Dani Weatherholt updates contract with Orlando Pride
During the 2016 NWSL College Draft, midfielder Dani Weatherholt was the 31st overall pick for Orlando Pride. This past season she started 17 times for the Pride and in total made 19 appearances. On August 12th, the Pride hosted Sky Blue FC and Weatherholt contributed to the 5-0 victory as she scored her first NWSL goal.
Pride head coach Tom Sermanni acknowledged Weatherholt’s title as a player:
“We’re delighted to have agreed to a new deal with Dani, she had a terrific 2017 season and has taken great steps in her development over her two years with us. We look forward to seeing her continuing to grow and contributing to the Pride in 2018.”
The details of the contract with the 24-year-old midfielder were not announced.
Weatherholt made a huge hit this past year as she was called up to the U.S. Under-23 Women’s National Team. The summer tournament involved three competitors: Norway, England, and Sweden. For this tournament, 22 players were selected and seven of them were NWSL players with 12 being from a college level rank.
Weatherholt shared her thoughts about training with the U.S. U-23 team as she gladly expressed:
“It was a great opportunity and I always feel very blessed and privileged to represent my country,” she said. “I was under a great coaching staff and along great players, so within 10 days that I was with them, I learned so much and I feel like I grew a lot in that week.”
From her National Team experience, along with playing for the Pride for the past two seasons, Weatherholt has grown so much as a player on and off of the field in such a short amount of time. Her ability to connect passes and work well with the ball have definitely highlighted some of her strong suits as a player.
The Pride will continue their third season in the NWSL as they kick off their first match on Saturday, April 15th against the Portland Thorns.
