Thori Yvette Staples Bryan (; born April 17, 1974) is an American retired soccer defender who previously played for the

United States women's national soccer team The United States women's national soccer team (USWNT) represents the United States in international women's soccer. The team is the most successful in international women's soccer, winning four Women's World Cup titles ( 1991, 1999, 2015, an ...

and the Bay Area CyberRays in the

Women's United Soccer Association The Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) was the world's first women's soccer league in which all the players were paid as professionals. Founded in February 2000, the league began its first season in April 2001 with eight teams in the Un ...

Early life

Bryan grew up in

Joppatowne, Maryland Joppatowne is a census-designated place in southwestern Harford County, Maryland, United States. Serving as a bedroom community for nearby Baltimore, it was established in 1961 as a planned unit development (PUD). The population was 12,616 at ...

and played soccer for the Columbia Crusaders for five years. She won state championships in long jump, 400-meter dash and 800-meter run.

North Carolina State University

In 1992, her first season with North Carolina State University, she started all 22 games and was named the ACC Rookie of the Year in 1992. During her time at North Carolina, she was a three-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and All-South Region selection. Bryan was nominated for the

Missouri Athletic Club The Missouri Athletic Club (often referred to as the MAC), founded in 1903, is a private city and athletic club with two locations. The Downtown Clubhouse is in Downtown St. Louis, Missouri, USA and the West Clubhouse is located in the St. L ...

National Player of the Year award in 1994 and 1995. During her senior year, she started all 22 regular season games while the Wolfpack posted an 18–4–0 record and No. 9 national ranking.

Playing career

Club

Staples-Bryan played for the San Jose CyberRays in the

, the first professional soccer league in the United States, from 2001 to 2003 and was a key member of the 2001 Founders Cup Championship team. She was a first round pick and the first American player to be selected in the inaugural draft. In 2008, after a more than four-year hiatus after the folding of the WUSA, she returned to play with the

Carolina Railhawks North Carolina FC is an American professional soccer team in Cary, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh. Founded in 2006, the team plays in USL League One, the third tier of the American league system. The team has played its home games ...

in the W-League.

International

Bryan made her first appearance for the

on March 11, 1993 in a game against Denmark. She would go on to earn 64 caps with the team from 1993 to 2003. In 1994, she helped the team win the title at the CONCACAF Qualifying Championship in Montreal and qualify for the 1995 FIFA Women's World Championship and FIFA Women's World Championship in Sweden. Bryan was a member of the 1995 Women's National Team that placed third at Sweden. She was an alternate on the 1996 Olympic Team. In 2003, she was named by national team head coach,

April Heinrichs April Dawn Heinrichs (born February 27, 1964) is an American former soccer player and coach. She was among the first players on the United States women's national soccer team, and was captain of the United States team which won the first ever ...

, as one of the 20 players that would travel to China for the Four Nations Tournament.

Coaching career

Bryan was an assistant coach at Virginia Tech. She runs the Thori Bryan Soccer Academy in Wake Forest, North Carolina.

Personal life

Staples Bryan married Kip Bryan in 1998.

References

External links

Thori Staples Bryan FIFA Record
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Profile
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Staples Bryan, Thori Living people 1974 births Soccer players from Baltimore NC State Wolfpack women's soccer players American women's soccer players San Jose CyberRays players United States women's international soccer players Women's United Soccer Association players Fortuna Hjørring players Women's association football defenders Olympic gold medalists for the United States in soccer Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup players Raleigh Wings players Expatriate women's footballers in Denmark American expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Elitedivisionen players USL W-League (1995–2015) players