Atlanta —
Meliesha Johnson saw the Instagram message first.
The single mom, a teacher who lives north of Atlanta, monitors her 15-year-old daughter’s social media accounts. She had always wondered how other girls her daughter’s age ended up at various invite-only soccer camps around the country, and there it was: An invitation.
Upstairs, in an unabashedly pink room, Makenna was on the phone with her friends. Her freshman year of high school was winding down and all around were the signs of this liminal time in life: Stuffed animals on the bed, skincare bottles arranged on a Hollywood-inspired vanity. She can’t yet drive herself anywhere and is therefore in a constant state of negotiating where and when she can walk around unsupervised. But she has a phone for navigating the shifting landscape of friendships and social media to show her a highlight reel of everyone she could be.
The DM was from an elite soccer training organization that touts Christian Pulisic as a client on the professional side. Makenna had been invited to a camp that’s part of their “pathways” program. The camp was in Denver.
