Emily Zurrer

Emily Zurrer
	Zurrer in July 2012
Personal information
Full name	Emily Jane Zurrer
Date of birth	July 12, 1987 (age 37)
Place of birth	Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Defender
Team information
Current team	Jitex BK
Number	4
College career
Years	Team
2005–2008	Illinois Fighting Illini
Senior career*
Years	Team
2008	Vancouver Whitecaps
2009	Chicago Red Eleven
2010	SG Essen-Schönebeck
2010–2011	Vancouver Whitecaps
2011	Dalsjöfors GoIF
2013	Seattle Reign FC
2014	Jitex BK
International career‡
2004	Canada U17
2006	Canada U20
2008–	Canada
Medal record
Olympic Games
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of April 15, 2015; ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 08:45, May 31, 2015 (UTC)

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 League, Dalsjöfors GoIF in the Damallsvenskan, and the Vancouver Whitecaps in the W-League.

Early life

University of Illinois

Zurrer attended the University of Illinois and ended her collegiate career as one of the most decorated players in Illinois history. She was the first three-time All-American in program history and earned first-team All-Big Ten honours three years in a row. Additionally, Zurrer was named Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Year during her sophomore campaign.^[2]

During her tenure on the back line, Illinois produced 42 shutouts and gave up the second-fewest goals in program history in 2008, allowing just 19.^[2]

Coach Janet Rayfield said of Zurrer, "Emily keeps everything in perspective and weathers the ups and downs of life and of athletics with an amazing positive demeanor and a constant smile. She has lofty goals and goes after them with intent and purpose. She is in simple words – a positive life force."^[3]

During her time at the University of Illinois, Zurrer was also very active off the field, taking a lead role in Illinois' Hometown Heroes program, which includes visits to local elementary schools and seniors' centres, in addition to involvement with Read Across America, Carle Pediatrics, Relay for Life, Yankee Ridge After School Program, Crisis Nursery Holiday Shop and Big Brothers Big Sisters.^[2]

Zurrer was awarded the Big Ten Medal of Honor^[4] her senior year in 2009. Awarded to one male and one female student-athlete from the graduating class of each member university who had "attained the greatest proficiency in athletics and scholastic work."

Playing career

Club

Vancouver Whitecaps

Zurrer played for the Vancouver Whitecaps off and on for multiple seasons starting in 2004, in between Canadian national team duty and attending university. Her most recent stint was during the 2010 season.^[5] She made seven appearances and scored one goal.^[6]

Chicago Red Eleven

Played for the Red Eleven in 2009, starting all appearances and scoring 3 goals.

SG Essen-Schönebeck

During the 2009–10 season, Zurrer played for SG Essen-Schönebeck in Germany's Bundesliga. She started in all nine games in which she played.^[7]

Dalsjöfors GoIF

In July 2011, she signed a three-month contract with Swedish side Dalsjöfors GoIF.^[8] Zurrer started in all ten games that she played.^[7]

Seattle Reign FC

On January 11, 2013, as part of the NWSL Player Allocation, Zurrer joined the Seattle Reign FC in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL).^[9]^[10] She played in seven games for the Reign, tallying 583 minutes.^[7]

Jitex BK

In December 2013, Zurrer signed with Jitex BK for the 2014 Damallsvenskan. She captained the team.^[11]

International

Zurrer has played for the Canadian national women's team, most notably at the 2004 FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship, FIFA Women's World Cup 2011, the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, and the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada. She started playing for Canada at age 15 as a forward, and burst onto Canadian soccer radar when she scored 3 goals as a defender and was named MVP of the U-19 World Cup Qualifying tournament in 2004 at age 16. She has played defence ever since. She also received her first senior national team cap that year, when she played 90 minutes against the United States in Nashville, Tennessee, as one of the youngest capped players in Canadian soccer history.

As a member of the Canadian team at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, Zurrer started every game in the defensive backfield.^[12]

Zurrer scored her first senior goal for Canada in the 2011 Cyprus Cup group stage match against Scotland in a 1–0 victory. Less than a week later, Zurrer scored the winning goal in extra time of the Cyprus Cup final against the Netherlands.^[13]

Zurrer was also a member of the national soccer team that competed in the 2012 Olympics. She won a bronze medal with the national team when Canada defeated France 1–0 on August 9, 2012.^[14]^[15]^[16]

Personal life

In 2012, Zurrer launched a frozen yogurt food truck business with her Canadian teammate Selenia Iacchelli.^[17] Zurrer was featured in Sportsnet's 2013 "Beauty of Sport" – an issue featuring Canada's top 25 most beautiful athletes.

References

^ ^a ^b "FIFA Women's World Cup Canada 2015 – List of Players: Canada" (PDF). FIFA. July 6, 2015. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 8, 2019. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Meacham, Zurrer Earn Top Honor at Scholar-Athlete Reception". University of Illinois. Archived from the original on February 16, 2013. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
^ "Emily Zurrer". NSCAA Senior Class Award. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
^ "Big Ten Announces Medal of Honor Winners". June 10, 2009.^{[dead link]}
^ "Vancouver Whitecaps FC – W-League 2010 Roster". W-League. Archived from the original on February 23, 2014. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
^ "Vancouver Whitecaps 2010 stats". W-League. Archived from the original on February 23, 2014. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
^ ^a ^b ^c "E. Zurrer". Soccer Way. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
^ "SVT Sport". July 31, 2011. Archived from the original on October 9, 2012. Retrieved August 1, 2011.
^ "Player distribution sees NWSL take shape". FIFA. Archived from the original on January 17, 2013. Retrieved January 13, 2013.
^ "New Women's League Allocates Players". New York Times. January 11, 2013. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
^ Janlind, Frederick (December 22, 2013). "Jitex värvar landslagsspelare". Göteborgs-Posten. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
^ "Emily Zurrer player profile". Canada Olympic Committee. September 18, 2011. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
^ "Emily Zurrer finds her scoring touch". CBC Sports. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
^ Don Bodger (August 12, 2012). "Bronze medal glory overwhelming for Zurrer". Cowichan News Leader Pictorial. Archived from the original on February 4, 2014. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
^ "Emily Zurrer's grit wins Olympic spot". The Province. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
^ "Emily Zurrer brings bronze home to Cowichan Valley". Canada.com. Archived from the original on February 15, 2013. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
^ "West Coast Soccer Podcast – Episode 26 (Emily Zurrer and Oliver Dufour)". Canadian Soccer News. Archived from the original on January 16, 2013. Retrieved January 16, 2013.