June 23, 2018
The Black Soccer Membership Association honored two-time Olympic Gold Medalist and 1999 Women’s World Cup Champion Brianna Scurry at the Washington Spirit vs. Orlando Pride match on Saturday with a Lifetime Achievement Award. The idea of the award originated from the United Soccer Coaches Black Soccer Coaches Advocacy Group in Philadelphia in January, but the BSMA decided to take it one step further. The soft spoken Scurry, in her first year as Assistant Head Coach of the Spirit and a recent inductee into the US Soccer Hall of Fame said after the game, “It is an honor to be recognized by my peers and I thank the BSMA for this great award.”
Scurry who was the goalkeeper for the United States women’s national soccer team for most of the years between 1994–2008, earned a record 173 caps for the United States. She started 159 of those games and finished her international career with a record of 133–12–14 also earning 71 shutouts.
Scurry’s first appearance for the United States women’s national soccer team was March 16, 1994, versus Portugal where she recorded her first shutout on the same day. In her first year with the USA, she earned seven shutouts in 12 starts. In 1999, the year that the USWNT won the World Cup, Scurry only allowed three goals and recorded four shutouts.
The event was anchored by BSMA Board Members Mike Asfall and Justin Reid, along with Kim Crabbe, the 1st African-American woman to represent the US Women’s National team and a great friend of Scurry. The award ceremony, originally slated to take place during the pre-game show after the national anthem, didn’t all go as planned as the Spirit Public Announcement system went down earlier in the day preventing player announcements and the national anthem to be sung across the speakers.
However, the Washington Spirit staff and President Chris Hummer were extremely remorseful for the fact that the system didn’t work, so at halftime, the team welcomed Asfall, Reid, and Crabbe to the field to recognize Scurry. The team also added her accomplishments to the video board as Hummer got the crowd’s attention behind the Spirit’s bench. Crabbe followed with a speech about Scurry and how she has been instrumental to female soccer players who look up to her throughout the world.
The game did not end in the Spirit’s favor as the team loss to the Pride 1-0 on a 40 yard goal near the center circle from Pride midfielder Alanna Kennedy in front of nearly 4,000 fans at the Maureen Hendricks Field at the Maryland Soccerplex.
All in all it was a great event for the BSMA. Board member Justin Reid said, “Brianna was extremely humble in receiving this award and we are grateful for the opportunity to present it to her. It took about four months worth of work to get approval from Brianna’s management team, the right date to ensure a fantastic turnout, and support of the Spirit. We are very happy about the outcome and look forward to recognizing more blacks in soccer in a way that they truly deserve.”