Laurie Annette Schwoy (born February 14, 1978) is an American former

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 A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

, making four appearances for the United States women's national team.

Career

Schwoy played for the McDonogh Eagles in high school, where she was a ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

'' High-School

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n and National Player of the Year as a senior. She was named the

NSCAA The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization in the world, with more than 30 ...

/Umbro National High School Player of the Year in 1995, and was a three-time NSCAA All-American. She set a state record for career goals with 198, and was a two-time the player of the year in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

and named as the High School Athlete of the Year in 1995 by ''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by Tr ...

''. She played club soccer for Perry Hall White Marsh Soccer Club, and also participated in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

, and

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

in high school. In college, she played for the

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to individuals from the state of North Carolina, the ''Tar Heel ...

from 1996 to 2000, having

redshirted 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 ...

during the 1999 season due to a

pulled hamstring Straining of the hamstring, also known as a pulled hamstring, is defined as an excessive stretch or tear of muscle fibers and related tissues. Hamstring injuries are common in athletes participating in many sports. Track and field athletes are p ...

. During her career at North Carolina, the team won the

NCAA championship The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

, and

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

. She was an All-American during her collegiate career, being named to the 1996 first team (''Soccer Buzz'' and ''Soccer News'') and third team (NSCAA), the 1997 first team (''Soccer Buzz'', ''Soccer Times'', and NSCAA) and third team (''Soccer News''), as well as the 1998 first team (''Soccer Times'' and ''Soccer Buzz''), second team (''Soccer News'' and ''College Soccer Weekly On-Line''), and third team (NSCAA). She received various honors during her freshman year in 1996, having been selected as the ''

Soccer America ''Soccer America'', the oldest soccer-specific media publisher in the US, was founded in 1971 by Clay Berling in Albany, California. The magazine is headquartered in Oakland, California. History and profile The magazine was founded by Clay Ber ...

'' and ''Soccer Buzz'' Freshman Player of the Year, the

ACC ACC most often refers to: * Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US *American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...

Freshman of the Year, and the ''Soccer Buzz'' Freshman Regional Player of the Year, as well as being included in the Freshman All-America first team (''Soccer America'', ''Soccer Buzz'', and ''Soccer News'') and the ''Soccer Buzz'' Freshman All-Region team. She was included in the All-Region first team in 1996 and 1997 (NSCAA, ''Soccer Buzz'', and ''Soccer News''), as well as the 1998 first team by ''Soccer Buzz''. Schwoy was included in the All-ACC first team from 1996 to 1998, and was a finalist for the

Hermann Trophy The Hermann Trophy is awarded annually by the Missouri Athletic Club to the United States's top men's and women's college soccer players. History In 1967, Bob Hermann, the president of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and the ...

in 1997. She was also included in the All-Tournament Teams of the ACC in 1998 and the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

and

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

. In total, she scored 43 goals and recorded 36 assists in 81 appearances for the Tar Heels. Schwoy played for the U.S. under-21 national team, winning the Nordic Cup in 1997. She had also participated in the 1995 U.S. Olympic Festival in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

. She made her international debut for the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

on May 31, 1997, in the 1997 Women's U.S. Cup against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. In total, she made four appearances for the U.S., earning her final cap on February 24, 1999, in a friendly match against

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. Schwoy was chosen by the

Philadelphia Charge The Philadelphia Charge was an American women's professional soccer team that played in the Women's United Soccer Association. The team played at Villanova Stadium on the campus of Villanova University near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. History ...

in the

2000 WUSA Draft The WUSA Inaugural Player Draft, held before Women's United Soccer Association's initial 2001 season, distributed players to the league's eight inaugural teams. The draft occurred on December 10 and 11, 2000. This took place after each team was a ...

. In the 2001 season, she scored four goals and recorded four assists in seventeen regular season appearances for the Charge, and played in one postseason game. She later began coaching, working as an assistant for the McDonogh Eagles. She has coached various youth club teams, including Premier Soccer Club and the Baltimore Bays, as well as helping train players at local high schools. In 2016, she was inducted into the Maryland State Athletic Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Schwoy is a native of

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Career statistics

International

References

External links

McDonogh's Schwoy still tough and elusive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schwoy, Laurie 1978 births Living people Soccer players from Baltimore American women's soccer players American women's soccer coaches United States women's international soccer players Women's association football midfielders Women's association football forwards North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer players Philadelphia Charge players Women's United Soccer Association players