Rebecca Lynn Edwards (born May 22, 1988) is an American soccer player who played for Swedish club

Kristianstads DFF Kristianstads DFF is a women's association football club from Kristianstad, Sweden. The club is affiliated to the Skånes Fotbollförbund. History The original club Wä IF played in from 1989 to 1994 in the Damallsvenskan. The club was reformed ...

in the

Damallsvenskan The Damallsvenskan, Swedish for ''ladies all-Swedish'' and also known as OBOS Damallsvenskan for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in Sweden. It is also referred to as the women's Allsvenskan. The term Allsvenskan ...

. She previously played for

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 th ...

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 ...

, Portland Thorns, and

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 ...

in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) as well as

FC Gold Pride FC Gold Pride was an American professional soccer club based in the San Francisco Bay Area, which participated in Women's Professional Soccer. The club replaced the San Jose CyberRays of the defunct Women's United Soccer Association as the top-le ...

and the championship-winning

Women's Professional Soccer Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top-level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 sea ...

(WPS).

Early life

Raised in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, she attended

Downingtown West High School Downingtown High School is a secondary school located in Downingtown, Pennsylvania and Uwchlan Township, Pennsylvania. Population growth in the burgeoning Downingtown Area School District forced the original Downingtown High School to split int ...

and led the soccer team to the state championship in 2004 (the first state title in the school's history). During the championship match, she scored the game-winning goal less than 20 seconds into the match. Twice named most valuable player at the school, Edwards was named

NSCAA The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization in the world, with more than ...

Youth All-American in 2006 and was an All-Star selection by Southeastern Pennsylvania Coaches in 2002, 2003 and 2004. In 2006, she was named one of the top 25 college recruits by ''Soccer Buzz''. Edwards played club soccer for the West Chester Predators and played for the

USYSA The United States Youth Soccer Association (US Youth Soccer) is the largest youth affiliate and member of U.S. Soccer, the governing body for soccer in the United States. US Youth Soccer includes 54 State Associations, one per state except fo ...

regional semifinalist team in 2005 and 2006 as well as the EPYSA State Championship team in 2004, 2005 and 2006. She played for the regional Olympic Development Program (ODP) from 2001–2005. In 2006, she was a

USL W-League 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 ...

Eastern Conference finalist with the

New Jersey Wildcats The New Jersey Wildcats is an American women’s soccer team, founded by Vincent Baldino in 1996. The team was a member of the United Soccer Leagues W-League, the second tier of women’s soccer in the United States and Canada. The team played ...

. She played for

SoccerPlus Connecticut SoccerPlus Connecticut is an American women's soccer team, founded in 2006. The team is a member of the Women's Premier Soccer League, the third tier of women's soccer in the United States and Canada. The team plays in the North Division of the Ea ...

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). ...

(WPSL) in 2008 and the

Washington Freedom Washington Freedom was an American professional soccer club based in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Germantown, Maryland, that participated in Women's Professional Soccer. The Freedom was founded in 2001 as a member of the defunct Women's Uni ...

in the W-League in 2009. Edwards was twice-named the most valuable player on the school's basketball team and was the leading scorer during her junior and senior years.

Florida State Seminoles, 2006–2009

Edwards played collegiately for the Florida State Seminoles. Among her teammates at FSU were Australian international

Selin Kuralay Selin Kuralay (born 25 January 1985 in Melbourne, Australia) is an Australian soccer player of Turkish ancestry. She plays at national league level for Australian W-League team Melbourne Victory. Club career Junior football Kuralay took up f ...

and Japanese international

Mami Yamaguchi is a Japanese football player. She played for Japan national team and currently plays for Detroit City FC. Club career Yamaguchi previously played for Florida State Seminoles (NCAA), where she won the MAC Hermann Trophy in 2007. She played fo ...

Club career

WPS Years: 2010–2011

Edwards was selected as the 12th overall pick in the

2010 WPS Draft The 2010 WPS College Draft took place on January 15, 2010. It was the second college draft held by Women's Professional Soccer to assign the WPS rights of college players to the American-based teams. Format FC Gold Pride FC Gold Pride was an American professional soccer club based in the San Francisco Bay Area, which participated in Women's Professional Soccer. The club replaced the San Jose CyberRays of the defunct Women's United Soccer Association as the top-le ...

. During her time with the FC Gold Pride she made 25 appearances (21 starts) as a rookie, helping to lead the team to a WPS Championship. Played with Thorns FC teammates Christine Sinclair and

Rachel Buehler Rachel Marie Buehler Van Hollebeke ( ; ; born August 26, 1985) is an American former soccer player who last played as a defender for the Portland Thorns FC and the United States women's national soccer team. In 2015, Van Hollebeke retired from ...

with FC Gold Pride. After joining the

for the 2011 WPS season, Edwards played in 19 matches and scored 3 goals, helped the team to the 2011 WPS Championship.

Kristianstads DFF, 2012

In 2012 Edwards played for Swedish team

where she recorded two goals in 18 matches and 17 starts, helping the team to the quarterfinal of the Swedish Cup.

Portland Thorns FC, 2013

Edwards was signed as a Free Agent with the Portland Thorns ahead of the inaugural season of the NWSL.

Houston Dash, 2014

On January 10, 2014, it was announced that Edwards had been selected by the

with the eighth pick in the 2014 NWSL Expansion Draft.

Western New York Flash, 2015

On October 16, 2014, Edwards was traded to the

in exchange for Carli Lloyd, along with Whitney Engen and a third-round pick in the 2016 NWSL Draft.

Orlando Pride, 2016

On September 22, 2016, Edwards announced her retirement from professional soccer.

Kristianstads DFF, 2017-

In 2017, Edwards came out of retirement to sign with

International career

Edwards has extensive experience at the youth level for the United States. Edwards captained the team that won the

2008 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The 2008 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup was the 4th edition of the tournament. It was held in Chile between 19 November and 7 December 2008. Sixteen teams, comprising representatives from all six confederations, took part in the final competition, i ...

, playing alongside future Portland Thorns teammates

Alex Morgan Alexandra Morgan Carrasco (born Alexandra Patricia Morgan; July 2, 1989) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a striker and captains for San Diego Wave FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the highest division o ...

, Nikki Marshall, and

Nikki Washington Madeline Nicole Washington (born August 1, 1988) is an American retired professional soccer forward and right midfielder who last played for Boston Breakers in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and is currently an assistant coach for th ...

. In 2011, she played for the

United States women's national under-23 soccer team The United States U-23 women's national soccer team is a youth soccer team operated under the auspices of U.S. Soccer. Its primary role is the development of players in preparation for the full Women's National Team. The team competes in a var ...

helping the team win the championship at the Four Nations Tournament in La Manga, Spain. Edwards was called into her first full

United States women's national soccer team The United States women's national soccer team (USWNT) represents the United States in international women's soccer. The team is the most successful in international women's soccer, winning four Women's World Cup titles ( 1991, 1999, 2015, an ...

training camp in 2011.

Coaching career

In 2019, Edwards began working as a graduate assistant coach for her alma mater, the Florida State Seminoles. In February 2021, she joined the

Penn Quakers The Penn Quakers are the athletic teams of the University of Pennsylvania. The school sponsors 33 varsity sports. The school has won three NCAA national championships in men's fencing and one in women's fencing. School colors There are s ...

as an assistant coach. In June 2022, she then joined as an assistant for the

Tennessee Volunteers The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in Division I of the National Collegi ...

. She was also appointed an assistant coach for the U.S. under-20 national team at the

2022 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The 2022 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup ( es, Copa Mundial Femenina Sub-20 de la FIFA Costa Rica 2022, link=no) was the 10th edition of the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, the biennial international women's youth football championship contested by the ...

Personal life

Edwards was previously in a relationship with professional golfer

Brooks Koepka Brooks Koepka (, born May 3, 1990) is an American professional golfer who plays on the LIV Golf tour. In October 2018, he became world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking for 47 weeks after winning the 2018 CJ Cup. He won the U.S. Ope ...

References

External links

*
Orlando Pride player profile

Portland Thorns FC player profile

Florida State player profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Becky 1988 births Living people Footballers at the 2007 Pan American Games Florida State Seminoles women's soccer players FC Gold Pride players Expatriate footballers in Sweden American women's soccer players Portland Thorns FC players Kristianstads DFF players Damallsvenskan players National Women's Soccer League players People from Downingtown, Pennsylvania Women's association football midfielders Women's association football defenders Western New York Flash players Houston Dash players Soccer players from Pennsylvania Orlando Pride players Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States United States women's under-20 international soccer players Pan American Games medalists in football Sportspeople from Chester County, Pennsylvania Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games Women's Professional Soccer players