Waniya Hudson

She was born in Rochester, New York, and grew up in the suburb of Greece, where she began playing soccer at the age of seven.

Hudson attended Greece Athena High School, where she captained the soccer team and was twice named an All-State selection.

In her youth, she played for the Super 9 Academy boys' team and wore the number 20 jersey in honor of fellow Rochester native Abby Wambach.

She comes from a highly athletic family; her father played college basketball, her mother ran track, and all three of her siblings played college sports.

Her younger sister, Wrianna Hudson, is a star forward at Florida State and was named the 2025 NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Offensive Player.

During her graduate season at Notre Dame in 2023, she played 1,749 out of a possible 1,800 minutes, the most on the team.

She made her professional debut for Dallas Trinity FC on October 6, 2024, playing the full 90 minutes in a victory over Spokane Zephyr.

Before signing her first professional contract, she spent the early part of 2024 as a training player with NWSL champions NJ/NY Gotham FC.

Waniya majored in Pre-Medical Studies at the University of Notre Dame.

Her first non-soccer related job was at a summer tennis camp where her entire family participated over the years. She eventually became a tennis coach at the summer camp after years of attending as a participant.

She considers Serena Williams her favorite athlete and has publicly expressed her admiration for the tennis icon.