Nicole Baxter and Sabrina Flores love soccer, their friendship, and they're using that passion to win TST 2024 with Wrexham
The longtime friends and New Jersey natives talk about navigating the hardships and joys of their pro careers and finding fulfilment in keeping soccer in their lives post-retirement
Playing in a soccer tournament for one million dollars with your best friend sounds like a pretty great way to spend a week. That’s what former NJ/NY Gotham FC players and New Jersey natives Sabrina Flores and Nicole Baxter think anyway.
“The basis of why we play is because we love it so much, and we love playing with each other so much,” Baxter said. “You don’t really get to have opportunities where you can play with some of your favorite people again once you stop playing.”
The two friends will participate in TST 2024 with the Wrexham Red Dragons’ Women’s Squad at Wakemed Soccer Park in North Carolina from June 5 - 10. They will join the Welsh side in the eight-team tournament for a series of 7-a-side games with the grand prize of $1 million.
The team boasts a number of players from Wrexham AFC Women who compete in the Welsh top flight along with a few recently retired National Women’s Soccer League players.
“I did it last year [with the U.S. women’s team] and it was one of the coolest environments I’ve ever been in,” Baxter said. “Obviously, we love soccer, but a lot of sports fans don’t like soccer in the same way that soccer players do. The way TST works, it pretty much takes away everything Americans think makes soccer boring like offsides or stoppages, and every game ends in golden goal — it makes soccer even more exciting to the general public.”
After Gotham FC did not renew Flores’ contract following the team’s 2023 NWSL Championship, the defender wasn’t initially keen on joining participating in TST 2024. She had some soul searching to do after the end of her pro career, but she eventually had a change of heart.
“I was kind of in a space where I was still grieving about not being on Gotham — that was a little hard,” Flores said. “Then, I got into a mental space where I was just like, screw it, I need to do things that are just for me, fun, and competitive — that’s what I love.”
Flores, who still trains every day, eventually went back to Baxter with the good news: she was in.
“When Sabrina first said no, I totally understood it because where she was in that moment is exactly where I was that previous year — having not been re-signed by Gotham and then getting asked to play in TST with all these U.S. national team players,” Baxter said. “At first I wondered if I was ready to get back into a competitive environment, but I could tell her from having done it that it actually was kind of a healing experience. You can just play for fun and your livelihood is not riding on whether you play well in these games.”
As the two friends put it, the reason they’ve always played is for the love of the game. Now, the former pros get to take the field together once again, this time, in a no-pressure environment.
“I’ve always loved small-sided games, that was my favorite part of training,” Flores said. “During my pro career I was so regimented and so structured. I love having fun and playing creative soccer — the creativity is what I love the most, so that drew me into the tournament. I can’t wait.”
TST — Putting together a winning roster
With the help of Kelsey Trainor, Chief Strategy Officer at Rob McElhenney’s More Better, Flores and Baxter happily joined on with Wrexham. The brand rose to prominence in the U.S. following McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds’ purchase of the club, its subsequent success, and the Welcome to Wrexham docuseries on FX.
“I’ve stayed in touch with Kelsey through my years of playing and since I’ve retired, and part of her job with More Better is to help build the Wrexham women’s brand,” Baxter explained. “Part of that was bringing them to TST, and she asked if I’d be willing to help them put a roster together.”
Baxter immediately went to work, helping to finalize the roster and ensuring the team is prepared and ready for the unique rules of TST.
“She spearheads all our meetings and calls, teaches everyone about the rules, almost like she’s our manager,” Flores joked.
Baxter, who was a player representative for the NWSL players association during her time with Gotham, was initially worried about burning herself out. After spending a little time working on the project, she found herself getting more and more excited as she put together a roster of players who she truly believes have a chance at the grand prize.
In addition to the Wrexham players, the team boasts a slew of recently retired NWSL players along with North American players who play abroad including fellow New Jersey native Brianne Reed. According to Baxter, the center back — who currently plays for Damaiense in Portugal and internationally for the Dominican Republic — could be Wrexham women’s secret advantage to win TST.
“Sabrina and I have both played with Bri in our offseasons for almost our entire careers — she’s been playing overseas for the past several years,” Baxter said. “She’s incredible at small-sided. She’s one of those defenders who will just put her body on the line and doesn’t care. I think in a tournament like this where the field is so small and you’re getting a lot of shots off, a defender like that is really, really important.”
Flores is eager to take to the field with this good mix of players and see what they can do together, but mostly she’s looking forward to just playing soccer.
“I’m kind of heading into this tournament without thinking about it too much,” Flores said. “I want to go there, have fun, enjoy the girls and play. I’m super excited because it could be a disaster or it could be the best I’ve ever played — who knows! But I’m ready for it.”
Keeping soccer in their lives
As Baxter and Flores prepare for the tournament, each is taking a slightly different approach. Flores has continued to keep soccer actively in her life since retiring, making sure she gets touches in on the ball every day, coaching youth players, and maintaining a lifestyle of fitness. Baxter on the other hand, who currently works an office job, needed a little bit more to get herself ready.
“I’ve been retired now for one and half seasons, and you lose fitness and muscle really quickly,” Baxter said. “I’m afraid if I don’t return to sprint workouts and lifting that I’m going to get hurt. I’ve reverted to old preseason and offseason workouts, some of the ones they literally drew up for us at Gotham and Sky Blue, because I want to prepare my body to sprint again. I just do those workouts by myself now, play pickup, and coach girls twice a week to get touches on the ball.”
Although both players miss aspects of their professional careers, time away from the game has allowed them to reflect back with clarity on their time in the NWSL.
“Mental stress goes a long, long way in terms of how you perform physically on the field,” Flores said. “That feeling of always needing to keep up with sleep, nutrition, and be regimented in everything is something that I don’t miss about [my pro career]. I think it was hindering me a lot in terms of my mental performance which then related to my physical performance. Now I can do more things and have more freedom because I don’t have to be worried about my career or being cut from a roster.”
The two players often turned to one another for support throughout their time in the NWSL. Although they both loved playing and being part of the team environment, the uncertainty and stress of trying to make the cut every week took a toll on them.
“We’ve always learned on each other with the mental aspect because it has always been hard for the both of us,” Baxter said. “After retiring I realized that I spent so much of my soccer career in this ‘fight or flight’ mode. I was always on high alert or super anxious because you just never know what is going to happen on any given day. You might go to training and get cut, or not make the travel roster. You’re constantly waiting for the bad things to happen.”
Since retirement, Baxter feels like she’s finally able to relax now that life is a bit more stable. While neither player misses the unpredictability of a professional career, Baxter and Flores are grateful for their experiences and opportunities to play professionally. The team environment, a good training session, and the community aspect of bring on a pro team are parts of the job they look back on fondly— but both have found fulfillment in other ways since leaving the NWSL.
Since retiring, the New Jersey natives each stay connected to the soccer community in their own way. Baxter works for EA Sports on the company’s popular EA Sports FC game. There, she is constantly surrounded by people who love watching and playing soccer, making it an easy transition out of her pro career.
Back in New Jersey, Flores works closely with youth players, coaching and training them to help the next generation find love and fulfilment in the beautiful game.
“The whole reason I wanted to play pro was because of the community, being around the ball, and inspiring the youth — that was my main purpose and drive for playing, and I can still do that through youth coaching,” Flores said. “Part of why I was content with being a training player at Gotham for so many years was because I know I could still inspire, help the community, and make a difference. Now I realize I don’t need to put myself through all that mental stress and I can still have all that.”
Through it all, the NWSL or TST, mostly importantly, Flores and Baxter have each other.
“I don’t know if people know how close Sabrina and I are — we’re very different but also similar in a lot of ways,” Baxter said. “We’ve always played together in the offseason, but there was on year at Gotham where we were assigned to live together and we just became best friends. We both haven’t had the easiest pro careers, but we were very good at giving each other advice even if we can’t take our own advice. We gave each other the confidence to keep pushing through some of the harder times we had as pros.”
Together, Baxter and Flores were able to make the most out of their hard careers, and realize that despite the stress, there were so many things to enjoy about their time as pros.
“I go to Baxter for everything because from very early on I realized that she was very self aware and introspective,” Flores said. “We just want to make each other and everyone around us the best possible people. I gravitate to authentic people. We’ve always been able to have deep conversations, hold each other accountable, and we bonded over that."
HOW TO WATCH TST:
TST 2024 takes place at Wakemed Soccer Park from June 5-10 and is streaming on TST’s website with select games on ESPN+. The women’s tournament begins Friday, June 7.
Wrexham Red Dragons – Full Women’s Squad
Del Morgan
Carly Telford
Phoebe Davies
Keren Allen
Sabrina Flores
Brianne Reed
Lili Jones
Carra Jones
Nicole Baxter
Bridget Callahan
Nickolette Driesse
Rosie Hughes
Ava Suckley
Danica Evans
Lindsay Agnew
I'm so happy they're able to share this fun opportunity! 🖤🩵 Thanks for the great story, Jenna!