WK League News

Gyeongju KHNP have signed Rebekah Valdez, a Mexican-American forward who is set to make her WK League debut in 2026, having previously played in the U.S.A and Mexico. 24-year-old California native Valdez has joined the team for pre-season training this week as KHNP get to work under new manager Park Namyeol.

Following soccer success at high school, where she also competed on the varsity track team, Valdez attended the University of San Diego, playing in 33 matches over three years before transferring to Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona. Over two seasons at GCU, Valdez clocked up 40 appearances for the soccer team, recording 12 goals and 13 assists.

From there, she signed a contract with NWSL side Portland Thorns as a National Team Replacement Player during the 2024 Olympics. Valdez made her professional league debut with Portland in July 2024. She then transferred to América Femenil, competing in Mexico’s top division Liga MX Femenil. She made only two appearances for the side, once in the league and once in the Concacaf W Champions Cup, but despite scoring on both occasions, she was released by the club at the end of the year.

In January 2025, Valdez transferred to CF Pachuca ahead of the 2025 Clausura tournament (the Mexican league season is divided into two competitions). Pachuca came from behind to beat América on aggregate in the championship final to lift the league trophy for the first time.

Fans are no doubt hoping that Valdez can help KHNP do the same thing — Gyeongju are yet to win a WK League title despite appearing in six playoffs and four championship finals in the nine seasons since the team’s establishment. The club appeared to have one of the strongest squads in the league last season but failed to reach the playoff, leading to the departure of manager Song Juhee.

Song’s replacement, Park Namyeol, led now-defunct side Goyang Daekyo Noonnoppi (later known as Icheon Daekyo) to their second WK League title in 2011. He managed the team for a total of six years across two stints and was briefly in charge of the South Korean national team. More recently, Park has been working in men’s football.