Meredith Beard

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Meredith Beard

| image = Meredith Beard.jpg

| caption = Teaching soccer to an Afghan girl in June 2004

| fullname = Meredith Grace Beard

| birth_name = Meredith Grace Florance{{cite web |url=https://goheels.com/sports/womens-soccer/roster/meredith-florance/1721 |title=Meredith Florance |publisher=North Carolina Tar Heels |access-date=February 8, 2023}}

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1979|5|10|mf=yes}}

| birth_place = Dallas, United States

| height = {{height|ft=5|in=7}}

| position = Forward

| currentclub =

| clubnumber =

| youthyears1 = 1994–1996

| youthclubs1 = Dallas Sting

| collegeyears1 = 1997–2000

| college1 = North Carolina Tar Heels

| years1 = 2001

| clubs1 = Carolina Courage

| caps1 = 20

| goals1 = 2

| years2 = 2002–2003

| clubs2 = Washington Freedom

| caps2 = 19

| goals2 = 1

| totalcaps =

| totalgoals =

| nationalyears1 = 1999–2001

| nationalteam1 = United States

| nationalcaps1 = 3

| nationalgoals1 = 0

}}

Meredith Grace Beard ({{nee|Florance}}; born May 10, 1979) is an American former professional soccer player. A forward, she represented the Carolina Courage and the Washington Freedom of Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA). She won three caps for the United States national team.

College career

As a senior at North Carolina, she won the Honda Sports Award as the nation's top soccer player.{{Cite web|url=https://goheels.com/news/2000/12/20/205462079.aspx|title=Meredith Florance Wins Honda Soccer Award|website=University of North Carolina Athletics|language=en|access-date=March 21, 2020}}{{Cite journal|url=https://www.collegiatewomensportsawards.com/archives/soccer|title=Soccer|website=CWSA|language=en|access-date=March 29, 2020}}

Club career

Beard was the Carolina Courage's second draft pick ahead of the inaugural 2001 season of the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA).{{cite web|title=Rating the eight WUSA teams|url=http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/SoccerAmerica/2000/sa1486n.pdf|publisher=Soccer America|access-date=April 30, 2016|page=13|date=December 25, 2000|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160912002630/http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/SoccerAmerica/2000/sa1486n.pdf|archive-date=September 12, 2016|url-status=dead}} Ahead of the 2002 season she joined the Washington Freedom as a free agent. She was mainly a substitute at the Freedom, as coach Jim Gabarra preferred to field celebrated forwards Mia Hamm and Abby Wambach.

In 2003, Beard's Freedom team won the Founders Cup, but she did not play in the post-season fixtures. When WUSA subsequently folded, she began working for a kitchen and bathroom showroom.{{cite news|last1=Steinberg|first1=Dan|title=Coping with the loss of Freedom|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37141-2004Jun12.html|access-date=April 30, 2016|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=June 13, 2004}}

International career

In February 1999, Beard won her first cap for the United States national team. She played the second half of a 3–1 behind closed doors win over Finland in Orlando.{{cite news|title=American kids defeat Finland 3-1.|url=http://www.soccertimes.com/usteams/1999/games/feb24a.htm|access-date=April 30, 2016|publisher=Soccer Times|date=February 24, 1999|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202145431/http://www.soccertimes.com/usteams/1999/games/feb24a.htm|archive-date=February 2, 2017|url-status=dead}} She played two more matches for the national team in January 2001, both against China.{{cite web|title=Forward: Meredith Florance|url=http://www.soccertimes.com/usteams/roster/women/florance.htm|publisher=Soccer Times|access-date=April 30, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202145959/http://www.soccertimes.com/usteams/roster/women/florance.htm|archive-date=February 2, 2017|url-status=dead}}

Personal life

In February 2002 she married Ryan Beard.{{cite news|title=USA arrives in Panyu, China after long day of travel|url=http://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2014/03/17/12/15/usa-arrives-in-panyu-china-after-long-day-of-travel|access-date=April 30, 2016|publisher=United States Soccer Federation|date=January 9, 2001}}

References

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20031127041239/http://www.wusa.com/players_coaches/players/meredith_beard/ Profile] at Women's United Soccer Association
[http://www.goheels.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=3350&ATCLID=205672329 Profile] at North Carolina Tar Heels

Category:Living people

Category:1979 births

Category:American women's soccer players

Category:21st-century American sportswomen

Category:United States women's international soccer players

Category:North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer players

Category:Soccer players from Texas

Category:Women's association football forwards

Category:Washington Freedom (soccer) players

Category:Carolina Courage players

Category:Women's United Soccer Association players