The Orlando Pride full-back is establishing herself as one of the best defenders in the US. Her journey to get where she is now has been extraordinary

Locker room talk at the Orlando Pride. Alex Morgan had injured a shoulder during May’s clash with Utah Royals in Salt Lake City. Morgan played through pain but after the final whistle her arm had locked up.

“I can’t wash my hair properly!” Morgan yelled from the showers. “I can’t lift my left arm!”

Carson Pickett, Orlando Pride’s-left back, yelled back: “Welcome to my world”.

The room filled with laughter.

So let’s get this out of the way early. Professional footballer Carson Pickett was born without a left forearm and hand. She is, despite carrying what many would describe as a “disability”, fast establishing credentials as one of the best defenders in the National Women’s Soccer League.

“Control what you can control,” says Pickett after a training session a few weeks after that game in Utah. She’s explaining her mental approach to physical challenges and skewed first impressions from people she meets for the first time. “People might not treat you the right way or they may stare at you,” she says. “But the way that you treat people is going to go way further than anything else.”

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Pickett says she thinks a lot about being one of very few people to make it to the top of professional sport with a disability. The game changed slightly in April when Seattle Seahawks drafted one-handed linebacker Shaquem Griffin after a standout college career. In a story arc that should have Hollywood scriptwriters tapping furiously at their laptops, Griffin starts next season on the same team as his twin brother Shaquill, a cornerback drafted by the Seahawks in 2017.

“I have the ability to impact a lot of people,” Pickett acknowledges. “My parents tell me all the time to use the platform God gave me. I can use my arm for something greater than myself. I’m able to impact so many kids and people who may not see a way out. It doesn’t have to impact them through soccer. To see that I am succeeding in life and happy in life can go a long way for some people.”

Pickett, now 24, grew up in Fleming Island, south of Jacksonville, Florida. Her mother, Treasure, was a college basketball player. Her father, Mike, played college soccer and Carson fell under the sport’s spell early. From the age of five, she’d play with her dad: passing, passing, always passing. Growing up, her father coached her for school and club teams. The game became an ever-present family obsession.

“The reason I’m the player I am today is because of my dad,” Pickett says. “I’ll say that one million times. He taught me so much about the game and he continues to team me so much. But it was definitely tough because sometimes after a game I would just want to go to lunch and talk about anything but soccer. My mom was like ‘OK, that’s enough soccer talk! Let’s enjoy lunch as a family!’”

She laughs.

Pickett excelled at Florida State University and in 2016 was drafted to the NWSL by Seattle Reign (“It’s cool that Shaquem Griffin and I both got drafted by Seattle teams – it seems like Seattle took a chance on both of us,” she says). She spent the last US off-season playing in Australia’s W-League with Brisbane Roar – the seasonal alignment gives professional players in both the NWSL and W-League the opportunity to play year-round.

“I absolutely loved Australia,” Pickett says. “It was great to play with some of the Matildas – and against the Matildas.”

There was also the off-field experience.

“Driving on the opposite side of the road and the amount of avocado toast I ate was almost disgusting,” she says. “I had it every morning. And obviously the coffee was waaay better in Australia.”

Pickett returned to the US earlier this year to discover she was out at Seattle and would be moving back to Florida as part of a three-player trade between Reign and Orlando Pride. Initially likely to be a defensive back-up, Pride coach Tom Sermanni says the first thing he noticed about Pickett was she was no makeweight in the trade and is now a valuable addition to his roster.

“She is a very good footballer,” Sermanni says. “She has an unbelievably sweet left peg and she actually understands the game. In our sport, you need balance and you have to run at speed and turn and change direction and be mobile. You need to body-up to people and use your arms and touch other players and protect yourself. To be able to do all that at this level and play with one arm is unbelievable. Strap up your own arm and try to do those things and see how it works for you.”

Before you ask, Pickett doesn’t take throw-ins during competitive matches – because she can’t raise her left arm high enough behind her head she’d be penalized for a foul throw – but she’s been known to take them in training.

“When the disability does come in to play, she has a great sense of humor,” Sermanni says. “It’s amazing when I see her doing things. Like, how do you tie your shoelaces? Things that are second nature are a non-issue. She is phenomenal.”

For Pickett, the feeling is mutual. Conscious of the insecurity a professional player’s career can bring, she says her sudden move to Orlando was softened by the team spirit she discovered.

“A lot of other teams I’ve been on, the players haven’t had the same goal,” she says. “People wanted to play like individuals but, at Orlando, we play as a team. Each person wants to do well and wants to see team-mates succeed. That is a big thing for me.”

Pickett points to an early-season game where her struggles were clear to see. After the match, team-mate Sydney Leroux took her aside for a long conversation. “That made me feel better about myself as a player and as part of the team,” Pickett says. “It’s not just about who can be better than the other person. It is about who can help the team the best way that they possibly can.”

Growing up, Pickett looked at players like Mia Hamm and her great generation of US women’s players as idols and role models. The professional women’s league – in all its different versions over the past 15-plus years – has created more role models for girls and young women. Pickett is now one of them with potentially even more room to play. She’s represented the United States at youth and under-23 age level. Can she step up to the senior national team?

“That’s my dream,” she says. “It’s a dream for a lot of girls but it’s still possible in every way.”

She pauses to repeat her mantra.

“I have to control what I can control.”