Samantha Lynn Witteman (born February 26, 1994) is an American former

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. Shortly after graduating from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, where she played for the

California Golden Bears The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley. Referred to in athletic competition as ''California'' or ''Cal'', the university fields 30 varsity athletic programs and various club te ...

, Witteman was drafted by the

Orlando Pride The Orlando Pride are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Orlando, Florida, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The Pride began play in the 2016 National Women's Soccer League season, 2016 ...

as their first round pick in the NWSL College Draft in January 2016.

Early life

Witteman was born in

Redondo Beach, California Redondo Beach (Spanish for ) is a coastal city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located in the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the Greater Los Angeles area. It is one of three adjacent Beach Cities, beach c ...

, where she attended

Redondo Union High School Redondo Union High School (RUHS) is a public high school in Redondo Beach, California. Redondo Union High School is a part of the Redondo Beach Unified School District. All residents of Redondo Beach are zoned to Redondo Union. In addition, re ...

where she was a four-year varsity letter winner. She was named First Team All-

Bay League The Bay League is a high school athletic conference in the South Bay region of Los Angeles County, California affiliated with the CIF Southern Section. Member schools *Culver City High School *Mira Costa High School *Palos Verdes High School * Pen ...

and Bay League's Most Offensive Player in her junior and senior years. During her senior year, she scored 23 goals and made 19 assists. She was voted captain of the varsity soccer team two years in a row. In 2009 and 2011, she was recognized as Redondo Union High School's Most Outstanding Student Athlete. Witteman played on the Cal South Olympic Development Team from 2008 to 2011 and attended the U.S. Soccer U-14 National ID Camp. She was also a member of the Region IV pool in 2009 and 2011.

College career

During her freshman year at the University of California, Berkeley, Witteman played in 19 of the 22 games of the season, securing one assist. In her sophomore year, she started in seven of the 21 games of the season scoring six goals and logging four assists. One of her six goals was the game winning point against the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

, and another game winner against

Saint Mary's College of California Saint Mary's College of California is a Private college, private Catholic college in Moraga, California, United States. Established in 1863, it is administered by the De La Salle Brothers. The college offers undergraduate and graduate programs w ...

. Following her junior season, the

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level for all sports, and its Co ...

recognized Witteman with an All-Academic Honorable Mention in 2014. She started in 18 games, and played in all 22 of the season. Samantha scored in each of the two

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

tournament games against

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CS ...

and 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 ...

. She scored four goals and made eight assists. One of her goals won the game against

Pacific University Pacific University is a private university in Forest Grove, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1849 as the Tualatin Academy, the original Forest Grove campus is west of Portland. Affiliated with the United Church of Christ, the school mainta ...

. Witteman gave an assist to Kory Lamet, securing a win against

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctor ...

. Witteman's senior year at Berkeley was an all-star season. She was named on all-Pac-12's First Team and the

National Soccer Coaches Association of America The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of United States, American soccer Coach (sport), coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization i ...

awarded her All-American status. She was also recognized as

Muscle Milk CytoSport is an American manufacturer of sports-oriented nutritional products, or "supplements" based in Benicia, California. It is a subsidiary of PepsiCo organized under the Gatorade line of products, and is primarily known for its line of Muscl ...

's Student Athlete of the Week for the week of October 19, 2015. Witteman started all 21 games of the season, filling seven different positions at least once, securing four game winning goals throughout the season. Witteman's coach during her college soccer career was Neil McGuire, who previously coached her future Orlando Pride teammate,

Alex Morgan Alexandra Morgan Carrasco (born Alexandra Patricia Morgan; July 2, 1989) is an American former professional association football, soccer player.She co-captained the United States women's national soccer team, United States national team with ...

Club career

Orlando Pride, 2016

Witteman was selected tenth overall in the

2016 NWSL College Draft The 2016 NWSL College Draft was the fourth annual meeting of National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchises to select eligible college players. It was held on January 15, 2016, at the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Convention ...

by the

. She was the first soccer player from UC Berkeley to be recruited to the National Women's Soccer League. She made her debut for the club in a match against the

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 ...

on May 1, 2016. She made her first start a few days later against

Seattle Reign FC Seattle Reign FC is an American professional soccer team based in Seattle, Washington, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Founded in 2012, it is one of eight inaugural members of the NWSL. Since June 2024, the Reign ar ...

North Carolina Courage, 2017

In January 2017, Witteman was traded to the

North Carolina Courage The North Carolina Courage are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Cary, North Carolina, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It was founded on January 9, 2017, after Stephen Malik acqui ...

in exchange for Alanna Kennedy.

PSV, 2018-

In January 2018, Witteman signed with

PSV Vrouwen PSV Vrouwen (or PSV Women) is a Dutch women's football team representing PSV Eindhoven in the Eredivisie Vrouwen, the top women's league in the Netherlands. A founding member of the BeNe League in 2012, the team was known as PSV/FC Eindhoven and ...

International career

In February 2016, Witteman was selected to the United States U23 for the Istria Cup.

References

External links

Pride player profile

U.S. Soccer player profile

Cal player profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Witteman, Sam Living people 1994 births National Women's Soccer League players Orlando Pride players American women's soccer players Soccer players from California Sportspeople from Redondo Beach, California California Golden Bears women's soccer players Apollon Ladies F.C. players Expatriate women's footballers in Cyprus Orlando Pride draft picks North Carolina Courage players Women's association football defenders Expatriate women's footballers in the Netherlands 21st-century American sportswomen