Maria Luisa de Vera Park (born 25 August 1991) is a Filipino international footballer who plays 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 ...

Early life and education

Park was born in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

on August 25, 1991, to Randy and Mavee Park. She studied at Langley High School and later at the

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The Reynolda Campus, the un ...

where she graduated in May 2013 with a degree in business and enterprise management.

Career

Youth and college

Park played for Reston FC. She also played for her varsity team, the

Wake Forest Demon Deacons The Wake Forest Demon Deacons are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Wake Forest University, located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a mem ...

from 2009 to 2013. She has the fourth-most appearance in the history of Wake Forest's program, appearing 89 times for the team. Park scored eight goals, 10 assists and 26 points in her Wake Forest Career. She was also part of the Demon Deacons team that won its first ACC Championship in 2010 and was named as part of the 2010 ACC All-Tournament Team.

Senior club

Marisa Park plays for the Braddock Road Stars Elite as a midfielder and captain of the team. Park scored the first goal in the whole history of Braddock on their match against 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 ...

Reserves which the team lost with the scoreline 4–1. Park received an honorable mention for the first week of the 2014 W-League season. In 2015, she transferred to Norwegian club,

IL Sandviken Idrettslaget Sandviken is a Norwegian sports club from the neighborhood of Sandviken in Bergenhus borough, Bergen. It has sections for basketball, football and handball. It was mostly known for its women's football team that played in the To ...

which plays at the

Toppserien The Toppserien is the top level of women's association football in Norway. It was founded in 1984. History Women's league football was introduced on a county basis in 1977. These leagues acted as qualification for the regional (South) league in 1 ...

International career

Park who was then a senior student at Wake Forest, was called up to the Philippines women's national team for the qualification phase of the 2014 AFC Women's Asian Cup which was held in 2013. Park made her FIFA International debut against

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

and also became the first Demon Deacon to be called up to a senior women's national team for a competitive match. Park previously played for the Philippine national team competing against football clubs at the LA Vikings Cup which was held in November 2012. She was named part of the squad that participated at the 2018 AFC Women's Asian Cup.

International goals

:''Scores and results list the Philippines' goal tally first.''

Other career

Marisa Park works for Berkeley Research Group in the Washington DC office where her work focuses on the healthcare industry.

References

1991 births Living people American sportspeople of Filipino descent Wake Forest University alumni Filipino women's footballers Philippines women's international footballers Toppserien players American women's soccer players Wake Forest Demon Deacons women's soccer players Women's association football midfielders {{Philippines-women-footy-bio-stub