Savannah Mckenzie King (born February 7, 2005) 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 plays as a defender for

Bay FC Bay Football Club (Bay FC) is an American professional women's association football, soccer team based in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. They are set to begin play in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) as an expansion team in th ...

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 ...

(NWSL). She played college soccer 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 ...

and has played internationally for the United States national under-20 team. She was drafted second overall by Bay FC in the

2024 NWSL Draft The 2024 NWSL Draft presented by Ally will be the twelfth annual meeting of National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchises to select amateur players above the age of 18 playing in the United States who exhausted, lost, or renounced any remaini ...

Early life

King was born in Santa Monica, California, to Karrie King and Kim Parker King, and grew up in West Hills. She has a twin brother, Parker. She played multiple sports in her youth, including softball, baseball, and flag football. She began playing soccer at age ten for a team in the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO). She later played club soccer for Real So Cal and then Slammers FC HB Køge in the

Elite Clubs National League In political and sociological theory, the elite (french: élite, from la, eligere, to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. D ...

(ECNL), with which she won the ECNL's under-18/19 national title in 2023. King lettered in four years of

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 ...

for Agoura High School and set school records in the

200-meter The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

(25.49) and

400-meter dash The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is on ...

(56.87). She also played flag football at Agoura and once recorded six interceptions and four touchdowns in a single game. Ranked by

TopDrawerSoccer.com TopDrawerSoccer.com (TDS) is an American soccer website that is dedicated to youth soccer in the United States. Specifically, the website focuses on Academy soccer, high school soccer, and college soccer in the United States. The website was laun ...

as the top

left 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 ...

of the class of 2023, she committed to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in November 2022. She entered into a

name, image, and likeness In college athletics in the United States, the National Collegiate Athletic Association ("NCAA") has historically resisted efforts to compensate college athletes. However, after years of effort by those in favor of student athlete compensation, ...

(NIL) agreement with Nike before starting college.

College career

King was the starting center back for North Carolina in 2023. Head coach Anson Dorrance called her performance in the team's scoreless season opener at

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

the "best first-game performance by a freshman" in program history. In the first three weeks of the season, she received two

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

(ACC) Defensive Player of the Week Awards as North Carolina conceded only two goals in its first six matches. She led the team in minutes played in her freshman season, which ended in the 2023 NCAA tournament quarterfinals, and was named to the ACC All-Freshman team and the All-ACC second team.

Professional career

, a new NWSL expansion team, selected King second overall in the

; she and North Carolina teammate

Ally Sentnor Allyson Marie Sentnor (born February 18, 2004) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a forward for the Utah Royals of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She played college soccer for the North Carolina Tar Heels and ...

were the top two picks. She signed a three-year contract with the team in February 2024. She made her debut as a starting

in Bay's first ever game, against Angel City FC, on March 17.

International career

King was invited to United States national under-15 team training camps in 2019 and 2020. In 2022, she helped the national under-17 team win the

2022 CONCACAF Women's U-17 Championship The 2022 CONCACAF Women's U-17 Championship was the 7th 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 ...

to qualify for the

2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup The 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup was the 7th edition of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, the multinational–international women's youth football championship, contested by the under-17 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, sinc ...

, where she helped the United States advance out of the group stage, though they lost in the first knockout round on penalties. The next year, she was called up to the national under-20 team for the 2023 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship, where as co-captain she helped the United States qualify for the

2024 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup is an international association football tournament, organized by FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), for national teams of women under the age of 20. The tournament is held in even-numbere ...

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

*
Savy King
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Savannah Living people 2005 births Soccer players from Santa Monica, California American women's soccer players Women's association football defenders United States women's youth international soccer players United States women's under-20 international soccer players North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer players American twins Bay FC draft picks Bay FC players 21st-century American sportswomen National Women's Soccer League players African-American soccer players