Christie Robinson Shaner (born September 7, 1984) 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 ...

defender from the

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Maryl ...

who last played for

Pali Blues Pali Blues was an American women's soccer team, which played from 2008 to 2014. The team was a member of the United Soccer Leagues USL W-League, the second tier of women's soccer in the United States and Canada. The team played in the Western Co ...

USL 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, p ...

W-League. Named four times to the all-Big East for her defensive performance at the University of Notre Dame, she was described by her coach

Randy Waldrum Randy Marlon Waldrum (born September 25, 1956) is an American former professional soccer player, the current head coach of University of Pittsburgh Panthers women's soccer team and is the current head coach of the Nigeria women's national team ...

as "one of the best tacklers in the country" in 2006.

Biography

Born on September 7, 1984 in

North Wales, Pennsylvania North Wales is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It is a suburb of Philadelphia and is one of the three historic population centers that make up the North Penn Valley, which is centered on the borough of Lansdale. It is approximately ...

, Shaner attended the

Germantown Academy Germantown Academy, informally known as GA and originally known as the Union School, is the oldest nonsectarian day school in the United States. The school was founded on December 6, 1759, by a group of prominent Germantown citizens in the Gree ...

Fort Washington, Pennsylvania Fort Washington is a census-designated place and suburb of Philadelphia in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 5,446 at the 2010 census. History Prior to the Revolutionary War the Fort Washington area was settle ...

, where she achieved visibility as a world-class soccer player. It was during this time that she was part of the Olympic Development Program's pool of athletes, aged nineteen and younger. She subsequently attended the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

, where she became a soccer standout once again. Named four times to the all-Big East, she played a key role in helping the Irish win a national championship in 2004. She was also part of a winning senior defensive line that powered the Irish to a successful season in that ended with her team competing for the national championship yet again 2006. Her coach,

, described as her "one of the best tacklers in the country." Shaner was drafted by

Sky Blue 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 ...

during the

2009 WPS Draft The 2009 WPS Draft took place on January 16, 2009. It was the first draft held by Women's Professional Soccer to assign the WPS rights of college players to the American-based teams, though other players not previously assigned could be drafted as ...

. She appeared in two games for Sky Blue before being traded to

Los Angeles Sol The Los Angeles Sol was an American professional soccer club that was based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California that participated in Women's Professional Soccer. The team was co-owned and operated by Blue Star, LLC and AEG, a subsidia ...

. On her Sol debut, she sustained a season ending leg fracture during an encounter with

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 ...

, making her the second in the league to fall victim under these circumstances ( Daniela was the first). Shaner spent the 2010 season playing for two Los Angeles clubs,

of the

's W-LeagueForce finishes homestand against powerful Pali Blues
" Fort Collins, Colorado: ''Fort Collins Coloradoan'', June 10, 2010, p. 22 (subscription required). and Ajax America Women of 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 ...

. She received All-W-League honors and helped Ajax reach the WPSL's final four. Shaner has also appeared in television spots including a commercial for Chevrolet and on the Kendra Wilkenson show on E Entertainment Television. Shaner is currently an assistant soccer coach, is pursuing a career in modeling and acting, and is also Hans Wetzel's personal trainer.

References

External links

Los Angeles Sol player profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaner, Christie Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's soccer players NJ/NY Gotham FC players Los Angeles Sol players 1984 births Living people Pali Blues players USL W-League (1995–2015) players Women's association football defenders American women's soccer players F.C. Indiana players Women's Premier Soccer League players Women's Professional Soccer players Fort Wayne Fever (W-League) players