Yael Averbuch

Yael Averbuch West (born Yael Friedman Averbuch; November 3, 1986) is an American former professional soccer player.

She was formerly the executive director of the National Women's Soccer League Players Association and is the current general manager of NJ/NY Gotham FC.

A retired professional soccer player, she last played as a defender for Seattle Reign FC in the National Women's Soccer League.

During her career as a center midfielder at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Averbuch was named national player of the year by both Soccer Buzz and Top Drawer Soccer.

Averbuch grew up in Montclair, New Jersey, where she attended Montclair High School, graduating in 2005.

Yael attained High Honor Roll status all four years in high school.

She did not play high school soccer, concentrating on club soccer instead.

She was named an NSCAA All-American and USYSA All-American as a sophomore, junior and senior.

As a junior and senior, she was named Parade All-American.

During her career as a center midfielder at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Averbuch set a record starting 105 consecutive games.

She was a two-time captain and was selected first-team All-Performer the Atlantic Coast Conference, one of the most competitive conferences in the country.

As a freshman in 2005, Averbuch started all 25 games.

She scored three of her four goals off direct kicks as the team's free kick and corner kick specialist.

She was named to the Soccer America and Soccer Buzz first-team freshman All-America teams after notching seven assists and four goals in her first season with the Tar Heels.

She was also named the Soccer Buzz Southeast Region Freshman of the Year and was tapped for the All-Southeast Region Second Team and Southeast Region All-Freshman Team.

Averbuch was recognized by the ACC as an Academic All-Conference player and as a member of ACC All-Freshmen Team.

She was named to the Duke adidas Classic All-Tournament Team as well as the 2005–06 ACC Honor Roll.

She helped the Tar Heels win two NCAA Women's College Cup titles in 2006 and 2008.

In 2006 and 2007, she earned NSCAA All-America first team status.

In 2006, Averbuch was Carolina's second-leading scorer with 39 points and led the team in game-winning goals with seven.

She was named national player of the year by both Soccer Buzz and Top Drawer Soccer and was a finalist for both the Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy and the Honda Soccer Award.

She set an NCAA record for fastest goal scored in a game when she scored four seconds into the match at Yale on the direct kick at midfield to start the game.

Averbuch assisted on both goals against UCLA in the NCAA semifinals and was named the ACC's Offensive Player of the Year, Soccer Buzz's Southeast Region player of the year, first-team All-ACC, and All-ACC Academic for a second straight year.

She was also named to ESPN The Magazine's women's soccer third-team Academic All-America.

Averbuch played for the United States at every level of the youth national teams and represented the United States women's national soccer team from 2007 to 2013.

Averbuch, who is Jewish, was born in New York City.

She is the daughter of Gloria Averbuch and Paul Friedman.

Her middle name is her father's last name and her last name is her mother's maiden name.

Her first name means a "capra" in Hebrew.

During her junior year in 2007, Averbuch appeared in and started every game for the Tar Heels.

She was fourth on the team with 18 points, collected six goals and six assists for the season, and led the team in shots taken with 88.

She was named to the ESPN The Magazine/College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-District Team and was a second-team ESPN The Magazine All-America selection.

She was named ACC's Scholar-Athlete of the Year for women's soccer and was an All-ACC Academic Team selection, first-team All-ACC and All-ACC Tournament selection.

She was also a finalist for Soccer Buzz Player of the Year and a MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist.

She made three first-team All-America Teams as named by the NSCAA coaches, Soccer America and Soccer Buzz and was an Umbro/Soccer News Net Player of the Year Award finalist.

Averbuch was also a Soccer Buzz and NSCAA first-team All-Southeast Region selection as well as Jewish Sports Review All America.

In 2008, she was named to the NSCAA All-America second team and earned NSCAA Scholar-Athlete of the Year and NCAA VIII Award honors.

Averbuch was selected in the first round of the 2009 WPS Draft (4th overall) by her home state team, Sky Blue FC.

She later played for Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC in the Damallsvenskan and the UEFA Women's Champions League and made a brief stint with WFC Rossiyanka.

She is a two-time WPS champion with Sky Blue FC and the Western New York Flash.