Life After Soccer: Vanja Stefanovic
Life After Soccer is a blog series featuring former professional and national team players from around the world, talking about taking the next step in life after their playing careers are over.
Life After Soccer By Vanja Stefanovic
I started to play with other girls when I was 13 years old. Before that, I played just with guys on a local team. I can still remember the first soccer training. Since that, soccer has been the center of my life. Everything came really fast for me. My first senior game at the top level was at age 16. National team was at17. When I look back, it was an amazing journey. I lived my dream every single day. I felt that the field was the place where I could express myself, all I am, (and) my love for the game. I lived for that moment when you put the jersey on and let the show go on. That passion, excitement, and most of all, self-accomplishment, is something that gives another dimension to life. In 1999, the war started at home. Everything stopped. Our dreams, hopes, everything was taken away, but not the passion for the game. (more…)
Former Washington Freedom forward Caitlin Miskel signs with Icelandic champions Valur
After playing one season in Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS), 23-year-old forward Caitlin Miskel is taking her skills overseas. The University of Virginia grad is headed to Iceland to play for Valur of Iceland’s top-flight league Úrvalsdeild. Valur has won the Úrvalsdeild five years in a row and six times in the last seven years. (more…)
Lisa Woods to Fortuna Hjørring, two former Quickstrike players to Stjarnan
Norwegian Women’s National Team center midfielder Lisa Woods has signed a one-year contract with Fortuna Hjørring of Elitedivisionen in Denmark. In other news, two members of the 2010 United Soccer Leagues W-League regular season champions Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues, Kristen Edmonds and Ashley Thompson, have signed with Stjarnan of Iceland’s top-flight league Úrvalsdeild. (more…)
Meagan McCray signs with Úrvalsdeild champions Valur
Former Washington Freedom and FC Gold Pride keeper Meagan McCray has signed for Valur of Iceland’s top-flight league Úrvalsdeild. The 23-year-old McCray, who played four years at Santa Clara University, joins a Valur team that finished as champions of the Úrvalsdeild the past five years. McCray will play for coach Gunnar Borgþórsson. (more…)
Thor/KA announce signings of Manya Makoski and Marisha Schumacher-Hodge
Thor/KA of Úrvalsdeild, the top flight women’s league in Iceland, announced today the signings of midfielders Manya Makoski and Marisha Schumacher-Hodge. Makoski played in 2009 for the Los Angeles Sol of Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) and last year was a member of the Atlanta Beat. Schumacher-Hodge spent the first month and a half of the season with the Atlanta Beat last year before going to Finland to play for Kokkolan Palloveikot (KPV). (more…)
