Reilyn Turner is achieving her dreams at Racing Louisville

When Racing Louisville selected Reilyn Turner sixth overall in the 2024 National Women’s Soccer League College Draft, she was more than a little worried.

“Honestly, I’m not gonna lie. I was terrified,” she admitted in an exclusive sit down with All For XI.

The 21-year-old self-described “California girl” had never lived outside Southern California. After growing up in Lakewood, she stuck close to home for college by attending UCLA. As a sophomore, Turner made history by becoming the first college athlete to sign a name, image, and likeness deal with Nike in 2021. As a junior, she scored the game-winning goal in the 2022 College Cup semifinal and the game-tying goal in the championship that ultimately led to the Bruins winning their second-ever national championship. These feats earned her Most Outstanding Offensive Player honors for the year.

So it was a bit jarring to come to terms with the idea that after a lifetime in Southern California, she was now expected to move more than halfway across the country to the landlocked and very foreign-seeming Bluegrass state. When she arrived in Louisville, however, “that fear went away instantly.”

Turner admitted that she expected to be a mess after being so far away from home for the first time, but instead, she’s surprised by how smooth the transition has been.

“The team was so welcoming,” Turner said. “I felt at home immediately and it’s been smooth sailing in that aspect. We have a really great group of people here and I’m excited to be here.”

Her easy transition off the pitch has translated to a fairly easy transition on the pitch. In the 88th minute of Louisville’s match against the Utah Royals last week, a cross from Carson Pickett found Turner hovering around the back post. Turner said she prides herself for her ability to get on the end of crosses and isn’t afraid to throw her body into the mix and that’s exactly what she did to get her first professional goal. Her leading header that completely overtook Utah’s defender brought Racing up to a 4-1 lead that sent the record crowd of over 11,000 into a frenzy.

It may have taken until the fifth game for her to score her first goal, but it wasn’t for a lack of chances. In a year of rookie standouts, no other first-year player went into week five with more shots or shots on target than her. She’s also already found herself in Racing Louisville’s record books notching eight shots with six on-target against the Houston Dash. This tied the club record held by Thembi Kgatlana and Turner earned it in just a single half in only her second professional match. She’s also already earned two assists.

This dream of scoring a goal and getting these chances in a professional environment is a realization of a lifelong dream for Turner.

“In elementary school yearbooks, every single year they’d make us put on a piece of paper what we wanted to be when we wanted or when we grew up and every year you could see me with pro soccer player so this is definitely a dream come true for me and it’s nice to see that little girl’s dream come true and all the support that comes behind that.”

Being in a professional environment where everyone is completely bought into the team and achieving the same goals has been the biggest difference from college, but also something Turner has found to be “amazing.”

It’s the support she’s received from her teammates and Racing’s coaching staff that has led to her successes so far. Head coach Bev Yanez and company offer what Turner called “a safe space to be myself” which has allowed her to play more freely and creatively. In her early conversations with Yanez and general manager Ryan Dell, they assured her that they chose her specifically because they liked her personality on the pitch and how she played. They weren’t going to try to change her and assurance that gave her the peace of mind she needed to succeed.

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For her part, Yanez said she’s impressed by the confidence Turner has as a rookie. She’s not afraid to throw herself into the mix and go for goal against veteran defenders. That’s not an instinct that can just be taught, either, so to find a young player that radiates this much energy is inspiring, said Yanez.

“I think she just causes havoc, doesn’t she? She has such a mentality to want to score and it’s something that’s just in her heart, it’s just something that’s in her.”

Despite her initial fears about Louisville, Turner now feels lucky to be where she is.

“The team is very supportive and it’s a really, really great environment. From what I’ve heard, it’s not like that everywhere, so I’m very, very fortunate to be here.”

This is especially impressive considering Racing is a relatively new team with a completely new coaching staff. Turner said she went through a similar experience with a coaching change between her sophomore and junior year at UCLA and that new coaches can be successful as long as everyone buys into their vision. The Bruins certainly were successful and won a championship. So far, Turner thinks Racing is on the right path, too. Five games in and Racing is one of only three undefeated teams in the league. That’s not to say things are perfect — they have four draws and only one win, but they believe they’re making solid progress.

“Everyone is very bought into what Bev has in store for us and what she wants us to be able to do this season. I feel like since it is so new, trust is definitely a big piece in our success this season and hopefully, we can start stamping our mark on games and coming out with wins and showing the NWSL, showing the country what we’re made of. That foundation is going to set us up well for this year.”

As for her personal goals, Turner is dreaming big. And just like that elementary school student writing her wish to be a professional soccer player on a piece of paper for a yearbook photo, her hopes are lofty but, based on what she’s achieved so far, anything’s possible.

“I just wanna contribute to the team and obviously as a rookie, I want to get Rookie of the Year,” she said with a big smile. “I’m sure that’s everybody’s goal, but I guess we’ll see.”

Check out our other interviews with the rookies in the NWSL this year:

Croix Bethune - Washington Spirit

Maycee Bell - NJ/NY Gotham FC

Ally Sentnor - Utah Royals FC

Sam Meza - Seattle Reign FC