Association Football Club Ann Arbor are proud to add another Ann Arbor native to the inaugural women’s squad, in goalkeeper, Victoria Norris. The Skyline High School graduate has been a fan of the club for a few years now and jumped at the opportunity to join the newly formed women’s team adding, “I have watched the AFC men play the last couple years and have watched them expand and develop as a club and that was something I really wanted to be part of.”
In addition to her familiarity with the club, Norris is also quite familiar with the staff having been at the same youth club that Sporting Director Eric Rudland has worked at (first at Ann Arbor Arsenal and later Northville Rush) while also playing for Women’s Head Assistant Coach, Barry Scott. After finishing her youth career up with the Michigan Hawks (u18), Norris went on to play for the Michigan Women’s Club team.
It was after she graduated from college in 2017, when her playing days had finally ended, that she realized the void it would leave not being able to play anymore. “I helped coach the Women's Club Soccer Team this past fall after I graduated and it really made me miss playing again. My world revolved around soccer my entire life until I graduated at Michigan and when I was finished playing, I felt a void in my life. When I saw that AFC was forming a women's team, I knew I had to play.”
Her experience and style of play will definitely give her the opportunity to be a leader within the team and Norris is ready for that opportunity. But it’s not just her vocal ability from the back and her past experiences that will benefit the team, it’s also her drive to compete and win at a high level, adding, “I am most excited to play at a high level of soccer this summer. I know a few girls on the team going into it and what their soccer abilities are and I know we can accomplish big things this first year.”
About AFC Ann Arbor
Founded in 2014, Association Football Club Ann Arbor launched it’s men’s semi-pro team in 2015 and has competed in the NPSL since 2016. Led by Head Coach & Sporting Director, Eric Rudland, the team has found great success winning back to back Great Lakes Championships (‘17 & ‘18) and earning US Open Cup bids three straight years (2017-2019). In October 2018, the club announced the launch of the women’s side, who will be skippered by Andy “Pritch” Pritchard in their inaugural season of the United Women’s Soccer national league. Owned and operated by a group of local soccer fans and entrepreneurs, AFC Ann Arbor has become a fixture in the greater Ann Arbor community.