Maxi Rall Enjoying the Process of Adjusting to Chicago Red Stars, NWSL

The style of play has also been an adjustment for Rall, particularly as she’s become a major part of Chicago’s counter-attacking philosophy when she makes runs up the pitch on the right wing.

“It's a different style of playing. It's more transitional, the game. Sometimes a bit wild, out of structure. You know in Germany we're like, ‘Okay, now we keep the ball moving from right to left, left to right and back.’ And here it’s, ‘Okay if we have the chance, we go.’ And then we go back and forth. Yeah, but this is nice. It's challenging but it's nice.”

She was sold on the prospect of building the club back up and knew that it wouldn’t be the simplest climb back to the top of the NWSL.

“I wanted to have an adventure, no matter what the team looks like or looked like, I don't care about that. I just want to have a little influence on the team and what I can bring into it. And I mean, I knew that it would be a restart. So what was the past was the past.”

Rall is a self-professed crossfitter who's all about staying active even off the pitch. It’s a habit she picked up early in her career with Hoffenheim, which only made sense given her love of cycling and swimming. She’s even found a way to help curb her on-pitch frustrations through exercise.

On Rall’s player page on the Bayern Munich website, she listed “a round of bicep curls” as a way to calm down after a tough contest. It’s a habit she picked up with a former Bayern teammate who also needed a productive post-match outlet for frustrations.

“I trained with Linda Dallman and we had the same question [of handling frustrations]. We've just liked to do it. It's fun.”

The changes for Rall aren’t exclusively on the pitch. Her father regularly traveled to her matches with Bayern Munich (he’s a big Bayern fan) from the town she grew up in outside of Rottweil, Germany. The youngest of three, Rall has always loved traveling and was ready for a new challenge in the United States. She didn’t make the journey to Chicago by herself, though.

Rall has her dog, Basmati, a Mini Australian Shepherd, with her, and the dog that’s named after her favorite food, basmati rice (with tofu), has kept her busy off the pitch.

“I was not that much in the city right now because I'm a little bit of a nature girl. So I tried to go as often to the woods with my dog.”

Living in Chicago has been interesting, too. She’s done the river tour and seen the sights everyone should see when they first move here. Grocery stores are different “much bigger” and Rall, like many athletes who come over from Europe, had to find an electrolyte drink that wasn’t riddled with sugar.

Regardless, Rall has found a comfortable spot in Chicago. Basmati goes nearly everywhere with her, and Rall has found a partner who also loves to exercise their competitive muscles off the pitch. She plays tennis with Bea Franklin (Franklin won their first matchup 6-4), and that’s helped her stay busy in non-soccer settings.

It’s only been seven matches, but Rall’s impact on Chicago has been clear. She scored in their 2-1 win over Seattle at home, is tied for second on the team with 21 passes into the final third, and ranks second on the team with 21 tackles.

Rall and Basmati have an exciting summer ahead, where the two can explore Chicago’s sights and sounds while the Red Stars’ right back plays out her one guaranteed year with the club (there’s a mutual option for 2025). The early returns have been positive and Rall could very easily play herself into being on Chicago’s roster next season.