Alex Morgan

Classroom

Alex Morgan is on track to complete her undergraduate degree from the University of California in political economy of industrial societies in December 2010.  In addition to her cumulative GPA of 3.256, Alex has never had a term GPA lower than a 3.0 in her six plus semesters enrolled at Cal.  After spending a summer semester studying abroad in Spain, Alex speaks fluent Spanish. In addition to her major, the Diamond Bar, Calif., native is pursuing a minor in Spanish language and literature. She is an exemplary student who always striving for and obtaining excellence. A self-motivated student, Alex has also been involved in a variety of activities to supplement her education, most notably with her community service. She has also done a commendable job of balancing her academic pursuits, Division I intercollegiate athletics and training for and with the U.S. senior national team. Her athletics success made her a public figure who is greatly respected and admired for her dual success on and off the field. Through athletics, she has been able to set an example in the community as a successful scholar and an athlete.

Character

Morgan has shown tremendous commitment to her Cal team and teammates since she first set foot on the Berkeley campus. When Morgan first arrived at Cal for her freshman year, she found that the coach who had recruited her had left, leaving her and the rest of the Bears with an entirely new coaching staff. Despite not knowing the new coaches, Morgan seamlessly handled the transition with the grace of an upperclassman. She also bore the weight of being the team’s “go to girl” as a freshmen and was quickly expected to score the team’s goals, which she did.  Due to her success as a college player, Morgan was invited in the Under-20 national team in preparations for the 2008 U-20 FIFA World Cup in Chile.  The work load and travel required for training camp was most demanding, which left Morgan missing a great deal of school.  Her drive and dedication to both her national team duties and her school work at Cal left her exhausted. However, she came away with a grade point average above a 3.0, not to mention winning the Silver Ball as the tournament’s second-best player and the Bronze Shoe as the third-leading scorer. During her junior year, her college coach took a brief leave of absence, yet Morgan helped hold the team together during this very tumultuous time.  Her play for the rest of the season was amazing, scoring game winners while leading the younger players through the emotional stress of the situation.  Her leadership guided the team back to stability and her teammates were thankful for her support. She has the chance of playing in the Women’s World Cup in July of 2011, as well as being the number one draft pick in the upcoming WPS draft.  In meeting Morgan, one would never know of her fame, success and ability.

Community

Morgan has been involved with several Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) sponsored community outreach activities.  This year, she helped lead tours of Cal Athletic facilities for visiting elementary, middle and high schools and spoke to kids about balancing academics and athletics at the Division I competitive level.  In addition to teaching soccer at local youth clinics, Morgan and her teammates also volunteered at Cal’s College Sports Day where they provided soccer instruction for over 200 children.  The Cal women’s soccer team is also involved with Soccer without Borders, whose mission is to use soccer as a vehicle for positive change in the lives of marginalized youth.  On a more philanthropic level, Morgan participated in the overnight event “Relay for Life” with fellow student-athletes last May as they raised $5,000 for the American Cancer Society. Morgan is also a very strong advocate for community service and has been found to do work within the community without looking for accolades.  We will receive thanks for the work that Morgan has done from factions of the community for work we were unaware she was doing.

Competition

When Morgan joined the Bears for her freshman campaign in 2007 as a top-50 recruit, U.S. under-17 national team member and an NSCAA All-American, there were no doubts of what was expected of her. In her three years thus far in a Cal uniform, there is no doubt that Morgan has lived up to her billing. She has led the Bears in scoring in each of the three past seasons and enters her senior season fourth on Cal’s all-time scoring list with 31 career goals. As a freshman, Morgan garnered All-Pac-10 honorable mention honors and placement on the Pac-10 All-Freshman team, Soccer Buzz Freshman All-American second team, Soccer America All-Freshman second team as well as the Soccer Buzz All-West Region third team. As a sophomore, Morgan finished top on the Cal squad in multiple categories and was named to the Soccer Buzz All-West Region Team second team and was a Pac-10 All-Academic honorable mention. Last season, again it was Morgan who paced the Bears in multiple categories – goals (14), assists (8), points (36), shots (97) and shots on goal (55). She was named to the 2009 All-Pac-10 first team. Morgan was further rewarded for her athletic prowess with placement on the prestigious Herrmann Trophy watch list, the All-Pacific-Region second team and was a Pac-10 all-academic honorable mention. This past March, Morgan earned her first cap with the U.S. senior national team with 46 minutes of playing time in a 1-0 win against Mexico.  Now a regular in senior team training camp, Morgan also appeared in the commanding 4-0 decision over Germany, the then-No. 2 ranked team in the world. In each of Morgan’s three years at Cal, the Bears have advanced to the postseason, highlighted by two appearances in the second round.