Tatum Wynalda


Tatum Milan Wynalda is an American soccer player who plays as a midfielder or forward. She played college soccer for the Pepperdine Waves.

Early life

Wynalda was born and raised in Thousand Oaks, California. She began playing soccer in the AYSO when she was young. She went on to spend 13 years with LAFC So Cal Youth. When the U.S. Soccer Development Academy ended in 2020, she was able to join her high school team at Westlake High School for her junior and senior seasons. In her junior year, she scored 20 goals with 11 assists in 15 games and was named the Marmonte League Offensive MVP and earned first-team All-CIF Southern Section honors in 2021. She was also named ECNL all-conference with So Cal Youth in 2021.
Wynalda helped lead Westlake to the Marmonte League title in her senior year in 2022, scoring 28 goals with 9 assists in 17 games. She was named the league MVP, the Ventura County Star Player of the Year, and the Los Angeles Daily News Player of the Year. She was recruited by USC, Texas, Long Beach State, and Portland before committing to play college soccer for the Pepperdine Waves in her junior year. She had grown up around the Pepperdine team, which her uncle Tim Ward coached, and was a fan of Waves alumnae Lynn Williams and Brianna Visalli.

College career

Wynalda played in all 18 games, starting 8, and scored 8 goals for the Pepperdine Waves as a freshman in 2022, earning a place on the All-West Coast Conference second team. The following spring, she was unable to practice due to stress fractures in her back, which had started in high school. She returned to the field as a sophomore in 2023, scoring 6 goals with 2 assists in 20 games. She was again named second-team All-WCC and helped the Waves place second in the conference and earn an NCAA tournament berth after a year's absence. She became a regular starter in her junior year in 2024, scoring 4 goals with 4 assists in 21 games. She was named second-team All-WCC for the third time and helped the Waves win a share of the WCC title for the first time in seven years. In her senior year in 2025, she scored 5 goals and led the Waves with 10 assists in 20 games, garnering first-team All-WCC honors. She helped lead the Waves to their second-ever outright WCC title and their third consecutive NCAA tournament appearance.

Club career

Wynalda trained with the San Diego Wave and the Portland Thorns as a non-roster invitee in the 2026 preseason.

Personal life

Wynalda is the third of six children born to National Soccer Hall of Famer Eric Wynalda. Both her father and her mother, Amy Ward, played college soccer for the San Diego State Aztecs. Her uncle Tim Ward was her head coach at Pepperdine.

Honors and awards

Pepperdine Waves
Individual
  • First-team All-WCC: 2025
  • Second-team All-WCC: 2022, 2023, 2024