Elisabeth Charlotte Jean (born January 31, 1997) 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 defender for

Racing Louisville FC Racing Louisville Football Club is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Louisville, Kentucky, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It began playing in 2021 at Lynn Family Stadium. The team i ...

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).

Early life

Jean was born in

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

, and grew up in

Coventry, Connecticut Coventry ( ) is a New England town, town in Tolland County and in the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, United States. The population was 12,235 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The birthpla ...

. As a child, she practiced

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

before taking up soccer, initially at Northeast United. At age 13, she moved teams to youth soccer club Oakwood SC in

Glastonbury, Connecticut Glastonbury ( ) is a town in the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, United States, formally founded in 1693 and first settled in 1636. It was named after Glastonbury in Somerset, England. Glastonbury is ...

, where she played for five years. She attended Coventry High School but did not play soccer for the school, instead competing in

cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and soil, earth, pass through woodlands and ope ...

. The ''Hartford Courant'' named her its cross country runner of the year in her senior year.

College career

In the 2015 season, Jean was credited with six assists in 26 matches played for the Nittany Lions, and the team won the

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

. She

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

in her sophomore season to play for the

United States women's national under-20 soccer team The United States U-20 women's national soccer team is a youth soccer team operated under the auspices of U.S. Soccer. Its primary role is the development of players in preparation for the senior women's national team. The team most recentl ...

at the

2016 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The 2016 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup was the 8th edition of the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, the biennial international Women's association football, women's youth association football, football championship contested by the under-20 national te ...

. Jean finished her Penn State career in 2018 with 100 appearances, one goal, and eight assists.

Club career

Jean played for the

New England Mutiny New England Mutiny is an American women's soccer club, which competes at the pro-am level of women's soccer in the US, in the United Women's Soccer league. The club plays its home games at Lusitano Stadium. Team history Established in 1999 a ...

United Women's Soccer United Women's Soccer (UWS) is a national pro-am Women's association football, women's Association football, soccer league in the United States. The league was founded in 2015 as a response to the dual problems of disorganization in the Women's ...

in 2018 and 2019.

FC Nordsjælland, 2020

Jean opted not to register for the

2020 NWSL College Draft The 2020 NWSL College Draft was the eighth annual meeting of National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchises to select newly eligible college players for the 2020 NWSL season. It was held on January 16, 2020, in conjunction with the United So ...

. On January 14, 2020, Jean signed a contract with semi-professional Danish club

FC Nordsjælland Football Club Nordsjælland, commonly known as FC Nordsjælland, Nordsjælland () or FCN, is a professional Danish association football, football team from the North Zealand town of Farum. Founded as ''Farum Boldklub'' from the merger of the to ...

of the

Danish Women's League The Danish Women's League () is a professional top-flight league for women's football in Denmark. It is organised by the Danish Football Association (DBU) as part of the nation-wide Danmarksturneringen i kvindefodbold (Kvinde-DM) and is placed a ...

. However, due to the

impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports The COVID-19 pandemic caused the most significant disruption to the 2020 in sports, worldwide sporting calendar since World War II. Across the world and to varying degrees, sports events were cancelled or postponed. The 2020 Summer Olympics in ...

, all sport in Denmark was locked down and banned on March 6, 2020, suspending the 2019–20 season. Jean returned to the United States in March.

PSV Eindhoven, 2020–2022

On May 1, 2020, Jean was transferred to Dutch club

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional association football, football department, which has pla ...

and signed a two-year contract with the club. She appeared in 22 league matches for PSV, and four matches of the team's

2020–21 UEFA Women's Champions League The 2020–21 UEFA Women's Champions League was the 20th edition of the European women's club football championship organised by UEFA, and the 12th edition since being rebranded as the UEFA Women's Champions League. The final was held at the Gam ...

campaign, debuting in the European competition in December 2020 in a 1–4 loss to

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

NJ/NY Gotham FC, 2022–2023

On January 31, 2022, NWSL club

NJ/NY Gotham FC Gotham Football Club is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in the New York metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Founded in 2006 as Jersey Sky Blue, the team was known as Sk ...

paid an undisclosed transfer fee to acquire Jean from PSV with six months remaining on her contract with the Dutch club. Gotham signed her to a one-year contract with an option for an additional year. In 2023, newly appointed Gotham FC coach

Juan Carlos Amorós Juan Carlos Amorós López (born 3 June 1984) is a Spanish Manager (association football), football manager who is currently the head coach of Gotham FC of the American National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). He previously managed NWSL club Houst ...

shifted Jean from her traditional role as a fullback to

center back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

, pairing her with

Ali Krieger Alexandra Blaire Krieger (born July 28, 1984) is an American former professional Association football, soccer player who played as a right back or center back. She made more than 100 appearances for the United States women's national soccer team ...

. Gotham FC would go on to win the

NWSL Championship The NWSL Championship is the annual championship game of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top-flight women's soccer league in the United States. It is the culmination of the NWSL playoffs, which is contested by the teams with the ...

Racing Louisville FC, 2024–

On December 12, 2023 Gotham FC traded Jean to expansion team

Bay FC Bay Football Club is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in the San Francisco Bay Area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The team began play in the NWSL as an expansion team in the 2024 Nat ...

in exchange for 2024 NWSL Expansion Draft protection. On December 18, Jean was traded to

International career

Jean was called into camp for the United States under-15 team in October 2012. On September 25, 2013, Jean was named to the United States under-17 roster for the

2013 CONCACAF Women's U-17 Championship The 2013 CONCACAF Under-17 Women's Championship is the fourth edition of the CONCACAF Women's U-17 Championship, U-17 women's championship in association football, football for the CONCACAF region. The tournament was hosted by Jamaica from 30 Octo ...

. Jean captained the team at the tournament. In 2016, Jean started in all six matches for the United States under-20 team at the

. In March 2017, Jean was called into camp for the United States under-23 team for the first time. In June 2017, she was named to the under-23 roster for the 2017 Nordic Cup, where the United States finished in second place. Jean was called into under-23 camp again in July 2017 and January 2018, and in March was named to the roster that would compete in the 2018

Portland Thorns FC Portland Thorns FC is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Portland, Oregon, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Established in 2012, the team began play in 2013 in the then-eight-team NWSL ...

Spring Invitational pre-season tournament.

Personal life

Jean is

Dominican American Dominican Americans (, ) are Americans who trace their ancestry to the Dominican Republic. The phrase may refer to someone born in the United States of Dominican descent or to someone who has migrated to the United States from the Dominican R ...

. Jean's birth father, Domingo Jean, had been a pitcher for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

in 1993. He left the family when Jean was a child, and Jean's mother, Rebecca, raised her as a single parent. Jean's mother remarried, and Jean's stepfather Kevin Bacher was an assistant coach for the

UConn Huskies men's soccer The UConn Huskies men's soccer team is an intercollegiate varsity sports team of the University of Connecticut. The team is a member of the Big East Conference of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). History Connecticut soccer e ...

team, which inspired Jean to play soccer. Jean would later reconnect with her father and half-brother as an adult after returning to the United States from the Netherlands in 2022.

Honors

Penn State Nittany Lions * Women's College Cup champion:

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

PSV Eindhoven *

KNVB Women's Cup The KNVB Women's Cup () is the cup competition for women's football in the Netherlands. The competition was established in 1980, along with the KNVB Amateur Cup. It is organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (K''oninklijke Nederlandse ...

: 2020–21 NJ/NY Gotham FC *

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

References

External links

*
Ellie Jean #5
at

Ellie Jean #21
at

Ellie Jean #14
at

Penn State Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Penn State Lady Lions basketball, Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot ...

Ellie Jean
at PSV (archived) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jean, Ellie 1997 births Living people African-American soccer players American sportspeople of Dominican Republic descent American women's soccer players Soccer players from Tennessee Sportspeople from Chattanooga, Tennessee Women's association football defenders American expatriate women's soccer players Expatriate women's footballers in the Netherlands American expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Penn State Nittany Lions women's soccer players United States women's under-20 international soccer players New England Mutiny players FC Nordsjælland players PSV (women) players Gotham FC players United Women's Soccer players Eredivisie (women) players National Women's Soccer League players United States women's youth international soccer players 21st-century American sportswomen