Nya Layson Harrison (born November 9, 2002) is a professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who plays as a defender for

San Diego Wave FC San Diego Wave Fútbol Club is an American professional soccer team based in San Diego, California, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The team plays its home games at Snapdragon Stadium. Founded on June 8, 2021, the Wav ...

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). Born in the United States, she has been called up to represent the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

internationally. She played

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

for the

Stanford Cardinal The Stanford Cardinal are the college athletics in the United States, athletic teams that represent Stanford University. Stanford's program has won 138 National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA team championships, the List of NCAA schools ...

Early life

Born and raised in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, Harrison attended Del Norte High School and became captain of the soccer team. While in high school, she played club soccer for San Diego Surf. She committed to play

for the

as a sophomore. She was ranked by ''

TopDrawerSoccer TopDrawerSoccer.com (TDS) is an American soccer website that is dedicated to youth soccer in the United States. Specifically, the website focuses on Academy soccer, high school soccer, and college soccer in the United States. The website was la ...

'' as the 21st-best prospect of the 2021 class.

College career

Harrison made 15 appearances as a substitute during her first two seasons with the

. In her junior season in 2023, she played in 20 games, 11 of them as a starter. She appeared in three games off the bench during the NCAA tournament as Stanford's undefeated season came to an end in the final against

Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

. Harrison established herself in the lineup in her senior season in 2024, starting all 23 games and contributing to 12 shutouts during the program's first year in the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

. She helped Stanford reach the semifinals of the NCAA tournament, losing to Wake Forest.

Club career

announced on March 12, 2025, that the club had signed Harrison to a short-term contract through June. On June 20, the club re-signed her until the end of the year.

International career

Harrison trained with the United States youth national team at the under-16 and under-18 levels. In February 2025, Harrison was called into training camp with the Philippines national team.

Personal life

Harrison is one of three daughters born to Sherill and Derrick Harrison. Her mother immigrated to the United States from the Philippines, and her father is African American. She is a cousin of former NFL player Jashon Sykes. In December 2023, alongside

Sedona Prince Sedona Prince (born May 12, 2000) is an American basketball player who plays for the TCU Horned Frogs of the Big 12 Conference. She previously played for the Oregon Ducks of the Pac-12 Conference and the Texas Longhorns of the Big 12 Conference ...

and DeWayne Carter, Harrison filed suit against the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) seeking to challenge NCAA restrictions on

student athlete compensation In college athletics in the United States, a student-athlete who participates in a varsity sport on any and all levels is eligible to profit from their name, image, and likeness (NIL). Historically, the National Association of Intercollegiate At ...

Honors and awards

Stanford Cardinal *

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level for all sports, and its Co ...

: 2022

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Nya Living people 2002 births 21st-century American sportswomen 21st-century Filipino sportswomen Soccer players from San Diego American women's soccer players Women's association football defenders United States women's youth international soccer players Stanford Cardinal women's soccer players San Diego Wave FC players African-American soccer players American sportspeople of Filipino descent Filipino people of African-American descent Filipino women's footballers