Turnbow Drafted, Becomes Third Professional Club Alum in a Year

Thursday, January 14, 2021

For the second consecutive year a former Spokane Shadow / Spokane Sounders youth player was drafted by the National Women’s Soccer League. Kelsey Turnbow was drafted Wednesday by the Chicago Red Stars with the 18th overall selection. She is the third former club player in the course of a year to see their career extend to the professional ranks.

Turnbow, a member of the club from U11 to U15 before moving to Arizona, has been a standout player for nearly a decade playing for the United States Youth National Teams since U14 throughout her career, representing the country through U20 as she moved onto Stanford. As a youth player she also earned Washington and Arizona Gatorade Player of the Year awards in 2014, 2015 and 2016 as well as NSCAA All-American honors as a junior and senior in high school.

Her collegiate career was also highly successful, playing for one of the nation’s elite women’s soccer programs. Her career features a tally of 35 goals and 22 assists in 67 games played (60 starts) and a long list of accolades that include WCC Freshman of the Year, First Team All-WCC, WCC All-Freshman and First Team All-West Region (three-time).

Turnbow will join fellow Santa Clara and Shadow alum Kelcie Hedge in the NWSL, but it will not be until 2022 as Turnbow will continue to play for the Broncos through the fall 2021 NCAA campaign due to Covid-19 exemptions and her decision to remain at the school for her master’s degree. Due to effects of the pandemic (spring seasons and exemptions) the NWSL altered its draft rules for this year’s edition to allow more flexibility for players and clubs making the selections.

Hedge was drafted a year ago by Seattle side OL Reign in the First Round with the ninth overall pick. Unfortunately Hedge was knocked out of her debut campaign at the opening of the season with an ACL injury suffered during a training session. The Post Falls native spent much of her recovery time back home in north Idaho and Spokane after supporting her teammates through the Challenge Cup and Fall Series.  See More [+]

Also moving onto a professional career this year was Larkin Russell. A member of the club since U11, Russell signed a contract with Israel First Division team Hapoel Ra’anana. After a lengthy delay due to the pandemic she finally joined the club in November.  See More [+]

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