Earning their rings: Oak Mountain alumni Toni and Nicole Payne’s journey to playing for Nigeria in Olympics

By TYLER RALEY | Special to the Reporter

When talent is in your DNA, it drives you to succeed, which is exactly what sisters Toni and Nicole Payne are carrying with them as they travel to play soccer for Team Nigeria in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France.

Millions of athletes grow up with dreams of playing in the Olympics, but for the few who are able to make those dreams a reality, it creates a sensation that is hard to overcome. For the Payne sisters and those who surround them, this moment is something they will not soon forget.

As they prepare to hit the world stage, Toni and Nicole are playing, now more than ever, for things bigger than just themselves: their family, their heritage and those who support them, all with the hopes of bringing home a gold medal.

Early beginnings

The journey to being a great athlete is not an easy and simple process. It instead takes years of hard work and development while also maintaining a consistent training schedule the entire time.

Toni and Nicole both started playing soccer at a very young age, both when they were around five years old. It is safe to say that it was love at first sight, and from the time they started kicking around the soccer ball, they had a close influence from their dad who helped them start their road to glory.

“Mostly their dad was who coached them since the beginning. He has always been their personal trainer,” said their mother Mojemilat Payne. “Basically everything started with their dad. He was the one that invested time in them.”

Oyeleke Payne, like his wife, who was a track star, was born in Nigeria and grew up an athlete. He was fully involved in the country’s youth soccer program as a forward before traveling to the United States to play at Alabama A&M.

Ever since his playing days ended, he has been on the coaching side of the sport, taking all he learned and passing that to his children, including his son Stephen, who also plays soccer professionally.

With two athletic parents, playing soccer was a no-brainer, even more so for Nicole as the younger child. As Toni guided her younger sister, it was a big boost in helping make this sibling duo unstoppable.

“My sister’s been probably the biggest role model in my life, especially soccer-wise,” Nicole said. “Having someone who can kind of show you the way and pave the way for you and your family means a lot, especially in a sport like this where it’s still relatively new, it’s still really growing. Being able to have someone who is able to guide you and help you on your journey is something that is hard to come by.”

The bond that the Paynes have with soccer is unbreakable and it is evident in the work that they have put in together throughout their lives, even when they were younger. Their coaches have noticed that, translating to their quick development over the years.

Learning from the best

Training in any sport is rigorous in its own ways, but it is essential to becoming a highly skilled athlete. When you have mentors that believe in your potential, it makes the work that much easier.

Ever since they started competing, Toni and Nicole trained five days each week with their father, going through a challenging regiment to help them perfect the technique and concentration they must have in game action. They even trained on holidays as well just to ensure they stayed in peak physical condition.

The work they put in has allowed them to learn under some of the best programs and coaches competitively, developing close relationships throughout their careers.

For Toni, her club experience allowed her to begin her path to a professional status, playing for the elite Concorde Fire Soccer Club in Atlanta. Playing for them helped elevate her game when she started playing for Oak Mountain High School, and eventually, Duke University under head coach Robbie Church, who was a big influence for her as she set her sights on going pro. She also played on numerous U.S. Women’s National Teams as well before declaring for the Nigerian National Team.

Now, Toni plays for Everton in England after transferring from Spain’s Sevilla FC Femenino on Friday, July 19, but expresses just how grateful she is for the relationships she has built in her career.

Toni Payne recently completed a transfer to Everton after playing for Sevilla FC Feminino and will play in England’s WSL next season. (Contributed/Everton Women)

“I’ve played on two different professional teams now and I’ve come in contact with some amazing players, some amazing people,” Toni said ahead of her transfer to Everton. “I’ve been able to learn a lot from the players around me. I’ve played with some legends in football, so it’s been an incredible experience and now that my sister is starting that, I’m super excited to see where it can take her and how well she’s going to do.”

Just like her sister, Nicole also played with the Concorde Fire in her club experience before moving on to play at Oak Mountain under head coach Chris Blight, which then led to her college experience playing for three years at West Virginia and one year at USC.

She competed on many U.S. National Teams before making the one-time switch to Nigeria, and at the club level, she recently transferred from Paris Saint-Germain in France to the NWSL’s Portland Thorns.

After moving to Paris to play with PSG in 2023, Nicole Payne is back in the U.S. after the NWSL’s Portland Thorns permanently acquired her from PSG on July 3 following a five-month loan stint in Oregon. (Contributed/Portland Thorns and Nicole Payne)

Blight has known the Payne family for a long time and is continually amazed by the drive that they both have to improve and be a true athlete.

“They help everyone else around them become better,” Blight said. “It challenges us as coaches as well to figure out how we’re going to make them better and how we’re going to continue to challenge them and push them, and that was something I really enjoyed as well.”

Nicole also models a lot of her game after Toni, which she feels has been instrumental in their preparations for Paris, along with everything else they have learned from their mentors on this journey.

“It’s really important. I think now where we are and going into this Olympics just having some of these skill sets under us is really important,” Nicole said. “It’s a blessing and a great opportunity for the both of us and we’re really grateful for the people that have really helped us along the way, so we couldn’t ask for more.”

As they head to compete in the Olympics, Toni and Nicole understand that while they are going for gold, this time is also about more than their performance on the field.

Family roots

Donning your nation’s colors on the world stage is a feeling that not many people forget, but when those colors are part of your family’s heritage, it is a unique feeling unlike any other.

After all their hard work, this is an experience Toni is excited for on behalf of both herself and everyone else involved.

“I’m honestly just super excited to be in the experience,” Toni said. “I’m hoping to also cheer on Nigeria, all the other Nigerian teams including basketball and track, and also being here with my sister and sharing this experience with her and then my family being over there too, just everyone celebrating such a nice achievement.”

That achievement carries a sense of gratitude towards the entire family, and for Mojemilat, it is a moment that will truly be an eye-opening experience for not only her, but also the entire country of Nigeria.

“The opportunity came along where they have to wear the green and white, and it was just a joy to know that now they have that ‘Payne’ on the back of their jersey where all Nigerians can say, ‘Oh wow,’” Mojemilat said. “The language that we use in Nigeria is so simple. Your children, you guys went out of the country, you become a citizen, but it looks like eventually it was to have a little part of you guys representing your birth country, and I think that was the feeling of how other family members in Nigeria are able to see them when they compete and know that, ‘Wow, even though mom and dad are not representing Nigeria, they have children that are able to bring home something that gives them joy.”

Toni and Nicole feel grateful to play for that legacy, as their family’s support has built up to this moment.

“We’ve had a great support system growing up and our brother and our mom and our dad have always supported us through all of the trials and errors that we’ve had throughout our journey, so just having them stand by us in this moment is probably the thing we’re the most grateful for,” Nicole said.

The Payne sisters and Team Nigeria kick off their Paris Olympics campaign on Thursday, July 25 against Brazil at noon CST, before taking on Spain on Sunday, July 28 at noon CST and finishing up the group stage on Wednesday, July 31 against Japan at 10 a.m. CST. All games will stream on Peacock.

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