In 2006, Ali Riley ’06 ran onto the field in her Harvard-Westlake jersey with her captain’s band tight around her arm as she led the school to the CIF Southern Section final. Nearly two decades after that game, Riley would wear her captain’s band one last time as she took the field for Angel City in her final game as a professional player. Starting and ending her career in Los Angeles, Riley was the school’s first professional womens soccer player, leaving a legacy within the school’s program that would be carried on by Alyssa Thompson ’23 and Gisele Thompson ’24.
Riley loved soccer from a young age, but growing up, there was no professional womens league she was able to aspire to be in. At 11, her love for the sport deepened after attending the 1999 Womens World Cup, where she saw female athletes being celebrated for athletic achievement for the first time. However, her ultimate inspiration to pursue soccer came from those she played alongside at the school. As the only freshman on varsity, Riley played alongside many players committed to Division I schools, notably midfielder and forward Gina Farias-Eisner ’03, a then senior committed to Stanford University. During her own senior year at Stanford, Riley was named Pac-10 Womens Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year and All-Pac-10 first team. Riley said she looked up to Farias-Eisner and hoped to follow in her athletic and academic success.
“I was surrounded by these amazing older players who were going to play in college,” Riley said. “That was when it became my dream to play at a Division I college.That was as far as I thought I could take the sport. My motivation for soccer and academics was to be like [Farias-Eisner] and go play at Stanford.”
Although Riley was a defender her whole professional career, in high school, she was a midfielder, earning various awards and accolades including being named All-CIF-SS Division I first team and leading the school to a CIF-SS final her senior year. Under Head Coach Stacy Schwartz ’95, Riley said she felt supported in both her development as a soccer player, but also as a person.
“I had great club coaches, but club was very serious,” Riley said. “[Club soccer] was year-round and so much about being scouted for college, whereas in high school I felt I got to be myself. Because it was connected to school, there was a larger understanding of how rigorous and stressful the academics were. [Schwartz] taught me so much about leadership and balancing school and sport.”
Riley played for the Stanford Cardinals from 2006 to 2009. During her time at Stanford, she played alongside Kelley O’Hara and Christen Press, who both went on to play for the U.S. National Team. Riley chose Stanford despite it not being one of the top soccer programs at the time. Coming from a family that emphasized academics and being a female athlete when soccer could not yet be a career, Riley said her primary goal was to find a school that would allow her to excel both athletically and academically. Riley would be part of the transition of making Stanford’s womens soccer program one of the best in the country and three time national champions in 2011, 2017 and 2019 and four time finalists. Riley said she and her teammates were playing soccer because they loved it, but they did not know it would be a possibility to pursue it as a career option.
“We were playing because we loved it and we were good at it, but there was no guarantee we would ever be able to make a career out of it,” Riley said. “I chose Stanford because I wanted to be the best athlete, but also the best person, leader and scholar I could be. To go to that school, to be part of that shift and to see Stanford be so successful makes me really proud.”
In 2010, Riley was drafted as the 10th pick in the first round by FC Gold Pride. She played in both America and Europe from 2010 to 2022 before landing in L.A. Riley said she valued playing at home because it gave her the opportunity to give back to her community while also being in a city where the growth of womens soccer was so prominent.
“Being able to represent my city and the communities that have supported me and believed in me my whole life was important to me,” Riley said. “Living out this dream of seeing womens soccer become so popular and undeniable, and to do all of that at home, is something a lot of athletes do not get to do.”
Being born in the U.S. to a father from New Zealand, Riley represented New Zealand’s national womens soccer team for nearly two decades, serving as captain from 2017 to 2025. Riley said playing for the team was one of the most impactful experiences of her career, as she was able to learn about her heritage and represent a country she had pride in.
“Playing for New Zealand really changed my life,” Riley said. “I was able to represent a country at the World Cup and at an Olympics which are the pinnacle events of the sport. I also got to know my dad’s home country, a whole side of my family and a part of me that I did not know a lot about. To do that when you are able to play and sing a national anthem, as you are going out there representing an entire nation of people, is such an honor. It really makes you feel like you are part of something so much bigger than yourself.”
Riley suffered chronic nerve issues in her left leg after a fall during a training session in late 2023. She was sidelined for much of the 2024 National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) season and missed the 2024 Paris Olympics. Despite doctors telling her she would never be able to play again, Riley said she was determined to return to the field and play again.
“[Playing in the 2025 season] was very important,” said Riley. “It was something I wanted to prove to myself,” Riley said. “I wanted to give back to all the people who helped me, my family, all the medical professionals and my strength coach. But [returning to playing] became less and less important the closer it got because it was not in my control. I am a person and I want to be a mom. I am a wife, a daughter and a friend, and that is the person I wanted to heal. That is the person I really tried to rehab. It was not just about returning to the field again.”
After retiring in 2025, Riley intends to embark on a new chapter in her life. She and her husband hope to start a family, and she hopes to continue to announce womens soccer games. Riley has already started broadcasting with CBS News, covering the Womens Champions League, but also hopes to cover NWSL in the future. Riley said she hopes to stay close with Angel City while also starting to broadcast their games.
“My biggest goal would be to cover the game and share stories,” said Riley. “Just keep growing [the sport] so the current and future athletes can have more than anything I have ever had. Eventually women athletes will be paid all that they deserve and be able to live the lives they deserve.”
Riley said she takes great pride in being an alum of the school and is impressed with the accomplishments of the students and athletes who recently graduated.
“I am just amazed when I think of the school, the athletes and people who have come out of the school,” Riley said. “I am really proud to have been at the beginning of some of these legacies, but what the athletes coming after me have been able to do is amazing.”
