You Make Me Wanna Leave The One I'm With, Start A New Relationship...with OL Lyonnes

The past week saw WOSO take a break for international duty, but that doesn’t mean it was a busy week. We have one coach announcing his departure from an NWSL team, while another coach made his official arrival. End of the Month awards were given out for the league, and we all anticipated several marque matchups this weekend. Elsewhere in the women’s sports universe, we had a three game series in the Women’s College World Series that gave us thrills, and a deep knowledge of “articles” in the rulebook. Hopefully women’s sports brought you joy this week, and if not, there’s still time. Let’s get started.

We have merch!

It’s still Pride month (go gays!), and we at Shea Butter want to honor Pride with our first ever kit. Shea Butter Pride 25 is now on sale, in two colors (teal is the goal keeper kit). This kit was done in collaboration with Olive & York (highly recommend), and tells the story of our show and what Pride means to us. We hope this kit honors all of the ways that Shea Butter FC and the LGBTQ+ community matter to you. We think it does. Don’t delay, get yours now!

Don’t forget to check out our newest line of Don’t Play Out The Back shirts, now in tie dye. These are still fresh of the presses, so you can get our most popular shirt in even more colors! We hope you like having even more ways to tell your favorite team Don’t Play Out The Back. Available in multiple color options at the link below (minty rainbow is one of 5 color options)

Match Recaps and Notable Goal Scorers

All the ballers wore kits for their country this week, so we’ll check in with a few of the most notable Shea Butter Bombs and Booms.

International goals of note

United States 3, China 0 - Cat Macario 28

United States 4, Jamaica 0 - Lynn Biyendolo 60, 88

Brazil 3, Japan 1 - Kerolin 59

Brazil 2, Japan 1 - Jhonson 79

France 4, Switzerland 0 - Sandy (Not Charli) Baltimore 19, Grace Geyoro 56

France 2, Iceland 0 - Sandy (Not Charli) Balitmore 74, Grace Geyoro 85

Iceland 1, Norway 1 - Sveindís Jónsdóttir 16

TST

Just wanted to give a massive shoutout to our people covering TST this weekend. First of all, shoutout to friend of the pod Kayla Mills, playing for Bumpy Pitch, who finished in first place in their group and will take on Austin Rise FC in the quarterfinals. TST is such a great tournament to discover players you didn’t know or that you’ve forgotten were ballers. And a special shoutout to THEE Eboni Navidad, our resident intern/wunderkind Anessa Myers, and our newest photographer Arden Reimer. They’re killin it in North Carolina, and we cannot wait to share their work in the coming weeks.

Black In Action: Jhonson

Listen, the kids are alright all over the world. Meet Jhonson, former futsal player and one of the Brazilian teenagers looking to call next. It was hard to find a ready made clip of this goal, but she’s an amazing of combination of speed and technique. In a limited amount of time, it already looks like she’s clicking with Kero, who is playing lights out for country these days. Brazil still has work to do, but they look like they have a very deep talent pool and a fire to win at home in 2027. Jhonson looks like she’ll be a big part of that when the time comes. Get to know her.

Cultural Cuts: The Current Moment

Check out the latest episode of The Current Moment, where Thom is joined by friend of the pod Lesley Ryder of GalPal Sports to talk about the Kansas City Current vs Chicago Stars matchup. It’s a good one.

Final Thoughts: This Section of for DC Fans

Hi all, I’m turning this section over to our D.C reporter Riss Willett this week. She spoke with Spirit fans this week about the announcement of Jona Giraldez leaving the Washington Spirit for OL Lyonnes at the end of June. Please read her words below, and hug a Spirit fan.

Giráldez on the Move

by Riss Willett

This week is a little different with the international break. We did get some surprising news out of the club. Jona Giráldez will leave the club at the end of June to accept a head coaching position to another team Michele Kang owns in Europe OL Lyonnes. With the news of his departure it was also announced that Adrián González will take over the team officially as head coach on July 18th, giving him the break to regroup with their new coach before the season picks back up in August. Instead of hearing from me in this week’s recap, I spoke to a few fans of the team to get their reactions on this move right before the long break. Giráldez will coach his last game with the Spirit on June 22nd against the San Diego Wave. This is a long transition for Adrián González before officially taking over, and the table is tight right now with San Diego currently in 2nd place with new head coach Jonas Eidevall. I think it is a disservice to González to not be coaching as big of a game as this before the break. Enough from me though let's get to the important part, The fans. It's no secret the fans have been behind this team through thick and thin and this news is no different when it comes to sticking with the team. I wanted to give fans the chance to be heard this week and tell how they feel about this move. I asked Nate, Aaron, Crystal, and Rashi on how they felt about the news of Jona Giráldez departing the Spirit for OL Lyonnes.

I spoke with Rashi and ultimately she had this to say about Jona leaving and Adrián González taking over. “I am concerned that all of Kang’s different clubs are being treated as one club. This team is not an asset portfolio. As a fan, I worry about how the transition may impact our injury-struck team. I am glad they are promoting Adrián González since he has a strong established record.” Nate had a different take on the departure focusing more on the constant turnover of coaches.“ It's really disappointing and a terrible look for the team. I feel bad for the players who have experienced so much instability in the past few years. We will probably never know what the reasons are behind the departure, but I can't help but feel like Kang's European teams are becoming her priority.”

Crystal had a lot to say about the changes but this is what stuck out to me. “Objectively I’m really disappointed and upset for the athletes and long term staff. They deserve stability and consistency - these are their careers we’re talking about, not just casual pick up soccer. It’s just a really unfortunate situation, but I really feel for the international players who’ve uprooted their lives and their family’s lives to play for Jona.” And lastly I spoke to Aaron who said, “Kang said that she wants The Spirit to be the best team in North America and one to the best teams in the world, so a coaching change of this magnitude - with what I assume would be staffing changes to go along with Giráldez’s departure - doesn’t give me a lot of confidence that those ambitions are true at this moment in time. That being said, I am all in on Adrian as the leader of this team. He seems to be much more adept at fostering the kind of genuine relationships the players have highlighted time and time again as being a strength of the team. He also has shown an understanding of how the league works and how to manage players accordingly.”

In the end they all did mention Kang and her owning multiple teams is clearly having an affect on her focus of the Spirit. A lot of fans are concerned about this ownership structure and the club not being her top priority. Additionally, most seem happy that Adrián is taking over the team and his record from 2024 does give fans some ease as far as him knowing the players, having coached them before. This will be a pivotal time for Washington and Jona’s last 3 games. We will see how González handles taking over the team. Time will tell how the rest of this season shakes out for them, hopefully for the better.