Melanie Lynn Booth (born August 24, 1984) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

retired soccer player. She last played for

Sky Blue FC NJ/NY Gotham FC is a professional women's soccer team based in Harrison, New Jersey. Founded in 2006 as Jersey Sky Blue, the team was known as Sky Blue FC from 2008 until 2020. A founding member of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in 2013 ...

in the National Women's Soccer League and for the Canada women's national soccer team.

Early life

Booth was born in Burlington, Ontario, Canada.

University of Florida

Booth attended 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 ...

in Gainesville, Florida, where she played for coach Becky Burleigh's

Florida Gators women's soccer The Florida Gators women's soccer team represents the University of Florida in the sport of college soccer. The Gators compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They ...

team from 2003 to 2005, before sitting out the 2006 season due to national team commitments. She returned to Florida in 2007 to complete her collegiate career, and graduated with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in applied

physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...

and

kinesiology Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, biomechanical, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kinesiology to human healt ...

in 2008.

Playing career

Club

She briefly played with

Ottawa Fury Women Ottawa Fury Women was a Canadian women's soccer team based in Ottawa, Ontario. Founded in 2000, the team was a member of the United Soccer Leagues USL W-League, the second tier of women's soccer in the United States and Canada. The team competed i ...

. On January 11, 2013, she joined

in the new National Women's Soccer League.

International

Booth was 17 years old when she won her first cap with the Canadian national team on March 1, 2002, at the

Algarve Cup The Algarve Cup is an invitational tournament for national teams in women's association football hosted by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). Held annually in the Algarve region of Portugal since 1994, it is one of the most prestigious an ...

(a 3–0 win over

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

). Booth earned 22 caps and scored three goals playing on the U-19 national team. She played every minute of Canada's six matches in the

2002 FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship The 2002 FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship was held from 17 August to 1 September. It was the first sanctioned youth tournament for women put together by FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada. FIFA granted the tournament to Canada in March ...

, where Canada took the silver medal. She finished second with Canada at the 2006 Peace Queen Cup after a 0–1 loss to 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 territori ...

in the final. She finished second with Canada at the 2006 CONCACAF Gold Cup after a 1–2 loss to the United States in the final. She was a member of Canada's 2002 Algarve Cup and 2001 Nordic Cup teams. Booth won a bronze medal with Canada at the 15th Pan American women's soccer tournament in July 2007 at

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

, Brazil. In 2007, she represented Canada at the FIFA Women's World Cup in China. She finished second with Canada at the 2008 CONCACAF Olympic qualification tournament (where Canada qualified for the Summer Olympics). She scored her first goal during the 4–0 win over

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. In the 2011 Pan-American women's soccer tournament, Booth helped Canada win the gold medal game against the defending champions,

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, by scoring on a penalty kick after extra-time. Booth was named to the Canada squad for the 2012 London Olympics initially as an alternate. However, due to injuries to regular Canadian roster team players

Emily Zurrer Emily Jane Zurrer (born July 12, 1987) is a Canadian soccer player who played for Swedish club Jitex BK in the Damallsvenskan and the Canada women's national soccer team. She previously played for Seattle Reign FC in the National Women's Soccer ...

and Robyn Gayle, on Monday, July 30, 2012, the Canadian soccer coach officially added her to the team's official roster. She was later awarded an Olympic medal atop the podium at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

. Booth stated, "I was standing next to Marie-Ève on the lympicpodium and I was the giddiest I had ever been. We were laughing about everything...Just being in Wembley in front of 60,000 people....After we got our medals (and bouquets), Marie-Ève said, 'I know these are just flowers but they're so beautiful.'" Booth retired from international and club soccer on November 13, 2013.

References

External links

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archive
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Booth, Melanie Living people Women's association football defenders Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Canadian expatriate women's soccer players Canadian women's soccer players Canada women's international soccer players Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States National Women's Soccer League players Florida Gators women's soccer players Footballers at the 2011 Pan American Games Soccer people from Ontario Sportspeople from Burlington, Ontario Pan American Games medalists in football Vancouver Whitecaps FC (women) players USL W-League (1995–2015) players Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in football Olympic bronze medalists for Canada NJ/NY Gotham FC players Pan American Games gold medalists for Canada Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Pan American Games bronze medalists for Canada 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup players Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games 20th-century Canadian women 21st-century Canadian women Ottawa Fury (women) players Tampa Bay Hellenic players 1984 births