Amber Jean Brooks (born January 23, 1991) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a defender for

Washington Spirit The Washington Spirit is an American professional soccer club based in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area that participates in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It is a continuation of the D.C. United Women of the W-League and cont ...

in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She has previously played for

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was founded in 2003 to fil ...

Houston Dash The Houston Dash is a professional women's soccer team based in Houston, Texas. It joined the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in the 2014 season, and is affiliated with the MLS team Houston Dynamo FC. History Establishment On November ...

OL Reign OL Reign is an American professional women's soccer team based in Seattle, Washington. Founded by Bill and Teresa Predmore in 2012 as Seattle Reign FC, it was one of eight inaugural members of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). In 2020, ...

, Portland Thorns, Bayern Munich, and

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on Mar ...

. Brooks has represented the United States as member of numerous youth national teams and has one cap with the senior national team.

Early life

Brooks was born in

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...

and attended Pennington School in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. She scored 62 goals and had 30 assists during her first three years for a total of 154 points. She did not play as a senior due to a knee injury and National Team commitments. Brooks was named first-team All-County and a Parade Magazine All-America as a junior after she helped the team finish the 2008 season undefeated at 18–0, winning its sixth straight Prep-A state championship and its third MCT Championship in five years. Pennington was ranked by the NSCAA and ESPN Rise as the number one team in the nation the same year. Brooks was awarded the 2008 NSCAA Girls' Scholar Athlete of the Year Award and was ranked by ESPN Rise as the number one recruit in the nation in 2009.

University of North Carolina

Brooks was captain of the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...

Tar Heels women's soccer team her junior and senior year (2011–2012). She accrued several accolades during her four years with the Tar Heels, becoming a two-time NCAA National Champion and winning the College Cup in 2009 and in 2012. She scored 34 goals and added 19 assists during her college career.

Club career

Vancouver Whitecaps, 2011

During the summer of 2011, Brooks played for the

in the W-League. She made five appearances, playing 391 minutes, and provided one assist.

Bayern Munich, 2013–2015

On January 11, 2013, Brooks signed with German club, Bayern Munich in the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

until June 30, 2014. In her first Bundesliga game against

SGS Essen SGS Essen are a German multi-sports club based in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club was founded in 2000 from the merger of ''VfB Borbeck'' and ''SC Grün-Weiß Schönebeck''. It is most renowned for its women's football team, which plays ...

, she scored two goals, including the game-winning goal in the 90th minute.

Portland Thorns, 2013–2014

Brooks was drafted by Portland Thorns on January 18, 2013, during the 2013 National Women's Soccer League College Draft. Her debut came while visiting the

in which she played the entirety of the 1–0 victory. She would go on to start another 19 matches for the club in addition to a solitary substitution appearance. Brooks collected her first and only goal for the Thorns during the season while adding two assists, though her primary contributions were on the defensive end of the field where her ferocity led to a team-leading four yellow cards on the season. After the conclusion of the Thorns 2014 season, the team announced that she would be on loan to her previous side Bayern Munich and become the second Portland member to be headed to Germany after the 2014 season, following teammate Veronica Boquete to the

. While Portland initially indicated that Brooks would be re-signed for the

2015 National Women's Soccer League season The 2015 National Women's Soccer League season was the third season of the National Women's Soccer League, the top division of women's soccer in the United States. Including the NWSL's two professional predecessors, Women's Professional Soccer (20 ...

, she was instead traded to the

Western New York Flash The Western New York Flash (WNY Flash) was an American soccer club based in Elma, New York that competed in the United Women's Soccer league. They have won league championships in four different leagues: the USL W-League in 2010, Women's Pro ...

on November 6, 2014, in exchange for midfielder

McCall Zerboni McCall RaNae Zerboni (born December 13, 1986) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for and captains NJ/NY Gotham FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Early life Born in Camarillo, California, to par ...

and defender Kathryn Williamson.

Seattle Reign, 2015

In March 2015, Brooks was traded to

Seattle Reign OL Reign is an American professional women's soccer team based in Seattle, Washington. Founded by Bill and Teresa Predmore in 2012 as Seattle Reign FC, it was one of eight inaugural members of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). In 2020, ...

along with the rights to Abby Wambach in exchange for

Sydney Leroux Sydney Rae Leroux (; born May 7, 1990) is a professional soccer player and Olympic gold medalist who currently plays as a forward for Angel City FC in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Born in Canada to a Canadian mother and an Americ ...

and Amanda Frisbie. She made twelve appearances and scored one goal for Seattle.
Soccerway. October 25, 2015. Retrieved October 25, 2015.

Houston Dash, 2015–2019

On October 26, 2015, Brooks was traded to the

in exchange for

Meghan Klingenberg Meghan Elizabeth Klingenberg (born August 2, 1988) is an American soccer player who plays as a defender for Portland Thorns in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). A former member of the United States women's national soccer team, she is ...

and a conditional selection in the 2017 NWSL College Draft from

. Brooks had her contract option exercised for the 2017 season. She was named the 2017 Dash

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

and played all 2,160 minutes of the regular season, scored one goal and tallied two assists, captaining the side eight times. She was then re-signed for the 2018 season. Brooks was named 2018 Dash Defender of the Year. The club has exercised her contract option for the 2019 season. On April 14, 2019, Brooks played in her 100th career NWSL game, becoming the 22nd player to reach that mark.

Loan to Adelaide United

Brooks signed with

for the

2018–19 W-League The 2018–19 W-League season was the eleventh season of the W-League, the Australian national women's association football competition. Clubs Stadia and locations Personnel and kits Managerial changes Transfers Foreign players Th ...

season, alongside

teammate Veronica Latsko.

OL Reign, 2020–2021

Brooks was out of contract following the 2019 NWSL season and

traded her rights to

. She subsequently signed a three-year contract with the Tacoma-based club on March 4, 2020.

Washington Spirit, 202
Present

Brooks signs one-year deal with the Washington Spirit.

International career

Brooks has competed on behalf of the United States in various national youth teams since 2007, including at the 2008 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. As a member of the U-20 national team, she represented the United States at the

2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The 2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup was the 5th edition of the tournament. It was held in Germany, who will also host the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup a year later from 13 July to 1 August 2010. Sixteen teams, comprising representatives from al ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and won the

2010 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship The 2010 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship was the fifth edition of the CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship. The tournament was hosted by Guatemala, and all matches were played at the Estadio Cementos Progreso. The United States were the defending ...

. She was a captain of the U-23 national team. On November 10, 2013, Brooks made her debut for the U.S. WNT team against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

in a friendly; started in the match and played 81 minutes.

Career statistics

Honors

Bayern Munich * Frauen-Bundesliga: 2014–15 Seattle Reign * NWSL Shield: 2015 United States *

CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship The CONCACAF Women's Under-20 Championship is an association football competition for women's national under-20 teams in the North America, Central America and Caribbean region. It serves as the qualification tournament for the FIFA U-20 Women's ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

References

External links

* *
US Soccer player profile

Portland Thorns FC player profile

FC Bayern Munich player profile

University of North Carolina player profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brooks, Amber Living people 1991 births Vancouver Whitecaps FC (women) players North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer players Parade High School All-Americans (girls' soccer) American women's soccer players Soccer players from New Jersey FC Bayern Munich (women) players Portland Thorns FC players OL Reign players United States women's international soccer players Women's association football defenders Women's association football midfielders Houston Dash players American expatriate sportspeople in Germany National Women's Soccer League players Expatriate women's footballers in Germany Portland Thorns FC draft picks United States women's under-20 international soccer players New Jersey Wildcats players People from New Hope, Pennsylvania Sportspeople from Bucks County, Pennsylvania The Pennington School alumni Frauen-Bundesliga players American expatriate women's soccer players Washington Spirit players