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Get into the holiday spirit with this story about how a bit of hurtful banter turned into a call to help the hungry. In today’s Full Time:

🌲 Sophia Wilson stays in Portland
🎥 Sprinkling soccer into our favorite holiday movies
🏆 Setting the next phase of Champions League

It’s nearly Christmas, so let’s start by handing out some presents …

Gifts

Three women’s soccer presents

It’s the season of giving, which means it’s time to share some women’s soccer gifts. This point in the soccer calendar has everyone feeling a little tired, so to avoid going completely down the “Gift of the Magi” route, I’ve kept it to three simple offerings.

🎁 Mary Poppins and a spoonful of sugar to all of the NWSL (league offices, players and fans included). I listened to the original soundtrack to the “Mary Poppins” musical on vinyl this weekend, and it hit me: “In every job that must be done/There is an element of fun.” The recent back-and-forth over Trinity Rodman’s contract and the future of the league, including the players association’s rejection of the league’s High Impact Player mechanism, has really dampened what was otherwise a monumentally entertaining season.

The potential solutions, the responsibility to the players and their rights as free agents, and the open grievance are all very serious matters. There has to be a simple solution, though, because at the most basic level, all parties want a better future for the sport. A no-nonsense nanny and a dose of supercalifragilisticexpialidocious could really put things back on track.

🎁 Extra healthy limbs to players around the world. We saw another rash of ACL tears and injuries this year, including to Germany and Bayern Munich star Lena Oberdorf (knee, again) and Aitana Bonmati (leg). I could give this gift out every year, but maybe there’s hope ahead with organizations, including FIFA and U.S. Soccer (via the Kang Women’s Institute), announcing new research into women’s health.

With the increasing number of tournaments (ahem, FIFA’s Women’s Champions Cup semifinals featuring Gotham FC, SC Corinthians, Arsenal and ASFAR in five weeks), having a few extra limbs around can’t hurt.

🎁 And finally, for you, my deepest gratitude for reading along with us for more than two and a half years. In a world where it’s getting harder to tell if there’s a real person on the other side of the words we read, I feel so lucky to have an engaged and thoughtful community sending us notes after every podcast, leaving comments on our posts and even saying in-person hellos when we get to events.

We have one more newsletter left in 2025 to reflect on the year and look forward to the next, but for now, I just want to say thank you! (Sorry if “gratitude” feels like a $10 Visa gift card and a pair of socks, but it really is the thought that counts. It’s very difficult to send gift baskets to almost 200,000 people!)

I would give the Portland Thorns a gift, but they already got the biggest present of the offseason so far …

Meg’s Corner: Sophia Wilson is staying home

We’ve talked extensively about Rodman and where she might or might not be in 2026, but there was another member of the Olympic gold-winning “Triple Espresso” whose future was unclear — until now.

U.S. women’s national team forward Sophia Wilson is staying with the Thorns for the 2026 season after exercising the player option on a contract extension she originally signed in 2024. The option year, determined long before the latest discussion over High Impact Player mechanisms, is worth a record $1 million. 

The 2022 NWSL champion, 25, spoke to me about her decision to stay, becoming a mom and her continued drive to win.

“I know a lot of times it’s good to be uncomfortable,” Wilson said, “but I feel like I’m at a point in my life and career where (comfort is) what I need, coming back from having a baby

What to Watch

Holiday movies — with a soccer twist 

Our good friend Sandra Herrera at CBS sent in this question for the “Full Time” mailbag episode earlier this month: What are your top three holiday movies and which U.S. player most embodies them? 

Without further explanation, here are Meg and Tamerra’s must-watch movies this holiday season:

Meg’s holiday films:

“Family Stone” (an annual rewatch): The only right answer to which USWNT family belongs in a holiday movie is Rose and the Lavelles.
“Muppet Christmas Carol”: Thinking about which baller would handle the role of the only human in this movie, it’s Washington Spirit midfielder Croix Bethune. (Or, if we can repeat, Rose Lavelle.)
“Round and Round” (a 2023 Hallmark Hanukkah film): Because the lead character must overcome a time loop conundrum, defender Naomi Girma is the perfect fit.

Tamerra’s films:

“Santa Claus is Coming to Town” (this claymation is on every year without fail or it’s not Christmas): Jaedyn Shaw deserves to sing the classic “Put One Foot in Front of the Other” after the year she’s had. Turns out the path gets you an NWSL Championship title.
“Home Alone”: There were a few ways to go with this one. Is it the youthful vibe or the ability to be left on your own? The latter won out, so the U.S. captain, Girma, gets another starring role. (Honorable mention for chaos: Emily Sonnett.)
“The Preacher’s Wife” (admittedly holiday-adjacent): With its epic soundtrack and acting from Whitney Houston and Denzel Washington, Crystal Dunn is the obvious choice. It will be interesting to see how Dunn works her way back to the national team after a difficult year with PSG, too.

👀 Watch the “Full Time” podcast tackle this question and more:

Need to Know

Dressing up for end-of-year awards

This time of year also brings award season in some sports. Last week, Charlotte Harpur attended BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year Award ceremony, watching the top British or United Kingdom-residing athletes accept special recognition. While multiple European champion Lionesses and World Cup-winning Red Roses were on the list, it was golfer Rory McIlroy who took home the top honor (or honour, over there).

Think ball gowns and bow ties, red carpets and canapés, iconic music over majestic montages. We asked Charlotte to cure our FOMO (or fuel it) by sharing more:

Were you shocked by any results?

💬 I was surprised neither Lionesses Hannah Hampton nor Chloe Kelly made the top three, but having two England women’s players was always going to split the audience vote. Given women’s rugby is still building its fan base, Red Rose Ellie Kildunne’s second-place finish ahead of Formula One driver Lando Norris was a shock — in a good way.

McIlroy was the deserved winner after he claimed a career grand slam and led Europe to Ryder Cup victory, as was England’s 2025 European Championship savior Michelle Agyemang, 19, who beat darts world champion Luke Littler (18) for Young Sports Personality of the Year.

What was the best quote of the night?

💬 “I’m just a dad keeping a promise to a little girl. Elsie wanted me to run the London Marathon and I did.”

You could hear a pin drop when David Stancombe, the father of two young girls killed last year, spoke in the most touching moment of the night.

In July 2024, Bebe King, age 6, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, 9, were killed in an attack at their dance studio.

Elsie’s father, David, and Alice’s dad, Sergio, were presented with the Helen Rollason Award for outstanding achievement in the face of adversity. They ran the 2025 London Marathon to help fundraise and establish lasting legacies in their daughters’ names.