Jane Campbell grew up in Kennesaw playing a lot of sports but not watching a lot of soccer on television.
She watched Mia Hamm and Briana Scurry and the rest of the “99ers” defeat China in the Rose Bowl to win the World Cup when she was around 4 years old. Skip a few years and she remembers watching Abby Wambach dominate for the USMNT.
But she did love the Olympics, one day telling her parents that she was going to be an Olympian because she was obsessed with every sport. She found her way there through soccer, making it as a backup goalkeeper for the U.S. women’s team in 2021.
Now, she has something else she hopes to achieve, making the U.S. women’s team for the upcoming SheBelieves Cup, whose first two matches will be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on April 6.
“To just that make the roster would be incredible” she said. “And the fact that the camp is in Atlanta for half of it is amazing. I’ve never thought of that happening in my career.”
Campbell grew up playing many sports and began to focus on soccer when she was 9 years old. She moved from the field to a goalkeeper when she was 13 years old. She lived close enough to Kennesaw State that she could ride her bicycle to the stadium to watch the Atlanta Beat’s women’s professional soccer team, where she saw Hope Solo play.
“So awesome back then to have access to a pro team like that,” she said.
She transferred from the Walker School to the Darlington School in Rome as a sophomore and played well enough to attend and play for Stanford. She earned her first call up to the U.S. women’s national team in 2013. She made her debut in 2017.
She was selected by Houston with the 15th pick in the 2017 NWSL draft and has been its starting goalkeeper since. She played well enough to be named the league’s goalkeeper of the year last season. The NWSL season recently started. Houston is 0-1-1. Campbell earned her first shutout of the season last weekend against Louisville by making 10 saves.
“The next few weeks, I just need to be the best I can and be the best version of myself and I hope that happens,” she said.
Campbell has never been able to watch the U.S. women play in Atlanta. She’s been to a few Atlanta United matches, including the MLS Cup in 2018.
She said “everything takes time” when asked if she’s surprised that the an event as important as the SheBelieves Cup hasn’t previously been played in the city.
“I’m sure the team will have quite an experience at the Benz and it’ll be really exciting for the group and it’s just so cool that, even if I’m not there, I know my friends and family, they’re going to have a great time. If I make the roster, it will be kind of be a dream come true to play at the Benz in front of them,” she said.
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