When Bay FC midfielder-forward Taylor Huff was in the seventh grade, she pondered much on the existential questions that everyone has to eventually grapple with.
Who am I? Why am I here? What is the purpose of life? For Huff, her Christian faith has given her the foundation and answers for understanding who she is beyond soccer, what gives her life meaning and why she believes God has placed her in San Jose for the time being. Perhaps it’s only fitting that Huff has landed in Silicon Valley, a region known—among other things—for its high achievers.
The 24-year-old Huff likewise has a résumé filled with a what’s what of accolades. Three-time NCAA All-American. National championship winner with Florida State. In the 2025 season, Huff was one of only two rookies in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) to start every single match. Prior to college, Huff led her high school girls soccer team to a state championship in her senior year, racking up multiple State Player of the Year awards and the United Soccer Coaches National Player of the Year honors in the process.
TopDrawSoccer rated her the 68th overall recruit for the 2021 class. It doesn’t stop there. Huff also excelled in basketball, softball, volleyball and track, advancing to the Ohio State Track and Field Championships in the 400 meter run. She even competed in a co-ed wrestling tournament when she was 7 or 8 years old, placing fourth.
“My dad had to have wanted a boy and I was the sacrificial one,” said Huff, smiling.
Small town life
Huff was raised in the central Ohio town of Lucas, population 593. Huff’s family lived on 60 acres of land, encompassing woods and ponds.
I’d always be outside,” she said. “It was kind of like that country lifestyle. It was always going outside and playing, or going to the woods. We’d carve in trees, adventure and do crazy things. I kind of grew up just being able to be in nature and just inviting friends over and being close with their families and their families’ families. I’m thankful for where I was raised— wouldn’t want it any other way.”
Huff has an older sister, Hayley, and a younger sister, Ava. She grew up kicking the soccer ball against the garage with Hayley for hours upon end, a glimpse into her indefatigable work ethic.
“I was at the fields I think just a few days after I was born, because my sister was at training or games,” Huff said.
Though an active sports family, Huff credited her parents, Amy and Zac, for emphasizing and prioritizing academics. She also praised her parents and especially her great grandmother, Garnie, for raising her in the Christian faith.
“My great grandma was probably the most influential person in my faith,” Huff said. “I would spend every single Wednesday with her and she would make me tomato soup and grilled cheese, and I just learned so much from her. She’s like my 93-year-old best friend in my family, and I just learned so much from her. She knew how talented I was, and she knew it was a gift from God.”
In the seventh grade, a precocious Huff began to reflect on the big questions of life. Though surrounded by Christian influences, Huff’s immediate family weren’t a part of a church.
“Around seventh grade when you’re going through middle school stuff, you think about who you are, who your friends are,” Huff said. “In a lot of ways I was lost, not wanting to do what everyone else did. I had a strong morale, maybe, just something in me I guess. So I didn’t really go with the crowd which meant I didn’t really fit in.”
At the same time, Huff said her family was experiencing difficulties as all families do at some point, which led her to further soul searching.
“It led me to ask, ‘What is going on in my life? Who am I?’ Just questioning a lot honestly,” she said. “So later it was my uncle who invited my whole family to church on this random day. I’m like, ‘Sure, why not? What do I have to lose basically?’ From there I started going to this church and ended up giving my life to Jesus (in the eighth grade). I went to a (spiritual retreat) camp and that kind of solidified it in a lot of ways that yes, this is what I believe and this is what I was longing for all my life.”
Identity set, mission clear
After a stellar rookie season with Bay FC, Huff’s second season has challenged her with adversity—and grown her faith in God as well. She suffered a foot injury in May, sidelining her for most of the month. For someone whose career depends on being on the field, Huff could’ve easily responded with negativity. In fact, that’s exactly how she would’ve responded had this injury happened even a year ago, Huff said.
What has happened in the last 12 months? In theological terms—because that’s Huff’s reality—she has grown mature in Christ and is continually being sanctified.
Sanctification is a believer’s continued growth in holiness that should follow conversion. For Huff, it was her spiritual growth in the past year and reliance on Jesus that allowed her to respond to her injury with the proper perspective in light of who she is in Christ.
“This was a new challenge in a lot of ways of how am I going to respond,” she said. “It was also a challenge in a lot of ways of who do you trust, who is (ultimately) in control? A lot of times I would’ve thought, ‘Oh, it’s me,’ because I’ve always been able to bounce right back. But I was really brought to a low place—not mentally or anything—but a humbleness of just knowing who God is, how he’s in control and I’m exactly where I’m at for a reason. I can either be happy about it and be joyful in it and count it all joy.”
With her faith flourishing, Huff has responded well to adversity and is focused on closing out the season on a positive note. It’s been a disappointing season for Bay FC, which was eliminated from the NWSL playoff race on Sept. 27 and has two matches remaining in its 2026 campaign. Huff has two goals and two assists across 22 of a possible 28 games played, starting 18.
Described as a box to box midfielder, Huff has been known to make length of the field sprints and influence the game in both penalty areas, contributing to defense at one end and offense at the other.
“I think the biggest takeaway for me is not really on field, it’s off the field and finding my joy outside of the thing that’s always defined me,” she said. “It was about finding who I am outside of that because I’m so much more than a soccer player and what everyone sees on the outside.”
Huff elaborated in further detail: “I think the biggest thing for me is pureness is what I want to be known for, having a pure heart, that alone, what I do and what I say is between God and I and he knows my heart and a lot of times I can be misunderstood, I’ve just found peace in knowing that if I’m truly doing what is pure, right, lovely, all those things that’s kind of been my goal. And seeking first the kingdom of God is having that goal.”
Out and About
It’s a Thursday morning and Huff is at one of her favorite places: Voyager Craft Coffee on the Alameda. The bustling coffee shop hums with a constant rhythm of layered sounds, the sharp hiss of a steam wand purging milk, the metallic clink of spoons against porcelain, the pulverizing noise of the espresso grinder working in frantic bursts, all amid the backdrop of patrons conversing. Every chair is occupied and Huff is in her comfort zone.
“Last year, I took it upon myself every off day to try a new coffee place,” she said. “From coffee to vibes to different areas, I’ve found a lot of different spots I like. I’ve really loved experiencing different places, different cultures, different foods, and being in the Bay Area.”
Not that it was an easy transition. After all, what made Huff’s connection to Lucas special—having family around along with a tight-knit community—was absent upon her arrival in the Bay Area in January 2025.
“Coming here has been a challenge and it’s hard to find that tight-knit community because you’re in such a big place,” she said. “It’s been difficult but also challenging in a way that has made me pretty grateful for where I am now.”
Huff has found her band of brothers and sisters at Hillside Church in San Jose. With an emphasis on evangelism, discipleship and sound teaching—all core tenets of what makes a faithful Evangelical church—Hillside continues to bear spiritual fruit. It’s no coincidence that Huff has found a community of believers she can live life on life together.
“I love it at Hillside,” she said. “Getting connected to Hillside, that’s a story in itself. It’s been a crazy blessing from God that I’m so thankful for.”
Huff was struggling to find a church and people she could grow in faith with until she got connected to Hillside in summer 2025. From there, Huff got plugged into a small group and she’s since established a growing relationship with them and other members of the church.
“I go over to their houses two to three times a week and hang out with their families because I live so far away from my family,” she said. “It does help a lot with everything in my daily life. And all of this happened is from one person being obedient to the Lord and just inviting me to Hillside.”
Transformation
Huff and her family laugh about it now, but it is only by God’s grace that she has transformed from being in her own words a “horrible child” to the maturing Christian she is today.
“That is the reason why Ava is so much younger than all of us, because I was a very bad child and I will forever own that,” Huff said. “I thank my parents for the way I was raised because it could’ve gone completely in the other direction.”
Huff tells the story of the incident at her grandmother’s country club, when she went rogue and decided to smear sunscreen lotion in one of the rooms—on green carpet, no less. Another infamous incident had a 10-year-old Huff invoking the First Amendment (freedom of speech!) as the basis for her disobedience and being able to say less than edifying words as part of everyday conversation.
“So that gives you a glimpse of who I was,” Huff said. “Thank God he changed me. I’ve always been strong-willed and strong-headed, which I still am but for the good now. We’ll talk about it now when we’re all together, how no one else knows who I was but they got to see it and had to deal with it. My older sister will always tell people, ‘You guys just don’t understand. She’s great now and probably the best human, but you don’t know what we had to go through.’”
Huff continues to mature in her faith and is thankful for it. She reflects on tumultuous periods of her life—including middle school and finding out her parents were getting a divorce in the final semester of her senior year of high school—and sees how God has shaped and molded her through those trials and deepened her trust in him.
The injury earlier in the season reinforced her belief that God is sovereign and in control of all things.
“Who is in control at the end of the day?” Huff said. “I would say a lot of my life I have been the driving force. I would be the one in control, but then give glory to God. It wouldn’t be that God is in control and I’m going to give him glory. But he prunes and he will teach you real quick. God gave me a trial and I realized a lot about myself in that trial and really challenged me in a lot of my thinking.”
One of Huff’s favorite bible verses is Matthew 6:33: But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. The verse comes in the context where Jesus commands his disciples to not be anxious or worry unnecessarily, for it shows a lack of trust in God’s knowledge and care. Instead, seeking first the kingdom of God shows a right faith that chokes out anxiety over the uncertainty of daily living.
In all that Huff does, she wants it to be undergirded by a pure heart.
“It’s part of the sanctification process,” she said. “You learn more as you get older. I’m going to seek first his kingdom, but not for my own (gain).”
Through the ups and downs of living in a fallen world, Huff has grown in her trust of the Lord. She points to her mom modeling forgiveness and her deepening relationship with Ava as examples of God’s favor. Divorces can rip families apart, but not the Huffs, who still vacation together. Neither Amy nor Zac have remarried, let alone date other people.
“I’m thankful for how everyone has handled it and where we’re at as a family now,” Huff said. “Without getting into too much detail, my mom’s forgiveness and living that out each day, you really see God’s reconciliation because it could’ve gone completely otherwise.”
After graduating from Florida State with a degree in economics on Dec. 13, 2024, Huff had approximately a month to sign with a team. In January 2025, Huff became part of the first generation of players who had the opportunity to negotiate their future in the NWSL, which made a historic, revolutionary move in the previous off-season to abolish all drafts, thereby giving players greater freedom and movement.
Wanting a challenge and having heard positively of Bay FC, Huff decided to sign with one of the newer teams in the league. Still, Huff admitted to struggling with the decision, not knowing what lay ahead.
“It was the quickest turnaround (of signing with a team) while all the holiday stuff is going on,” she said. “It was really stressful for me to feel the pressure of where am I going to fit, how is this going to affect my career. But I found a lot of peace that rather I go to the right or to the left, God is going to be behind me saying this is the way. I found a lot of peace in that and felt like taking a new challenge, a new step, a leap of faith of traveling across the country. I had different options that were all good options, but I’m thankful for the development and growth I’ve experienced here.”
As a pro athlete, Huff takes seriously her role as an ambassador for Christ. Her faith and trust in God has grown steadily in the last year, along with her knowledge of the Scriptures. Combine that with being a part of a faithful community of believers to worship with on Sundays, being under sound teaching at Hillside and being diligent in prayer—the simple means of grace—with that comes the peace of God, which transcends all understanding. Huff’s goal is simple: to shine God’s light and magnify his great and holy name in the way she plays on the field and by loving her neighbors when she’s off the pitch.
“If I’m not using the gifts God has given me for his glory, then what am I doing?” Huff said. “So bringing all the glory back to him hopefully is apparent for others to see in my life.”
