by Ali Ahsan
The United States has long been a leader in women’s soccer, with its strong grassroots system and NCAA athletics providing a pipeline of talent. The NCAA’s women’s soccer programs have become a key scouting ground for national teams worldwide, including Pakistan’s.
Since 2022, the Pakistan women’s national football team (WNT) has seen an influx of players of Pakistani heritage from North America, including active NCAA players. Notable ones include captain Maria Khan (University of Denver alumnus), striker Isra Khan (Dickinson College), defender Kayla Siddiqi (Florida Atlantic University) and goalkeeper Zeeyana Jivraj (Youngstown State University alumnus).
The growing presence of Pakistani American and Pakistani Canadian athletes in the NCAA is expected to bring significant improvements to the WNT. One potential addition includes attacking midfielder Hanna Khan of Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. Video highlights of Hanna at Trinity in the NCAA Div III show her having a clear knack of scoring goals, especially from direct freekicks.
FootballPakistan.Com briefly spoke with Hanna at the end of May 2025 while she was conducting summer undergraduate research at Trinity.
Born in California but raised in the Dallas suburb of Southlake, Texas to a Pakistani father and American mother, Hanna is the eldest of four athletically – and academically – gifted sisters. The younger siblings Maddison and Alexa also play varsity soccer while the youngest, Lauren, chose volleyball.
“I grew up playing all kinds of sports. Soccer and basketball especially. There was always a ball at my feet inside the house. I have always been a huge Lionel Messi fan and liked it when Neymar played alongside him at FC Barcelona, though my favorite team is Arsenal. Carli Lloyd and Sydney Leroux of the USWNT are also a big inspiration for me. I also like Mesut Özil and Martin Odegaard.”
Hanna credits her father, Dr Amir Khan – a renowned orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine practitioner in Texas – for helping her chose soccer as her main sport. “My dad has always been passionate about sport and played varsity soccer at Hofstra University. He brings that motivation and drive as the youth soccer coach in the family to help us excel in the sport and in our studies.” Her mother Denise Walker, also in the medical profession, is also very supportive of her daughters’ life pursuits.
Growing up in a mixed-heritage family in suburban Texas, Hanna still found a sense of belonging without much trouble. “I always thought growing up part Pakistani and Muslim made me unique in a largely white, Christian, community but it never made me stand out in a bad way. I made lots of friends and played soccer so that also made me cool as a kid! But as I got older, I made the effort of recognizing what it means to be Pakistani. I also recognized that a small number of people, especially in Texas, may view those having a Muslim or South Asian background with a level of prejudice and mistrust. But I owned my identity. At college, I became an active member of our Muslim Students Association (MSA) and being part of a healthy vibrant community five hours away from home.”
Hanna remains close with the Pakistani side of her family, “I grew up listening to my father and my (paternal) grandparents telling stories of their lives Pakistan, especially in Lahore. My grandfather worked in the UN for a long time, so my dad and his family lived several years in the Middle East and the Philippines before moving to the U.S.”
Dr Khan’s knowledge of football meant coaching four kids at home and the teams they played in became an almost total commitment. “He was our first soccer coach growing up and took me to practice all the time. Playing for my school and local youth clubs as I got older, my dad would often be at the touchline as a fan, as a parent and eventually as a coach. He doesn’t mess around as a coach; he knows the game and often gives specific instructions on what to do to succeed on the pitch. I took his instructions well, but Maddie [Maddison] often did things her way on the field much to our dad’s mild annoyance,” said Hanna with a laugh when recalling soccer stories from her childhood.
Hanna would play regional age groups for Sting Soccer Club’s North Texas branch near Dallas as well as make the girls’ varsity team at Southlake Carroll High School. It was there where her family, coaches, and peers began to really notice her potential. “At first, none of us ever thought of entertaining the idea of playing college level. Both my parents work in medicine, so they all assumed I was aiming to enter the field at some top university somewhere. But my performances for club and high school made many encourage me to go all in for college soccer.”
Hanna’s in-game statistics at high school attracted plenty of attention from various NCAA programs. While she had plans to play and study somewhere far away from Texas in the American Northeast, Hanna’s recruitment timeframe in 2021-22 was significantly restricted by the 2020-23 COVID-19 pandemic. While she did receive some offers from Division I and Division II schools, Trinity University became a more viable option. Fairly close to home with a solid Division III team, Hanna aimed for a starting spot and avail its solid academic programs, eventually joining the Trinity Tigers in 2022 and majoring in English.
“I eventually grew to really like Trinity because it allowed me to not only succeed academically but also make me play competitive collegiate soccer on a regular basis. So many of my club and high school teammates who had gone to various D1 schools often had to transfer elsewhere because they were not getting enough minutes or were struggling to find their stride in college. I have been very fortunate that my path at Trinity has been linear. I wanted to compete. I wanted to win a national championship. I wanted to succeed academically, and I am getting all that opportunity here,” exclaimed Hanna Khan who is now the Tigers’ team captain by her junior year.
At Trinity, her honors and stats are astounding. She is now a three-time SCAC conference champion, played in three consecutive NCAA Division III playoff seasons, and was named in the Trinity Dean’s List and SCAC Academic Honor Rolls in as many years. For the Tigers, Hanna has played a grand total of 65 games, scoring 25 goals and 11 assists over three whole years.
When asked about her freekick technique, “I prefer hitting it straight on over the wall and often near post without necessarily aiming for a ‘knuckleball’ technique, especially if the ball is placed 30-yards out. But I have been working on improving my freekicks to bend when placed near goal.”
While Hanna Khan has stated she aims for law school after her graduation from Trinity University in 2026, the thought of potentially playing for the Pakistan WNT has often piqued her curiosity. Upon discovery of her Pakistani heritage, people handling WNT affairs reached out.
“I have had a lot of good conversations with WNT captain Maria Khan about international football and about playing for Pakistan. The issue is convincing my parents to be on board as well as finding time away from my athletic and academic commitments at Trinity during my final year here for traveling, camps, and matches with Pakistan in Asia. I have very supportive professors but there is also an expectation that we don’t miss too much time away from our in-person classes” said Hanna, explaining the predicament she faces.
Her father is more willing to take up the Pakistan WNT idea and has been working on getting his own Pakistani documentations sorted to facilitate Hanna’s processing if a decision to commit is made. But he still shares some of the same concerns as Hanna’s mother over safety and travel away from her final year of undergraduate studies.
But Hanna Khan did recognize the tremendous benefits of international football and playing for a country where half of her family originates from would be a major personal and athletic milestone.
When asked about her future after graduation, including potentially turning professional in the sport, Hanna was in two minds. “I don’t have plans, but I would love to play professionally. But I do have a time limit when it comes to going to law school, so I must see what works for me. If I can keep playing whilst studying further, that would be amazing but let’s see.”
A month after the recorded interview, the Pakistan WNT played the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers. The WNT were in a group containing Asian Cup regulars Chinese Taipei, qualifiers group hosts Indonesia, and Kyrgyz Republic. Playing their first game in nearly 7 months, Pakistan struggled in a heavy 8-0 defeat to Chinese Taipei on 29 June.
However, the girls bounced back in style for the remaining two games. First, a shock 2-0 win over Indonesia on 2 July followed by a 2-1 win over Kyrgyzstan on 5 July. Pakistan thus finished their first ever WAC qualification campaign in 2nd place with 6 points, with Chinese Taipei qualifying for the main tournament as group winners. Breakout performances by ex-Birmingham City midfielder Layla Banaras and ex-West Brom striker Mariam Mahmood made waves on social media.
When asked about the stunning performance, Hanna was thrilled. “It’s really great to see the results from the Asian Cup qualifiers from the WNT coming out with two wins and a shutout. It’s exciting to see their progress as a team and all the new players! I hope that this continues to inspire young women in [Pakistan] to get into sport.”
Here’s hoping the WNT continue their way up and to further convince Hanna and others like her in North America and Europe to don the Pakistan kit. With the right recruitment and preps, they can help take this young and still maturing team onwards and upwards.