Meet the Payne’s: A World Soccer Family
Forward Madison FC defender Stephen Payne talks about his sister’s debut in the 2023 World Cup
The 2023 Women’s World Cup is around the corner, and one of the first countries to kick off the tournament is Nigeria. After securing their spot in the World Cup during the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, Nigeria will face Canada, Australia, and the Republic of Ireland in Group G.
One player on the Nigerian squad to keep an eye on is midfielder, Toni Payne. Toni is an American-born Nigerian professional soccer player, currently playing for the club Sevilla FC Femenino. She is the oldest sibling in the Payne family, which includes Nicole Payne, a recent graduate from USC and player for PSG, and Stephen Payne, a defender for Forward Madison FC.
“Me and Toni… and Nicole grew up by training with my dad and playing together,” says Stephen Payne, as he talked about what it was like growing up with siblings in women’s soccer. “[Toni] always pushed me and I pushed her on and off the field. We want to push each other to just excel as much as possible… I'm just super proud of her and Nicole.”
Due to birth and descent, Toni is eligible to play for both the United States and Nigeria. In 2012, she played for the US Under-17 team that won the CONCACAF Women’s U-17 Championship. From 2013-2018, she made appearances with the US U-20 and U-23 teams, but in 2019, Toni declared that she would begin her international career with Nigeria. This will be her first World Cup debut.
“I'm just proud of her and all the hard work she's put in. It's every kid's dream to play soccer [and] to go to a World Cup,” says Stephen Payne. “I'm glad that she's able to accomplish that and I’m just hoping for the best. I hope that she puts on a good performance for herself and just has fun, enjoying the moment.”
Stephen has always been a fan of women’s soccer and watching his sisters impact the game on the field. While he’ll be rooting for Nigeria during the World Cup, he’s also rooting for more opportunities for women’s soccer here in America.
“I'm just super proud of [my sisters] and what they've accomplished and how they've gone so far. And now it's just [continuing to support] them and supporting the women's game and how it's growing. I’m happy to see that the USL’s women’s soccer leagues [are] growing as well and it's just going to continue to get bigger over time,” he said. “I love watching my sisters play and women's soccer in general…it's good to see that it's growing and now you just want to see it stabilize in order to create more opportunities to play.”
Head over to the Forward Club at Breese Stevens Field on Thursday, July 20th at 9:30pm to watch Toni Payne and Nigeria face off against Canada in the Women’s World Cup.
