NC Courage, Taylor Smith Mutually Agree to Part Ways

On June 21, 2022, the North Carolina Courage announced that defender Taylor Smith and NC’s NWSL club have mutually agreed to part ways.

“We wish Taylor all the best and thank her for all she has done for the Courage on and off the field,” NC Courage Chief Soccer Officer Curt Johnson said.

Smith’s Details With the Courage Franchise

Smith played for the Courage franchise twice over her NWSL career, the first time starting as part of the Western New York Flash’s 2016 NWSL Championship-winning season before moving to North Carolina with the team.

The Fort Worth, TX native attended UCLA, playing soccer there from 2012–2015 for the Bruins. She also spent NWSL spent stints with both the Washington Spirit and Reign FC (now known as OL Reign). Smith was traded to the Washington Spirit at the beginning of 2018, along with teammate Ashley Hatch in exchange for Crystal Dunn’s rights. After the 2018 NWSL season, Smith signed with the Newcastle Jets on loan for the 2018–19 W-League season before returning again to the NWSL in 2019. On March 22, 2019, Reign FC announced that they had signed Smith through the discovery process for former allocated players.

Smith was then acquired by the Courage once more via trade in December 2020.

In total, Smith recorded 63 regular-season appearances, with 28 being starts for the Flash and Courage, and tallied a pair of goals and four assists in that span.

At the time of publishing this article, Smith has not made a statement about the parting of ways or what her next steps will be within or outside of soccer.

Next for the Courage

The Courage return to action next Friday, July 1, when they travel to the Pacific Northwest to take on OL Reign. The match will be streamed live on Paramount+, WRAL Sports+ (locally in North Carolina) and Twitch (internationally).

Update on Smith

On Friday, June 24, 2022, NJ/NY Gotham FC announce Smith signed with their club.

Welcome to the club @taylornsmith11_ 😍

“She's accomplished and versatile and has championship experience, which will go a long way as we continue to shape our culture.”- @Yael_Averbuch pic.twitter.com/wFcJBke0tQ

— NJ/NY Gotham FC (@GothamFC) June 24, 2022