Did You Know Team USA World Cup Star, Sophia Smith is From Colorado

Although I am not normally a huge soccer fan, I must say I’ve been bitten by the World Cup bug and I’ve really enjoyed watching the Women’s National Team compete. As it turns out, one of my favorites on the team happens to be from Colorado!

Sophia Smith plays as a forward for Portland Thorns FC in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), but she’s also a star on the National Team after scoring two goals against Vietnam last week in the U.S. team’s opening match at the World Cup.

For me, though, the coolest part is Sophia was raised in Windsor, Colorado with her two older sisters Gabrielle and Savannah. Smith’s father played basketball at the University of Wyoming and her older sister Savannah played basketball at the University of Northern Colorado where she was the all-time leading scorer.

Smith attended Fossil Ridge High School in Fort Collins, where she played for the varsity soccer and basketball teams as a freshman. She notched 10 goals and 4 assists in just 8 games and was named First-Team All-Conference. She played club soccer for Real Colorado and was first called up to the U-14 national team in 2013. With Real Colorado, Smith and the team finished runners-up at the ECNL National Championship in 2014 and 2016 and finished in fourth-place in 2015. As a high schooler, Smith and her family would frequently drive 3-4 hours from Fort Collins to Denver and back for soccer practice with youth national teams. She earned a call up to the senior national team at age 16.

Sophia and the US National Team are back in action Tuesday (Aug. 1st) against Portugal.