Tullis-Joyce's rise to USWNT, Man United No. 1 (via a rainforest)

MANCHESTER -- For astir nonrecreational shot players, the summertime interruption offers the accidental to pitchy disconnected to glitzy locations similar Ibiza oregon Dubai to remainder and recharge up of the caller season. But for Manchester United goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce, 29, however, this year's offseason was each astir expanding her horizons.

"I spent immoderate clip with an astonishing researcher called Dr. Rosa Vásquez Espinoza," Tullis-Joyce tells ESPN. "She studies stingless bees, and pairs indigenous cognition with technological knowledge, truthful I got to shadiness her successful the Amazon rainforest which was conscionable incredible. It was a blast, but I was decidedly acceptable to travel backmost to my teammates again and get backmost down to work."

It is that changeless hunger to amended herself -- combined with awesome method quality -- that has made the goalkeeper a existent instrumentality favourite astatine United. Having joined the nine from NWSL broadside Seattle Reign successful 2023, Tullis-Joyce has made the modulation from Mary Earps' lawman to undisputed No. 1 look seamless, with her performances astatine nine level earning her regular call-ups to the United States women's nationalist team.

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This past season, Tullis-Joyce started each Women's Super League crippled for United and won the Golden Glove grant (joint with Chelsea's Hannah Hampton) arsenic Marc Skinner's broadside finished third. Having deservedly earned her spot successful the 2025 PFA Team of the Year, Tullis-Joyce helped United clinch qualification for the UEFA Women's Champions League league phase, nether its caller format, for their archetypal clip successful the main gully and is portion of the joint-best defence successful the WSL this term.

It is an awesome database of accolades, though Tullis-Joyce has had to beryllium diligent for her infinitesimal successful the spotlight. She admits determination were times during the aboriginal portion of her vocation erstwhile she was "scraping by" for groceries, portion she had to hold an full play for her WSL debut aft securing her determination to United.

"It was decidedly explained to maine erstwhile I came successful due to the fact that evidently Mary Earps was here," she says. "It was bully to enactment with her and truly recognize what it takes to beryllium a Manchester United goalkeeper, with each the unit and the standards that we have. It was a infinitesimal successful clip wherever I truly conscionable had to grind without the spotlight truly being connected maine truthful that I would past beryllium acceptable to go the starting goalkeeper."

Following successful the footsteps of arguably the astir high-profile goalkeeper successful the women's crippled would beryllium a daunting task for many. But, erstwhile Earps near United arsenic a escaped cause to articulation Paris Saint-Germain successful summertime 2024, Tullis-Joyce was acceptable to drawback the accidental with some hands.

"The trajectory of my vocation has been crazy, and I've been truthful fortunate on the way," she says. "I've ever had large radical astir maine successful presumption of the unit and my teammates and truthful it has ever been astir trying to get into the champion presumption imaginable to grip that pressure. I retrieve the fir...