Becky Sauerbrunn
Member, U.S. Women's National Team and Portland Thorns FC
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Becky Sauerbrunn is an American soccer player, Olympic gold medalist, and FIFA Women’s World Cup champion. She is currently plays for Portland Thorns FC and is a member of the U.S. Women’s National Team, where she is a mainstay in the defensive backline. Becky owes much of her success to lessons learned growing up with two older brothers. She taught herself to solve problems on her own and that mentality stayed with her throughout life and into her soccer career.
Becky first represented her country in 2000 as a member of the U16 Youth National Team. She earned her first cap for the senior National Team in 2008 during the Four Nations Tournament in a match against Canada. Since then, Becky has represented the United States in two Women’s World Cups and two Olympic Games. As a member of the 2015 World Cup team, Becky played every minute of all seven matches.
Prior to playing for the Utah Royals, Becky was a key member of the FC Kansas City back line, where she played in the center of the defense for all five seasons of the club’s existence. While at FC Kansas City, she won two NWSL championships and was named NWSL Defender of the Year for three straight seasons (2013-2015). Becky also played professional soccer for the Washington Freedom, Røa IL, magicJack, and D.C. United Women.
As a collegiate athlete, Becky played varsity soccer for the University of Virginia Cavaliers, where she played in every match in her four seasons with the team. Following her first season with the Cavaliers, Becky earned NSCAA All-Region honors, NSCAA All-American First Team honors, All-ACC Second Team honors, and ACC All-Freshman Team honors. She was also named ACC Freshman of the Year. Following her senior season, Becky was named NSCAA Scholar-Athlete of the Year and ACC Player of the Year.