Marissa Maeve Sheva (born 22 April 1997) 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 most plays as a forward for the

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

in the

Women's Championship The Women's Super League 2, also known as Barclays Women's Super League 2 for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in England, operated by WSL Football. It is the second-highest division of women's football in England. The div ...

. Born and raised in the United States to an American father and an

Irish-American Irish Americans () are Irish ethnics who live within in the United States, whether immigrants from Ireland or Americans with full or partial Irish ancestry. Irish immigration to the United States From the 17th century to the mid-19th c ...

mother, she is capped for the Republic of Ireland women's national team.

High School

Sheva graduated from Pennridge High School. While she was in high school, she was a state champion in the 1600m and 3200m. She competed at Foot Locker Cross Country Nationals

College career

Sheva played

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

and as a

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

was a 2015 NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament champion. She was a two-sport athlete and despite concluding her soccer career in 2018 with 13 goals in 92 appearances, she did not enter the 2019 NWSL College Draft due to finishing her track commitments.

Club career

Sheva joined

Deportivo Alavés Gloriosas Deportivo Alavés Gloriosas is a Spanish Women's association football, women's football team from Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, currently playing in the Liga F. It is the women's section of Deport ...

of Spain's Segunda División Pro in February 2020. After a single 11-minute substitute appearance, she left shortly afterwards to attend

Utah Royals FC The Utah Royals (formerly Utah Royals FC) are an American professional soccer team based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Established on November 16, 2017, as an expansion team, ...

preseason In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of S ...

training camp. She was signed on as a

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience, a rookie is typically considered needing more tra ...

ahead of the

2020 NWSL Challenge Cup The 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup was a tournament during the 2020 National Women's Soccer League season to mark the league's return to action from the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the first professional team sports event to return to play in United States ...

. Hip surgery ruled Sheva out of the 2021 season, but she joined

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� ...

during their 2022 season. Initially signed as a short-term COVID-19 replacement player, she was later reclassified as an injury replacement player, then a national team replacement player, before being given an active roster slot in August 2022. After making eight NWSL appearances (three starts) in 2022, she was given a new one-year professional contract by the club in November of that year. On 26 March 2025, it was announced that Sheva had joined English club

International career

Sheva alerted the

Football Association of Ireland The Football Association of Ireland (FAI; ) is the governing body for association football in the Republic of Ireland. Organisation The FAI has an executive committee of five members under the president, who receive expenses, as well as a p ...

to her

eligibility Eligibility may refer to: * The right to run for office (in elections), sometimes called ''passive suffrage'' or ''voting eligibility'' * Desirability as a marriage partner, as in the term ''eligible bachelor'' * Validity for participation, as in ...

for the

Republic of Ireland women's national football team The Republic of Ireland women's national football team () represents the Republic of Ireland in competitions such as the FIFA Women's World Cup and the UEFA Women's Championship. The team played in their first World Cup at the 2023 FIFA Women' ...

and was called up to a training camp in

Marbella Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the re ...

in February 2023. Her maternal grandparents came from

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county of the Republic of Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is the northernmost county of Ireland. The county mostly borders Northern Ireland, sharing only a small b ...

and

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. Its county town is Omagh. Adjoined to the south-west shore of Lough Neagh, the cou ...

. Sheva won her first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

as a half-time substitute for Abbie Larkin in a 0–0 friendly draw with

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, staged at

Estadio Nuevo Mirador Estadio Nuevo Mirador is the Municipal Stadium of Algeciras Algeciras () is a city and a municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. Located in the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula, near ...

Algeciras Algeciras () is a city and a municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. Located in the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula, near the Strait of Gibraltar, it is the largest city on the Bay of G ...

, on 22 February 2023. In April 2023 Sheva started Ireland's next two fixtures, both against 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 ...

. Sheva played on the left

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

, having made her debut on the right wing. Although beaten in both games, the performance of the team and Sheva individually were viewed as encouraging by coach Pauw ahead of the

2023 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international women's association football, football championship contested by List of women's national association football teams, women's nat ...

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

Honors

Penn State Nittany Lions *

NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship The NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship, sometimes known as the Women's College Cup, is an American college soccer tournament conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and determines the Division I women's natio ...

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 ...

References

External links

*
Penn State profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheva, Marissa 1997 births Living people People from Sellersville, Pennsylvania Soccer players from Bucks County, Pennsylvania Republic of Ireland women's association footballers Republic of Ireland women's international footballers American women's soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Spain American expatriate women's soccer players American people of Irish descent Deportivo Alavés Gloriosas players Expatriate women's footballers in Spain National Women's Soccer League players Penn State Nittany Lions women's soccer players Utah Royals players Washington Spirit players Women's association football forwards Penn State Nittany Lions women's track and field athletes 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup players 21st-century American sportswomen Portland Thorns FC players 21st-century Irish sportswomen