Bella Sember
{{Short description|American soccer player (born 2003)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox football biography
|name = Bella Sember
|image = NC Courage U23 (June 2024) 006.jpg
|image_size =
|alt =
|caption = Sember with North Carolina Courage U23 in 2024
|full_name = Bella Victoria Sember
|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|2003|09|10}}
|birth_place =
|height = 5 ft 7 in
|position = Midfielder
|currentclub = KIF Örebro
|clubnumber =
|youthyears1 =
|youthclubs1 =
|collegeyears1 = 2021–2024
|college1 = North Carolina Tar Heels
|collegecaps1 = 82
|collegegoals1 = 13
|years1 = 2025–
|clubs1 = KIF Örebro
|caps1 = 0
|goals1 = 0
|nationalyears1 = 2019
|nationalteam1 = United States U-17
|nationalcaps1 =
|nationalgoals1 =
|medaltemplates =
|club-update =
|nationalteam-update =
}}
Bella Victoria Sember (born September 10, 2003) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Elitettan club KIF Örebro. She played college soccer for the North Carolina Tar Heels, where she won the 2024 national championship.
Early life and college career
Sember grew up in Centerport, New York, the oldest of four children born to Dana Porciello and Paul Sember. She attended Harborfields High School in Greenlawn, New York. She played club soccer for New York City FC's academy.{{cite news|url=https://goheels.com/sports/womens-soccer/roster/bella-sember/25486|title=Bella Sember|publisher=North Carolina Tar Heels|access-date=2025-01-04}} She also played futsal and was called into the futsal youth national team in 2015.{{cite news|url=https://goalnation.com/u-s-youth-futsal-2015-national-teams-announced/|title=U.S. Youth Futsal 2015 National Teams Announced|date=2015-07-23|last=Garcia|first=Andrea|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150920090648/https://goalnation.com/u-s-youth-futsal-2015-national-teams-announced/|archive-date=2015-09-20}} She committed to the University of North Carolina as a freshman.{{cite news|url=https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/club-soccer-articles/recruiting-roundup:-feb-5-11_aid43773|title=Recruiting Roundup: Feb. 5–11|date=February 5, 2018|last=Shealer|first=Sheldon|website=TopDrawerSoccer|access-date=2025-01-04}}
While in college, Sember played during the summer with WPSL's Downtown United Soccer Club in 2021 and 2022, USL W League's Long Island Rough Riders in 2023, and the USL W League champion North Carolina Courage U23 in 2024.{{cite news|url=https://wpslsoccer.com/roster/bella-sember|title=Bella Sember|publisher=Women's Premier Soccer League|access-date=2025-01-04}}
{{cite news|url=https://www.uslwleague.com/long-island|title=Long Island Rough Riders|publisher=USL W League|access-date=2025-01-04}}
{{cite news|url=https://www.uslwleague.com/nc-courage-u23|title=NC Courage U23|publisher=USL W League|access-date=2025-01-04}} She also helped the US Women–sponsored team win the Soccer Tournament 2024, scoring in the final.{{cite news|url=https://www.hudsonriverblue.com/1-million-goal-us-women-win-first-womens-tst/|title=$1 million goal: US Women win first Women's TST|last=Strand|first=Oliver|date=2024-06-10|website=Hudson River Blue|access-date=2025-01-04}}
=North Carolina Tar Heels=
Sember scored 2 goals in 32 appearances off the bench during her first two seasons with the North Carolina Tar Heels. She was an unused substitute as a sophomore in the 2022 national title game, where North Carolina lost to UCLA. In her junior season, she appeared in all 23 games (1 start) and scored 3 goals with 1 assist. She scored two of her goals during the NCAA tournament, including the only goal in a 1–0 win against Texas Tech in the third round, as North Carolina reached the quarterfinals. Sember played a bigger role in her senior season, becoming one of the team's captains after only 12 players returned to the team.{{cite news|url=https://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2024/09/sports-womens-soccer-seton-hall-side-august-2024|title='Phenomenal': Bella Sember and Tessa Dellarose set tone for UNC women's soccer|last=Moon|first=Emma|date=2024-09-02|newspaper=The Daily Tar Heel|access-date=2025-01-04}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5982994/2024/12/09/north-carolina-soccer-ncaa-championship/|title=UNC women's soccer wins 23rd national title, tops Wake Forest to reclaim crown|last=Anzidei|first=Melanie|date=2024-12-09|website=The Athletic|access-date=2025-01-04}} She appeared in all 27 games (23 starts) and scored a team-third-high 8 goals (half of them penalties) with 4 assists. In the NCAA tournament, she opened scoring with a penalty in an 8–0 win against USC Upstate in the first round. She started the first four games of the tournament, before seeing limited minutes in the semifinal and final, as North Carolina won their 23rd national title and first since 2012.{{cite news|url=https://chapelboro.com/sports/unc-womens-soccer-beats-wake-forest-for-23rd-national-championship|title=UNC Women's Soccer Beats Wake Forest to Win 23rd National Championship|last=Koh|first=Michael|date=2024-12-09|website=Chapelboro.com|access-date=2024-12-09}}
Club career
=KIF Örebro=
Swedish club KIF Örebro announced Sember's signing on a one-year contract on January 4, 2025.{{cite news|url=https://www.laget.se/KIFOrebroDFFalag/News/7777605/Amerikanska-talangen-Bella-Sember-klar-for-KIF-Orebro|title=Amerikanska talangen Bella Sember klar för KIF Örebro|date=2025-01-04|publisher=KIF Örebro DFF|language=sv|access-date=2025-01-04}}{{cite news|url=https://www.na.se/artikel/kif-stanger-truppen-med-amerikansk-mastare/|title=Kif stänger truppen – med amerikansk mästare|date=2025-01-04|first=Jonas|last=Brännmyr|newspaper=Nerikes Allehanda|language=sv|access-date=2025-01-04}}
International career
Sember trained with the United States youth national team at the under-14, under-15, and under-17 levels from 2016 to 2020, scoring for the under-17 team against the Republic of Ireland at the UEFA Development Tournament in 2019.{{cite web|url=https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/club-player-profile/bella-sember/pid-95877|title=Bella Sember|website=TopDrawerSoccer|access-date=2025-01-04}}{{cite news|url=https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2019/05/us-u17-wnt-dominates-ireland-4-0-to-win-second-game-at-uefa-development-tournament-in-czech-republic|title=U.S. U-17 WNT Dominates Ireland 4–0 To Win Second Game At UEFA Development Tournament In Czech Republic|date=2019-05-23|publisher=United States Soccer Federation|access-date=2025-01-04}}
Honors and awards
North Carolina Tar Heels
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Sports links}}
{{KIF Örebro DFF squad}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sember, Bella}}
Category:21st-century American sportswomen
Category:Soccer players from New York (state)
Category:People from Centerport, New York
Category:American women's soccer players
Category:Women's association football forwards
Category:Women's association football midfielders
Category:United States women's youth international soccer players