Former Butler women’s soccer midfielder Talia Sommer kicked her first soccer ball in New York City’s famed Central Park.Sommer is returning to the Big Apple as a member of the NWSL’s Gotham FC. She signed a contract through the 2026 season and will wear No. 14, a source with knowledge of the information told IndyStar.Sommer lived in Harlem for the first eight years of her life before moving to Israel where she played for ASA Tel Aviv of the Israeli’s Women’s Premier League and trained with the Israeli National Team, making three starts during 2023 World Cup qualifiers. Sommer has 28 caps with the Israel national team. Sommer finished tied for fifth in Butler women’s soccer history in assists (24) and seventh in goals (28). In her final season with the Bulldogs, Sommer earned Big East Co-Midfielder of the Year and first-team All-Big East honors, which she was named to three times, and she won Freshman of the Year in 2022.When looking for a school to continue her athletic and academic career, the big-city kid quickly felt at home at Butler. “The coaching staff was the No. 1 thing that caught my eye immediately,” Sommer said. “The first recruiting call with (co-coaches) Rob (Alman) and Tari (St. John) was two hours long. They gave me a personal feeling; they didn’t just see me as an amazing player but as an amazing person that they’d want in their program.”Coming here and seeing that the campus is a big family, a big community, especially the athletics department, it really gave me the feeling that this is the place I want to be.” Sommer said she experienced some challenges transitioning from big-city living to Indiana, but she quickly immersed herself in everything Butler and the city of Indianapolis had to offer. From post-game trips to Fat Dan’s Deli, to spending time with her adoptive family, Sommer grew to love Indy’s Midwestern charm and developed lasting bonds.”If I was intentional and looking for things to do, I think Indianapolis has so much to offer in that regard,” Sommer said. “It’s just about finding the right people to explore with. … It has a lot of charm. “For me as a Jewish woman, Indianapolis has a very rich Jewish community, it’s very tight-knit, and I’ve found people who I have become family with. … I spend weekends with them, holidays, they’re my family at this point. Indianapolis allows for that type of connection that in a big city, you wouldn’t necessarily be able to make.” Sommer joins a Gotham FC team coming off a championship in the inaugural CONCACAF Women’s Champions Cup and the 2025 NWSL championship, beating the Washington Spirit on a goal from Rose Lavelle.Sommer is joining an uber-talented midfield group featuring United States National Team members Lavelle, Jaelin Howell, Jaedyn Shaw and Emily Sonnett. Sommer said she likes to play the game with joy. Alman said she’s the type of player who brings you to the edge of your seat when she has the ball at her feet.”Her on-ball creativity is outstanding,” Alman said. “Her ability to dribble, to be a ball carrier, to go past players, eliminate multiple defenders. There’s a lot of confidence and technical quality that is needed to set up moves, to use some of the tricks and feints and fakes that she uses. The ability to read defenses and the technical skill to do it at the speed that she does it at is really, really impressive. “When you think across any different sport of the type of players that bring that type of creativity to create goals, chances, scoring moments for themselves and teammates, Talia is one of those players.”This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: NWSL news: Talia Sommer signs with Gotham FC, Butler soccer stats, Israel club