‘This Dream Is Closer’: Evelyn Shores’ Road From TopHat to the USWNT
From TopHat to Westminster, North Carolina and Angel City FC, the Atlanta native’s first senior camp began where her career did.
When Evelyn Shores was four years old and just beginning her soccer journey, she could have never imagined that one day she would step onto a field in her home state wearing the crest of the United States Women’s National Team.
On Tuesday, that moment became real.
Shores, a Georgia native who grew up playing for TopHat SC and later starred at Westminster, is now attending her first senior USWNT camp at the Arthur M. Blank U.S. Soccer National Training Center, just 40 minutes from home.
“It was surreal,” Shores said. “Being around this high caliber of players and knowing I grew up here and have played here since I was four years old, it’s just been a crazy journey. Stepping out on the field Tuesday was a moment of, ‘Wow, I can’t believe I’m actually out here.’”
For Shores, the path to this moment has always been rooted in Georgia. She started her playing career at TopHat SC, where it quickly became clear that soccer ran in the family.
“My grandpa coached my mom growing up. They’re from North Carolina, and then my mom coached me,” said Shores. “We started at TopHat, and she was my coach when I was four years old. She really pushed me into the sport.”
Founded in 1982 as a girls-only soccer program, TopHat has helped develop many players who have become staples in Georgia’s women’s soccer scene. Shores spoke highly of the club and how much it contributed to her development as a player.
“One of my coaches, Ted Colburn, I have to give a shout-out to him because he ran the academy at TopHat. We focused so much on all the little details. I’m left-footed, but he didn’t care. You had to use your right and left foot when you were seven, and he was going to make that clear,” said Shores. “He was hard on us, but it was what we needed to be successful.”
At TopHat, Shores had the opportunity to play alongside some of her best friends throughout her youth career. That continued when she played high school soccer at the Westminster Schools, where she helped lead the team to three consecutive Georgia state championships.
“We knew we were going to be really good. Honestly, high school training ended up being almost like club training,” Shores said. “That really influenced my decision. Westminster did a really great job with Sharon Loughran. She’s the coach and has really good training sessions and develops us.”
Shores committed to North Carolina in eighth grade, just before the rule change that kept players and college programs from talking until a player’s junior year. “Basically, I committed and then there was silence,” she said. “I wasn’t allowed to talk to them.” She went on to play collegiately at North Carolina for her freshman and sophomore seasons before turning professional.
“I was committed, but I was thinking, ‘Wow, this is crazy.’ My career was changing. I was playing a new position,” said Shores. “I started playing midfield after I committed. I knew it was going to be the right place for me, but there was so much up in the air. After signing my letter of intent and getting accepted into the school, it finally felt real. I was like, ‘Wow, this is going to take a lot of work, and I’m really excited to get started.’”
Playing for the Tar Heels was a dream come true for Shores. Her mom is from North Carolina, and one of her idols growing up was Crystal Dunn, who retired from professional soccer on Jan. 29, 2026, and will be honored before the USWNT’s match against Spain on Oct. 10 at Audi Field in Washington.
“She played at UNC,” Shores said when asked which players were her role models growing up. “I literally wrote a letter to myself when I was in fifth grade saying, ‘I hope you get a scholarship to the University of North Carolina.’ It was always my dream to play there. Crystal was obviously one of the faces of the national team, and she was an attacking and defending, versatile player. I really admired her game, and she was a really big role model for me growing up.”
She had a strong start to her collegiate career, but an ACL injury sidelined her for the remainder of the 2023 season. Following in the footsteps of her role model, Shores helped lead the Tar Heels to their 23rd national title and first since 2012 in 2024. Returning from the injury and winning the national championship the following season made the experience even more surreal.
Her experience at North Carolina helped prepare Shores for the professional stage in the NWSL, where she and many of her former teammates are now playing.
“You can imagine what our standard of training was. Also, credit to Damon [Nahas] and Anson [Dorrance]. Every single day was a fight there, and I think it really propelled me into the league. That’s just how it is,” said Shores. “College really, really helped me coming into the pros in terms of finding who I am as a player, but also as a person.”
All of her training and development at TopHat, Westminster and North Carolina led her to Angel City FC. Shores was consistently called up to the U.S. youth national teams throughout her career, but she earned her first senior team call-up for the window featuring two friendlies against Spain.
At just 21 years old, Shores is now training alongside many of the players she once watched from afar.
“I’m only 21. I can’t believe that I’m at this level. I still look up to so many of the girls here. I can’t believe I’m a part of it. Growing up and going through TopHat and the youth national teams, it all felt kind of far away. I said this the other day: When I was at Westminster playing high school soccer, the national team felt like, ‘Wow, those girls are it.’ They’re going and winning World Cups and doing all the things.
“Then, as I got into UNC, I realized, ‘Okay, I’m at a program where a lot of women who go here end up on the national team.’ Then going into the pros, it became more real. The U-23s were a big part of that. Having camps that run side by side, being around the women, seeing how the WNT trains and having similar meetings and similar training sessions really made me realize, ‘Okay, this dream is closer.’”
Georgia has always been a hotbed for soccer on both the men’s and women’s sides. Atlanta United helped elevate men’s soccer in the city, and Shores remembers the impact clearly.
“Arthur Blank has done an amazing job of bringing soccer to the city because we have Atlanta United,” said Shores. “I remember going during the season when they won the Cup. They sold out Mercedes-Benz Stadium. It was crazy, and going to the men’s games was such an event.”
Now, with Atlanta City FC set to arrive in 2028, it is time for women’s soccer to come to the forefront.
“I’m really excited for a women’s team to be in the market because I think the sky’s the limit for the women’s team here. I think they’re going to do a really good job drawing support. They’ve already had great marketing on Instagram and everything with the announcements this week,” said Shores.
“Having an NWSL team gives all these young girls, whether they’re at Concorde, UFA or all these different clubs, something to look up to and say, ‘Okay, this is the professional standard here.’ I think it’s going to drive players even more to want that, want to be out there and have more role models in the city.”
As for the national training center that now sits 40 minutes from where she grew up, Shores had a simple answer.
“When I originally heard about this being in Georgia, I was so happy,” she said. “There’s a lot of women’s youth soccer and a lot of great players who come from here, but there hasn’t been professional or national exposure in that way.
“I love Georgia. It’s always going to be home for me. Seeing this come here is something I really appreciate.”
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