NWSL Notebook

PlayersKayla Sharples

Kayla Sharples

Kayla Sharples

Position:
Defender
Nationality:
USA
Born:
1997-06-17 (age 29)
Height:
180 cm

Career (2019–, regular seasons; 2020 excluded): 99 GP · 7,770 min · 5 goals · 2 assists

Composite 2026: 0.394 — ranked 115 of 385 Composite page →

Standard Stats

Glossary
Playing TimePerformancePer 90
RkSeasonTeamGPGSMinGlsAstPKShSoTKPPass%CrdYCrdRGls/90G+A/90
12019Stars2029000100100.000.00
22021Stars1412107900074374.5100.000.00
32022Stars8865300000183.7100.000.00
42023Stars11869510042379.2100.130.13
52024Bay FC25221998200126584.7500.090.09
62025Current2524220721096687.0100.080.12
72026Current1413110901061187.0200.000.08
7 Yrs9987777052039191984.11200.060.08

Advanced Stats

Glossary
ExpectedVAEPThreat
RkSeasonTeamMinGlsxGG−xGxG/90VAEPOffDefVAEP/90xTxT/90DAxT
12019Chicago Stars2900.07-0.070.22-0.09-0.05-0.04-0.290.050.14
22021Chicago Stars107900.75-0.750.06-0.080.47-0.55-0.012.560.210.359
32022Chicago Stars6530-0.140.72-0.86-0.021.080.150.138
42023Chicago Stars69510.610.390.081.021.50-0.480.131.400.180.200
52024Bay199821.370.630.060.612.77-2.160.034.200.190.420
62025KC Current220721.370.630.063.254.49-1.250.134.910.200.364
72026KC Current110900.56-0.560.050.060.42-0.360.012.810.230.216
7 Yrs777054.730.270.054.6310.32-5.700.0517.010.201.697

Composite Rating

Our overall player rating, unique to this site: five components — xG, ball carries, passes into the box, defensive value, and goalkeeping — combined into one score and averaged across every selection-model run of the season. Rank is her place among all rated players that year.

Glossary
Components
RkSeasonxGCarriesBox PassesDefenseGKCompositeRankPool
12022-0.351-0.901-0.5090.6510.156140247
220241.241-1.065-0.8720.4560.011271338
320251.375-1.191-0.6010.6790.207136258
420260.919-0.392-0.2880.7650.0250.394115385

Structural Roles

Start counts by role, per season — twice. Explicit is where the team sheet wrote her; Inferredis what a model reading only her on-ball events made of each start. The Read column states each season's verdict from the two most common roles.

Explicit (Team Sheet)Inferred (Event Data)
RkSeasonStartsGKFBCBDMCMAMWSTGKFBCBDMCMAMWSTRead
1202021111played her role
220211414131played her role
32022121212played her role
42023111111played her role
52024242424played her role
62025242424played her role
720261313121played her role
7 Yrs10019919711played her role

Similar Players

Nearest neighbors by playing-style embedding (most recent embedded season). Similarity is cosine distance in style space, not quality.

RkPlayerTeamSeasonPosSimilarity
1Elizabeth BallCurrent2025Defender0.788
2Abby DahlkemperWave2023Defender0.781
3Alana CookReign2022Defender0.769
4Kaleigh RiehlRoyals2026Defender0.749
5Gemma BonnerRacing2022Defender0.749
6Gina Loren LewandowskiGotham2022Defender0.746
7Paige NielsenDash2026Defender0.738
8Sam HiattThorns2026Defender0.737
9Kate Del FavaCurrent2021Defender0.734
10Arin WrightRacing2024Defender0.732