Position: Forward
Birthday: March 7, 1997
Hometown: Hudsonville, Michigan
Height: 5-foot-9
Pronunciation: Bethany Balcer
Previous Team: Seattle Reign (NWSL)
2024: Balcer, who joined the club in August following a trade with the Seattle Reign, totaled 10 Racing appearances, all starts. She scored three times and tallied one assist, a pass to Uchenna Kanu for a goal within the first 15 minutes of Balcer’s Racing debut. Balcer finished tied for sixth in the NWSL in scoring, with eight goals between her two teams.
Before Racing Louisville: The 27-year-old Balcer, a former teammate of Racing coach Bev Yanez, immediately boosts Louisville’s attacking corps while moving closer to her Hudsonville, Michigan, home. Her 33 goals over the past five years tie for third in the NWSL, and she is the only player to score at least five regular season goals each year since 2019, when she won NWSL Rookie of the Year and earned the first of two NWSL Second XI honors.
Balcer is the only player in Seattle Reign’s rich club history to win the Rookie of the Year award, which she claimed after becoming the first player from an NAIA program to sign with an NWSL team. Known for her aerial ability, Balcer’s 13 headed goals are the most by any NWSL player in the past five years. She has scored against every team in the NWSL, including twice against Racing.
In Seattle, Balcer helped her team win the 2022 NWSL Shield, given to the squad that finishes first in the regular season, and played a key role in Seattle’s run to the 2023 NWSL Championship game. She has played in six NWSL playoff games and registered an assist in last year’s final.
At Spring Arbor University in Michigan, Balcer became the first player in NAIA history to be named national player of the year three times. She helped the Cougars win two national championships and was recently named to the Spring Arbor Hall of Fame.
