NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Like many of her fellow Vanderbilt graduate students, Abi Brighton found herself on a Zoom call with a potential employer earlier this year. She was one of the fortunate ones. Rather than her nervously making a case for employment, the industry leader impressed by her collegiate résumé made its case. She clicked out of the call convinced she could work for them, that they shared her values. And like most of her classmates, while leaving Nashville would be bittersweet, relocation wasn’t a dealbreaker.
Which is how Brighton ended up signing a professional contract with Juventus and moving to Turin, Italy, to play for one of the world’s most successful and recognizable soccer clubs.
Brighton recently completed her first season in Serie A Femminile, Italy’s top league. Signed midway through the Italian season after leading Vanderbilt to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16, she helped Juventus win the Serie A title, the Coppa Italia domestic tournament and qualify for the UEFA Women’s Champions League. Going abroad was a historic opportunity to be part of growing the women’s game. While Juventus is one of Italy’s oldest clubs, it added a women’s team less than a decade ago. Brighton believed she was no less a finished product in her own right. Juventus was her opportunity to grow—whether competing against some of the world’s best players or simply shopping for dinner.
“I had to learn to be comfortable being super uncomfortable,” Brighton said of living and working in another country. “Even going to the grocery store, and this is super embarrassing to admit, but it took me probably two months to figure out how to buy vegetables. I’m still learning the language. I definitely could have asked for help because there are people who speak English, but I’m super stubborn and wanted to figure it out for myself.”
From the Cumberland to the Po
It is no surprise that Brighton helped expand Vanderbilt’s penchant for preparing players for the professional game under head coach Darren Ambrose. A freshman starter on the team that won the 2020 SEC Tournament and climbed as high as the top five in the national polls, she made her 93rd collegiate start when she captained the Dores in the first Sweet 16 game in program history this past November. After the season, the midfielder was honored as a third-team All-American.
She knew she wanted to continue playing beyond her collegiate eligibility, but with the…