Briana Collette Scurry (born September 7, 1971) is an American retired soccer goalkeeper, and assistant coach of the

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 ...

. Scurry was the starting

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for 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 ...

at the 1995 World Cup (3rd place),

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

(gold medal), 1999 World Cup (champions), 2003 World Cup (3rd place), and the

2004 Summer Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

(gold medal). She played in the semi-final and playoff for third place in the

2007 Women's World Cup The 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, the fifth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, was an international association football competition for women held in China from 10 to 30 September 2007. Originally, China was to host the 2003 edition, but t ...

(3rd place). She was a founding member of the WUSA, playing three seasons as starting goalkeeper for the Atlanta Beat (2001–2003). Her career total of 173 international appearances is the second most among female soccer goalkeepers. It is also the fifteenth most of any American female player, and the thirty-second most among all women. Scurry was elected to the

National Soccer Hall of Fame The National Soccer Hall of Fame is a private, non-profit institution established in 1979 and currently located in Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. The Hall of Fame honors soccer achievements in the United States. Induction ...

on August 3, 2017. She was the first woman goalkeeper and first black woman to be awarded the honor. She is openly gay, and on June 1, 2018, she married Chryssa Zizos, CEO of Live Wire Strategic Communications, LLC. In 2022, Scurry released her best-selling memoir
My Greatest Save
Scurry was also the subject o
The Only
a CBS feature-length documentary chronicling her life that was released in 2022. patricia was born in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

to parents, Ernest and Robbie Scurry. She is the youngest of nine children, with three brothers and five sisters. She played goalie for the

Anoka High School Anoka High School is a four-year public high school located in Anoka, Minnesota, United States. It serves grades 9– 12 for the Anoka-Hennepin School District 11. History The first Anoka High School was opened in 1904 and located in downtown An ...

Tornadoes for four years and was instrumental in their Minnesota State Championship win in 1989 which ended in a shootout victory. In high school, Scurry ran track and played floor hockey and softball, but basketball was her first and deepest love. Briana was named Anoka High School's Athena Award winner as the school's top female athlete. She was also named High School All American and Minnesota's top female athlete. In 2010, she was inducted into the Minnesota State High School Hall of Fame. In September 2011, Scurry was named to the inaugural class of the Anoka High School Hall of Fame.

University of Massachusetts

Scurry attended the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...

and completed her four-year collegiate career with 37 shutouts in 65 starts and with a career record of 48–13–4 and a 0.56 goals-against-average She split time in the net in 1992 during her junior season, starting 13 games and earning seven shutouts. Scurry played three games in 1992 as a forward. In 1993, she helped lead the

UMass Minutewomen The UMass Minutemen are the athletic teams that represent the University of Massachusetts Amherst; strictly speaking, the ''Minutemen'' nickname applies to men's teams and athletes only — women's teams and athletes are known as ...

to a 17–3–3 record, to the semifinals of the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship and the titles of the Atlantic 10 Conference regular season and tournament. In her senior season, she started all 23 games and recorded 15 shutouts and a 0.48 goals-against average, the third best in the nation. Scurry was named the National Goalkeeper of the Year in 1993 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 ...

Sports Foundation and was a 1993 second-team All-American, All-Northeast Region and All-New England first-team selection.

Playing career

Club

Scurry was a founding player for the Atlanta Beat in the Women's United Soccer Association (USA), the world's first women's league where the players were paid as professionals. She was the starting goalkeeper for the three seasons (2001–2003) of the league. She helped the Beat to two WUSA Championship Games and was named the league's Goalkeeper of the Year in 2003. On March 13, 2009, Scurry was named to the preseason roster of 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 inaugural season of Women's Professional Soccer (WPS). She suffered a season-ending concussion early in the 2010 season, and announced her retirement later that year on September 8.

International

Scurry was a goalkeeper for the

for most of the years between 1994 and 2008, earning a record 173 caps for the United States. She started 159 of those games and finished her international career with a record of 133–12–14. She also earned 71 shutouts. Scurry's first appearance for the

was March 16, 1994, versus Portugal. Her first shutout was recorded the same day. In her first year with the US, she earned seven shutouts in 12 starts. She was a member of the Gold Medal-winning US Women's National Team at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta where she started and played in every minute of the team's five matches conceding only three goals. Scurry played every minute of the 1999 Women's World Cup allowing only three goals and recording four shutouts. She saved one penalty during the shootout in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

against China and the United States won. Following the World Cup, Scurry announced her intention to play in the WNBA. She started for the US in the

2003 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup was the fourth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial championship of women's national soccer teams organized by FIFA. It was held in the United States from September 20 to October 12, 2003, at s ...

and

. She also played two matches for the US in the

2007 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, the fifth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, was an international association football competition for women held in China from 10 to 30 September 2007. Originally, China was to host the 2003 edition, but th ...

and was the alternate goalkeeper on the 2008 Olympic Team. On June 23, 2008, United States Women's Olympic soccer coach

Pia Sundhage Pia Mariane Sundhage (, born 13 February 1960) is a Swedish football manager and former professional player. She is the head coach of the Brazil women's national team. As a player, Sundhage played most of her career as a forward and retired as ...

announced that Scurry would not be on the Olympic team. Her last match for the USA was on November 5, 2008, against the Korea Republic.

Sports administration

Scurry was appointed

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of the WPS franchise

magicJack MagicJack is an Internet-based telephone service (VoIP) provider in the United States and Canada. It offers nationwide VoIP and cellphone services. MagicJack VOIP service is a computer peripheral that, in combination with telephony service ...

beginning with the 2011 season.

Broadcasting

Scurry was part of the rotation of studio commentators for

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

's telecasts of the

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was the sixth FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the world championship for women's national association football teams. It was held from 26 June to 17 July 2011 in Germany, which won the right to host the even ...

. Since 2021, Scurry has served as a broadcast analyst for CBS soccer coverage. In 2022, she served as the lead desk analyst fo
the 2022 CONCACAF W Championship

Coaching

On December 6, 2017, Scurry was announced as the First Assistant Coach of the

and would serve as Technical Advisor for the Spirit Academy programs in Maryland and Virginia.

Honors and awards

* 1989 High School All-American * 1989 Minnesota's High School Female Athlete of the Year * 1993 All-New England, All-Northeast Region, and All-American * 1993 National Collegiate Goalkeeper of the Year * 1994 Most Valuable Player, Chiquita Cup * 1994 Algarve Cup 2nd Place * 1995 World Cup Bronze Medalist * 1996 Olympic Gold Medalist * 1998 Goodwill Games Gold Medalist * 1999 Algarve Cup 2nd place * 1999 World Cup Champion * 1999 Best Goalkeeper Award -World Cup * 2000 Algarve Cup runner up * 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup Champion * 2000 Olympic Silver Medalist * 2001 All-WUSA Second Team * 2002 All-WUSA Second Team * 2003 All-WUSA First Team * 2003 WUSA Goalkeeper of the Year * 2003 Algarve Cup Champion * 2003 World Cup Bronze Medalist * 2004 Algarve Cup Champion * 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist * 2006 CONCACAF Gold Cup Champion * 2007 Algarve Cup Champion * 2008 Peace Queen Cup Champion * 2008 Four Nations Tournament Champion * 2008 CONCACAF Tournament Champion * 2014

#1 retired * 2017 National Soccer Hall of Fame * 2019: For their first match of March 2019, the women of the

each wore a jersey with the name of a woman they were honoring on the back; Adrianna Franch chose the name of Briana. * In Dayton, Minnesota where Briana grew up, there is a soccer park named in her honor. * Her U.S. national soccer team jersey is in a permanent display at the Smithsonian's

National Museum of African American History and Culture The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) is a Smithsonian Institution museum located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in the United States. It was established in December 2003 and opened its permanent home in ...

Film and television

Scurry appeared as a fictionalized version of herself in the 2000 film '' Air Bud: World Pup''. She was also the subject of the 2022

Paramount Plus Paramount+ is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand service owned by Paramount Global. The service's content is drawn primarily from the libraries of CBS Media Ventures (including CBS Studios), Paramount Me ...

documentary ''The Only'', which was directed by Anthony J. Cortese and featured interviews with other USWNT players such as

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 ...

Brandi Chastain Brandi Denise Chastain (born July 21, 1968) is an American retired soccer player, two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion, two-time Olympic gold-medalist, coach, and sports broadcaster. She played for the United States national team from 1988 ...

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

Abby Wambach Mary Abigail Wambach (born June 2, 1980) is an American retired soccer player, coach, and member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. A six-time winner of the U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year award, Wambach was a regular on the U.S. women's natio ...

References

External links

*
Bio on Soccer Times website

Briana Scurry player profile

Briana Scurry Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scurry, Briana 1971 births Living people LGBT association football players American LGBT sportspeople African-American women's soccer players United States women's international soccer players Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in soccer Olympic silver medalists for the United States in soccer University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni UMass Minutewomen soccer players Women's United Soccer Association players Washington Freedom players Atlanta Beat (WUSA) players FIFA Century Club American women's soccer players 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup players 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup players FIFA Women's World Cup-winning players Sportspeople from Minneapolis Women's association football goalkeepers Women association football commentators National Soccer Hall of Fame members Lesbian sportswomen Competitors at the 1998 Goodwill Games Anoka High School alumni 21st-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century LGBT people 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people Women's Professional Soccer players Sports coaches from Minneapolis Soccer players from Minnesota