Josie Valeri’s Soccer Career: From Age 3 to Professional Soccer in Greece

Josie Valeri’s soccer career started at a Pittsburgh YMCA when she was 3 years old. It took her almost two decades to reach professional soccer in Greece.

The road between those two points ran through youth soccer in Pittsburgh, the Riverhounds Development Academy, ECNL and ODP competition, five years at Point Park University, senior soccer in the United States and Canada, and a trial that changed the direction of her career.

The pro career did not start with a contract.

It started with a trial.

In February 2024, Valeri flew to Greece at 22 to try out for AE Mykonos. After the first day, her agent called.

The coach wanted her.

Nothing had been signed yet. The trial was not over. Valeri still had to finish the two-week process, return to Pittsburgh, and wait for the club’s decision.

She eventually got the call she wanted.

In May 2024, Valeri signed her first professional contract.

The girl who started kicking a ball at a Pittsburgh YMCA had reached professional soccer.

As of October 2026, she plays for A.P.G.M.S. Kalloni in Greece.

Her soccer career did not follow a straight line. It crossed youth academies, college soccer, senior leagues, Canada, and two Greek clubs before bringing her to where she is now.

Along the way, Valeri built an academic and professional path in psychology alongside soccer. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Applied Psychology in 2022, a master’s degree in Clinical-Community Psychology in 2023, and a Ph.D. in Critical Psychology in 2025 while continuing her soccer career.

Profile of Josie Valeri

Valeri prefers to go by her last name because she sees herself as one of the few people who can carry on the family name. Some coaches called her “Jersey” and “Doc.” Her loved ones also call her Jo or Jos.

Josie Valeri’s Soccer Career Timeline

It All Began at a Pittsburgh YMCA

At 3, Josie Valeri had a soccer ball, a local Pittsburgh YMCA, and a crowd of family members cheering her on. Ask what she remembers most from those first days, and the answer is simple: “family cheering, a foot on the ball, pure joy.”

That joy turned into something more structured at SV North, where Valeri played organized youth soccer from ages 4 to 6. Her mother served as her first coach, while family and community gave her the support to keep chasing the ball.

There was no grand plan yet. Just a young girl learning the game, building confidence and finding a place where soccer felt natural.

By age 7, that foundation would lead Valeri to the Riverhounds Development Academy, opening the next chapter of her soccer career.

Riverhounds Taught Her to See the Game

At Riverhounds, Valeri’s game started to slow down in the best possible way.

Not her legs.

Her mind.

The technical program taught her to read space, movement, and timing from the back line. She was learning to see the play before it reached her feet.

Defending was not only about winning the ball.

It was about knowing what came next.

Valeri credits the Riverhounds Development Academy with helping “set my foundation” and refine how she saw the game.

That education stayed with her.

At 12, Valeri Found a New Destination

Valeri learned that soccer could close one door and open another.

She joined PA Crew Soccer Club from 2013 to 2014. She then moved to Stars United SC, where she played from 2014 to 2016 before the club later merged with PA Crew.

At the same time, her soccer life kept expanding.

She played in the Olympic Development Program and moved between different environments, including all-boys soccer, indoor soccer, outdoor soccer, and futsal.

Valeri remembers those years as “constant motion.”

Every move brought a different challenge. Every new team asked something different from her.

That period also taught her a lesson that lasted beyond soccer.

“First lesson in turning rejection into a different door.”

By her mid-teens, the game was moving faster, the competition was getting tougher, and Valeri was learning how to find a place in it.

The Game Got Bigger: ECNL and ODP Raised the Stakes

At 14, the game started asking harder questions.

A step late mattered. A bad decision stayed with the play. Talent could get a player into the room, but it could not answer every question once she got there.

Valeri’s Riverhounds journey reached the 2001Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) team. She also continued with the Olympic Development Program, where she said she gained “a different lens on the game entirely.”

The competition kept rising.

She played her freshman season at Seneca Valley before moving into the Academy full time. Showcases, ID camps, and tournaments became part of the routine. Regional and national competition stopped feeling distant.

Valeri described that period in three words:

“Level, expectation, challenge.”

Then came the harder adjustment, and it was a mental one.

“I stopped reacting and started owning my role.”

For a young defender, that meant more than making the right play. It meant understanding why she was making it.

How an ODP Coach Sparked Valeri’s Interest in Psychology

The road after high school did not point straight toward psychology. Valeri graduated early through PA Cyber, then finished her youth career with Century United alongside some of her Olympic Development Program (ODP) teammates. The goal was simple: “keep showing up and stay connected to the game.”

But something else was taking shape.

During that stretch, an ODP coach who also had a connection to the college path Valeri would later take helped spark her interest in psychology. She entered Point Park in 2019 without knowing how far that interest would take her.

“I honestly had no intention of getting into psychology this deeply, but I am in love with the field now.”

Point Park Wasn’t the Plan

Point Park was supposed to be about soccer and a psychology degree.

Then the plan changed before Valeri played her first college match.

The coach she expected to play for had already moved on.

So Valeri stayed.

“Adjust and remain open.”

That decision became the start of five seasons at Point Park and an academic path that went much further than she expected.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in Applied Psychology in 2022. She followed it with a master’s degree in Clinical-Community Psychology in 2023 and a Ph.D. in Critical Psychology in 2025.

Soccer kept developing, too.

Valeri learned “various ways to be a defender who leads a back line and team.”

The two sides of her life began to overlap.

Psychology was no longer just a degree she was earning. It was becoming another way she understood people, communication, and the game around her.

By the time she left Point Park, Valeri had built two careers at once.

She just did not know yet where soccer would take the first one.

Then the Hotspurs Call Raised the Level

Valeri was already juggling college soccer and a psychology degree when the next challenge came knocking.

The Pittsburgh Hotspurs brought her into their WPSL Women’s First Team in 2021, while she was a sophomore at Point Park. Suddenly, the college defender was sharing the field with established senior players and getting a taste of the pace, physicality, and demands of first-team soccer.

The club saw an “attacking-minded fullback.” Valeri saw a chance to sharpen her “skill set” and “tactical IQ” against top female athletes.

She spent two seasons with the Hotspurs as the team moved from the Women’s Premier Soccer League (WPSL) to the United Women’s Soccer (UWS).

Point Park remained part of her life.

So did senior soccer.

The balance was becoming harder.

It was also preparing Valeri for the next jump.

Valeri Takes Her Game to Canada with St. Catharines

Canada gave Valeri more than another shirt to pull on.

In 2023, she joined the St. Catharines Roma Wolves in League1 Ontario and made 16 appearances during the 2023–24 season.

A former teammate mentioned League1 Ontario. Valeri followed up, sent her footage, and introduced herself. The Wolves gave her a trial and a roster spot. She played as a first-team defender, helped coach the Reserve Team, advocated for the women’s side, and completed her master’s practicum.

It was a different soccer life. Playing time shifted. Formations changed. Responsibilities moved with them. “Changed without warning,” Valeri said.

The agent connection came through her Point Park network.

A USL-W coach who knew the Point Park men’s head coach made the introduction. Valeri considers that coach a role model after his help preparing her for Canada and her first professional season. The first conversation was straightforward. Both sides wanted to make it happen.

“My agent brought the strategic layer, where and when to actually pursue something,” Valeri said. The next pursuit took her to Greece.

At the AE Mykonos Trial

Back to February 2024. Many trial details have faded. “The details blur,” Valeri said.

One thing stays sharp. After day one, the agent called. The coach wanted her, and a deal was taking shape. Yet nothing was signed, and the trial was not over. Most players would have eased up. Valeri did not. Every remaining day ran at full trial speed. In between, she soaked up the culture, built friendships, and kept up with coursework and research.

What did the coaches want to see? “The technical side of my game.”

The trial ended.

Then Valeri flew home to Pittsburgh.

The hardest part was still ahead.

The Wait: Valeri Signs with AE Mykonos

The trial was two weeks. The wait lasted months.

Valeri had impressed at AE Mykonos in February 2024, but the deal was not done. She returned to Pittsburgh and went back to work with the Riverhounds while she waited for the decision.

Nothing was guaranteed.

“It was an uncertain stretch,” Valeri said.

Her dissertation gave her something else to chase. The work “kept me from spiraling” while she waited for an answer.

Then, in May, the answer came.

Valeri was between places when the offer arrived. Before signing, she called her family.

Then she put pen to paper.

The girl who started playing soccer at a Pittsburgh YMCA at 3 had a professional contract at 22.

AE Mykonos was no longer a trial.

It was her first professional club.

Back With the Riverhounds

Signing with AE Mykonos did not end Valeri’s summer in Pittsburgh.

From May through July 2024, she trained with the Riverhounds USL Academy Girls and coached younger Riverhounds Development Academy (RDA) players.

She had started with the Riverhounds at 7.

Now she was back as a player and coach, with a pro contract in hand.

The next stop was Greece.

This time, Valeri was heading back to Mykonos for her first professional season.

Valeri’s First Pro Season: Finding Her Voice in Greece

The first professional season came with a different problem.

Valeri had to communicate.

At AE Mykonos, she was no longer a college player preparing for the next level. She was playing professionally in a new country, around teammates and coaches who did not share all of her language or background.

“I felt an obligation to learn some of the language before playing the game in it,” Valeri said.

For a defender, communication can decide a play before the ball arrives.

Valeri had to find her voice.

“Finding my voice was difficult at first, but I naturally adjusted.”

She also learned to accept the “imperfect” moments that came with living and playing in a different culture.

That experience connected with her academic work.

Her doctoral research examined “The Potential Value of Humor During Cross-Cultural Adjustment.”

She was studying adjustment while living it.

In 2025, Valeri completed her Ph.D. in Critical Psychology while continuing her professional soccer career.

The degree was finished.

The soccer career was still moving.

Valeri’s Sudden Midseason Move to W.F.C. Veria

In January 2026, Valeri moved to W.F.C. Veria with the season already underway.

There was no long preseason.

No slow introduction.

She arrived with a new defensive role waiting for her.

A new Greek agent helped make the move after her former Mykonos coach connected the two.

Valeri accepted the challenge because she wanted the chance to “adapt quickly and perform to the best of my ability under the given circumstances.”

At Mykonos, she had moved around as a utility player.

At Veria, the defensive responsibility became clearer.

She played in the back line, including at center back.

The adjustment came quickly.

“Almost no margin for error and a steep, fast adaptation curve.”

Valeri handled the change and found another connection inside the club.

The move lasted only part of the year.

But it set up the next move.

New Greek Chapter at Kalloni

The next call came from Lesvos.

A coach from a neighboring Veria club connected Valeri with Kalloni’s head coach. She did her homework, talked with the coach and saw the fit.

“The fit was clear.”

The move came together “naturally,” Valeri said.

Now she plays for Kalloni in Greece’s 2026-27 Women’s second tier. The club added her along with fellow Americans Desiree Hensiek and Cazzi Norgren as it prepared for the new season.

Psychology Inside Her Soccer

Valeri does not see psychology and soccer as separate parts of her life.

“I do not experience psychology and soccer as separate worlds,” she says.

On the field, she watches more than the ball.

Body language can reveal what an attacker might do next. A teammate’s tone can signal when she needs direction. A breath can give her a moment to reset.

That awareness became even more useful in Greece.

A different language surrounded her.

She learned how much a player can communicate without saying much at all.

Away from soccer, Valeri continues her psychology work, research, and writing through Infrapersonal Works. Point Park says her work includes private sessions, online mental mentorship, and psychology publications.

The two careers keep running alongside each other.

One happens on the field.

The other helps her understand what happens there.

What’s Next for Valeri

From a YMCA toddler program in Pittsburgh to the professional ranks in Greece, Josie Valeri has taken a long road to get here.

At 25, she has another season ahead of her with Kalloni and another opportunity to add to a career that has already taken her from youth soccer in Pittsburgh to college, the USL Academy, and professional football in Greece.

The next chapter is already underway. Kalloni is the latest stop, but it does not have to be the last.

For now, Valeri has another season to make her mark in Greece.

What comes after that can wait.

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Krishanu

Krishanu Das is the founder and lead writer of Sports Dribble. With more than five years of experience in sports writing, he specializes in creating well-researched guides, sports rules, player rankings, tournament explainers, and match analysis across cricket, football, basketball, tennis, volleyball, and many other sports.

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