Bethany Catherine Balcer (born March 7, 1997) is an American professional
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
player who plays as a
forward
Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward.
Forward may also refer to:
People
* Forward (surname)
Sports
* Forward (association football)
* Forward (basketball), including:
** Point forward
** Power forward (basketball)
** Sm ...
for
OL Reign
OL Reign is an American professional Women's association football, 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 S ...
in the
National Women's Soccer League
The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federatio ...
(NWSL).
Balcer played collegiate soccer at
Spring Arbor University
Spring Arbor University (SAU) is a private Free Methodist university in Spring Arbor, Michigan. Developing from an earlier academy and junior college, in 1963 it began offering bachelor's degrees. Attaining university status in 1994, it is the ...
, where she was a two-time
NAIA national champion, three-time
NAIA National Player of the Year, four-time First-Team All-American, and the school's leading scorer.
After her collegiate career, she joined
Reign FC
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, ...
on a supplemental contract in 2019.
Early life
Balcer grew up in
Hudsonville, Michigan
Hudsonville is a city in Ottawa County in the U.S. state of Michigan, and is part of the Grand Rapids metropolitan area. The population was 7,116 at the 2010 census. Hudsonville is nicknamed "Michigan's Salad Bowl."
History
Hudsonville was plat ...
and attended
Unity Christian High School, where she played varsity soccer.
She is the fourth of five children.
Collegiate career
Balcer attended
Spring Arbor University
Spring Arbor University (SAU) is a private Free Methodist university in Spring Arbor, Michigan. Developing from an earlier academy and junior college, in 1963 it began offering bachelor's degrees. Attaining university status in 1994, it is the ...
from 2015 to 2019, where she was a four-year starter on its varsity soccer team. The Cougars advanced to the
NAIA Final Four every year and won two national titles with Balcer on the team.
While in college, Balcer played as an amateur with senior teams over the summer. She led
Grand Rapids FC
Grand Rapids FC was an American soccer club based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, whose senior men's team played in USL League Two. The team was founded in 2014 and ceased operations in 2021. Its first season was in 2015. It was initially funded ...
to a
United Women's Soccer
United Women's Soccer (UWS, also commonly abbreviated UWS) is a second-division pro-am women's soccer league in the United States. The league was founded in 2015 as a response to the dual problems of disorganization in the WPSL and of the fold ...
championship in 2017 – scoring hat-tricks in five straight matches – and played with
Seattle Sounders Women
Sound Football Club is an American women's soccer team in the Women's Premier Soccer League. Sound FC play its home games at Starfire Sports Stadium in Tukwila, Washington, six miles south of downtown Seattle.
The team was founded in 2000 as Sea ...
in the
Women's Premier Soccer League
The Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) is an amateur women's soccer league in the United States and Canada. It is the top amateur league for women's soccer in the United States soccer pyramid, below only National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). T ...
the following year.
Club career
OL Reign, 2019–
Balcer was invited to the
Reign FC
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, ...
preseason training camp prior to the
2019 NWSL season
The 2019 National Women's Soccer League season was the seventh 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 ...
and subsequently earned a contract on the club's supplemental roster.
She is the first
NAIA player to sign with an
NWSL
The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federatio ...
club and only the third NWSL player to previously play collegiately in the United States and finish their collegiate career with a non-
NCAA D-I institution.
Balcer made her NWSL debut coming on as an 86th minute substitute at Houston on April 14, 2019. A week later, she made her first start in Reign's home-opener at
Cheney Stadium
Cheney Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in Tacoma, Washington, United States. Originally built for baseball, the stadium is currently home to the Tacoma Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League, as well as professional soccer club Tacoma Def ...
. Curling a shot from the edge of the penalty area into the far corner of the goal, she scored her first–ever pro goal in the 21st minute against
Orlando Pride
The Orlando Pride is a professional women's soccer team based in Orlando, Florida. The team joined the National Women's Soccer League, the top level of women's soccer in the US, for the 2016 season. It became the tenth team to be added to the l ...
in a 1–1 tie. It was also the first home goal scored in the Reign's first season in Tacoma.
She scored her second goal in her second home start, sixth appearance on May 27, 2019 in a 2–1 win against the champions North Carolina Courage. Her 13th minute header from the edge of the box crashed off the underside of the bar to give her side an early lead.
Her third goal occurred in the next game in her third home start against Houston Dash. On a breakaway she picked up a deflected through ball from Darian Jenkins and slotted right-footed past the keeper for the first goal of the game in the 32nd minute, Houston tied in the 90th to split the points. At the end of the season, she was awarded the 2019 Rookie of the Year Award.
International career
Balcer was a United States youth international at the U23 level.
Balcer received her first call-up to the
United States women's national soccer team
The United States women's national soccer team (USWNT) represents the United States in international women's Association football, soccer. The team is the most successful in international women's soccer, winning four FIFA Women's World Cup, Wom ...
in December 2019. She made her international debut on November 26, 2021 against
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
.
Personal life
Balcer is a
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
.
She is the sister of Nick Balcer, a National Assistant Referee with PRO and younger brother Grant, who plays Division 1 soccer at Bowling Green University.
Career statistics
Club
International
Honors
OL Reign
*
NWSL Shield
The NWSL Shield is an annual award given to the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) team with the best regular season record as determined by the NWSL points system. The NWSL Shield has been awarded annually since 2013 and is recognized as a ...
:
2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
*
The Women's Cup
The Women's Cup is an annual club women's soccer invitational tournament hosted by Racing Louisville FC in the United States.
History
Launched by OnSide Entertainment, FXE Futbol, and Agrinzonis Management Group in 2021, it currently features si ...
:
2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
Individual
*
NWSL Rookie of the Year: 2019
*
NWSL Players' Rookie of the Year: 2019
*
NWSL Second XI: 2019
*
NWSL Player of the Week
The National Women's Soccer League Player of the Week is a weekly soccer award given to individual players in the National Women's Soccer League. The honor is awarded to the player deemed to have put in the best performances over the past week by ...
: 2021: Weeks 12, 16
References
External links
*
Spring Arbor Cougars profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balcer, Bethany
OL Reign players
1997 births
Living people
Spring Arbor Cougars women's soccer players
People from Hudsonville, Michigan
Soccer players from Michigan
Seattle Sounders Women players
National Women's Soccer League players
Women's association football forwards
American women's soccer players
United States women's international soccer players