Vanessa Kara González (born 27 November 1996) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a forward. Born in the United States, she represents the Dominican Republic women's national team.

Early life

Born in Burlington,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

to a Dominican mother, Kara began playing soccer at the Bridle Club in her hometown, playing alongside her brothers. She soon joined the PDA Fusion, part of the Players Development Academy. During her club and her high school career at Moorestown Friends School, Kara suffered two ACL tears in both knees. During her senior year of high school, Kara committed to playing for the

Drexel Dragons The Drexel Dragons are the athletic teams of Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The school's athletic program includes eighteen NCAA Division I sports including nine men's and nine women's teams, with most sports teams competing in ...

of Drexel University. During her first season with Drexel Dragons, she recorded a team record 11 goals in 18 matches, and was named the 2015 CAA Rookie of the Year. In her sophomore year, Kara scored 6 goals and contributed 5 assists as she earned All-CAA First Team honors. During her final season with the Dragons, she scored 5 goals. Prior to the 2017 playoffs, Kara tore her ACL again and had to red shirt during what would have been her senior year. In 2019, Kara left Drexel University, and joined the Florida Gators of the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

. One of her former coached had recommended Kara to Gators head coach Becky Burleigh. During her only season with the Florida Gators, Kara scored a team leading 10 goals, tied for 5th in the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

Club career

On 16 January 2020, Kara was eligible for selection in the NWSL College Draft but was not selected. The day after the draft, Kara received a call from

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 ...

head coach Paul Riley to join the team for preseason. Later that year, Kara joined

Kansallinen Liiga The Kansallinen Liiga ('National League') is the premier division of women's football in Finland. It was previously called the Jalkapallon naisten SM-sarja ('Women's Football Finnish Championship Series') during 1974 to 2006 and the Naisten Lii ...

club TiPS. She made her debut for the side on 22 August 2020 against Åland United, starting in a 3–0 defeat. Kara then scored her first goal on 5 September against PK-35, scoring the only goal in a 1–0 victory.

Racing Louisville

On 5 April 2021, after training with them during preseason, Kara returned to the United States and joined National Women's Soccer League club Racing Louisville. She made her professional debut for the club on 15 April 2021 in the

NWSL Challenge Cup The NWSL Challenge Cup, currently known as the UKG NWSL Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual tournament organized by the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top-tier women's league in the United States soccer league system. T ...

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 ...

, coming on as an 89th-minute substitute in a 1–0 defeat.

International career

Kara made her senior debut for the Dominican Republic on 22 October 2021, starting in a 3–0 friendly home win over Bolivia. During the match, she scored a brace and assisted the remaining goal.

Career statistics

Honours

Individual * 2015 CAA Rookie of the Year

References

External links

Profile
at Racing Louisville * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kara, Vanessa 1996 births Living people Citizens of the Dominican Republic through descent Dominican Republic women's footballers Women's association football forwards Kansallinen Liiga players Dominican Republic women's international footballers Dominican Republic expatriate women's footballers Dominican Republic expatriate sportspeople in Finland Expatriate women's footballers in Finland People from Burlington, New Jersey Sportspeople from Burlington County, New Jersey Soccer players from New Jersey American women's soccer players Moorestown Friends School alumni Drexel Dragons women's soccer players Florida Gators women's soccer players Racing Louisville FC players National Women's Soccer League players American expatriate women's soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Finland American sportspeople of Dominican Republic descent