“The opportunity to sign with Brommapojkarna (BP) has been a dream come true,” said Alia Skinner. “My entire life I have been dreaming of playing professionally and to sign my first contract, truly means the world to me. The opportunity to start my career with a club like BP, and in a city like Stockholm, is such a blessing. I feel so thankful for the opportunity.
“Since my college career ended in November (2023) and I graduated in December, I have been busy training and preparing for the start of my professional career. I have collaborated with my agent to find opportunities worldwide. In February, I was fortunate enough to be called into preseason with the Houston Dash, an NWSL team. I was there for about two months training with the team while my agent was working hard to find me a contract. I then signed my contract with BP at the beginning of April and headed home to Tampa to get ready to make my journey to Stockholm, Sweden.”
“We are very excited and proud to see Skinner signed in Sweden,” said head coach Chugger Adair. “We have always thought of her as a professional and knew that she would be to able to play with the professional ranks. This is exciting for us as a program, and a big congratulations to Alia and her family! We look forward to see her play at the professional level for many more years to come.”
While at Tech, Skinner tallied 55 career starts, 235 saves, and 14 shutouts. She ended the 2023 season ranked second in saves (79) with a save percentage of .823, and third in shutouts (seven) in the ACC. In 2021, she logged the third most minutes (1,788), fifth most saves (73), and the sixth best save percentage (.760) among ACC goalkeepers. Co-led Tech to its first NCAA tournament victory since 2018, chalking four saves during the Hokies’ 3-1, opening round win against Ohio State (Nov. 12).
“Playing collegiate soccer allowed me to gain experience and play at a very high level for multiple years,” said Skinner. “In Europe, most of the professional clubs have youth academy teams that are run similarly to a professional team. In the states, that isn’t the case and to me college soccer sort of took the place of that experience. Arriving to Houston, as well as Sweden, I felt very prepared to jump right into action. Playing in…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Virginia Tech Athletics…