Gotham FC news roundup: Stella Nyamekye's loan, a report, and more

As fans likely dream of warmer days in this cold, there is some good news: NJ/NY Gotham FC will begin their 2026 season in a little over a month. Hopefully, the start to the NWSL campaign will go a little better than the FIFA Women's Champions Cup, in which the Bats ended the short tournament in third place. The team was technically still in preseason, so they truly were not ready to compete with the best of the best.

Nevertheless, they have the time to prepare for their first game on March 15. Until then, there is always something to cover. Check out the next Gotham FC news roundup.

Gotham FC sends Stella Nyamekye back to Florida

After joining the Bats for the Champions Cup, Stella Nyamekye is heading back out on loan. The club announced on Friday that the player is returning to Florida to rejoin Fort Lauderdale United FC. The loan deal will last until the end of the Gainbridge Super League 2025-2026 season.

The forward made 14 appearances so far in the USL campaign, scoring once. She also has two assists. Hopefully, she can continue to improve her craft while earning minutes. Clearly, there are too many players in front of her at Gotham FC, so her minutes would have been reduced significantly if the team had not sent her back out on loan. Nyamekye is full of potential, but she needs playing time to develop.

Gotham FC has a unique report

This is something that not many would expect from a professional team, but Gotham released their inaugural Community Impact Report. The report name is self-explanatory, for the report looks at how the NJ/NJ side impacted the local community, especially the impact on youth soccer and the Keep Her in the Game Initiative. It also looks at the future in 2026.

Based on the report, Gotham has reached numerous coaches and players through the initiative. They also increased the youth's access to the beautiful game.

This is unique, and not many teams would put in the effort to put together such a report. The team is making an effort to make an impact, and they are willing to show the progress made along the way.

A brief streaming note for a May Gotham match

Gotham FC's match against the Houston Dash on Sunday, May 31, was originally supposed to air on NWSL+. Now, it will air on the ESPN app. No other aspects of the fixture have changed.

Rose Lavelle was on a podcast

Rose Lavelle was recently on the podcast, A Touch More with Sue Bird & Megan Rapinoe. The Gotham FC star spoke about pranks she has done, for she is known for pranks in the NWSL and USWNT. She also discussed the unique preseason, the NWSL Championship, and the Champions Cup, and revealed that she is "on the ups" when it comes to her concussion that she suffered in the Champions Cup.

That is good news for Gotham fans, especially since nobody wanted to see her start the 2026 season as she did in 2025: on the injury list. She talked about the difficulty of her ankle injury last year, but credited her support system for helping her return.

For Fans of Lavelle, this was a good podcast to listen to. She is open and honest, but then again, it is not surprising based on how she is for the USWNT and Gotham FC.