Sports

Wildwood Native Goes Pro with Icelandic Football Club

Megan Link, a goalkeeper with the women's soccer team at Southwest Baptist University, has signed a contract to play for Afturelding FC of Icleand.

A Wildwood resident will soon be traveling overseas to launch her professional soccer (excuse us, football) career in a European country most Americans wouldn’t associate with the sport – Iceland.

Megan Link, a four-year starter in the goalkeeper position for the Southwest Baptist University, has signed a contract to play for Afturelding FC of Iceland, according to a press release from the SBU.

The club competes across Europe as well as against other Icelandic teams and last year qualified for the prestigious European Women’s Champions League for the third straight year. Link’s coach Robert Poleyn said she had an impressive run at SBU.

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“She has either set every career record or placed in the top five in every category while also being recognized as one of the best goalkeepers in the [Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association],” he said.

Link described the opportunity as a chance to “live her dream” as a professional player will also creating a chance for her to someday play for her home country as a member of the Women’s U.S. National Team.

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Earlier this year, Link received a trail with the Under 23 National Team and will continue to be observed by U.S. Soccer as her professional career progresses.

“My dream is to one day play for our Women's National Team and after speaking with the coaches from the National Team I feel this puts me in a position to someday do that,” she said.

Afturelding FC is traditionally one of the top teams in the Iceland Professional League, a league considered to be one of the top professional women's leagues in the world.  It is located in the town of Mosfellsbaer just north of Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland, and fields players from around the world.

For those fluent in Icelandic, you can check out the team's offical website. Or, if you don't have Google translate handy, Wikipedia’s English version also contains information about the club


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