Rakel Bjork Campbell (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Karvelsson;

Icelandic name Icelandic names are names used by people from Iceland. Icelandic surnames are different from most other naming systems in the modern Western world in that they are patronymic or occasionally matronymic: they indicate the father (or mother) o ...

: Rakel Björk Ögmundsdóttir; born 4 January 1977) is a former Icelandic-American professional

soccer player 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 ...

. Born and raised in the United States, she represented

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

internationally. In 2000 she was named Icelandic Women's Footballer of the Year.

Early life

Rakel Bjork Karvelsson was born on 4 January 1977, in

Panorama City Panorama City is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California, in the San Fernando Valley. It has a generally young age range as well as the highest population density in the Valley. More than half of the neighborhood's population was b ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, to Icelandic parents Ögmundur Karvelsson and Sigurlína Björgvinsdóttir. Her brothers, Ómar and Róbert, both played soccer.

Career

Karvelsson 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 ...

for the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

from 1995 to 1998, and gained a reputation as a super sub. She started just 8 of her 102 appearances for the

Tar Heels Tar Heel (or Tarheel) is a nickname applied to the U.S. state of North Carolina and its people. It is also the nickname of the University of North Carolina athletic teams, students, alumni, and fans. The origins of the Tar Heel nickname trace ba ...

, but contributed 40 goals and 33 assists. She was named Icelandic Women's Footballer of the Year in 2000. She made 10 appearances for the Iceland national team, scoring 7 goals. In the 2001 season, she played for the

Philadelphia Charge The Philadelphia Charge was an American women's professional soccer team that played in the Women's United Soccer Association. The team played at Villanova Stadium on the campus of Villanova University near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. History I ...

of the

Women's United Soccer Association The Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) was the world's first women's soccer league in which all the players were paid as professionals. Founded in February 2000, the league began its first season in April 2001 with eight teams in the Uni ...

, after a stint at Breiðablik in Iceland. She suffered an

anterior cruciate ligament injury An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during in ...

while in training for the 2002 season.

Personal life

Karvelsson attended

McIntosh High School McIntosh High School is a comprehensive four-year public secondary school located in Peachtree City, Georgia, United States, in Metro Atlanta. As of 2016, it has an enrollment of 1,684 students in grades nine through twelve. The school, governed ...

Peachtree City, Georgia Peachtree City is the largest city in Fayette County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 38,244. Peachtree City is located in southern Metro Atlanta. Golf carts are widely used in the city. Over 10,000 hous ...

. She and her husband Lance Campbell (whose surname she adopted upon marriage), is a pharmaceutical executive who played soccer at

Texas Lutheran University Texas Lutheran University (TLU) is a private Evangelical Lutheran university in Seguin, Texas. History The university traces its roots back to 1891 with the foundation of an academy, named Evangelical Lutheran College, by the first German Eva ...

. They have four children; a son and three daughters. Cole Campbell, the eldest, is a professional soccer player, while two of the three younger children also play soccer. Her Icelandic name is Rakel Björk Ögmundsdóttir.

Notes

References

External links

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North Carolina Tar Heels – Rakel Karvelsson
1977 births Living people Rakel Karvelsson Rakel Karvelsson Women's association football midfielders Rakel Karvelsson Women's United Soccer Association players Philadelphia Charge players American people of Icelandic descent Soccer players from Georgia (U.S. state) North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer players American women's soccer players Rakel Karvelsson People from Panorama City, Los Angeles Sportspeople from Peachtree City, Georgia Soccer players from Los Angeles {{Iceland-women-footy-bio-stub