Elli Kayla Burris (; born August 10, 1989) is an American 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 last played as a defender for

OL Reign OL Reign is an American professional Women's association football, women's soccer team based in Seattle, Washington. Founded by Bill and Teresa Predmore in 2012 as Seattle Reign FC, it was one of eight inaugural members of the National Women's S ...

of the

NWSL 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 ...

. She previously played for

FCR 2001 Duisburg FCR 2001 Duisburg (full name: ''Fußballclub Rumeln 2001 Duisburg'') was a German women's football club from Duisburg. The first team played in the Bundesliga (women), Bundesliga. They originate from a women's team formed in 1977 under the umbrel ...

in the

Frauen-Bundesliga The Frauen-Bundesliga (German for ''Women's Federal League''), currently known as the FLYERALARM Frauen-Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of league competition for women's association football in Germany. In 1990 the German Foo ...

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory e ...

in the Australian W-League as well as the

Boston Breakers The Boston Breakers were an American professional soccer club based in the Boston neighborhood of Allston. The team competed in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). They replaced the original Breakers, who competed in the defunct Women's ...

in the WPS and the

WPSL Elite The Women's Premier Soccer League Elite (WPSL Elite) was a women's semi-professional soccer league created by the Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) to support the sport in the United States, both from continued interest by WPSL teams in profess ...

Early life

Burris attended

Park City High School Park City High School is a public high school located at 1750 Kearns Boulevard in Park City, Utah, United States. It is one of eight public schools in the Park City School District and serves tenth, eleventh, and twelfth graders. The district's ...

for all four years of her high school career. She helped the Park City Miners women's soccer team win the 3A State Championship in 2004 and 2005. She also on competed on her high school's state championship team in

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

and cross country.

University of Portland

In her first two years with the

University of Portland , mottoeng = The truth will set you free , established = 1901 , type = Private university , religious_affiliation = Catholic (Congregation of Holy Cross) , endowment = $218 million , president = Robert D. Kelly , students = 3,731 (fall 20 ...

, Burris was named a Soccer Buzz Freshman All-American (Fourth Team), Soccer Buzz All-West Region Freshman Team, All-WCC Freshman Team, Soccer America National Team of the Week honors, Soccer Buzz All-West Region Third Team, WCC All-Academic Team, All-WCC Second Team and the 2008 Portland Nike Invitational Most Outstanding Offensive Player after recording a hat trick against

Northern Arizona University Northern Arizona University (NAU) is a public research university based in Flagstaff, Arizona. It was founded in 1899 as the final public university established in the Arizona Territory, 13 years before Arizona was admitted as the 48th state. ...

and adding another goal against

Colgate University Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York. The college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York and operated under that name until 1823, when it was renamed Hamilton Theologi ...

Club career

Boston Breakers, 2011

Burris was drafted eighth overall in the

2011 WPS Draft The 2011 WPS College Draft took place on January 14, 2011. It was the third college draft held by Women's Professional Soccer to assign the WPS rights of college players to the American-based teams. Format 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 Profess ...

, but was traded to the

. She made 10 appearances for the team for a total of 575 minutes. After the WPS folded in early 2012, Burris joined the Breakers in the

, the top division of women's soccer in the United States at the time. She helped the Breakers win the regular season title with the game-winning goal over

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 Profess ...

. Of the goal, she said, "I saw Shep (

Katie Schoepfer Kathryn Theresa Schoepfer (born November 10, 1988) is an American coach and former professional soccer player, having last played for the Boston Breakers of National Women's Soccer League in 2016. She was formerly an assistant coach at the Co ...

) play the ball short to Bianca (

D'Agostino The D'Agostino family is a Sicilian noble lineage originated at least in the thirteenth century, Sicilian strain of historical noble family Agostini Fantini Venerosi Della Seta Gaetani Bocca Grassi from Pisa, family of noble origin, Earls of ...

), and Bianca played it back to Shep, and she hit in a really nice ball. The keeper got a hand on it, but then it hit another girl's chest, and it was bobbling around, and I just hit it in. It feels great, especially since it helped get us the (regular season) title. I'm very excited. There's a good energy amongst the team, and we're feeling good going into playoffs."

FCR 2001 Duisburg, 2012

Burris joined

in July 2012. She made 11 appearances for the team, starting 10 games, for a total of 754 minutes.

Seattle Reign FC, 2013–2017

On February 8, 2013, it was announced that Burris had signed with the

Seattle Reign FC OL Reign is an American professional women's soccer team based in Seattle, Washington. Founded by Bill and Teresa Predmore in 2012 as Seattle Reign FC, it was one of eight inaugural members of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). In 2020, ...

for the inaugural season of the

. After suffering an ankle injury early in the season, Burris made seventeen appearances for the club, tallying a total of 1,503 minutes. On July 11, 2013, she served her first assist of the season to

Christine Nairn Christine Marie Nairn (born September 25, 1990) is an American retired soccer player from Annapolis, Maryland. She previously played for the Houston Dash, Orlando Pride, Washington Spirit and Seattle Reign FC in the NWSL and has had regular lo ...

helping the Reign defeat the

3–2 at Starfire Stadium in Tukwila, Washington. On July 14, 2013, during the Reign's first sold-out home match, Reed served her second assist on the season to Nairn, helping the Reign defeat 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 ...

2–1. Burris returned to the Reign for the 2014 season. The team set a league record unbeaten streak of 16 games during the first part of the season. During the 16 game stretch, the Reign compiled a 13–0–3 record. The Reign finished first in the regular season clinching the NWSL Shield for the first time. After defeating the

2–1 in the playoff semi-finals, the Reign were defeated 2–1 by

FC Kansas City FC Kansas City was an American professional women's soccer club based in Kansas City, Missouri. The team was one of the eight founding clubs of the National Women's Soccer League in 2012, and began play in 2013. They were two-time NWSL champions ...

during the championship final. Burris finished the 2014 season having started in 19 of the 22 games in which she played. Burris announced her retirement on September 22, 2017.

Kristianstads DFF, 2013

Following the conclusion of the

2013 NWSL season The 2013 National Women's Soccer League season was the inaugural season of the National Women's Soccer League, the top division of women's soccer in the United States. Including the NWSL's two professional predecessors, Women's Professional Socce ...

, Burris was signed on loan to Swedish side,

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 ...

. She made her debut for the team in a match against Linköping on September 3.

Melbourne Victory, 2014

Burris signed for Australian club

on loan and will join them after the conclusion of the

2014 NWSL season The 2014 National Women's Soccer League season is the second season of the National Women's Soccer League, the top division of women's soccer in the United States. Including the NWSL's two professional predecessors, Women's Professional Soccer (2 ...

OL Reign, 2022

In July 2022, Burris came out of retirement and signed as a National Team Replacement player for former club

International career

Burris was a member of the

United States U-20 women's national soccer team The United States U-20 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 senior women's national team. The team most recentl ...

, which 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 ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. She played in six matches, and started in the final match where the United States defeated

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

, 2–1. She was also a member of the United States U-17 women's national soccer team in 2006.

Personal life

Burris earned a bachelor's degree in

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

and a minor in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

from the

in 2011. She later earned a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

from the school in 2020.

References

External links

*
Seattle Reign FC player profile

Portland player profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burris, Elli 1989 births Living people American women's soccer players Portland Pilots women's soccer players Boston Breakers players Women's Premier Soccer League Elite players FCR 2001 Duisburg players National Women's Soccer League players People from Park City, Utah OL Reign players Melbourne Victory FC (A-League Women) players A-League Women players Soccer players from Utah Women's association football defenders Women's association football midfielders United States women's under-20 international soccer players Boston Aztec (WPSL) players Women's Premier Soccer League players Damallsvenskan players Kristianstads DFF players Women's Professional Soccer players