Former Scorpions 2001 ECNL player Avery Snead signed her first professional contract last week with Norwegian pro club FK Bodo Glimt.

Avery transferred from Providence and finished her senior season at Indiana University this fall. Spotlight sat down with Avery to hear all about her latest stop on her soccer journey.

SS: What’s your earliest soccer memory?

AS: My earliest soccer memory I can think of is when my first ever soccer game got cancelled and I was absolutely devastated. I remember being so beyond excited to start the season (at five years old) at the local Wrentham Youth Soccer league. We went out and bought my first cleats, shin guards, water bottle and all the necessities. I could hardly sleep the night before. When I woke up early the next morning to pouring rain and my parents telling me the game was cancelled, I remember being heartbroken that I would have to wait a full week to get to play my first game. I don’t remember much about those early years playing, but this recollection sticks out to me. Looking back, it was pretty obvious how much soccer was going to mean to me for the rest of my life. 

SS: What’s your history with Scorpions?

AS: I joined Scorpions and the ECNL going into my sophomore year of high school when DA came into effect and prohibited club players from playing soccer for their high schools. My friend Chloe Layne had been on the team for a few years and had great things to say, so I decided to make the switch from GA to ECNL in order to continue playing for my high school (King Philip Regional High), as well as play at a high level and develop as a player with Scorpions. Evan Burokas took over as coach for my age group and from then on I played three full seasons at the club. I also played for the Scorpion’s UWS summer league team for two consecutive summers in 2021 and 2022 with Evan.

SS: Can you please detail your Scorpions experience? Tell us about your coaches, level of play, etc. How did Scorpions support your development?

AS: My years growing and learning with Scorpions and especially under Evan were crucial to both my success in college and the opportunities that are now afforded to me as I continue my soccer career playing professionally in Norway. The players around me had similar goals and aspirations for their future soccer careers, so the competitiveness that was fostered in every training session allowed me to improve and mature as a player and enhanced my competitive desire. The ECNL was an exceptional league not only to get recognized by college coaches, but also to play against high level players that bolstered my growth on the field. The comradery on and off the field was also very special amongst the players over the years. All those moments away on tournaments, before and after games, and everything in between made me want to show up everyday to be around the amazing people I was with. I am still close to a lot of those girls today and am grateful Scorpions was able to bring us all together to form those friendships. 

Evan was another critical role during my development at Scorpions. He made training challenging, but very fun and enjoyable to the point where we could be very serious at times and then all dying of laughter together the next minute. This balance strengthened my love for the game while also helping me learn technical and tactical aspects that have helped me in my career. Even after my time with Scorpions was over, he set up and coached the UWS summer league team where I was able to stay in shape and prepare for my upcoming college seasons, helped me in my transfer process from Providence to Indiana, let my Providence teammates and I join some training sessions to stay sharp for our 5th year seasons, and has always been in my corner. I am forever grateful to Evan and Scorpions for taking me in and not only preparing me for the next level, but also treating me like family and fostering my love for soccer.

SS:  You were a four-year starter at Providence and IU. How did you balance being a D1 scholarship athlete with academics?

AS: Balancing academics and athletics as a D1 athlete wasn’t easy, but it was definitely rewarding. I prioritized creating a structured schedule and ensured I dedicated time to both training and studies, especially in season where the days were long and I was missing class a lot for travel. Staying disciplined and managing my time effectively were key, but I couldn’t have done it without the support of the people around me- my teammates, coaches, and professors. They made the process much more manageable. The grind taught me so much about hard work and accountability, and I’m grateful for every challenge because I know it’s prepared me for the real world and my next chapter in Norway.

SS: Coaches have an amazing influence on kids growing up. Do you have an anecdote of a coach helping or pushing you to ‘level up’ and reach a potential that you didn’t know you had in you?

AS: I am thankful to have had many coaches along the way that have been transformative in my career and helped me in more ways than one. However, when I think of a specific anecdote of someone pushing me to reach a new level of potential, I think of two specific stories: one with my Mom and one with my Dad. 

My Mom was my coach for town soccer from kindergarten to 6th grade. She didn’t know much about soccer, but she was smart enough to decipher that whoever won the 50/50 battles and had the ball the majority of the time probably would score more goals and win more games. That’s when she and my other coach (my friend Makayla Griffin’s mom Dyanne) came up with the game “Animal Ball.” At the end of practice, they would throw the ball in the air with all of us ready to pounce and yell  “animal ball!” And we would all have to fight for the ball out of the air and win it. It was such a funny but competitive game and was probably overly aggressive at the time, but I will always remember it and how it translated on the field to us winning 50/50 battles. It was such a fun game and interesting way to get us to compete, but the name stuck for many years to come. To this day I still think of the phrase whenever I am going up for a header inside of the box.

My Dad was also a big believer that aggression on the field was key to success. He always said that even when things were not going my way or I wasn’t playing well, working hard and being aggressive were the two things I could control to get back into a rhythm. I remember I was going through a spell of a few bad games in 5th grade, and I was getting really frustrated and playing scared. My Dad told me to harness that frustration and joked that I need to be aggressive enough to get a yellow card. One game when he was on the sidelines he yelled “YELLOWBIRD!” and smiled. I laughed and knew he meant to start getting aggressive, and it was time to start playing harder and more assertive. I started getting in on tackles, being more forceful, and playing more like myself. From then on, my Dad would say that on the sidelines, partially as a joke to ease my nerves, and also has a reminder to not be scared and play more aggressive and confident. The term really stuck. I have written “Yellowbird” with a sharpie on my wrist for every college game I have ever played in. It serves as a reminder to not take the opportunity to compete for granted and to leave it all out there. Funny enough, despite this term I never received one yellow card during my entire college career. 

SS: You got to play a 5th year due to COVID. Can you talk about your experience at Indiana? How did that differ from your experience at Providence?

AS: Playing a fifth year at Indiana was an incredible experience that differed in ways from my time at Providence, but was also very similar. Indiana was part of the Big Ten, so I got to compete against high-level teams which challenged me as a player and pushed me to grow even more. The environment was extremely competitive, and being at a larger school brought a different academic and social dynamic. Many of my family members including my parents went to IU so that also made it an extra special experience. At Providence, I made most of my lifelong friends through my teammates and created soccer memories that I’ll always cherish. Making two NCAA tournaments and playing with my best friends was something I will always cherish. Both places were special in their own way and served me differently as a person and player. At Providence I found a tight-knit community, and at Indiana I embraced a bigger place with new opportunities. In both places my teammates made all the difference, and I feel so lucky to have experienced having a solid support system twice. It wasn’t just about soccer but also the relationships and the growth that came with it.

SS: Can you give some background on the process of your recruitment? What was your reaction when you got the call? Who did you share the news with first?

AS: It was always a dream of mine to play professional soccer, but it didn’t seem attainable until half way through my college career when I was having some success and felt like I was really developing as a player and loving the game more than I ever had. I had always been open to playing somewhere in Europe because I love to travel and I always felt that living in a foreign country and getting to travel a bit on any off time would be an amazing and life changing experience. When I signed with my agency, Inspired XI, my agent Gabriel reached out to a lot of clubs in Europe to see where my position was needed, what league would be a good fit for me, and where I would be open going to. With the elimination of the NWSL draft this year as well as many female players now wanting to play professionally, it was definitely a crazy time to find a contract, so it was a lot of back and forth with different clubs until coming to a final contract. I had been in contact with a few clubs during December and then Gabriel told me a club in Northern Norway (Bodø/Glimt) was interested. I hopped on a call with them the next day and was extremely impressed by the head coach, Cato, and everything he had to say about his vision for the team next year and where I fit into that. Despite my initial nerves about how far away and how north I would be headed, I was still buzzing with excitement about the opportunity. I was on a ski trip in Montana with my family when this all happened and it was very exciting to have a promising call like that with a club that I was very interested in. I did all the research on Bodø and talked to a St. John’s alum who plays there currently, and after that I was sold. The club sent me my final contract a day after my 23rd birthday and it was such a reliving and proud moment for my family and I. It felt like all of my hours of hard work and every high and low throughout my career was all worth it. 

SS: What would you tell kids that aspire to play in college or professionally?

AS: The biggest thing I would say to kids that aspire to play in college or professionally would be to stay grounded in why you started playing the game in the first place because passion will keep you motivated through the tough times. It’s easy to get caught up in the grind of it all and the challenging moments that come naturally with soccer, but remembering why you fell in love with it will help you stay in the moment and appreciate the game itself, the lessons you learn, and the people you meet along the way. The process of getting better can be mentally and physically draining, but focusing on the joy of improvement and the small victories along the way will remind you why the journey is worth it.

Congratulations Avery! Go FK Bodo Glimt!