LOS ANGELES — Ashley Hatch’s first call-up to the women’s national soccer team came in 2016 and ended with her playing the final 16 minutes of a 4-0 win over Switzerland.
For most of the next five years, she sat by her phone hoping for another call. When that wait proved to be mostly in vain, Hatch prepared to move on.
“Maybe it’s not in the cards for me,” she concluded. “I kind of made the decision that being on the national team or not being on the national team was not going to dictate who I am as a player. I had to make that conscious decision.”
