Former Net-Surfers girls’ coach and University of Louisville graduate Shannon Smyth has joined Norwegian side FK Donn.
Smyth, from Wisconsin, has signed a one-year professional contract with the side from the laid-back city of Kristiansand, newly promoted to Norway’s top women’s flight.
And with their season ready to kick off against Kolbotn on April 5, preparations have been going quite well for the diminutive 5’ 3” attacker and her team.
Smyth, in Norway since January, scored twice in a 2-1 pre-season victory against Amazon last week to add to goals she has already bagged against Sola (two), Kolbotn and Gimeltroll.
She is joined at FK Donn by Kelsey Hood from Iowa, who she played with at the ODP regional level.
“We are truly coming together as a team,” Smyth told Kick It. “With seven foreigners hailing from America, Canada, Finland, and Serbia, some international flavor mixed with the Norwegian brand of soccer could prove to be a deadly force for our freshly promoted Donn team in the top league.”
Smyth, whose father is Irish, played for the Republic of Ireland at the World University Games and trained with the national squad when they spent time in the US last summer. She hopes the move to Norway will help her earn her first full cap with the Girls in Green by improving her game.
“I knew they had a top, competitive league in Europe and after a bit of research I sent my resume to some clubs and worked with the replies I got,” she said. “I came to find that FK Donn had exactly what I wanted to start my career.”
Smyth, who spent 2009 coaching Net-Surfers’ U17 girls while playing her final year at Louisville, said she wishes to keep those in the area that have been supportive of her career aware of the opportunities for their daughters.
“I want them to know they can have the same ambitions I have had for a career in sport and that while I understand it is rare, it is possible,” she said.
You can follow Shannon’s time in Norway on her blog, My Own Two Feet, at www.scsmyth.com.
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