Ella Copple Masar (formerly Ella Masar McLeod; born April 3, 1986) is an American-Canadian former 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 is currently an assistant coach for Chicago Stars FC 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 previously played for FC Rosengård, Houston Dash,

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 ...

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

, magicJack, and

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg (), is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of Wolfsburg. I ...

. She made one appearance for the United States national team in 2009.

Early life

Born in

Urbana, Illinois Urbana ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 census, Urbana had a population of 38,336. It is a principal city of the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, which had 236,000 residents i ...

, Masar attended Urbana High School, where she holds the school record for most goals in a season (40) and career (92). Masar also played club soccer for Little Illini Soccer Club (now Illinois FC). Her mother was diagnosed with

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder (BD), previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of Depression (mood), depression and periods of abnormally elevated Mood (psychology), mood that each last from days to weeks, and in ...

when Masar was a teen, and her parents later divorced. Her father died from a heart attack in October 2011 while Masar was playing in France.

University of Illinois

Masar enrolled at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

in 2004. She was a college walk-on and played for the

Fighting Illini The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports. The university operates a number of athletic fac ...

for four years. In 2006, she was named

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...

Offensive Player of the Year and

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 ...

Second Team All-American. During Masar's senior year, she was named All-Big Ten First Team and Lowe's All-American First Team. Over the course of the 2007 season, Masar tallied 12 goals and 3 assists. Throughout her career, Masar compiled a total of 20 assists—the second most in the program's history—and 27 goals.

Club career

W-League

Masar started to play in the W-League in 2004 with Windy City Bluez. She appeared in just one game for the team, playing the full 90 minutes. In 2005, Masar switched to the Chicago Gaels, for whom she appeared in seven games for (650 minutes). She scored 9 goals and added an assist. She stayed with the team the following season and played in 9 more games (791 minutes). In 2006, she scored 1 goal and 1 assist.

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March 18, ...

marked the next stop for Masar, who played for the

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

team in 2007. She appeared alongside Cori Alexander,

Tiffeny Milbrett Tiffeny Carleen Milbrett (born October 23, 1972) is an American former professional soccer forward who was a longtime member of the United States women's national team. In May 2018 the National Soccer Hall of Fame announced Milbrett will be ens ...

, Jill Oakes, and McCall Zerboni. She played in eight games (632 minutes) and scored one goal and assisted on five others. Masar moved to Washington Freedom in 2008, where she appeared in seven games (321 minutes) and scored three goals, while helping the Freedom to a first-place finish in the Northeast Division.

Team Strømmen, 2008

After the 2008 W-League season, Masar played in

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 ...

with Team Strømmen for part of the 2008 Toppserien. She scored four goals in nine Toppserien appearances. The team advanced to the

Norwegian Cup The Norwegian Football Cup () is the main knockout cup competition in Norwegian football. It is run by the Football Association of Norway and has been contested since 1902, making it the oldest football tournament in the country. The tournament ...

final, where they lost to Røa IL, 3–1. Masar scored Strømmen's sole goal in the final.

Chicago Red Stars, 2009–2010

With the introduction of top-flight women's soccer back to 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 ...

in the form of

Women's Professional Soccer Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top-level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 ...

, Masar declared herself eligible for the WPS. She was drafted in the second round (9th overall) to the

in the 2008 WPS General Draft on October 6, 2008. In the inaugural

2009 Women's Professional Soccer season The 2009 Women's Professional Soccer season served as the inaugural season for WPS, the top level professional women's soccer league in the United States. The regular season began on March 29 and ended on August 9, with the postseason being held ...

, Masar appeared in 16 games (five starts, 655 minutes) and recorded two assists. However, her season was hampered by a hip injury sustained on June 7, 2009 during a match against FC Gold Pride, which resulted in four torn muscles. It was announced on September 28, 2009 that Masar's contract option had been picked up by Chicago, who held her playing rights for the 2010 Women's Professional Soccer season. In September 2010 Masar returned to Team Strømmen, who had changed their name to LSK Kvinner FK, for part of the 2010 Toppserien. She scored three goals in six Toppserien games.

magicJack and Paris Saint-Germain, 2011

During the 2011 WPS season, Masar played for magicJack. She made 16 appearances for the club and scored 4 goals. Masar was the only player to condemn publicly the team owner,

Dan Borislow Daniel Marc Borislow (September 21, 1961 – July 21, 2014) was an American entrepreneur, sports team owner, inventor, and thoroughbred horse breeder. Borislow was born and grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and attended Widener Univers ...

, accusing him of mistreating players, including her. Masar played with

for the 2011–2012 season. She made 17 appearances (1107 minutes) and scored six goals.

Chicago Red Stars, 2012–2013

Masar rejoined the Red Stars for the 2012 WPSLE season, and was re-signed by the Stars for the 2013 NWSL season.

Houston Dash, 2014–2015

Masar was left unprotected by the

during the 2014 NWSL Expansion Draft and on January 10, 2014 was one of 10 players selected by the Houston Dash. In the 2015 season, Masar took over as Dash captain from her girlfriend Erin McLeod (whom Masar married in July 2015), who was on

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the f ...

squad. In November 2015, the Dash waived Masar at her request. She cited a desire to be close to McLeod, who was pursuing a chance to play for a club competing in the

UEFA Women's Champions League The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. ...

. Masar ended her time with the Dash with 37 appearances and 5 goals.

FC Rosengård, 2016–2018

In December 2015, FC Rosengård announced the signing of Masar for the 2016 season. McLeod had previously told the press that the two would be playing together in Sweden. For the 2016 season she was tied, with Marta, for most goals. As of October 17, 2017 she has tied her season high of 13 goals from last year, and is tied for 2nd with most goals in Sweden's Damallsvenskan. There are 3 league games remaining.

VfL Wolfsburg, 2018–2019

At the beginning of 2018, Masar signed with

until 2019 on a free transfer from FC Rosengård.

International career

Masar's international career began in 2007 with the U-21 Women's National Team. She appeared in 12 games, scoring two goals and adding an assist. In 2008, the U-21 team switched to being a U-23 team. For the newly re-branded U-23 Women's National Team, Masar appeared in eight games and scored three goals, her last appearance coming in 2009 before she became ineligible due to age. Masar's made her debut for the

United States women's national soccer team The United States women's national soccer team (USWNT) represents the United States in international women's soccer. The team is governed by the United States Soccer Federation and competes in CONCACAF (the Confederation of North, Central Ameri ...

on October 29, 2009 against

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, where she was a 73rd-minute substitute for

Amy Rodriguez Amy Joy Rodriguez Shilling (; born February 17, 1987) is an American soccer coach and retired professional player who most recently served as head coach of Utah Royals of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). During a career that spanned 1 ...

. Masar and Kacey White were late additions to the squad due to the retirement of Angela Hucles and an injury to

Megan Rapinoe Megan Anna Rapinoe (; born July 5, 1985) is an American former professional Association football, soccer player who played as a Midfielder#Winger, winger. She spent most of her career playing for Seattle Reign FC, OL Reign of the National Wom ...

Coaching career

Masar joined the coaching staff of

club

Kansas City Current The Kansas City Current are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Kansas City, Missouri, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It was founded as an NWSL expansion, expansion team in 2021 NWSL ...

on February 7, 2022. In January 2023, she joined as an assistant coach for the

Personal life

Masar is a Christian. Masar came out as a lesbian on March 17, 2015. On July 6, 2015, Masar married Canadian teammate Erin McLeod in Vancouver following the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. The two co-hosted a regular online web show called ''The Ella and Erin Show'' while playing for the Chicago Red Stars and later the Houston Dash in order to promote home games and give away tickets to fans. Masar and McLeod underwent an amicable separation in 2019, followed by divorce. Masar is currently in a relationship with German soccer player Babett Peter. In September 2020, Masar gave birth to a baby boy. Masar and Peter married on July 21, 2022. An American citizen by birth, Masar received Canadian citizenship on December 29, 2015, by virtue of her previous marriage to McLeod. In 2019, Masar co-founded Doyenne Sport, an agency for female footballers.

Honors

FC Rosengård * Svenska Cupen: 2016–17, 2017–18 VfL Wolfsburg *

Frauen-Bundesliga The Frauen-Bundesliga (German language, German for ''Women's Federal League''), currently known as the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of league competition for women's association football in Germany. I ...

: 2018–19 * DFB Pokal: 2018–19

References

External links

US Soccer player profile

WPS player profile

Chicago Red Stars player profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Masar, Ella 1986 births Living people American women's soccer players 21st-century American sportswomen United States women's international soccer players Washington Freedom (soccer) players Illinois Fighting Illini women's soccer players MagicJack (WPS) players Expatriate women's soccer players in Canada American expatriate sportspeople in Canada American expatriate women's soccer players in Germany Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Chicago Red Stars players Expatriate women's footballers in Norway LSK Kvinner FK players Toppserien players Expatriate women's footballers in France American expatriate sportspeople in France Paris Saint-Germain FC (women) players National Women's Soccer League players Women's Professional Soccer players Houston Dash players Expatriate women's footballers in Sweden FC Rosengård players Damallsvenskan players People from Urbana, Illinois Canadian lesbian sportswomen Canadian LGBTQ soccer players Women's association football defenders Women's association football forwards American twins LGBTQ people from Illinois Frauen-Bundesliga players VfL Wolfsburg (women) players Première Ligue players Lesbian Christians Kansas City Current non-playing staff Chicago Red Stars non-playing staff Women's Premier Soccer League Elite players American lesbian sportswomen American LGBTQ soccer players United States women's youth international soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Sweden American expatriate sportspeople in Norway Canadian women's soccer players Canadian women's soccer coaches American women's soccer coaches 21st-century Canadian sportswomen