I GREW UP IN: Portland, Oregon.
AS A KID, I PLAYED: Martial arts (Aikido), soccer, and track and field. My parents weren’t into sports, but my soccer club team was very community-oriented and other parents kind of took me under their wings and let me tag along to tryouts for more advanced teams. I kind of accidentally kept playing at higher levels.
ON THE HILL, I PLAYED: Soccer and track and field. I ended up at McDaniel because I was looking for a smaller school, good academics, and an opportunity to play. Head Coach Sandy Lagana Bly had just started and my visit to the campus was the most welcoming of all my college visits. I liked the potential I saw on the Hill. After I committed to McDaniel for soccer, the track coach emailed me asking if I was interested in joining track and field as well. With Sandy’s blessing, I did it and I learned a lot from track.
AND I STUDIED: Physics.
I ALWAYS DREAMED OF: Going to grad school and becoming an engineer. I loved the problem-solving aspect of Physics and Engineering.
I REALIZED I COULD WORK IN SPORTS WHEN: I had a great senior season on the Hill. We went to the NCAA tournament for the first time, and I was honored as an All-American. The idea of maybe playing after college kind of crept in. I knew I’d always keep playing — it’s hard to just stop — but the possibility of actually being able to make a living playing soccer kind of showed up. Running track at McDaniel taught me about knowing your limit, but also acknowledging that it’s probably further than you expect it to be. That helped get me where I am today. I didn’t really mean to be a professional player, but that what-if, combined with a little bit of effort, that little extra push has gotten me here.
HOW I BROKE INTO THE INDUSTRY: Most summers, I had played at home on semiprofessional teams. After graduation, I started going to some open tryouts and I got mixed responses, and a lot of the opportunities felt like moneymaking schemes. But I was still playing on a summer league team, and the owner bought a team in France and was looking to create a women’s side of the club with the idea that we would also coach the youth teams there. So, I went to France because it seemed like a good entry point and then I’ve found other opportunities along the way. I did a year in France, but then the priorities and resources shifted to the men’s team. I was scouted while playing with the U.S. futsal national team and invited for a trial in Portugal. I packed up my bag and took the chance. That opportunity fell through, but I found another club to join, though they could hardly offer me anything financially or for housing. After COVID, they cut our funding and that season was miserable. I realized a new American was playing in Portugal and had left a team in Israel — and she played my position. I emailed the club and within 20 minutes, I had a response and a contract offer. After a year in Israel, I decided to consciously look for clubs in countries that are more equitable for women and a little bit more progressive after seeing women’s clubs treated as inferior to men’s in three countries by that point. So, I found an opportunity in Aalborg, Denmark, and that’s where I am now.
WHAT I LOVE MOST ABOUT MY JOB: I get to play a game for a living, and I get to live and experience things I never dreamed of doing. I just biked around here in Denmark the other day before practice and I was like, “Is this my life?”
Running track at McDaniel taught me about knowing your limit, but also acknowledging that it’s probably further than you expect it to be. That helped get me where I am today. I didn’t really mean to be a professional player, but that what-if, combined with a little bit of effort, that little extra push has gotten me here.
Chloe Allen Gorman ’16, Danish 1st Division/NordicBet Liga
THE MOST CHALLENGING PART OF MY JOB: The sexism I’ve experienced in different countries has been a huge challenge. In the United States, soccer is a women’s sport. It’s not that way in the rest of the world. It’s like an alternative lifestyle sport instead of a possible career. Asking us to succeed without giving us the resources to succeed is useless. If the club receives 30 new balls, and all 30 are going to the men’s team, how is that going to help us? So, I’ve learned to speak up and call attention to the issues that shouldn’t exist but that are easy to fix.
WHAT’S NEXT? I think my desire for a more just world has kicked in over my science and analytical brain. Witnessing all the injustices and sexism in my professional soccer journey has made me realize there are things that need to be addressed in the world. I never thought I’d go into coaching, but the more I play, I realize we need more women coaching. We need more women on the technical staff. We need women in the offices. It’s hard for me to think of leaving and just saying, “Not my problem anymore.” I can’t fix it all and it may not change in my playing time, but I can try to leave each club and each country a little bit better than it was when I came. I don’t know what’s next, but I think I’m going to try to fix some of the problems.