Becky Sauerbrunn - The Leader
SOCCER - DEFENDER - USWNT - PORTLAND THORNS FC
ARCHETYPE: THE LEADER
Day 75/135
Athletic Accomplishments
Becky Sauerbrunn is the anchor of the defense for both the U.S. Women’s National Team and the 2021 Challenge Cup winning Portland Thorns FC.
In high school, Sauerbrunn was a four-year varsity athlete in three sports: volleyball, basketball, and of course soccer. As a soccer player, Sauerbrunn was All-American in both 2002 and 2003, and the Missouri Gatorade Player of the Year in 2003.
In college, she played for the University of Virginia from 2003 to 2007, starting every game for the Cavaliers while active on the roster. In her career, Sauerbrunn won many honors, including:
ACC Freshman of the Year (2003)
3x ACC All-Academic Team
2x First Team All-ACC
NSCAA All-American First Team Honors (2007)
NSCAA Scholar-Athlete of the Year (2007)
ACC Player of the Year (2007)
Sauerbrunn played in the W-League starting in 2005, while playing for the junior national team. When the newly formed NWSL launched in 2012, Sauerbrunn was allocated to FC Kansas City, where she led the team to back-to-back NWSL Championships in 2014 and 2015. She was also named NWSL Defender of the Year four times and to the NWSL Best XI six consecutive times (2013-2019).
In 2008, she got her first cap for the senior USWNT, playing for a short stint before being called up again in 2010.
By 2013, Sauerbrunn was a consistent starter with the USWNT. She won her first World Cup in 2015, playing every minute of every game for the U.S. on its way to winning the title. In winning the 2019 World Cup, Sauerbrunn was once again a key piece of the defense, holding down the center back position.
Earlier this month, Sauerbrunn’s Portland Thorns FC won the NWSL’s Challenge Cup. It is yet another accomplishment in her incredible career.
Character Archetype: The Leader
Becky Sauerbrunn isn’t the fastest or the strongest or the fittest on the soccer field. But she’s always got that X factor. She is the smartest, the surest, and the best leader on the pitch.
Sauerbrunn is also one of the most active players with regard to racial justice. She has organized the team and unified them around not just the message of Black Lives Matter, but meaningful action.
Heading into the Olympics this year, Vlato Andonovski, the new head coach, named Sauerbrunn the sole captain of the U.S. Women’s National team. What he sees in Becky is what her teammates see in her.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2021/02/24/becky-sauerbrunn-uswnt-captain/
According to the Washington Post, Sam Mewis has called Sauerbrunn her “moral compass.” Defender Casey Krueger says, “she sets the standard.”
Defender Tierna Davidson calls her a “fantastic role model.”
When it comes to holding down the back line, mentoring players, and bringing the team to championship glory, Sauerbrunn has always taken the lead.