Kate Markgraf

Kate Markgraf

240px Markgraf in Ethiopia in July 2012
Personal information
Full name	Kathryn Michele Markgraf
Date of birth	(1976-08-23) August 23, 1976
Place of birth	Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, U.S.
Height
Position(s)	Defender
Team information
Current team	Retired
Youth career
1991–1994	Detroit Country Day School
1995–1998	Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2001–2003	Boston Breakers	51	(0)
2005	KIF Örebro DFF	8	(1)
2006–2009	Michigan Hawks	27	(1)
2010	Chicago Red Stars	6	(0)
International career‡
1998–2010	United States	201	(1)
Managerial career
2009–	Marquette Golden Eagles (Assistant coach)
Medal record Women's football (soccer) Representing the United States Olympic Games 2004 Athens Team competition 2008 Beijing Team competition 2000 Sydney Team competition FIFA Women's World Cup 1999 USA Team competition 2003 USA Team competition 2007 China Team competition
*Club domestic league appearances and goals ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of July 17, 2010

Kathryn Michele "Kate" Markgraf (born August 23, 1976), née Sobrero, is a retired American professional soccer defender. She previously played for the Chicago Red Stars in the WPS, Boston Breakers in the WUSA, the first women's professional soccer league in the United States, as well as for the United States women's national soccer team. She was a three-time Olympic medalist (2000, silver, 2004, gold, 2008, gold & co-captain in 2008) and in three FIFA Women's World Cup (1999, gold, 2003, bronze, 2007, bronze) final tournaments. She started in 97% of her 201 United States Women's National Team appearances in her 12-year career. She ended her career with a high school championship, state club championship, NCAA Division I championship, Olympics, and a World Cup Championship.

Early life

Markgraf was born in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and attended Detroit Country Day School. At Detroit Country Day, she helped to guide the soccer team to the state title in 1991, scoring 16 goals and having 26 assists. She was also a volleyball player making the All-League team three times and was recruited at the Division III level. In soccer, she made the NSCAA All-American team one time and was chosen for the All-State team for all three seasons she played.

University of Notre Dame, 1995–1998

Markgraf attended University of Notre Dame and graduated with a degree in Science-Business. She was a three-time NSCAA All-American, a three-time all Big East selection, the 1997 Big East defensive player of the year, and the defensive MVP of the NCAA's Final Four in 1995, the year in which her team won the NCAA women's soccer championship and co-captained the team her senior year. She also earned Dean's List for one semester at Notre Dame.

Playing career

Club, 2001–2010

Markgraf was a member of the Boston Breakers in the WUSA league, and she was named defender of the year for that team in 2001. Markgraf played professionally for KIF Örebro in the Swedish league alongside longtime USA teammate Kristine Lilly. She was scheduled to play with the Chicago Red Stars in WUSA's successor, Women's Professional Soccer, in its inaugural 2009 season. However, the Red Stars announced in January 2009 that she would not play that season because she was expecting her second child. She returned to the Red Stars in 2010 and played nearly every minute of the seaso as well as making the All-Star team returning 10 months after giving birth to twins.

International, 1998–2010

In 1998, she made her international debut for the United States against Argentina, with Sobrero on the back of her jersey. She switched to Markgraf on the back of her jersey in 2004. She was the least experienced starter in the winning 1999 World Cup team and one of the youngest members of the team. The LA Times selected her to the All-World top 11 for her play at centerback that tournament. She started in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, the 2004 Games in Athens, and was Co-Captain for the 2008 Games in Beijing. She won the silver medal in 2000, the gold in 2004, and the gold in 2008. She played 12 matches in 3 FIFA Women's World Cup, winning the title of World Champion in 1999 World Cup hosted by USA, and finished third in 2003 World Cup hosted by USA and 2007 World Cup hosted by China.

On July, 2010, after nearly a two-year break from international competition, she made her 200th career international appearance, in a friendly match against Sweden. She became the 10th woman in FIFA history to earn her 200th cap, a mark no male player has reached. She subsequently announced her retirement from sport at the end of the WPS season, ending her rofessional career after playing 2011times for her country.

International goals

	Key (expand for notes on “international goals” and sorting)
Location	Geographic location of the venue where the competition occurred Sorted by country name first, then by city name
Lineup	Start – played entire match on minute (off player) – substituted on at the minute indicated, and player was substituted off at the same time off minute (on player) – substituted off at the minute indicated, and player was substituted on at the same time (c) – captain Sorted by minutes played
Min	The minute in the match the goal was scored. For list that include caps, blank indicates played in the match but did not score a goal.
Assist/pass	The ball was passed by the player, which assisted in scoring the goal. This column depends on the availability and source of this information.
penalty or pk	Goal scored on penalty-kick which was awarded due to foul by opponent. (Goals scored in penalty-shoot-out, at the end of a tied match after extra-time, are not included.)
Score	The match score after the goal was scored. Sorted by goal difference, then by goal scored by the player's team
Result	The final score. Sorted by goal difference in the match, then by goal difference in penalty-shoot-out if it is taken, followed by goal scored by the player's team in the match, then by goal scored in the penalty-shoot-out. For matches with identical final scores, match ending in extra-time without penalty-shoot-out is a tougher match, therefore precede matches that ended in regulation
aet	The score at the end of extra-time; the match was tied at the end of 90' regulation
pso	Penalty-shoot-out score shown in parenthesis; the match was tied at the end of extra-time
	Light-purple background color – exhibition or closed door international friendly match
NOTE: some keys may not apply for a particular football player

Goal	Date	Location	Opponent	Lineup	Min	Assist/pass	Score	Result	Competition
1	2008-09-20	Bridgeview, IL	Ireland	Start	31	penalty	2–0	2–0	Friendly

Broadcasting

Markgraf was paired with Adrian Healey as a color commentator on ESPN's secondary broadcast team for the telecasts of the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup. Markgraf worked as a color analyst for NBC during the 2012 London Olympics. She has also worked as commentator for several US women's national team games on Fox Soccer, ESPN, as well as the Big Ten Network. She worked for ESPN FC during the 2015 WWC as a studio analyst and often appeared on Sportscenter during the tournament.

Soccer envoy

File:Kate Markgraf.jpg

Kate Markgraf running with a girls group during the Soccer Clinic Program in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia from July 11–12, 2012.

In 2012, Kate Markgraf traveled with Tony Sanneh to Ethiopia on behalf of the United States Department of State and US Soccer to work with Somalian youth in the Ethopian city of Dire Dawa. In 2013 she went to Chile and in 2014 she went to Peru again, on behalf of the United States Department of State and US Soccer.

Coaching career

In 2009, she was a volunteer assistant coach of the Marquette Golden Eagles. She now only coaches her twins' soccer team.

Personal life

She married Chris Markgraf, a former Providence College soccer player, on October 31, 2003. Their son, Keegan Jamison Markgraf, was born on July 18, 2006. In July 2009, she gave birth to fraternal twins, Carson Rose and Xavier Ryan. Markgraf lives with her husband and their children in the Milwaukee area. She has served on the Juvenile Law Center Board and is a member of the Notre Dame Monogram Club Board of Directors, as well as co-sponsored Milwaukee College Prep (MCP; a charter school), a fundraiser benefiting under-served Milwaukee students. She has co-created life-skills programming for Milwaukee America-Scores and runs soccer clinics for various charities. In 2015, she graduated with a Masters in Kinesiology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with her research being selected to be presented at AASP. She is completing her Masters in Counseling.

See also

• List of footballers with 100 or more caps
• List of Olympic medalists in football
• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists in one event
• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists
• List of 2004 Summer Olympics medal winners

External links

• Kate Markgraf – FIFA competition record
• US Soccer bio
• Notre Dame bio
• Kate Markgraf on Facebook
• Kate Markgraf at the Internet Movie Database