Trinity Paula Byars (born January 29, 2003) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a forward for San Diego Wave FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She played college soccer for the Texas Longhorns, for which she is the all-time top scorer. She represented the United States from the under-16 to under-23 level.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Trinity Paula Byars[1] | ||
| Date of birth | January 29, 2003[1] | ||
| Height | 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | San Diego Wave | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Solar SC | |||
| College career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2021–2024 | Texas Longhorns | 67 | (47) |
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2024– | San Diego Wave | 0 | (0) |
| International career | |||
| 2018 | United States U-16 | ||
| 2018–2019 | United States U-17 | 8 | (2) |
| 2019 | United States U-18 | 2 | (0) |
| 2022 | United States U-20 | 12 | (3) |
| 2023 | United States U-23 | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Early life and college career
editByars was raised in the Dallas suburb of Richardson, Texas, one of five siblings born to Agatha and Charles Byars.[2] One of her sisters, Tatyana, played for the Texas Longhorns soccer team for one season.[2] Byars began playing soccer when she was four and joined Solar SC alongside future Longhorns teammate Lexi Missimo at age five.[3][4] They led the team to win the USYS national under-13 championship in 2016 and the USSDA under-16/17 championship in 2019.[2][5] Considered two of the top recruits of the class of 2021, they both committed to Texas when they were in seventh grade. Byars had offers to go pro out of high school from foreign clubs including Atlético Madrid, having trained with Atlético and Manchester City in the summer of 2019.[3][6] She attended June Shelton School in Dallas, where she played basketball and ran track.[2]
Texas Longhorns
editByars led the Texas Longhorns with 12 goals as a freshman in 2021, earning Big 12 Conference all-freshman and All-Big 12 second-team honors.[2] She led the Big 12 Conference with 17 goals as a sophomore in 2022, helping the Longhorns win the conference regular-season title, and was named the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, first-team All-Big 12, and first-team United Soccer Coaches All-American.[2][7] She scored 18 goals as a junior in 2023, as the Longhorns won the Big 12 tournament, and was named first-team All-Big 12 and second-team All-American.[2][8] She scored her 47th career goal during the NCAA tournament in 2023, passing Kelly McDonald for the program scoring record.[9] She scored five goals in five games as a senior in 2024 before suffering a season-ending knee injury. She ended her college career with 52 goals and 36 assists in 71 games.[2][10]
Club career
editSan Diego Wave, 2024–
editOn November 7, 2024, National Women's Soccer League club San Diego Wave FC announced that they had signed Byars to a three-year contract through the 2026 season with an option to extend for an additional year. She was the first NCAA player signed after the abolition of the annual NWSL Draft.[11][12]
International career
editByars began training with the United States youth national team at the under-14 level in 2016.[4][13] After playing in a friendly tournament for the under-16 team, she was the youngest player included on the under-17 roster at the 2018 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup.[14][15] For her club performance, she was nominated for U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year in 2019.[16] She helped the under-20 team win the 2022 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship and 2022 Sud Ladies Cup, where she was the tournament's top scorer.[17][18] She started all three games for the United States at the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, assisting on a goal against Ghana.[19] She played friendlies for the under-23 team in 2023.[20]
References
edit- ^ a b "FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Costa Rica 2022 – USA Squad List" (PDF). p. 16. Retrieved May 14, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Trinity Byars – Soccer". Texas Longhorns. Retrieved May 14, 2024.
- ^ a b "Faces in the Crowd: Trinity Byars and Lexi Missimo". Sports Illustrated. March 1, 2021. Retrieved May 15, 2024.
- ^ a b Hargroue, Nick (September 30, 2022). "Trinity Byars continues to climb, reaching new heights for Texas soccer". The Daily Texan. Retrieved May 15, 2024.
- ^ Crooke, Dan (July 22, 2019). "Solar SC and FC Dallas bring home USSDA awards". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved May 15, 2024.
- ^ Riddle, Greg (November 5, 2020). "Two Dallas-area soccer prodigies will sign with Texas rather than go pro straight out of high school". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved May 15, 2024.
- ^ Jones, Thomas (August 17, 2023). "Connection between Lexi Missimo, Trinity Byars power Texas women into new soccer season". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved May 15, 2024.
- ^ Vann, Leah (November 6, 2023). "Texas women's soccer wins Big 12 tournament". Lone Star Live. Retrieved May 15, 2024.
- ^ Yum, Caleb (November 13, 2023). "Texas soccer's Trinity Byars breaks program's all-time goal record during NCAA Tournament". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved May 15, 2024.
- ^ Lawhorn, Luke (October 8, 2024). "Soccer duo Trinity Byars and EmJ Cox suffer season-ending knee injuries". The Daily Texan. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
- ^ Vertelney, Seth (November 7, 2024). "San Diego Wave land Texas star Byars in first post-draft signing". Pro Soccer Wire. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
- ^ Emerick, Tyler (November 7, 2024). "San Diego Wave FC Signs Forward Trinity Byars". San Diego Wave Fútbol Club. Retrieved November 8, 2024.
- ^ "48 players called into U14 GNT camp". United States Soccer Federation. March 18, 2016. Retrieved May 15, 2024 – via TopDrawerSoccer.
- ^ "U.S. U-16 Girls National Team routs Italy 5-0 in Torneo delle Nazioni". United States Soccer Federation. April 29, 2018. Retrieved November 7, 2024 – via Soccerwire.
- ^ "U.S. U17 WNT World Cup Roster". United States Soccer Federation. October 22, 2018. Retrieved May 15, 2024 – via TopDrawerSoccer.
- ^ "2019 U.S. Soccer Young Male, Young Female and Player of the Year with a Disability Award Nominees Announced". United States Soccer Federation. November 27, 2019. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
- ^ Clark, Travis (March 12, 2022). "USA wins Concacaf U20 Championship". TopDrawerSoccer. Retrieved May 15, 2024.
- ^ "Sud Ladies Cup 2022 Best XI". Sud Ladies Cup. June 29, 2022. Retrieved May 15, 2024.
- ^ "San Diego Wave FC Signs Forward Trinity Byars". San Diego Wave FC. November 7, 2024. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
- ^ Clark, Travis (February 17, 2023). "U.S. U23 WNT Defeats France 2–0". TopDrawerSoccer. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
External links
edit- Trinity Byars at Soccerway.com
