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Behind The Stripes

Solai Washington

By Atlanta United FC

September 7^th, 2023

The smile on Solai Washington’s face is wide and quite magnetic.

And the 17-year-old has a few things to be happy about. First, she was the honorary captain for the match between Atlanta United and Nashville SC at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on August 26. The rising high school senior led both teams out of the tunnel prior to kickoff and stayed to witness the 5-Stripes hand Nashville SC their biggest loss in club history with an emphatic 4-0 performance.

Second, Washington is coming off a memorable performance of her own. She plays soccer herself and as a junior at Chamblee High School, she led her team to the state title in girls’ soccer for class 5A. Washington was named the 2023 Georgia Girls Soccer Player of the Year, becoming the first girl from DeKalb County Public Schools to win the honor.

The final reason for the smile on her face, and maybe the biggest one of all, is that Washington recently returned from an international trip to Australia and New Zealand. She competed in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup as a member of the Jamaica women’s national team and was one of the youngest players in this year’s tournament.

“The World Cup is definitely at the top,” she says. “Of course, I want to go to more. I’m young, so I still have hopefully a lot more in store. But right now, 100% without a doubt the World Cup is at the top of my list.”

Like many other soccer virtuosos, Washington’s career began at a young age. She first started kicking a ball around when she was three years old.

As the second of four children, her entry point to soccer was her older sister, Giselle. The two sisters are about five years apart but have a lot in common. Giselle once competed for the Jamaica women’s national team as well and is entering her fifth year at the University of Tennessee as a member of the women’s soccer program.

Giselle was a strong role model for her younger sister to look up to. She scored four goals during the Concacaf World Cup qualifying stage, including a brace in Jamaica’s 13-0 rout over Guadeloupe. Giselle helped the Reggae Girlz qualify for their first-ever Women’s World Cup, a baton passed on that her younger sister firmly grasped, intertwining the soccer fates of these two sisters.

“Both my parents didn't really play it, so the sport was kind of foreign. Then, everyone just fell into it,” Washington says. “I just wanted to follow my sister's footsteps. That's really my main beginning reason for starting it.”

Washington moved on to playing club soccer when she was just six years old. When she was eight, she started to play more intensely, even moving up to play a few age groups older than her.

“I don't think watching it is what made me decide that I wanted to play. Being on the field and the atmosphere, even though it was youth soccer, was so amazing and I still loved it. That was the main part where I was like, ‘Yeah, this is something I actually want to do. And I actually think I can do,’” she says.

Now, Washington is a star at Chamblee High School and with her club team, Concorde Fire. She describes herself as an attacking player. She has a strong penchant for scoring goals. She put away four goals, the elusive hat trick plus one, in Chamblee's 9-0 win in the state championship game for Georgia class 5A.

“I pride myself on my 1v1 abilities and my speed that I'm able to accompany those with,” she says. “I like to go side-to-side but I’m also a fast runner, forward to back. Those are what I really use to my advantage and try my best to like excel in.”

Apart from her sister, she lists some world-class superstars as players she looks up to: Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, two players who were both young when they made their World Cup debuts – but not as young as Washington. On the women’s side, Washington says she looks up to Sam Kerr of Australia and Marta of Brazil. As of 2023, these are players she no longer just idolizes – Washington was actually lining up against them on the field.

“It was insane,” Washington says of seeing Marta on the pitch. “I don't even have like words to describe it. We were walking onto the field and I was just like, ‘She's literally standing right next to me. What is my life right now?’”

“I would think back to all the extra hours that I put in, and it’s paying off in a way that’s better than I could have ever imagined. It was just a surreal feeling.”

Washington’s Jamaican stripes come from her mother, Sherrene, who was born in Jamaica and moved to the United States when she was 10 years old. A native of Chamblee, Ga., Washington has visited Jamaica before. She has a deep respect for Jamaican traditions and says that she wants to incorporate them more into her American life.

“I love the culture there,” she says. “My grandma, anytime she comes in town, she cooks us a lot of Caribbean foods. And it’s amazing… Of course, I still want to learn more since I’m not someone who lives there. But it’s cool being able to get go there any chance I get.”

Of course, a way that Washington taps into her Jamaican roots is playing one of the most popular sports of her mother’s home country. The 17-year-old got involved in the Jamaica program recently and her first national team camp was in January. A month later, she joined the Reggae Girlz in Australia for the Cup of Nations, a round-robin tournament where Jamaica played World Cup-caliber teams such as Australia and the eventual 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup champion, Spain.

When Washington received the news that she made Jamaica’s World Cup roster, she was stateside. She was with her dad, Joel, in California. Her club team, Concorde Fire, was competing in Nationals for their youth league, the ECNL. Washington received the news while driving back to their hotel from the grocery store, of all places.

“It was the most casual thing,” she says. “I got the email and then my dad like stopped [the car]. He pulled over and I opened it. We were jumping up and down in our seats, basically, as much as we could because we were so excited.”

Receiving the confirmation email from Jamaica head coach Lorne Donaldson was a mixture of joy and surprise. Washington said that, while she was confident in her abilities and what she could bring to the team, it was never a 100 percent guarantee. The coaches may see the need to go a different way or put another player on the roster. Never quite knowing what the coaches are thinking planted some doubt that maybe this wasn’t her year.

Turns out, it was.

“I just trusted myself,” Washington says. “In all the camps, I tried my best to stay calm and know that I've already put in all the work and now it's just time for me to showcase that. So, when I got the call, I felt like a weight lifted off my shoulders because I would think back to all the extra hours that I put in and it's paying off in a way that’s better than I could have ever imagined. It was just a surreal feeling.”

The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup kicked off July 20 in Australia and New Zealand. Jamaica was in Group F which included Panama and two traditional favorites in women’s soccer, France and Brazil. Many analysts picked those two nations to make a deep run. Some considered Brazil a dark horse to win the whole tournament.

But knowing that they’d line up against some of the best, and most favored, competitors in the world didn’t faze the Reggae Girlz.

“Because everyone on the team was so close-knit, we blocked out the outside doubt from some of the people who thought that France and Brazil were a shoo-in, which was a mass majority of the people,” Washington says. “But we just really worked to block that out.”

In the first match for Jamaica in group play, the took on France on July 23 in Sydney, Australia. The teams were scoreless heading into the final moments of the match when Washington got the call. She took the pitch for the first time in the tournament in the 69th minute as a substitute, her boots sinking into World Cup turf for the first time.

“Walking onto the field against France with 40,000 people in the stands, I just looked around and was like, ‘All of these people are really just here to watch us play,’ which is like an incredible feeling. It just makes me feel so great about not just my team but women's soccer in general,” she says.

The scoreline remained 0-0 between France and Jamaica. Both sides earned one point in the group for the draw.

Jamaica won their next match, beating Panama 1-0 in Perth, Australia on July 29. The lone goal arrived on a header from Washington’s teammate Allyson Swaby. Washington also got some playing time against Panama, coming on as a sub in the 80th minute to help the Reggae Girlz lock up the three points in the standings for Group F.

The result raised the stakes for Jamaica’s final match of group play. That matchup against powerhouse Brazil would determine which team would join France and advance to the knockout stage.

“It was an incredible feeling. It just makes me feel so great about not just my team but women’s soccer in general.”

Jamaica kicked off against Brazil in Melbourne, Australia on August 2. The two sides ended up playing to a scoreless draw. The point in the table was good enough for Jamaica to finish the group in second place, which meant the team advanced in the tournament. And they had ousted one of the darlings of the tournament – flashy, exciting Brazil. But for the Reggae Girlz, the belief was there all along:

“The coach had no sense of doubt at all. The team had no sense of doubt in each other. Our trust in each other and our work ethic that we put in for each other is what really was able to get us through to the knockout stage.”

For Washington, the match against Brazil meant even more. It placed her on the same pitch as Marta, six-time FIFA World Player of the Year and one of the best women’s soccer players in history. Brazil’s all-time leading goal scorer was a player Washington looked up to and sought to emulate with her own play. So being on the field with her, just feet away, was an indescribable moment.

“We were like walking onto the field and I was just like, ‘She's literally standing right next to me. What is my life right now?’” Washington says. “She's a player that I never would have even dreamed of being able to have the pleasure to share a field with. She's such a decorated athlete, such a professional on and off the field. She carries herself so well. I've learned a lot from her, just by watching her. It was just so cool to be able to share a field with her.”

The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup proved to be a remarkable tournament. Countries like Haiti, the Republic of Ireland, Vietnam and Portugal made their World Cup debuts. The group stage featured teams such as South Africa and Colombia. Several countries, such as Germany and Brazil who are generally considered contenders, underperformed or were eliminated early. The United States, four-time World Cup winner and champion of the previous two, made their earliest exit in history. Even the winner of the tournament, Spain, was a first-time champion.

“It just goes to show all of the work that everyone's being able to put in,” Washington says. “The competition's evening out. There's not really one person who would you anyone would say is like a shoo-in for anything. And that just leaves everything up to each game.”

Jamaica was among several countries to bring surprise and excitement to this year’s competition. Not many people predicted that the Reggae Girlz would move past Brazil, but they proved people wrong. Washington’s teammate Bunny Shaw was a scoring threat and became a popular player to watch. In their World Cup debut, Jamaica made it all the way to the Round of 16, eventually losing to Colombia 1-0 on August 8. But in the process, they showed the world who the Reggae Girlz were.

“It helps with fans in terms of how most people had to deal with or most underdog teams had to deal with some doubt from the fans. Now, you never know,” she says. “It’s motivating for any of the people who were considered underdogs to now know that like we actually have a chance and we have a shot and I think having that mentality for us is what was able to get us through.”

As international competition in women’s soccer evened out, the world was introduced to new individual performers. The tournament saw the rise of many young stars such as Spain’s Salma Paralluelo, the 19-year-old who scored the game-winning goal in extra time against the Netherlands to send Spain to the semifinals. And who could forget the poise and footwork shown by 18-year-old Linda Caicedo on her goal for Colombia that stunned Germany.

Washington was among this fresh crop of young stars. Although she didn’t score a goal this tournament, she showed tremendous poise and maturity on the pitch. It reflected some things she learned about herself during this tournament, which involved not just learning how to play against top competition but how to become mentally strong and more confident.

“Coming into the World Cup, I struggled a lot with dealing with my nerves and anxiety,” she says. “I struggled with being too harsh on myself during the game and out of the game. Going into this World Cup and getting some of the help, I think from my teammates and some of the mentorship that I was able to receive, helped me a lot.”

Washington says what she learned from the World Cup is learning how to deal with failure. She understands better that mistakes happen. She sees that she’s bound to make a bad pass or take a heavy touch here or there. What’s most important is to not letting those little failures consume her, so she can move on to the next play.

“I do some breathing exercises anytime I go into any game now and there's takeaways like that, which have really been able to help me now back at home," she says.

"There’s been a lot of different players that I’ve been able to take bits and pieces from and make it into my own."

For a 17-year-old who played at the FIFA Women’s World Cup, it might feel like she has reached the pinnacle of her sport.

For Washington, she’s just getting started.

The reigning Georgia Girls Soccer Player of the Year has much ahead of her. Her high school season kicks off in January. Washington, alongside her younger sister Alessandra, will lead Chamblee High School as the team looks to defend their state title.

Following her senior season, Washington will take her talents up the road to Durham, North Carolina. She signed a scholarship to play at Duke University, a strong college program in the same conference as prolific programs such as the University of North Carolina and Florida State University.

And of course, there’s the national team. Washington says that she wants to continue with Jamaica and that includes 2024 in Paris. The Olympic Games will be held in France next year, and soon national teams will begin the process of qualification. For Jamaica, their first Olympic qualifying matches take place in September.

So while Washington has already fulfilled a lifelong dream of participating in a World Cup, there’s also much more she can accomplish. It’s a feeling that Washington best describes as surreal, to reach this point in her life when her dreams are coming true, but one that she also deeply appreciates.

“When I got back home and I would watch some of the World Cup games, I was like, ‘It feels unreal that I was just there. I was just competing in that same tournament.’ There are so many things that made it feel like it wasn't even like my actual life,” she says. “So it's really cool to just try my best to just take a step back and take it all in and really breathe and enjoy the moment.”