Melanie Lynn Booth (born August 24, 1984) is a

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 ...

retired

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. She last played for

Sky Blue FC Gotham Football Club is an American professional 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 Sky Blue FC from 2008 un ...

in 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 ...

and for the

Canada women's national soccer team The Canada women's national soccer team () represents Canada in international soccer competitions. They are overseen by the Canadian Soccer Association, the governing body for soccer in Canada. The team reached international prominence at the ...

Early life

Booth was born in

Burlington, Ontario Burlington, officially the City of Burlington, is a city and List of municipalities in Ontario#Lower-tier municipalities, lower-tier municipality in Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton Region at the west end of Lake Ontario in Ontario, Can ...

, Canada.

University of Florida

Booth attended the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

in Gainesville, Florida, where she played for coach Becky Burleigh's

Florida Gators women's soccer The Florida Gators women's soccer team represents the University of Florida in the sport of college soccer. The Gators compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They ...

team from 2003 to 2005, before sitting out the 2006 season due to national team commitments. She returned to Florida in 2007 to complete her collegiate career, and graduated with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in applied

physiology Physiology (; ) is the science, scientific study of function (biology), functions and mechanism (biology), mechanisms in a life, living system. As a branches of science, subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ syst ...

and

kinesiology Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, Biomechanics, biomechanical, Pathology, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kines ...

in 2008.

Playing career

Club

She briefly played with

Ottawa Fury Women Ottawa Fury Women was a Canadian women's soccer team based in Ottawa, Ontario. Founded in 2000, the team was a member of the United Soccer Leagues USL W-League, the second tier of women's soccer in the United States and Canada. The team competed ...

. On January 11, 2013, she joined

in the new

International

Booth was 17 years old when she won her first cap with the Canadian national team on March 1, 2002, at the

Algarve Cup The Algarve Cup is an invitational tournament for national teams in women's association football hosted by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). Held annually in the Algarve region of Portugal since 1994, it is one of the most prestigious and ...

(a 3–0 win over

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

). Booth earned 22 caps and scored three goals playing on the U-19 national team. She played every minute of Canada's six matches in the

2002 FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship The 2002 FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship was held from 17 August to 1 September. It was the first sanctioned youth tournament for women put together by FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada. FIFA granted the tournament to Canada in March ...

, where Canada took the silver medal. She finished second with Canada at the

2006 Peace Queen Cup The 2006 Peace Queen Cup was first edition of Peace Queen Cup. It was held from 28 October to 4 November 2006 in South Korea. Venues Group stage Group A ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Group B ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Fin ...

after a 0–1 loss 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 final. She finished second with Canada at the 2006 CONCACAF Gold Cup after a 1–2 loss to the United States in the final. She was a member of Canada's 2002 Algarve Cup and 2001 Nordic Cup teams. Booth won a bronze medal with Canada at the 15th Pan American women's soccer tournament in July 2007 at

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, Brazil. In 2007, she represented Canada at the

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior list of women's national association football teams, women's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internationale de Footb ...

in China. She finished second with Canada at the 2008 CONCACAF Olympic qualification tournament (where Canada qualified for the Summer Olympics). She scored her first goal during the 4–0 win over

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 ...

. In the 2011 Pan-American women's soccer tournament, Booth helped Canada win the gold medal game against the defending champions,

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 ...

, by scoring on a penalty kick after extra-time. Booth was named to the Canada squad for the 2012 London Olympics initially as an alternate. However, due to injuries to regular Canadian roster team players

Emily Zurrer Emily Jane Zurrer (born July 12, 1987) is a Canadian former soccer player who played as a defender. She previously played for Seattle Reign FC in the National Women's Soccer League, Dalsjöfors GoIF in the Damallsvenskan, and the Vancouver Whi ...

and Robyn Gayle, on Monday, July 30, 2012, the Canadian soccer coach officially added her to the team's official roster. She was later awarded an Olympic medal atop the podium at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

. Booth stated, "I was standing next to

Marie-Ève Marie-Ève or Marie-Eve is a French feminine given name. Notable people with the name include: * Marie-Ève Beauchemin-Nadeau (born 1988), Canadian Olympian weightlifter * Marie-Eve Dicaire (born 1986), Canadian boxer * Marie-Ève Drolet (born 1 ...

on the lympicpodium and I was the giddiest I had ever been. We were laughing about everything... Just being in Wembley in front of 60,000 people... After we got our medals (and bouquets), Marie-Ève said, 'I know these are just flowers but they're so beautiful.'" Booth retired from international and club soccer on November 13, 2013.

References

External links

* *
archive
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Booth, Melanie Living people Women's association football defenders Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Canadian expatriate women's soccer players Canadian women's soccer players Canada women's international soccer players Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States National Women's Soccer League players Florida Gators women's soccer players Footballers at the 2011 Pan American Games Soccer players from Burlington, Ontario Pan American Games gold medalists in football Pan American Games bronze medalists in football Vancouver Whitecaps FC (women) players USL W-League (1995–2015) players Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in football Olympic bronze medalists for Canada Gotham FC players Pan American Games gold medalists for Canada Pan American Games soccer players for Canada Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Pan American Games bronze medalists for Canada 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup players Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games 21st-century Canadian sportswomen Ottawa Fury (women) players Tampa Bay Hellenic players 1984 births