Meet Jourdan Ziff, pro soccer player and co-founder of Her Sports San Diego, who is helping push the women’s game forward on and off the field. Plus, cast your vote in our latest poll: Who scored the most goals in USWNT history?

Today’s interview brings us into the world of Jourdan Ziff, a Temecula-born forward whose journey from youth soccer with the TVSA Hawks to making history in Brazil’s top women’s league has captured the attention of fans around the world. With Brazilian roots through her grandmother and a standout collegiate career at Loyola Maryland, Ziff’s path reflects the unique blend of grit, global influence, and community that defines so much of modern sports fandom.

In this conversation, we explore not just her career, but the emotional heartbeat behind it: what fandom means to her, what fuels her connection with supporters, and how those fans, spanning continents, cultures, and clubs, have shaped her experience as an athlete.

It's a good question because I think a lot of athletes are brought up multi-sport, maybe not so much anymore, but I had other sports I enjoyed. I did karate till I was 12, then I surfed, I played soccer, and then I did track and field. My sister was a soccer player and ran track and field, and she stuck with track. But I think for me, I stayed local in my youth career, which made me so close to my community and friends. I truly loved that community it gave me. Definitely by my sophomore year of high school, the bonds I had with the people I was playing with gave me a courage to carry the game on further.

My college decision was interesting because I was recruited really late in comparison to other soccer players. I grew in height really late. I was young for my grade. So I graduated high school and went to college while I was still 17 years old. I wasn't recruited until my senior year of high school, and I was keeping my options open. I applied to schools and was thinking, ‘I'll walk on, if I have the opportunity to do that’. Then an East Coast school came out to one of my games, and I ended up choosing between the most local option, UC Riverside, or Loyola University, Maryland. [Loyola University Maryland] sent me out on an official visit, and I got to see some of their incredible facilities. It was the distance. I remember telling my dad, ‘You know, the distance is the biggest reason why I wouldn't go there’, and he's like, ‘Well that's not a reason not to do it’. And I'm like, ‘Ah, ‘you're right.’ I ended up being drawn to this community I saw at a smaller private school, which surprised me, 'cause I was ready to try a big school,  and I'm so happy I did.

I think it was difficult, as a female player, to understand how that looks after college to pursue professional. I knew there was so much I wanted to get out of my sport. I could feel I wasn't done. I had a really big injury my junior year of college, so I felt almost like I was shorted a whole year of my sport. In the back of my head I knew I also wanted to travel, and both of those things just made me really open to whatever happened. It took me to very extremely different places, which I learned more about myself, my career, cultures around the world, the places I liked and why, by doing that. I really led without trying to think about it too much, and to remain open to opportunities as they came. That’s why I went to extremely different places. I started in Finland, a European style of play. Then I went to Puerto Rico and lived on an island, and then down to South America, and then ended my career up in Canada. So all very different, and I enjoyed seeing so much of my sport around the world.

I would want to be remembered for my openness and excitement to take in every opportunity that was given to me. I think even when you sign to a single club, there's so much you can learn from one club, one culture, one coach, and I just really aimed to be present in each of my experiences. I would want that to be what stands out to people, my eagerness and my openness to really connecting with who I was with in that one place, and not thinking of the next stepping stone, or being somewhere else - that's what would mean the most to me now.

It ended up meaning so much. I went through such a journey through my career watching how my sport was supported on the female side compared to the mens. It was fascinating to have an American perspective of the game and then travel to see how football, as the rest of the world calls it, really unites people and cultures. Brazil was the biggest example of this, where football is literally a religion. I saw how much the results of a game or team performance meant to people. All of a sudden, I was a player impacting that experience. It added a whole other layer of motivation and desire I had to perform well, and focus my mindset on just doing my absolute best. Those learnings ended up making it mean so much more.

It has to be one from Brazil when I played for Santos FC. That club, specifically, has such a history, so there was more pressure on the person wearing their crest or jersey. One of my favorites, maybe because my parents love talking about it, was when I was shopping for bedding when my family visited, as you would when you moved into college for a dorm room.

One of the fans recognized me in the store. They would call me Jordana, because they couldn't fully pronounce just Jourdan. After calling my name out the fan ran up to me and my family. Both of my parents got way more of a kick out of it than even I think the fan did. My parents were taking pictures of the fan, taking a picture of me. Then the fan wanted a picture with my parents. It was just a really sweet moment, and just shows, fandom, gives so many people so much joy. I was so happy that someone else was so invested in the club I was playing for, and knew of me as a female player.

I was someone that really paid attention to how I thought that transition would be for me. I would take breaks in between each of my professional seasons and really think about where I want to be putting my time. A lot of that time is still in training, and trying to allow your body and your mind to be ready for the next big opportunity, but it was still, what else do I find enjoyment in?

Even paying a lot of attention to those transitions, you still feel the weight of the one where you decide to not take another season. So... it wasn't night and day for me. I still identify so much as an athlete so it's still a learning process, but I think surrendering to the fact that you know you're going through that process helps in itself. Not trying to just avoid the feelings it comes with because it’s not always easy to find what’s next, but at least you give yourself some compassion by acknowledging it's a step by step process.

The whistle blows (to start the game), 'cause the rest of the world turns off. In that moment you know it’s just you on the field to compete and nothing else matters.

▶ California burrito or avocado toast?: I love a burrito, any burrito. California burrito

▶ In-N-Out, or Raising Canes? In-N-Out. So easy. I don't really eat chicken.

▶ Better Buzz or Dutch Brothers? Better Buzz.

▶ Sweatpants or Leggings: I really would love to say sweatpants. I just wear leggings so much more often, so I've got to say leggings.

▶ OB or  PB:  O.B. too many friends there now.

▶ Beach Day or a Hike? Beach. I'm a beach girl. Probably why I found myself in Puerto Rico.

▶ Have you ever bought something because an athlete was wearing it? Yeah, definitely. I think some of your biggest idols that you idolize, sometimes you don't even realize that's why you're buying something. When you see, Marta jumps into my head, one of the best soccer players of all time, for sure, one of the best Brazilian soccer players of all time; you see what she's doing, and it gives you courage to express yourself, maybe in the same way.

▶ What is a non-sport accomplishment that you're most proud of? Learning a new language, something I thought I didn't have a knack for, and playing in Brazil allowed me to learn Portuguese, and I just cherish that.