Last month, Michelle Maemone was preparing for life after college. The Pepperdine senior’s college soccer career concluded in November, so she spent some time during the Christmas month buying clothes suitable for an office setting and told herself her time on the pitch had ended.
“I thought I was going to be starting a desk job,” she said. “I had some internship opportunities. I’m really passionate about nonprofit work, so I was going to start work at a nonprofit. I thought soccer was a season of my life and now it was time for the real world.”
However, Pepperdine Waves coach Tim Ward told his standout defensive player of four seasons it wasn’t time for her to trade in her cleats for workplace footwear just yet. The coach convinced Maemone she was good enough to put her name in the 2019 National Women’s Soccer League College Draft.
So, two days before the Jan. 10 event Maemone did, and well before the close of the four-round showcase she was one of two Pepperdine players selected. The Utah Royals FC drafted Maemone in the third round, and the North Carolina Courage selected her teammate Hailey Harbison in the first round. Harbison was the draft’s ninth overall selection, while Maemone was the 23rd out of 36 players selected.
Maemone, an All-WCC honorable mention honoree as sophomore, wavered on entering the NWSL selection process because she didn’t think she had garnered enough acclaim or awards during her Pepperdine career to put her on pro soccer teams’ radars. The 21-year-old was overwhelmed with excitement when she was the first of the Royals’ three selections.
“It was one of the most humbling moments of my life,” she said. “The fact that people did know who I was and believe in me to be able to bring something to their team and play at the next level… I’m so thankful for all the people in my life—family, coaches, especially coaches at Pepperdine—who have really helped me develop into the best player I can be and pushed me to be the best person I can be.”
Despite Pepperdine coaches’ confidence in her, Maemone was so unsure she would be drafted that she only watched the event to support other Waves who might be selected. When a NWSL official began to announce Utah’s first pick, Maemone said Pepperdine associate head coach Max Rooke, who was at the Chicago-located showcase with a Pepperdine contingent, video-called her to congratulate her on being selected.
“It was the best surprise I could ask for,” Maemone said. “I’m so happy to have this opportunity, and I intend to make the most of it.”
Harbison was one of the players who attended the draft. After her selection, she was adorned with a Courage scarf as she stepped up to the podium. Before thanking the Courage for drafting her, and others for supporting, she made a joke.
“My public speaking class didn’t really prepare me for this moment,” she said.
Harbison and Maemone, who both played fullback and some attack during their Waves careers, were important pieces to some of the stingiest Pepperdine defenses ever. The two are the fifth and sixth Waves to be picked in the six-year-old NWSL draft. Their selection marks the first time two Pepperdine soccer players have been taken in the same draft.
Ward said he is proud of Harbison and Maemone.
“They are so deserving of these opportunities,” he said.
Ward said Harbison, a two-time West Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year and four-time All-West Region and All-WCC honoree, has always had her sight set on the pro soccer ranks, and noted she will have the chance to play with former Waves star Lynn Williams, who led the Courage to a NWSL championship in 2018.
“Hailey has been such a massive part of our national profile the past few years, considering she’s been to the U.S. National Team camp at the U-17, U-20 and U-23 levels,” Ward said. “I feel that in time, she will shine in the league.”
Maemone tallied three goals and four assists during her Pepperdine career. She started 69 games and appeared in 78 matches.
Ward said Maemone’s physical tools, mentality and coachabilty give her the ability to be a very good pro soccer player.
“She should be excited to play for coaches that teach and play the game the same way we ask our girls to play here at Pepperdine,” he said. “She’s going to surprise a lot of people.”
Maemone said Ward’s insistence she put her name in the draft was his way of completing a promise he made to her when recruiting her out of the Bay Area’s Kings Academy.
“When I was in high school, I told him my dreams. That I wanted to play professional soccer and I wanted to be on the national team,” Maemone recalled. “He said, ‘Michelle I will help you do whatever it takes to get there.’ Because of his encouragement and support I put my name in the draft.”
Maemone decided not to let the fear of not being selected stop her from entering the draft. She will go to Utah next month to begin training for an opportunity to make the Royals 2019 roster.
Maemone started kicking a soccer ball before she could even walk. Her journey in the sport includes two ACL injuries and some time spent at U.S. soccer camps in high school. She is delighted to have the opportunity to play soccer in Utah because her family can travel from California to see her play and the Royals have an energetic fan base.
“The fans have already reached out to me and the other girls that were drafted,” she said. “I’m so excited to get immersed in the community and get involved.”