your teammates all that well.
What is The Players Network?
SR: Me and my two cofounders, Brianne Reed and Gabby Cuevas, started The Players Network (TPN) during all of our careers abroad because we were frustrated with the current state of trying to navigate playing professionally, specifically abroad. [There’s still a lack of] professionalism when going through the process of getting a contract, dealing with an agent and navigating moving to a new country. We wanted to have players be able to help one another through that process. Our mission statement is: “By players, for players, to empower players.” We host professional combines, and we host seminars with college and semipro teams to educate players on the realities of playing professionally before they get there. It started out as just a little group chat, and now it’s boomed to almost 800 professional players. We have 130 different countries represented, 35 different passports. It’s been one of the most fulfilling things that has come out of my career, for sure.
Samantha watches as girls from South Bronx United Academy practice at the She Can Play clinic
What was it like returning home to play for Brooklyn FC?
SR: The beauty of coming home to play for Brooklyn FC was that I got to be a part of the first professional women’s soccer team playing within New York City’s limits. If an eight-year-old me got to take a subway to watch a professional women’s soccer game, I think my mind would have exploded. I didn’t know what to expect, really. It was a brand-new league, a brand-new team, and I was just excited to be able to build something in my home city. To be a part of that felt like a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I just had to go for. Also, just the experience out on Coney Island [at Maimonides Park], next to the beach with the roller coasters in the background—it’s got a really fun feel, and a very unique New York feel.
What are your favorite things to do now that you’re back in New York?
SR: One of the biggest draws for me coming back to play in New York was playing in front of my family. Both my parents live here, one of my siblings, my nephew, all my cousins—it’s a pretty special thing to be able to have everybody around and get to spend quality time with them. I love going to poetry slams at the Nuyorican Cafe. I love rooftop restaurants and bars, and just trying out different coffee shops. Shout-out to Wilka’s; they’re a women’s sports bar that recently opened on the Lower East Side. They are awesome. And shout-out to Saturdays Football, I love them.
How could the World Cup influence American soccer culture?
SR: I think that it can have a huge impact on American soccer culture. This thing that has felt huge in other countries, that hasn’t been so huge for us, is suddenly in our home, and we’re getting to experience the world’s excitement about it in our own cities. I think that it should be more accessible to people than it is right now, and I hope that changes are made in order to make the games more accessible to everyday fans that want to experience the beauty of football, because that’s what the World Cup is about.
What went into your retirement decision?
SR: I just felt ready. For my whole life, I was really invested and passionate about being the best possible player that I could be, and I found myself feeling less invested in that piece of the game, less excited in perfecting my craft, and equally as excited about other things that I was doing off the pitch, like TPN, for example. I am learning to dream new dreams now. I’m still very invested in being part of the football world, in player advocacy, in helping to build systems and structures that maintain and build player sustainability within the booming women’s game. I’m just excited to be a part of this wave of excitement in the women’s game.
Read more about soccer in NYC and get ready for the World Cup!