Tatum Wynalda

Tatum Wynalda
Personal information
Full name Tatum Milan Wynalda[1]
Date of birth (2004-10-19) October 19, 2004
Place of birth Thousand Oaks, California, United States
Height 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Position(s)
Team information
Current team
 San Diego Wave
Number 19
Youth career
2009–2022 LAFC So Cal Youth
2020–2022 Westlake Warriors
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2022–2025 Pepperdine Waves 79 (23)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2026– San Diego Wave 0 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Tatum Milan Wynalda (born October 19, 2004) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for San Diego Wave FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She played college soccer for the Pepperdine Waves.

Early life

Wynalda was born and raised in Thousand Oaks, California.[2] She began playing soccer in the AYSO when she was young.[3] She went on to spend 13 years with LAFC So Cal Youth.[2] When the U.S. Soccer Development Academy (DA) ended in 2020, she was able to join her high school team at Westlake High School for her junior and senior seasons.[4] In her junior year, she scored 20 goals with 11 assists in 15 games and was named the Marmonte League Offensive MVP and earned first-team All-CIF Southern Section honors in 2021.[5] She was also named ECNL all-conference with So Cal Youth in 2021.[6]

Wynalda helped lead Westlake to the Marmonte League title in her senior year in 2022, scoring 28 goals with 9 assists in 17 games.[3] She was named the league MVP, the Ventura County Star Player of the Year, and the Los Angeles Daily News Player of the Year.[7] She was recruited by USC, Texas, Long Beach State, and Portland before committing to play college soccer for the Pepperdine Waves in her junior year.[4] She had grown up around the Pepperdine team, which her uncle Tim Ward coached, and was a fan of Waves alumnae Lynn Williams and Brianna Visalli.[4][8]

College career

Wynalda played in all 18 games, starting 8, and scored 8 goals (second on the team) for the Pepperdine Waves as a freshman in 2022, earning a place on the All-West Coast Conference (WCC) second team.[8] The following spring, she was unable to practice due to stress fractures in her back, which had started in high school.[8] She returned to the field as a sophomore in 2023, scoring 6 goals with 2 assists in 20 games.[2] She was again named second-team All-WCC and helped the Waves place second in the conference and earn an NCAA tournament berth after a year's absence.[9]

Wynalda became a regular starter in her junior year in 2024, scoring 4 goals with 4 assists in 21 games.[2] She was named second-team All-WCC for the third time and helped the Waves win a share of the WCC title for the first time in seven years.[10] In her senior year in 2025, she scored 5 goals and led the Waves with 10 assists in 20 games, garnering first-team All-WCC honors.[11] She helped lead the Waves to their second-ever outright WCC title and their third consecutive NCAA tournament appearance.[12]

Club career

Wynalda joined the San Diego Wave as a non-roster invitee in the NWSL preseason in January 2026.[13] She trained with the Portland Thorns later in the month,[14] before playing for the Wave at the Coachella Valley Invitational.[15] In early March, the Wave signed Wynalda to her first professional contract on an injury replacement deal through April.[16] On March 14, she made her professional debut as a late substitute for Perle Morroni in a season-opening 1–0 loss to the Houston Dash.[17] She was the first NWSL player whose father played in Major League Soccer.[18]

Personal life

Wynalda is the third of six children born to National Soccer Hall of Famer Eric Wynalda.[1] Both her father and her mother, Amy Ward, played college soccer for the San Diego State Aztecs.[2] Her uncle Tim Ward was her head coach at Pepperdine.[4]

Honors and awards

Pepperdine Waves

Individual

  • First-team All-WCC: 2025
  • Second-team All-WCC: 2022, 2023, 2024

References

  1. ^ a b Baxter, Kevin (September 13, 2023). "Pepperdine soccer's Tatum Wynalda embraces comparisons to her famous father Eric Wynalda". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 16, 2026.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Tatum Wynalda". Pepperdine Waves. Retrieved January 16, 2026.
  3. ^ a b Curley, Joe (March 29, 2022). "Westlake's Tatum Wynalda is The Star's Girls Soccer Player of the Year for 2021-22". Ventura County Star. Retrieved January 16, 2026.
  4. ^ a b c d Curley, Joe (January 22, 2022). "Tatum Wynalda has carved out her own soccer legacy at Westlake High". Ventura County Star. Retrieved January 16, 2026.
  5. ^ Curley, Joe (July 13, 2021). "The Star's All-Ventura County Girls Soccer Player of the Year and First Team". Ventura County Star. Retrieved January 16, 2026.
  6. ^ "ECNL All Conference Southwest". Elite Clubs National League. August 31, 2021. Retrieved January 16, 2026.
  7. ^ Sawyer, Haley; Fattal, Tarek (April 13, 2022). "Daily News All-Area Girls Soccer Team: Westlake's Tatum Wynalda is blazing her own legacy". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved January 16, 2026.
  8. ^ a b c Jackson, McKenzie (September 4, 2023). "Tatum Wynalda's hot start garners her WCC women's soccer honor". The Malibu Times. Retrieved January 16, 2026.
  9. ^ "WCC Women's Soccer Sends Three To The 2023 NCAA Tournament". West Coast Conference. November 1, 2023. Retrieved January 16, 2026.
  10. ^ "Soccer Clinches Share of WCC Championship". Pepperdine Waves. November 9, 2024. Retrieved January 16, 2026.
  11. ^ "2025 Women's Soccer Cumulative Statistics". Pepperdine Waves. Retrieved January 16, 2026.
    "West Coast Conference Announces 2025 Women's Soccer Honors". West Coast Conference. November 12, 2025. Retrieved January 16, 2026.
  12. ^ "Women's Soccer Wins Back-to-Back Conference Titles". Pepperdine Waves. November 8, 2025. Retrieved January 16, 2026.
  13. ^ "San Diego Wave FC Announces 2026 Preseason Roster". San Diego Wave FC. January 16, 2026. Retrieved January 16, 2026.
  14. ^ "Portland Thorns Sign Norwegian Youth International Cassandra Bogere". Portland Thorns FC. January 29, 2026. Retrieved January 29, 2026.
  15. ^ Furrer, Jenny (February 15, 2026). "Haračić, Ludmila Stand Out in Wave's 1–1 Draw with KC". SDFC Nation. Retrieved March 4, 2026.
  16. ^ "San Diego Wave FC Signs Tatum Wynalda to Injury Replacement Contract". San Diego Wave FC. March 4, 2026. Retrieved March 4, 2026.
  17. ^ "San Diego Wave FC Fall 1-0 to Houston Dash in 2026 Home Opener". San Diego Wave FC. March 14, 2026. Retrieved March 15, 2026.
  18. ^ Finley, Ryan (March 4, 2026). "Wave's newest signee has San Diego, soccer ties". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved March 15, 2026.
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