Brianna Alexis Smalls Pinto (born May 24, 2000) is an American

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 currently plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

North Carolina Courage The North Carolina Courage is a professional women's soccer team based in Cary, North Carolina. It was founded on January 9, 2017, after Stephen Malik acquired National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchise rights from the Western New York F ...

of 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). Pinto has played for the United States youth national teams at the

2016 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup The 2016 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup was the fifth edition of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, the biennial international women's youth football championship contested by the under-17 national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournam ...

and the

2018 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The 2018 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, the biennial international women's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its i ...

and was named the

United States Soccer Federation The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of the sport of soccer in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, the federation is ...

's Young Female Player of the Year in 2019. At age 16, Pinto was the youngest player named to the United States women's team's squad for the

2017 SheBelieves Cup The 2017 SheBelieves Cup was the second edition of the SheBelieves Cup, an invitational women's soccer tournament held in the United States. It took place between March 1 and 7, 2017. The four teams were ranked No. 1, 2, 3 and 5 in the FIFA Women ...

Early life

Pinto was born in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

and grew up in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

. At age 9, her father Hassan, who played for North Carolina's men's soccer team, placed her on the boys team at Triangle FC in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...

after contacting former North Carolina women's players,

Mia Hamm Mariel Margaret Hamm-Garciaparra (; born March 17, 1972) is an American retired professional soccer player, two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion. Hailed as a soccer icon, she played as a forward for the U ...

Kristine Lilly Kristine Marie Lilly Heavey (; born July 22, 1971) is an American retired soccer player. She was a member of the United States women's national team for 23 years and is the most-capped football player in the history of the sport (men's or wome ...

and

Cindy Parlow Cynthia Marie Parlow Cone (; born May 8, 1978) is an American soccer executive and president of the United States Soccer Federation. A former professional soccer player, she is a two-time Olympic Gold medalist and 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup ch ...

, who told him they developed at an early age by playing against boys. At age 13, she joined Capital Area Soccer League (CASL) ECNL, also in Raleigh, playing there from 2014 to 2017, before joining NTH Tophat in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

in 2018.

College career

Anson Dorrance Albert Anson Dorrance IV (born April 9, 1951) is an American soccer coach. He is currently the head coach of the women's soccer program at the University of North Carolina. He has one of the most successful coaching records in the history of ath ...

, head coach of the University of North Carolina women's team, who had recruited her father Hassan when he also coached the men's team, began recruiting Pinto when she was in eighth grade. She accepted the offer in ninth grade. Pinto made her college debut in August 2018 and scored the opening goal in a 2–0 win against Ohio State, the 1,000th win of Dorrance's career. In

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, her sophomore season, she was named First-Team All-American by United Soccer Coaches along with teammates

Alessia Russo Alessia Mia Teresa Russo (; born 8 February 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Manchester United in the Women's Super League and the England national team. She has previously played for Chelsea, Brighton & ...

and Emily Fox, and helped the Tar Heels reach the 2019 College Cup Final. She was a First-Team All-ACC selection during all three years at North Carolina. In the 2020 season (extended into Spring 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic), Pinto helped North Carolina reach the semifinal of the NCAA Tournament, where she scored a goal in the Tar Heels' 1–3 loss to Santa Clara. She was named First-Team All America for the second straight year and one of the three women's finalists for

Hermann Trophy The Hermann Trophy is awarded annually by the Missouri Athletic Club to the United States's top men's and women's college soccer players. History In 1967, Bob Hermann, the president of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and the ...

, given to the best collegiate soccer player of the season by the

Missouri Athletic Club The Missouri Athletic Club (often referred to as the MAC), founded in 1903, is a private city and athletic club with two locations. The Downtown Clubhouse is in Downtown St. Louis, Missouri, USA and the West Clubhouse is located in the St. L ...

Club career

In January 2021, Pinto announced she was entering the

2021 NWSL Draft The 2021 NWSL Draft was the ninth annual meeting of National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchises to select eligible college players. It was held on January 13, 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was the first NWSL Draft to be held virtua ...

, although she planned to finish her junior season at North Carolina, with the 2020 NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Tournament moved to Spring 2021 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

NJ/NY Gotham FC NJ/NY Gotham FC is a professional women's soccer team based in Harrison, New Jersey. Founded in 2006 as Jersey Sky Blue, the team was known as Sky Blue FC from 2008 until 2020. A founding member of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in 2013 ...

chose her in the first round of the draft, making her the third overall pick. On June 4, 2021, Pinto signed a two-year contract with NJ/NY Gotham FC. She made her professional debut on June 20, 2021, as a substitute 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 ...

. On December 6, 2021, Pinto was traded to the

. On March 19, 2022, Pinto scored her first professional goal in a

NWSL Challenge Cup The NWSL Challenge Cup, currently known as the UKG NWSL Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual tournament organized by the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top-tier women's league in the United States soccer league system. Th ...

match against NJ/NY Gotham FC, making the score 1-0. On May 18, 2022, Pinto scored her first career NWSL regular season goal in a match against Orlando Pride, making the score 2-1 Orlando.

International career

Pinto has been with 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 ...

program since age 12, when she was invited to the youth national team Under-14 talent identification camp. She played for the United States U-17 team at the

and was two years younger than the cutoff age at the

for the United States U-20 team. Pinto played in every match at both tournaments. Pinto received her first senior national team callup in January 2017, and at age 16, she was the youngest player named to the United States' squad for the

, although she did not make an appearance in the tournament.

Personal life

In 2018, Pinto, along with

Alphonso Davies Alphonso Boyle Davies (born November 2, 2000) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a left-back or winger for club Bayern Munich and the Canada national team. He is regarded as one of the best full-backs in the world due to hi ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and

Diego Lainez Diego Lainez Leyva (born 9 June 2000) is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a winger for Liga MX club Tigres UANL, on loan from Real Betis, and the Mexico national team. Club career América Lainez was recruited by scout Ángel ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, spoke before the 68th FIFA Congress to present North America's bid to host the

2026 FIFA World Cup The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the 23rd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international men's soccer championship contested by the national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament will be jointly hosted by 16 cities in three No ...

. In October 2020, Pinto, along with four other young athletes who called themselves Next Gen United, ran for and won seats on United States Soccer Federation's 20-person Athlete's Council, with the stated aim of diversifying the federation's leadership in age and culture. Prior to the election, the council had no Black members and just one person born after 1990. Both her parents attended the University of North Carolina in the early 1990s. Her father, Hassan, played for the men's soccer team and her mother, Meleata, played

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

. Her older brother, Hassan, Jr., played soccer at

Elon University Elon University is a private university in Elon, North Carolina. Founded in 1889 as Elon College, Elon is organized into six schools, most of which offer bachelor's degrees and several of which offer master's degrees or professional doctorate d ...

and

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

and is a

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

Loudoun United FC Loudoun United FC is an American professional soccer team based in Leesburg, Virginia. The team was founded in 2018 as the reserve team of D.C. United and made its debut in the USL Championship in 2019. History On July 18, 2018, the team was offi ...

in the

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

, and Malik, her younger brother, plays soccer at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

References

External links

North Carolina Tar Heels bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pinto, Brianna 2000 births Living people American women's soccer players North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer players African-American women's soccer players Soccer players from North Carolina Soccer players from Connecticut Sportspeople from New Haven, Connecticut Sportspeople from Durham, North Carolina NJ/NY Gotham FC draft picks NJ/NY Gotham FC players United States Soccer Federation officials Women's association football midfielders United States women's under-20 international soccer players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople National Women's Soccer League players 20th-century African-American women 21st-century African-American women North Carolina Courage players