In just a few short years as a professional, Naomi Girma has achieved acclaim not usually afforded to defenders.
She has never scored a goal for club or country, yet her play and accolades have made her one of the most popular players in the NWSL and for the U.S. Women’s National Team.
Girma’s ascension story is highly inspirational and she’s a role model for young players -- especially young defenders -- all over the country.
Now, imagine you are one of those young defenders, and at the age of 16, you get to train with her, be mentored by her and soak up her knowledge on the daily?
You would then be Jordyn Bugg.
Bugg hails from San Diego, and her youth club, the San Diego Surf, shares a training site with the San Diego Wave. At the age of 16 during the 2023, and as one of the elite players for the Surf, the high school junior got the chance to train with the Wave. She joined the team for training on a more consistent basis for NWSL pre-season in 2024, midway through her senior year, after having recently made the transition to full-time central defender.
Bugg’s training stints with the Wave were predictably eye-opening.
“It was crazy to just walk on the field and play with Alex Morgan and Naomi, and a lot of really talented players and experienced pros,” said Bugg. “I was worried about the speed of play, the size of players and the physicality of all of it and I was right. Everything just moved so fast, but I adjusted over time and all the players and coaches were just so great in helping me out and letting a kid learn the ropes.”
As with any young player with options, forgoing college (she had originally committed to Stanford before flipping to Florida State) and turning pro was a difficult decision fraught with pros and cons.
In the end, her training time with the Wave, and then later with the Seattle Reign, sealed the deal.
“In high school, I didn’t know what I wanted to do,” said Bugg. “I was committed to going to college, but the more I got used to the pro environment, the more I wanted to go into the NWSL.”
Bugg played in the 2023 Pan American Games in late October as part of the Under-19 squad U.S. Soccer sent to Chile to face full National Teams and the USA ended up winning the bronze medal. In December of 2023, one of her Pan Am teammates, Claire Hutton, turned pro with the Kansas City Current. U.S. U-17 international Alex Pfeiffer also signed with the Current around that time. One of Bugg’s best friends and teammates at the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup and 2024 U-20 Women’s World Cup, Emeri Adames, also signed with the Reign.
The decisions of those three players helped push her in the direction of the NWSL. This summer, Bugg signed with Seattle via the league’s U-18 Entry Mechanism.
Bugg looks back to her time in San Diego, training with, watching and listening to Girma and veteran center back Abby Dahlkemper as a crucial period in her growth as a player.
“Naomi means a lot to me,” said Bugg. “She’s my main inspiration, as a player and a person. She’s just the best at whatever she does. We both started as midfielders and then got moved to the back. She is such a nice person, everyone loves her. She’s a great mentor and you can talk to her about anything. “
Ironically, Girma and Dahlkemper were part of the reason Bugg chose to advance her growth with the Reign. She just didn’t foresee getting many minutes in San Diego with two of the best center backs in the NWSL and in the USWNT player pool ahead of her.
“I’ve definitely grown a lot over the past two years,” said the now 18-year-old, who also credits former Wave coach Casey Stoney, an elite defender in her playing days, with teaching her key points in the art of defending. “I’ve tried to learn my position better and watching Naomi and Abby was super valuable as they are both so experienced and they know their craft.”
Of course, the twists of turns of professional soccer have seen Dahlkemper now move on to Bay FC, but former Reign center back Alana Cook was also traded to Kansas City, opening up a spot for Bugg on Seattle’s back line.
After signing, she played in two games in the NWSL x Liga MX Summer Cup and then went the distance in her first official league match, a poised and professional performance in a 1-0 win over the North Carolina Courage on a late goal from Adames.
“I don’t think I would be in this position if not for Naomi,” said Bugg. “Even on the field, she’s super nice about giving feedback. She’s a great teacher. She just knows what she’s talking about. Whatever she says, you listen, and her journey has been really cool to watch.”
Bugg also values greatly that Girma, like herself, is a Black woman exemplifying the “to be it, you have to see it” mentality in the world of professional soccer. Just as Girma is her role model, Bugg hopes she too can inspire young women of color across the USA. On the 2024 U.S. Under-20 Women’s World Cup Team, 11 players – more than half the team– are Black, Asian or Latina, a first for a U.S. U-20 WWC squad.
Bugg, a self-proclaimed introvert, initially struggled to exude the “center back energy” needed to be a key cog in a team, but she’s working on it.
“Being in the pro environment, everyone has been pushing me and empowering me to talk more, which of course is super important for my position,” said Bugg. “They told me they want to hear me, so I know I have a lot of growth in all areas ahead of me, but it’s nice to see that I’m communicating more on the field, and I think that’s carried over in this World Cup.”
Speaking of the World Cup, Bugg played full 90s in all three of the USA’s group games thus far and has barely put a foot wrong. As a very late addition to the U-17 Women’s World Cup Team in 2022 – she never attended a training camp prior to the tournament and was added after an injury to another player – she got a taste of that World Cup in India but is feasting this time around in Colombia.
“I didn’t expect to play a huge amount in India, but it was a really cool experience,” said Bugg, who played 120 minutes over three matches as the USA reached the quarterfinals. “Playing in a big tournament in front of a lot of people is just different and I hadn’t played a lot at center back at the time. That World Cup helped me get a feel for it and realize it was my position, and I just wanted to keep getting call-ups at the older age groups.”
As one of the younger players on this U-20 World Cup squad, she’s certainly found her footing and has a bright future with the Reign. For now, Bugg is enjoying what she calls a “once in a lifetime” experience to play in a World Cup at this age level.
“It’s been great,” she said. “It’s definitely a big step up from the U-17s, but I love my teammates and I’m proud I’ve done well enough for (U.S. head coach) Tracey (Kevins) to have confidence in me to make me a starter. A lot of players would love to be where I am so I’m just really grateful for this opportunity.”
And grateful to Naomi Girma.