Briana Scurry

Briana Scurry is widely recognized as one of the world’s most talented and influential goalkeepers. Her 173 international appearances as one of the first African American and openly gay professional athletes championed equality and diversified the sport. In 2017, she was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

Named starting goalkeeper for the United States Women’s National Team in 1994, she led the team on an illustrious run that included two Olympic gold medals. In the 1999 FIFA World Cup Championship — which represented one of the most seminal events in American athletic history — Scurry made the iconic penalty kick save that carried the United States to victory. She was also a World Cup Champion in 2015 and a 2012 Olympic Gold Medalist.

Scurry pioneered the first paid professional women’s soccer league as a founding player in 2001. A debilitating concussion led to her retirement in 2010. Since then, she has repurposed her visibility to become a leading advocate for increased awareness of traumatic brain injuries and mental health, testifying before Congress twice on these issues. In 2023, she was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Public Service degree from The University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she also served as the commencement speaker.

Through her impact on the landscape of women’s soccer and American sports culture, Scurry has received the National Association of Black Journalists’ Sam Lacy Award, inclusion in the United States 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 released her best-selling memoir, "My Greatest Save," and was the subject of "The Only," a CBS feature-length documentary chronicling her life.