Abigail Segel

Wow, thanks Roey!

I think I've mastered the strategy of having high hopes & low expectations for each new (Red) Stars season

The NWSL Offseason Put Important New Faces In New Places | Defector In less than two weeks, a new season of the NWSL kicks off. If that causes you to do a double-take—Didn’t Rose Lavelle just score the championship game-winner, like, last week?—you’re not alone. The c...

NWSL preview time? NWSL preview time! There's been plenty of wheeling and dealing heading into the 2026 season, so I tried to make some sense of it:

defector.com/the-nwsl-off...

Soccer Racismo Sounds The Same Every Time | Defector Just over midway through Tuesday’s Champions League playoff between Benfica and Real Madrid, Vinícius struck one of the most beautiful goals of his career. In response to the strike, and to…

Soccer racismo sounds the same every time: defector.com/soccer-racis...

very worth reading Georgia Cloepfil on Lindsey Vonn, St. Teresa of Avila, and the interiority of pain

Emma Hayes names USWNT 2026 SheBelieves Cup Roster - The IX Sports Emma Hayes' roster is the first in her tenure that is starting to hew, rather than expand on, the player pool.

USWNT manager Emma Hayes revealed her roster for the upcoming SheBelieves Cup on Tuesday.

Our @abigailsegel.bsky.social broke down the selections by position group and talked through some recent contributors who did not make the cut:

Chromosome Testing Will Take Sports Back To The Dark Ages | Defector In the late 1990s, Olympics officials were suddenly eager to exit the business of testing women’s DNA. After three decades of requiring all women athletes to sit for chromosome tests in order to…

Chromosome testing will take sports back to the dark ages: defector.com/chromosome-t...

Croix Bethune and Claire Hutton are dreaming big - The IX Sports The young stars are heading to Kansas City Current and Bay FC, respectively. They each have high hopes for their new clubs.

We’ve now heard from Croix Bethune and Claire Hutton about their blockbuster moves.

@abigailsegel.bsky.social broke down their reaction, motivations and where they might fit in with their new clubs.

Siri, play "Comeback" by Carly Rae Jepsen ft. Bleachers

What We Loved About Dan McQuade | Defector Today is Dan McQuade’s funeral. To celebrate our friend, we wanted to give the people he worked with a place to explain what they loved so much about him. If you would like to support Dan’s widow Jan,...

What we loved about Dan McQuade:

Loss of FBref advanced stats is disaster for women’s soccer data - The IX Sports After Opta forced FBref to pull certain statistics, the disparity between men’s and women’s soccer coverage has become more pronounced.

For The IX Soccer, @catabush.com dug into just how much the recent loss of advanced stats on FBref hurts accessibility of women's soccer data. (Turns out, a lot.) Come for the stylish bar graphs, stay for the overview of the new women's soccer data landscape:

Manchester City Lost A Battle But Is Winning The War For English Women's Soccer Supremacy | Defector Have you heard the old wives’ tale that if two football teams face each other in four consecutive matches, their fates swap the next season, Freaky Friday style? That seems to be what has happened to ...

Did that one time when Manchester City and Chelsea played each other four times in a row swap their fates, Freaky Friday style? An investigation:

Sixers hold a moment of silence for Dan McQuade.

Dan was the sweetest guy, and a damn good writer and designer. I’ll always appreciate how much thought he put into the cover art for my first big blog as an intern (below). Thinking of his wife and their son. May his memory be a blessing to all who love him.

International talent turn Washington Spirit into top NWSL contender - The IX Sports The Washington Spirit announced a stunning investment in Paraguayan star Claudia Martínez, highlighting their increasingly global roster.

The signing of Claudia Martínez, the first Paraguayan player in NWSL history, highlights the Washington Spirit's increasingly global roster.

@kgier.bsky.social spoke to Gift Monday, Rosemonde Kouassi, Gabby Carle, and more about their team's embrace of international talent:

A Saturday and a state killing: soccer as Minnesota is torn apart | Jeff Rueter On the whims of Fifa’s Peace Prize winner, a life usually so focused on sports has found anything but peace

NEW: Reflections on a soccer Saturday, from a state under siege by the FIFA Peace Prize winner. www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Manchester City Lost A Battle But Is Winning The War For English Women's Soccer Supremacy | Defector Have you heard the old wives’ tale that if two football teams face each other in four consecutive matches, their fates swap the next season, Freaky Friday style? That seems to be what has happened to ...

Did that one time when Manchester City and Chelsea played each other four times in a row swap their fates, Freaky Friday style? An investigation:

Sam Coffey’s Man City move is another blow for a hamstrung NWSL USWNT stars have a world of options as their domestic league struggles to match European teams’ ambition

Once the NWSL flew the nest of U.S. Soccer, it had an opportunity to embrace some of the freedom the rest of the world enjoys. Recent events show the league hasn't caught up to the reality that it is in charge of its own destiny.

My latest for the Guardian: www.theguardian.com/football/202...

spending your summer blogging and learning about cooperative companies >>>

Thrilled to be joining @kgier.bsky.social, Julie Schreiber, and the rest of the incredible @theixsports.bsky.social team as an editor of the newly launched The IX Soccer 🎉

📬 Have a women's soccer story you want to write? Email us your pitch at theixsoccer@theixsports.com

Jessica Berman Makes Her Priorities Clear (Defector)

NWSL quietly updated heat policy after game in soaring temperatures, creating confusion amid delays (Guardian)

The US’s biggest pro women’s sports unions have found strength together (Guardian)

The Anti-Trans Grifters Are Coming For The NWSL (Defector)

First, stories about NWSL culture, safety, and labor issues:

Berman's priorities defector.com/jessica-berm...

Heat policy theguardian.com/football/202...

Players' unions theguardian.com/football/202...

Transphobia & racism defector.com/the-anti-tra...

Montreal vs Ottawa (Laval)

England vs Italy (Geneva)

Gotham vs Washington Spirit (San Jose)

INAC Kobe Leonessa vs Mynavi Sendai (Kobe)

Now that my final bylines of December have been published, here's a thread of my favorite stories I wrote in 2025. My first months of freelancing full time have been an adventure, to say the least—one that has gone better than I dared to hope when I graduated from college in June. The stories:

If you took the time to read any of my stories during this hellish year, thanks a million. Here’s to a brighter 2026.

/end

Julia Child & Alex Prud’homme, My Life in France Emmeline Clein, Dead Weight Georgia Cloepfil, The Striker and the Clock Mac Crane, A Sharp Endless Need Sophie Gilbert, Girl on Girl Katie Goh, Foreign Fruit Eileen Myles, For Now David Nicholls, You Are Here Kwame Onwuachi, Notes From A Young Black Chef Michael Waters, The Other Olympians

Finally, good writing is impossible without good reading, so I want to shout out the 10 best books I read this year. They inspired me, challenged me, entertained me, taught me, etc etc. Can't recommend them enough. (Clearly I need to be reading more great novels; if you have recs, let me know!)

And thank you to @owensports.bsky.social, @heatherchen.bsky.social, and @groan.bsky.social, the best group chat a freelancer could ask for.

I asked a fair few established journalists I admire for advice this year, and they all provided answers to my questions, not to mention encouragement and confidence. If I called or emailed or texted you or approached you in person, thank you.

A huge thanks to my editors this year. Tom Ley, Billy Haisley, Alex Abnos, Dan Lauletta, and others were ever-steady hands as I navigated the often angsty process of reporting and writing. No story gets done without an editor sharing in a writer’s vision: thank you all for believing in me.

Christen Press And Tobin Heath Want To Keep Up The Fight (Defector)

And a spotlight on a couple other players you may have heard of, who I loved watching in years past: defector.com/christen-pre...

Michelle Cooper Is Always Ready To Pounce (Defector)

Michelle Cooper Is Always Ready To Pounce (Defector)

Spotlights on a couple players I loved watching this year:

Michelle Cooper defector.com/michelle-coo...

Jaedyn Shaw defector.com/jaedyn-shaws...