Gotham FC midfielder Sarah Schupansky is enjoying the challenge that comes with competing in an environment that brings the best out of her every day.
The 22-year-old was integral to Gotham ending the 2025 season with a trophy double by leading the club with five assists across all competitions.
Schupansky started in the 2025 Concacaf W Champions Cup final and 2025 NWSL Championship as Gotham brought home the silverware and were treated to a ticker-tape Canyon of Heroes parade last November.
Early into her second season, Schupansky detailed in an exclusive interview with South Ward Central the decision-making process that brought her to Gotham, the highs and lows of her rookie season and her desire to continually improve at club level and with the United States Under-23 women’s national team.
Why Schupansky Chose Gotham FC
A new Collective Bargaining Agreement signed in August 2024 allowed Schupansky and the 2025 NWSL rookie class to choose their destination as free agents after the amateur player draft was eliminated.
“When I was deciding which team to play for, it was just a different process than I think it had been in the past — it was the first year without a draft,” Schupansky recalled to South Ward Central. “The players who had been in the league were working so hard to make that a possibility for us, and having that privilege of getting to choose where I wanted to go. I knew I wanted to be somewhere with a roster like that.”
Conversations with general manager and head of soccer operations Yael Averbuch West and head coach Juan Carlos Amorós assured Schupansky that Gotham was the place for her to realize her professional ambitions.
“I wanted to be amongst world-renowned players and coaches who were going to push me to develop into the best possible player I can be,” Schupansky explained. “From the second I was on a phone call with Juan Carlos and Yael, that is what they assured me was going to be my experience at Gotham and that has proven to be my exact reality.
“Every single day I step into the facility, step onto the field. I am pushed to my limits, and I’m constantly getting better. I’m making mistakes day in and day out, which is how you know you’re getting better. I think having the privilege of making that decision and choosing where I wanted to play ultimately allowed me to control my future as a professional. Every single day, I am completely satisfied with my choice to start my career at Gotham.”
Schupansky Recalls ‘Starstruck’ First Moment With Gotham Teammates
Not long after the ink was dry on her first professional contract, signed in December 2024, Schupansky soon departed for preseason training in Spain at the Marbella Football Center. It was the first time that any NWSL team held its preseason training at the world-renowned facility.
Suddenly, Schupansky was surrounded by international stars whom she had only seen on television previously. The big-name icons on Gotham’s roster couldn’t have been more welcoming to her and her rookie teammates.
“I remember we didn’t train in New Jersey when I first stepped into this team,” she remembered. “The first time I saw everybody was when we met at the airport to go to Spain for preseason, and I just remember being a little bit starstruck by everybody that I was stepping onto the plane with. Jess Carter, Emily Sonnett, Rose Lavelle, they were all so kind and made us feel very welcome from the start. I was definitely taken aback by just sitting next to the people I just would watch on TV and grew up cheering for. It’s still surreal to me sometimes.”
How Gotham Coaches Shaped Schupansky’s Confidence
Schupansky credits Amorós and Gotham’s wealth of experienced and positive-minded assistants for guiding her to an impressive rookie campaign and continued success in her second season.
“It’s hard to depict in words how lucky I am to be where I am and to be under these coaches that have done everything in their power to make me feel supported and capable,” she said. “They allow me to express myself on and off the field. They have done nothing but encourage me to be my authentic self and my creative self on the field and just throughout the day.
“Every single time I take a step back, and I look at where I started and where I am now, I see the jumps that I’ve made, and I see the progress that I’ve made. Every single step forward that I’ve taken is a credit to the coaches that I’m with and the teammates that I’m playing with. The time that they take to give me feedback and to show me that support and encouragement, it’s not necessary, but it’s always so appreciated.”
How Gotham Helped Schupansky Through Moments of Doubt
The former University of Pittsburgh standout admitted that there were moments when doubt entered her mind, and those thoughts were extinguished by a coaching staff that fully backed her and lifted her up when she needed a confidence boost.
“This career is hard,” Schupansky explained. “There’s times where doubt creeps in, and uncertainty starts to just arise, and you’re left in moments where you just don’t necessarily even believe that you can do it. To have coaches that never think otherwise and always know you can do it and are always telling you that and instilling that belief in you, it’s an indescribable feeling, and the support is overwhelming.”
The Conversation That Inspired Her Before the 2025 NWSL Final
One particular pep talk stood out for Schupansky. On the eve of the 2025 NWSL championship game, assistant coach Shaun Harris and head of player development Anton Blackwood called her in for a chat that settled her nerves before the biggest match of her career to date.
“The day before the final, I just remember Anton Blackwood and Shaun Harris sat me down, and they just told me I could do it,” she recalled. “Through the end of last season, obviously, our team wasn’t getting the results that necessarily we knew we were capable of getting. So there’s a lot of opportunity for doubt to creep in — I’m a rookie, and it’s my first final, really, ever since high school.
“For them to just sit down and tell me, regardless of what happens tomorrow, be proud of yourself, the progress you’ve made throughout this season, the steps forward you’ve taken, that’s an accomplishment in and of itself – so just go out and play your game. Enjoy where you’re at. Just take it all in. We trust you, and we know that you’re going to deliver the way we need you to deliver.”
Schupansky Delivered Key Contribution in Championship Victory
That trust paid off as Schupansky played the entire 98 minutes and helped Gotham earn a 1-0 shutout victory over the Washington Spirit at San Jose’s PayPal Park. Rose Lavelle would score the 80th-minute match-winner after Schupansky’s long diagonal ball sent Bruninha down the wing. Bruninha made some clever stepovers and slid the primary assist to the box-crashing Lavelle.
The meeting with Harris and Blackwood allowed Schupansky to play with freedom and belief.
“I left that meeting not worried about what was going to happen in the game the next day, but just so appreciative of the people that I once took a chance on surrounding myself with,” she said. “I got to decide where I was going to play, and there’s so much uncertainty in that decision, and you never know what’s going to happen, but every day I’m so grateful that this is the place that I ended up choosing to be.”
It will be intriguing to see where her confident mindset takes her on the pitch and what she’ll accomplish in her sophomore NWSL season.
Schupansky and fourth-place Gotham will next face bottom-of-the-table Boston Legacy FC on Saturday at Sports Illustrated Stadium. Kick off scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
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