ORLANDO, Fla. (Feb. 5, 2021) - With the 2021 National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) preseason officially underway, Orlando Pride has signed midfielder Erika Tymrak to a one-year contract with an option for an additional year, it was announced today.
The deal comes less than a week after the Pride acquired the rights to the 2013 NWSL Rookie of the Year in a trade with Kansas City, marking Tymrak’s official return to the game after retiring in January 2020.
“I'm very pleased that we've been able to agree terms with Erika so quickly after the trade that brought her to the Club. She is a two-time champion in this league, the quality of her play has earned her time with the U.S. WNT, and her versatility will afford us additional ways to play as a group moving forward,” Orlando Pride General Manager Ian Fleming said. “Erika's return is a welcome addition to both our team and the NWSL as a whole.”
“I took a year off, just took some time for myself and I got the itch to play again. I kind of knew, deep down I wasn’t done, but Orlando seemed like the perfect fit. Great environment, really good group of girls, I’ve heard great things about [Head Coach] Marc [Skinner] so I put myself in a position to get here and it worked out. I’m so pumped to be here,” Tymrak said. “I feel great. I feel giddy to play again. I have that excitement and I haven’t had that in a while so it feels really good to have that.”
Tymrak, 29, will enter her eighth NWSL season as a member of the Pride after spending two seasons with the Utah Royals FC from 2018-19, making 30 appearances with one goal and two assists in that span. Prior to that, she spent five years with FC Kansas City, winning back-to-back NWSL Championships in 2014 and 2015.
As an international, Tymrak has featured three times for the U.S. WNT, scoring her first international goal on Nov. 10, 2013 in a friendly against Brazil in Orlando.
With over 100 NWSL appearances in her professional career, Tymrak will feature in her home state for the first time at the club level. A native of Lakewood Ranch and a graduate from the University of Florida, she was a two-time NSCAA All-America honoree and earned All-SEC honors in each of her four years as a Gator.
TRANSACTION: Orlando Pride signs midfielder Erika Tymrak to a one-year contract with an option for an additional year.
