Meredith Beard
 Teaching soccer to an Afghan girl in June 2004 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Meredith Grace Beard | ||
| Birth name | Meredith Grace Florance[1] | ||
| Date of birth | May 10, 1979 | ||
| Place of birth | Dallas, United States | ||
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1994–1996 | Dallas Sting | ||
| College career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1997–2000 | North Carolina Tar Heels | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2001 | Carolina Courage | 20 | (2) |
| 2002–2003 | Washington Freedom | 19 | (1) |
| International career | |||
| 1999–2001 | United States | 3 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Meredith Grace Beard (née Florance; born May 10, 1979) is an American former professional soccer player. A forward, she represented the Carolina Courage and the Washington Freedom of Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA). She won three caps for the United States national team.
College career
[edit]As a senior at North Carolina, she won the Honda Sports Award as the nation's top soccer player.[2][3]
Club career
[edit]Beard was the Carolina Courage's second draft pick ahead of the inaugural 2001 season of the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA).[4] Ahead of the 2002 season she joined the Washington Freedom as a free agent. She was mainly a substitute at the Freedom, as coach Jim Gabarra preferred to field celebrated forwards Mia Hamm and Abby Wambach.
In 2003, Beard's Freedom team won the Founders Cup, but she did not play in the post-season fixtures. When WUSA subsequently folded, she began working for a kitchen and bathroom showroom.[5]
International career
[edit]In February 1999, Beard won her first cap for the United States national team. She played the second half of a 3–1 behind closed doors win over Finland in Orlando.[6] She played two more matches for the national team in January 2001, both against China.[7]
Personal life
[edit]In February 2002 she married Ryan Beard.[8]
References
[edit]- ^ "Meredith Florance". North Carolina Tar Heels. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
- ^ "Meredith Florance Wins Honda Soccer Award". University of North Carolina Athletics. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
- ^ "Soccer". CWSA. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
- ^ "Rating the eight WUSA teams" (PDF). Soccer America. December 25, 2000. p. 13. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 12, 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
- ^ Steinberg, Dan (June 13, 2004). "Coping with the loss of Freedom". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
- ^ "American kids defeat Finland 3-1". Soccer Times. February 24, 1999. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
- ^ "Forward: Meredith Florance". Soccer Times. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
- ^ "USA arrives in Panyu, China after long day of travel". United States Soccer Federation. January 9, 2001. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
External links
[edit]
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- Living people
- 1979 births
- American women's soccer players
- United States women's international soccer players
- North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer players
- Soccer players from Texas
- Women's association football forwards
- Washington Freedom (soccer) players
- Carolina Courage players
- Women's United Soccer Association players
- American women's soccer biography stubs