Ava Cook (born October 3, 1998) is an American professional

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 plays 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 ...

for

Chicago Stars FC Chicago Stars Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in the Chicago metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). A founding member of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league as the Chica ...

of the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...

(NWSL). She played college soccer for the

Grand Valley State Lakers The Grand Valley State Lakers are the intercollegiate athletic teams of Grand Valley State University, located in Allendale, Michigan, United States. The GVSU Lakers compete at the NCAA Division II level and are members of the Great Lakes Interc ...

and the

Michigan State Spartans The Michigan State Spartans are the athletic teams that represent Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 23 Varsity team, varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan Army, Spartan warrior named Sparty, and the sc ...

. She was selected by the Red Stars in the second round of the

2022 NWSL Draft The 2022 NWSL Draft was the 10th annual meeting of National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchises to select eligible college players. It was held on December 18, 2021, and hosted remotely by CBS Sports. Format * All 12 teams of the National ...

Early life

Cook grew up in

Battle Creek, Michigan Battle Creek is a city in northwestern Calhoun County, Michigan, United States, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo River, Kalamazoo and Battle Creek River, Battle Creek rivers. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a tota ...

, and played high school soccer and basketball for Lakeview High School. She played youth soccer for Midwest United.

College career

Cook played four years of

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is the intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment ...

college soccer at

Grand Valley State University Grand Valley State University (GVSU, GV, or Grand Valley) is a public university in Allendale Charter Township, Michigan, Allendale, Michigan, United States. It was established in 1960 as Grand Valley State College. Its main campus is situated on ...

from 2017 to 2021, winning

Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. The GLIAC was founded in June 1972. Its eleven member ...

(GLIAC) titles in all four seasons. She was named second-team All-American and first-team All-GLIAC after leading the conference with 24 goals as a sophomore in 2018. She was named first-team All-American after leading Division II with 29 goals as a junior in 2019. She transferred to

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

for a fifth season and was named second-team All-Big Ten after leading the team with seven goals.

Club career

The

Chicago Red Stars Chicago Stars Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in the Chicago metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). A founding member of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league as the Chic ...

(later renamed Chicago Stars FC) selected Cook 18th overall in the second round of the

. She became a regular player and then starter for the Red Stars, appearing in 19 games of the 24-game NWSL season in 2022 and 20 games in 2023. In mid-April 2024, after appearing in 3 games of the NWSL season, Cook tore her ACL, causing her to miss the remainder of the season.

International career

Cook was called up to the United States national under-23 team for a friendly tournament in June 2022. She scored her first goal for the team against India on June 26 and scored again against Sweden on June 28.

References

External links

*
Ava Cook
at the

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Ava Living people 1998 births Soccer players from Michigan Sportspeople from Battle Creek, Michigan American women's soccer players Women's association football forwards Grand Valley State Lakers athletes Michigan State Spartans women's soccer players Chicago Red Stars draft picks Chicago Stars FC players Chicago Red Stars players National Women's Soccer League players United States women's youth international soccer players 21st-century American sportswomen