Maria Howell (B.A. ’22, M.A. ’23) has been playing soccer since she was 5 years old. For her, soccer wasn’t just a game or something she did — it was part of her identity.

Howell grew up in Marietta, Ga., and attended Campbell High School’s International Baccalaureate program. While navigating the rigorous curriculum, she played for NASA Tophat, an elite youth soccer program known for its national competitiveness.

“The dream, I think, as a high schooler playing soccer and keeping up with my studies, was just to keep playing the game that I loved,” Howell said.

That discipline pushed her to compete in Division I soccer at Georgia State while earning a journalism degree with a minor in psychology. She completed her bachelor’s degree in three years but wasn’t ready to move on. She stayed to pursue a master’s in communication with a concentration in digital media strategies, and played a fourth season while completing her graduate coursework.

But during that final season, something shifted. The game that had defined her since childhood no longer felt the same.

“Nobody really talks about what happens to the student-athlete when you take the athlete part out,” Howell said. “I just started to feel this anxiety of, OK, who am I?”

Looking for that answer, Howell began to lean into courses and mentors who challenged her to see herself beyond the field.

“The professors I had at Georgia State all had great experience and long careers or ongoing careers in the journalism world,” Howell said. “I never felt like I was doing something just for a school project. It felt like it could make it to the news or be used in an article on a website.”

An international communications course, taught by Associate Professor Maria Repnikova in the Department of Communication, challenged her to think beyond sports and examine culture, history and nationality. At the same time, a sports newswriting course, taught by veteran sports journalist Terence Moore, gave her the practical skills to interview athletes and tell their stories with authority.

Through those experiences, Howell began to map out a path forward for herself. When a professor forwarded her a posting for a postgraduate internship with NCAA Digital, she knew she had to apply.

“I just saw it as a really great opportunity to use my knowledge of being a student-athlete and mix it with my passion for storytelling,” she said. “The fit couldn’t have been better.”

After two years covering soccer, March Madness and collegiate sports across multiple platforms, she heard the U.S. Soccer Federation was relocating its headquarters to Fayetteville, Ga. She applied repeatedly before eventually getting the call.

“When I heard that U.S. Soccer was coming to metro Atlanta, for me, it was like — I have to work there,” she said.

Today, Howell serves as U.S. Soccer’s senior coordinator of media licensing and distribution, managing footage rights and content distribution for the men’s and women’s senior national teams. She traces a direct line from a class she took early on at Georgia State to her desk in Fayetteville.

“I remember taking a media rights class my freshman year, reading all these very dense legal cases,” she said. “Almost on a daily basis, I’m looking at footage licensing agreements to ensure that all of our footage rights are being administered correctly.”

The timing of her career arc is not lost on her. The 2026 FIFA World Cup is coming to Atlanta, with matches scheduled at Mercedes-Benz Stadium (known as Atlanta Stadium for the duration of the tournament), close to Georgia State’s Atlanta Campus where she spent four and a half years of her life.

As global broadcasters and media outlets look to capture the magic of the tournament, Howell will serve as a primary contact for the historical and live content that defines the U.S. Soccer brand.

“So far in my life, I’ve been a player and I’ve been the storyteller,” Howell said. “Now, I think I’m a little bit more of a distributor — maybe like a gatekeeper or somebody who’s getting eyeballs to the game. It’s a dream come true to be part of U.S. Soccer during the time of the World Cup.”

Now working at the center of the sport’s global stage, Howell has advice for aspiring sports journalists.

“Having a love for sport can open the door to so many different industries and so many different jobs,” she said. “Remembering to hold on to that human part of storytelling and of sport, and finding ways to capture that essence in everything you do, will make you unique and make you stand out in the world of sports journalism.”

The 24-year-old still plays in two recreational leagues and competes semiprofessionally in the summer. She holds Argentine citizenship and has never completely ruled out a professional tryout.

The game, she says, never really left her — it just took her from one sideline to the next.