Kennedy Jade Faulknor (born June 30, 1999) is a Canadian

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 plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for Minnesota Aurora. In 2015, she represented the Canadian national team, where, at the age of 16, she was the youngest centre-back to ever play for Canada.

Early life

Born in Scarborough, to a Jamaican father and a Canadian mother, she grew up in nearby Markham. Faulknor began playing youth soccer with the Unionville Milliken SC at age five, playing rep since age eight. With the UMSC 1999 Girls, she served as team captain, was leading scorer in 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013, was team MVP in 2012 and 2013, and was named to the Provincial All-Star Team in 2013 and 2014 at U14 and U15 level, respectively.

College career

In May 2015, she committed to attend

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

to play for the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). ...

on a full scholarship, beginning in 2017. She made her debut on September 3, 2017, playing against the

Weber State Wildcats The Weber State Wildcats are the varsity athletic teams representing Weber State University in Ogden, Utah in intercollegiate athletics, sponsoring 16 teams. The Wildcats compete in NCAA Division I FCS and are charter members (1963) of the Big Sk ...

. She scored her first goal on September 13, 2018 against the Loyola Marymount Lions.

Club career

In 2017, she played two games with Unionville Milliken SC in League1 Ontario. In February 2022, she attended preseason with the Houston Dash 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 ...

. In October 2022, Faulknor joined Australian

A-League Women A-League Women (known as the Liberty A-League for sponsorship reasons), formerly the W-League, is the top-division women's soccer league in Australia. The W-League was established in 2008 by Football Australia (then known as Football Federatio ...

club

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 April 2023, Faulknor joined Minnesota Aurora.

International career

Faulknor was called up to the national team program for the first time at age 14 in June 2014 for a U15 national team camp. She was then named to the U15 squad for the

2014 CONCACAF Girls' U-15 Championship The 2014 CONCACAF Girls' U-15 Championship was an association football tournament that took place in the Cayman Islands during August 2014. Each match lasted 70 minutes. Participants * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Venues Group stag ...

. Faulknor won gold with Canada at the tournament and was named to the Tournament Best XI. In December 2015, at the age of 16, Faulknor was first called up to the Canadian senior squad, being selected for the

2015 International Women's Football Tournament of Natal The 2015 Torneio Internacional de Natal de Futebol Feminino (also known as the 2015 International Tournament of Natal) was the seventh edition of the Torneio Internacional de Futebol Feminino, an invitational women's football tournament held ever ...

. She made her debut starting in the first match of the group stage, in which Canada beat

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

3–0, becoming the youngest centre-back to ever appear for Canada. In December 2015, Faulknor was named Canadian U-17 Women's Player of the Year. In March 2016, Faulknor was selected for Canada's under-17 squad for the

2016 CONCACAF Women's U-17 Championship The 2016 CONCACAF Women's U-17 Championship was the 5th edition of the CONCACAF Women's U-17 Championship, the biennial international youth football championship organised by CONCACAF for the women's under-17 national teams of the North, Central ...

. She scored her first international goal against Grenada U20 on March 5. In the next match against Haiti, she suffered a concussion, sidelining her for the remainder of the tournament.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Faulknor, Kennedy 1999 births Living people Canada women's youth international soccer players Canada women's international soccer players Canadian sportspeople of Jamaican descent Black Canadian women's soccer players Canadian women's soccer players Soccer players from Scarborough, Toronto UCLA Bruins women's soccer players Canberra United FC players Women's association football defenders Unionville Milliken SC (women) players League1 Ontario (women) players Canadian expatriate women's soccer players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Australia Expatriate women's soccer players in Australia Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States