Reign original and long-time team captain Lauren Barnes has announced her retirement from professional soccer at the end of the season. She, along with other club originals including Jess Fishlock, Keelin Winters and Megan Rapinoe, helped establish the winning culture and player-first mentality that has made the Reign such an attractive destination for players for over a decade. The defender will be honored at the club’s final regular-season home game this Friday evening.
“From day one, Seattle has been home,” said Barnes in a team release. “I’ve grown up here – as a player, a leader and a person. I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve built and the culture we’ve created. To have spent my entire professional career with this club, in this city, surrounded by the people I love, is something truly special. I’m so grateful to my teammates, coaches, staff and our fans who have supported me through every season. This chapter of my life has been a dream, and I’m excited to take it all in one last time with my Reign family.”
Barnes was originally selected by the Reign in the second round of the Supplemental Draft before the league’s inaugural 2013 season. That draft enabled teams to build their roster by selecting post-graduate players who already had professional experience.
Barnes graduated from UCLA in 2010 and was originally drafted in 2011 by the Philadelphia Independence of Women’s Professional Soccer but did not make an appearance for the club. After that league, she spent 2012 with the pre-professional Beach FC in California before coming north to join the Reign.
“Lu has been the heartbeat of this club since the very beginning,” said Reign head coach Laura Harvey in the release. “She has been the glue that has held us together through the ups and the downs. Everything about who we are, whether it’s our standards, our values or our resilience, Lu has her fingerprints on it all. Throughout her legendary career, Lu has been authentic, selfless and a leader on and off the pitch. It’s been an honor to be a part of her journey, and her legacy will be felt here for generations.”
Beyond her longevity in the league, she holds nearly every appearance record in NWSL history. She made her 250th all-time regular season NWSL appearance last Friday – 33 more than the next closest person – and also holds the record for games started (238) and regular-season minutes played in the league (20,940, nearly 2,400 more than the next-closest player). She was honored as NWSL Defender of the Year in 2016, made the NWSL Best XI in 2015 and 2016, the Second XI in 2014 and 2019, and was a significant contributor to the team’s three NWSL Shields in 2014, 2015 and 2022.
In addition to her work on the field, Barnes has been an outspoken advocate off the field for the environment and for women’s sports. She spearheaded sustainability initiatives with the team to reduce single-use disposable waste and became a co-owner in Salmon Bay FC to help support the development of the next generation of women’s players.
