Briana Scurry

Briana Scurry is celebrated as one of the most talented and influential goalkeepers in the history of soccer. With 173 international appearances, she broke barriers as one of the first African American and openly gay professional athletes, championing equality and expanding representation in the sport. Her legacy was cemented in 2017 with her induction into the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

Scurry became the starting goalkeeper for the U.S. Women’s National Team in 1994, leading the squad through a golden era that included two Olympic gold medals. Her defining moment came during the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup, one of the most iconic events in American sports history, when she made a legendary penalty kick save that helped secure the championship for the United States.

In 2001, Scurry helped launch the first paid professional women’s soccer league as a founding player, further advancing opportunities for women in the sport. After a career-ending concussion in 2010, she transformed her platform into advocacy, becoming a leading voice for awareness and prevention of traumatic brain injuries.

Her contributions to soccer and American sports culture earned her a place on the U.S. Women’s National Team’s All-Time Best XI and a permanent feature in the Title IX exhibit at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

In 2022, Scurry published her best-selling memoir, My Greatest Save, and was the focus of The Only, a CBS feature-length documentary chronicling her life and legacy. In 2023, she returned to her alma mater, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, as commencement speaker and received an Honorary Doctor of Public Service degree.

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