Op 20 juli start een nieuwe editie van het wereldkampioenschap voetbal voor vrouwen en deze editie belooft opnieuw spectaculair te worden. Voor het eerst vind het toernooi plaats in Nieuw-Zeeland en Australië, hier zullen in totaal 32 landen aantreden. Waaronder ook de finalisten van de vorige editie Nederland en de Verenigde Staten.
Extra leuk is bij beide landen is college voetbal vertegenwoordigd. Bij de Verenigde Staten uiteraard in grotere mate, maar ook het Nederlands team kent iemand met een verleden in college. Merel van Dongen speelde twee seizoenen voor het women’s soccer team van the University of Alabama.
Alessia Russo – Engeland
Alessia is one of the best players at the moment in the English national team, and just finished a great year with her club Manchester United. She just got earned a transfer to Arsenal womens team. Before she played for Manchester United she played for the University of North Carolina, together with her teammate Lotte Wubben-Moy. She is a forward, and in her time at the University of North Carolina she scored 28 goals, and tallied 9 assists. Not only did she get on the scoresheet often, she also won a bunch of individual awards during her time in college. England has one more player that played college soccer at St. John’s University; Rachel Daley.
Fun fact; Alessia is best friends with our Field Hockey specialist Eva! They actually lived together when Eva was playing Field Hockey at the University of North Carolina.
Jody Brown – Jamaica
Out of all the players at the World Cup that played college soccer, Jody Brown sticks out the most because she is still playing college soccer at the moment! Jody is a forward at Florida State University, she is in her third year currently and is regarded as one of the best players in the college game. This is not strange given that she is a non-professional player representing her country Jamaica at the World Cup.
Team USA
Team USA has selected 23 players to be part of their World Cup squad. Out of these 23 players, 20(!) players played college soccer. We have listed them for you below with their universities:
Aubrey Kingsbury – Wake Forest University
Casey Murphy – Rutgers University
Alyssa Naeher – Penn State University
Alana Cook – Stanford University
Emily Fox – University of North Carolina
Naomi Girma – Stanford University
Sofia Huerta – Santa Clara University
Kelley O’Hara – Stanford University
Emily Sonnett – University of Virginia
Savannah DeMelo – University of Southern California
Julie Ertz – Santa Clara University
Rose Lavelle – University of Wisconsin
Kristie Mewis – Boston College
Ashley Sanchez – UCLA
Andi Sullivan – Stanford University
Alex Morgan – University of California, Berkeley
Megan Rapinoe – University of Portland
Trinity Rodman – Washington State University
Sophia Smith – Stanford University
Lynn Williams – Pepperdine University
This shows how big women’s college soccer is, and the opportunities these women get after their college career. Are you also interested in playing college soccer? Get in touch with us!
