Courtney Ozioma Dike (born 3 February 1995)[3] is a footballer who plays as a forward. Born in the United States, she represents the Nigeria women's national football team at international level.[4]

Courtney Dike
Personal information
Full name Courtney Ozioma Dike[1]
Date of birth (1995-02-03) 3 February 1995 (age 29)
Place of birth Edmond, Oklahoma, United States
Height 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Position(s) Forward
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2016 Oklahoma State 80 (30)
International career
2014 Nigeria U20 6 (2)
2015 Nigeria 3[2] (0)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 6 April 2018

College career edit

Born in Edmond, Oklahoma, Courtney attended Edmond North High School and played college soccer at Oklahoma State University. In her four years at Edmond North High School, she scored over 90 goals.[5]

She studied accounting at Oklahoma State University and played for the Oklahoma State University women's soccer team.[3]

International career edit

In 2014, Courtney received a call up to represent the Nigerian U-20 national team for the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Canada where she scored the fastest goal in the history of the competition after just 13 seconds in a match against North Korea.[6][7] Her performance in the tournament earned her three nominations at the 2014 Nigeria Sports Award.[8]

Courtney went on to represent Nigeria at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada.[9] On 12 June 2015, she made history by becoming the first native Oklahoman to ever play in the World Cup after coming on for Asisat Oshoala in a match against Australia.[10]

Personal life edit

She has two brothers, Bright and Daryl, and two sisters, Kimberly and Brittny.[3] It was reported in the media that she rejected the bonus given to her for her role in the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. She explained in a letter sent to the Nigeria Football Federation that "I am delighted to play for Nigeria whenever called upon. I knew before leaving for the U-20 World Cup that I would not accept any bonuses. Acceptance of prize money is against NCAA regulations (the division 1 collegiate governing body) here in the US, so that is the main reason for rejecting it.".[11]

Honours edit

Nigeria U20

Individual

  • "All-City Player of the Year" (2013)
  • Big 12 Conference Offensive Player of the Year: 2016
  • Nigeria Sports Award Discovery of the Year: 2014[12]
  • Nigeria Sports Award Sports Woman of the Year: 2014 nomination
  • Nigeria Sports Award Footballer (women) of the Year: 2014 nomination

References edit

  1. ^ "List of Players - 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup" (PDF). FIFA. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  2. ^ "Profile". FIFA. Archived from the original on 9 June 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  3. ^ a b c "17: Courtney Dike". Oklahoma State. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  4. ^ Jenni Carlson (15 October 2014). "Courtney Dike celebrates World Cup appearance with a proud brother". NewsOk. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  5. ^ Godfrey, Ed (1 June 2013). "Girls soccer: Edmond North's Courtney Dike is All-City Player of the Year". NewsOK. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  6. ^ Ahmandu, Samuel (30 July 2014). "Courtney Dike confident Falconets will succeed in Canada". Goal.com. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  7. ^ Macaulay Maduwuba (9 August 2014). "Courtney Dike Scores Fastest Goal In Women Football As Nigeria Beat Korea". Pulse NG. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  8. ^ Dekota Gregory (16 October 2014). "Cowgirl's Courtney Dike nominated for 'Nigerian Sports Woman of the Year' award". O'Colly. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
  9. ^ "OSU's Courtney Dike named to Nigeria Women's World Cup Team". Tulsa World. 28 May 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  10. ^ "Courtney Dike puts Oklahoma on the World Cup map". NewsOk. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  11. ^ "Why I rejected my bonus – Under 20 star, Courtney Dike". PremiumTimes Nigeria. 11 November 2014. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  12. ^ Foster, Mark (16 October 2014). "OSU's Dike nominated for prestigious Nigerian Sports awards". Tulsa World. Retrieved 11 November 2016.

External links edit