Meleana Lokahi "Mana" Shim (born September 25, 1991) is an American

women's soccer Women's association football, more commonly known as women's football or women's soccer, is the team sport of association football played by women. It is played at the professional level in multiple countries, and about 200 national teams partic ...

player and athlete advocate. Shim plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

, and previously spent most of her senior career with

Portland Thorns FC Portland Thorns FC is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Portland, Oregon, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Established in 2012, the team began play in 2013 in the then-eight-team NWSL ...

of the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...

(NWSL). After the revelations of the

Yates Report The ''Yates Report'', officially titled ''Report of the Independent Investigation to the U.S. Soccer Federation Concerning Allegations of Abusive Behavior and Sexual Misconduct in Women's Professional Soccer'', is the official report documenting ...

, Shim was named chairperson of a new Participant Safety Taskforce at U.S. Soccer.

Early life

Shim grew up in

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

, where she attended Kamehameha Kapalama High School and helped the soccer team to three ILH championships. In 2007, the team won the state championship. Shim also played for the club soccer team, Ho'okalakupua. In 2003 and 2005, the team was Region IV Finalists. In 2004, 2006, and 2007, the team was Region IV semi-finalists. In 2008, they won gold at the Surf Cup U19 Championship.

Santa Clara Broncos

Shim attended

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private university, private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California, United States. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university' ...

from 2009 to 2012 where she was a three-year starting midfielder for the

Broncos A bucking horse is any breed of horse, male or female, with a propensity to buck. They have been, and still are, referred to by various names, including bronco, broncho, and roughstock. The harder they buck, the more desirable they are for ro ...

. As a freshman in 2009, she played in 20 of the squad's 23 matches. She finished the year with 21 shots, including seven during the Broncos' three NCAA Tournament matches. During her second year, Shim played in all 22 games, one of only four Broncos to do so, starting 18 matches for a total of 1,660 minutes played. She scored one goal and added three assists and was named an All-

West Coast Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting o ...

honorable mention. As a junior in 2011, she started all 21 games and tallied four goals and four assists. She was named to the All-WCC Second-Team.

Playing career

Portland Thorns

Shim signed with the

Portland Thorns Portland Thorns FC is an American professional soccer team based in Portland, Oregon, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Established in 2012, the team began play in 2013 in the then-eight-team NWSL, which received supp ...

as a discovery player for the inaugural season of the

. She made her debut for the team during a match against the

Washington Spirit The Washington Spirit are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It is a continuation of the D.C. United Women of the USL W-League (1995� ...

on May 4, 2013. She scored her first professional goal on June 16, 2013, at

Jeld-Wen Field Providence Park (formerly Jeld-Wen Field; PGE Park; Civic Stadium; originally Multnomah Stadium; and from 1893 until the stadium was built, Multnomah Field) is an outdoor soccer venue located in the Goose Hollow neighborhood of Portland, Oregon ...

in a match against

Seattle Reign FC Seattle Reign FC is an American professional soccer team based in Seattle, Washington, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Founded in 2012, it is one of eight inaugural members of the NWSL. Since June 2024, the Reign ar ...

. After receiving a through ball from teammate Angie Kerr near the penalty spot, Shim finished with a left-footed shot past the goalkeeper. She also served her first assist during the match after stealing the ball off a bad pass and passing it to forward Danielle Foxhoven, who was making a run into the left side of the penalty box. She was the Thorns' lone scorer in a 1–1 draw with the

Western New York Flash The Western New York Flash (WNY Flash) was an American women's soccer club based in Elma, New York, that most recently competed in the United Women's Soccer league in 2018. They won league championships in four different leagues: the USL W-Leag ...

on July 14, 2013, which began a scoring streak in which she scored a goal in four consecutive matches. In 2015, Shim went on loan to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese football team Iga Kunoichi FC but did not appear in a domestic match. On January 10, 2014, it was announced that Shim was drafted by the

Houston Dash The Houston Dash are an American professional soccer team based in Houston, Texas, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The Dash began play in the 2014 season. The team plays its home games at Shell Energy Stadium. His ...

with the fourth pick in the 2014 NWSL Expansion Draft. She was traded back to the Thorns one week later during the 2014 NWSL College Draft.

Växjö DFF

In 2017, Shim signed with Swedish side Växjö DFF of the Elitettan. She appeared in two matches as Växjö earned promotion to the 2018 Damallsvenskan.

Houston Dash

Shim returned to the NWSL in 2018, signing with the Dash.

NJ/NY Gotham FC

Shim signed a short-term injury replacement contract with

NJ/NY Gotham FC Gotham Football Club is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in the New York metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Founded in 2006 as Jersey Sky Blue, the team was known as Sk ...

on June 25, 2023. One of her teammates was fellow

2021 NWSL abuse scandal Players and former staff of teams in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) have leveled several allegations and formal reports of sexual abuse, harassment, misconduct, and manipulation, as well as weight-shaming, verbal and emotional abuse, ...

whistleblower Whistleblowing (also whistle-blowing or whistle blowing) is the activity of a person, often an employee, revealing information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe, unethical or ...

Sinead Farrelly. On August 9, 2023, Shim scored her first NWSL goal since 2015 in the 91st minute off an assist from Midge Purce.

Activism and post-playing career

In 2021 Shim publicly accused her former manager Paul Riley of sexual misconduct and abuse to ''

The Athletic ''The Athletic'' is a subscription-based sports journalism department of ''The New York Times''. It provides national and local coverage in 47 North American cities as well as the United Kingdom. ''The Athletic'' also covers national stories ...

'' in a story that resulted in Riley being fired from his then-current position with the

North Carolina Courage The North Carolina Courage are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Cary, North Carolina, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It was founded on January 9, 2017, after Stephen Malik acqui ...

, and the NWSL to seek further investigations. Her anti-harassment advocacy led to her being named one of the 2022 "Law Students of the Year" by ''National Jurist''. Shim graduated from the University of Hawai'i's William S. Richardson School of Law in 2022. On October 31, 2022, following the revelations of the

, Shim announced she was joining U.S. Soccer as the chair of a new Participant Safety Taskforce. Mana also spent a season as assistant coach at

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

during the 2022-2023 season, during which the

Spartans Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the valley of Evrotas river in Laconia, in southeastern P ...

won the Mountain West Championship game.

Personal life

Shim self-identifies as

Kanaka Maoli Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians; , , , and ) are the Indigenous peoples of Oceania, Indigenous Polynesians, Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaiʻi was set ...

. Shim publicly came out as a lesbian on August 30, 2013, in an interview with ''

Outsports ''Outsports'' is a sports news website concerned with LGBTQ issues and personalities in amateur and professional sports. The company was founded in 1999 by Cyd Zeigler, Jr. and Jim Buzinski. ''The Outsports Revolution'' ( Alyson Publications), ...

'', the day before the Portland Thorns FC entered the National Women's Soccer League Championship. In 2017, as part of an effort to lower the stigma of mental health issues among athletes, Shim revealed she had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Honors

NJ/NY Gotham FC *

NWSL Championship The NWSL Championship is the annual championship game of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top-flight women's soccer league in the United States. It is the culmination of the NWSL playoffs, which is contested by the teams with the ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Portland Thorns FC *

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

References

External links

Santa Clara University player profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shim, Mana 1991 births Living people American women's soccer players Santa Clara Broncos women's soccer players National Women's Soccer League players Portland Thorns FC players Soccer players from Honolulu American lesbian sportswomen LGBTQ people from Hawaii Kamehameha Schools alumni Women's association football midfielders Houston Dash players Gotham FC players Växjö DFF players Expatriate women's footballers in Sweden American expatriate women's soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Sweden People with bipolar disorder American LGBTQ soccer players William S. Richardson School of Law alumni San Jose State Spartans women's soccer coaches 21st-century American sportswomen