Ava Kuyken

Ava Kuyken (born 15 June 2001) is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder. She played for FA WSL club Arsenal for two seasons, 2017–18 and 2018–19. In 2019, she started College at the University of Florida with the Florida Gators women's soccer. She has dual UK-USA citizenship.

Ava Kuyken
Personal information
Full name Ava Kuyken
Date of birth (2001-06-15) 15 June 2001[1]
Place of birth England
Height 169 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Arsenal
Number 24
Youth career
Arsenal
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2019- Florida Gators 16 (1)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017–2019 Arsenal 10[1] (0)
National team‡
2017–2018 England U17 9 (0)
2019- England U19 3 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15:59, 2 December 2018 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 19 January 2020

Club career

Arsenal Women Football Club

Ava made her competitive debut for Arsenal Women on 16 November 2017 aged 16 against Watford in the Continental Cup as a substitute in the 80th minute, coming on for Heather O'Reilly. She made her Women's Super League debut on 7 February 2018 against Liverpool as a substitute in the 87th minute coming on for Jordan Nobbs.[2] She was a regular named squad player throughout the 2017–18 season, a year in which Arsenal won the Continental Cup, progressed to the final of the FA Cup and finished 3rd in the Women's Super League. She made four appearances in her first year with the 1st team.[3]

2018–19 saw another year with the Arsenal Women, alongside competing her A-Level studies at Cherwell School in Oxford. She made her first full debut on 5 December aged 17 with a 5,0 win against Charlton Athletic WFC in the Continental Cup. She made her full debut in the WSL[4] on 27 January 2019 against Reading WFC, in a game they won 3–0.[5] She was a regular named squad member throughout the season making, making 12 appearances in the WSL (7), 3 in the Continental Cup and 2 in the FA Cup. They won the 2018/2019 WSL League[6] and progressed to the Continental Cup Final losing to Manchester City in penalties.[7] She was named as youth player of the year in a round of the year by the Daily Cannon.[8] Alongside her 1st team duties Ava played with the Arsenal U21 squad. This included the FA Cup, which they went on to win 4–0 in a final against Manchester United.[9]

University of Florida

In August 2019, she took up a college scholarship with the Florida Gators, who compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletics Association and the Southeastern Conference.[10] As a freshman, Ava has been a regular player, being one of only 19 freshman who have started regularly in the program's 25 year history.. The COVID-19 pandemic affected her sophomore year. But Ava maintained her fitness and sought out additional coaching from elite coaches in the UK and USA involved in professional football. She trained with WSL sides during the off season. Her player Gators profile is here

International career

England

Ava has been selected and played consistently for England through the U15, U16, U17, U18 and U19s. In 2017–18 the England U17 squad qualified via the elite rounds to the FIFA European finals in Lithuania. Ava made full appearances against Spain, Finland and Germany. They progressed to the semi-final, where they were knocked out by Germany. In 2019 with the U18s she played in a friendly games, including against Canada and Scotland. In 2019/2020, she was selected for the UEFA Women's U19 Championship Euros 1st qualifying round in Belarus. They beat Cyprus 8–0 and Belarus 3–0. The COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of the U19 Euros.

Honours

Senior career

2018–19 Arsenal WFC.

2017–18 Arsenal WFC.

Youth career

2016–17 Arsenal FA Regional Talent Club – Tier 1 U16

2015–16 Arsenal FA Centre of Excellence U15.

2014–15 Oxford United FC FA Centre of Excellence U14.

2012–14 Somerset FA Centre of Excellence U12/U13.

2011–12 Devon FA Centre of Excellence U11.

Before this Ava played with grassroots boys' teams in Exeter including Heavitree Football Club.

References
  1. "England – A.Kuyken". Soccerway. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  2. "Liverpool Ladies 0–3 Arsenal Ladies". 7 February 2018. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  3. Jamet, Sylvain (15 May 2018). "Arsenal Player of the Season top 3 plus youth PotS picked". Daily Cannon. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  4. "Florida Opens Season with 3–2 OT Win at Florida Atlantic". Florida Gators. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  5. "FA Women's Super League (Sky Sports)". SkySports. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  6. Wrack, Suzanne (29 April 2019). "Dutch magic and the Montemurro effect: the story of Arsenal's WSL title | Suzanne Wrack". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  7. Association, The Football. "Man City beat Arsenal on penalties to win Continental League Cup". www.thefa.com. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  8. Jamet, Sylvain (19 May 2019). "Top 5 Arsenal women players of the year". Daily Cannon. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  9. "U-16s and U-21s enjoying FA Cup success". www.arsenal.com. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  10. Hurley, Lee (25 November 2018). "Ava Kuyken to leave Arsenal for Florida Gators".
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