From Boise to the World Cup: How Sofia Huerta’s journey is ‘just inspiring’ for Idaho

Sofia Huerta’s journey to the World Cup earned her admirers all over the country.

The Boise native’s refusal to quit on her dreams of playing for the U.S. women’s soccer team represents a Hollywood-worthy story capable of reaching any casual sports fan. Her role as one of the few Mexican-American women to ever suit up for the U.S. earned her admiration from the Latino community.

But Huerta’s most devout followers come from her home state, where she has blazed a new path and shown the world what a woman from Idaho can do.

“It’s just inspiring,” incoming Boise High junior Kunie Hirai said. “Obviously, Idaho is a small (state). We’re from a small town. There’s not always a lot of recognition out here.

“So to see someone get to where our dreams are to eventually to be, it’s just hopeful and tells us we can do it too.”

Huerta will become the first person from Idaho to represent the U.S. at a World Cup when the Americans kick off their title defense at 7 p.m. Friday against Vietnam. But her following didn’t start when the U.S. unveiled its roster last month.

Eric Simmonsen is the director of coaching and player development for the Boise Timbers Thorns, the area’s most decorated youth soccer club. He noticed the swell behind Huerta a few years ago when the Centennial High grad established herself as a professional and started making appearances for the national team.

Now, whenever he heads out to a soccer field, he spots a jersey with Huerta across the back.

“The amount of Sofia Huerta jerseys we have at training is crazy,” Simmonsen said. “Kids used to wear Mia Hamm or Alex Morgan jerseys. They wore the one-off, most popular, commercialized athlete.

“That’s not happening anymore.”

Instead, Idaho boys and girls have latched on to Huerta’s journey. U.S. national team coaches ignored her for years, and then told her she wasn’t good enough to make the U-20 team. So Huerta suited up and starred for Mexico, a possibility because of her dual citizenship.

But her dream always remained to play for the U.S., so she risked it all and put everything into making the American team. It worked at first, leading to a few appearances in 2017 and ‘18. But U.S. coaches saw her as a defender, a new position to Huerta and one her club coaches refused to let her play.

The invites dried up without a chance to develop. So Huerta remade herself, putting her head down and spending three and a half years in national team exile learning to become a defender. She spent three offseasons playing in Australia looking for more minutes. Then she signed with OL Reign in Seattle, specifically because its coaches would play her at outside back.

It all paid off when the national team came calling again in 2021. And the U.S. has been relying on the Idaho native since.

“Anything is possible,” Huerta said at the U.S. national team’s media day last month. “That really is just my journey in a nutshell.

“I always believed that it was possible, even though a lot of people didn’t. Believing in yourself and believing that anything is possible is so powerful. Our minds are so powerful.”

That’s a message Idaho youth soccer players have taken to heart.

“It shows Idaho kids that you can do it, too,” said Isabella Brown, a goalkeeper for Idaho Rush and an incoming junior at Owyhee High. “Just because you’re from a small town, you can become big. You’ve just got to put in the work.”

Simmonsen said Huerta has embraced her status as an Idaho role model. She’s quick to say yes whenever his club reaches out for a favor. And she always makes time for Idaho players when the Boise Timbers Thorns bring a group to watch her play.

“Sof is right there taking pictures with them, telling them, ‘I know that coach’ or ‘I trained on that field,’” Simmonsen said. “They are forwarding pictures to us and tagging us.

“They are not there for just Alex Morgan or Mia Hamm. Their first choice is Sof.”

Alyssa Wolf had the unenviable task of coaching against Huerta in high school. But after 13 years at Mountain View, she moved to Centennial this summer, where she has led a push for Huerta’s alma mater to support its former star.

The Patriots are selling T-shirts in honor of Huerta, with her approval. They will sell snacks and drinks as a fundraiser Friday at JUMP’s watch party in downtown Boise.

Wolf related the excitement around Huerta to 1999, when she watched the U.S. women win the World Cup as a 12-year-old growing up in Canyon County. That moment brought women’s soccer into the spotlight. And now, Huerta has brought that spotlight to Idaho.

“It shows that it’s possible,” Wolf said. “She’s kind of in the later stages of career, being 30. But if you keep on chasing your dream — I know it sounds cliche — anything is possible.

“It doesn’t matter if you are from Idaho or wherever, as long as you have that passion. And anyone who has watched her play would know she plays with so much passion.”

U.S. WORLD CUP OPENER

• Who: U.S. vs. Vietnam

• When: 7 p.m. Friday

• TV: FOX

• Watch party: At JUMP in downtown Boise, starting at 6 p.m. Beer and wine are available for purchase, and outside food is welcome. Centennial High, Huerta’s alma mater, will host a youth mini-World Cup before the game and at halftime. It will also be selling snacks, drinks and T-shirts.