Desiree Rose Marie Scott (born 31 July 1987) is a Canadian soccer player who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for National Women's Soccer League club

Kansas City Current Kansas City Current is an American professional women's soccer team based in Kansas City, Kansas. It began play as an expansion team in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in 2021. History Establishment Kansas City last had an NWSL t ...

and the Canadian national team. Nicknamed "the destroyer", she won gold at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, which was her third Olympic medal following bronze medals in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

in London and in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

in Rio.

Early life

Scott was born and raised in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...

. Her father was born in Kingston, Jamaica, while her mother was also born in Winnipeg. She grew up participating in soccer, volleyball, track and field, and basketball. She began playing soccer at the age of eight.

University career

From 2005 to 2009, Scott played

Canadian Interuniversity Sport U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is the Ca ...

(CIS) soccer for the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March ...

from 2006 to 2012. In 2006, Scott appeared in five matches for the Caps (450 minutes), contributing to the team winning their second W-League title that season. In 2010, she appeared in seven games and two playoff games for the team contributing one goal and one assist. Scott helped carry the Whitecaps to the W-League Championship where they eventually fell to Buffalo in the final.

FC Kansas City

In 2013, as part of the

NWSL Player Allocation The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) federation players were players whose salaries for playing in the NWSL were paid for by their respective national federations from 2013 to 2021. American federation players were contracted to the United Sta ...

, Scott joined FC Kansas City in the new National Women's Soccer League. Notts County Ladies of the English FA WSL announced that they had signed Scott in January 2014, but she was subsequently included on the list of Canadian players allocated to the NWSL for 2014.

Notts County

On 27 February 2014, after more than a month of speculation and legal delays, Scott was officially signed by

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

of the FA WSL. She missed the first half of the 2015 season while preparing for the World Cup with Canada, but returned in time for the

2015 FA Women's Cup Final The 2015 FA Women's Cup Final was the 45th final of the FA Women's Cup, England's primary cup competition for women's football teams. The showpiece event was the 22nd to be played directly under the auspices of the Football Association (FA) and ...

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 ...

, which County lost 1–0 to

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. She left the club in February 2016 after making 20 league appearances.

Return to FC Kansas City

On 8 February 2016, it was announced that Scott would play for FC Kansas City for the 2016 season of the National Women's Soccer League via the

Utah Royals FC

On 15 February 2018 Canada Soccer announced that Scott would play for the

Utah Royals FC Utah Royals FC was an American women's professional soccer club based in the Salt Lake City suburb of Sandy, Utah. Established on November 16, 2017, as an expansion club, the Royals played in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) from 2018 ...

during the 2018 season of the National Women's Soccer League via the

. She opted out of play during the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup and the NWSL Fall Series.

Kansas City Current

Utah Royals FC folded in December 2020 and her playing rights were transferred to

Kansas City NWSL Kansas City Current is an American professional women's soccer team based in Kansas City, Kansas. It began play as an expansion team in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in 2021. History Establishment Kansas City last had an NWSL t ...

International career

Scott has previously represented Canada on the U-16 and U-19 youth teams. After being called up to the senior squad by

Carolina Morace Carolina Morace (; born 5 February 1964) is an Italian former footballer who played as a striker and is the current head coach of Lazio Women. She played for the Italian national team and for various clubs in women's Serie A. She was the top ...

, she debuted at the 2010 Cyprus Cup and participated in her first FIFA Women's World Cup at the 2011 event, making two substitute appearances. Under coach

John Herdman John Herdman (born 19 July 1975) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager who is the head coach of the Canada men's national soccer team, Canada men's national team. Coaching career Early career Herdman beg ...

, Scott became a regular pick and won a gold medal at the

2011 Pan American Games The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games, was an international multi-sport event that was held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby cities of Ciudad Guzmán, ...

. At the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, Scott won praise for her performances in the defensive midfield role, drawing comparison to the male player Edgar Davids. She had a major contribution for the team in the bronze medal game, clearing a ball off the line in defence of the goal to keep the score even at zero. Upon return to her native Winnipeg, Scott was serenaded with chants of her name and outbursts of song consisting of the

Canadian national anthem "O Canada" (french: Ô Canada, italic=no) is the national anthem of Canada. The song was originally commissioned by Lieutenant Governor of Quebec Théodore Robitaille for the 1880 Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day ceremony; Calixa Lavallée composed the mus ...

at the

Winnipeg airport Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport (commonly known as Winnipeg International Airport or Winnipeg Airport) is a Transport Canada designated international airport located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is the seventh ...

. Scott took note of the welcome with pride saying that "I'm a very emotional person. To come home and hear my name being screamed... I'm holding back tears right now." On 25 May 2019 she was named to the roster for the

2019 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was the eighth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international Women's association football championship contested by 24 women's national teams representing member associations of FIFA. I ...

Coaching career

Scott is an assistant coach at her alma mater,

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.West Kildonan Collegiate West Kildonan Collegiate (WKC) is a high school in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It is part of the Seven Oaks School Division, and houses about 850 students. The school decided in June 2007 to change the school's name from "West Kildonan Collegiate Institu ...

from 2003 until 2005. She also coached at the South End United Soccer Academy, and ran camps for kids while playing with the

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on Mar ...

and the Canadian women's national team. Scott has also run soccer clinics and camps, and was presenter and instructor for a number of different high school clubs in Winnipeg. Scott has been an ambassador for the

Homeless World Cup The Homeless World Cup is an annual association football tournament organized by the Homeless World Cup Foundation, a social organization which advocates the end of homelessness through the sport of association football. The organization puts tog ...

since 2014. She is also an athlete ambassador for KidSport Winnipeg, a charity that aims to remove the financial barriers to playing sport, and runs an annual soccer camp for girls on behalf of KidSport Winnipeg.

Honours

Canada * Summer Olympics:

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

; bronze medal:

* Pan American Games: 2011 Individual *

Canada West The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on the ...

Hall of Fame Inductee: 2019

References

External links

* * * * *
Vancouver Whitecaps bioFC Kansas City player profileHomeless World Cup Ambassador ProfileKidSport Winnipeg
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Desiree 1987 births Living people Black Canadian women's soccer players Canadian sportspeople of Jamaican descent Soccer people from Manitoba Women's association football midfielders 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 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup players Footballers at the 2011 Pan American Games Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Manitoba Bisons soccer players National Women's Soccer League players Olympic soccer players of Canada Olympic medalists in football Olympic bronze medalists for Canada FC Kansas City players Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Winnipeg Vancouver Whitecaps FC (women) players Notts County L.F.C. players Women's Super League players Expatriate women's footballers in England Pan American Games gold medalists for Canada FIFA Century Club Footballers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Pan American Games medalists in football Utah Royals FC players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in England 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup players Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games Kansas City Current players Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Canada