Sylvia Gee (born 30 November 1977) is a former Republic of Ireland women's international footballer who has spent the majority of her career playing in various women's association football leagues in the Republic of Ireland and 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 ...

. Between 2003 and 2007, Gee was a prominent member and captain of the successful UCD team which qualified for the

UEFA Women's Cup The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. T ...

on three successive occasions.

Playing career

Early years

Gee grew up on a farm in

County Offaly County Offaly (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is named after the Ancient Ireland, ancient Kingdom of Uí ...

before attending

Wesley College, Dublin Wesley College is an independent co-educational secondary school for day and boarding students in Ballinteer, County Dublin, Ireland. Wesley College is under the control of a Board of Governors, appointed each year by the Methodist Church in I ...

between 1990 and 1996, where she studied for her Leaving Cert. At Wesley, Gee played several sports including

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

and

indoor soccer Indoor soccer or arena soccer is a form of five-a-side football, five-a-side or six-a-side version of minifootball. It is derived from association football and adapted to be played in walled hardcourt indoor arenas. It differs from the FIFA, FIFA ...

. Eric Miller was one of her fellow students. Between 1996 and 2000 Gee attended the

University of Limerick University of Limerick (UL) () is a Public university, public research university institution in Limerick, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Founded in 1972, as the National Institute for Higher Education, Limerick, it became a university in Septemb ...

where she studied production management. While a student at UL, Gee also played association football for Listowel Celtic and Benfica. In 2000, she spent the summer playing for Springfield Sirens in the

USL W-League USL W-League may refer to: * USL W League * USL W-League (1995–2015) The USL W-League was a North American amateur women's soccer developmental organization. The league was a semi-professional, open league, giving college players the oppor ...

and in 2001–02 she played for

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

in the

FA Women's Premier League The FA Women's National League is a group of six Association football, football divisions which sit at the third and fourth tiers of women's football in England. Founded in 1991 as the WFA National League, the league was run by the Women's Footba ...

. While playing for Leeds, Gee also worked in the club ticket office.

UCD

Between 2003 and 2007 Gee played for UCD. Together with Caroline Thorpe and Mary Waldron, Gee was a prominent member and captain of the UCD team which, under coach Larry Mahoney, emerged as one of the strongest women's teams in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

. UCD completed a four in a row of

Dublin Women's Soccer League The Dublin Women's Soccer League was a women's association football league featuring teams from the Republic of Ireland. While the majority of the participating clubs were based in the Greater Dublin Area, the DWSL had regularly included teams f ...

titles between

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

and

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

. Gee also played for UCD in the 2003 and 2004

FAI Women's Cup The Football Association of Ireland Women's Cup is the senior cup competition for women's association football in Ireland. It is commonly known as the Women's FAI Cup, the WFAI Cup, or prior to 2001, the Ladies FAI Cup or the LFAI Cup. Organised ...

finals, helping the club win the cup three times in row. After winning the FAI Women's Cup, UCD also qualified on three successive occasions to represent the Republic of Ireland in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. Gee subsequently captained UCD during their 2003–04, 2004–05 and

2005–06 UEFA Women's Cup The UEFA Women's Cup 2005–06 was the fifth edition of the UEFA Women's Cup football club tournament. It was won by Frankfurt in an all-German final against defending champions Turbine Potsdam for their second title in the competition. Teams ...

campaigns. While playing for UCD, Gee, a

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

B licensed coach also established a small business called Primary Coaching, which saw her coach association football to children in both primary schools and summer camps.

United States

In September 1999 Gee played for the

in an away friendly against the

. The following summer Gee and some of her Republic of Ireland teammates, including Claire Scanlan, Geraldine O'Shea and Margaret Saurin, returned to the United States to play for Springfield Sirens in the

. The 2000 Springfield Sirens won thirteen out of fourteen games and finished the season as the W-League second division champions. Since 2008 Gee has regularly spent summers playing and coaching in North America, mostly in the United States. In

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

she played for MYSC Lady Blues, helping them win the

Women's Premier Soccer League The Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) is an amateur women's soccer league in the United States. History The WPSL is the longest-running active women's soccer league as it enters its 25th season in 2023. The WPSL is also the largest women ...

Midwest Conference. In the subsequent

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

and 2010 WPSL seasons she played for Chicago United Breeze and Arizona Rush respectively. In

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Gee played for

London Gryphons London Gryphons was a Canadian women's soccer team, founded in 2004. The team was a member of the USL W-League, the second tier of women's soccer in the United States and Canada. The team played its home games at North London Stadium in the cit ...

in the USL W-League. In the 2012 W-League season she played for Central SC Cobras. During the winters Gee returned to Ireland and played for Tullamore Town in the Combined Counties Football League.

Women's National League

When the Women's National League was inaugurated in 2011–12, Gee played for Cork W.F.C. She was subsequently approached by Larry Mahoney, her former coach at UCD, to join him at

DLR Waves Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown Waves, also referred to as DLR Waves, is a women-only Irish association football club based in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. It was originally founded in 2012. DLR Waves field several teams; the senior League of Ireland t ...

. While playing for Waves, Gee was named WNL Player of the Month for November/December 2012. Gee was also selected for the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

WNL Team of the Season. In 2013–14 she was also inducted into the WNL Hall of Fame. During the 2014–15 season, Gee played for Peamount United, helping them reach the final of the WNL Cup. The 2015–16 season saw her switch to Kilkenny United. While playing in the WNL, Gee has also coached at Portlaoise A.F.C.

International career

Gee has represented the

at university and senior level. In September 1999 Gee played for the

in a 5–0 away defeat to the

. At the time Gee was still a student at

and playing for Benfica. In September 2000 Gee was also included the squad for the Celt Cup, a tournament which saw the Republic of Ireland emerge as winners after defeating

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

and

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 ...

. On 12 August 2001 Gee scored for the Republic of Ireland, after coming on as a substitute, in a 4–1 win against Scotland at the

AUL Complex The Athletic Union League (AUL) is an association football league featuring junior and amateur teams mainly from the Northside of Dublin with additional teams from south-east Meath. The AUL currently operates thirteen divisions. Its senior divis ...

Olivia O'Toole Olivia Christina O'Toole (born 25 February 1971) is an Irish former association footballer who played as a forward. She made her debut for the Republic of Ireland national team in 1991 and captained the team before retiring in 2009. O'Toole's ...

also scored a hat–trick for the Republic. Gee was subsequently a member of the Republic of Ireland squad during their

1999 FIFA Women's World Cup The 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup was the third edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the world championship for List of women's national association football teams, women's national association football, soccer teams. It was hosted as well as ...

UEFA Women's Euro 2001 The 2001 UEFA Women's Championship was the eighth UEFA Women's Championship, a competition for the women's national football teams and member associations of UEFA. It took place in Germany between 23 June and 7 July 2001. It was won by Germany f ...

2003 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup was the fourth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial championship of women's association football, women's national soccer teams organized by FIFA. It was held in the United States from September ...

and

UEFA Women's Euro 2005 The 2005 UEFA Women's Championship, also referred to as UEFA Women's Euro 2005, was a football tournament for women held from 5 June to 19 June 2005 in Lancashire and Cheshire, England. The UEFA Women's Championship is a regular tournament involvi ...

qualifying campaigns.

Honours

;Individual * Women's National League Team of the Season **

* Women's National League Hall of Fame Award ** 2013–14 ; UCD *

**''Winners'':

, 2004,

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

: 4 **''Runners-up'': 2002: 1 *

**''Winners'': 2003, 2004 : 2 **''Runners-up'': 2006: 1 * DWSL Premier Cup **''Winners'': 2004,

, 2007: 3 ; Springfield Sirens * USL W-League W-2 ** ''Winners'': 2000 ; MYSC Lady Blues * WPSL Midwest Conference ** ''Winners'':

; Peamount United * WNL Cup ** ''Runners-up'':

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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gee, Sylvia 1977 births Living people Association footballers from County Laois People educated at Wesley College, Dublin Alumni of the University of Limerick Republic of Ireland women's international footballers Republic of Ireland women's association footballers Leeds United Women F.C. players UCD Women's Soccer Club players Cork City W.F.C. players Peamount United F.C. players Kilkenny United W.F.C. players USL W-League (1995–2015) players FA Women's National League players Dublin Women's Soccer League players League of Ireland Women's Premier Division players Expatriate women's footballers in England Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States Limerick W.F.C. players Women's association football utility players Women's association football defenders Women's association football midfielders Women's association football forwards Arizona Rush players Women's Premier Soccer League players Benfica W.S.C. players