Alyssa Marie Ramsey (born September 21, 1982) is an American former

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

, making eight appearances for the United States women's national team.

Career

Ramsey played for the North Mecklenburg Vikings in high school, where she was an

NSCAA The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization in the world, with more than ...

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

n as a sophomore, was named

Gatorade Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. The drink is owned and manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was develope ...

North Carolina Female Player of the Year in 1998 and the following year in her junior year in 1999. She was also a ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually some variety ...

'' High-School All-American in 2000, though she missed her senior season of high school soccer due to residency with the national team. She also played club soccer for the youth team Charlotte Soccer Club '81 Ladies Blues, and participated in track as a freshman and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

for one season. In college, she played for the

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels (also Carolina Tar Heels) are the college sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to ...

from 2000 to 2003, winning the

NCAA championship The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

and

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

. She was an All-American during her collegiate career, having been included in the ''Soccer Buzz'' third team in 2000 and 2001, as well as being an honorable mention by ''Soccer Times'' in 2000 and ''Soccer Buzz'' in 2002. She received various honors as a freshman in 2000, having been included in the ''Soccer Buzz'' All-Region Freshman Team, the All- ACC Freshman Team, and the Freshman All-American First Team by ''

Soccer America ''Soccer America'', the oldest soccer-specific media publisher in the United States, was founded in 1971 by Clay Berling in Albany, California. The magazine is headquartered in Oakland, California. History The magazine was founded by Clay Ber ...

'', ''Soccer Buzz'', and ''Soccer Times''. Ramsey was included in the All-ACC team in all four seasons, featuring in the first team in 2000 and the second team from 2001 to 2003, and was also included in the ACC All-Tournament Team in 2001 and 2003, the former of which she was named as the tournament

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

. She also received All-Region honors in all four seasons, having been included in the NSCAA first team in 2001 and third team in 2002, as well as in the ''Soccer Buzz'' first team in 2000 and 2001, second team in 2002, and third team in 2003. She was included in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

All-Tournament Team in

, and was a finalist for the

Hermann Trophy The Hermann Trophy is awarded annually by the Missouri Athletic Club to the United States's top men's and women's college soccer players. History In 1967, Bob Hermann, the president of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and th ...

in 2002. In total, she scored 57 goals and recorded 71 assists in 102 appearances for the Tar Heels. Her tally of career assists ranks second in school history, only one short of the record set by

Mia Hamm Mariel Margaret "Mia" Hamm (born March 17, 1972) is an American former professional Association football, soccer player, two-time Women's Football at the Summer Olympics, Olympic gold medalist and two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion. Haile ...

. Ramsey played for the under-16, under-17, under-18, and under-21 U.S. national teams. She made her international debut for the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

on February 6, 2000 in a friendly match against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. In total, she made eight appearances for the U.S., earning her final cap on March 17, 2001 in the 2001 Algarve Cup against the same opponent, Norway.

Personal life

Ramsey was born in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

, though she grew up in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

. Her grandfather,

Knox Ramsey Knox Wagner "Bulldog" Ramsey (February 13, 1926 – March 19, 2005) was an American football offensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL) for the Chicago Cardinals, the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Washington Redskins. Ramsey also pl ...

, was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

player in the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

Career statistics

International

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramsey, Alyssa 1982 births Living people Soccer players from Kansas City, Missouri American women's soccer players 21st-century American sportswomen United States women's international soccer players Women's association football forwards North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer players United States women's youth international soccer players