Mallory Swanson is at the center of the Red Stars new era

Questioning what might have been is risky.

The uncertainty can be maddening in the most standard circumstances, but it’s even worse when thinking about missing a chance at history.

That is the situation Red Stars forward Mallory Swanson found herself in just less than a year ago.

She was in the best form of her career at the start of 2023, scoring seven goals in six games for the U.S women’s national team and one goal in two games for the Red Stars.

Everything changed, however, when Swanson collided with a defender in the first half of a friendly against Ireland and suffered a torn patella tendon in her left knee three months before getting a chance to help the USWNT chase what would have been a record third Women’s World Cup title in a row.

‘‘There are a lot of ‘what-ifs’ that can happen and did happen during my rehab,’’ said Swanson, who is married to Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson. ‘‘You literally cannot think about them.’’

Nearly 52 weeks later, Swanson is on the other side of her rehab, gearing up for her fourth season with the Red Stars. Swanson and the team open the NWSL season Saturday on the road against the Utah Royals at 6:30 p.m.

She declined to answer a question about whether she was ready to play a full 90 minutes, saying she didn’t want to give opponents any insight, but she went through a complete training camp with the Red Stars, which brought a mix of excitement and caution.

Swanson and the Red Stars are entering a new era together. To understand why the partnership is so fitting requires a history lesson, and there’s arguably no one better equipped to provide one about Swanson than Lorne Donaldson, the Red Stars’ new coach.

‘‘I haven’t seen the toughness in any player that I have seen in Mal,’’ Donaldson said.

Donaldson, the former coach of the Jamaica national team, has known Swanson her entire life and coached her during her time with the youth club team Real Colorado. His first glimpse of Swanson’s competitive drive came when she was a spectator during one of older sister Bri’s matches.

Swanson spent a considerable amount of time around Real Colorado’s club team before she ever put on her own jersey. Once, she was observing from the bench when Bri missed a few chances in the first half of a game.

At halftime, as Bri and the team walked off the field, Swanson turned to her older sister and asked, ‘‘How did you miss those chances?’’

After her older sister lit into her, Donaldson was left with one thought.

‘‘This kid is thinking,’’ Donaldson said.

Beyond her talent, Swanson had a tenacity that impressed Donaldson.

When she was 14, Swanson broke her femur while playing in a tournament with Real Colorado. Donaldson recalled thinking she would be out for at least a year.

About five months later, Swanson was playing again.

‘‘I remember thinking, ‘This is not real,’ ’’ Donaldson said.

Swanson tried to muster the same quick return after her injury last year. She thought it was possible to make it back for the World Cup until she was diagnosed with a septic infection, which required a second surgery.

That’s the point when she accepted she wouldn’t be competing for a World Cup title.

Swanson said she questioned whether she would be able to play soccer again, prompting her to lean into the focus that had carried her through every injury before.

‘‘It’s not going to last forever,’’ Swanson repeatedly told herself throughout her rehab.

In the midst of rehabbing, she became an unrestricted free agent for the first time in her career. She considered playing for a number of other teams in the NWSL, but her husband — who is entering the second year of the seven-year contract he signed with the Cubs last offseason — played a role in her decision.

Ultimately, however, her decision to re-sign with the Red Stars came down to an early conversation she had with new team owner Laura Ricketts.

‘‘Her passion for the club, women’s sports and women in general was really inspiring,’’ Swanson said. ‘‘I could see where this club was going to be in the future.’’

In August, Ricketts’ purchase of the Red Stars with a group of women-led investors marked a necessary turning point in the team’s history. The Red Stars since have made hires such as Donaldson, general manager Richard Feuz and CEO Karen Leetzow.

The Red Stars are one of three teams that helped found the NWSL in 2012, when an earlier league folded. With star-laden rosters, the Red Stars competed for NWSL championships in 2019 and 2021.

But beneath that success, former coach Rory Dames was verbally and emotionally abusive toward his players. In 2021, one day after the Red Stars lost the title game to the Washington Spirit, Dames resigned.

A scathing report from former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates followed,
detailing abuse in the Red Stars’ organization and former owner Arnim Whisler’s knowledge of it.

Since buying the team from Whisler, who was pressured into selling by a request from the Red Stars’ former board of directors and the entire roster, Ricketts has been laying a new foundation.

Swanson is at the center of it all, evidenced by the Red Stars signing her to a historic four-year deal with a fifth-year option valued at $2 million, the most lucrative contract in NWSL history.

Alongside goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher, the Red Stars’ longest-tenured player, Swanson will be looking to reestablishing the team as a championship-caliber franchise.

The culture, Swanson said, can’t be forced. But considering the type of player she is, what past players built and Ricketts’ commitment to the team, it’s not hard to imagine what might be.

‘‘What’s made this team so special in the past is the blue-collar grit,’’ Swanson said. ‘‘Always bringing that to training [and] to games and how you carry yourself day in and day out will be so important.’’