Sports
Landon Donovan on San Diego Wave gig: 'I don't worry about the next job'
From the San Diego Wave hotel in Panama City, Landon Donovan addressed reporters for the first time since being named the team’s interim head coach. The former U.S. men’s national team forward said he has a “steep” learning curve as he coaches women’s professional soccer for the first time, but it’s a challenge he can’t wait to start.
“Every day, I wake up after not sleeping because I’m so excited. My wife’s like, ‘Why are you out of bed again at 3 a.m.?’ I’m excited to do this every day, and the project’s phenomenal. There’s amazing resources,” Donovan said. He said Wave ownership has promised to help him achieve whatever he wants for the team, something any head coach — interim or not — would like to hear.
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The Wave traveled early to Panama ahead of their first CONCACAF W Champions Cup match against Santa Fe FC on Tuesday night, in part to get Donovan some extra time with the team, as it’s only had a handful of training sessions since he took over. Donovan wants to balance stabilizing the team with implementing his ideas, while also being aware that Wave president Jill Ellis and general manager Cami Ashton value the CONCACAF tournament as much as they do the NWSL playoffs.
Monday, Donovan said he had spoken directly with the Wave’s leadership group — and planned to speak to defender Naomi Girma once she returns from her break following the Olympics — and planned to meet with over a dozen players later in the day.
The Wave won the 2023 NWSL Shield, earning them a spot in the Champions Cup. (Elsa / Getty Images)
“It’s important for me to get to know them as individuals quickly,” he said. “I want to get to know them as human beings. We spend a lot of time on that, and we build real human connections with our players, and that’s important for me.”
Donovan said multiple times that he’s been impressed by the speed at which the players are picking up new ideas, but he stressed there’s more to it than tactics as he hits the ground running with the 10th-place Wave.
How Donovan got the Wave job
Donovan’s connections with the Wave go beyond his time as head coach of the former USL Championship men’s team, the San Diego Loyal, and the crossover the teams had early in the Wave’s existence.
“I’ve known Jill (Ellis) since 2015. I was at the World Cup final in Vancouver, and we spent a lot of time together after the match and got to know each other,” Donovan said of his connection to the former USWNT head coach. “She’s an incredible human being. She’s an incredible leader. We’ve kept in touch over time.”
Donovan said he had texted Ellis when the team was going through “a hard time.”
The Wave are currently in 10th place but only 3 points out from the final playoff spot, thanks to the league’s expanded playoff format. In June, the team parted ways with head coach Casey Stoney, who had led it to win the NWSL Shield in 2023, earning the team a spot in the CONCACAF W Champions Cup.
Last month, Ellis was accused of workplace abuse, which she denied. The NWSL confirmed that Ellis and the Wave were the subject of reports of misconduct, which the league investigated via an independent third party. No league policy violations were found. At the end of July, Ellis filed a lawsuit against a former Wave employee who alleged workplace misconduct on social media.
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Ellis texted Donovan back, asking if he had any interesting coaching candidates for her to consider.
“I didn’t (immediately) respond to the message,” Donovan said Monday. “I thought about it for a little bit that evening. I talked to my wife. I said: ‘I love San Diego. We’ve loved watching and supporting the Wave. I miss coaching. Maybe I should think about it.’”
He replied to Ellis, saying that if she was interested in having the conversation, he’d be ready to talk.
“That’s how it started, and now we’re here,” he said. Those conversations, according to Donovan, were “really open and honest.” They were about building something identifiable, something the club as a whole could be proud of. Donovan said that with Ashton stabilizing the soccer side of the staff, they needed someone to help stabilize things with players, particularly “confidence and culture.”
How Donovan’s experience can help the Wave
“My No. 1 core value is compassion,” Donovan said Monday, citing his experience with mental health. He said he was fully aware of what the players have been through, not just this year but throughout their careers.
“I don’t view this as purely a soccer job,” he said. “My job is to have a positive impact on their life every day. That doesn’t have to be on the field.”
He brought up a recent conversation he had with San Diego and U.S. forward Alex Morgan after she was left off the Olympic roster.
“I went through the same thing that she went through this summer. I got left off a team, and I have the ability to empathize because I went through that,” Donovan said. “We had a long talk — ‘How do you make the last stretch of your career still positive?’ I was able to come back and win a championship that season with my team, and that was the lasting impression of that season, not getting cut.”
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Landon Donovan spoke to Alex Morgan after she was left off the U.S. Olympic roster. (Ira L. Black – Corbis / Getty Images)
Donovan was also asked about his approach to developing younger talent, like 16-year-olds Melanie Barcenas and Kimmi Ascanio. He leaned again on his experience.
“I’ve been in (Barcenas’) shoes. I was a 16-year-old who had a lot of talent that people were talking about, and I know exactly what she’s going through. So that will be one of my personal projects, for sure,” he said. He has yet to see Ascanio play in person due to some injuries, but he’s watched the film, and he mentioned other young players such as Jaedyn Shaw.
But Donovan remained consistent about his objective.
“Because of all the experiences I’ve been through, I think I can connect with them on a really personal level,” he said. “If I make them better soccer players, that’s great, and I think I will, but I want to make them better human beings too.”
Does Donovan view this job as a stepping stone?
Though Donovan holds a U.S. soccer A-level coaching license, he has no experience in the NWSL or professional women’s soccer, and some questioned whether he viewed the Wave job as a potential stepping stone.
US soccer legend Landon Donavon is set to become the San Diego Wave interim coach 🌊🇺🇸@susannahcollins, @Nicocantor1, @CharlieDavies9 and @TMeola1 weigh in on the new appointment 👇 pic.twitter.com/sMwCYiCYgk
— Attacking Third (@AttackingThird) August 16, 2024
“Let me share something that I’ve never shared publicly before because that’s an interesting take from people,” Donovan said Monday. “I’ve been offered four MLS jobs in my life since I started coaching, and I turned down all of them.”
Donovan said there were a few reasons for declining those offers, including his love of San Diego and his desire to work with “good people.” For Donovan, the Wave gig checks both boxes.
“There is no better place in the world for me to be working right now than where I’m working with the Wave. I am so content and so at peace, and so I understand why people question that, or question my motivation or whatever,” he continued. “People questioned my motivation when I didn’t play in Europe my whole career. I was happy to play in LA and help grow MLS around good people and have passion for a project that I believed in and be close to my family.
“I don’t worry about the next job or the next gig or what this means or a stepping stone. I am present and happy to be here, and I want to help this team succeed.”
He did say the door is open to a permanent position, but his contract only goes through the end of the 2024 season.
“If one side doesn’t want it or the other, no problem. There’s no hard feelings, and we’ll move on,” Donovan said. “But let’s put our whole heart into it and go for it, and then we’ll figure out where we go from there.”
(Top photo: John Wilkinson / ISI Photos / Getty Images)
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Last August, when the NASCAR Cup Series went to the road course at Watkins Glen, Shane van Gisbergen captured the checkered flag.
Now SVG finds himself at the top of the oddsboard to win again when the series goes Bowling at The Glen on Sunday, May 10 (3 p.m. ET, FS1).
Let’s take a look at where the rest of the field sits as of May 10 at DraftKings Sportsbook.
This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports.
NASCAR Cup Series Go Bowling at the Glen 2026
Shane van Gisbergen: -135 (bet $10 to win $17.41 total)
Connor Zilisch: +360 (bet $10 to win $46 total)
Christopher Bell: +900 (bet $10 to win $100 total)
Tyler Reddick: +1200 (bet $10 to win $130 total)
Ty Gibbs: +1400 (bet $10 to win $150 total)
Chris Buescher: +1800 (bet $10 to win $190 total)
Michael McDowell: +2000 (bet $10 to win $210 total)
Austin Cindric: +2200 (bet $10 to win $230 total)
Ross Chastain: +2500 (bet $10 to win $260 total)
Chase Elliott: +2500 (bet $10 to win $260 total)
Carson Hocevar: +3000 (bet $10 to win $310 total)
Ryan Blaney: +3000 (bet $10 to win $310 total)
Chase Briscoe: +3500 (bet $10 to win $360 total)
William Byron: +4000 (bet $10 to win $410 total)
Kyle Larson: +4500 (bet $10 to win $460 total)
AJ Allmendinger: +5000 (bet $10 to win $510 total)
Joey Logano: +5500 (bet $10 to win $560 total)
Kyle Busch: +7500 (bet $10 to win $760 total)
Denny Hamlin: +8000 (bet $10 to win $810 total)
Alex Bowman: +9000 (bet $10 to win $910 total)
Daniel Suarez: +9000 (bet $10 to win $910 total)
Brad Keselowski: +10000 (bet $10 to win $1,010 total)
Bubba Wallace: +13000 (bet $10 to win $1,310 total)
Ryan Preece: +30000 (bet $10 to win $3,010 total)
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: +35000 (bet $10 to win $3,510 total)
Riley Herbst: +40000 (bet $10 to win $4,010 total)
Austin Dillon: +60000 (bet $10 to win $6,010 total)
Zane Smith: +60000 (bet $10 to win $6,010 total)
John Hunter Nemechek: +60000 (bet $10 to win $6,010 total)
Erik Jones: +60000 (bet $10 to win $6,010 total)
Todd Gilliland: +70000 (bet $10 to win $7,010 total)
Josh Berry: +70000 (bet $10 to win $7,010 total)
Noah Gragson: +80000 (bet $10 to win $8,010 total)
Cole Custer: +80000 (bet $10 to win $8,010 total)
Ty Dillon: +90000 (bet $10 to win $9,010 total)
Katherine Legge: +100000 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)
Josh Bilicki: +100000 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)
Cody Ware: +100000 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)
The Favorite: Last year at Watkins Glen, Shane van Gisbergen finished eighth in Stage 1, 22nd in Stage 2 and led 38 laps on the day before getting into Victory Lane. And as it stands currently, SVG could use a win; the driver of the No. 97 car hasn’t won yet in 2026. He’s also 19th in the standings. However, he has two top 10s this year and one top-five finish. Bettors also might want to note that van Gisbergen won five of the six NASCAR road courses in 2025 and finished second at COTA earlier this year.
One to Watch: Another driver fans might want to keep their eyes on is Ryan Blaney. At The Glen in 2025, Blaney won the pole, finished seventh in Stage 1, won Stage 2 and finished the race sixth overall after leading 35 laps. On No. 12’s resume so far this year are seven top 10s, three top-five finishes and one win. He’s currently fourth in the standings.
For Sarah Gorden, Mother’s Day is special because it’s not just a celebration of motherhood. For her, it’s also a celebration of perseverance, grit and survival.
Especially survival.
Gorden became pregnant during her junior year of college and for most of the next 12 years, she tried to balance her life as a professional soccer player with her responsibilities as a single mother. It wasn’t easy.
“I honestly look back and I have no idea how we got through that,” said Gorden, who made $8,000 as an NWSL rookie with the Chicago Red Stars in 2016, less than the city’s minimum wage. “We’re making no money. We were definitely using government assistance and government aid. And then the help of family and friends.
“I’m impressed and proud of the part of me that got through that. But it was no way to live.”
As the memories come flooding back, so do the tears.
Angel City midfielder Ariadina Alves Borges walks off the pitch with her son, Luca, at BMO Stadium on May 2.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
“It’s so difficult to explain,” said Gorden, now 33 and the captain at Angel City, as she dabbed at the tears with a tissue. “Not having enough money, not having enough time, wondering if I’m being selfish, wondering if I’m making the right decision. Ultimately it came down to: I didn’t feel like I had another [choice].”
A decade later, the NWSL minimum wage is $50,500 and the league’s collective bargaining agreement guarantees mothers job protection, full salary and benefits for the duration of a pregnancy-related absence, stipends for child care and subsidized arrangements for women traveling with children up to age 14.
Angel City, founded by three mothers, has gone beyond what the league has mandated by supporting mothers with perks that include a well-stocked nursery at the team’s training facility on the campus of Cal Lutheran University.
“From the beginning, we always strive to support the whole player. Physically, mentally, emotionally, psychologically,” said Julie Uhrman, one of Angel City’s founders and now a principal adviser to the team. “And then to support them if they came in as parents or became parents. That’s not just players. Staff too.”
Uhrman, who raised two children while building a successful career as a media and entertainment executive, speaks from experience.
“They can do both and they can excel at both,” she said of her players. “And we’re going to provide the support and the environment for them to do that.”
On its active roster of 25 players, Angel City has four mothers — the most in the NWSL. The work that went into the infrastructure now in place for them originated with Sarah Smith, the team’s former director of medical and performance.
Smith, who left the club in January and now advises elite athletes — primarily skiers — in Utah, said the support she got from Uhrman and others during her own pregnancy two and a half years ago inspired and informed her work with Angel City.
“Having the leadership of the club and the female leaders in the club, and then wanting to be able to support all of the players through their different journeys, through motherhood, I was really glad to be part of that,” she said. “But it really started with the fact that I had just gone through it, and I was able to share those experiences.”
Angel City forward Sydney Leroux’s 9-year-old son, Cassius, waits for his mom to leave a team huddle at BMO Stadium on May 2.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
The first player she guided through that journey was Scottish forward Claire Emslie, who gave birth to a son in December.
“I’ll be honest. Having seen how much she wanted to do for moms in the game made me excited to become a mom,” Emslie said. “We weren’t even thinking about having a kid. But knowing what she wanted to do if there was a pregnant player made me want to have a kid because I knew that this is the best place I could possibly be.”
Emslie, 32, was cleared to suit up for Angel City’s game with San Diego on Saturday — the day before Mother’s Day — after missing the past 12 months on maternity leave. But she continued to train until just before giving birth and that, combined with the year off from the weekly pounding of professional soccer and the physiological changes her body went through during pregnancy, have made her better, she says.
“I feel better. I’m different,” she said. “I got a lot stronger and that’s something you can’t build while you’re in competition. My speed is back. I think I’m actually faster. And there’s also sort of an effect where you’ve got more red blood cells in your system now. So they say your cardio is actually better.”
The prime years for a women’s soccer player — between the ages of 25 and 29 — overlap with their prime reproductive years. Until recently, however, women had to make a choice between a family and a career. Now many are choosing to do both.
Sophia Wilson, a former NWSL scoring champion and MVP, and Mallory Swanson, her teammate on the U.S. Women’s National Team, both missed play in 2025 to give birth. They are among the 28 mothers in the league, and more are coming with the most recent NWSL availability report showing six teams missing players going on maternity leave.
Angel City player Claire Emslie, who is pregnant, tours a nursery the team built for players.
(Courtesy of Angel City FC)
Emslie’s own experiences tell her those numbers will continue to grow.
“I got to a point where I need[ed] to start thinking about life after football. And if I want to have a family, because of the biological clock, I need to start trying soon,” Emslie said. “It’s now kind of a normal thing to have a baby and come back.”
“Now I wish I’d done it younger,” she added. “Having a baby and continuing to play, they’re on the journey with you. So to have, say, five, six years professional football with a family, that’s amazing.”
Smith believes the willingness of star players such as Wilson and Swanson — and before them, Alex Morgan and Manchester United’s Hannah Blundell — has brought important focus to the issue of motherhood in soccer.
“That is where the game is going. I think you probably can see it across the league, the number of mothers,” Smith said. “And that’s a variety of circumstances. It may be mothers whose partners have carried children. It may be also players that are thinking about having children later and want to freeze their eggs. What I wanted to make sure is that we, we supported all of those different circumstances.”
That included designing and stocking the nursery at the training facility Angel City inherited from the NFL’s Rams in the fall of 2024.
“We put stuff in there for Caiden, for Sarah’s son, because it wasn’t just for Claire,” Smith said. “We wanted to make sure that all of the players and their partners felt good and comfortable. You just want to take a little bit of stress off of the players.”
Angel City captain Sarah Gorden with her oldest son, Caiden, during a photo shoot.
(Courtesy of Angel City FC)
When the club inherited the nine-acre practice facility in 2024 from the Rams, Angel City designated the largest of the offices for the nursery. The office belonged to head coach Sean McVay, and now it features walls painted pink and light blue and a crib, a changing table and a menagerie of stuffed animals.
“We want players to come to Angel City because we are the absolute best place for you to grow as an athlete, as a human,” Uhrman said. “And, you know, thinking about the fact that they might want to become mothers at some time or they’re coming in as mothers is really important.”
Gorden remembers a time not so long ago when that wasn’t the case. Early in her career in Chicago, she said she had to bring her son to a team meeting and was punished by being benched. Another time she couldn’t find child care on the day of a game — a Mother’s Day game.
“I just remember bawling all morning and just feeling so stressed,” she said.
Gorden has a fiance who is helping with parenting and her son Caiden, now in middle school, has grown into a sweet, empathetic boy.
“So yeah,” Gorden said, smiling through the tears, “a lot of progress. The league gets it now.”
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The highly anticipated 30th WNBA season tipped off Friday with three games, including the expansion Toronto Tempo’s first-ever contest.
The action continued Saturday with a full slate, including Caitlin Clark’s return after an injury-riddled sophomore season.
Clark and the Indiana Fever hosted the Dallas Wings on Saturday afternoon in a matchup featuring the four most recent No. 1 overall picks. The Wings outlasted the Fever 107-104, but the game was defined by Azzi Fudd’s — the most recent top pick — underwhelming debut.
Dallas Wings guards Azzi Fudd and Paige Bueckers react during the first half of the Fever’s season opener at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on May 9, 2026. (Grace Smith/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
Fudd played 18 minutes off the bench, scoring three points — the lowest ever by a No. 1 overall pick in a WNBA debut.
Wings coach Jose Fernandez addressed Fudd’s performance after the game, encouraging the rookie to, “Keep doing what she’s doing, it’s her first year in the league. We got five really talented backcourt players.”
EX-WNBA STAR CRITICAL OF SKY ROOKIE HAILEY VAN LITH, BELIEVES POPULARITY PLAYED ROLE IN DRAFT SELECTION
In addition to Fudd, Dallas’ backcourt features last year’s top draft pick Paige Bueckers, last season’s No. 12 overall pick Aziaha James, four-time All-Star Arike Ogunbowale and starting guard Odyssey Sims.
Until Saturday, Kelsey Plum held the record for the lowest-scoring debut by a No. 1 pick. Selected first overall by the then-San Antonio Stars in 2017, she scored just four points in her debut. The Stars relocated to Las Vegas in 2018 and was subsequently rebranded as the Aces.
Dallas Wings guard Azzi Fudd warms up before the game against the Indiana Fever at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, on May 9, 2026. (Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
Despite the slow start to her first season in the league, Plum ended the year with All-Rookie team honors. In the years since, she’s been named to four All-Star teams and won two championships with the Aces.
The Wings’ decision to take Fudd with the No. 1 overall pick drew controversy, raising questions about whether Bueckers’ personal relationship with her influenced the selection. Late last month, Bueckers said last month it did not.
Azzi Fudd poses with WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert after being selected first overall by the Dallas Wings during the 2026 WNBA Draft at The Shed in New York City on April 13, 2026. (Angelina Katsanis/Getty Images)
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“Azzi Fudd was the No. 1 draft pick because she earned it, and it had nothing to do with me and everything to do with who she is as a human being, who she is as a basketball player,” Bueckers said, according to ESPN.
Neither Bueckers nor Fudd has publicly updated their relationship status since the April draft.
“Quite frankly, I believe me and Azzi’s personal relationship is nobody’s business but our own,” Bueckers also said in April. “And what we choose to share is completely up to us.”
Next up, the Wings play their home opener on Tuesday when they host the Atlanta Dream.
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