Clara Schilke ( Robbins; born September 12, 1998) is an American former 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 played as a midfielder. She played seven seasons of college soccer for the

Florida State Seminoles The Florida State Seminoles are the athletic teams representing Florida State University located in Tallahassee, Florida. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivis ...

, winning NCAA championships in

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and

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, and made the most appearances in program history. She was a three-time All-ACC selection and was named the ACC tournament's most valuable player in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

and

. She was drafted by the North Carolina Courage 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) in the first round of the

2023 NWSL Draft The 2023 NWSL Draft presented by Ally was the eleventh annual meeting of National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchises to select amateur players above the age of 18 playing in the United States who exhausted, lost, or renounced any remaining ...

. She was injured during the 2023 season and retired the following year at age 25.

Early life

Schilke grew up in

Stafford, Virginia Stafford is a census-designated place (listed as Stafford Courthouse) in and the county seat of Stafford County in the northern part of the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. The population of Stafford County as of the 2010 United States Census w ...

. She began playing soccer "just to get out and do something". She played for Northern Virginia Soccer Club and then captained

Fredericksburg FC Fredericksburg FC is an American soccer team based in Fredericksburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1986, the team plays in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), a national amateur league at the fourth tier of the United States socce ...

's 98 Gold youth team, which went 41–2 in her last seasons, and she trained with her state and region Olympic Development Program. She played one year of high school soccer as a freshman at Colonial Forge High School, where she graduated in 2016.

College career

Schilke redshirted her first year at Florida State in 2016, then debuted as a redshirt freshman and became a regular starter during the 2017 season, contributing five assists. Later that school year, in February 2018, she was called into training camp with the United States national under-19 team. She played in only three college games that fall before a season-ending injury forced her to sit out the Seminoles' run to the 2018 NCAA title. She scored her first collegiate goal during the 2020 season, when she led the team in goals and assists with six each. She contributed six goals and a career-high eight assists in 2021. Schilke was named

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

of the ACC tournament twice: in

, for scoring twice in the first six minutes and adding an assist in the final against North Carolina, and in

, for scoring the lone goal from long range in the final against Virginia. She recorded a goal and an assist during the Seminoles' run to the 2020 NCAA title game and two assists during their 2021 NCAA title-winning run. She considered leaving Florida State with the departure of longtime coach

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but returned for a seventh and final season in which the team defended their ACC title and made it to the 2022 NCAA semifinals. '' TopDrawerSoccer'' described Schilke as "the anchor of everything" and "as reliable as ever" during her final college tournament. Having received extra years of eligibility due to her freshman redshirt,

medical redshirt Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

, and the COVID-19 pandemic, Schilke finished her college career with 110 caps, the most in program history and second-most in women's college soccer history at the time, and totaled 17 career goals and 25 assists. She was named to the All-ACC second team in each in her last three years. She earned her bachelor's degree in December 2019 and master's degree in December 2021, both in

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Club career

The North Carolina Courage selected Schilke ninth overall in the

with one of their four first-round draft picks. She was signed to a three-year contract. She made her professional debut in a

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draw to the Orlando Pride on April 19, 2023. She made two regular season appearances, starting in a loss to

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 ...

on April 22 and substituting late against Racing Louisville FC on May 27, before suffering a season-ending rupture of her left Achilles tendon. She remained on the season-ending injury list at the start of the 2024 season and announced her retirement from the NWSL on May 10, 2024, to spend more time with her family.

Personal life

She married Gabe Schilke in July 2023.

Career statistics

Honors

Florida State Seminoles *

NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament The NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship, sometimes known as the Women's College Cup, is an American college soccer tournament conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and determines the Division I women's nation ...

* ACC women's soccer tournament:

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North Carolina Courage *

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 ...

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Individual * All-ACC second team:

* ACC tournament most valuable player:

* ACC all-tournament team: 2020, 2021 * NCAA College Cup all-tournament team:

''Sources:''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schilke, Clara Living people 1998 births People from Stafford, Virginia Soccer players from Virginia American women's soccer players Women's association football midfielders Florida State Seminoles women's soccer players North Carolina Courage draft picks North Carolina Courage players National Women's Soccer League players 21st-century American sportswomen