She was an overlooked girl from Idaho. Now she’s the highest-paid player in NWSL history

Idaho native Maria Sanchez struggled to prove herself in her first stint in the National Women’s Soccer League. But she’s found no such troubles in her second go-round.

Sanchez signed the richest contract in NWSL history this week, agreeing to a four-year, $1.5 million deal to stay with the Houston Dash, The Wall Street Journal and Equalizer Soccer reported. The contract comes with a mutual option for the fourth year.

“Obviously, it’s a huge moment for me,” Sanchez told ESPN FC. “I’m very happy to be in Houston, very happy to extend my contract there and very excited for what’s to come.”

Sanchez first joined Houston in 2021 on loan. Since then, the 27-year-old has become one of the league’s most dangerous forwards. She led the Dash last season with four goals and four assists while playing all 22 games. Her mix of speed, world-class crosses and bending free kicks earned her the nickname “La Bombi.”

“Her left foot is like magic,” Houston general manager Alex Singer told The Wall Street Journal.

The Nampa native has also continued to rise on the international stage, where she’s made 64 appearances with the Mexican national team. The daughter of two Mexican immigrants, Sanchez served as Mexico’s captain and led it to a gold medal in November at the Pan American Games. She tied for the tournament lead with four goals in five games.

But Sanchez’s road from rural Idaho to the top of the sport was anything but assured. Sanchez’s family could never afford to sign her up for a private club program growing up. So she cut her teeth playing against her older brother and his friends, sneaking into the middle school gym and field across the street from the family’s home in American Falls.

She dominated at American Falls High, scoring 178 career goals. Her senior season included 68 goals in 17 games, and a streak of 13 straight hat tricks. The prolific scoring earned her a spot in Sports Illustrated’s Faces in the Crowd. But only one college offered her a scholarship — nearby Idaho State.

That didn’t stop her, though. She blossomed into a record-setting player. A last-minute road trip to an open tryout in Los Angeles earned Sanchez a spot on Mexico’s U-20 team. And within four months, the 19-year-old took the field for Mexico’s senior squad at the 2015 World Cup in Canada.

The Chicago Red Stars drafted Sanchez in 2019 after she led the NCAA with 16 assists as a senior at Santa Clara. But she still had to try out for the Red Stars and made just $14,584 that season, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Chicago only used her sparingly, so she spent two seasons searching for opportunities in Mexico. She found them with Chivas and Tigres Femenil, scoring a combined 19 goals in 67 matches, proving she belonged with the best and leading her back to the NWSL.

“It was just a lot of struggles that made me appreciate playing the sport even more,” Sanchez told ESPN FC. “It makes me appreciate everything I’ve accomplished now even more, especially coming back home and reliving everything.

“I honestly don’t know how I did it.”

Sanchez’s status as the league’s highest-paid player may not last long, though. This marks just the league’s second season with free agency under a new collective bargaining agreement. Sanchez was a restricted free agent and still broke the previous high-water mark set by Trinity Rodman last fall of four years for $1.1 million.

Meanwhile, U.S. national team regulars like Rose Lavelle, Mallory Swanson and Crystal Dunn are all available as unrestricted free agents this offseason.

“I know that women’s soccer is growing, and probably within the next few days or weeks, somebody else is gonna break another record,” Sanchez told ESPN FC. “So, to me, I honestly just love being able to represent Mexican women’s soccer and break those boundaries.

“I think there’s little representation in the NWSL for Mexican women’s soccer. So I’m just very happy to be a leader in that and represent them the best way I can.”