April 23, 2012
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By Miquel Jacobs
Assistant Media Relations Director
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina women’s soccer record-holder Kayla Grimsley has signed to play professionally for Thor / KA of the premier women’s soccer division in Iceland.
Thor / KA finished fourth last season in the Women’s Úrvalsdeild. The league consists of 10 teams that play a double round robin schedule that runs from May to September. The season opener for Thor / KA is scheduled for Sunday, May 13, with Grimsley expected to feature as a top attacking player for the squad.
“I couldn’t be happier to get my professional career started,” Grimsley said. “I’ve dreamed about this since I was a little girl, so to finally be able to say my dreams have come true is a huge accomplishment for me. Thor/KA reminds me a lot of USC because they are a team that has potential to be at the top, so I’m looking forward to doing all I can to get them there and to show them that signing me was a good decision.”
Grimsley recently completed arguably the greatest individual career in Gamecock history as a two-time All-American and two-time SEC Offensive Player of the Year. She holds the South Carolina program record for career points after a 10-goal, 10-assist campaign in 2011 that moved her to career marks of 43 goals and 33 assists for 119 points. Grimsley finished the season eighth on the NCAA active list for career points and was the only active player in the NCAA with 40 goals and 30 assists in her career. She holds 27 school records to her name, including career points, career assists, single-season points and single-game assists.
“Everything about playing at South Carolina has prepared me for this,” Grimsley said. “Playing at a high level in the SEC, working hard everyday with coaches and teammates that pushed me, and also having the support of Gamecock Nation helped a lot. The support I had while I was at USC, as well as the support I still have now from fans, is giving me the confidence to perform at my best to represent not only myself and the United States, but USC as well.”
Grimsley joins Darcel Mollon (Afturelding // Iceland) and former teammate Blakely Mattern (FC Twente // Netherlands) as former Gamecocks scheduled to play professionally in the 2011-12 season. Mollon (2005-07) has played the past two seasons in between Iceland and Sweden and is scheduled to compete for Afturelding this season in the same league as Grimsley. Mattern (2006-09) started the first nine matches of the current season for FC Twente before suffering a torn ACL and MCL two weeks ago for the second-place team in the Eredivisie.
