_031.jpg) Bell withGotham FC in 2024 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Maycee Nicole Bell[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (2000-09-18)September 18, 2000 (age 25) | ||
| Place of birth | Wichita, Kansas, U.S. | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||
| Position(s) | Center back,right back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | North Carolina Courage | ||
| Number | 27 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Sporting Blue Valley | |||
| College career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2019–2023 | North Carolina Tar Heels | 77 | (7) |
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2024 | NJ/NY Gotham FC | 8 | (1) |
| 2024– | North Carolina Courage | 26 | (0) |
| International career | |||
| 2017–2018 | United States U-19 | 2 | (0) |
| 2018–2020 | United States U-20 | 8 | (1) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of November 2, 2025 | |||
Maycee Nicole Bell (born September 18, 2000) is an American professionalsoccer player who plays as adefender for theNorth Carolina Courage of theNational Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She playedcollege soccer for theNorth Carolina Tar Heels, earning All-ACC honors four times, and was selected byNJ/NY Gotham FC in the first round of the2024 NWSL Draft. She represented the United States at the youth international level.
Bell was born inWichita, Kansas, to formercollege basketball players Brett and Kristy Bell, and has five younger siblings.[1] She began playing soccer as aforward but was converted tocenter back at her first youth national team training camp in 2014.[2] She said she "realized I loved stopping people from scoring more than I actually loved scoring" and modeled her game partly after national team defenderBecky Sauerbrunn.[2][3]
Bell played one year of high school soccer as a freshman atTrinity Academy, scoring 19 goals at forward in 14 games, and was named Kansas'sGatorade Player of the Year for 2015–16.[4][5] She moved to theKansas City area to play year-round withECNL club Sporting Blue Valley, which she captained from 2014 to 2017, and attendedBlue Valley Southwest,Blue Valley West, and Insight School of Kansas.[1][2] Bell moved to North Carolina in her senior year to play for theNorth Carolina Courage Academy and would train with the Courage first team during her college off-seasons.[6]
Bell started for theNorth Carolina Tar Heels from her first week in 2019, when she was named theAtlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Defensive Player of the Week.[7] She scored a career-high three goals as a freshman, including one in theACC tournament final and one during theNCAA tournament, where the team finished runners-up.[8][9] She was namedACC Freshman of the Year and second-team All-ACC.[10] She was named to the All-ACC first team for fall 2020, and she recovered from ankle surgery to return in the quarterfinals of theNCAA tournament that spring.[1][11]
Bell was named first-team All-ACC and second-team All-American as a junior in 2021, though she injured her left ankle in the second-to-last match of the regular season.[12][13] She sat out her senior year after tearing hermeniscus in the first game of the 2022 season.[14] She returned for a fifth year to co-captain North Carolina as aredshirt senior and was named to the All-ACC second team in 2023.[1]
Reigning NWSL championsNJ/NY Gotham FC selected Bell with the 14th overall pick in the first round of the2024 NWSL Draft, their sole pick of the night.[15] She was signed to a three-year contract.[16] On March 15, she made her professional debut as a substitute in theNWSL Challenge Cup, a 1–0 loss to theSan Diego Wave.[17] She made her first regular-season appearance on April 20, coming in forBruninha in a 2–1 away defeat to theWashington Spirit.[18] She earned her first start on May 8, taking Bruninha's place in a 1–0 win against theHouston Dash.[19] On June 19, she scored her first professional goal in late stoppage time against the San Diego Wave, finishing offJenna Nighswonger's cross to secure a 2–1 victory.[20] She started four games in theNWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup, helping Gotham advance to the final. In half a season with Gotham, she made 13 appearances (7 starts) and scored 1 goal in all competitions.[21]
On August 21, 2024, Gotham FC traded Bell to theNorth Carolina Courage for $80,000 inallocation money and $10,000 in intra-league transfer funds.[22] She debuted for her former youth club on September 8, substituting late forFelicitas Rauch in a 4–1 win against the San Diego Wave.[23]
Bell made her first start for the Courage on March 22, 2025, playingleft back in the home-opening 2–1 loss to theSeattle Reign.[24] On April 13, she made her first Courage start at center back afterMalia Berkely was a late scratch againstGotham FC.[25] She was subsequently a regular starter at right-sided center back as head coachSean Nahas refashioned the defense into a back three for a spell.[26] On May 3, she won all eight duels and three tackles during a 2–0 win over theUtah Royals, becoming the first NWSL player in five years to go 100% in those statistics on that many attempts.[26]
Bell trained with the United States youth national team beginning at theunder-16 level in 2014.[1] She scored for theunder-20 team in a friendly in March 2019 and recorded an assist at the2020 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship, which the United States won.[27][28] She received her first call-up with thesenior national team in December 2019 but had to miss the camp due to injury.[29]
Individual
