Riley Shares What It Means to Lead From the Front
Name: Ali Riley Angel City Football Club
Job Title: Team Captain and Defender for Angel City FC
Resident of: Los Angeles
Local Living: LA Native
Angel City Football Club
First discovered her passion for soccer at age four. As an only child, soccer was an important social outlet growing up. “For the first probably four years, I tried to schedule playdates at soccer,” says Riley. “I tried so many different sports, but the team aspect is really what drew me in.”
Team, community and family have been significant parts of the LA native’s career. Since going pro in 2010, Riley’s journey has led her to play for football clubs across the world and also represent New Zealand in World Cup and Olympic matches. While her love for the game has never changed, Riley has seen the importance of using her voice and the influence she has on and off the pitch.
Riley is motivated to discuss topics important to her, such as female empowerment, her experiences during the pandemic as an Asian American woman and addressing gender equity in sports. “I’m seeing the impact I can make using my platform, and that has been built through soccer. I still love game day…but I also realize I can do a lot more than [play],” describes Riley. “I really want to continue to use my voice to make positive change, share stories and hopefully open people’s eyes to new perspectives [and] encourage more equality and kindness.”
“This is a team that has a brand, vision and a goal that is so important and goes beyond soccer…”—Ali Riley Angel City Football Club
As team captain of Angel City FC of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), she’s even more motivated to enact change in her hometown and loves being surrounded by teammates, founders and staff that also want to drive social impact and connect meaningfully with communities. “This is a team that has a brand, vision and a goal that is so important and goes beyond soccer…” remarks Riley. “We have so much representation [at Angel City], which can inspire so many young girls not necessarily to play soccer, but to follow their dreams [since] that’s what we are all doing.”
