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Maycee Bell
Bell with Gotham FC in 2024
Personal information
Full name Maycee Nicole Bell[1]
Date of birth (2000-09-18) September 18, 2000 (age 24)
Place of birth Wichita, Kansas, U.S.
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Position(s) Center back, right back
Team information
Current team
 North Carolina Courage
Number 27
Youth career
Sporting Blue Valley
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2019–2023 North Carolina Tar Heels 77 (7)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2024 NJ/NY Gotham FC 8 (1)
2024– North Carolina Courage 2 (0)
International career
2017–2018 United States U-19 2 (0)
2018–2020 United States U-20 8 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of September 21, 2024

Maycee Nicole Bell (born September 18, 2000) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a defender for the North Carolina Courage of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Born and raised in Wichita, Kansas, she played college soccer for the North Carolina Tar Heels. She was selected by NJ/NY Gotham FC in the first round of the 2024 NWSL Draft. She represented the United States at the youth international level.

Early life and college career

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Bell was born in Wichita, Kansas, to former college basketball players Brett and Kristy Bell, and has five younger siblings.[1] She began playing soccer as a forward but was converted to center back at her first youth national team training camp in 2014.[2] She said she "realized I loved stopping people from scoring more than I actually loved scoring" and modeled her game partly after national team defender Becky Sauerbrunn.[2][3]

Bell played one year of high school soccer as a freshman at Trinity Academy, scoring 19 goals at forward in 14 games, and was named Kansas's Gatorade Player of the Year for 2015–16.[4][5] She moved to the Kansas City area to play year-round with ECNL club Sporting Blue Valley, which she captained from 2014 to 2017, and attended Blue Valley Southwest, Blue Valley West, and Insight School of Kansas.[1][2] Bell moved to North Carolina in her senior year to play for the North Carolina Courage Academy and would train with the Courage first team during her college off-seasons.[6]

North Carolina Tar Heels

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Bell started for the North Carolina Tar Heels from her first week in 2019, when she was named the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Defensive Player of the Week.[7] She scored a career-high three goals as a freshman, including one in the ACC tournament final and one during the NCAA tournament, where the team finished runners-up.[8][9] She was named ACC Freshman of the Year and second-team All-ACC.[10] She was named to the All-ACC first team for fall 2020, and she recovered from ankle surgery to return in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament that spring.[1][11]

Bell was named first-team All-ACC and second-team All-American as a junior in 2021, though she injured her left ankle in the second-to-last match of the regular season.[12][13] She sat out her senior year after tearing her meniscus in the first game of the 2022 season.[14] She returned for a fifth year to co-captain North Carolina as a redshirt senior and was named to the All-ACC second team in 2023.[1]

Club career

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Gotham FC

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Reigning NWSL champions NJ/NY Gotham FC selected Bell with the 14th overall pick in the first round of the 2024 NWSL Draft, their sole pick of the night.[15][16] She signed a three-year guaranteed contract with the team in February 2024.[17] She made her professional debut as a substitute in the 2024 NWSL Challenge Cup on March 15 and made her first regular-season appearance as a substitute in an away loss to the Washington Spirit on April 20.[18][19] She earned her first start in a 1–0 win against the Houston Dash on May 8.[20] On June 19, she scored her first professional goal off Jenna Nighswonger's cross late in stoppage time for a 2–1 win over the San Diego Wave.[21]

North Carolina Courage

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On August 21, 2024, Gotham FC traded Bell to the North Carolina Courage for $80,000 in allocation money and $10,000 in intra-league transfer funds.[22] She debuted for her former youth club on September 8, substituting late for Felicitas Rauch in a 4–1 win against the San Diego Wave.[23]

International career

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Bell trained with the United States youth national team beginning at the under-16 level in 2014.[1] She scored for the under-20 team in a friendly in March 2019 and recorded an assist at the 2020 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship, which the United States won.[24][25] She received her first call-up with the senior national team in December 2019 but had to miss the camp due to injury.[26]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "Maycee Bell – Women's Soccer". University of North Carolina Athletics. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c Eldridge, Taylor (May 7, 2024). "Wichita native Maycee Bell enjoying budding women's soccer stardom in NWSL for Gotham FC". The Wichita Eagle. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
  3. ^ Musarurwa, Kudzi (March 22, 2024). "Maycee Bell is taking it 'day by day' with Gotham FC". All for XI. SB Nation. Retrieved April 24, 2024.
  4. ^ "Kansas Girls Soccer POY: Maycee Bell". USA Today High School Sports. May 17, 2016. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
  5. ^ Eldridge, Taylor (May 23, 2016). "Girls soccer quarterfinals: Injury-depleted Derby fights on". The Wichita Eagle. Archived from the original on January 7, 2024.
    Eldridge, Taylor (May 26, 2016). "State girls soccer: Trinity Academy reaches semifinals even with absence of state's best player". The Wichita Eagle. Archived from the original on January 7, 2024.
  6. ^ Schnittker, Nicholas (September 12, 2024). "Maycee Bell's return spotlights connection between Courage and NCFC Youth". North Carolina Courage. Retrieved November 17, 2024.
  7. ^ "Pitt's West, UNC's Bell Earn ACC Player of the Week Honors". Atlantic Coast Conference. August 27, 2019. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
  8. ^ "North Carolina Wins ACC Women's Soccer Championship in Double Overtime". Atlantic Coast Conference. November 10, 2019. Retrieved January 6, 2014.
  9. ^ Lohse, Dave (November 29, 2019). "Tar Heels Persevere To Advance To 29th College Cup". University of North Carolina Athletics. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
  10. ^ "Bell & Dorrance Win Major ACC Awards". University of North Carolina Athletics. November 7, 2019. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
  11. ^ Bode, Natalie (September 3, 2021). "Fully healthy, North Carolina's Maycee Bell is ready for Stanford (again), another NCAA title run". National Collegiate Athletics Association. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
  12. ^ "Five Tar Heels Earn All-ACC Honors". University of North Carolina Athletics. November 4, 2021. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
    "Three Tar Heels Earn Postseason Accolades". University of North Carolina Athletics. December 10, 2021. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
  13. ^ "Dorrance, women's soccer captures 900th program win". University of North Carolina. October 25, 2021. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
  14. ^ Jones, Jody (August 26, 2022). "Women's Soccer Defender Maycee Bell To Miss Remainder Of The Season". University of North Carolina Athletics. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
  15. ^ Koh, Michael (January 12, 2024). "Sentnor Picked 1st Overall; 5 Other UNC Women's Soccer Players Selected in NWSL Draft". Chapelboro.com. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
  16. ^ "2024 NWSL Draft". National Women's Soccer League. Archived from the original on January 15, 2024. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  17. ^ "Gotham FC Signs Defender Maycee Bell to Multiyear Contract". NJ/NY Gotham FC. February 14, 2024. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  18. ^ Chale, Caitlyn (March 15, 2024). "Gotham FC falls to the San Diego Wave in the NWSL Challenge Cup". Skyscraper Blues. Minute Media. Retrieved April 24, 2024.
  19. ^ "Match Recap: Gotham FC Falls 2–0 to Washington Spirit". NJ/NY Gotham FC. April 20, 2024. Retrieved April 24, 2024.
  20. ^ Vairo, Paulina (May 8, 2024). "Gotham FC secures the 1-0 win against the Houston Dash". Skyscraper Blues. Minute Media. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
  21. ^ "Maycee Bell lifts Gotham past Wave in 2nd-half stoppage time". Deadspin. June 20, 2024. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  22. ^ "Courage acquires former UNC standout Maycee Bell". North Carolina Courage. August 21, 2024. Retrieved August 21, 2024.
  23. ^ "Recap: Courage rides Wave, 4-1, Sunday". North Carolina Courage. September 8, 2024. Retrieved November 17, 2024.
  24. ^ "U.S. U-20 Women's National Team ends La Manga event on high note". United States Soccer Federation. March 14, 2019. Retrieved January 6, 2024 – via SoccerWire.
  25. ^ "U-20 USWNT Advances to Knockout Stage of World Cup Qualifying With 4-0 Win Vs. Dominican Republic". United States Soccer Federation. February 24, 2020. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
  26. ^ "Andonovski Names 24-Player Roster For U.S. Women's National Team December Identification Training Camp in Florida". United States Soccer Federation. November 27, 2019. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
    "Five Things to Know About the 2020 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship". United States Soccer Federation. February 20, 2020. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
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