Every championship has its defining symbol.
For the National Women's Soccer League, the Challenge Cup has quickly become one of the sport's most anticipated annual competitions, bringing together the previous season's NWSL Champion and NWSL Shield winner in a winner-take-all match that officially launches a new season.
In 2026, Gotham FC claimed its first-ever NWSL Challenge Cup title with a 2-0 victory over the Kansas City Current, lifting a custom trophy designed and manufactured by Society Awards.
From Pandemic Innovation
to Annual Super Cup
The Challenge Cup began in 2020 as an innovative solution during the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing the league to continue competition safely while providing fans with meaningful soccer during an unprecedented year.
What started as a standalone tournament has since evolved into the league's annual Super Cup. Since 2024, the event has featured a single championship match between the reigning NWSL Champion and the previous season's Shield winner, creating an early-season showdown between two of the league's elite clubs.
Each year adds another chapter to the Challenge Cup's growing legacy, making the trophy itself an increasingly recognizable symbol of excellence in professional women's soccer. For 2026, Society Awards redesigned the custom trophy to reflect the competition's growing stature, building on the design first introduced in 2021 with a new form built for the Cup's next chapter.
A Championship Trophy
Designed for Motion
The NWSL Challenge Cup trophy embodies movement long before the match begins. Machined from aluminum, its sculptural form twists upward in a continuous spiral, creating a silhouette that changes from every angle. Rather than relying on traditional trophy conventions, the design achieves its presence through precision machining , clean geometry, and flowing surfaces.
A polished gold interior is revealed through the trophy's angled opening, while a matching gold transition at the base creates visual balance from top to bottom. The contrast between the silver exterior and warm metallic accents gives the piece depth without distracting from its refined simplicity.
Standing 18 inches tall and measuring 5.7 inches at its widest point, the trophy was designed to be appreciated in the round. Whether displayed in a club's trophy case or raised in celebration after the final whistle, every perspective reveals a different interplay of curves, reflections, and light.
A Custom Trophy
Worth Competing For
Championship trophies become part of a league's visual identity. Long after the final whistle, they appear in championship photographs, victory parades, team headquarters, and league history. The Challenge Cup trophy was created with that permanence in mind.
Every machined surface, polished finish, and carefully engineered proportion contributes to an award designed not simply for presentation, but for years of display as a lasting reminder of one of the league's defining achievements.
When Gotham FC captain Tierna Davidson raised the trophy amid falling confetti in Columbus, Ohio, the moment marked another milestone in the continuing growth of the NWSL and another chapter in the evolving story of one of professional soccer's newest traditions.
As the Challenge Cup continues to grow in prestige, the trophy will remain the enduring symbol of the teams that begin each season by proving they stand above the rest. To learn more about Society Awards' custom recognition work or to begin a project of your own, contact our concierge team by email or at (212) 845-9980 .
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