Chloe Ricketts Bio
Chloe Cathleen Ricketts (born May 23, 2007) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder or forward for Boston Legacy FC of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL). She rose to national attention at 15 when she signed with the Washington Spirit in 2023, becoming the first player ever to use the NWSL Under-18 Entry Mechanism. Since then, she has built a résumé that includes a major domestic cup, a continental goal, and a senior international debut for the United States at the under-20 level. At 5 ft 1 in (1.55 m), she is one of the smallest players in the league, but her speed, technical touch, and early scoring milestones have made her a closely watched prospect in American women’s soccer.
Chloe Ricketts Early Life and Background
Early Life and Background
Ricketts grew up in Dexter, Michigan, a small community near Ann Arbor. She came into youth soccer at a time when the top girls’ pathways in her state were well established, but she quickly separated herself from her peers with an unusual habit: choosing to compete against boys. Her competitive edge showed early, and her family encouraged her to seek the strongest competition available rather than the most convenient option.
Between 2017 and 2018, she won back-to-back state championships with the Michigan Hawks. From 2020 to 2022, she became a regular on a boys’ squad, the Michigan Tigers, where she collected multiple state and regional championships. Her youth run peaked in 2022, when she helped her team capture the under-15 US Youth Soccer National Championship. She also played ECNL soccer for Solar SC and GA soccer for the Michigan Jaguars, sharpening her game against a wide range of styles.
Path to Soccer
Outside club play, Ricketts stepped into the adult amateur ranks while still in middle school. In 2022, she joined AFC Ann Arbor of the USL W League, becoming the club’s youngest-ever player at 14. Across 11 appearances that season, she scored twice, setting a record as the youngest goal-scorer in the league. Before she turned professional, recruiting outlet TopDrawerSoccer ranked her 25th overall in the 2025 college class, a sign that her path to the senior national team was already drawing attention even though she never played college soccer.
Chloe Ricketts Career
Early Career (2022)
Ricketts’s first notable senior stint came with AFC Ann Arbor in 2022. Playing a full USL W League season as a 14-year-old, she produced two goals and helped the club compete in one of the country’s strongest pre-professional women’s leagues. The experience was short but consequential, giving her adult-level minutes well before she was eligible to sign a professional deal.
Washington Spirit Era (2023–2025)
Washington Spirit general manager Mark Krikorian invited Ricketts to the team’s 2023 preseason camp, where he noted that she competed with an edge from day one. On March 2, 2023, at 15 years and 283 days old, she signed her first professional contract, a three-year deal with an option for an additional year. It was the first signing under the NWSL’s new Under-18 Entry Mechanism, a rule created in the wake of Olivia Moultrie’s antitrust lawsuit against the league’s minimum-age requirement. Ricketts briefly held the record as the youngest NWSL signing before Melanie Barcinas joined the San Diego Wave later that month.
She made her professional debut on April 15, 2023, playing 24 minutes off the bench in a 2–1 win over the North Carolina Courage. Her first professional goal came on July 28 in the NWSL Challenge Cup against Gotham FC, finishing a through ball from Ashley Hatch to cap a 4–2 win. At 16 years and 2 months old, she became the youngest NWSL goal-scorer, again breaking Moultrie’s mark. Across all competitions in 2023, she logged 17 appearances, 7 starts, and 615 minutes, though the Spirit finished eighth, one point below the playoff line, and head coach Mark Parsons was dismissed at season’s end.
Ricketts’s minutes dropped sharply in 2024 under new coaches Adrián González and Jonatan Giráldez, with just four appearances and 20 minutes played. She was on the bench for the 2024 NWSL Championship, which the Spirit lost 1–0 to the Orlando Pride. On March 7, 2025, she was given a start in the NWSL Challenge Cup final against Orlando, becoming the youngest NWSL player ever to start a final; Washington won 4–2 on penalties after a 1–1 draw. On June 25, 2025, the Spirit declined her fourth-year option, and on August 19, 2025, she scored in the club’s continental debut, a 7–0 win over Alianza FC of El Salvador in the 2025–26 CONCACAF W Champions Cup group stage.
Houston Dash Era (2025)
On October 1, 2025, the Spirit traded Ricketts to the Houston Dash in exchange for $15,000 in intra-league transfer funds. Her time in Houston was brief, limited to a single late substitute appearance in the November 2 season finale against the Portland Thorns.
Boston Legacy Era (2026–Present)
The same day she was traded to Houston, expansion side Boston Legacy announced that Ricketts had agreed to a three-year contract beginning in 2026, with a mutual option for an additional year. The move pairs her with a new franchise building its first NWSL roster and gives her a clear runway to become a centerpiece of the team’s attack.
Notable Events and Milestones
Ricketts is best known for two record-breaking moments: in 2023, she became the first player signed under the NWSL’s Under-18 Entry Mechanism, and the youngest NWSL goal-scorer after her Challenge Cup strike against Gotham. In 2025, she added another line to her record book as the youngest NWSL player to start a final, and she later netted her first continental goal in the CONCACAF W Champions Cup.
Chloe Ricketts Career Wins
Across her senior career, Ricketts has won a senior NWSL Challenge Cup title and a US Youth Soccer National Championship at the under-15 level. Her professional trophy case is anchored by the 2025 NWSL Challenge Cup with the Washington Spirit, decided on penalties after her historic start.
Senior Club Highlights
With the Washington Spirit, Ricketts lifted the 2025 NWSL Challenge Cup after entering the 2023 season as a record-breaking teenager. She also made her mark in cup play in 2023, scoring the winning goal in a Challenge Cup group-stage win over Gotham FC to set the youngest-goal-scorer record. In Houston, her only appearance came in the 2025 regular-season finale, and her move to Boston set the stage for her next chapter starting in 2026.
Other Wins and Performances
At the youth level, Ricketts won back-to-back state championships with the Michigan Hawks in 2017 and 2018, multiple state and regional titles with the Michigan Tigers, and the 2022 under-15 US Youth Soccer National Championship. Internationally, she helped the United States qualify for the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup at the 2025 CONCACAF Women’s U-20 Championship.
Chloe Ricketts Family
Family Background and Soccer Lineage
Ricketts’s family has been a steady presence in her young career, supporting her decision to play on boys’ teams and to enter the senior amateur ranks at 14. Public information about her parents and siblings has been kept private, but her hometown of Dexter, Michigan, has remained an important touchpoint throughout her rise.
Personal Life
Ricketts is single and focuses on her professional career. She has built a sizable public profile, with verified social media accounts on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, both of which carry her uniform number 39 in their handles, a nod to her roots before Boston Legacy assigned her number 11.
2025 Season Performance
The 2025 campaign was a rollercoaster for Ricketts. She opened the year as a key piece of Washington’s depth, then delivered a statement performance on March 7 by starting the NWSL Challenge Cup final against the Orlando Pride at 17, helping the Spirit lift the trophy on penalties. A week later, she made a third career regular-season start in the season opener, a 2–1 win over the Houston Dash, and contributed to the only goal of the match even though it was officially credited to Ashley Hatch.
On June 25, 2025, the Spirit announced that her fourth-year contract option had been declined, opening a trade window. She was quiet through midsummer, then returned to the scoresheet on August 19, 2025, scoring in Washington’s 7–0 continental win over Alianza FC in the 2025–26 CONCACAF W Champions Cup. The chapter closed on October 1, 2025, when the Spirit traded her to the Houston Dash for $15,000 in intra-league transfer funds. In Houston, she made one late substitute appearance in the November 2 season finale against the Portland Thorns, and the same day Boston Legacy announced her as a 2026 signing.
Heading into 2025, Ricketts also made her under-20 debut for the United States at the 2025 CONCACAF Women’s U-20 Championship, helping the team qualify for the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. With a fresh contract at Boston Legacy FC and a long runway in the NWSL, her outlook is built less on a single season and more on her first full multi-year run as a starter.