Chinyelu Bessum Asher (born 20 May 1993) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

USL Super League The USL Super League (USLS), officially known as the Gainbridge Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional women's soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system, alongside the National Women's Socce ...

club

DC Power FC DC Power Football Club is an American professional women's soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the USL Super League (USLS). History Washington, D.C., was named as one of the eight locations in the USL Super League on May 16, ...

. Born in the United States, she represents

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

internationally.

Early life

Chinyelu Asher started playing football at age 9, was taught how to play by her father, Kevin Asher, who is Jamaican. Asher ran track and cross country throughout high school, making repeated appearances to Nationals and Junior Olympics. Simultaneously, Asher played with Freestate United and would play in her school's boys' team during trainings.

College career

Between 2011 and 2013, Asher played for the

Purdue Boilermakers The Purdue Boilermakers are the official college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams representing Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana. As is common with athletic nicknames, the Boilermakers nickname ...

. She later transferred to

Louisville Cardinals The Louisville Cardinals (also known as the Cards) are the NCAA athletic teams representing the University of Louisville. The Cardinals teams play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, beginning in the 2014 season. While playing in the Big East Co ...

in 2014.

Club career

Asher joined BIIK-Kazygurt in 2016 and played 7 matches of the

2016–17 UEFA Women's Champions League The 2016–17 UEFA Women's Champions League was the 16th edition of the European women's club football championship organised by UEFA, and the 8th edition since being rebranded as the UEFA Women's Champions League. The final was held at the Card ...

. She later joined Santa Fe, where her team won the 2017 season and post-season tournament and played all games in the

2017 Copa Libertadores Femenina The 2017 Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores Femenina was the ninth edition of the CONMEBOL Libertadores Femenina (also referred to as the ''Copa Libertadores Femenina''), South America's premier women's club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. The ...

. In 2018, Asher was invited to attend preseason and was a non-roster player for

Washington Spirit The Washington Spirit are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It is a continuation of the D.C. United Women of the USL W-League (1995� ...

. Asher joined Stabæk in January 2019. Asher re-joined

on 8 April 2021. On 4 July 2025, Asher signed a contract with

of the

International career

Although born in the United States, Asher qualified to represent

through her father, who is Jamaican. Asher made her debut with the Jamaica U-20 in 2012 during the

2012 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship The 2012 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship was the sixth edition of the CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship. The final tournament was hosted by Panama from 1 to 11 March 2012. All matches were played at the Estadio Rommel Fernández. The top three ...

. Asher made her senior debut in the

2016 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Championship qualification Sixteen or 16 may refer to: *16 (number) *one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016 Films * '' Pathinaaru'' or ''Sixteen'', a 2010 Tamil film * ''Sixteen'' (1943 film), a 1943 Argentine film directed by Carlos Hugo Christensen * ''Sixteen ...

, on 25 August 2015 versus the Dominican Republic. Asher was selected for Jamaica's

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, football championship contested by 24 List of women's national association football teams, women's ...

squad. She made her World Cup debut during the team's first group stage match against

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

in Grenoble.

International goals

''Scores and results list Jamaica's goal tally first''

Personal life

Asher's mother is of

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

ian descent and father is of

Afro-Jamaican ''See also'' Mulattos in Jamaica Afro-Jamaicans are Jamaicans of predominantly African descent. They represent the largest ethnic group in the country. The ethnogenesis of the Black Jamaican people stemmed from the Atlantic slave trade of ...

descent, and played soccer collegiately at

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

. Asher has an older brother named Daniel Asher, who played

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 ...

Saint Leo University Saint Leo University is a private Catholic university in St. Leo, Florida. It was established in 1889. The university is associated with the Holy Name Monastery, a Benedictine convent, and Saint Leo Abbey, a Benedictine monastery. The universi ...

. Asher is the second youngest of five siblings.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Asher, Chinyelu 1993 births Living people Jamaican women's footballers 21st-century Jamaican sportswomen Women's association football midfielders BIIK Kazygurt players Independiente Santa Fe footballers Stabæk Fotball Kvinner players Toppserien players Jamaica women's international footballers 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup players Jamaican people of Cameroonian descent Sportspeople of Cameroonian descent Jamaican expatriate women's footballers Jamaican expatriate sportspeople in Kazakhstan Expatriate women's footballers in Kazakhstan Jamaican expatriate sportspeople in Colombia Expatriate women's footballers in Colombia Jamaican expatriate sportspeople in Norway Expatriate women's footballers in Norway Soccer players from Silver Spring, Maryland American women's soccer players Purdue Boilermakers women's soccer players Louisville Cardinals women's soccer players Washington Spirit players DC Power FC players African-American soccer players American sportspeople of Jamaican descent American people of Cameroonian descent American expatriate women's soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Kazakhstan American expatriate sportspeople in Colombia American expatriate sportspeople in Norway 21st-century African-American sportswomen 21st-century American sportswomen National Women's Soccer League players Liga MX Femenil players USL Super League players Expatriate women's footballers in Mexico