Kaleigh Nicole Kurtz (born September 9, 1994) 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 who plays for the

North Carolina Courage The North Carolina Courage is a professional women's soccer team based in Cary, North Carolina. It was founded on January 9, 2017, after Stephen Malik acquired National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchise rights from the Western New York F ...

in 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 ...

and

Canberra United Canberra United Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the southern Canberra suburb of Wanniassa, Australian Capital Territory. Founded in 2008 by Capital Football, the club was an inaugural member of the W-League and t ...

in the Australian W-League.

Early life

Kurtz grew up in Greer, South Carolina. She started playing soccer at the age of four in the local YMCA league, switching to the Carolina Elite Soccer Academy(CESA) when she was 9. She was a top swimmer in her division growing up, competing alongside her sister for Eastside Aquatic Club. Her family's passion towards fitness and running lead her to racing 5ks. She competed in multiple races, coming in first place for overall females 3 times. In soccer she has almost always played the position of defender, specifically centre back. She attended high school at Riverside High school, where she was a three-year All-State winner. Going into her junior year of high school, Kurtz broke her femur which ultimately affected her college recruiting prospects.

College career

For her freshman year of university Kurtz attended the

University of Richmond The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a private liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approximately 4,350 undergraduate and graduate students in five schools: the School ...

during the 2013–2014 academic year. After a season in which she started 18 games, she transferred to the University of South Carolina. Kurtz went on to make 69 appearances for the Gamecocks. Her senior year she was named a First Team NSCAA All-American and First Team Scholar All-American, the SEC Defensive Player of the Year, and a MAC Herman Trophy Semifinalist.

Club career

Östersunds Dff

Following college, Kurtz played for Östersunds Dff in the Swedish Elitettan, fulfilling her desire to play overseas. She made 12 appearances and captained the side.

North Carolina Courage

Kurtz was a non-roster invitee during the 2018 Carolina preseason. She signed with the Courage in March 2018. She debuted on April 18, 2018, starting at center back against the OL Reign. She made 6 appearances in the 2018 regular season, as well as 2 in the

2018 Women's International Champions Cup The 2018 International Champions Cup Women's Tournament was the first edition of a series of friendly women's association football matches. It took place from July 26 to 29, 2018. For the first time, the ICC included a women's tournament. Nearly ...

. Kurtz' option for 2019 was picked up in October 2018.

Canberra United

Kurtz spent the NWSL off season of 2019–2020 in the Australian W-League playing in the capital for Canberra United, on loan from the North Carolina Courage. She played every minute in the 12-game season for Canberra. During round 6, Kurtz broke her nose in the run of play having to come off shortly to get fully bandaged in order to stop the bleeding, and then competing in the final minutes of the game. She was later named to the round 6 Team of the Week. She tallied one assist during her time in Australia and led the league in clearances with a total of 69 clearances during the regular season. Kurtz capped off her time in Canberra by receiving the prestigious award, 2019/2020 Canberra United Player of the Year.

Honors

South Carolina Gamecocks *2016 SEC Defender of the Year *2016 First Team NSCAA All-American *2016 First Team NSCAA Scholar All-American North Carolina Courage * NWSL Champions:

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

NWSL Shield The NWSL Shield is an annual award given to the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) team with the best regular season record as determined by the NWSL points system. The NWSL Shield has been awarded annually since 2013 and is recognized as a ...

*Women's International Champions Cup Winner:

Canberra United *2019/2020 Canberra United Player of the Year

Career statistics

''As of April 20, 2019''

References

Social media

Kurtz Twitter

External links

*
Prolife Courage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kurtz, Kaleigh 1994 births Women's association football midfielders Living people National Women's Soccer League players Soccer players from South Carolina North Carolina Courage players American women's soccer players South Carolina Gamecocks women's soccer players Richmond Spiders women's soccer players American expatriate women's soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Australia American expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Expatriate women's footballers in Sweden Expatriate women's soccer players in Australia Canberra United FC players