Shawna Gordon (born January 18, 1990) is an American former 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. She played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for the

Boston Breakers The Boston Breakers were an American professional women's soccer club based in the Boston neighborhood of Allston. The team competed in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). They replaced the original Breakers, who competed in the defu ...

and

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 America, the

Western Sydney Wanderers Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, Wanderers, or simply as WSW) is an Australian professional association football club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in t ...

in Australia, and

Umeå IK Umeå IK () is a women's professional association football club based in the city of Umeå, in northern Sweden, and currently playing Damallsvenskan, the first tier of women's football in Sweden. They were one of the most successful football cl ...

in the Swedish

Damallsvenskan The (; ), known as OBOS for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in Sweden. It is one of the best women's leagues in the world, and was founded in 1988. The division consists of a league of 14 teams. From 2013, t ...

Early life

Born in

Fontana, California Fontana is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. Founded by Azariel Blanchard Miller in 1913, it remained essentially rural until World War II, when entrepreneur Henry J. Kaiser built a large steel mill in the area. It ...

, in San Bernardino County, Gordon was raised in the nearby city of

Rancho Cucamonga Rancho Cucamonga was a Ranchos of California, Mexican land grant in present-day San Bernardino County, California, given in 1839 to the dedicated soldier, smuggler and politician Tiburcio Tapia by Mexican governor Juan Bautista Alvarado. The gra ...

. She attended

Los Osos High School Los Osos High School is a public high school located in the city of Rancho Cucamonga in Southern California's Inland Empire in the United States. It operates as part of the Chaffey Joint Union High School District. The school was named a Cali ...

where she played for the varsity soccer team all four years and led the team to two league championships. Gordon was named to the league's first-team four times and was named most valuable player (MVP) as a senior. Gordon played club soccer for the Arsenal and played in regional and Olympic Development Program (ODP) camps for five years. In 2006, she helped the '90 Cal South ODP team to an ODP national championship title and a second-place finish the following year.

Long Beach State 49ers, 2008–2011

Gordon attended

California State University, Long Beach California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), also known in athletics as Long Beach State University (LBSU), is a public teaching-focused institution in Long Beach, California, United States. The 322-acre campus is the second largest in the ...

where she played for the Long Beach State 49ers from 2008 to 2011 and helped lead the team to three Big West titles as well as three NCAA Tournament appearances. In 2011, the team advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight for the first time. The same year, Gordon was named Big West Conference Midfielder of the Year.

Club career

2013–14

In 2013, Gordon signed with the

for the inaugural season 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), but did not make an appearance for the club. Following the close of the 2013 NWSL season, Gordon joined the Western Sydney Wanders FC in Australia's W-League for the 2013–2014 season. In December 2013, she was named W-League Player of the Week after the team's 3–0 win over

Perth Glory FC Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in Perth, Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under Professional sports league organi ...

. Gordon made 10 starts for the club and scored one goal. The Wanderers finished in 7th place during the regular season with a record. In summer 2014, Gordon joined LA Blues in Los Angeles and helped lead the team to their fourth W-League championship. She scored five goals and served five assists during the season. In the fall, Gordon joined

in Sweden's

for the 2014 season. She made six appearances for the club. Umeå finished in sixth place with a record.

2015–16

In October 2014, Gordon signed with the NWSL side

based in New Jersey. Of her signing, head coach Jim Gabarra said, "Shawna is a left-footed midfielder who is a great addition to our team. She is very good at set plays, and she has some good playing experience. Her experience at the professional level makes her someone who will add some nice depth to our team." During the 2015 season, she made 13 appearances for the club with 10 starts. Sky Blue finished in eighth place during the regular season with a record.

International career

Gordon has represented the United States on the under-17 national team. In 2008, she was called into training camp for the United States women's national under-20 soccer team.

Personal life

Gordon dated actor

Shemar Moore Shemar Franklin Moore (born April 20, 1970) is an American actor. His notable roles include Malcolm Winters on ''The Young and the Restless'' (1994–2002, 2004–05, 2014, 2019, 2023), Derek Morgan on ''Criminal Minds'' (2005–17), and the l ...

from 2014 to 2015.

References

External links

Sky Blue FC player profile

Western Sydney Wanderers player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Shawna 1990 births Living people American women's soccer players Boston Breakers players Western Sydney Wanderers FC (women) players Umeå IK players Damallsvenskan players Expatriate women's footballers in Sweden Women's association football midfielders Gotham FC players Long Beach State Beach women's soccer players National Women's Soccer League players 21st-century American sportswomen